Potty Party!

I always figured I would try to take the high road as a parent and not discuss things like diaper issues. But you find yourself not only discussing bodily functions, but unable to stop yourself, especially in the company of other mothers.

Connor has surprised me in the last week or so. I honestly figured that he would take a long time to show interest in potty training and that it would be difficult because he doesn't always seem to follow directions. Connor basically has his own agenda, as do many two-year-olds. About two weeks ago, before his bath, I asked if he wanted to sit on the potty-figuring that he wouldn't. But he climbed up and sat for a count of ten before hopping down. No actual potty action and I didn't expect that anyway. So, before bath time, he would request to sit on the potty ("I potty?") and would sit, swinging his legs and smiling away with not a clue why he was sitting there. I'd ask if he was done and he would insist, "No, I potty!" and continue to sit content like a little king on the throne.

This afternoon, I decided to pick up a pack of Cars pull-ups. He immediately wanted the package open and he proudly chose which pull-up (Lightning McQueen and Mater OR Lightning McQueen alone?? ) and we got him changed. I took the boys to karate and to dinner while Tom taught lessons at the house.

We got home and started getting the boys ready for bed. Connor got undressed and normally there is a bit of "free" running around the house before they get into pajamas. I asked Connor if he wanted to go potty and he said "YES!".

I follow him in and get him situated. He is sitting quietly, looking down and much quieter than usual. And just like that, there is actual potty action!! Of course, I make an enormous deal, which brings Tom running, Ian running and makes Connor first begin laughing and then, seeing that he has a sizable audience, gives an encore performance. "Try again!" he says.

Ian doesn't see what the big deal is and is rather unhappy about the potty enthusiasm his brother is receiving. Tom goes to get Connor a few chocolate chips as a celebratory treat.

"Why does he get chocolate chips?" Ian is incredulous that such a routine task as potty would bring reward. Tom explains that Connor is learning and we remind him that we did some M&M bribing when Ian was learning. Ian decides that maybe he needs to go potty too. They both score a few chocolate chips.

Believe me, I am realistic about this and I don't expect Connor to be at all consistent. But, he never ceases to amaze me.

Kindergarten Update: We have an interview/observation with one of the Montessori schools tomorrow morning. There is a spot for Ian and we are going to see if the environment might be better for him. More tomorrow!

Puppy Update: Our guests are enjoying the attention, especially the round of goodnight kisses from the boys. They are cozied up on the floor at the foot of the bed. All is well.

A Sticky Situation

To date, all things preschool are going very well. With that, I decided it's probably time to write about something not preschool-related!

I could talk about registering Ian for kindergarten.....how walking him to school registration was liking walking through the next rite of passage. How he goes beyond what I ever dreamed my son would be like. How articulate, inquisitive and honest he is and how I worry that this isn't the right school for him. It's all part of a story for another day.

I am a nice person and it could be due to all of the excessive sugar I was eating....in coffee, soda, tea, and assorted goodies. However, in the last few months, I have been feeling rather ill and discovered that I can attribute it to my diet. Ill meaning I would feel incredibly shaky, my hands would feel numb and I would not be able to drive or think clearly, especially following serious doses of sugar. Since I drive all day and I have precious cargo, I didn't think it was wise to let it go unchecked. Visiting the doctor last week, he requested that I take a 3 hour glucose test for pre-diabetes to watch what my blood sugar is doing.

After requesting a half-day off from work today, I fasted for over 8 hours and went into the doctor to get the lab work done. After waiting 40 minutes to be seen, the nurse said that she wasn't able to administer the test there and I would have to drive to another lab. Looking at the time and considering wait time at the next lab, I had to scramble and take the rest of the day off to accommodate the length of the test. I came home mad and hungry, but luckily my sub wanted to work a full day anyway.

Back out the door to the next lab and it was quiet there so I could get the test started quickly. They did one blood stick, gave me the horrid orange sugar drink and then retook my blood every 30 minutes and then each hour. My left arm wasn't cooperative, so all of the blood came from my right arm. By the 4th stick, I was worn out and tired. They even asked if I wanted to lie down for a bit. During my wait, I crocheted two doll scarves for Froggy and Ribbit (Sheila-I will post photos once I finish the fringe) and read a bit. I was done just before 1:00pm and I drove to the nearest pizza place for two veggie slices.

