Blog
A few years ago at work our team started a "library" cubicle. Somehow 2 paperback novels (Reunion in Death by Nora Roberts and Scorpio Illusion by Robert Ludlum) made it in there with the XML, C# and other technical books. (By the way, who has time to read spy/romance novels at work?!) When our team moved aisles about 9 months ago, by boss graciously placed those salacious books on my desk. Being the type that never cleans up my surroundings, 
I left them there even though they gave visitors the impression that I needed more work to do. A few weeks ago during my last week at Cerner, as I was packing up my things, I decided to return them to my boss - in case he needed reading material. I placed them on his desk. Next thing I knew, they were right back on my desk where they were before. At my next opportunity I placed them back on his desk behind some other stuff. I practically blinked my eyes and they were back on my desk. How did he do that?! We happened to be moving cubicles in the next few days so I placed them UNDER his desk (where no one ever looks). He packed up his things and moved to his new cube. I didn't see or hear about the books for a while. Ah... freedom. Amazingly, a project manager that moved into his old desk couldn't get her power to work. He walked by as she was talking about it and offered his assistance. The next thing I knew, he was on his stomach in his old cube, then heading towards me with an enraged look on his face and the cursed books in his hands. Seriously?! Well, I didn't want to leave Cerner with his prized afternoon slacking materials so what was I to do? On my last day in the office, I put the books in his internal mailbox (which, by the way people generally check about once a month). Soon, he ran over (red faced) and handed me the books. He noted that he almost never checks his mail but had an inkling. (If this guy ever has teenagers, they are so screwed!) As my last day winded down, he ran around eyeing me like a hawk and checking to see if the books were off my desk. I hid them in my drawer for a while just to drive him nuts. Somehow I was able to sneak them into one of his desk drawers under some junk. The books were quickly on my desk again. My last ditch effort to not leave town with his favorite books was to interoffice mail them back to him from the south campus when I returned my monitor to Properties. It's been four weeks and I’m guessing he just found them because this is the message I just received:
I am so angry at you right now!!!!!!!!!!
can I get your address please?
So, if any of you have any extra spy or romance paperback novels you'd like to donate, I'd be happy to forward them to my boss in Kansas City. I think he needs more reading material.
It was our last day in Missouri and the girls were so excited to go on their first airplane ride! Before leaving Gramma's farm, the girls were pushing each other on the big kid swing! (Ah... self-sufficient swinging... finally!) We started our travels at 10 am and said our sad goodbyes to Tim, Jaleesa, and Gramma. :( 
At the airport, getting through security with the girls, the electronics bag, my purse, and both of their backpacks was amazingly painless! My planning and preparation had paid off! The girls were eerily quiet as we waited to board the plane. They were so cute with their backpacks on, sitting crossed legged with hands in laps intently watching everything around us. When we boarded, they were all smiles as we found our seats and got out the chewing gum to help our ears pop. The seats in the Frontier plane were amazingly wide and there were only 4 seats per row (2 and 2) so I had to sit across the aisle from the girls. Because of the wide seats, I could only reach halfway into Hannah's seat and not even clo
se to Kayla's. Once we got past the millionth "Are we flying yet?", takeoff was easy and we had no ear problems!! Wahoo! Unfortunately, we had a wing view, so we couldn't see much of anything. I broke out various activities to keep them entertained. Unfortunately, the DVD player didn't work but they kept busy with their Leapsters, coloring books, reading books, kids music on the iPod, and iPad with coloring and storybooks. They kept me busy because, of course, neither could do a single activity longer than 10 minutes at a time. I got lots of compliments on how well-behaved the girls were! At one point Kayla needed to use the bathroom so I got a flight attendant to come sit with Hannah. 
