Chilly Dog in His Element

I have never seen this dog so full of energy and happiness.  And he's typically a very happy and energetic dog anyway.

The kids had fun too.

Weekend of Double Happiness

This weekend, our second daughter, the final child, the baby was baptised.  Livia was all over herself with excitement, especially since this was her do-over.  She had been scheduled to take the plunge (literally) back in November along with her pal Timmy, but the broken arm set everything back by a few months.

Livia and Blitz and their coordinating outfits.

Lena, the big sister, gave a very lovely talk on baptism.  

Yes, when Ariel is on stocking feet and I'm wearing heels, I am 8 feet taller than my husband. It can't be helped.
Ariel's mom Tracey flew out for the weekend to share in the festivities and was a godsend when it came to making all of the food.  I went a little nuts with the food.

Livia and Timmy and the spread.

The next day, Chinese New Year's Eve, we made dumplings from scratch.  Ariel and I made the jiaozhi wrappers while we cooked the pork filling.  Then it was filling time!  We had checked out a website for recipes and it gave pictorial instructions for crimping the dumplings.  Ariel was so good at making the lovely little purses, we named him The Dumpling King.  Many hands make swift work, which was good because we made loads of these things.  Keeping with the tradition, we did not count them as we went along, but we did fill two large plates, so we hope that this means much wealth is in our future.  Our coffers are already abundantly full of joy and blessings.

You Complete Me

Back in August, we painted our kitchen, but we could never quite finish it.  The new fridge was much wider than the old, so I had to remove cabinets to put it into place.  But actually, this kitchen has been unfinished since 2000, when we first moved in.

Hearken back to March of 2000.  I was pregnant and barfy, and we had just sunk all of our money into a little house with pink carpet, pink and white linoleum, and orange oak cabinets.  To the left of the little white fridge was a half-wall and a built-in desk.  We referred to this desk as the "pit of despair" because, as Ariel and I are both clutter-bugs, this place collected anything that happened to be set down.  About a year after our initial move, and I was the stay-at-home mother of two very little girls, we still had no money, and we only had one car which my dear husband took to work with him.  Trapped in the ugly house, in a moment of had-enough, I ripped out the built-in desk and the half-wall.  We eventually put in hardwood floors, then tile in the kitchen, and I built a free-standing bookcase to go in the place left by the desk.  It was a stop-gap.

So, back to 2008.  The old bookcase no longer fit there, but I didn't want to just throw something together (plus, I had no tools since all of our belongings were still en route).  I made plans to build a bespoke bookcase to tie in with the over-the-fridge cabinet with adjustable shelves.  But even when our belongings (read:tools) did come, our basement was being finished, so the garage/workshop was a massive storage area.  Finally the basement was finished, but I really wanted to do this correctly, so I needed a new router.  My old one had died an honorable death after making lots of complicated joints for a nail-less table I made for my mother right before we left for England.  And just as I didn't want to throw something together to fill the space, I didn't want to buy the cheapest old router.  I researched and researched and realized that I couldn't justify the new router I wanted.  So I had to wait for Christmas to use my Christmas money to buy a beautiful dual-base Hitachi.  (Ooh, that thing is dreamy!).  Of course, I also had to heat the garage so that the oil paint would set up (and so my fingers wouldn't freeze), but finally, Ariel and I installed the last of the kitchen this weekend.

I'm giddy as like with new love or a first crush.  The kitchen is finally -- 9 years later -- finished.  Of course, when we get back from overseas, we're ripping the whole thing out.  Nobody marries their first love. ;)

Twilight's Last Gleaming

"Twilight's Last Gleaming" by Deb Walker
How fitting that I quote the "Star-Spangled Banner" on this, President Obama's Inauguration Day.

However, today, I am writing about more pressing matters. Today, I wish to speak about Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  I've talked to young women who giggle and squeal at the very thought of this book, heard of grown women who swoon over each page, and read countless blogs by crazies who haven't even read it though still rant how it is akin to porn for women.  To all of these people, I say, "Are we talking about the same book?!"

First of all, I read the book so I get to criticize it.  If you haven't read it, then you aren't allowed to talk about it.  When Harry Potter began to get all of the crazy buzz it did, countless family groups got all up in arms about the book having never read it.  Parents bashed it, and only when they read it did they suddenly become great fans who also shared it with their kids.  On the other hand, this book sucked.  The writing was atrocious and tedious.  The plot was, um, absent.  The characters were characterless.  The sex was, wait, there was no sex.  Porn for women?  Please.  Let us not diminish the word "porn" until it means nothing.  I have read some smut in my day.  Even vampire smut.  This was not even close to anything related to smut.  The dirtiest part of this book is that we're told every time the Main Character has to go to the bathroom.  Once again, see note about the bad writing.  It's not even a love story.  There is no intimacy, no real opportunity to prove their love for one another, no challenge, no chase.  We're never shown anything, only told in the simplest terms available: he did this, she felt that, they said this.

