are things complicated yet?

We are SKA-REWED

So, Charlotte did this today:

Kid isn't even seven months old yet and she's trying to sharpen her hurdle-jumping skills.

SLOW DOWN YOU ARE STILL A BABY.

Things that have happened since last week: My Little Pony, thumb-sucking, crawling, Christmas

1. We are now in possession of three My Little Ponies. I liked My Little Pony a lot as a kid and at Thanksgiving Claire's Grandma arrived with a little set of them. These have long manes and tails and brushes and clippies and even a little mirror (for the ponies...to admire themselves?). It's always surprising to me to see toys I enjoyed as a child still a hit for my kids. I mean, I know I'm being marketed to with the high and mighty emotion of Nostalgia but I don't actually care. My Little Pony is kind of awesome.

2. The Christmas tree is up and decorated. We did this on Tuesday, before we left for the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted the tree up when we got home. I had such a lovely evening planned where we would listen to Christmas music, open a nice bottle of champagne and then order pizza for dinner. It kind of worked out that way. I forgot to chill the champagne, so we made do with vodka-cranberry cocktails and Claire wasn't feeling well so it was not quite as dreamy and lovely and perfect as I had in my head. Chris and I tried to hang ornaments in a neat and orderly fashion and Claire pretty much kept taking them off into other rooms and waving them around or taking a pine cone and saying, "Hey! Look! This my purse!" 

3. I planted some amaryllis and paperwhites. One of them is almost blooming, which makes it quite the intellectually-advanced amaryllis as the box promised me it would be at least eight to ten weeks.

4. Claire is sick. Claire coughed in her sister's face a whole bunch and now Charlotte is sick. And then, through the magical process of germ osmosis, Chris is sick. I remain unscathed.

5. Claire has started sucking her thumb. Yeah. At three-years-old  she all of a sudden just started sucking her thumb, ALL THE DAMN TIME. I have traced the source of the problem to a child called Lynlee at her preschool. Lynlee is always sucking her thumb at drop off and pick up and I'm certain she does it all day at preschool too. A little internet sleuthing has told me that a kid starting to suck her thumb at this age isn't all that unusual and it's not really actually physically harmful until her permanent teeth start to come in but GOD is it an annoying, gross habit. I freaking hate it. First of all, she knows it's wrong. SHE KNOWS.  

She has taken to putting herself in time out under the dining room table so she can lay there and SUCK HER THUMB. (Can I pause here to say that it is actually a little funny when your kid tries to outsmart you? She will be all, "I"m not doing anything in here! I'm just laying!" and I am all, "Kid, I am a little bit smarter than you.") It is also probably what gave her this terrible cold, which gave Charlotte the cold, which gave Chris the cold. Putting your fingers in your mouth that often, as a person that visits Walmart, the playground, preschool and Chick-fil-A? EGHHHHHHH DISGUSTING. If you had a thumb-sucker and you successfully quashed the habit please speak up and tell me how to copy you.

6. I bought thirty-five pounds of laundry detergent. Look, it cut the price per load by 45% (from 34-cents to 19-cents) and it's not like it will expire or spoil or there will be a day where I just don't do laundry any more. (This is how I know I'm not cool and I'm a really dorky mom-type-person.)

7. Thanksgiving happened.

8. I am almost embarrassed to tell you this but I just started using Instagram. 

9. I made some chocolate chip cookies and I was out of vanilla extract so I used a half teaspoon of orange extract and....well....you should do that the next time you make chocolate chip cookies. YUM. I was also very responsible and I froze half the dough so I can eat cookie dough straight from the freezer make cookies later.

10. Charlotte is doing a crawling/scooting thing. She's not too fast (yet) but she can get across a room to get something if she wants it. She started doing this at the exact same time Claire did (to the week). Charlotte also has her first tooth and I can feel the next three starting to poke through.

11. I ordered my Christmas cards and a few copies of a 2011 photobook from Blurb, all in the same evening because I had some promo codes. When I was finished I had spent about $200 (GAH GAH GAH) but I did feel like I'd won at the internet for the evening.

