D-A-M-N

Damn! It has been absolutely WEEKS since I could sit here at the computer and just freaking blog! I'm happy to report that my back doesn't hurt, my internet is working (it was NOT for the past 5 days--torture), Sophie is in bed--probably not napping, but at least not climbing on me, Jimmy is happily shredding a pig ear, and Erik is in Salt Lake visiting Janzen. It seems that lately, the stars have to be aligned exactly right for me to have 45 minutes to just sit here and write for a while.

So, let's start with Sophie Gene. Unfortunately, she is following in her mother's footsteps and becoming a total potty mouth. A few days ago, we were at my mom's house (The day that Katy's Handsome Rob--now demoted to Douche Bag Rob was over) and Jimmy jumped up on her. She said, "Jimmy! I'm going to kick your ass!" Later, when he repeated the offense, she told him to get down, or she'd kick him in the balls. Now--the kick your ass thing, I'll totally take credit for, but I NEVER threaten anyone with ball kicking. Who knows where the fuck she picked that little jewel up.

School/day care is going MUCH better. They have moved her in with the older kids (because she's a freakin' genius) and it has made all the difference. The kids interact and pretend with her. They do lots of art projects, learn a little Spanish, and tons of other cool things. We have seen nary a tear from her on school days.

I took her for her first official hair cut yesterday--not counting grandma trimming up the bangs, or the do-it-yourself-"snick" that she pulled over the summer. I should have taken the camera. She looked so big sitting there in the barber chair. When the gal put the cape (kid sized and with various jungle creatures on it) on her, she said, "Wow! An animal smock!" Natalie--the stylist (is that the preferred term for hair-cutters?) almost peed herself. The cut is cute. Before, her hair was almost to her butt, but many lengths. Now it's about 2 inches below her shoulders, and very grown-up looking.

What else. Oh. My mom got a Jacuzzi for her birthday. (Ever heard of folliculitus? We've all got it. Apparently first time hot-tub owners/hangers on often get these painful zittish bumps for the first little while.) My little bro is in town, and both he and my dad could both pass for yetti (is the plural of yetti yettis? Or is it like deer and trout. One deer. Two deer. Hmmm.) Anyhoo--Jon is just a tad chubby, and when he came out to the hot tub, where Soph and I were already soaking she said, "Wow! I like your boobs! They have black fur on them!" Of course, I didn't know weather to apologize or laugh hysterically, so I did both.

On to Jon. He's about 3 years younger than I am. A little over a year ago, he and his sweet wife moved out of Utah, into Dallas Texas. He has been working hard to get a jewelry business off the ground, so he hasn't been back to see us very often. Jon and I are good friends, and partners in general silliness. When we were young, we would sit up in a tree and make up songs a la Weird Al. We had our share of sibling arguing, but have generally been pretty close. (I'll have to remember to post the story of the time Mandy and wrapped him up in a sheet, tied it with panty hose, and put him out on the front porch. To this day, I claim that he was warned.) Anyway, he came in to town on Monday and left today. I didn't get to see very much of him, but we did take a nice walk together up on the mountain, and I introduced him to Karaoke Revolution on the Playstation night before last. (He and I TOTALLY scored a platinum record on Under Pressure. I was Freddy Mercury. He was David Bowie. It was choice.) We don't really call each other, and since he and his wife decided to nix the internet at their house (still not sure exactly why) we don't keep in touch as much as we should. The plan is that they'll move back sometime next year. I hope so. That boy cracks me up.

Jimmy is getting HUGE! I took him to the vet yesterday for some more shots, and to have his eye looked at (he tangled with one of the neighbor's mangy cats.) No one there, including the vet, could believe how much he had grown. I THINK he's house trained. No accidents in the house for a week or so. The nipping has gotten far better. Next on the agenda is training him not to jump up on people (in a few months, he'll probably be so big that this will be down right dangerous) and to STAY THE FUCK OFF THE COUCHES!! He lives for playing catch, his squeaky dinosaur, belly scratches and pig ears. He also loves snacking on cat shit, sneaking on to the couch, trying to lick me when I'm in the tub, and barking like a mad man when I put him outside, especially when I'm trying to get Sophie to sleep.

I was going to go on to school, Erik, and other assorted topics, but this is plenty long. Hopefully my back and internet connection are both in working order, and I'll be able to start posting daily (at least ever-other-daily) again.

Today's best thing about being a mom:
Now that she's in the "big kid class" Sophie makes me tons of art projects. I love picking her up, and having her say, "Look what I made for you mommy!"

Today's worst thing about being a mom:
Trying to keep her from living on nothing but sugar and cheese