argh

well color me livid, today has been a day of assholes.  i had to do war with a mechanic with less than perfect morals.  my grandma had to have a new car battery installed so she took it to a place that was recommended and she trusted to do the job well.  they must have seen her coming a mile away.  she left having had all sorts of "tests" done and repairs to her battery made and a battery that cost, i shit you not, $135.  they charged her over $200 for a battery.  i refuse to stand by and let someone i love be so blatantly taken advantage of.  so i took the receipt and called them this morning.  it was a civil conversation for about five minutes, wherein the manager of the company told me that if i was afraid of my grandma being taken advantage of, perhaps i should have taken better care of her.  what the fudgecicle dude?!  back the truck up.  i don't freaking think so.  he then proceeded to attempt to explain to me what a battery is and how they only sell their customers the best possible batteries.  "you're lucky.  i have a $200 one i could have sold her"  so wait.  i'm lucky you didn't exploit her more?!  he then hung up on me.  (i must give myself kuddos at this point.  both girls were in the room and i did not utter one cuss word)  so i had ben call.  he pulled out his angry man voice and voila my grandma got her money back and we got her a different battery that costs what it should.  and this one came with a warranty.  take that you immoral, unethical motherf*ckers.  the second mechanic told ben that some of the things on the bill were b/s.  not even real tests.  that the bill was just being padded.  and that we could take our receipt with the results of their exam to the bbb and file a formal complaint and that the second mechanic would make a statement based on his findings if we want to.  haven't decided how mad i am...ben's pretty ticked off too.  but the situation was resolved.  and my grandma's car is peachy keen.  it is a sad commentary on our society that this can happen.  why is it ok to take advantage of people that place their trust in you to do your job?  it is not and never will be in my book.  and i'll be damned if i'll take it sitting down.  consider yourself warned those of loose ethics.  to be clear:  i am in no way trying to imply that my grandma did anything wrong by trusting a recommended mechanic.  i am trying to point out that this particular mechanic had a distinct lack of respect for women, in particular my grandma and was ignorant enough to think he could pull a fast one and make some extra money.  he was wrong.


whoa.  wait.  hold up.  i'm how old?!

  tried to take 8 month portraits of ms davis, but i wasn't really happy with any of them, so we're gonna try later on in the week.

oooohhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

meditation with marley.  sorry for the language.  red head temper and a potty mouth.

atx

we had an awesome girls weekend in the big atx this past weekend.  my bestie meshell came up friday night and then saturday, moving at a pace slower than a herd of turtles, we headed to austin.  it was fun to get away and fun to hang with my oldest and dearest friend.  she is good for me.  we also got to visit my aunt resa and stay at her great new home in austin.  all in all a very fun weekend. 

seriously mom?  really?

a ticket for the zilker zephyer

if you check out meshell's glasses it's a photo of all four of us.

first train ride of many

atx city skyline in the background

we were happy, really.  i promise.

loven resa's big chair

play time fun time

enjoying a hot chocolate

so one of the many coffee shops i worked at in austin.  triannon.  the different thing about this one is that most of my friends worked here at one point in time or another.  realized today it's been ten years since i graduated from college.  holy shit batman. 



queen of the slide

  happy days are here.  great rain storms, a tornado in brenham even. 

super fast

static

davis's self portrait

what is this?

tasty

http://youtu.be/XB-ANFBka_8  watch marley shake it on the playground.  she loves to dance.

photo dump

i have this little camera that i carry with me everywhere.  i forget to upload the photos.  so here are some from christmas on and then some from the big camera too.  not that it matters what camera i used.

hmmm...i distinctly remember ordering cake with my tea.

it's hard work being so darn adorable

trying out her new seat.  she liked it.

and so did sister.  she loved being able to push d around.  we are gonna have some major big sister bossy pants soon.

elliot, kristen, baby briggs, marls, and granny at manuel's

what?  do i have something in my teeth?

new year's eve with the fam.  major party animals.

admiring the new apron granny made her.

baking beer bread.  yummy.

getting to ride next to big sis is sooo much fun.

trying watercolors for the first time.  they were a big hit.

