Love is...

...staying up past my bedtime to make 24 of these (from scratch) for Anna to take to school to celebrate 7 years on the planet.




Is she worth it? Yes she is!

Post pool picture

Here's me after jumping in to save Colin from drowning last weekend. It was cold; all I can say is shrinkage!!
Thanks Uncle Buck for capturing the moment!

Here's a very Lisa-esque picture of Anna doing her own spontaneous ballet to the music her cousin Becky was playing on the piano. I love how it captures her uninhibited free spirit!

Easter Pictorial

Here we see Colin all bummed because his sister found an egg before he did.
Now he's elated because he found one before her.
The haul! (yes, Anna lost another tooth this week!)
We admired our pretty eggs before we devoured them.
Ah! They got me with the cascarones! (traditional Mexican confetti-filled eggs)

AMA

My first appointment this morning was a dog that had gotten out of her backyard for about 10 minutes, and came back acting stunned and disoriented. She came in the house and layed down while pooping herself.

The owner has only had her a few weeks, and she and her kids were already very attatched. She had a 1 year old and a 4 year old. I examined the dog very thoroughly looking for clues. I was thinking seizure? toxin? trauma? but the dog was completely back to normal.

I couldn't find anything to treat, so I recommended she leave the dog with me for observation, at least for the morning. I was fairly sure she would get much adult observation if she went home. I took the cute little terrier back with me and set her up in a cage.

A few minutes later my tech was getting her out again, telling me that the woman changed her mind because her kids didn't want to leave the dog. I could hear a tantrum happening in the lobby. Seriously? I said. She's letting the kids decide? It's sweet that they love the dog that much, but how long would this tantrum truly last?

After my last morning appointment, I saw them all trooping back in the door. My tech brought the dog back to me, and her face was all red and swollen. Her eyelids were like pink, fat balloons, and her lip was blown up to comic effect. "Poor baby, you must've gotten stung by a bee this morning!" I told her as I gave her an IV shot of fast acting steroid and an antihistamine.

I took her back up front, and explained the pain of the sting must've caused the weird morning symptoms, then later the facial swelling. "We all woke up from our morning nap and she looked like this!" she said. "I guess I should have left her with you." That's what I was thinking...at least it would have saved you a trip!

Feeling better finally, thanks

We had a great family reunion on Saturday in Waco, which I managed to feel good enough to attend. I felt bad on the drive home and slept all day Sunday and Monday.

In Waco I got to go visit Aunt Sudie in the hospital. It was great to see her, although she was thin and coughed a lot, she still had some of her dry wit. Hopefully she'll be discharged later this week, but probably won't be going back to her former living situation with my 87 year old Grandmother. It will be a sad transition for both of them.

Late at the reunion, Anna decided she wanted to go swimming in my uncle's pool. She didn't care that it was super cold. She put on her cousin's borrowed swimsuit, jumped off the diving board, and doggy paddled to the other end. Colin begged to go to, so I stripped him down to his tighty whiteys, put him on the step, and told him to stay there since he is not as good of a swimmer as his sister. He instantly pushed off into the middle of the pool, and began to flounder.

I took about a second to look and see if my 19 year old cousin was nearby (he was not), and then I was in the pool, with all my clothes. I didn't even kick my slide-on sandals off. Its amazing how fast that motherly instinct kicks in. Once I had him sitting on the side of the pool, I noticed how cold the water truly was.

I told Colin to stay on the step, but moments later he was unsuccessfully treading water again, this time pushing his sister under trying to get up. I got him out again, and said no more swimming. He was pretty freaked now, and said, "Mommy, I not a good swimmer. I sink." We'll have to get that boy some swimming lessons pronto before he develops a phobia.

On that note, here are some fun Colinisms.

Today, going into the grocery store, we saw a guy with a skinny Mohawk.
"Mommy, that boy has only one hair!" he told me.

Tonight at story time, he asked for help finding a particular book with a "cactus on the front."
Puzzled, I asked him what it is about.
He wrinkled his brow, trying to remember. "Stuff... and things," he said sagely.