12. This is turning into a Charlotte Update post, but seriously, she has had a big week or two! We stopped swaddling her and after a few rough nights she's okay with it. She's sleeping better and longer unswaddled, which we suspected she might. She is turning some major developmental corners these days with the sitting, crawling, teeth and sleeping and her personality is also starting to come through. She legit laughs at us and has favorite toys and preferences and quirks. I was rocking her this morning and I found myself thinking that this little-baby age of 6-months, where they aren't as helpless as newborns (she can now locate and put her own binky back in her mouth at night), but are still wee babies is one of my favorite ages. (Other favorite ages: 18 months, 24 months.)

13. Since I started running at the Y a few days a week I have lost a three pants sizes but only four total pounds. The four pounds part kind of bugs me (really? FOUR?? I can't even get up to an even FIVE?), but my jenas are literally falling off my body so I am calling this a win.

A sliver and a chunk

I resigned from my job a while ago, for all of the usual reasons a person resigns from her job. After having been employed for ten years, and spending thousands and thousands of hours in a cubicle, it has been weird to suddenly...not.

There is a big chunk of my professional life that I do not miss. I do not miss the never-ending juggle, that part where everyone gets where they need to be every day, with all of the things and lunches and papers and backpacks that we all need to make it to dinner time when we finally come back together as a family. I do not miss feeling rushed and pressed for time, constantly, ohmygod CONSTANTLY. I don't miss feeling tired all the time. I do not miss Sunday night phone calls from VPs, about trivial matters that can wait for Monday. I do not miss working in the evening, on weekends, and in my sleep. I do not miss the rigid schedule and the ever-present fear of failing the schedule: missing daycare pick up, missing a meeting, missing nap linens, missing deliverables. I do not miss finding something to wear in the morning that doesn't require ironing. I do not miss the nutritional disaster that was my diet, simply because I didn't have time to think about it in advance. I do not miss never working out, because, again, there was no time. I do not miss how everything was a power struggle with the clock: there never felt like there was enough time to do everything and so, obviously, not everything got the attention I wanted to give. Whether it was simply reality or my own time management failures, I do not miss the ever-present awareness of Not Enough Time To Do It All. Everyone (kids, husband, office, kitchen floor, laundry, etc) got enough attention, perhaps more than enough to thrive but not nearly the amount that I wanted to give, and that was terribly difficult for me to be aware of.

I do not miss all of...that.

There is a sliver of my professional life that I do miss, that I think about often and wish I could have. It is the part where I was doing something I liked, something I was good at, something that was plain old fun. It is the part where I kick ass and take names, negotiate the hell out of something or make something right for a customer or a client. It was cooking up something clever or problem-solving or brilliant. It was feeling smart and intelligent and valued, even for simple things that come easy to me. It is the feeling of managing a global team from my inbox, all working towards the same goal, and closing out each day with a delightful list of Items Completed. It is power stilettos and dry-clean-only clothes and a commute by myself with time to hear my own thoughts. It is a paycheck with bright and shiny health insurance. It is a hot cup of coffee on my desk and something that is Mine, All Mine and I don't have to share it with my kids or my husband and goddamit, I am GOOD at it. People LIKE ME. These things are only a sliver, but I do think about them.

I miss that sliver.

And that's probably all I'll ever have to say on the topic.

Advent Calendar Activities! (I am a little too excited about this.)

(Elizabeth and I basically write the same posts these days, just so you know.)

After I saw both Elizabeth and Emily blog their Advent activities last December I KNEW it was something I really wanted to do with Claire. Last year she had just turned two and was a little young for the whole thing. I was also pregnant and cranky and tired and coming up with a bunch of ideas for Advent was BEYOND the grasp of my mental abilities at that point. Hell, we were lucky presents made it under the tree. (Thank you, Amazon Prime.)

This year is The Year that our firstborn is old enough to have it figured out and old enough to take out in public and enjoy her reactions and responses to Christmas. She is three and has such a better grasp on concepts that go beyond, "When is my next snacking opportunity?" She understands Santa (well, kind of, she has him sort of confused with the idea of birthday parties), she is excited about the tree, she yelped with glee when I found the Christmas cookie cutters. Emily has the point exactly right: the Advent Activities are about making a to do list, keeping ME in line and giving us an opportunity to create our own family traditions and memories. It also make for attractive bait to incent good behavior.

