Dear Rachel

I was reminded the other day that you're not here, and you won't ever again be, at least in this life and on this earth. There is no other way to say it, but that moment sucked (I know you probably like me being blunt). Randy and I were in our bedroom with Samantha; she was dancing with her daddy to tunes on the ipod, she is too cute! She ventured to an area where I have some random stuff laying around...maybe it's a sign that I need to put some stuff away, but anyway, she started bringing me what she found. She started with pictures. They were of you, with friends, with family, by yourself (in all your glory!), but of you, with us, you know, that way it should still be. I smiled and reminisced, actually being able to remember every moment in those pictures, man we had some good times (and I swear if Samantha does some of the things we did, I will go insane!). She kept going back and forth, bringing pictures, one by one, giving me time to look at each one, and to think of old times, and to place myself in that exact moment. It's like she knew that I needed a few moments between each new picture she brought me, to do just that, reminisce and think back on all the good times we had. That we should still be having. With you. After about picture #10, I lost it. I know, you were probably really mad at me for doing that, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. It's as if you're so close, but so far away. I know in the end that there were times when we didn't see each other as often as we used to (sucks being a grown up!), so when I was looking at the first pictures, I got that exact feeling. Oh Rach is in Nac, I'll see her soon. But then I "woke up" and came back to reality. You're not here. You're not just up the road. You're not just a drive away. You're not coming back. And it absolutely sucks. I miss you Rach. Please continue to watch over all of us. You're our guardian angel and we will forever be amazing chicks....together. Love you. -Sue

"If you leave, don't leave now..."

Croup

WHAT!?!??!?!?! (Think of Ellen here....)

So, yes...my little twinkle toes has croup, in addition to a ear infection, gooey eyes and maybe strep throat. But, the strep part doesn't really matter since she's got the ear infection, they treat it the same way.

GOOD NEWS is that she still a happy girl. I picked her up today, thinking I was crazy for leaving work early, because she was running around outside, playing with her friends, in the dirt, and having a ball. Her teacher called me today and said she had a "really bad cough". I thought, OK, not much I can do about it, because we were just in the doctor's office Monday and found out she had a virus (fever, runny nose, congestion, little cough, etc.). Nothing you can do with a virus, but wait it out. Then I thought, this lady listens to kids coughing all day, so maybe this is something I need to worry about, and the cough had gotten a little worse since then. So, decided to go get her and take her in...good thing, mainly due to the ear infection. Ugh. Antibiotics are not my friend, and now add in eye drops and steroids to help with her throat inflammation.

Hopefully we'll be back to normal in the next couple of days! It is supposed to be a wonderful weather weekend here, so want to take full advantage of that.

With that said, I will leave you all with this!


Til next time...

Milestones

I am constantly amazed with this little girl....




This is what my little girl is up to these days...

1. Saying "uh-oh" and "cow" (I think it's cow, maybe it's cat, who knows) -- just adorable
2. Pointing to mommy's nose
3. Hugging on command, I love it!
4. Babbling up a storm, I wish I knew what all she was saying!
5. Eating bubbles -- she loves to eat the bubbles in the bathtub!
6. Dancing -- precious!
7. Nodding yes or no when asked if she's done eating

Maybe not significant milestones in everyone's mind, but man, she just melts me! :-)

Til next time...

You're Chopped!

As my 4 1/2 year old nephew was eating dinner one night, he looked at his mommy and said....

"Your -- rice -- is -- soggy -- YOU'RE CHOPPED!"

You think they watch Food Network or something. ;-)

Man, I love that little boy...he is the cutest!

Adios

This is where we'll be hanging out the next few days. Going to miss my Samantha, but know she is in great hands and will have so much fun with the grandparents.

Peace out kiddos...here's to many tropical adult beverages, reading lots of trashy magazines, and doing absolutely nothing. Let's hope I come back with somewhat of a tan.

Til next time...

The Reader

Anyone seen it? What a whacko of a movie...now, what to choose next on the list, because that was a doozy. How do movies like this earn so many nominations and awards!?! I just don't get it. And Kate Winslet won Best Actress. She was OK, but not extraordinary in my opinion.

The Maid, Part II

So, the maid was back last week for our bi-weekly cleaning. Remember, she was supposed to bring the 30 clothes items back since $75 was too much. Whatever. Randy and I were both gone, so when I got home (had completely forgotten that she was even there that day), I noticed that indeed she did bring back the clothes. So, what do I do......I count them. She said she took 30, it was about 50. And, she thought that $75 was too much!??! I'd like to find out where she shops, because obviously she gets them dirt cheap. And, they were mostly my work clothes, again, much more than the $2 I was going to charge her. She called the next day to talk to me about some things, mentioned she brought the clothes back, etc....and that she agreed I could get so much more if I took them to goodwill for the tax return, because she does that all the time. Mind you, when Randy originally told her that's what we wanted to do, she acted like she had no idea about the tax return. Ahhhhh, oh well.....I'll let it go. Maybe I'll keep them until next year's garage sale and sell them for $1. ;-o

Work was absolute S-H-I-T last week....so much so, that I can't and don't want to even get into it here. The search for that monogramming machine may be closer than I expected. ;-)

But, to make it all the better, we booked a trip to Mexico to celebrate my birthday! We leave in just about 2 weeks and will be gone 4 nights. And, we will most likely be watching the Super Bowl in espanol, hot dog! Jealous, I know. This will be our first big trip away from Samantha, but I know we can do it, and I know she will love spending the time with the grandparents. Thank goodness for us all being in the same city. So, with that, I bid you all a good night.

Til next time..... (hopefully sooner rather than later!)