A Goddess in a Cave in the Woods

My sister Keri and her husband Matt have the most adorable kid on the planet. Folks, this little sweetie could win awards (and probably will).

I get the supreme honor of being his Thea Jenny (Aunt Jenny), and he gets the supreme honor of being my nephew.

Introducing to all readers of this blog, the one, the only…

Thomas Matthew Grzych!
aka Tommy!
aka Tommy Salami!
aka The Skunk! (Yes, that adorable costume was his Halloween costume. He was a HUGE hit.)

So, this week, we got some exciting news about Tommy – he is officially crawling!! Last week, he was crawling, but only backwards, and he kept getting stuck under things. Now he’s moving in a generally forward direction. Yay!

I’m just bummed that they live so far away and I can’t see that fantastic smile in person very often. (They live in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, which is about an hour from Seattle, up in the mountains, and has a seriously huge amount of snow.)

Luckily, I know Keri will keep the photos coming (hint, hint!) so I can keep up with Tommy’s cuteness.

Tomorrow I’m going to have to post some Max & Emma photos so I can remind myself of how cute they are.

• finished a big scrapbooking project for Max for Christmas
• scrapbooked for 12 straight hours on Saturday (see above)
• checked my gmail account and realized that I hadn’t been checking my gmail account (whoops!)
• heard from my cousin Laura, who is coming to town in January (yay!)
• discovered that my regular email is working again (yippee!)
• found out some exciting news about my nephew Tommy (more details to come!)
• bailed my husband out of jail
• visited one of my favorite restaurants (Dandelion CommuniTEA Cafe!) with my friends Lisa, Marcy and Jenny (thanks Lisa!)
• Got four Christmas Cards, including one from our friends Kris and Tim, whose daughter Jane has gotten so big and grown-up that it sent me into convulsions
• discovered that I can’t currently send email from my regular email account (arrgh!)
• drooled over CKU Chicago but made the inevitable and mature decision that I can’t afford to go (darn that being a responsible grown-up!)
• watched Hairspray with Max (LOVE that movie – it make me get up and dance! Badly!)

No, seriously. Really. I DID get four Christmas Cards.

And yes, Aaron did get arrested.

For driving with a suspended license.

Yes.

Because of two Uniform Traffic Citations.

Because of two unpaid tolls way back earlier in the year.

Yes, of course we tried to resolve it, in fact, we thought it was resolved.

Long story.

Handcuffed yes, strip searched no.

A sense of humor about this experience? What do you think?

For legal reasons, I will leave it at that until everything is resolved. For real this time.

Wow. I guess NaBloPoMo was more motivation than I thought it was. I have been very lax on the blogging for the last week. Oh well, I guess it is like when I was in college for… well… nine years.

(OK people, I went full-time for four years, got my AA and almost my BA, then left and went to work full-time, then went back at night and finally finished with my BA in 2001. At least I did it. Eventually.)

Anyway, as I was saying, while I was in school, I was constantly reading these college texts and novels and writing and trying to get it all done. I love reading and learning, but it was a lot of pressure and non-stop academia. After I finished, I went through some sort of higher mind regression and I started reading nothing but People magazine and romance novels.

Seriously. I have read a lot of romance novels. I especially like the ones where the lead female character is a strong woman and not a helpless idiot. And the ones where she is a princess.

(Oh god, did I write that out loud? All of these four people reading my blog are going to think I am a hopeless fairy tale addict who watches Ever After compulsively.)

(OK, so maybe I did watch it last night. So what? That scene with that dress and the wings… ahhh.)

I think I got off the subject here. Now I keep thinking about what romantic movie I can watch…. I watched Sabrina (the new one) last week… and it is about time for Pride & Prejudice again.

Where was I? Oh yes, something about being back to posting. It is a good way to keep my sanity in this crazy day-to-day world. Thanks to my hubby Aaron and friend Maggie for nudging me back. Love you guys!

A bit of gratitude for today:

• That godson of mine, Jackson, is so flippin’ adorable and snuggly! I am so thankful for him and his awesome parents!
• I LOVE watching Max and Emma play with wonderful Maddy. And Marc is so good with both Max & Emma. He is an awesome dad and Theo.
• I am thankful for the kids seeming to feel better after a few days with colds. Fevers are gone! Yay!
• Have I told you how much I love this time of year? We had a picnic dinner in the park in Winter Park tonight, listened to Aunt Theresa/Thea sing with the Bach Festival Choir and looked at the gorgeous Tiffany windows. Such a lovely way to enjoy the season.

Now the children are nestled all snug in their one giant king-size co-sleeping bed, so it is off to do some scrapbooking! To all a good night!

This is a photo of my birthday cake. Yes, in addition to being the last day of November, and last day of NaBloPoMo, November 30th is my birthday.

And, no, the birthday cake wasn’t meant to have this lovely charred appearance. But, no matter. I love this cake. Why?

This is the cake that Max thought of for my birthday (“I want to make Mommy a cake, and it should have cherries in it, and I want to put sprinkles on top.”)

This is the cake that Aaron made for me, from scratch – Cherry Upside-down Cake. And before its quite extended “warming” time in the over, I’m sure it was delicious.

This is the cake that made my brother rush over and turn off the oven, in an act of selfless fire prevention. I’m so thankful for his quick response to our frantic call.

This cake is a symbol of love and generosity. My husband loves me and wanted me to have a wonderful birthday. My dear, sweet little boy wanted Mommy to have a cake with cherries and sprinkles. My darling baby girl smiled the sweetest smiles at me today, and would have eaten this cake with glee. My brother didn’t complain once but jumped into action and rushed over to save the day. I love this cake.

As if that wasn’t enough love for one birthday, I also got to sing along with Mr. Richard at our Roots & Shoots class, have a delicious lunch with Jenny, decorate gingerbread houses with my mom and Jenny, receive loads of wonderful phone calls and serenades, watch the lighting of the downtown Sanford Christmas tree, and end the day with a “surprise party” planned by Max (he hid behind the coffee table, Aaron hid behind the kitchen island, the house was decorated by the birthday fairies and they jumped out and yelled SURPRISE!).

Whew. That’s a lot of love for 33 years. I feel so very blessed by it all. Thank you.