Does this come with leggings, too?

Thank you, thank you again for all of your kind comments. Aunt Peggy passed away last night.

After talking to the nursing home, some family members and the funeral home, it was well past midnight. I feel oddly grownup today - particularly after the funeral home conversation. I was already really tired which was only excaberated by the fact that Anjali has her first tooth trying to burrow its way out of her gums. Poor baby. Who wants to sleep with that kind of stuff happening in one's mouth? So, no - I cannot blame her, but wow. I can see now that I am so spoiled because I am simply not used to sleep deprivation like this. Co-sleeping rocks this house, but even that sometimes does not help a teething baby.

Okay - I promised fun topics, no more doom and gloom.......So, I am going to turn this to a Aunt Peggy Approved Conversation. Fashion. My Aunt Peggy loved fashion and I will never forget how the shoe salesman at Sak's Fifth Avenue would light up when he saw her face. Oh hell, yes. She knew what she was doing in the shoe department.

I need a new swimsuit. Let me preface this by saying that I love, love to swim. My dream would be to have my very own pool. One in which I would not have to be too concerned about Pelt* Maintenance or Chub Rub. Know what I mean? However, we are not a rich people and therefore, I have to subject the general population to my body in all its white, pasty glory every time I go to the pool. For this, I would like to extend my sincere apologies in advance.

Anyway, this is the swimsuit I like:

It is a helluva lot more than I would normally ever be comfortable spending, but I think I can work it out as a birthday gift. I should note that I can use it year round because our gym has indoor and outdoor pools. Furthermore, I am not even going to pretend that this is anything but an Old Lady Swimsuit. I do not care. I have had my bikini days - way, way back in the 20th century (1980s to be exact. ahem) This is a new millennium and I want to feel comfortable going to the pool. I want to feel comfortable knowing that I have not scarred some kid for life after I take the towel off. I want to feel comfortable bending my big butt over as I pluck my children out of the water.

What do you think? Have you seen something better? If you like this one, do you think I should do the top/bottom in the same color? Or different colors?

* © Monkey In A Suit

Better?

Yes, why thank you. I hesitated popping out such a melancholy post earlier today, but am so glad I did. It gave me perspective and I really, really appreciated your comments. I am now moving on to brighter subject matter. Here we are again - back to your regularly scheduled sarcastic snarkasm (or would that be snarkastic sarcasm?)......

So, it is true - Mojavi is pregnant! She just announced it publicly and is due mid-Octoberish. Congrats, girlfriend - way to Get It On with your husband. I wonder if our weekly Wino Playdates on Friday afternoons had anything to do with this recent turn of procreative events? Speaking of which, I am now officially in a Wino Playdate Group with two pregnant gals - one in her 3rd trimester and one in her 1st trimester. Party on? Yeah. Right. More like POTTY on.

Little Miss Moonshine

Cheeky

Concentration

Small Potatoes. The Couch Variety.

Garlic Gilroy

He asked for the garlic, so I gave him a spoon. Weirdo. I also have video footage of him licking an onion and saying "Yum!"

Concentration

Early Worms

Is it ever enough?

Note: I wrote this yesterday, but felt it was too melodramatic. Then, I realized that I wanted this to be here. It is right. It is something I want to remember, my feelings during this time. So this post is for me. Indulge me for a moment. All is not doom and gloom around here and I will have some fun stuff in the next few days. I promise.

I will not get too maudlin on you, but I still feel the need to post about this. I found out on Friday that my Great Aunt P is dying - it will probably be within the next week or so. She is 87, so while this is not Heartbreakingly Grecian Tragic, I am still so very, very sad about it and will miss her deeply. On Monday, I said my goodbyes to her. She is now requesting no visitors save for nurses and her minister. Her husband and son are already gone. She had no siblings. Her body is slowly shutting down and she would prefer no witnesses save for the professionals. I do not blame her.

Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Watch me get maudlin.

Yes, her dying is not shocking - I knew the end was coming at Christmas when she opened her present from me (a copy of the The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court) She told me then that she could not read books any longer. Two weeks ago, she stopped reading her beloved daily papers - the Kansas City Star and the Washington Post (Note: All the Rabid Readers in my audience just vigorously nodded their heads in understanding as to what all this meant. No books? No newspapers? The end is near.)

I have been losing sleep these past 5 days, waiting for the call from the nursing home. I lay awake at 4 am thinking, "Is she already gone?" I wake up in the morning thinking "Will this be the day?" Furthermore, I am on her living will, so if the need comes for decisions to be made, I am the one who will tell the nursing home what to do next. Granted, the decision was actually made by Aunt P and I will merely be enforcing it, but I am still nervous about it. I sleep with my phone near me - I am so afraid if I miss the call they will proceed with something that she did not want.

I think what makes my heart crumble the most is this:

1. I will not get to present her with a copy of the book being published late this summer which contains some words that I wrote my very own self. Aunt P was the first family member to whom I told the news - I still have not have really told too many folks because that also involves admitting I have a semi-anonymous blog (I am so not ready to tell my grandma that I write things on this here Internet. For one, she will ask for a printout.) Aunt P was very excited about the book.
   
2. Aunt P will not live to see this year's presidential election. A historical election that will probably have a black man and/or white woman and most likely a Vietnam Vet as well. Aunt P was an eager follower in politics - local, national and international. Her missing this year's election is particularly poignant for me and I will be thinking of her when I vote this year.
3. The next time I buy a handbag or a pair of shoes I will have no one to share it with who truly gets excited. Most folks in my life think it is foolish to spend so much on a pair of shoes or handbag. Perhaps it is, but Aunt P understands why one would do so anyway. When she saw the kids for the last time, she made me promise that I will teach Anjali that accessories make an outfit and that it is worth it to spend good money on your feet.
   