I have been eating really well for a few weeks now, with occasional sugar here and there. I feel better not eating sugar and I have lost a few pounds as a bonus. The pizza was probably not the smartest carb choice, but I did not care by then. But eating better is worth not feeling like a total zombie after certain meals. Hopefully the results will be okay and all my recent blood work was great, including cholesterol, thyroid, etc, I am hopeful that it will not result in an actual diagnosis. Regardless, the doctor wants me to work to cut out processed sugar and focus on eating veggies, protein with each meal and the like to keep the blood sugar from spiking and because I have several risk factors in place to be a good candidate for pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. I have added ground flaxseed on my oatmeal in the mornings and am trying to eat some healthful monosaturated fats like olive oil, avocado (love it!) olives and walnuts/seeds. I did try eating roasted pumpkin seeds for about three days (in the shell) and I pretty much hate them. I use agave syrup to sweeten my tea and I have stopped drinking diet soda and coffee completely.

Anyway, anyone who wants to swap recipes or health tips or wants to eat a low-glycemic diet with me, let me know.

I am going to rest for a bit. All the testing has me crabby and tired!

Preschool!

Ian began his first week of preschool last Tuesday morning. He was skeptical about going, especially about making friends. Thomas and I brought him to the classroom a half an hour early so he could see his new surroundings, meet the teacher and dispel any fears he might have. Score one for Mom and Dad.

His teacher greeted him and asked him several questions. He also quizzed her in case she wasn't up to par.

Mrs. J: Hi, Ian. Welcome to the class. How old are you?

Ian: I'm four. Do you know when my birthday is?

Mrs. J: Hmm, I'm not sure.

Ian: It's May.

Mrs. J: So you will begin kindergarten this year.

Ian: Actually, I'm ready for kindergarten right now.

Mrs. J: I see. Well, this class will help you get ready for kindergarten.

Ian: But do you know how to spell my name?

Mrs. J: Let's see, I (makes an I letter sound)

Ian: Right!

Mrs. J: (makes A sound) A?

Ian: Yes!

Mrs. J: (makes N sound) N? IAN?

Ian: You're totally right!

The teacher showed him around the class while I completed paperwork. He stood at a counting bulletin board reading the numbers.

Mrs. J: Ian, I can tell you are good at counting. Can you count to ten?

Ian: No, I can count to THIRTY!

He then sings the alphabet song.

Mrs. J: Is that your favorite song, Ian? Do you like to sing?

Ian: No, I only like to sing at home. (yet continues singing)

We walk out to meet the class and the teacher explains the procedures for pick up and drop off. Ian, meanwhile, is requested to stand on line with the other kids. He begins to look a little glum. As more children come up, he looks like he is trying to hold it together without crying. One little boy is screaming and thrashing around while his parents attempt to drop him off. Ian watches him carefully and I think he decides he doesn't need to go to that extreme. Yet, his mouth is turned down like tears would flow at any moment.



The teacher ceremoniously has all of the children and parents wave goodbye to each other as she walks them to class.



And he is off to preschool, just like that. When I return two hours later, Ian is surprised to see me. The teacher explains that he had a very good day and that they worked on snowman matching and that Ian chose to play with play-doh for part of the morning. Ian greets me with:
"Mommy, I thought you would come back when it's dark out! It's not even dark yet!" As if to say, he isn't quite ready to leave yet.

On Wednesday night, I tell him that he will return to preschool the next morning. He questions us quickly and asks which preschool it is. Once he realizes it is the same class, he said:
"I won't even be scared! 'Cause I've already been there!"

Thank our lucky stars that this is working out as nicely as it is. And I owe my friend Cindy probably a Starbucks every week or something...as she is picking up Ian one afternoon a week for us.

Connor is doing well, but DON'T MESS WITH THE BACKPACK. That was the lesson of the week for all of us. Connor's Lightning McQueen backpack is sacred territory. Also his Lightning McQueen jacket, which he wore during our 80 degree spike all week long. Our daycare provider gave up trying to get him out of the jacket until she figured out that they could put it in sight where he could occasionally check on it.

The first daycare center apparently had a lot of issues with Connor, who was screaming each time he was left there this week. On Tuesday as I picked him up at school, his teacher said he had a rough day because he didn't arrive with his backpack. The first daycare place informs me that they forgot it because he was having a rough day.

