Mixed bag tonight. Some people really surprised me, and not necessarily in a good way. (Read on …)

We have now gone 132 days without measurable rain here in the Valley of the Sun. BUT, there is hope. It is cloudy. The dew point is up. They humidity is up a little. Crossing our fingers and hoping for rain. I’ll let you know what happens!

Update 5:53 PM: Marlene has sprinkles and she is a bit west of me. None here yet, though.

To put this in perspective? Melody is almost 4 months old and has never seen rain. There has been no rain in her lifetime. Think about THAT.

Update 6:17 PM: I just got back inside from taking Melody and Little Girl out to play in the sprinkles. Not a LOT of sprinkles, but sprinkles. Woohoo!!!

People, people, people. You have to listen to me. Because I’m going to give you some excellent advice. And you really need to take it, because trust me, you will not regret it. Here it is. Are you ready? Okay.

If you don’t already, you MUST start watching “How I Met Your Mother.”

Every week it just gets better and better. I am in love with this show and I would marry it if I could. Okay, maybe not, but you get my point right? This show is just so good. If I could only watch one television show every week, this would be the one I would not miss. WOULD. NOT. MISS.

Great characters. GREAT characters. Great actors. LOVE this show. LOVE. IT.

Watch it! Watch it! Trust me!!!!

And if you watched it at the beginning of the season and were not thrilled with it, try it again. It has only gotten better.

And the best part of it? Neil Patrick Harris. By far, the best character on a television comedy. Really. LOVE. HIM. He is so far removed from Doogie Howser that if you hadn’t seen Doogie Howser you wouldn’t know he was Doogie Howser. Seriously.

Okay done now.

Oh, one more thing….WATCH IT!

I’m just saying.

I’ve heard and read many times that small children and animals are much more in tune with the “spirit” world than most adults are. At some point in our lives we become skeptical and/or cynical and we lose that ability. When Little Girl was a baby she would constantly look over our shoulders at seemingly nothing and giggle or smile or make some other gesture that made us think she must be talking to her Grandma in heaven. Or at least that is what we like to think.

Today, she had started to fall asleep on the floor, so as I walked over to get her to put her down for a nap, I gently called her name. She sat up and looked at me and as I got there she turned to the recliner that we have in the living room (that used to belong to my mom and that the old dogs constantly climbed in to sleep even though they were not supposed to), pointed and insistently said “Woof! Woof! Woof!” (which is her word for dog thanks to Melody’s barking). To really make it interesting, I need to tell you that Melody was on the other side of the room asleep and Little Girl could not see her from where she was. I looked out the window and there was no “Woof!” to be seen. It was all about that chair. Do our dogs’ spirits still come to visit us? Do any spirits? Who knows? I like to believe they do and Little Girl’s actions certainly don’t make me doubt it. It got me teary-eyed and I looked down at her and said, “will you tell them I miss them very much?” And then it was nap time. And time for me to write this down because I just don’t want to forget it. It gives me peace in some small way to know they are still here taking care of us.

Ladies, do you suffer from PLS? If you’re not sure, take the following test to determine if you might be suffering from this horrible condition.

• Do you get cranky as a certain season approaches and you know you have to give up something that you love?

• Does it seem like the universe is conspiring to piss you off?

• Do you buy out Target’s entire chocolate section so that you can gorge yourself before you have to take a 40 day break?

• Do you finally get why they call it “FAT” Tuesday?

• Do you constantly dream of cupcakes, chocolate bars, doughnuts, ice cream and non-diet soda and make up excuses to eat them?

• Do you steal your daughter’s fruit snacks because your body is hoarding sugar like chipmunks hoard nuts to prepare for winter?

If you can answer yes to one or more of these questions, you may be suffering from PLS otherwise known as Pre-Lent Syndrome™. If you think you are suffering from PLS, run don’t walk to the nearest store and party like it’s 1999 because Ash Wednesday is only 3 days away.

WAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

PLS was first diagnosed in 2006 by Mike of HeartSongs

Contrary to popular opinion, some things really ARE better left unsaid.

Okay, those of you up in the cold country? Don’t hate me, but it was in the high 70s today. Mike was supposed to be babyproofing, but he ended up having to work until early afternoon, so when he came home, I decided to heck with working and we all (Mike, me, Little Girl and Melody) went out and played in the sunshine. Sometimes, you just gotta play in the sunshine you know? (Read on …)

I took the plunge and upgraded to Wordpress 2.0.1 tonight. Luckily Mr. Syndromes was on instant messenger with me to hold my hand in case I broke something. And luckily he told me to back something up that I almost didn’t back up. I would have been very sad had I not backed it up, too. Anyway, it seems like it’s working okay and nothing got broken in the process, but if you have any problems, please let me know!

Thank you Mr. Syndromes. Big smooch!

It was almost time for her nap, but she showed no signs of being tired, so together we walked down the hall, a tiny hand in mine, tiny legs taking tiny steps and pixie face smiling up at me now and then. I left her in her room to play and I went to get the rest of her laundry from the dryer. I came back into the room and started sorting her laundry so I could put it away while on the other side of the room she pulled board books and stuffed animals off her shelves. Soon she became interested in what I was doing and so she came over to where I was working. She started “helping” me by pulling out one item of clothing at a time and handing it to me while I tried valiantly to put it in the right pile or the right drawer before she handed me the next thing, for if I didn’t take it from her right away, it ended up on the floor. As we worked together, side by side, it struck me - this parenting gig is not just about wiping runny noses or changing poopy diapers or getting up in the middle of the night to soothe a crying child or even teaching them right from wrong. A wonderful part of parenting is companionship - sharing your life with someone else. Not just the big things, but the little things. Even something as simple as emptying a laundry basket.

Do you ever find yourself watching things unfold around you and getting really judgmental over what other people are or are not doing?

I’m finding myself doing that this week and I just need to stop, because really it’s only getting me all worked up over things I have zero control over.

There was of course the whole music for the priest’s mass thing. Something I had no control over other than my own participation. And I made my stand. Did it do any good at all? Most likely not because the person who set this in motion has nothing better to do than to make everything about her.

There are my friends who have been trying to adopt, who were almost there and then the adoption fell through at the 11th hour. They’ve had all kinds of issues with miscarriages, spent thousands of dollars already on adoption and still they don’t have a baby to love. My heart breaks for them. I can’t even begin to tell you how much. It took us a long time to have a baby and I tell you I love that girl with every bone, every cell, every breath in my body. She is a miracle, a blessing, a precious gift. And I want them to have that, too. But again, I have no control other than prayer.

So then when I see other people in the world who seem to think their child is an inconvenience to them and I wonder why they even bothered to have a baby in the first place, I just get all worked up and angry and want to start throwing things and yelling and ranting and all sorts of things like that. People who abuse, neglect, or otherwise do not take care of their children, their precious gifts, just make me so angry I can barely control myself. But still, I have no control.

So what’s my point? My point is…how do you deal with things that drive you crazy that you have no control over? How do you not let them eat at you until you want to scream at the futility of it all? Because I really need to not let these things get me so angry. It’s not healthy. Any suggestions?

I hate when people have to go home. Unless I don’t like them. Then it can never be soon enough. (Read on …)

I just got done putting Little Girl to bed. This is what transpired before I left the room….

She hugs her teddy bear.

LG to Bear: I wub you!

Then as I’m backing out of the room telling her good night she waves bye bye to me.

I blow her a kiss.

LG kisses the air toward me and blows. And then again. And again.

Priceless.

This is a really long post. So get a cup of coffee or tea or something before you read it. Seriously, I’ll wait…………..Okay, now click there: (Read on …)