Luckily I didn't have to take them both and our bags with me because we wouldn't have fit into the bathroom! Kayla was pretty amused about how small the bathroom was. "This baffwoom is berry berry small! We don't even fit in hewe!" :) Then they decided they needed snacks, so we broke out the travel applesauce pouches and they each got a small cup of soybeans, pb crackers, dried fruit, and pretzels. Kayla promptly knocked hers off the tray table, spraying snacks all over their seats and floor. *sigh* I'm sure we entertained everyone and they were thankful it wasn't them. We even got a special announcement directed at us that went something like "The captain has turned off the seatbelt sign. If you're traveling with small children, now's the time for you to clean up all debris in your area as this pl
ane has another destination immediately after Seattle." Nice... Unfortunately, the girls didn't sleep a wink even though they had their pillows and blankets out - and it was naptime. At one point we hit some turbulence which threw us around a bit and the girls thought it was hilarious. Thankfully they didn't notice that everyone else was scared to death and just kept right on laughing and throwing their legs up into the air. Throughout the flight they kept me on my toes, but it was pretty easy going… until our descent… about 20 minutes before landing, Hannah started doing her "I'm tired" whimper that included a few "I wanna go home"s. Kayla had the evil eye going that comes out when she's napless. Timed perfectly to coincide with me getting incredibly bad knifelike pains in my ears (that wouldn't go away with the most ferocious chewing/swallowing 
I could manage), they started arguing, pushing each other, screaming, slapping, and slowly taking down the tray table with a sly smile knowing I couldn’t reach them… My death look worked on Kayla who put the tray table back and started whimpering because I was "mean at her". And even though my ears were on fire, I was deaf for the next hour, and it took us forever to find Daddy, we made it safely at about 4 pm local time (8 hours total travel time, 4 hour flight). The girls were out like a light the second they hit their carseats in the van. Thank all that is holy that I was the only one with the ear pain! I probably only lost a year or two off my life due to that flight... much less than what I would have lost if we had attempted the 30 hour road trip instead. Now onto the next chapter in our lives!
Many of you know that I'm a little obsessed with charting. I'll admit that I recorded everything that Hannah and Kayla ate and drank and every time they peed and pooped well into their second year. I have since weened myself off most of the charting, pretty confident that they are healthy, (shall I say strapping?) big girls! I haven't, however, stopped charting their heights and weights. This is not simply to confirm their health, although it started that way. Now it's become a fascinating study in twin growth!
When they were born, Hannah weighed 7#12 and Kayla weighed 7#7. Hannah, although heavier, was a tad shorter at 20" compared to Kayla's 21". This has been the most they've differed in height. So Kayla started out a little skinnier, but quickly became a tiny bit bigger in both height and weight. She has consistently been a better eater than Hannah, yet it's amazing to me how closely their heights and weights mirror each other!
They're coming up on their 2nd birthday and they're currently the exact same height, 35.75", and just reached 30#, only .3# difference from each other. I can't wait to see what this graph looks like when they're 18! :)
Just as Kayla and Hannah are mastering the skill of balance, it’s getting harder and harder for me. In the past few weeks, they’ve learned how to sit without help. They’re learning when to push and pull, when to shift their weight at just the right time so they don’t fall backwards, forward, or side to side. They love being able to experience their world from an upright position! I love these beautiful girls so much that I want to hold them all the time, cradle them throughout their days, caress them as they fall asleep. But just as much as I want them to know how much they’re loved, I want them to be happy and healthy girls. To ensure they have the independence to fall asleep on their own and eventually do all of the things life demands without my help, I have to restrain myself just the right amount. I can shower them with love, but I also have to let them be alone sometimes. I can show them how to do new things, but I have to let them try and fail on their own. Just as the girls are learning their first lessons of balance, I’m also learning. This Christmas, it’s not easy to restrain myself from buying every toy the girls might like. I want to give them everything, but I know that it’s impossible to appreciate the value of things when you have it all. I want our girls to appreciate what they have, to know how lucky they are to have a loving family, a nice house, and all the clothes, toys, and food they need. But it’s difficult to provide everything they want and also appreciation for it all. It’s a delicate balance. The only way I can think of to accomplish this seemingly impossible task is to hold back now, invest in their future, and expose them to families without enough. Instead of giving them all the fancy toys, clothes – and eventually cars – they want, we’ll put that money away for later. Once they’ve grown up with everything that they need, when they’re on their own they can have everything that we can give. We’ll ensure they get a proper education and the promise of an easier life. But as soon as possible, I want them to feel what it’s like to help children who aren’t as lucky as they are. Perhaps every Christmas, our family can adopt another family – one in need – and spend some time shopping for other boys and girls who won’t have as much under their tree. Perhaps we can spend some time volunteering every spring to help Harvester’s wash the 11 eggs in the carton with the broken one or sort food on its way to children who don’t have enough to eat. So, I’m learning all about balance. I’m learning not to buy them every toy I want to… I’m learning to put money away for their future… and I’m thinking about what we all will gain from giving back now. As we have our first Christmas together, we’re all learning about balance. I don’t want our Christmases to be about the toys, but instead the gifts of family and love and goodwill. I want to do this right – I only have one chance.
