Dear Santa.

Dear Santa,

Remember last year?

Well, I just wanted to thank you for the iPod touch you sent me.

It's sure come in handy since the other gift I asked for arrived. (I forgot to mention last year that one of the perks of the iPod is that you only need one hand to use it. Same with my Kindle, even though Shallow Man, rather than you, gave that to me for our anniversary/law school graduation/Mother's Day.)

So, since I got everything on my list, I really don't have anything I want to ask you for this Christmas (at least not for myself. But I trust you'll bring something special for the Little Guy).

But don't worry, I'll still leave out milk and cookies for you. The way I figure it, the way you came through this year, you've definitely earned them.

Respectfully and very gratefully yours, & cetera.




P.S. Oh, also? Remember how I mentioned how a firstborn child was a great gift idea because you could use it for bartering?

Well, after careful consideration of the firstborn son now sleeping on my lap, I take it back.

I wouldn't trade him for anything.

A poll; or, In the meantime . . .

So I've been looking at the votes so far and I'm wondering if some of your kindergarten report cards said "Has trouble following directions." Tsk, tsk, people. The main point of the exercise was to choose what to blog about first, not just to reiterate that they're all good things to blog about. Again, tsk, tsk.

But I've fooled you. Not all of those are actually interesting stories. Some of them aren't actually stories at all. I just wanted to provide some variety for the voters. Ah-HA!

At any rate, I'm going to leave the voting open until Friday at close of business. To help encourage you folks to make my decision-making process easier, I'm putting a poll up on the sidebar. If you don't feel like submitting your votes again, don't worry, I'll factor the comments in, too.

Once a winner is determined, I'll write up a slam-bang (ish) blog post.

In the meantime, though, feel free to head on over to my other blog for the tale of a mystery encountered and then solved.

Enjoy!

Taking a moment

I'm having a moment of silence over on the other blog today.

I promise I'll post something new and gloriously snarky soon. But not just yet.

Bartering; or, What I Really Want for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I know I haven't written to you in a long time but this year I really, really want something, and I was hoping you could put in a good word for me.

I know, I know, when people ask me what I want for Christmas I usually tell them I want an iPod touch, or a copy of My Fair Lady, or Lego Rock Band or maybe even just a pair of fuzzy socks. Because you know how I love my fuzzy socks.

But that's not really what's at the top of my Christmas list this year.

Santa, this year I would like a firstborn child. I know it's a huge responsibility. But I'd take care of it myself. (Shallow Man would help.) And it's not just a toy, either. It's incredibly versatile. You can trade it in or sign it away for just about anything.

Or so I'm told. Because right now all I've got to barter with is that old standby, the pint of blood. Which is great and all, but I think I'd like to upgrade.

See, a lot of my friends have one. Some of them even have second-borns, you know, like as a back-up. And I want to be one of the cool kids. You know, because everybody's doing it.

I know some people might just ask for a positive pregnancy test, but I'm asking for the end product right now. Just to be safe. Because I had a whole bunch of positive tests back in May which say I should have 8/9ths of a firstborn right now. But apparently there was a recall on that particular model last July (and the same thing happened back in 2007 as well, if you remember), and I'd just rather not go through that again.

If you decide to give me an iPod touch as well, I won't complain, because it would be nice to have some tunes to listen to during all those sleepless nights, or at least to have one thing that will stop making noise at the time I designate, and where the only part that involves "changing" would be batteries.

But I'd rather have the firstborn child, if it's all the same to you. Heck, I'll even offer you a pint of blood and a . . . well, make that two pints of blood.

Respectfully and very hopefully yours, etc.

How To

It's no big secret that there are no Little Nibs or Shallow Jrs running about the house here, nor is it much of a secret that we have been wishing this was different for some time now.

But I think I've found something that might help:

How to Make a Baby from Cassidy Curtis on Vimeo.

Ah. Well, now I see where we've been going wrong.* Problem solved! We'll be in Sunday School in no time!


*Boy, were we WAY off on that one!

On a much more personal note...

It's been a long time since my last post, and while that isn't terribly unusual, the reason for this particular lapse is.

This has been a difficult month as Shallow Man and I have gone through our second encounter with miscarriage. I'm not going to go into great detail about it here, though. Instead, I'd like to direct you to my new blog. This is not something I would normally post about, but I've had the strong feeling that I should share this experience in the hopes that it may help someone else.

Please don't feel obligated to follow the new blog, as I will continue posting here for all other topics. However, if you or someone you know has been dealing with infertility, miscarriage, adoption, or any related issues, please feel free to pass the word along or add your comments to the mix.