Hopefully this isn't it

You know that quote from Andy Warhol that says that everybody will have 15 minutes of fame? Hopefully today isn't Rob's. I think we'd like ours to be when we accept our check from Publishers Clearing House. Still, Rob is fielding phone calls from the likes of The New York Times and Fox News New York today. For those of you who have been watching the news, Obama appointed a new justice to the Supreme Court: Judge Sonia Sotomayor. And it just so happens that Rob interned for that same judge when he was in law school. So apparently the hard-hitting reporters have been trying to get Rob to weigh in on all the negative criticisms she's been getting, which of course he won't. I asked him if he said something good so they would quote him. Rob: I don't think I said what they wanted. I told him maybe this was his 15 minutes of fame. Rob: I hope not.

I hope not too. Ed McMahon, we're waiting!

To the Big Girl

Dear Ava:

Today you and I went to Old Navy to return a few things and as usual, you were obsessed with the mannequin dog there. You spent 10 minutes petting it and talking to it and giving it hugs. So I took this picture of you and emailed it to your dad.When your dad and I talked again later, we laughed about how with your sunglasses it's hard to tell which one is the mannequin. We also joked about never needing a real dog because you are apparently content with a plastic one. About five minutes after we'd hung up, your dad called me back:
Your Dad: I was looking at that picture you sent again.
Me: Yeah?
Your Dad: She looks like a little girl in that picture, not a baby anymore.
Me: I know.
Your Dad: She is a little girl now, I mean look at that picture.
Me: Yep, her and I just had a conversation today about how she's not a baby anymore.
Your Dad: How did that happen?
Me: I don't know.

Even though we're not sure how it happened, the truth of the matter is, our tiny baby is long gone. It's hard to believe that you will be two years old next month. Where did the time go? I'm not sure but I know it's been quite the ride so far and we still shake our heads and can't believe how boring our lives must have been before you came along. I'm sure time will continue to fly by and before you know it your dad and I will look at another picture and wonder when you became a teenager. But until then, I'm gonna enjoy today with you. Let's go read a book.
Love,
Mom

The smoke is coming from my house.........

And no, not because my house is on fire. I know judging from the last post that's the likely thought that is passing through your head right now. Well just stop it. It'll be a good year at least before I do something else dumb enough to have to call 9-1-1. But anyway, back to the smoke coming from my house. We got a fire pit!!!!! And if you can't tell by the 5 exclamation points at the end of the last sentence, I'm very excited about it. I've wanted one forever. In fact, I tried to talk my dad into putting one in my backyard growing up but alas, he doesn't love me that much (ha!). But Rob and I have decided that this is the year to get our backyard into shape and so after laying sod for an entire Saturday two weeks ago, our grass is looking fantastic and it has motivated us to get the rest of the space put together. So today we bought some new patio furniture, some tiki torches (another childhood dream) and a fire pit. And Rob and I even had a romantic little evening making smores over our new toy after the kid was in bed. (Technically the instructions say not to use it as a cooking device but I've never been much for rules). It was actually a cool night here in Texas and it was lovely to be able to sit next to it and warm my hands and close my eyes and pretend I was camping. It was pretty close. I even have the smoke-filled sweater to prove it. So don't call the fire department but feel free to stop by for a little conversation around the coals. It's bliss!

Please Pull Over For Emergency Vehicles

Because you never know who they are going to help. Perhaps it is just a kitten stuck up a tree but maybe, just maybe it is a sweet young mother who has locked her keys and her child in the car in the fabric store parking lot. Maybe this mother realized what she had done and a wave of sheer panic went through her. Maybe at that point she accosted some nice random stranger (she looked like a grandmother) in the parking lot and asked her to stay with the car. Now of course this situation is completely hypothetical but just to make it easier, let's give this young mother a name. Let's call her Ally. Now perhaps at this point Ally ran back into the store to use the phone and I imagine a death glare may have passed from Ally to the clerk who acted annoyed about loaning out the store phone. It's possible that Ally realized that due to the age of cell phones she didn't know anybody's phone number except her very good friend who happened to be the first person she thought to call. Now Ally's friend might have been at a soccer game and unable to get Ally's extra set of keys. Ally may have had the brilliant idea to try to get her toddler to climb up to the front seat and press the button on the keypad to unlock the door however, I imagine that when Ally got back out to the parking lot, the toddler had already buckled herself into her car seat. Ally may have even tried another friend who she couldn't get on the phone. It's possible that the nice random stranger had the idea to call the fire department. Ally was probably hesitant to dial 9-1-1 for such a situation but seeing as she had exhausted her other options and her husband was out of town, she probably acquiesced but still acted helpless enough that the random stranger offered to make the call. You may have been asking yourself at this point what the toddler was doing (if this had been a real situation of course) and maybe the toddler thought the whole thing was a game and was playing patty cake and itsy-bitsy spider through the window with the random stranger. Maybe the toddler got very excited a little later and started shouting "Yeah fireman!" as the fire truck rolled down the street flashing lights and sounding sirens and all. At this point, the young mother was probably a bit embarrassed at all the pomp and circumstance over the situation but relieved when the firemen were able to successfully open the car door without any permanent damage to it. Maybe the mother had to laugh a little when the firemen asked if she'd like the toddler transported to a medical facility (since the toddler was obviously fine). Maybe the mother was thinking "actually I'd like you to get those flashing lights and sirens out of here so people stop staring at me and I can stop feeling like a moron for having had to call 9-1-1 for this." And maybe Ally was so thrown off by the whole event that she went straight home instead of to the grocery store as planned. And maybe, just maybe Abby's Ally's friends that she told have been making fun of her ever since. Of course, like I mentioned before, this is all hypothetical. Purely a fable to remind you of the importance of pulling over for those flashing lights. It could be you next time. Or it could be Ally again. Either way, pull over would ya?