I could not possibly be more excited about this. I mean, you guys saw my cute Etsy muslin bag advent calendar, right? SO CUTE. I can't wait to put little notes in each one and hang them up. I think I'm going to blog the whole thing, just to make sure I really copy Emily and Elizabeth as authentically as possible (in a non-creepy stalker way, of course).

Here is this year's list, my FIRST year's list, not in the correct order. I'll have to look closely at the calendar to make sure activities match up with show times and our availabilities, but this is pretty much the list.

***

1. Christmas Tea at The Ashton Hotel with my best friend. NO CHILDREN. (For me.) Decorate a gingerbread house (for Claire/Chris.) (Charlotte will probably get to take a nap. Maybe in a holiday onesie.)

2. Make cinnamon applesauce ornaments.

3. Make plaster of paris handprint ornaments.

4. Go ice skating. (Well...TRY ice skating. Claire and I will try, Chris and Charlotte will watch. We'll see if Claire picks it up/enjoys it.)

5. Drive around with hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights.

6. Choose and buy toys for a needy child, from both Charlotte and Claire, (Claire will do the picking out) and donate to my holiday toy charity of choice, Toys for Tots (organized and run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.)

7. Wrap gifts. (Claire can "help" with this.) 

8. Make Christmas Cookies. (And then freeze them.)

9. Decorate Christmas cookies with friends. (After defrosting them.) (Also known as Cooke Day.)

10. Go see the trains at Northpark Mall. Maybe visit Santa, but probably not as the line will probably be long and then Claire will flip out when it's finally her turn.

11. Turn on Christmas music, decorate the tree, order pizza and drink wine. Watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation after the kids go to bed.

12, 13, 14, 15: Open a present. I have a handful of Christmas books for Claire that will be best enjoyed through the month of December and as Elizabeth has pointed out, gifts are appreciated MUCH MORE on December 12 than alongside thirty other gifts on December 25. She'll get some books and Christmas PJs and Christmas socks for these. (Claire really likes socks these days, for some reason.) For one of these days I will add an activity for myself: Get Fancy Pedicure at Fancy Spa. ALOOOOONE.

16. Put up the Christmas lights in the yard.

17. Some kind of volunteer something. I very much want to take Claire to do something that fits into the "giving back" category that is beyond "buy something and drop it in a box" (which we have on here once with Toys for Tots and we've already donated several cans to her school's food drive and will probably do so again) but I have yet to identify the specific activity. Suggestions for an adult and 3-year-old on this one?

18. Buy poinsettias and garland and decorate the house. Probably make some paper ornaments to hang on the garland.

19. Attend a local Christmas concert. Probably a church or the high school.

20. Make a gift for someone else (probably her teacher). (I am realizing there is a lot of PROBABLY in this list.)

21. Go see The Polar Express at one of the Pajama Parties at the Omni/IMAX in downtown Ft Worth. 

22. If I can come to terms with the cost (or find discounted tickets...maybe) go tubing at SNOW! at the Gaylord Texan. Hey, we are in Texas. We have to PAY to play in the snow here. I'm worried this will be a thing that we think she'll love and then we'll spend a crap-ton of money and she'll be like, "I HATE THIS." Kids. SIGH.

23. Go see The Nutcracker. I am pretty sure Chris will go with me if I ask him, but I am pretty sure he'd rather I just take Jennie instead. (Hey, Jennie! Want to, um, go see The Nutcracker with me?)

24. Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Chris. Babysitter for Claire and Charlotte, though I'll have to spin this a little bit better to get Claire excited about it.

Things I have bought recently (okay, A LOT of things) (CHRISTMAS THINGS!)

I always like hearing about things that people are buying because it makes me wonder if I should be buying those things too. Sometimes I think I SHOULD be buying them. After all, if some other person has gone to the trouble of researching it and if Jennie has ten of this t-shirt then I probably need at least one. There's something to be said for the research and good taste of others.

Thusly, it occurs to me that I have been on a bit of a shopping spree lately, all in the name of Christmas. I've been decorating the house with things I've been considering buying for months, but now that I've got people coming over for parties and gift-opening and eating there's a new sense of urgency to hurry up and frame that shit and stick it on the wall.