4. I will no longer get to share with her all the little silly things that Arun does. She truly enjoyed Arun and it gave her so much joy to remember all the things that her own son used to do. Her son's passing away 6 years ago broke her heart. Having Arun around spurred so many memories for her that she had forgotten. I will never forget how tickled she was with Arun at Halloween as he hopped all over her room in his kangaroo outfit. It reminded her of several Halloweens past that she had forgotten and she described in detail how she had handmade some outfits for her own son.
   

Sigh.

Any time that someone in your life is passing on, you think. Real hard and real long. I have accomplished so many of my lifelong dreams, although I still have many more. I went to college. I had a career. I found a life partner. I have traveled all over the world. I have had children. Foolishly, I thought that would be enough. Now, I want to see my children accomplish their dreams. I am selfish like that.

Go with peace, Aunt Peggy. Go with peace.

Anyone up for a challenge?

Moxie has something going on that I have been referring to as Moxie's 2008 Super-Duper Awesome Health Challenge Dealio Thingie. Or something like that. Anyway, it goes like this - she is challenging her readers to pick 3 items from a list of "healthy habits" and commit to doing them for 60 days - Feb 27th to April 27th. Thus far, the list she has compiled is the following:

1. Switch out your coffee for green tea.
2. Stop drinking diet soda (or Crystal Light) and drink water instead.
3. Actually start drinking 64+ ounces of water a day.
4. Take Omega 3s every day.
5. Cut out refined sugar.
6. Switch from refined carbs to whole grains.
7. Start reading all labels and not using anything with high-fructose corn syrup.
8. Exercise for 15-25 minutes a day.
9. Start running (the 60-day Challenge will end just about the time all the summer 5Ks start). (Read's DoctorMama's post on how to start here.)
10. Take up T-Tapp (read Summer's post on how to start here.)
11. Eat 5+ servings of vegetables every day.
12. Take the stairs every time.
13. Walk/bike to work.
14. Go to bed at a decent time.

I felt pretty good that I am doing several of these already -- Omega 3s, tons o' water, decent bed time, reading labels, whole grains when possible, avoiding HFCS when possible. However, I am excited to pick up some more Healthy Habits. At this point, my 3 New Healthy Habits for the 60 day challenge are going to be the following:

1. Cut out all soda (I have done this for Lent already, but am going to cruise on through April with it)
2. No beef (I do not eat/cook beef at home, but have been splurging way too much while eating out. The exceptions to this rule will be the occasional haleem, nihari or steak/goat cheese fajita. Which I rarely eat anyway.)
3. This one I am still working on the details, but at this point, I think it will be "exercising for 30 minutes, 4 times a week". If the weather was warm, I would commit to every day because it is a No Brainer to cruise around the neighborhood with the jogger stroller. However, right now it will require careful scheduling for me to get out to a mall or the gym for exercise. For example, to take Anjali to the gym with me requires scheduling with the gym nursery because she is a non-walker and they can only take on so many babies at once.
   

So, whaddya think? Up for the challenge? What will be your 3 Healthy Habits? Report back by Wednesday.

Where'd the moon go?

Arun is usually on the lookout for the moon. When it disappears from his view out his window as I turn the car in a different direction, he is quick to ask where the hell it went. Tonight during the lunar eclipse, he was duly impressed when it disappeared from view and declared that it was "hiding behind a house".
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It is official! Chocolate Covered Susan (yes, that Susan from my post titled "Have you met Susan?") is blogging over at Chocolate Covered Suburb. Mojavi set the blog up for her and then commanded "Ye shall go forth and blog." And lucky for us, Susan is obliging. Her recent post on how out of control candy has gotten at school parties hit home. Arun received more candy for Valentine's day than he did for Halloween. Argh. Anyway.....She is pregnant with Kid #2 and will most certainly be getting something evil from me in April when her baby boy is born (a case of whiskey, perhaps?) So..... please go over and give one of my v.v.v. best friends a proper welcome to the blogging world. Also, feel free to heckle her.
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After some negative topical posting here the past few days, I am going to turn to one of my very favorite trite topics: Baby Girl Hair.

I found that for Anjali the following regimen works best - wash every 2 weeks with Cetaphil gentle cleanser, comb while soapy in every direction possible to exfoliate her scalp, rinse, then follow with California Baby Calming Conditioner. Every other day or so, I wet her hair down lightly with my finger and do the Calming Conditioner again. Every single day, I comb through all the rats with my fingers either while she is nursing or just hanging out in my lap. Combs and brushes rarely touch her hair because that is just crazy talk to do that to a Curly Haired Baby. Bah. Besides, at this point, this girl totally does not care if I mess with her hair - why would I subject her to combs and brushes? Anyway, this routine may change when summer hits, but for now during the dry winter months this is working for her.

Hair barrettes have been in order lately and I strong-armed my grandma into buying her a few for Christmas. No Slippy has my heart - they are definitely over-priced, but I did try out some cheapies before buying these. The cheapies do NOT stay in her hair and therefore are practically worthless. No Slippy may be over-priced, but they are wrapped in velvet (to prevent breakage) AND include a magnet (it is a kid-safe one and it prevents hair slippage). I am a very satisfied customer for these over-priced doodads and we will definitely be getting more for her down the line.

One last thing regarding Baby Girl Hair. Our stylist is adamant that Baby Girl Hair should not be given bangs for awhile. As a baby's head grows, more new hair keeps coming in at the hairline. If you cut a baby girl's bangs, eventually, she will have bangs back to her crown. I can see that Anjali is definitely getting more new hair underneath what "appears" to be her current bangs. As such, per this advice, we will not be cutting Anjali's bangs until she is around 2 or 3 years old.