5. I once knew a guy whose nickname was “Niglet.” He also went by “Choco Taco” and “Chocolatino.”

4. I am more of a Simon than a Paula or Randy. In fact, everytime he says, “If I’m being honest” I think, “Well somebody needs to be.”

3. I don’t like Disneyland. Standing in line with international tourists who don’t use deodorant and have no sense of personal space is not my idea of a good time.

2. I used to read romance novels like a fiend in high school. This would set me up for  a series of disappointing romantic encounters in college.

1. I secretly wish that there was a job title called “Life Boss.” Not Life Coach, Life Boss. I long to tell people what to do…on a full time basis.

I’ve been a little out of it lately. Not feeling very inspired to write or record the ridiculous things that occur around me on a daily basis. I think it has mostly been because I have either been traveling for work, been sick with the flu or caring for a child sick with the flu. Any one of those things can zap the inspiration right out of a girl.

Good news is…I feel better and I don’t have to travel for work for a month! Also, just re-connected with a very old friend and it was fabulous. Kevin and I are going to go visit her soon in the City and I just can’t wait. I promise lots of pictures and stories from that adventure because I can’t imagine there won’t be lots to tell!

In the meantime I have been reading Dooce as usual. She won like every Bloggie known to man. It must be really cool to have found your calling in life AND to be recognized for it. Can’t help but wonder…what is in store for me? What will my calling be? Or am I already doing it and I just don’t know it?

Readers – did you find your “calling”? Do you even believe in such things?

“I’m into class. It’s my new thing.”

Gotta love 80′s movies.

You can check out the rest of the party pic’s on my Flickr site.

 On March 13, 2004 at 9:02 p.m. Isaac Thomas Stone came into this world. His birth was magnificent, if only for the fact that he weighed 9lbs! I was in labor for 26 hours; I had two epidurals, neither worked. After pushing for more than 2 hours, they used a vacuum to assist in delivery. It was traumatic for me but as of today, 4 years later, I can barely remember the pain. All I remember was seeing him for the first time and thinking that I would never be the same again. And I wasn’t.

My pregnancy with Isaac was fairly uneventful. Life was very difficult at the time I was pregnant, as we lost Kevin’s mom to a battle with cancer when I was about 3 months pregnant. It was very emotionally tough the 6 months between D’Lynne’s death and Isaac’s birth. However, his birth brought healing and comfort to a family in need. Isaac will always remind me that God is a Healer.

Isaac got his name from the Old Testament story of Abraham and Sarah. Sarah was 90 when God told Abraham they would bear a child. Sarah laughed at God. So, a year later when their baby was born, they named him Isaac, which means laughter. Even in grief, our household is full of laughter and I thought it was appropriate for our first child to be representative of the joy that exists between Kevin and me.

Isaac was a colicky baby, allergic to milk at first. He started out as pretty difficult but by 8 weeks old he was sleeping through the night and giving me very little grief. He crawled at 6 months, walked at 10 months and was pretty much speaking sentences by 18 months. He was and still is an over-achieving typical first child. He has a pretty serious personality and he really likes to understand the world around him and how it works. When he was little, he always had a furrow in his brow. We called him Walter because he looked like a grumpy old man.

Isaac loves music and movies. He will memorize the songs to movies and sing them all around the house. These past few months he has been learning his letter and is fascinated with how things are spelled. I suspect that he will be reading some beginner books in the next year. He derives so much joy from learning. You can see the satisfaction in his eyes when he grasps a new concept. It is contagious.

Isaac is also famous around our house for being precocious and saying very adult things at opportune times. The minute we laugh, he gets this mischievous look on his face and starts thinking of what else he can say to astound us. When he does this, it reminds me of myself as a child and I smile on the inside as I see a part of myself in my firstborn child.