i really hate to ask...

...and i won't make a habit of it...but has anyone had experience potty training a girl who just can't physically get the tinkle in the toilet?  sophie can tell me when she needs to go, can get up on the potty, and then goes but it NEVER ends up in the toilet--it arcs out and goes everywhere.  it's even worse than it was with gus.  i've tried to get her to stare at the water so she is leaning over more...too much information, i know.

any thoughts?!

it's been a fun week

if i had actually sent them, this would have gone out with this year's christmas cards...sound familiar?

so many fun things going on this week! christmas, christmas eve luminarias, our 15th anniversary, pretty sunsets, stuffed animal attacks by paco...all kinds of good stuff. i still haven't quite made it through all the christmas day pictures but i am making progress on other recent ones. enjoy!

luminarias/farolitos (depends on which part of new mexico you live in) leading to the front door

luminarias lining our street

what's wrong with this picture?

outdoor christmas tree! i could totally get into this tradition.

(the tree being outside did not sit well with gus, ever)

but he did get first snow cake!

when dogs bite they frequently go for the orbit (on human and animal alike...)

...stupid paco tore up the lacrimal system (rich can fix it)

beautiful sunset for our 15th anniversary!

gus' last day of school, before winter break--this is his bird project on whooping cranes, and he didn't want his sister standing in front of it...so my poster has hands and a little red coat.

merry christmas from the violets

it is CHRISTMAS and my african violets are going crazy. their display is my particular gift from them, and i'm putting up some flower porn as a present to you. enjoy your day and merry merry!

"maid in japan"--this is one of the most unusual african violets i have ever raised (check out those funky leaves!)

"mindi brooke"

"pink amiss"

"apache midnight"

"optimara [something--i forgot]" this is gus' plant and is the same one that went with us to iowa.

"optimara manitoba"

"hot pants"

"storm's eye"--this is actually a failed chimera...it is supposed to have a dark center but didn't bloom that way. it's still very lovely.

it's christmas eve!

NORAD has santa in rome as of last check...not too far from the states! we are busy, busy, busy bringing our christmas tree back inside (we were allergic), getting the farolitos/luminarias filled and lit, and i am making yummy coq au vin. have a very merry christmas tomorrow--hope y'all enjoy your families and drink lots of champagne!

how to piss off a surgeon

a few easy ways to do this:
1. eat right before your surgery, then answer the question truthfully when asked, thus forcing the cancellation of your surgery for at least 24 hours;
2. take a lot of coumadin, tell the nurses, thus forcing the cancellation of your surgery for at least another week;
3. work as a scheduler at a really busy but really mismanaged hospital and constantly push back a case.

all i heard, over and over, for about eight hours yesterday was rich barking into his cell phone, "why am i being pushed back again? how is that more important than my case? don't you realize this guy has been NPO since this morning? he's 95! you need to go in there and explain to his family why he can't eat. i know the contents of his eye are sitting on his cheek! this was supposed to go at 10:00 this morning!" (it finally went at midnight--and how to piss off a photographer is to NOT take pictures of a patient with the content of his eye sitting on his cheek.)

there are some jobs i am really glad i don't have...and some patients i am glad i am not.

clarification

okay, i think i am inducing paranoia with all the stalker/harasser talk. i'm sorry! it wasn't my intention to scare off the readers i have and enjoy, rather just to lose the parasite that won't go away. i wish i could be more direct and please know that it kills me to be anything but--i just can't publicly name him at this time. however, maybe this flow chart will help:

are you my stalker/harasser?

1. are you male? if yes, go to question 2. if no, then you are not my stalker/harasser (at least not one that i'm worried about).

2. do you live in bernalillo county? if yes, go to question 3. if you said no or "where the hell is bernalillo county?" then you are not my stalker/harasser.

3. have you ever installed or asked someone to install cloaking software to conceal your IP address, city, or other information? if not, you are fine. if yes, then you are probably my stalker/harasser.

in general, when visiting any website, assume your information is tracked--at least this is what i do. when you start visiting a site using cloaking software, red flags go up and usually rightfully so. if this were a porn site i'd understand, but it isn't--it is a site about my life and my kids that is intended for family and friends only. and considering the burglary and everything else that has happened this year i hope you can see why i am a bit concerned. there are reasonable expectations of behavior on any site, whether explicit or implied. please consider your actions as an extension of you out there, and know that not all cloaking software works perfectly...

new tumbleweed snowman!

you know it's christmastime in new mexico when the amafca (arroyo flood control) snowman makes it debut:


forgiveness, please for the crappy shot--i took this going 70 on I-40 and i am fairly impressed with my phone cam for getting a reasonably intelligible image at all!

locks of love, baby!

me, sans 10" of hair

it's official: locks of love now has at least 30" of gaido girl hair. it started with lindsay, who donated about this time last year, then continued with ashley, who donated sometime this summer, and now me--i donated yesterday. and i'm not even all that freaked out about it (although rich, gus and sophie were)--i mean, if all i have to do is grow hair to possibly make someone who can't feel better, then my god sign me up. so now for the first time in like 30+ years my hair is really short. shorter than gus'. the only weird thing about it is that the back of my neck feels cold...sounds like an opportunity to learn how to knit!

before

during

after!

belated thanksgiving pictures

believe it or not, i really do edit my pictures...yet i still have like a jillion that i felt HAD to be seen. these are in chronological order, from last wednesday to sunday, and it was a nice trip. enjoy!

gus read this entire calvin and hobbes book over the course of the two-hour flight

sophie actually looks pretty cute and harmless for having been rudely awoken at 4:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 flight

sophie watching the macy's thanksgiving day parade--and it's a foster's home for imaginary friends float!

quinn, gus and sophie in aunt lindsay and uncle jake's crazy striped drum room, making lots o' noise for thanksgiving dinner

sophie and her silly daddy

sparkle, sparkle! (ashley and dad)

lindsay and rich, and i'm not even going to tell you what he did just before this picture was taken to make her laugh like this

uncle jake frying that turkey!

jake and his dad, jerry. and if these two aren't related, i don't know who is...

gus and the snake

sophie, jerry, tracy and quinn, just prior to quinn shooting mommy with the fireboat. and even more prior to his jumping in the pool (tracy rescued him).

i think tracy's wondering if sophie's boots come in her size...

mom, cooking as always, with lauree working like mad at the sink (amy's lending moral support)

sophie and quinn serenaded us all after dinner with a drum duet

rich and sophie riding to the farm in a car driven by a very aggressive driver

lunch at bever's, and we had to sit right next to the pie case

sophie bunny outside of bever's

gus and his most beloved aunt lindsay

lindsay and zilla

aunt lindsay and sophie

sophie and daddy watching gus...

...ride little man! and...

...he even let sophie ride him! what a good big brother.

and now sophie is in love

gus on his tractor

mom and tyler, in their usual morning pose

gus being gus

gus driving aunt ashley around in the mule

gus checkin' out the cows

sophie and her daddy

their horses are so beautiful...

...and i could shoot odd little details of them all day (but i won't bore you with them)

little man, who is a wonderful horse. he is in the twilight of his life, and he spends a lot of time away from the herd, but he is fantastic with my kids. thank you little man.