I have never really gone all-in on Christmas decor, mostly because I don't like to spend money on it and partly because I think so much of is is so godawful ugly and tacky, but this year in this new house I wanted to get a few more things to make it feel extra Christmas-y. I really don't have much beyond the tree, ornaments and stockings. Actually...that might be it. Last year was Christmas Lite and this year will be Christmas Regular. (It is my hope to never venture into Christmas Extra Bold.)

So. The Things.

This year I really wanted some Christmas pillows for the sofa. My sofa is brown with brown pillows and Elizabeth has been talking a lot this year about how her living room used to be So Very Brown and I realized there was no reason I had to keep using the brown pillows that came with my brown sofa. I am an adult, I am allowed to buy new pillows that aren't brown.

It only took me six years to get to this idea and I'm still just doing SEASONAL pillows and not regular everyday pillows. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Classic Tidings Poinsettia Pillow from Target

I can't find this on their website so it might be in stores only, which is so annoying. (Or, maybe their website really does suck that much, which I think it does. Does ANYONE shop there? They make it SO DIFFICULT.) Anyway, I saw this pillow in a catalog that came in the mail I knew I really wanted it which is super rare for me as I never want anything right away. I must hem and haw and ponder and think and consider.

I sourced one at my local store and I've had it for a week or two. It's made of a synthetic material that is SIMILAR to felt but not actually felt. It LOOKS like felt the first three or four times you get close. It's some kind of polyester, but fuzzy and kind of oddly plasticky on the reverse side. It's not unpleasant, but it's not high quality. It is probably worth about $9.99 and not $19.99 but I do like the way it looks, all red and pretty and flowery.

Painted Holly Branch Pillow Cover from Pottery Barn

I just got this today and I like it. It's 16" x 26" which felt BIG to me, maybe too big for a sofa pillow but it's really not. I like that it's not square so it's kind of different. I am in love with the pattern. I had to get the insert from Amazon and it's not here yet, so I can't say that I am looking at the final product on my sofa but I'm pretty sure it will be great.

12" Merrie Pillow from Crate and Barrel

I have wanted this pillow for the past three years and every year I ask for it and every year nobody buys it for me and this year I said To Hell With That and I bought myself the pillow. It's 12", which is rather small but it's so cute. This is not the kind of pillow you take a nap on, rather it's a pretty pillow that you prop up on OTHER pillows but really it is so, so, so cute, did I mention that it is cute?

A whole bunch of glass ball ornaments from Crate and Barrel

This is the kind of thing I have wanted for years but I did not want to buy CRAPPY glass ornaments with irregular color or dull color or ugly color. I also did not want ornaments that would break easily or looked cheap or flimsy or had seams in them. I took a chance on these, having not seen them in person, and I have to say they are pretty sweet. I like them! I got a few of each in red, gold, green, purple and hot pink. I have not decided if I will put them on a tree or pile them up in a big bowl or hang them from my chandelier but I like them. For $3 each I like them a lot and I think they will last me many years if I can keep the small hands away from them.

16 x 20 Mae Chevrette Print

(SIDEBAR: Okay, so I had a really big fight with Paypal last month. Like, a BIG BIG BIG fight. A fight where I declared, several times, that I was never going to use Paypal, ever again. Then I realized that meant I could never use Etsy again and I was okay with it because, really, it was a VERY BIG fight. But then I found things on Etsy I wanted and I really, really wanted those things so I amended my vow to "I will never use Paypal to ACCEPT MONEY FROM OTHERS ever again. Ever. Ever ever ever." I can use Etsy for buying but that's about it. I realize this is not the most staunch or impressive or even results-getting consumer position but...look, I really like Etsy. Shut up.)

This is ALSO something I have wanted for months (today's theme!) and I finally bought it. This will go in my bathroom. I love the colors and the sentiment. This artist has some other really fantastic prints and I'm considering one or two more.

 

Advent Calendar

I realllllly wanted an Advent Calendar this year that I could string up like bunting and I also loved the idea of each date being a separate item to open and enjoy, rather than a pocket-style Advent calendar. I don't have a lot of extra wall space in my living room, so a bunting-style version works best for me.

