Heat broken at daycare

At 2:30, I am going to get the girls because the building's heat isn't working. Rory is napping right now, hence the delay.

I wonder if I will get reimbursed for this? Doubt it!

Happy birthday, Nana!

Today is Nana's ___th birthday (I would publish it, but I fear retribution). For dinner, we took the family to Buon Apetito, one of our favorite local Italian places. We had a ball, as anyone looking at the red sauce distribution on Rory's face can tell. We love family birthdays!!

Love that Robbie Schaefer!

Last night, Craig and I had the joy of seeing Eddie from Ohio guitarist/vocalist Robbie Schaefer perform a small, acoustic concert in Herndon, at the Industrial Strength Theater. Located four miles from our house, it took roughly 45 minutes for us to find the place. It is buried in a business park, on the back side, and we almost gave up and went home.

Thank the stars we didn't. This show was like "Inside the Actor's Studio" for music, and it featured no host. All Robbie, all the time. He played a bunch of new music, took requests from the crowd of 90, sang "Gravity" for what he claimed was the first time ever (Julie Murphy Wells typically sings it), and took questions about his musical career.

The show started at 8:00, and was slated to end at 9:00. Robbie finally stopped playing/talking/answering at 10:15, and neither the audience (or Robbie) wanted it to end. He played his cherished guitar, Lucille, which he never uses for concerts - only for songwriting and recording. Lucille doesn't get out much. => His mom and sister were there, his math teacher was there, and it really felt as though we were in his living room. It was an awesome, rare experience.

Lucky, lucky us.

Welcome, Nana!

Much to the joy of the wee ones, Nana (aka, Craig's mom) arrived yesterday for a nice, long visit. Rory went crazy when Nana, Craig, and I picked her up at daycare. She immediately grabbed Nana's hand, dragged her through the daycare center, and headed into Fiona's room to gather up her belongings so we could hit the road. Such excitement!

The thrills didn't end there. Oh, no! The five of us headed to Wegman's to do a bit of "pre-storm" food shopping. Bread! Milk! Toilet paper! Of the requisite D.C. storm items, we only bought milk - unless you count English muffins as bread (bread-esque?).

I am now at work, and the four Mayhews are holding down the fort. Tonight, I am going out to dinner with some friends, and tomorrow night Craig and I are going to see Robbie Schaefer (of EFO fame) perform a solo show in Herndon (of all places!).

I like having a grandparent here to babysit! => Nana rocks!

Farewell to Roger

My mother just called to say that Roger has finally left us - 24 hours before his 76th birthday. At 2:35 am (Arizona time, which is two hours behind the East Coast), he took his last breath. Roger was never in pain, never took any pain medication, and basically died in his sleep. An enviable end, to be sure, all the while surrounded by my mom's tender loving care. He will be tremendously missed.

When I spoke to my mom yesterday afternoon, she was worried that it was winding down, so we got off the phone in a hurry so she could spend her time with him. I expected a call last night, but one never came. Craig and I spoke about Roger for a bit, and then toasted him with two pieces of See's chocolate covered marzipan - only hoisting a cup of Peet's coffee would have been better. They were Roger's two favorites, and he would have been pleased to know he was toasted with marzipan.

I once got him an entire box of it for Christmas. Roger never was much into gift giving or the holidays, but MAN, did he dive into that box of delicious chocolates.

Roger was a great writer and a published author, had a marvelous sense of humor, loved to travel, loved to read and do crossword puzzles, and had a keen curiosity of life and its people. He was a staunch Democrat. Roger was one of the most photogenic people I have ever met, and rarely took a bad picture. He had a wonderful, booming laugh, and loved silly people. He was unpretentious, kind, gentle, and friendly to everyone he met.

Roger leaves his two kids, Lerryn and Chris, and Lerryn's two sons, Devon and Jamie. Rog was wonderful with Rory and Fiona, and traveled to D.C. to meet Fiona last September. This is when the "stickering incident" took place (picture to be posted later). Have I mentioned that Rog was also a very good sport? And pretty patient!

If you'd like to send my mom, please drop me a line and I will send you her mailing address.

I will post his obituary (and a picture of his sweet face) later. Au revoir, Roger!

Hains Point, Hippos at the Zoo, Pooping, and Mooing!

Today was a big day! Besides the fact that it was nearly 70 degrees and sunny.

First, it is President's Day. Happy birthday to all our dead Presidents! We celebrated by going to Hains Point in D.C., to visit the soon-to-be-dug-up sculpture, "The Awakening." The piece is moving to Prince George's County soon, and we wanted to go see it one more time before its grand unearthing.

Rory was terrified of the giant's hand, and ran away crying. She was much happier visiting with the ducks on the Potomac, and watching the airplanes taking off and landing at National Airport. Fiona and I enjoyed the sculpture, and loved watched kids slide down the Giant's knee, cling to his fingers, and hang from his toes. It was the perfect day to bid this fantastic sculpture a fond adieu.

Next we headed to the National Zoo. This was Craig's brainchild, and we decided it was high time Miss Rory saw a hippo in the flesh. As important as Big Appa (her stuffed hippo) is in her daily existence, she has never laid eyes on one.

We saw three of the sweet beasts (two pygmy and one full-size), and Rory was awestruck. We also got to see elephants, an emu, a sleeping cheetah, and a few zebra. We weren't there for too long (parked at a two-hour meter), but it was an awesome experience. Brought a tear to the eye - THAT'S how important hippos are to Rory!