So on Thursday, we talked to the first daycare and explained that the backpack is what is keeping him happy during all of his transitions. It has to be with him. His preschool teacher said that she wrestled his jacket off of him because he was sweating and he was then angry for a good portion of his morning. He is also latching onto his monkey pajamas (Julie-these are the BEST pjs-you picked a good one!) and throwing fits about getting into certain pajamas at night. We expect him to have some difficulty when he goes to three different places in the span of four hours and then home again later. There just isn't another way to figure it out right now, so I am done worrying about it.

Other than that, we are hoping to enjoy a nice weekend with beautiful weather! Sorry, New York and East Coasters!

Tag, I'm It!

It's been a busy weekend and just now getting a moment to actually sit and write! Visit my sister-in-law Terri's blog for a cute Connor story and my friend Michelle tagged me for a meme, so here goes.....feel free to play along.

1. Link to the person who tagged you (as I did above).
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell 6 things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them. (I'll let you decide if you want to play)
5. Go to each person's blog and leave them a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

So... 6 things about me:

1- I keep forgetting how old I am, which worries me, considering I am not that old in the grand scheme of things. And doing the math ensures that I am probably still wrong about my age!

2- Don't hate me, but I don't want pets. I like other people's pets and I like animals. But I would much rather be an aunt to pets then to own the pets themselves. I had two cats and loved them, but the chorus of dogs in the neighborhood drives me batty and my fear that I will resent so much chaos in my house leads me to feel like I would be a pretty poor pet owner. I do love dog-sitting though, because it is fun and then they go home.

3-I love playing Guitar Hero at Julie's house.

4- I eat raw chickpeas and light ranch dressing almost every weekday for lunch.

5- I am double-jointed and left-handed.

6-I am an only child.


Tomorrow Ian starts preschool!

Tomorrow is inauguration day!

Tonight is about getting some ice cream and relaxing until tomorrow!

New York Pride

I was simply stunned to listen to the radio on the way home from school this afternoon to hear that an airplane had crashed into the Hudson River. One of the AZ stations was devoting their coverage to the crash and reported that all of the passengers were alive. They spoke of passengers standing on the wings of the plane. One flight attendant from Phoenix called into the radio show and explained the attendants all attend a mandatory training, including a simulated crash and water landings. She explained how impressive and fantastic this flight crew today, including the pilot. She said that the US Airways headquarters (based in Tempe) -many broke into tears upon hearing that everyone was safe.

I cannot imagine how much the passengers, flight crew and their families must be feeling this evening, but when confronted with mortality, I imagine that the range of emotion must be wide and deep. May their reunions be joyous and healing.

Re-re-revised Plan

Okay, this is probably feeling tiresome, but I am completely preschool-obsessed this week. I finally found an alternative to corporate daycare-which is the public preschool program for Ian, two hours a day, three days a week and close to my beginning school. Drop off and pick up are set and it will save me a huge preschool bill. In fact, it looks like I might even save a few dollars on daycare. However, I will be driving like a mad woman-from home to preschool to first school to preschool to Connor's school to daycare to second school to third school to daycare and finally home. Let's hope that gas prices will not soar too high, or my precious little savings will go into my gas tank.

Connor will begin his new morning daycare for one hour until he gets the bus to school. I imagine he is going to be a little worse for wear tomorrow. When I dropped him off with Ian today, he began to cry-which he never does. It's a lot of changes for him.

My future puzzle buddy worked on a 100 piece Star Wars puzzle (Goodwill find for 69 cents!) for an hour and a half. We did bike to the park before that, so he did get some active play in before sitting and concentrating so long.

My kitchen floor is waiting to be mopped and I have work to do for school. BLAH-I would rather sit and write!

A New Plan

When I thought we had exhausted all the possibilities of preschool, one came about this week that I didn't consider. My mid-afternoon school teachers were both willing and able to push back their music time on Monday and Tuesday by fifteen minutes. Because I am finished at my first school fairly early, I will have time to go pick up Ian at preschool, pick up Connor at preschool and bring them to our regular daycare...which is close to Connor's school and on the way to the mid-afternoon school. So, instead of paying an exorbitant preschool, the boys can remain in their regular in-home daycare for the afternoons. With that, I can send Ian to preschool in the mornings for two days a week. However, I am going to research a few more options for preschools close to Connor's school to see if I might be able to find one of the public community preschools instead. So, we are still going to pay about $50-75 dollars more than we do now, but it should work out better. The nice thing is that once I am done after school, we can come home and relax-I can actually cook a decent dinner and maybe take the kids to the park after school.

