If you have by chance, been living under a rock and are unaware that Twilight opens on Friday then you may not understand the next few sentences. If you have been reading this site, the next few sentences might scare you, might cause you to question my sanity. Never to fear though, I promise it’s just the vodka talking.

So, I am in love with Edward. I’m sorry Kevie, I am leaving you for a fictional teenage vampire. He will take care of me, protect me from the bad vampires and try with all of his might not to suck my blood. Edward and I shall forever live in a mystical world and I will be his vampire bride.

Wow. That was awkward. Seriously people, these books are like crack. It must be how some people felt about the Harry Potter series - although I do not know who could think all of that magic stuff was real. I mean, have you ever met a sorcerer? What’s that you say, vampires are just as far fetched? Well, to that I say - have you ever been to Santa Cruz at night? Yeah. Bloodsuckers are alive and well. Why do you think they filmed the Lost Boys there? Not a coincidence. After watching a few episodes of the Two Coreys, methinks Corey Haim might have fallen prey to the vampires himself.

Anyhoot - I already bought my ticket to go see Twilight. I am still considering a trip to northern Washington to retrace the steps of Bella and Edward through the small town of Forks but that might be too much. Do you think that’s too much? Am I taking this too far?

Read the books, then judge me… I dare you.

Recently someone asked me what some of my favorite things are and it got me thinking. If I had to pick 10 things I couldn’t live without - what would they be? As I worked on my list, I thought it revealed a little about me (in a superficial sort of way) and I thought my readers should give the list a try. So, chime in and tell me what 10 things you can’t live without. Please note, these are things of the non-human nature, meaning if you can’t live without your Great Aunt Sue, I understand but that isn’t really what I was thinking when I made this list.

Okay, I’ll go first (no particular order):

• My coffeemaker
• Sunglasses
• Coffee Beans
• Books
• Bob Marley’s Legend Album
• My running shoes (asics)
• Disinfecting wipes
• The Body Shop’s Coconut Body Butter
• MAC lip gloss
• My Blackberry Curve

I promise that a post regarding my thoughts and comments on the election results is coming soon, as I know you are all dying to know

Kids grow up fast. Too fast. In the middle of a sleepless night with a crying baby, it is easy to think that the phase will never pass. However, in truth, it is just a moment in time that your children are young. I did a list like the one below with Isaac at the about the same age and I recently re-read it. I almost can’t remember Isaac at that age, which makes me feel very melancholy. These are precious times and I don’t want to forget any of it. Joshua has been growing and changing at an alarming speed lately. He has taken up talking on a full time basis and his wild personality is center stage in our house. He fits so perfectly into our lives, I just can’t remember what it was like without him.

 Dearest Joshua,

• You love to put on and take off your shoes. You constantly grab a pair of shoes and run to my lap, sit down and say “shoes”.

• Your affinity for your brother is hilarious. He is the first person you ask for the in morning and the last person you play with at night. When he is sleeping and you are not, we literally have to barricade the door so you don’t wake him up.

• You are happiest when we are on an adventure. You will be in the midst of throwing a fit and all I have to do is say “Do you want to go bye-bye?” and you instantly stop crying and head for the door.

• You have recently taken to growling. Not sure what it is all about but maybe Halloween is the culprit. You will growl at Isaac, then start laughing and chase him down the hall. Your ability to take down a 41 pound 4 year old is shocking. You are quite the scrapper.

• You call food “num nums.” I am not sure where you got this but now everyone in the house says “I want num nums” when they are hungry.

• When you are really tired, you try to put yourself to bed. You start in the kitchen, somehow lugging out the milk and trying to put it in your bottle. You then say, “night night Mommy!”

• You love the water. When we head to the beach you instantly start yelling “Wa wa wa wa!” You will hurl yourself face first into any body of water – which worries me sick. I am hoping you will take up swimming soon, for your own safety.

• You have an affinity for fruit that is unparalleled. You call strawberries, “strawbabies” and it makes me laugh every time. One time I seriously thought you had overdosed on bananas.  You didn’t poop for a week.

