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Yesterday, the twins identified every nerve in my body and them played them like harp strings. They stomped on my attempts to placate them, laughed as I struggled for patience, screamed when I tried to convince them to take a much-needed nap. They ran rampant all through the afternoon, screaming and tugging and needing and crying and OH MY GOD I swear I was a heartbeat away from shipping them off to military preschool. By the end of the day, we were all a bit worn out.

Dennis4President

I've been struggling to find a Democratic candidate for president who I can support. When it comes to the front-runners, I don't like any of 'em. You have to go pretty deep in the field before you find candidates who seem to be truthful, honest, upstanding people with smart ideas about how this country should be run (which says some pretty sad things about our democratic process). Once such candidate is Dennis Kucinich. I don't think Kucinich has much of a shot at even making it to the top three, which is a tragedy. He has a lot of great positions about withdrawing from Iraq, access to health care, legalizing gay marriage, and abolishing nuclear weapons. Even if he isn't a viable contender, I think we need to be listening to what Dennis has to say. Dad, you're right -- Kucinich seems to be the only candidate who's telling the truth.

See for yourself.

In the Kitchen (Barefoot Optional)

This is my favorite dinner:


Cheese night. We get three different cheeses (in this case, manchego, brie, and roquefort -- mmmm), chop up some apples, throw together some garlic crostini, and call it a meal. Back before we had kids, we used to do this all the time. In fact, before we had kids, meal planning was always an extremely casual affair. We always had ingredients around the house for our staples: burritos, chili-cheese tator tots, pasta, and grilled cheese sandwiches. More often than not, we'd have cereal for dinner and call it a night. Or we'd eat out -- we did an awful lot of that.

Now that the kids force us to think about eating nutritionally balanced meals on a regular basis (like, three times a day! What's up with that?), I've been trying to get us into the habit of planning a week's worth of meals and shopping accordingly. This is what all the smart moms do (like Rug's Bug), and it's time I got on the wagon.

Just in time, the oh-so-smart Anne Glamore at My Tiny Kingdom shared four of her family's favorite recipes and instructed her readers to get organized and embrace meal planning. I do as I'm told. I've assembled everything I need to make Anne's four recipes (and a few more), and I'm looking forward to my new foray into organized cooking. I plan to report back on my great success, hopefully with pictures of my culinary accomplishments. Stay tuned.

Doubting Teresa

You guys know I can't resist an article like this. Now I have even more admiration for the woman.

Found at Fark.

Flower

A picture from our nature walk today. More at the twins' blog.

And Alejandro Makes Three

The best news ever!! Alejandro is unofficially officially out of court and is now legally Joanna and Tom's son! (As if we needed a court to tell us who Alejandro's parents are.) This has been a long, long time coming. We are so excited! Let's hope the final stages of this process fly by as quickly as possible so Joanna and Alejandro can finally come home.

photo shamelessly stolen from ¡Vayamos, Alejandro!

Lumpy

My doctor, the talented, witty, and lovely Dr. Sheila, says I have globus pharyngeus, or a lump in my throat. (Fear not, friends -- this ailment is completely harmless to me. It's just annoying.) Dr. Sheila says my globus is most likely the result of stress (both too much and poorly managed). However, I have a few other theories. Reasons I might have a lump in my throat (in no particular order):

• Watching my kids grow up so fast is immensely gratifying, and also terrifying. How can I keep them little forever?
• I can't stand the fact that Joanna and Alejandro are still in Guatemala. Come home, Jo!!
• The Harry Potter saga is finished. Finis. Done for good.
  
• Julie is moving to St. Paul! Soon! Forever!
• Battlestar Galactica won't have new episodes until next year! (Plus, I'm still sad about Billy.)
• Airan has been traveling for work more often than he's been at home lately. Every time he leaves, the girls and I are sad until he returns.
  

Given all this, who wouldn't have a lump in their throat?

Suck on this, smokers!

According to CNN, smokers drag down a workplace. Who's surprised by that?

Found at Fark.

Cheney on Iraq

Who knew Dick Cheney has a bit of Cassandra in him?



Doomed to see the future, and doomed to see his predictions ignored (by even himself)? I think it's time we take pity on the poor, long-suffering VP and put him out to pasture. (If by "pasture" you mean "prison.")

Thanks to Hojo for sending me this link.

The Royal She

Sophie has taken to referring to herself in the third person. Upon draining her cup of milk at dinnertime, she declares (demands?), "Sophie more more milk!" While dining at Chipotle, she states with satisfaction, "Sophie yike 'dilla!" (Or, for those of you not versed in toddlerspeak, "Sophie likes quesadillas!")

But my favorite: Sophie is a fan of Kipper, and anyone who watches Kipper knows that there are an oddly large number of episodes in which characters are carried away into the air by objects such as balloons and umbrellas. So when she got her Trader Joe's balloon the other day and failed to float off into clouds filled with cotton candy mountains and rivers of frosting, Sophie mourned plaintively, "Mama, Sophie balloon flying up in the air!"