I looked high and low on Etsy and this type of thing varies in price dramatically. I even found a version for $112. Yes, ONE HUNDRED TWELVE AMERICAN DOLLARS. (I did not purchase that one.) Instead, I found this darling version with stamped muslin bags. It's exactly what I wanted and cost $25 which is just a little north of what I figured it might cost to DIY. I can put little notes with the activity for the day in there and if I want I can put a tiny present in some of them too. I'm really looking forward to doing this with Claire and I'm planning on hanging it with a fat, red, satiny ribbon.

Julia Child Print

I just really liked it.

Reindeer Stocking from Pottery Barn Kids

I bought this for Charlotte, because I liked how sweet and cute the reindeer was. I got it today and the stocking is sort of fluffy and stuffed in places, to give it a 3D look. This isn't in the description and I don't really like it. Chris likes it, so maybe I would consider keeping it if they hadn't embroidered the name all the way through the top of the stocking.

So, PBK will be getting a call about that tomorrow. Can nothing be easy with their embroidery department?

 

Red Cardinal Mugs, 10-ounce

I scored eight of these suckers for $4 each at TJ Maxx/Homegoods, after pining for them at Macy's where the 16-ounce set was $70, for only four!

Source: macys.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

 

Costco evergreen, apple and hydrangea wreath

To be delivered 12/5! This is going to look kick-ass on my door.

That's all I've bought lately, but I think it's QUITE ENOUGH for one week. What did YOU buy this week that I might need to copy? I am on the hunt for Christmas books for kids, kids Christmas pajamas for not $35, and a cheap-ish, non-shedding way to decorate the stairs and mantle (no live greenery or fake greenery).

Holiday to-do list

1. Invent 24 activities/fun things to put in the Advent calendar.

2. Buy fabric. Make curtains for the kitchen. Hang them like a proper adult. I have lived here for almost two years, I hate the blinds, MAKE SOME CURTAINS ALREADY, A'DELL.

3. Make sugar cookies and freeze them well in advance of Cookie Day, in an effort to spread out the baking chores and dishes associated with them.

4. Assemble family in backyard for Official Family Photo shoot. Take nine trillion pictures. Pray one of them is decent.

5. Take said photo and upload to Tiny Prints and choose a card. Order it. Send them back out once they arrive.

6. Frame and hang several photos and prints before anyone comes to visit to give the illusion that my home has been all decorated up for many, many, moons.

7. Figure out the menu for Cookie Day.

8. Figure out the menu for Christmas.

9. Buy a crap-ton of gifts. Make sincere effort to buy them all online, for free shipping and no tax at Amazon.

10. Wrap gifts. Am going to use same classy peppermint striped paper from last year. Look how cute and matchy-matchy that is. (The effect is far less dizzying in real life versus a photo.)

11. Probably mail some gifts. (AGHHH I HATE THE POST OFFICE.)

12. Make this printable banner and hang it up.

Source: atsecondstreet.blogspot.com via A'Dell on Pinterest

 

13. Scavenge some pine cones and spray paint them. Put them in a bowl or hurricane vase, as seen everywhere on Pinterest.

14. Assemble the tree and decorate it. Redecorate it several times until I am pleased with its aesthetics.

15. Spend some serious time giving the thumbs up/down to holiday songs on Pandora so that by December 1 I will have a truly kick ass holiday station to listen to.

16. Watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation at least three times. Source at least two more holiday movies because I am bored with our current selection. (Elf, Rudolph, Frosty and the aforementioned family classic. Suggestions?)

17. Make eggnog lattes several times a week.

18. Buy the girls matching Christmas pajamas.

19. Make the Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake again. Because, it's Christmas.

20. Buy more wine, because you bet your ass we're not going to run out like we did last year. (And, I was pregnant and not drinking last year so we are for sure going to drink more.)

21. Spend a lot of money at the liquor store. We're nearly out of vodka, scotch and bourbon. 

22. Even though I think they cost too much, get some gift tags printed from Tiny Prints like I did last year because I just loooooved those last year and the leftover ones are now null and void as I went and created a whole new human last May and her name would be conspicuously absent.

23. Buy holiday attire for the girls. Try to figure out in advance if a grandparent is covering the littles so I don't duplicate efforts and end up with three holiday dresses per child and only one month to wear them before everyone grows.

24. Buy Christmas pajamas for myself, as the ones I bought last year were purchased when pregnant and, well, if they fit then I'll be so pissed so....NEW PAJAMAS. I'm not even going to try the old ones on.

