life's a beach

i'm totally a creature of habit and writing in 2012 has not been habitual. i have spent a bazillion hours the last month "slurping" and editing the 2011 blog into a book form. i stare at the screen and click, paste, zoom, re size and transport until my brain hurts. hurts real bad. every time i wrap up for the night i am instantly transported back to my freshman year at northwest, working diligently on wednesday nights to get the newspaper to bed. that was back before computers were efficient and i still spent my time copying off print, rolling it through a wax machine and using an exacto knife to line up my columns. it was during that hellish year that i decided i would much rather be at penny pitchers with my friends and that maybe a life in journalism wasn't for me. after all,  print journalist rarely make that great of money. i mean, come on, a life of hair styling?! now that is where the big bucks are. genius choice.

bringing you up to speed this year:

neko dog turned 7 and your dad and i have both turned 35. i spent daddy's birthday in bed with a sinus infection, but fortunately we had celebrated a few nights before with friends at the capitol grille. my birthday was super bowl sunday which would be super if i were into football. i did however tag along with daddy to clearwater, florida the week of my big birthday. clearwater, happens to be the home of my alma mater, hooters! grandma said she would keep any two of you, so we were forced to pick one of you to come along. since eleanor is our favorite, we chose her. (kidding!) she flew for free and i am still nursing her so it was the logical choice. and she's our favorite.

she slept most of the flights both to and fro and was such a good girl the entire trip! she was the first of you to make it to the beach. we put her little toes in the water and she was most confused about what was going on. she is such a happy and content baby! jack has been to san diego, new orleans and denver. vivian has been to branson. i think we can sufficiently say that the middle child has gotten the shaft. i am only writing this so when the time comes that you are in therapy for all of the awful things i have done to you, this will serve as a record and you can just take this book with you to validate your arguments.

jack left on my birthday and went home with grandma and grandpa to springfield. he is the first of all of us to see the new house! he had a really good time being an only child! mom said the only time he cried was the night before they came home when she told him they were returning to st joe the next day. i missed him, but didn't realize how much until he got home. i spent a little too much time up in your grill and you found it annoying by the end of day two. when i asked what the best part of the trip was, you told me it was the party at the hotel. you all stopped in columbia for a masonic home board meeting for grandpa and had a dinner party. you met a new friend, named emily and had fun with a man named thomas. i asked you who thomas was and you simply replied, "he was the guy in the blue shirt, mom." of course! the guy in the blue shirt! :)

yesterday was valentines day and daddy surprised me with an afternoon massage apt! its one of my favorite vices! he also sent me the most gorgeous flowers- no roses, gerber daisies, tulips and hydrangeas. does he know me or what? then he made dinner plans for us and even had a babysitter scheduled--- all on his own! i was pleasantly surprised at his romantic gestures, as your father is not very good at keeping secrets. he was feeling sentimental, i suppose. eight years ago i sent your daddy a valentine and it was the catalyst that started our entire relationship. i wonder whatever happened to that valentine? and who would have thought it would all lead us to this point? for all of its cliched and mass marketing, its still a lovely sentiment to celebrate valentine's day.

vivian is still going strong in gymnastics, she jumps and tumbles all over the place. swimming lessons are not going so well, as she spends the majority of her time with a death grip on my swimming suit and climbing on top of my head. jack on the other hand, is doing awesome in swimming and is nearly swimming without a life jacket. baby eleanor is rolling over and just about to sit up unassisted. she is named for my favorite beatles song, eleanor rigby, and "rigby" seems to be becoming her nickname. although, vivian thinks its some part of our last name. i hear her in her bed at night saying "eleanor rigby. jack rigby. vivian rigby. mommy rigby. daddy rigby." its going to blow her mind some day when she learns that "bug" isn't really a part of her name.

i have nothing else newsy or interesting left to write about tonight, sorry to disappoint. its business as usual around here; chaos and love! and all you need is love, love is all you need. (but a warm, sandy beach from time to time doesn't hurt!)