I can't believe it's all over! It always seems like the Christmas season goes by so fast. Maybe it's because everything gets so busy, but whatever the case, it's all a done deal. Of course, it was a great Christmas -- other than sleeping on the floor of my mother-in-law's house because our air mattress sprung a leak. The girls had a great time ripping open presents, and I am happy to report that they need no new toys for the rest of their life! Their favorite so far is a toy kitchen with fake food and lots of little pots and pans just like mom's.

Now it's on to a new year! I don't really make "resolutions", I guess. But I do like to set goals for myself for the new year. This year I am doing the one year Bible reading program. All my life I have been going to church, but I have never once read the entire Bible in which I profess such strong faith. With some dedication I intend to change that this year. Besides, my dear husband has done it twice, and I have to admit the competitive spirit in me needs to catch up. :)

Well, it's back to the grind tomorrow. I suppose I better get some sleep so I can get up at 5:30 for some reading!

Catching up

We are really getting down the wire now, and I have five more Christmas presents to purchase. Two will be taken care of by my husband after he gets off work. Two more by me if I get the chance to go tonight (weather and sick babies permitting). The last one is one of those "Now, what the heck do I buy?" presents.

I probably would have it all done, but last week was really a rough week. I lost an uncle to cancer, and even though it was expected, it doesn't make it any easier. So, last week was spent taking care of the girls and helping my mom as she was in the middle of helping plan funeral services. Definitely not a week where shopping was on my mind.

Somehow it will all get done before we leave town on Friday.

It's been snowing a nice gentle snow for the last two days now. It's really beautiful except for that whole driving to work part.... I guess there's always something. But the trees do look fantastic! I was hoping for a white Christmas, but the temps are forecasted to be above freezing, so it may not stick around. I guess I'll enjoy it while I can.

Despite the frantic pace of the season, there is something special in the air this time of year that you can't find any other time. I truly love it. Have a Blessed Christmas!
Love to you all!

My Review

The highlight of my weekend...no my month....well, maybe even the year....ok, not quite, but close, was seeing The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe on the silver screen this weekend! I absolutely loved it, and I can't wait until it's out on DVD!

I was thrilled to see it with a return of $67.1 million over the weekend. I hope it continues to go on to be a box office smash! I would love to see what they do with the rest of the Series.

On a cute note, the girls saw a book about Narnia this weekend at Sam's. I was trying to explain it to them, but all they wanted to say was "Narni, Narni". Hopefully they will love it some day soon as well!

Snow progress.....

And here we are, almost an hour later...
I'll keep you posted!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

The high today was supposed to be 19, but I don't think it made it.

This is the view from my office windows (and yes, I went outside in the freezing cold to take this!). You can't see it falling in the picture, but you can see the dusting on the concrete. It's only been falling for about 15 minutes. The meteorologist say we will get at least an inch. However, when I called my mom to see what it was doing 30 minutes from here (they got it there first) she said the ground was already covered.

Whatever we get, I hope it doesn't turn to ice. Maybe I'll get a "snow day" tomorrow! Now, that would be worth it!

Too cold to think!

It's currently 24 outside. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 17 and SNOW is coming! Which I would love if I didn't have to come to work. Blech! Because my brain is frozen, I offer you this lovely insight into myself :)

