All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free...

So I know I said I was all about picking this whole typing my thoughts into the computer for the world (or just some friends) to read, but then came the wrist brace. Yup, the wrist brace. And while I could tell a truly rad story about how I was walking into the bank with Elliot on my hip and took out a robber thus injuring my poor wrist, I'll go ahead and tell the truth.

It was a sewing injury.

Apparently all you people having babies or babies' birthdays led me into a hand-sewing frenzy and I got a little carpal tunnel. So I had to stop the sewing (sorry, Hollis - Stella's gift is coming, I promise!) and start wearing the brace. But I'm doing much better now. Thanks for asking.

Anyway, I made a big old batch of crawfish for Fat Tuesday this year. I tend to get homesick around Fat Tuesday every year. Not really because we used to do any Mardis Gras festivities, but because Fat Tuesday makes me think of crawfish and crawfish makes me think of home. All you Houston people know what I mean - during the season you can't go two blocks without seeing huge signs: "WE HAVE CRAWFISH!" "CRAWFISH SPECIALS!" "CRAWFISH BY THE BARREL LOAD!" Okay, maybe I made that one up, but I bet you get the idea. You're all smart people. I remember going to Fiesta with my dad, where he taught me how to pick the best crawfish. I remember helping him purge them in the kitchen sink, opening the doors because the spices made our kitchen into an experiment in tear gas. And of course, I remember the awesome yumminess that was the end result to an all-day affair.

When I was pregnant with The Joey I had this dream. It was one of those super-vivid sensory pregnant lady crazy dreams. I was back in my family's old house on Lost Oak (shout out, Cypressdale!) and I was walking down the hall. And I could smell something ridiculously delicious. So I walk into the living room and see through a cutout in the wall (I'm not a student of architecture so I don't know the correct term) that my dad was at the stove with his back turned to me, stirring something in the huge stockpot reserved for crawfish. As I walked into the kitchen I said, "Dad...?" because it was just so real. And just as he was about to turn around - I could even see the grin forming at the corner of his mouth - I woke up.

Now during this time I was pregnant with The Joey I felt very alone. I was hundreds of miles from my parents, all my friends had graduated college and moved away and here I was, knocked up and getting to know my husband who I had been dating for all of under a year before we got married. Don't worry - we know each other now, and we like each other. I've always been close to my dad, but unfortunately my mother and I had a HUGE falling out over the aforementioned situation of being knocked up and married and as a result my dad and I didn't really talk much, either. What I'm trying to emote here is that I had a very real reaction when I awoke from this incredible dream.

I was hungry.

Not just "I could eat" hungry. I was drooling on myself, "nothing is going to satisfy this hunger other than crawfish, and oh by the way I mean NOW" pregnancy craving on crack kind of hungry.

Oh yeah, and I was crying, too.

The Husband, Godlovehim, found a place in the middle of nowhere near Lake Texoma that served crawfish.

So whenever I want or make crawfish I find myself pretending that I'm in that kitchen on Lost Oak with my dad, going through the motions we've been going through for years and years.

And now I'm about to cry again. But not in a bad way - in a soul-stirring appreciative kind of way. Because no matter what happens for the rest of eternity I had that time with my dad, and the memories are enough to keep him so close that I can bring him from Houston to Fort Worth just by reliving them in my mind.

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here....

Hey all!

I was reading Life in the Land of Douglas and the thought occurred to me that I haven't been here lately. So I logged on and lo! and behold, it's been over a year. That posting was about my evil frustrations about breastfeeding and the meltdown I had one night when I refused to feed him. Well... I wound up continuing a couple hours after that meltdown after some rest and I had gotten out all those evil feelings in a really good cry. The Elliot stayed on the breast until he was almost 9 months old, and I made all his baby food until he was graduated to super-chunky food. We attempted jarred baby food, but it made him very upset so we began him on table food a bit early but "The Tank", as we call him, has never looked back. That kid is ridiculous!

So what else? We're just still truckin' along, enjoying our life with our two boys. It's kind of crazy when I stop and think about it: I have two boys. And boy are they boys! Last week they tripped me at least three times as I stupidly attempted to walk across the living room while they were wrestling. They eat enough that I now buy bigger packages of food (meat, especially) and we're eventually getting an additional freezer from The Awesome In-Laws. But we've pretty much gotten the hang of everything, as much as we're ever going to be able to.

The Joey is getting bigger every time I turn around. He's tall and lanky and so Joey. We're continuing to battle with some behavior issues and him "using his brain" both at school and at home. We've wondered if he may have some kind of hyperactivity or attention deficit, but all my research notes that doctors don't like to diagnose until seven. So we'll be fighting the good fight for another year and a half and hopefully we'll get to the bottom of it eventually. The Elliot is walking more and more, which is just amazing. He's 14 months (tomorrow!) and has figured out how to remove the "child-proofing" electrical socket covers. The best I can deduce The Elliot watched me take them out to plug in the vacuum (yes, I clean... sometimes) or my sewing machine (which I use sooooo much more than my vacuum) or whatever; he can do it because he watched me do it! When he watches us do things he really watches. You can see the gears in his big head turning and when he puts them into practice and does something/anything you can see the joy of satisfaction on his face. It's freaking adorable.

I guess that's about it for catching up. I'll attempt to do better. But I have boys.