Yesterday, I attended one of our music teacher meetings (I will admit that I didn't go to any this year due to Connor's appointments) and enjoyed learning some choral techniques. I haven't taught elementary chorus in several years and have to say that I almost don't miss it. Almost.
Anyway, the February meeting will center on special education music, as requested at the beginning of the year by the music teachers. The teacher-in-charge has asked me to lead the meeting and discuss some of the aspects of autism, sensory disorders and how to structure a class for multiple disabilities, for kids who are unable to speak and some songs and activities. I love working with my special ed kids.

Another thing that I have discussed with the martial arts instructor is the possibility of renting or donating his space once or twice a month for a community-based music class for special needs kids and allowing it to be donation-based to see how much interest is there. He said he would be happy to work with me on a plan for using the space. I have so much to do for chorale this month and next month, but I am thinking if I can formulate a plan and implement it in March or April.

On a different note, Ian has started soccer again this year. He was in soccer back when he was three and while he enjoyed the practices, the games were a little overwhelming. He is pretty shy in bigger crowds of kids and kids running amuck wasn't really his thing.

Thomas really wanted to see him try again, even though Ian is also enjoying his martial arts. So, he brought Ian to a practice with a team who meets at the nearby park. Thomas eased him into playing with the other kids and he eventually played. He also attended and participated in the first game on Saturday and was goalie for part of the game. I went along to practice tonight to see and he was having a lot of fun and the boys all greeted him as he walked up. Tom can explain the photos better than I can, since he took them all.







Connor will probably be starting in the fall....he was ready to join the practice tonight! I think Tom will have his true soccer buddy in Connor-once Connor is following directions better, I think it will be fun to see him play.

FEELING SNACKY-trying to eat well this week. I stocked up on some blueberries, strawberries and grapes (Connor has eaten most of them) and also some brown rice (Terri's favorite), broccoli and some cheese. I also made some breakfast burritos this weekend with multigrain tortillas, eggs, salsa, cheese and fresh veggies. We had them both Saturday and Sunday. This week, I am working on eating plain oatmeal with blueberries or peaches and some agave syrup for sweeteners. We are also drinking more tea and I stopped drinking soda and coffee (coffee I will reserve for hangouts with my friends!) and it really helped me feel better. Finally, I am trying to get into bed by 10:30 or 11:00pm and wake up at 6:30am. That is working so far. Just need to include more cardio exercise, which hopefully will happen more now that I will have afternoons at home. I can bike the kids to the park and we have been biking a little on the weekends. Yoga has been great too, but I haven't been able to get to class really since November. But we are working on our guest room-and hoping to turn the space into a good spot for me to do yoga uninterrupted.

Perhaps I should change the name of my blog to Ramble On. Okay, I'll stop now!

The First Day of Preschool!

Today was Connor's very first day of preschool-and marks the end of his in-home therapy-as they will cover speech and OT during his school day.

I packed his Lightning McQueen Car backpack last night-which he wore around all evening and this morning. Above, Tom got a picture of him before leaving on his first school adventure.

Tom took the day off and took Connor to preschool in the morning. His transportation is not set yet, so once that begins, he will ride the bus.

One of my favorite pictures (thanks, T!)- I love this little face. I cannot believe he is starting school at this tender age, but we are so, so grateful that he will have this opportunity to continue to blossom.

Connor with his teacher....who reported a rough start after Daddy drove off, but he settled down. He wanted to be picked up several times, but they encouraged him to walk in the line with the rest of the kids and by the end of the day, he was walking with the class. She also said that in asking him if he wanted to have snack or play a game, he would always respond, "No, thank you." But, he actually did participate and the aide said that although he was the youngest, he was the best behaved.

I picked him up after school and we stopped at Chik-Fil-A for lunch (Connor ate fruit and chocolate milk) and returned him to daycare with Ian. Back to school tomorrow, but we have to do some fancy scheduling until the bus gets him in the system.