1. What is your occupation? Congressional Staffer
2. What color is your underwear? purple
3. What are you listening to right now? Bing Crosby's White Christmas
4. What was the last thing you ate? sliced Turkey (yes, for breakfast...sorry...)
5. Do you wish on stars? No
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red
7. How is the weather right now? Very Cold
8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Some guy wanting the campaign phone number
9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, Very Much
10. How old are you today? 28
11. Favorite drink? At the moment I am loving hot tea
12. Favorite sport to watch? Football, football and more FOOTBALL!!!!!!
13. Have you ever dyed your hair? yes
14. Do you wear contacts or glasses? not anymore! Love that Lasik surgery!
15. Pets? yes, a black cat named Elvis who keeps stealing my poinsettias off the banisters!
16. Favorite month? December
17. Favorite food? Mexican
18. What was the last movie you watched? The Engagement Ring -- a Hallmark TV movie
19. Favorite day of the year? December 1st and Christmas Eve
20. What do you do to vent anger? Depends. Either I talk about it with Fred or I cry
21. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Easy Bake oven
22. Fall or Spring? Fall
23. Hugs or kisses? HUGS
24. Cherry or Blueberries? Blueberries
25. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoe racks, a hamper and a step stool for shorty me.
26. What did you do last night? Made dinner, played with the girls and exercised
27. What are you afraid of? My babies gorwing up to FAST!
28. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? spicy
29. Favorite car? I want a convertible mini-Cooper --not practical, but I want one anyway!
30. Favorite dog breed? Don't know, but I would like to own a pocket Beagle one day
31. Number of keys on your key ring? Too many!
32. How many years at your job? Almost 7
33. Favorite day of the week? Sunday
34. How many states have you lived in? 2 if you count the 4 months I lived in DC.
35. How many cities have you lived in? 4
36. How many countries have you been to? Honduras, Mexico, England and Scotland (although technically those two are the same country)

Happy Birthday to my Beautiful Girls!

On this day two years ago, two of the most gorgeous girls I have ever laid eyes on came into this world to fill our life with joy and love like I never knew existed!

It was an ordinary Monday morning, the first day back to work after Thanksgiving. The office was preparing for our regular Monday morning staff meeting, and I was skipping out to take my very large self to my 36 week appointment with my OB.

I arrived right on time at 10am and was taken back for the usual checks before you see the dr. The nurse asked me how Thanksgiving was. I told her it was great! I had even had a chance to get the Christmas tree up! Quite amazed by that, she asked me how I had been feeling. I told her just fine, but noticed a few little changes over the weekend. She made note of those for the Dr. and said he would be in shortly. Not long after he was in. He checked the babies heart beats, measured me (I was measuring 43 weeks -- told you I was large!). After looking at the notes the nurse made, he looked at me and with a concerned look said, "How have you been feeling?" "Just fine." I replied. "Well, I think we should check to see if you are dialated." Oh great. Just what I wanted to hear. "Hmm, well you are 3 centimeters dialated, and I can feel a hand or a foot. Have you had any contractions or anything?" "No, nothing at all." "Hmmm...." was all I heard in reply. "I am going to send you over to Labor and Delivery and have them hook you up to a monitor, but I think you are in labor." "What?!" I asked totally not taking that last comment seriously at all.

So, at 10:45 I called work to tell them I would be a little longer than I thought, but should be back by lunch. I walked thru the concourse to the hospital and up to the 4th floor where I checked in with the nurse who was also checking in a lady who said she had a scheduled C-section at noon. By 11:13 I was in a hospital bed when the nurse came in to say she was going to check me again before they hooked up the monitors. At 11:16 am she declared that I was now 6cm dialated and she could definitely feel a foot. The babies had to be delivered within the hour before Baby A's water broke and there were legs in the birth canal. "You better call your husband now!" she directed me. "But I haven't even had any contractions?!" I said. "Honey, you are one of the luck ones!" she stated with an air of experience. Shock overwhelmed me.

I called Fred who was working in the garage, and in a panic, shouted at him to get there fast. He calmly replied that he hadn't taken a shower yet. I told him that I didn't think the babies would care.

Then I called into work to tell them to scratch that whole "by lunch" idea. "Just mark me down for Maternity leave. We're having babies!"

Then I called my parents. My Dad answered the phone. "Hi Dad! Happy Anniversary!" (it was their 30th). "Oh, thank you!" he replied. "Do you have any plans for the day?" "Well, I think we are going to go out to diner tongiht." "How about hospital food?" "Hospital food? Why would we want that?" "Well Dad, I am in the hospital right now, and they are going to deliver the babies in about 40 minutes." Silence. "Dad?...Dad???" In the background I hear, "Sugar, it's Sarah Jane. She says she's in the hospital and the babies are coming." my mom says, "Well, get off the phone, we have to leave!" He finally starts talking to me again, "Can we come?" "OF COURSE, Dad! That's why I was calling!"

