FYI

I lied.

I'm 15 weeks along.

I wanted to keep my mouth shut about it longer, but my charming sister threatened me. She said she would tell if I didn't.

And I don't even have any cute plans for a nursery.

Cherries

When I was very little, there used to live in my parents' kitchen cupboard a very large beer glass. It was imprinted in large black letters with the phrase, "Life is the Pits."

As it happens, no one in my family drinks. So my parents used the glass to hold all their spare change. This means it was half full with pennies and very few nickels. (How's that for pit-iness?)

The pits happen to the best of us.There are all sorts of reasons aren't there? Weather, living circumstances, money, small disappointments, giant tragedies.

Occasionally--rarely--there arrives a chance to ditch the pits. And maybe perhaps it comes in the form of a crazy last minute trip to Disneyland in sunny California with dear family and friends.

And maybe that means two days of driving--each way--in a small sedan for the pleasure of six sweet days of sun.








It was so worth it. Take that, life.

What can yours do?

There is a large water table at our local Science Center. That fact probably explains why there was a three year-old boy running around Kidspace with his shirt off. I'm sure as he pushed those plastic boats in the over-chlorinated water, his sleeves had settled and soaked until the moisture crept past his elbows and up toward his shoulders. His exasperated mother peeled off his top layer to allow more playtime.

My children did not play at the water table. We have drenched ourselves there before, and apparently, girls without shirts are not socially acceptable.

Instead, they built themselves an obstacle course with giant foam blocks, cylinders, stairs, and wedges. They must have appeared to be having great fun because they were joined by several other children, shirtless boy included.

Brad had been watching the action. I was away. Doing something that I don't remember. I returned, sat on a bench next to Brad, reviewed the well-planned project and asked in awe, "Grace and Claire, did you build this?"

Young shirtless had been racing to and fro on the course like a happy hamster. He had heard me. He stopped just in front of me, standing on a squishy ramp. He addressed me with pride, his shoulders thrown back.

"No, I built it. With my nipples." And like a great showman, gesticulated toward his superhuman specimens.

You should have seen the look of shock on Brad's face. We were crying before we could stop laughing.

Where am I?

I'm at the mall playground. Yes. We come here a lot.

It's Monday. Afternoon. There are about 10 kids here. 7 adults. Including me. I am one of only two women. The rest appear to either be dads or mannies. Yes. I said mannies.

Weird. Good weird, but... Weird.

I'm sure this happens lots of other places. But not in Lubbock.