The Force

Guess what I spent the last 2 hours doing? Playing cards with Brody. But not just any game and with not just any cards. We were playing Brody's version of Slap Jack with his Star Wars playing deck. So normal people play this game by slapping, well, you guessed it, the Jacks. But not Brody. In his game, we slap good old Princess Leia. There are 12 of her in the deck and he has those cards memorized and will slap them faster than you can say Return of the Jedi.

The thing about Brody that is somewhat alarming to me is not that he fancies Leia, it's which Leia he likes the best. And it ain't this Leia. Not the gun wielding bad ass who keeps the small group of renegades from getting killed again and again. No, not her:

It's this one. Bound. Chained. Enslaved. Oh, and practically naked.

In fact, that's what he calls her. "Naked Princess Leia." Seriously. I can't make this up.

He got some Star Wars Mighty Beanz for Christmas. As luck would have it, not only did he end up with a Leia bean, he actually got the bikini one. Ninety two mystery Mighty Beanz and he ended up getting #51 (Princess Leia - Captive). Oh joy. He carries her around in his pocket while Han Solo bean is left wanting in the bottom of the toy box.

He also got some Star Wars books at Christmas. All of them are permanently creased at the Naked Princess Leia pages. At church last weekend I could feel God's (as well as the women next to me) eyes boring into me as I sat there with Brody happily staring at Leia and her cleavage.

At this rate, I figure I have about 8 years before I need to seriously (seriously) start having concerns. Until then, if you have a 4 year old girl who you are raising to be independent, resourceful, intelligent, and who keeps herself FULLY CLOTHED, please email me about setting up a blind date in the year 2025. Thanks in advance for your help.

In Memorandum - 2010

So 2010 was a pretty big year for our family.

We reached some major milestones, had some ups and had some downs.

Molly lost her first tooth (and second). Brody gave up diapers. And his pacifiers. And his crib. I ran my first half marathon. Molly graduated from kindergarten. Brody discovered the world of Star Wars. Molly had her first concert solo. I survived a pretty horrible car accident (and luckily, after some "surgery," so did the car.) Brody started school for the first time and I learned that I can survive 12 hours a week without him, but I don't have to like it. Drew ran the Baltimore marathon and qualified for Boston! I read the entire Bible, cover to cover. We enjoyed a 10 day trip to Disney. Unfortunately, we had to come back home. I washed, dried, folded, and put away over 200 loads of laundry. We spent a week at the beach and Brody decided the ocean was pretty cool after all. I sold my first item on Craigslist. We finally found a church home that we love where I began taking RCIA classes and Molly joined the choir. Drew found a job he loves with people he loves working with. Brody had his first cavity and subsequent filling. We learned that God has the power to heal as Molly's friend Lauren was cured of her leukemia and my friend Ann was given a second chance after battling breast cancer. We also learned that God will take the ones we love away in his own time and that can be really, really hard.

All in all, 2010 was a great year. Already 2011 is looking like a year of changes. I'm always amazed at how fluid our life is. Always rolling and flowing with the tides. The only thing certain in this coming year is that some things will change, and some will stay the same, and that's okay because we have each other. Blessing to all of you and a happy, healthy 2011!