25. Shop around a dress that is suitable for my brother's wedding in February. Buy it when it goes on sale in January.

26. Eat a lot. Drink a lot. Remember to keep going to the Y, because it keeps me sane and happy.

This is a story about my favorite Veteran. (I hope you'll tell me yours, too)

I published this last year and the year before and even though I know it's usually considered boring or bad form to publish things that have already been published, I'm doing it again. For a third time.

I think it's so easy to let holidays like today blur together into a lump of Patriotic Days That Mattresses Go On Sale. It would be so easy to forget or simply not notice the unique meaning of today and it is certainly something many people do. They gloss over, they do not pay attention, they continue on with The Business Of Today and don't give a moment's thought to the fact that The Business of Yesterday very much still rolls into Today.

This is a story about my father. At the Aggie football game that falls closest to Veteran's Day, when the announcer asks all Veterans to rise for a thank you for their service, dedication and duty with a round of applause before kick-off, I will get teary-eyed with enormous pride when I see him stand up (along with thousands of other Veterans in that stadium) and humbly accept the energetic and sincere thanks of 80,000 Americans. I will stand in awe that our nation continues to say thank you, continues to respect, continues to acknowledge, continues to pause. 

Thank you, Daddy.

***

When I was in sixth grade I heard a voice on the radio telling us something that we'd all known was going to happen.  I think the way he phrased it was something like,

"Well, we're really at war now folks.  It's started.  It's official.  War..."

War.  His voice was heavy with concern and anticipation.  I briefly wondered if our family was going to plant a Victory Garden, like I'd seen the families in my textbooks do.

The last military engagement authorized by Congress had been Vietnam.  The Korean War ended in 1953.  In 1991, we had not kicked Saddam Hussien's ass even once yet. The limited context I had wasn't very positive.  It would be later that evening or maybe the next day before we saw missiles light up the Iraqi sky like fireworks on CNN.  It would be several more days before everyone started to make jokes about how much Iraqi ass our military was kicking.

Point being, on January 17, 1991 it had been a while since widespread scary shit had happened to the Marines.  But all of the previous scary shit from WWII, Vietnam and Korea had made its way into my textbooks in all of the 4-color glory that McGraw-Hill could get the State of California to sign off on. It wasn't gory but, you know, message received: War is some scary shit, it'll last a long time and a lot of people will probably die.

At least, that's what my 12-year-old brain got out of it.  Up until that point, I'd never really considered that my father might actually see combat during his tenure in the Marine Corps.  I'd never had any reason to think otherwise. Besides a lack of recent war, January 17, 1991 was before the modern day crazies and terrorists started showing up.  It was before Columbine, Oklahoma City, September 11, Virginia Tech and the horror that happened just days ago at Ft. Hood. (Sadly, in 2011 we can add the Norway school attack to this list.)

Can you even remember what it was like to feel insulated like I did in 1991?  Can you recall what it felt like to not be on edge and wonder about that freaky dude you just saw?  Do you remember a time when you thought everything was gonna be ok - no matter what? 

Sure, I was young and naive, but compared to today's 12-year old?  I might as well have had the worldview of Bubble Girl.  There was no internet.  We didn't have cable.  I wasn't allowed to watch PG-13 movies (As my mother so pointedly reminded me, I was not 13 yet.)  War-wise, life had been good in the United States for a while in 1991.  

War, an official, real WAR felt very disconcerting to pre-teen me.

I often toggle between my 12-year-old self and my 30-year-old self when I hear people, the media and politicians talk about our current war.  What I often consider is that it hasn't been 8 years; it's really been 18.  Our troops and their families have been invested in this for 18 years - long enough to turn a newborn into a college freshman.

That's an awful lot of troops and families to thank today for their recent service, in addition to those who have served in the past.  Thank you.

***

My father was deployed from May 1990 to March 1991. He was supposed to go to Okinawa for 6 months but that didn't really play out as planned.

In July he performed rescue operations in Manila after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.  He assisted primarily at Christian College, where a six-story building completely collapsed and approximately 250 students and teachers were trapped inside. 

Nope, no cell phones.

He was in Saudi Arabia by January 1991 and led ground combat operations as part of Task Force Grizzly. 