Once busing is in place, Ian and Connor will attend a company-run daycare close to home-they can bus C back and forth - and Ian will get more school-based structure. We also have to look at registering Ian for kindergarten in just another two weeks.

It is amazing to see how quickly a few years go by. Whoosh!

Off to help get children to bed........

Solutions

We crunched numbers for preschool tonight until our eyeballs hurt and our brains were mush...none of the solutions are ideal or affordable, but we think that we have figured out what we will do.

The preschool where I brought the boys this afternoon was pleasant. The teachers were welcoming and another boy from Connor's age travels to his same preschool on the bus-so he would have a travel buddy. Ian was extremely nervous, but upon walking into the pre-K class, there was a male teacher who greeted Ian with a huge hello and high-five and called all of the boys in the class over to say hello to Ian. The teacher also introduced a few of the boys by name and made Ian feel very welcome. Ian visibly relaxed and while he didn't venture far from my side, he wasn't as shy. When we left, the teacher had everyone say goodbye to Ian, using his name-so Ian was impressed upon leaving too. I thought it was pretty cool that there was a male preschool teacher. Rock on!

Of course, any way we figured out numbers, it was going to be more than less, so we made a choice and decided we'll figure out where else we can cut back. Then we lamented on how we are afraid he will be in school too fast where he will not be taught by us and where we don't know if the values we want him to have will be there. How we should probably live in a state where people pay astronomical taxes to have semi-decent schools instead of this fund raising business model crap that is promoted in Arizona. How saddened we feel to see Ian becoming a school-age child, because we always wonder if we did or do enough for him. Pretty much, we are downers tonight but maybe the best is yet to be.

Let's hear it for me....I actually went on a trip by myself to visit friends in Austin, TX. That is practically unheard of (but not the only time...there are a few other weekends probably named on one hand) and I desperately tried to store up sleep like a squirrel.

Our friends Hilary and Gary gave me a standby pass to visit anytime I wanted back in June. I waited until the pass was about to expire before using it, but I did make it to the Lone Star State. Hilary and Gary have a beautiful new home and we spent much of our time relaxing with friends, eating and playing games and puzzles. Heck, if I owned a home like that, I would probably not leave it very often at all! (although I will be honest-after Hilary described the large scorpions they had, I was sufficiently creeped out.)

Here is Hilary (l) with her sister-in-law, who was also visiting them.

Hilary and Nora were my very first Arizona friends and colleagues and made life so much easier when we moved from NY to AZ. Hilary was also my first yoga teacher as well. We gravitate to shopping, beading, crafting and yapping about work. They have both been very generous friends and I really do miss their presence in my AZ life-but I am so proud and happy for the lives they are creating in TX. I don't think I could ever live in Texas (I think I have tooo much Yankee blood in my veins) but I hope to continue visiting often. Nora-thank you for the new J.K. Rowling book-nice reading material for the airplane!

Another bonus highlight of my trip was seeing Jesse and Tew-who drove up/down/sideways to see me on Saturday and spend the day talking. They just continue to astonish me with their accomplishments....photography, surgery rounds, overseas trips, computer business, lowering gas prices and specky new Hondas, so over the Pottery Barn, crazy on call schedules....I love hearing about all of it and I adore and admire them so much-I even got weepy when they left! I spent a lot of time thinking how truly honored I feel to have all of these incredible friends in my life.

The only down side of the trip was not being able to get a standby flight home on Sunday night...meaning I had to miss a day of work on Monday (not sooo bad or so I thought) so I flew home on Monday afternoon on a delayed flight.

And the price for having to take the day off.....I now have to write a research paper to make up for the 6 hours of staff development that I missed. UGH.

Other than that, I haven't felt like writing much this week due to the enormous stress we are feeling about getting Connor to preschool next week-yeah, that's not all figured out yet, all we have is that he starts Monday-but it looks like Tom and I are going to have to do a lot of creative driving for the next few months to get him home from school to daycare. I cannot afford to put Ian in a decent preschool AND Connor into daycare due to transportation issues-so the choice is either to put Ian in a crappy preschool all day and cut out all of his extra stuff. The decent preschools are A) also expensive or affordable but during our work times B) don't have after care or we cannot afford it C) aren't convenient to our work location and D) the timing and location are completely different from Connor's school. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

Tom and I didn't go to preschool as kids but we both had someone at home watching and teaching us and we both were fine. We cannot provide that for our boys. Ian is happy at daycare, but he is also very bored. We aren't the only parents who deal with this-but it is honestly so frustrating that I want to cry every stupid time I think about it. He is so smart that I feel like I have to do something for him. Adding to that, this is also Connor's last week of therapy, so we are saying goodbye to the wonderful people who have been in our home every week.