When Anthony kissed him goodnight, Colin asked him if he had to go do the dishes.
"Yes, buddy," Anth said.
"Why grown-ups have to do that?" Colin asked. Indeed!

Partly congested with intermittent fever

The City Manager has succumbed to the plague and hopefully will resume posting soon.

Sick City

Anna has been walloped with fever for the past two days, making for a pretty lame spring break. My mom is still recovering from a nasty cold that won't vacate her sinuses, so she is happy with the low key activity level. Colin is fine, and just keeps building longer train tracks and bigger car garages out of legos and crazier bridges out of tinkertoys.

I slept with Anna last night so I could tend to her feverish needs. She was so sick I was a little too worried to leave her completely untended. Thank goodness we live in a time of vaccination against the worst diseases, and that good medical care is so readily available if we needed it.

Most worrisome, though, is the bronchitis that is making my poor Aunt Sudie (aged 93) so weak and dehydrated that she is now in the hospital. We are all hoping for a good recovery, even though her attendance at this weekend's family reunion is no longer an option.

Feast or Famine

Saturday started with a cold, blustery jog for me and Francesca. Then the whole family went down to the farmer's market (of course). We spent a long time watching an enormous backhoe tear down a 2 story brick building next to the Gingerman. This machine was perched on top of a pile of rubble, and kept hitting that poor building with its huge claw. Chunks of brick, wood, and metal came down with a screech and plume of dust. It only took about 15 minutes to demolish the last half of the building. "What a shame," Anthony said. "That building was made to last another 200 years." None of us could tear our eyes away from the power of destruction.

We moseyed over a few more feet and met Dooce at Halcyon. She chatted with me and Anna for a while. She was charming, friendly, and tall.

Then we went to The Natural Gardener to pick out some more tomato plants (despite covering them, 1 was killed by frost and 2 were killed by escaping chickens). There is a swing at this plant nursery on a tree with long ropes. If the kids are brave and swing really high and reach with their toe, they can just ring a big windchime. It was a beautiful crisp, cold, sunny day.

Anna had ballet practice, a special one with an accompianist. She and 3 other girls are getting ready for a ballet exam next month. They will be tested by a judge from the Royal Academy of Ballet. Their teacher and the parents will not be allowed in the room during the exam. On Saturday, the teacher let us Moms sit in the studio and watch the mock exam. This was very helpful because there is SO much for them to remember - now I know what to help Anna practice.

Beverly came over in the evening so we could go out with some friends. We ate ethnic food, drank lots of wine, and danced to 80s music.

Needless to say, on Sunday we did NADA except make a run to Costco. Spring Break is upon us, but Anth and I aren't taking off since we are saving our vacation time for the summer. Nana (my mom) is coming to help out, and we plan on doing some fun activities.

I was too tired to Caucus, Steph

Damned the Texas Two-Step. Seems if you bother to vote in the primary, it is only worth 75% of the vote. You also should show up on election night after the polls close and caucus your vote. What does that even mean? I was way too tired to go mess with that on Tuesday night by the time I got home, even though the Manny offered to stay later. I declined; I felt like I'd already done my duty.

Happiness is a Manny who has the kids fed, bathed, teeth brushed and jammies on when you get home, THEN serenades you all with a song on the guitar before he leaves, too. He also does the dishes! However, I'd still rather have Anth here. He does all that (except the guitar part) and makes me a martini. And other stuff.

Not much new

Its the same old, same old around here... for the third week in a row, Anthony's leaving town for multiple nights, I am working extra at the clinic (although not 6 days in a row, gracias dios), and I am tired.

The only thing new is some tomato plants Anthony and Anna planted in the veggie patch, in spots recently vacated by cabbages. After a few days in the 80s, last night a tremendous arctic front came in and has been blowing cold wind all day. Poor little seedlings. Hopefully it will make for heartier plants and more vigorous tomatoes when its broiling in June and July.

The blast of cold air makes Francesca extra frisky, and she comes in running crazy laps from the front room to the living room, skittering over the Pergo. "Franchesquita!" my friend from Chile calls her.