At 11:58 still terrified and all alone they wheeled me into the OR. About the time the nurse is giving me the epidural I hear the familiar voices of my co-workers Pat and Donna outside the door of the OR. I wanted so badly for one of them to come in with me, but unfortunately I had already told one of the nurses they were co-workers and so they wouldn't let them in. (I was later to find out they had already told the nurse up front they were family so they could get back there. They have never let me get over that one!).

With literally one minute to spare Fred made it to the OR. At 12:31pm, the dr. held up a little purplish baby for me to see, declaring it was indeed a girl! "That's Rachel!" I told Fred. After what seemed like forever (I swear it had to be more than one minute even if the birth certificate says 12:32pm) he held up another little purlplish baby, confirming what we already knew, "Another girl!" By this time the anestesia was really taking over and I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I heard Fred tell the nurse, "This one is Rebekah." They took the girls to the NICU to check them out and I told Fred to go with them.

It turned out that the girls were just fine! They did have to stay in the hospital for a few days just to prove they could gain weight properly, but that in a nut shell is the story of how my life changed forever.

I continue to be amazed at the Awesome God who has created life and it's wonders. I love those two little girls more everyday, and I am so thankfull that I have been given the priveledge of being a Mother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL and REBEKAH!

Oh, and Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! :)

So Cold!

I would like to know what yahoo is in charge of the air in this building?! I am absolutely FREEZING! Here I sit at my desk, warming my hands by the light of my cinnamon spice candle, wearing my leather coat, drinking my hot English tea, listening to the Nutcracker and STILL cannot get warm. I don't know exaclty what the tempurature is today, but I can tell you, it's not on the warm side. I have windows in my office, which are a lovely thing to have (when people aren't standing outside smoking in front of them and blocking the view - that's what we get for being on the first floor), but they are very poorly insulated and it feels like everything outside is really in. The heat only stays on until noon. Then it disapears not to return again until the morning. I have called to complain, but they obviously don't care. You would think in a building with 28 floors somebody else has this same issue?! *sigh*

Tomorrow I'll have to remember my gloves and scarf....

Just call me Martha

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a great day, but now Christmas season is here and I can embrace my love of all things "Christmas" without hearing my Fred lecture about not giving Thanksgiving it's proper due.

I spent the weekend decorating the house with wild enthusiasm, despite the many shakes of the head and eye rolling from my dear Mr. F. I don't know why he was so concerned, for I did not ask for his assistance with the decorations except for an opinion of which he would prefer a time or two.

So without further ado, I give you my humble abode, fully dressed in Christmas splendor.

The Christmas Tree

The banisters (yes a little fuzzy, but the flash just didn't make them look right)

And finally, my new Christmas wreath, made by Your's Truly

Of course there are many more, such as lights in the girl's playroom, another smaller tree in the den (where the fireplace is), kitchen decorations and such, but these are my favorite. Now, if only I could get that handy dandy husband of mine to make me a mantle for my fireplace as he promised when we moved in, all would be great. I still need that perfect place to hang our Stockings. I can't complain too much though as he has put a lot of hard work into remodeling the kitchen. :)

Rubber Ducky, you're the one

I got a little nostalgic today after an email to earle-girl. We were discussing babies and baths and cute bathrobes, and how Daddys just didn't seem to get why a baby needs a bathrobe. For one, they are much better than those flimsy little hooded towels that don't dry much at all, and two, they are MUCH warmer AND so cute! Ok, that's actually three, but you get it.
I think girls were about 3 months old here.