And I felt self-conscious for the mortal main character.  Summing up story in a few sentences: 17-year-old, klutzy Bella moves to gloomy Washington State small town where she meets beautiful boy Edward who turns out to be pushing 100-year-old vampire who is gorgeous, brilliant, talented, and, oh by the way, can read minds except for hers which makes her extremely attractive to him in a hard-to-get and delicious way.  Yeah, he thinks she's the most delicious thing he's smelled in decades and his biggest worry is first and foremost that he might eat her.  Sex is out of the question because A) they have all the raging lust of a herd of slugs, and B) he's afraid that he would break her with his super-vampire strength.  Okay, "Whoa, baby, I'm afraid that I'd killed you if we did it," has got to be the absolute worst anti-pickup line I've ever heard.  So this sigh-inducing tale about "unfulfilled love" is really no different than a story of two kids who can't get it on because the guy has an STD (a really, really deadly one).  And the guy is 80 years her senior.  Of course, that shouldn't be a problem, because Edward, as part of his vampire powers also has super-angst.  

So, if you want a story that goes, 

"Ooh, I love you!"  "And I love you"  Then she sleeps, and he watches her sleep, then she wakes up and they talk about how they love each other some more, and isn't it hard to be 17 or 97 and be in love, and maybe he should walk out of the room and create some conflict, so they each worry if the other still loves him/her, but he comes back in the room and tells her that, yes, he still loves her, despite the fact that she's middlingly pretty and so freakishly klutzy she's a hazard to those around her, and he's a Greek god.  Oh, yeah, he's like an Adonis.  Did we mention that he's swoon-worthy hot?  Yeah, totally.  

Then this is the story for you.

Poor Puppy

Monday marked Blitz's 6-month birthday, and to celebrate, we sent him to the vet to have his nails trimmed -- while he was being castrated.  He came through his surgery with flying colours, but to keep his recovery at optimum levels, the vet sent Blitz home wearing an Elizabethan collar.  I couldn't get the dog to walk across the parking lot as he was too busy trying to bite that horrible contraption off.  At home, he would just sit forlornly, hunched over and sad.  He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't drink, he wouldn't even go to the bathroom (after bashing into the doorframe just trying to get out).  So we gave in to his patheticness and took the blasted e-collar off, loving him and watching for the dreaded sack licking.  He was a good dog, and learned quickly to stay away or risk imprisonment.  Next our difficult task was to follow doctor's orders and keep him from being too active -- no running, no jumping.  This was harder to do, and finally we just gave up when Ariel came home from work and the dog leapt over the couch to get to him (Blitz loves Ariel obsessively).  So far, he's healing well regardless.

The lead-up to this momentous day inspired much conversation in our house.  The girls are at that age where we're starting to have "the talk."  Lena has had the full-disclosure talk in preparation for school while Livia has had the truncated Animal Planet version.  So L&L knew what testicles were and knew that this surgery would eliminate any chance of Blitz being a Papa Dog, but they were perplexed.  Lena asked, "But Daddy isn't going to have any more children.  Will he have his testicles removed?"  I had to explain (through fits of giggles) about hormones and how mostly, we just don't want Blitz to have a lot of bad boy-dog behaviours, like wanting to be the alpha-dog, humping, and being interested in the ladies -- many of the same behaviours that I would like their Daddy to keep.

It's in the eyes

Weekend Art Upload

Red Hair, Red Dress

Evil Overlord #3

My dear Ariel asked me to make him an evil looking dude for the Flash intro to his webpage.  His only specs were super-muscles, arms crossed, chunky lines, glowing yellow eyes.  Um, okay.  I referenced about 4 stock photos -- pictures of some super-hot, scantily clad, buff men.  It was a chore, I tell you.  

Smile!

Had a Holly Jolly Christmas

Warning: this will hurt your ears.  But it will thankfully embarrass my children years from now when I show it to their boyfriends.

We traveled southward to visit my side of the family for Christmas.  A year and a half ago, back when my Aunt Missy was qualifying for Best Aunt Ever, I staked a claim on her guest bedroom since she would be hosting the 2008 Bruner Family Christmas party.  (Bruner is my mom's maiden name.)
The dog was able to run amok and harrass much bigger dogs than himself.

We ate much good food made by my dear Aunt Missy.

Ariel, me, Livia, Mom, Lena, Ross, and Keri (Ross's girlfriend)

Next we went to Dana's house and Ariel, the kids, and the dog entertained themselves while Dana and I shopped at Mary Jo's fabric store ALL DAY LONG.
Finally, we went to Dad and Lora's house in SC.  The weather was mild and we took the opportunity to build a campfire, roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  Finally, we entertained ourselves with long-exposure light drawing.  Above was Lena writing her name (so it's backwards) over 5 seconds.
Livia and Summit

There is an orthodontist out there somewhere who is going to love us.
My step-nephew Landon the Christmas Elf.
My dad amd nephew #2 (fresh off the presses) Cade.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.