I love you so much Joshua, I can’t wait to see the man you will become but in the meantime, I love the little boy that you are.

For those that come here just for the pictures, this post is for you. Below are pic’s from Halloween and the “pet parade” we went to last week in honor of Halloween. People really like their dogs around here. Enjoy!

I don’t know what it is about me. Maybe a sign that I can’t see but the general public can. I envision it to say something like “Say stupid things to me” or maybe “I’m gullible, please approach with crazy story/plan/idea.” Or even worse, something like ”Say the dumbest thing you’ve ever said out loud TO ME, PLEASE, PICK ME!!!!”

Aside from some of the more mundane things like - “Are you SURE you’re not having twins?” when I was pregnant, there have been some real good ones. Sometimes people don’t even have to use words -  like the time that someone cut me off in a Walmart parking lot, then turned their car around and spit out their window on my windshield. Or the time when a CHP officer pulled me over to give me a ticket and ended up trying to offer me his phone number (along with the ticket). I even had someone who worked in HR tell me my boobs were big, while we were standing in the company restroom.

Because of these things, my friends have always joked that more happens to me in one day than the average person. If I had a nickle for every conversation with a friend that started out with me saying “You are never going to believe what happened to me today” I would be a wealthy girl.

Recently the activity has picked up a bit. I even got an anonymous email from a “secret admirer.” Seriously. Apparently I am still in 6th grade and no one informed me. I don’t know what I do that attracts the crazies but I sure have cornered the market on it. Sometimes I wish a was a shrinking violet, I wish I was someone who could just fade into the crowd - but no. I’m the girl always trying to get noticed and as I do, it is inevitable that the “noticing” take some awkward form that embarrasses both me and the other person.

So my readers what is your story? What is the stupidest thing someone has said/done to you?

Last night my mother, youngest sister and I went to Santa Cruz to see David Sedaris. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Sedaris, he is a critically acclaimed author (humorist) and he has written several best selling novels. He also is a regular commentator for National Public Radio (NPR).

My mom first read one of Sedaris’s books and passed it on to me, I quickly fell in love with the way he spins a personal tale. My little sister starting reading his books this summer as well and, like my mother and I, found herself laughing out loud at his wacky tales of summer jobs, drugs and family life. When I found out he was coming to Santa Cruz I quickly bought tickets for all of us, knowing that my mother and sister would like to see him.

For those of you that read Heather Armstrong’s website, no I am not trying to copy her - I had these tickets months ago. However I do think it is a strange coincidence considering we have the same couchas well. Big difference between us is, hmmmm, well the advertising income she boasts and maybe writing talent but whatever.

Anyhow, I wondered if Sedaris would be as funny in person as he is to read and in fact, we were not let down. He manages to take a mundane tale from his life, say a bad college professor’s lecture and turn it into a story with such detail and brilliance you feel as though you lived through the lecture yourself. I can only aspire to make words come alive on a page in such a way.

Interestingly, he spoke about the internet and its’ impact on the writing business. He basically said the bad part about blogging is that everyone is now “writing” and that most of it is really bad. I guess for that I owe y’all an apology.

Even after the insult to my writing talent, I wanted to stick around and have him sign my book. He was really engaging with each person in line, asking questions and slinging one liners left and right. He seemed to have a different random question for each person. When I got to the front I waited for my question. Will he ask me if I am a cat person? What my favorite installment of Back to the Future is?  How I feel when I see the color blue? As I stepped up to the table and handed him my book it went something like this:

DS: You’re a Scorpio.

Me: No.

DS: A Libra, you’re a Libra.

Me: No.

DS: Well then someone is.

Me: I’m a Capricorn and my birthday is 11 hateful days after Christmas. Everyone is broke, on a diet and sick of parties - terrible birthday.

DS: Hmm. Me too, Capricorn that is. My  birthday is the day after Christmas. We usually put off celebration until a later date.

Me: That sounds like a good idea.

So much for witty repartee. I really wanted to say something that would make him remember me - something that would end up in one of his stories. However, that was not to be. Instead, a few other little pleasantries were uttered, he wrote something in my book and I walked away. When I got back to my car, I looked into the book to see what he’d written:

 If only one day I could be so clever.