We started giving baths in our bathroom sink (I think this was at 1 month or so. Rachel on top and Bekah on bottom)
Then we graduated to the kitchen sink, which was a lot of fun, but SUPER messy! The girls went crazy splashing water all over the place! (They were somewhere between 6-9 months here)

Those were the days.... Now, we they take a bath in the big tub like big girls It goes SO fast!

My dear husband has taken issue with my statement about his Cowboys. He defended them by saying they are now tied for first place in their division, which is true, and compared to recent years this is quite the improvement. What he says is technically true, but I don't think they are quite Superbowl calibur yet.

Don't worry, babe, I'll cheer for those Cowboys like they were my own!

Well the protesting wasn't much to protest about. The site listed that 31 people were to attend, but I think it was more like 8 or 10. The Boss declared we should be kind and give them food and drink. So we had Pizza and soda (as earle-girl calls it) all ready. They came into the office spewed their talking points and handed us a stack of about 500 styrofoam plates that said all kinds of things like: "No more empty plates" and "Don't rob the needy to give to the greedy". I thought it highly ironic that those who normally shout the loudest about saving our environment would deliver their message on non-biodegradable medium. Anyhow, they left without further incident, no picketing, no chanting, no excitement at all. What a let-down!

And they wouldn't even eat our pizza! So, we had to... oh the things we do for our cause!

Well, blow me over!

Literally and figuratively!

Literally:
The wind here today is treacherous! It's 50 degrees, but the wind is gusting between 45 and 50 mph on a consistant basis. It nearly knocked me down when I went outside to get some soup for lunch at Quizno's. My hair was slapping me in the face while I was trying my best to walk very quickly in heels and not look like the people I see out my window and laugh at. You know, the potential nannies in Mary Poppins that get blown away at the beginning of the movie. Yeah, that was me...

Figuratively:
We are getting protestors tomorrow! No kidding! In the nearly 7 years I have worked here we have never had any such incidence, but tomorrow that will all change. Should make for an interesting day. Does one do anything special an the event such as this? Maybe I should make sure to bring my lunch so in case I can't get out I won't starve. I emailed my sister (5th grade teacher) to tell her and she said she had her students recreating the American Revolution. I told her she should bring them down and we can surely recreate something for them. Her response, "How about slavery?" ...ahh, classic!

I'm going to get political today

After all, that is what I do for a living! It's stuff like this that REALLY makes my blood boil. Did you ever hear this on the mainstream media? NO! I am afraid to say that I have lost all faith that truth and unbiased reporting in journalism still exists -- Anywhere. It's truly shameful.

Michael Moore Owned Halliburton, Defense Stocks
from NewsMax.com

Filmmaker Michael Moore has made a career out of trashing corporations and said he doesn't own any stocks due to moral principle.

How then did author Peter Schweizer uncover IRS documents showing that Moore's very own foundation has bought stocks in some of America's largest corporations - including Halliburton, other defense contractors and some of the same companies he has attacked?

In his blockbuster new book "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," Hoover Fellow Schweizer reveals the glaring contradictions between the public stances and real-life behavior of prominent liberals including Al Franken, Ralph Nader, Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi.

But he reserves some of his sharpest barbs for Moore.

In his first documentary "Roger & Me," Moore skewered General Motors, Schweizer points out.
In "The Big One," he went after Nike and PayDay candy bars.

"Bowling for Columbine" was an attack on the American gun industry. Oil companies played a major role in "Fahrenheit 911." His upcoming film "Sicko" pillories drug companies and HMOs.
On his television shows "TV Nation" and "The Awful Truth," he criticized HMOs and defense contractors.

He once said that major defense contractor Halliburton was run by a bunch of "thugs," and suggested that for every American killed in the Iraq war, "I would like Halliburton to slay one mid-level executive."

Publicly, Moore has claimed he wants no part of these companies and won't own stock.
In his book "Stupid White Men," he wrote: "I don't own a single share of stock."
He repeated the claim in a 1997 letter to the online magazine Salon, saying: "I don't own any stock."