I'd like to morph into a separate work person and a home person so I can cover all of my bases simultaneously...has anyone come up with that yet?? Until then, I think you will probably not hear much from me this week until I come up with a solution.

By The Time I Get to Texas

I am in Austin, TX visiting with friends......hopefully some good blog material in the coming week. The boys are having a boys weekend....Star Wars movies, t-ball, Legos, etc.

But, I need to say a very happy birthday to my favorite, Terri! I hope she has a wonderful and quiet weekend now that the Murphys have vacated the premises! Happy Birthday SIL!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, December 2008

Ian wrote his letter to Santa ("Santa, I Love You") and set Santa up with 5 chocolate chip cookies and some milk-Santa's favorite!. The boys had opened their new pajamas, with Ian saying, "That was just what I wanted!"
Connor was unhappy that he wasn't allowed to eat the cookies. ("I cookie?") and Ian insisted on wearing his spy sunglasses while preparing Santa's plate.

My mom ended up staying in the airport all night long on Christmas Eve and getting an early morning flight on Christmas Day.

Christmas morning came and the boys, tired from hanging out with the Wines on Christmas Eve, actually slept until almost 7:30am. Ian was the first up-I kept my camera by my bedside and was still too slow to get all of the excitement.

Santa brought Connor a Lightning McQueen tricycle ("Get out of my way-I'm Lightning McQueen!") which took Santa three tries to get just the right present for C, but he did a great job. Connor really enjoyed the tricycle and we even allowed him to ride it in the house because it was raining. Ian couldn't believe that they would get to ride the toy IN the house, since normally we don't allow bikes in the house. That was pretty cool for both of them.
Ian got his super secret agent Mobile Command Center, which was "what he had always dreamed of!" The boys were so delighted with their Santa gifts that they didn't open any other gifts until after my mom arrived that afternoon-which was nice for her to get to see them open presents like maniacs later in the day.

The boys also got soccer balls from Santa. Ian got several Lego sets, Connor got a lot of Lightning McQueen loot and some cool race tracks. They had a lot of fun and by the end of the night, Connor was pretty overwhelmed and crying a lot.


We got my mom a digital photo frame to include some of her favorite photos of the boys. She really enjoyed spending the week with us and made her famous scalloped potatoes for us, even though she was really tired!


Being the only girl in the house has its advantages. I got LOTS of girly presents from Ian, including a Hello Kitty puzzle, Hello Kitty lip gloss with sparkles and a Disney Princess coloring book. I also got awesome warm and fuzzy slippers from Tom which I LOVE. Of course, I had to put together my Hello Kitty puzzle!


We spent some time this week in California visiting Michael, Terri, Suzie and Jeff-had a lot of fun watching Wall-E on Michael's super cool TV, eating delicious food by Chef Jeff, getting mani/pedis with the girls and doing all kinds of video phone conferencing with Sheila and Chris. Ian got a super spy voice changer from Aunt Sooooz and Uncle Jeff, which was probably the biggest hit of the CA trip for him. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it lost battery power on the drive home. Connor decided to skip using verbs this weekend by saying "I up" and "I cookie" and "I chip" for everything.

Now, we are home for a day to relax-taking down the tree and we put up the new and improved TV that Michael sent home with us (thanks, Mike!). We might catch the movie "Bolt" with the boys and then tomorrow morning, I am heading to Austin to visit with my friends Hilary and Nora for a few days before going back to work.

The best Christmas present for me was getting the chance to visit with my mom, Michael, Jeff, Sooz, and my favorite, Terri and also just seeing how happy the boys were to visit with them too.

Our New Year was spent watching the NY countdown (ingenious idea thanks to Cindy, where I get all the smart ideas) dancing with the kids and giving them a bath. We also sat and tried to recall all of our past New Year's celebrations. This one didn't top the charts in excitement, but we are looking forward to a peaceful 2009 that hopefully brings positive change to our nation and world and brings us closer together as family and friends.