Their mission was to be a foot-mobile infiltration force tasked with breaching enemy minefields.  This means they spent a lot of time walking, in the desert, with a full pack, sleeping in holes and trying not to step on mines.

The sign says, "Better Holes and Gardens, Hole of the Month." 

They made their jokes where they could.

They covered approximately 45 miles, carrying a combat load, over eight days.  They took 68 prisoners of war when an entire company of Iraqis surrendered to them.  When it was time to come home, two Marines had been killed in action and 14 wounded.  A very detailed description of the entire mission can be found here.

When he finally came home, safe and sound, in March 1991 it took all day for the battalion to make the few hours drive back to the base.  We thought they'd be there by lunch but it was long after dark when they arrived. 

The cause of the massive delay?  The highway between the base and airport was jammed with joyful, thankful, ebullient people who reached into the bus to shake their hands and say thank you.  FOR MILES AND MILES.

These thankful people passed buckets of fried chicken, cases of beer, bags of potato chips, dozens of cookies and whole cakes into the buses for the Marines.  Keep in mind that they had been in the desert for months with no television, internet or newspapers, fighting a war on foot.  They had no idea what the mood was at home or how they would be received upon their return. 

To say they were surprised by the reception would be a massive understatement.

***

I know that almost every family has a service member they're proud of.  As the great military tradition in this country continues, there are very few families out there who don't have a somebody deserving of great thanks and respect on this Veteran's Day.

It's just that I am so privileged to claim him as our Marine. 

Thank you, Dad.  Thanks for spending your career, the prime of your life, working to save and better the lives of so many people who may never know the freedoms that I do, but are perhaps a little bit closer after you crossed their path. 

Thank you.

***

What about you? I would so love to hear about your family members and their stories. Please, please, leave a comment, or if you write a post, I would so enjoy reading more if you paste the link.

7 quick takes: My hair, Cars 2, Tree Skirt, Steve Jobs

1. I got my hair cut a few weeks ago and it's the best haircut I've had in YEARS. The lady that did it took her time and I could tell that I was getting a very good cut with no room for swoopy "I'll just take some off....here!" garbage. She followed directions, took no creative liberties and it's amazing how that resulted in the exact haircut I wanted.

Then she blew it dry with a round brush and, wow, I had forgotten how GOOD my hair looks when someone else blows it dry. My hair was awesome for about 36 hours and then it turned into a grease ball (guessing it was all the extra product in there). I tried to replicate the look at home and sometimes I'm about 80% successful and sometimes the baby is screaming and it air dries and it looks....not the same. I get a D+ in Blow Drying With A Round Brush. It is not one of the talents God bestowed upon me.

Here's what it looked like the evening after I got the cut. I will definitely be going back to her.

2. The weather has changed here in Texas and it is cold outside at night and lovely and pleasant during the day. I was sitting on the sofa this morning with my coffee (Starbucks Breakfast Blend, which I am newly in love with) and I was thinking about how much warmer and cozier my house feels when it is not hot outside. This sounds really stupid, I know, but the effect is profound on my attitude. The house feels warmer and better and happier. My mood has changed and it might be the season or it might be the baby getting to that magic 6-month mark but things continue to slope upwards, getting better every day, more organized, less frenzied...less newborn-y.

3. We rented Cars 2 on Amazon and within 20 minutes Claire was watching Sesame Street on my iPhone. That's all I have to say about that.

4. I have become bored with DIY fro-yo. I have tried all of them (in my very educated opinion, Yogurtland is the best) and eaten so much fro-yo in the past 90 days that the thought of any more DIY fro-yo kind of grosses me out. So, that's kind of sad.

5. I bought a $5 red felt tree skirt at Target the other day and I have grand plans for it. I have wanted, for years, a nice tree skirt but I do not care to pay $80 (or more, omg) for a tree skirt that will be covered up with gifts pretty fast. So, I will take my new $5 red felt tree skirt and I am going to dress it up with some green pom-poms around the edge or maybe some contrasting satin ribbon. Perhaps grosgrain. THEN I will take it to my mother and she is going to take her embroidery machine to it and write "The S____ Family" and then our first names all the way around the edges, evenly spaced. I have this exaggerated vision for how classy and sentimental and lovely it will look and I am really hoping it works out because, dudes, FIVE DOLLA TREE SKIRT. (I will keep you posted.)