Privately, however, he tells the IRS a different story, Schweizer discloses in his book.
The year that Moore claimed in "Stupid White Men" that he didn't own any stock, he told the IRS that a foundation totally controlled by Moore and his wife had more than $280,000 in corporate stock and nearly $100,000 in corporate bonds.

Over the past five years, Moore's holdings have "included such evil pharmaceutical and medical companies as Pfizer, Merck, Genzyme, Elan PLC, Eli Lilly, Becton Dickinson and Boston Scientific," writes Schweizer, whose earlier works include "The Bushes" and "Reagan's War."
"Moore's supposedly nonexistent portfolio also includes big bad energy giants like Sunoco, Noble Energy, Schlumberger, Williams Companies, Transocean Sedco Forex and Anadarko, all firms that 'deplete irreplaceable fossil fuels in the name of profit' as he put it in ?Dude, Where's My Country?' " And in perhaps the ultimate irony, he also has owned shares in Halliburton.

According to IRS filings, Moore sold Halliburton for a 15 percent profit and bought shares in Noble, Ford, General Electric (another defense contractor), AOL Time Warner (evil corporate media) and McDonald's. Also on Moore's investment menu: defense contractors Honeywell, Boeing and Loral."

Does Moore share the stock proceeds of his "foundation" with charitable causes, you might ask?
Schweizer found that "for a man who by 2002 had a net worth in eight figures, he gave away a modest $36,000 through the foundation, much of it to his friends in the film business or tony cultural organizations that later provided him with venues to promote his books and film."
Moore's hypocrisy doesn't end with his financial holdings.

He has criticized the journalism industry and Hollywood for their lack of African-Americans in prominent positions, and in 1998 he said he personally wanted to hire minorities "who come from the working class."

In "Stupid White Men," he proclaimed his plans to "hire only black people."
But when Schweizer checked the senior credits for Moore's latest film "Fahrenheit 911," he found that of the movie's 14 producers, three editors, production manager and production coordinator, all 19 were white. So were all three cameramen and the two people who did the original music.

On "Bowling for Columbine," 13 of the 14 producers were white, as were the two executives in charge of production, the cameramen, the film editor and the music composer.
His show "TV Nation" had 13 producers, four film editors and 10 writers - but not a single African-American among them.

And as for Moore's insistence on portraying himself as "working class" and an "average Joe," Schweizer recounts this anecdote: "When Moore flew to London to visit people at the BBC or promote a film, he took the Concorde and stayed at the Ritz. But he also allegedly booked a room at a cheap hotel down the street where he could meet with journalists and pose as a ?man of humble circumstances.'"

That's hypocrisy with a capital H!

Football Fury

I just want to say congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts for a very impressive win last night on MNF. I am SO tired of the Patriots, and since it appears that Fred's Cowboys are not returning to glory as of yet and my poor, pitiful Jets are getting traunced as usual, I'll cheer for the Colts. I have always like Peyton Manning anyhow.

Also, a round of applause is due to the Philadelphia Eagles for their gutsy stand with the infamous T.O. He deserves nothing less for his classless and selfish behavior.

In college football news I just have to say that it is SO wrong that Miami has jumped the undefeated Alabama in the AP to take the #3 spot. I so hate the politics of those polls. Of course I will admit that I have a bias against every Florida team that matters, but still...it just isn't right!

Wedding Wrap-up

It really went off without incident! I was so pleased that everything went so well and that it was such a happy day. The programs got finished, my song went well, my mom did so well with the wedding cake and the groomsmen played a great joke on Kevin. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the big day!

This is me and Fred. I had to show you a full lenth pic of our desses, they were so pretty!

Here is our little family. Fred has Rachel and I have Rebekah. The girls were busy stuffing their little faces with cracker and cheese so they have chipmunk cheeks here, LOL!

Me and Pam. She was so beautiful!

Well, those are the great wedding pictures! Hope you all enjoy them! We were all worn out by the time it was over, but isn't that how the family is supposed to be, HAHA!

