Heather and Thea

Reason 62 to get an iPhone

I have a horrible sense of direction. No, REALLY. Not just on the roads; I also get turned around in unfamiliar buildings. This was a problem when trying to find the fitness center at work. I spent about half my allotted work-out time lost and explaining myself to guards and researchers. At one point I even wandered into a closet.

One of my new friends at work showed me how to find my way today, for a second time. This time I took notes at every turn.

How we got our son to sleep through the night

So it's been about a month now that Liam has been sleeping through the night reliably. The uninterrupted 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night for the first time in two and a half years has been nice. I'm sure the very act of stating that publicly will jinx us, of course.

We didn't have this much trouble getting Thea to sleep. It took her longer than some kids to get the hang of unassisted sleeping, but by 14 months — right around when I got knocked up with her brother — she was ready to be on her own all night. Naturally I thought it was due to my superior parenting skills. Liam was the cold shock of reality, payment for my hubris.

For anyone struggling to get a decent night's sleep with your little one, I feel for you. Every kid is different, but what finally worked for us was the time- honored tradition of bribery. Every night of sleep gets him a star on the calendar, and every week of stars equals a new Thomas train. Thea has been a huge help, as well, encouraging and comforting him in the best, most effective ways, which sometimes elude me and Todd. Sleep in this house is truly a group effort.

I've always been a sucker for a pretty picture

It's official: all the cool kids are doing the mosaic meme.

The Concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s Flickr Toys: mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

1. Shoplifting Kelly 3, 2. "What? Sushi? What is it?", 3. Pine Bluff Sky, 4. The Aquamarine Leaf Ballet Collage, 5. Alec Baldwin @ Live Earth, Giant Stadium, 6. Bourbon saturday, 7. Las Cruces Sunset 02APR08, 8. Guinness Cake ~ Recipe Courtesy of Nigella Lawson, 9. Secret 62, 10 [I searched on "financially stable"; cute pic, though!]. Family Portrait, 11. obsessive thought generator, 12. Kelly Go to

I'm reluctant to take this down

I found this message from my boss (whom I ADORE) on my monitor when I came into work this morning:



The post-its say

Kelly there are not enough sticky notes to express how I feel good luck! bye

Aside from the fact that the note forms a frowny face, what makes it all perfect is that, when I was leaving yesterday, I stopped in his office to say good-bye, because he's out of the office for the rest of the week. When I didn't find him, I started to write a quick note on a post-it to thank him for the drinks last night — he was paying and we all got a little carried away with the topshelf whiskeys — and to say good-bye, and the only notes I could find were the little ones. He came in and saw what I was doing, then threw several pads at me while screeching "You think you can say good-bye on a post-it note, and one of the small ones even!"

I loved his commitment to the joke. Not everyone would follow through with pelting me with post-it pads. I'm really going to miss this place.

For those of you keeping score, I did just start my current job six months ago. It's a job I love: interesting, high-profile work with people who are funny, generous, smart, and delightfully obscene. They make me happy to come into work. But the job I accepted was one I applied for a year ago, and is something that I truly feel I might be able to retire from some day. Even if I'm building it up too much and it turns out to be not the final frontier, it's close to home, the kids' daycare, and Todd's school, and I have a friend working there who is the best. (Seriously, I want our families to marry and all move in together.) So, at absolute worst, it'll be something that makes my and my family's lives easier for the next handful of years. Can't beat that.

Are you kidding me?

This was Thea's response when I asked if she had fun at her daycare
recital today.

Hot SILVERDOCS action

I'm probably a leetle too tipsy and distracted by Todd's minimalist piano solo in the background to do justice to this, but my friend Brent is live-blogging the Silverdocs international film festival, running from now until the end of the week at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. Go check it out! Brent is a lovely mix of brilliant and cool and somewhat curmudgeonly.

Here's a snippet from one of my favorite reviews so far:

Is…is that a power drill?

Yep. And even if you aren’t a 12 year old boy–which is to say that you are not inclined to see a film just because someone will be doing brain surgery using the same kind of cordless power drill you have in the garage–there are plenty of other reasons to make sure you see The English Surgeon.

The more refined popsicle love

Fudgicle love

A hard rain's a-gonna fall

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that those of us in the DC metro area experienced a severe storm last night. It was all very dramatic, and there was a possible tornado up by my kids' daycare. When I saw the sky turn dark, I bolted from work, knowing that if I waited too long, I could be stuck in traffic for two hours, but if I left too soon, I'd be stuck in dangerous weather. In retrospect, I probably should have just stayed at work.

But I made hit home eventually and the kids were fine, and I even had enough time to make us vegetarian sushi for dinner. The kids were into the idea because they've had sushi before, at a place that has plates that go around on a conveyor belt, which made it a lot of fun for them. My sister got me a book on how to make pretty sushi rolls, I gave them juice in sake cups, and we told them that seaweed is what mermaids eat; how could any kid resist that?

In between episodes of torrential rain, we let the dogs out to romp in the yard, as we do every night. Only this night, we had forgotten to close the gate, so their romp went further than the yard. When I found out that the dogs were missing, I have to admit, I panicked a little. I think I'm still traumatized from when I was a kid and saw my dog get run over in front of me while we were at a park near my house. I expected the worst.

But as I was freaking out on the front lawn, I saw a woman across the street who looked like she might be looking for someone. Not sounding at all like a lunatic, I screeched at her "Do you have my dogs?!!!" She replied, "A hound dog and a smaller one?" and I immediately burst into tears.

Todd went over to the nice lady's house to get our pups. He said that Tina was ecstatic to see him, and that Hank was more blasé, kind of "Oh, hai, howzit goin?" They made it home not 30 seconds before the rain started again. The lady who rescued my dogs is my hero. She didn't have to take them in, then go looking for their owners with the threat of downpour imminent. In fact, I don't know that I would have done the same. I'm totally making her brownies and getting her a Starbucks gift card or something.

Vegetarian sushi a hit with the O kids

Blogging for LGBT families

Today is Mombian's third annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day. Equality is a subject that is important to me, as I'm sure it is to most people, eh? At least most people who read this blog. I can't imagine there's a one of you who would say "I think discrimination is a-ok and I'm not afraid who knows it."

Anyway, I'm embarrassed that I'm unable to devote the time and mental resources to writing a good post on why kids of LGBT families deserve equal legal protection for their families. We're in the middle of potty-training Liam (right exactly now, as I write this), I've got two big deadlines before the end of the week at work, and Todd just started school today. It's a good time to be an O, but things are busy.

In lieu of a thoughtful post on why equality is important and good, for each of us as individuals and for our country as a whole, I'll link to someone smarter than I am. A recent op-ed in the LA Times by Joel Stein was brilliant. Go read it. Here's a taste:

Dear old people,

I'm addressing you specifically for two reasons. First of all, you're the only people who still read the newspaper. Second, this November, your vote on a proposed California constitutional amendment will determine whether the state again bans gay people from getting married. That's because, according to a Field poll released Tuesday, while the majority of Californians under 50 support same-sex marriage, only 36% of senior citizens do. So your vote could very well overturn the wishes of everyone else because, as with newspaper reading, you're the only people who vote. When you guys die, we're going to make all of our political decisions by asking questions of a Magic 8-Ball. [...]

Riding the carousel at Watkins Park