6. I switched from Crest to Colgate, for no particular reason, after 30-odd years.

7. I bought and read the Steve Jobs biography and, holy cow you guys, this is a great book. I wouldn't call myself devoted to Apple but I do own several devices and I have an appreciation for them. Jobs' life and the creation (and turnaround) of Apple are FASCINATING.

What was most riveting is that I found my own life mirrors that of Apple's quite closely. (Apple introduced the Apple II in 1977, I was born in 1979.) I thought the first time I'd really come to "know" Apple was when I bought an iPhone in 2007 but it had really been much, much earlier.

I logged significant hours on early Apple products with phosphorescent green letters (Oregon Trail, yo!), and even more on later models in 7th and 8th grade newspaper classes. In high school we had THREE Apple machines for the entire class and we TOOK TURNS typing our stories. At one point, we got 30 new machines (one for each student, OH THE LUXURY) and they were all Apples. In college I laid out the Athletics section of the Aggieland for two years on a Power Mac G4 and as a professional I worked in advertising agencies that were some of Apple's first and best customers. As an adult I'm already on my second iPhone, I have an iPod nano, a Macbook and an iPad. Chris has the same, plus there's a Mac Mini in the living room running the TV. I hadn't even realized it until I read this book, but I've been interacting with Apple products since (at my earliest recollection) third grade. THIRD GRADE!

The incredible story behind the development of these products is really amazing (to the point that you think it's a miracle they exist at all) and until I'd read this book I had never really given much thought to how Apple and Jobs' timeline parallels my own. But, as I read the book and remembered the products, it rooted me firmly in those years. As the author was describing an early Apple machine, I could hear the distinctive clacking of those beige keys and remember exactly what it was like to cram a 5" floppy in the drive when Oregon Trail locked up (which it frequently did). There is an entire section devoted to the way the GUI allowed open Finder windows to layer upon one another and, yes, I remember that screen shot from seventh grade! I remember thinking that it was SO SIMPLE to just drag an item where I wanted it to live. (I actually remember thinking "Hey, that's cool.") When I really take in the idea that my elementary school had 28 Apple IIe machines and we all went to the Computer Lab once a week and thought it was a very "gee whiz" thing and now? Now, this company and their products fit in my back pocket and perform thousands more tasks? That's amazing. AMAZING.

I came away feeling impressed by Jobs' intuition, devotion and uncompromising attitude. I also came away thinking he was realllllly weird in some areas but all genius has a little bit of crazy behind it somewhere. Highly, highly recommend this one.

The other side of three

Claire got a bike for her birthday last month and she loves it. (As children tend to do.) We took her to a park this morning, where there is a big, wide loop around a bunch of soccer fields. We told her to ride as far and as fast as she wanted. She looked at us hesitantly and I could see the words in her mind start to form.

"For....real? As fast as I want? Are they serious??!"

She whooped and hollered the whole way, making noise at the top of her lungs to see how loud she could go, how far her voice would carry and the different octaves she could hit. 

Claire at age three/almost-three was so hard for me to manage this summer, but the past few weeks have been a welcome respite. She's more understanding and empathetic. She has developed a delicately wry sense of humor. She's still resistant to the idea of naps, bedtime and the word "no" but her other sweet moments and days like today really make up for the ones that make me want to pull my hair out.

As Charlotte turns the corner to six months, when things start to get reallllllly fun with babies, Claire seems to turned her own as well. We've got 11 more months of three, but things are good now. Really good.

It's baaaack! Style Lush Holiday Gift Guide! 100 things under $25

So, I am thinking that you know I write once a week at Style Lush (Wednesdays) and once a week at Food Lush (Tuesdays), yes?

One of our writers (also a fellow Blathering organizer and all-around fabulous person) Elizabeth always does an amazing job with the Style Lush Holiday Gift Guide and this year is no exception.

SO MANY PRETTY THINGS.  ALL UNDER $25.

On my list? Items 2, 9, 16, 28 (inspect this one carefully, it's a total winner), 29, 31, 35, 53 and 80. Oh, Elizabeth, Christmas would be so much more difficult without you. 

Be still my nervous, click-to-buy index finger.