Mommy, the Wuss

My Rebekah is horribly addicted to her "passibah" (that's pacifier for those of you who do not speak "Bekah"). I have been trying to limit it to naptime/bedtime, but this morning in the car she was screaming "PASSIBAH! PASSIBAH! PASSIBAH!", and then came the half-real cries. So...I gave in... Two miles further down the road it hit me -- "I am a wuss!" My conscience started in on me "YOU are the mommy! How will she learn if you don't stick to it?! OY! What's a mommy to do?! Maybe I should aks for some guts for Christmas.

In wedding world we are really getting close. It's 4 days until the big event and I have 50 more programs to print and assemble. Tonight we are working on M&M bags for favors. I'll be busy cutting tulle circles to tie them up in. I am sure the little girls will be begging for lots of "mem-mem's"

A small relief...

Webster has assured me that my mistake was not as bad as it could have been - a small reprieve after my initial worry over my misspelling. I have corrected it for future use, but I am still working long and hard on the inside.

Oh the shame!

Well, I worked hard and long into the night on the wedding programs, and I knew when I went to bed it needed a fresh set of eyes to look it over . I had completed the cover and thought it looked very good (if I do say so myself), but upon further inspection by my very precise and red-pen carrying colleague it was discovered that I misspelled the street name of the new couple on the back of the program. Now, granted it was only one letter and probably no one will notice and mail will still get there should they use that address but still.....*sigh* My sister says it's no big deal, those 70 that have already been printed will just go at the bottom, but the perfectionist in me is just screaming that this can't be....but alas it is and I have the picture to prove it! Note the Street name says North Penial and it should be Peniel. I am somewhat frightened that the former could mean something that should entirely be absent from the wedding program, but perhaps not the wedding night, if you get my drift...why me?! This is the front. At least it looks good :)I think I am in for another long night.

Suddenly Something

The weather that is... Over the weekend the tempurature dropped nearly 30 degrees overnight and while I cannot be certain (as this is Oklahoma and the weather changes on a dime) I do not think we shall see summer again this year. We had our first freeze last night and finally turned on the heat. I used to love "no heat" nights when you could just bundle up and sleep all warm and snuggled under the covers, but that was BT (what we lovingly refer to as "before twins") when we didn't have to worry about teeny tinys.

It's now T-minus 12 days until my little sister's wedding and there is so much left to be done. I am working on her ceremony programs right now and I hope they turn out well. I'll post a pic once I get an entire one type-set, printed and assembled! She still has a million little different things to do but that's how it goes when you get down to the wire!

I don't think I mentioned it, but an update on Fred's treatment. It didn't work, so his Doctor took him off of it. He was very relieved, not that it didn't work, but to be able to get back to a normal life where he feels good. I had mixed feelings about it. But overall it did lower the amount of the virus in his blood and that is good. Hopefully new treatments will be be made available in the future that will have a higher cure rate plus be easier on the body. Whatever the case, I do believe God will take care of us.

Downtown

I really love working downtown! I like that it seems to always have life, somebody always going somewhere. I like the spastic artwork that greets you in the oddest places, and the whirring of the trolleys as they go by on the way to whatever stop they have next. I like that I can walk to anywhere I really need to go. My bank is across the street, restaurants are everywhere, and there is a really off-the-wall bookstore around the corner that gives away free popcorn whenever it rains or snows! You can't beat that!

There's just something about working around all these "suits" that makes you feel as if you are part of the mature world. Having never really reached an age where I feel grown up completely, this sometimes makes me feel better :) Of course, to ground me back into reality there is always the occasional homeless crazy that drops by like Mr. C.C., as we affectionatly refer to him, who loves closed captioning on t.v. and thinks he is going to marry Anna Kournikova (doesn't he know she's already married?), Maria Sharapova and any other female Russian tennis player he can find.Then he is going to open up his grocery story in Russia and he will get from here to there via train. Apparently, he has never seen a map and doesn't know that trains don't float!

Where can you find a better entertainment than Downtown?