Right before Rory's bath that night, I put her on the potty chair, and she pooped! We made a big deal out of it, gave her a few stickers, and left it where it was so she could keep coming back and checking it out. "I pooped in the toilet!" she kept saying. I took a picture, but won't post it. Promise!

And did I mention that Fiona can now moo and make an elephant noise??

What a day!!

Fiona's birthday party!

This afternoon, we had a "you're ONE!" birthday party for Fiona at Bertucci's in Herndon. Nearly 30 people came, and it was a great way to celebrate Fiona's one-year mark - we thank everyone for coming!

The party wasn't too "baby-focused." Food, drinks, a few balloons, cake, and a "pin the food into the Very Hungry Caterpillar's mouth" game. I brought some noisemakers and a HUGE bag of pipe cleaners, placing some on every table. In hindsight, I should have hosted a pipe cleaner building contest, because people went crazy with them. Craig, especially. He is a master pipe cleaner artist (who knew?!?).

When you look at the cake picture, notice the fingers creeping in from below... many thanks to Aunt Donna for feeding the birthday girl! Fiona was thrilled!

The picture of Fi in the white chair was taken back at home, as she worked off her sugar high. She crashed HARD!

Happy Valentine's Day 2008!

Thank you to Nana, for providing this insanely adorable shirt (there was one for Fiona, too, but we couldn't snap a cute picture of the two of them). Also thanks to everyone who sent the girls a valentine, including Aunt Lizzie, Grandma, Nana, and Aunt Toni (who made Rory the cutest red-and-heart bracelet ever!).

The girls love all of you, too!

Laura has a street cred tooth

And a happy Valentine's Day to you!

This morning, I went to the dentist and had my new, permanent crown (right rear molar) glued in. Bye bye to the temp, which I was afraid I'd shatter (again, for the third time).

So why the title of this post? Well, my new tooth is gold. Gold as in pimp or rapper. If only it was a front tooth! I have a little bling going on in my mouth now! It is very different sensation than a porcelain tooth. It is... kinda slippery. And it's shiny. Luckily, you can't see it when I smile.

Notice that I didn't post a picture of it. No one needs to see THAT!

Fiona is ONE year old!

Today, Fiona turns one year old (officially not until 8:05 pm, but whatev!). What a year it has been! She is a fun, silly, wonderful baby, and we love her to bits. She is on the cusp of walking, loves hurling toys around the house, and is addicted to books. She has a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and I will post her one-year stats after that.

This picture shows what we see every morning, when we open her bedroom door to greet her. She pretty much looks like this all day - -she is one happy baby!

Primary day, 2008

Today was Virginia's Presidential primary day. The girls accompanied us, and as this was Fiona's first participation in the election process (Rory's third), we took a picture of her with "I Voted!" stickers. She will certainly hate us for these pics one day!

Maybe we should have stuck them to her face. That would have made them really stand out! Hah. =)

The Roger update

So Miss Fiona and I could not have picked a better weekend to visit my mom and Roger in Sedona. He is slowly (yet quickly) going about the process of leaving us, and nothing could have made my mother (and possibly Rog) happier than having us visit. Baby therapy at its finest. You can't deny the circle of life when you experience both ends firsthand in your own home.

Roger decided last Wednesday (2/6) that he didn't want to eat any more, which basically meant that he had accepted his impending death and didn't want to bother with food. He had only been eating pureed veggies and fruit, as it was, but was (and is) still drinking water. He isn't taking any medication for pain because he isn't IN any pain. He is tired, and slept most of the time we were there (Friday through Sunday). We had a few short conversations (he told me to vote for Obama), and he was amazingly lucid and kind, considering his situation. A few people came to visit, and when he noticed them (at that point, he was only awake for maybe ten minutes a day) he greeted them.

It was very hard to leave on Sunday, knowing we will never see Roger alive again. He is such a great, smart, funny, friendly person, and he will certainly be missed.

Heading for Arizona

Tomorrow am, Miss Fiona and I fly off to Arizona to visit my mom and Roger, as well as Aunt Lizzie. We are flying first class all the way (love those free miles), and return home on Monday. We are spending the weekend in Sedona with my mom and Rog, and we are glad to be visiting. Roger has been battling colon cancer for a few months now, and we haven't seen him since he undertook this fight. I am sure that, after spending all this time taking care of Rog, my mother will be happy to get her hands on her squishy grandbaby.

I will post an update later about how Fiona was on the plane. Cross your fingers! =>

Facing the ugliness (aka, the Patriots)

Really, there isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said on every sports-related Website known to man. The bottom line is that the rest of the season has been made irrelevant by the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl. That's about it.

Thank heavens for the distraction of hockey. And baseball spring training starts soon!

Alex Ovechkin is the second coming

The Washington Capitals left winger scored four goals and an assist in the Caps OT victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens last night. I was one of lucky people in attendance who got to watch AO sustain a broken nose, get stitches in his cheek (inside), and suffer a bloody lip - all while racking up the points.

AO now leads the NHL in goals, points, power play goals, and shots. He is 21st in the league in plus-minus, 5th among forwards in hits, and 9th in take-aways. Talk about earning his salary! And the NHL just named him the #1 star for January, 2008.

We are so lucky to have this guy on our team. Sigh. All the years of suckage are finally paying off.