Quiet Beauty...

Call me crazy, but I find ice storms to be beautiful.

Not the active ice storm, but the aftermath- provided all is well with the power and no one was hurt in their travels. There is something absolutely breathtaking about the look of a tree with its limbs adorned by tiny icicles, that last leaf hanging on for dear life fossilized in crystal. I find it poetic, and just beautiful.

If I weren't with child, I would be that crazy lady outside walking around just to hear the crunch beneath the soles of my shoes; the one that can only be heard after the storm.

I would post some pictures, but I have yet to take any today, it is cold outside and I find the comfort of my warm living room much more inviting. :)

Christmas is a mere 5 days away. Where did the time go? I have a little shopping left to complete which I hope to have finished today at some point. Then there is the wrapping... Boy do I need to get in gear.

Last Sunday Hubby & I took the Midget to see Santa Clause at the mall. We stood in line for about one half hour and she was so incredibly excited until they said it was her turn- Then she froze! You can tell however by the thumbs up she is giving in the picture that hey- this is OK after all. (She and dolly are wearing their Christmas Dresses!)

She froze and never did tell Santa what she wanted, but when we asked why she said "Santa already knows. Santa knows everything!" Oh to be a child again and see the magic at Christmas.

This time of year has been a lot of fun for me because I can see how excited she is; it takes me way back to the Christmas mornings when I was a kid. I miss hearing my brother jump from his bed to the floor several times over in an attempt to wake Mom & Dad so we could see what Santa left. But I digress. We've all grown and new traditions are forming and life is good.

Christmas Eve will once again be hosted in my home. I am very much looking forward to the expressions on the kids faces when Santa comes and makes a very special visit giving them their first present. Once everyone departs for their own homes we will put reindeer food on the lawn and then shuffle the midget off to bed.

Christmas Day I will celebrate my birthday and get one year closer to not being a 20-something. Someone recently asked what I would call my blog once I am no longer a 20-something mama, but now a 30-something. After much thought- I will remain the 20-something mama forever because after all, these were the years in which my children were born and I became "Mama".

Enjoy your holidays, stay safe and drink a little egg nog for me as I am currently not allowed to have any :(

Until next time...

Does a hug make it go away??

We have been using this Advent calendar since last Christmas:

on November 30th, Midget, Daddy & I fill the little doors with our favorite candies. This year there are 2 york peppermint patties and one Reece's peanut butter cup mini behind each of the doors. Every evening from December 1st to Christmas we open one door a night and have a little treat.

This afternoon the midget was left unattended in the living room while I prepared lunch. When I came out to check on her I noticed she was covered in chocolate and chewing something. I asked what was in her mouth and was told "I don't know"

I then notice that the door for the 16th was open. We're only on the 13th, so I go to the calendar and check the 16th and as I suspected it was EMPTY.

The culprit- one three year old covered in chocolate.

I took the candies from the 13th door and shifted them to the 16th. I also removed the candies from the 14th and put them away.

There will be no opening of doors on this night or tomorrow.

I explained why I was angry. My upset has nothing to do with the fact that she had a piece of candy she was not supposed to have- I get that she is excited and it is too tempting not to touch, but she lied to mommy and that makes me upset.

her response:

"Does a hug make the mad go away? Ya know, if I give you a hug it will be all better"

Talk about quickly making one well meaning adult trying to teach a lesson feel about 2 feet tall.

Until next time...

Merrill Lynch CE seeking 2008 bonus of 10mil?

This is absolutey without a doubt the most disgusting thing I have seen in a very long time. This man must have quite a set to sit back and realistically think that this request is even remotely appropriate? Your thoughts??

(Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co Chief Executive John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered company's compensation committee is resisting his request, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.
The compensation committee has not reached a decision, but is leaning toward denying Thain and other senior executives bonuses for this year, the people told the paper.
Merrill could not be immediately reached for comment.
Shareholders on Friday approved Bank of America Corp's takeover of Merrill, a deal fraught with risk but one that would create a banking giant with a leading position in almost every major area of the financial system.
Merrill was arguably saved from extinction when it agreed to merge on September 15, an hour before Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy. The fear was that Merrill could be next if shareholders and trading partners fled, as many did at Lehman and the former Bear Stearns Cos.
Thain has said he deserves a bonus because he helped avert what could have been a much larger crisis at the firm, people familiar with his thinking told the WSJ.
Members of Merrill's compensation committee agree with Thain that the takeover is in shareholders' best interest, but believe it would be foolish to ignore strong public sentiment against large compensation packages, the paper said, citing people familiar with their thinking.
Committee members are also weighing the fact that other Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which did better than Merrill this year, are not giving out bonuses to top executives, the paper said.
Thain, who became Merrill's chief executive after losses in mortgage-related investments led to the October 2007 ouster of Stanley O'Neal, has also run NYSE Euronext, after a long career at Goldman.
After the Bank of America-Merrill deal is completed, he will run the merged company's global banking, securities and wealth management businesses. Thain will not be joining Bank of America's board.
(Reporting by Pratish Narayanan in Bangalore; Editing by Kazunori Takada)

original article link: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4B70X520081208?rpc=60

The latest...

Sorry things from this end of the blogosphere have been quiet as of late, but I find myself completely and totally exhausted these days!

I figured I would take a moment or two and update on what's been going on in my corner of the world :)

Baby girl is doing great! We have entered our 28th week gained 19 pounds and have 12 weeks to go. Yesterday I had my glucose screening at the doctors office, no news is good news, so as long as I do not hear from them things are good.

Midget is looking forward to being a big sister and has new questions every day. the latest conversation went as follows:

Midget: "Mama, tell me about babies"

Me: "what about them?" (I should add I had a near panic attack thinking the worst question was about to be posed IE: how do they get out?)

Midget: "Well, how is she living in there, is there really a lot of water in there? You said that you had a ton of water weight yesterday"

Me: "Yes, baby- there is water in there, and your sister is swimming"

Midget: "WITHOUT FLOATIES? THAT'S AMAZING!!!"

I had to leave the room to keep her from seeing me laugh. Thankfully she didn't ask any more questions :)

***
On Saturday I had to take the dog to the emergency vet. Not fun! Her diagnosis is a urinary tract infection and she was sent home with some antibiotics. She's on the mend thankfully. Poor thing, not only does it hurt to pee but the vet called her "fat" and said she needed a diet. Imagine that!

She really does need to lose weight, but who am I to judge?

***

The Christmas tree is up. I promise I will send pictures as soon as I go get my camera from Nicole's house. I left it there after the twins birthday party and haven't been able to go get it yet.

Aunt Jean, I didn't forget about you- my brain is fried and I realize too late in the day that I forgot to call you back again. I do however find it funny that the hippopotamus song is stuck in your head. It's stuck in the little one's head too and I hear it every second of the day. How many times has it looped so far in this blog?

I hope everyone is enjoying the season, I am- I just wish there were more time. There are gifts to buy, cards to mail, Santa's to visit... the list goes on and on and on...

Until next time...