Words for my wife…

Let me be the first to say, Jennifer is officially a bad ass! (pardon my french).

I suggest re-naming this blog as the current title certainly doesn’t do justice. My Jennifer is NOT “just another jenn”! She set a lofty personal goal, began training many months ago (during one of the most major transitional periods in her life) and subsequently achieved success. I, for one, am very proud of my wife. You all know I don’t typically comment on here - so please consider the magnitude of importance in which I leave this. To most of you, Jenn provides a interesting perspective on life - a transparent and clear representation of her life along with the daily challenges and unique experiences that accompany it. I must admit, she does a rather good job of it!

But to me, Jenn is much more than an entertaining and/or interesting read in the morning. She is an amazing mother, a hard worker, funny as hell, smart, witty, quick on her feet, and possesses the ability to out-debate just about any political junkie out there…including myself.

I felt compelled to draft this today as I was reminded this weekend just how truly lucky I am to have her in my life. This race was so much more than accomplishing a half marathon run, so much more. So Jennifer, this is for you. Congrats on your huge achievement! The boys and I are so proud of you, and I’m sorry for hacking your site

Hubby

(I promise not to put your readers through this again…change your password)

I will post more later - however, I ran the SF Nike Women’s Marathon (the half) and finished! 2 hours and 25 minutes. I have pictures and everything but right now… I need to rest.

Today I read two of my favorite bloggers, then sat staring at my computer in total disbelief. Let me explain…

I am a woman. I am a woman who has been pregnant 5 times. I am a woman who only has 2 children to show for those 5 pregnancies. I am a woman who had to have a D&C three times in order to remove embryo’s that had unexpectedly died in the womb. I understand the issues related to pregnancy, pregnancy loss and fertility. I understand them more than I would like to.

So, with that said… I bring a large amount of bias to the discussion of abortion. I have experienced the “empty arms” of a pregnant woman whose baby is no longer alive inside of her. The thought of choosing that out of convenience is abhorrent to me.  However, I refuse to stand in judgement of those who have, that is not my purpose or place and that is not the point of this post.

However, when I read posts both here and here about how a “thinking woman” couldn’t vote for McCain because of his stance on abortion, I wanted to stand on a hill and scream. First of all, that you would incite women who are well rounded creatures (not unlike their male counterparts) to vote on a single issue, well that alone insults my intelligence. Secondly, to assert that there is only one way to think on this subject is absurdly naive. Have we really come to the point as a society that we want above all else to protect the right to terminate a pregnancy? THAT is what we are going to fight FOR?

What about the children? What about the fact that we as a society haven’t educated men and women enough to know that if you participate in action A, the result could be B? No, instead we just want to make sure that after the “action” a woman can walk into a clinic and “take care of business.”

I understand that Julia (aka alittlepregnant) is talking mostly about the health of the mother issue. I agree that a woman should have “choice” in this instance. However, there has to be a reasonable definition of “health” and John McCain was absolutely correct - the pro-choice advocates have expanded this definition. I am not a doctor so I will leave this definition up the medical community.

However, the stats on abortion are staggering. Twenty-two percent of ALL pregnancies end in abortion. From 1973 to 2005 more than 45 MILLION abortions have been performed. Three-fourths of women having abortions cite financial concerns. Forty-six percent of women having abortions HAVE NOT USED CONTRACEPTIVES. You can read a lot more facts here.

I do not want to demonize the women who have to make this choice. I do however want to point out the fact that a generation of women since Roe vs. Wade have rallied around a cause that is not worthy of celebration and protection to the point where it would be the deciding factor in a political election. We are a country of ingenuity and intelligence and this is the “right” we boast in protecting?

Why can’t we rally around appropriate sex education? Why can’t we discuss options besides termination? Why does abortion have to be the answer for so many women? Can we not keep some sense of self-control as a part of this debate? Or do we legislative to the lowest common denomination and then simply hope for the moral best? I think we can do better. I think our politicians and N.O.W have done this country a disservice. Roe vs. Wade may be here to stay but it is NOTHING to celebrate.