the chlamydia bushes are in full bloom.

 ok, so i can not for the life of me remember the name of the bushes in front of my house.  but one time i accidentally referred to them as chlamydia bushes to my mom.  she about died laughing.  and the name has stuck.  they're pretty.

hula hoops are no laughing matter.

marley: i don't want people to die.
me: well honey, that's what happens.
marley: but why?
me: ummmmm....
my girl is smart and aware.  sometimes a little surprisingly so. 

a light at the end of the tunnel

i think we may be over the worst of it.  i hope.  fingers crossed.  marley just has a little bit of snot, but other than that is her usual sunny self.  davis is laughing again and doesn't seem to be as congested.  ben is on the front half of this cold though.  but we got him good and medicated, with the hopes it passes quickly.  louie is sick as well.  it has been a week of vomit and shit.  last night ben came home to the front room covered in louie poop.  and then i found more when i woke up.  he ate fine and is acting ok now, so i think he just ate something he shouldn't have.  we're keeping a close eye on him, but i think he's alright.  the plumbers came and re landscaped our front yard for us.  it is obvious why they are plumbers and not gardeners, but hey we have working pipes!  no more worries of poop in the shower.  that is priceless. 
so i was all doom and gloom earlier.  you know, two sick kids, expensive plumbing work, sick husband, sick dog, filling fell out (yes ANOTHER one.  while i was flossing.  one day my teeth are just going to all fall out.  i mean i already don't eat anything crunchy for fear of that), etc.  but then i talked to my brother.  and it's impossible to stay in a bad mood when you talk to kirby.  we talked about a little bit of everything.  and laughed.  and i feel a million times better now.  instead of doom and gloom, i am now seeing it as the kids are better, louie is better, and we have working plumbing.  my brother has charisma to spare and  he is definitely not a debbie downer.  best news of the day is that my brother will be coming to visit soon. 

someone is feeling better.

and guess who got tooth number 8 today?  that's right.  davis has more teeth than she has months. 

someone loves tractors

my girls.

vamit damn it

yesterday i started the day bright and early with davis as usual.  what was not as usual is when she projectile vomitted all over me.  we went to the doc.  just a cold.  a very nasty one.  the mucus is making her puke.  benadryl so she can sleep.  snot sucker so she can breathe.  ended the day yesterday the same way it began.  vamit damn it.  but this morning she is smiling, so there is hope that we may be on the back half of this cold.  keeping finger crossed.  and toes.  and whatever else i can. 
today we get new plumbing!  woo hoo!  we've been having plumbing problems for a bit now.  one of our old pipes has a tree growing through it, which causes pipes to malfunction.  in a poop in the bathtub kind of way.  yeah, things are just gross here.  but hopefully better after today. 
well snot is running wild, i must go contain it

oh what a night

well the saints are out of the running so i no longer care about football.  not that i cared that much to begin with.  and i only like the saints b/c i love new orleans.  but why else would you like a football team?  i like san francisco, so maybe i'll root for them.  lord knows if there is football on, it is on at my house.  but since ben dutifully and without much complaint has watched and will watch hour upon hour of law and order in this marriage, i can give him football.  that seems fair. 
anyway.  once you have two kids the sick becomes endless.  at least that is how it feels here this week.  today is the first day in about 4 that marley has not had fever.  thank god.  so now of course davis has it.  though she is just congested so far.  no fever yet, which is good b/c girl will NOT take medicine.  last night i was trying to trick her into taking her meds (doctor ordered benadryl, about five drops, to help dry up the congestion) by nursing and then slipping a tiny squirt of medicine every once in a while.  the only thing that accomplished was making me sticky.  oh well.  the doc ordered benadryl for marley too.  just once yesterday and since she seemed better today i thought we could skip it, but then she had an allergic reaction to dinner.  on the bright side, hopefully they will both get a good nights sleep. 
a couple of days ago marley was reading to davis while davis was in the jumperoo.  as i am sweeping i hear:  god is good, god is white.  my mom is trying to teach marley her prayers and obviously they still need a little work.  girlfriend managed to bring up two big doozies at once: religion and race.  now religion is easy.  i studied religion for a bit in college.  find it fascinating.  and basically most major religions boil down to a prophet that teaches you how to live.  or to sum it up even more most religions have some form of the golden rule.  i can get behind that.  i want to introduce the girls to every possible religion.  but somehow keep them away from the followers.  christianity is good.  a lot of christians are not.  islam is good.  a lot of muslims are not.  that may seem to overstate things, but here is a case in point.  the elca has decided to be ok with the glbt community.  awesome.  a lot of people have left our church b/c of this.  they have decided to attend a church that preaches that being gay is wrong.  well, maybe i have read the bible wrong, but didn't jesus say he who is without sin cast the first stone?  judge not lest you be judged?  i find a lot of hypocrisy in people that attend organized religious institution and that bothers me.  not to imply in any way that i am perfect....god knows that is not the case.
but race i have an issue with.  do you point out different races and, in my belief, perpetuate racism?  or do you ignore it and thusly downplay the importance racism has played in our history as a culture?  those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  and racism is not a distant memory, unfortunately.
and who knew an almost three year old would bring up such deep questions?  ben and i tend to lean towards the hippy dippy side of things, especially when it comes to raising our girls.  that being said, marley is a sponge.  heaven forbid i pick my nose, marley will have her finger in her nose all the live long day.  (although i think granny is teaching her to pick her nose.  j/k)  anyway.  a lot of life's important lessons are taught not by words but by actions.  i just need to make sure i can answer and address the important things verbally as well. 
enough of the serious crap, here are some cute pictures of davis.

puffs!  finally getting the hang of them.  sort of

nothing beats daddy for a good snuggle nap

help!  i'm in baby jail!

maybe i can chew through this magical force field.

to be clear davis actually likes her playpen.  she sits up in it and plays with her toys while i cook.  today is the first time she's done this.  not real sure what it is all about other than she loves to chew.  on anything.  also for some reason links have been popping on up certain words.  don't click on them.  i don't know what they are but i did not put them there. 

 so a certain someone has developed a love of the bath.  she also has a new tooth!  number 7 and not at all where i thought it would be.  it's on the bottom.  number 8 should soon follow.

the girls are now sharing a rpoom.    my bestie meshell came to visit this weekend and helped me paint the room a lovely lavender sparkle.  and then ben pulled a hee man and moved all the furniture.  my keyboard is acting up and marley mae is sick, so this momma is gonna get some sleep while i can.  keeping our fingers crossed she is back to her normal sunny self in the am.

sunny days

i love winter in texas.  we have had the most beautiful week here.  sunny and in the 70s.  so we have been outside.  loving every minute of it. 

 sister time on marley's new abcd mat.  she loves this and knows and can identify almost very single letter.  such a smart cookie.

look closely

 somehow marley managed to blow a bubble and catch a bubble at the same time.  now that is talent.

 fashion queen.

 in response to why?  because mommy.  because.

 davis eating a puff for the first time.  she is not really a fan.  didn't hate them, but isn't excited to eat them again.  i don't think she understands what all the fuss is about.  just give her some milk already.

 so we've been going to the park lately.  taking advantage of the nice weather and all.  it is so shocking to see her climb around like a monkey with no fear.  she is soooo grown. 

 but still my little monkey mae.

 sitting up and so proud.  she is a very accomplished sitter.  no interest in rolling over (which she's done but doesn't ever really care to do it) but you should see her sit up.

i joined a gym this week.  curves.  it had reached a point where something had to give and i didn't want it to be my pants.  =)  so far i am going every day and feeling great.  a little sore, but all good.  curves is great b/c it is not a meat market and i don't have to dress up to work out.  it kind of has the atmosphere of a beauty salon, which is kind of weird for me.  i'm not much of a chatty cathy with strangers, but i'm the youngest in there so far by a good twenty years.  so it's fun and the machines are really nice and so are all the ladies.  here's to keeping this resolution and getting back in shape.  gotta start setting a good example for my girls.  body image is an uphill battle for girls.  teach em young to be proud of themselves and their bodies and to take care of both.