HOLIDAY PREPARATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS...

We've been up to alot in the past few weeks as we've been getting ready for Christmas and Hanukkah! Caroline has had fun getting into the spirit of the season with lots of fun activities, most of which involve treats and sweets (her favorite things!). Here are some pictures from cookie baking with JoJo, a Christmas party at pre-school, gingerbread house building with Granddad, and lighting the Hanukkah candles on the second night of Hanukkah with Mommy and Daddy (we lit them on the first night at our good friends' Marc and Emily's house). We hope you are having as much fun as we are - and Happy Hanukkah to our friends who began celebrating last night!

COOKIE BAKING WITH JOJO

DECORATING CAROLINE'S OWN MINI-TREE WITH GRANDDAD

CHRISTMAS SHOW AND PARTY AT PRE-SCHOOL

GINGERBREAD HOUSE BUILDING WITH GRANDDAD

LIGHTING THE HANUKKAH CANDLES

WHAT DO MOMMIES DO ALL DAY?

My good friend Tina forwarded this article from The Washington Post to me this afternoon, just in time to send a little validation my way! I consider myself lucky to not have (I think) friends like the woman who wrote the letter, but thought it was worth the post anyway, if nothing but to give everyone a little laugh, as well as a little perspective. It's pretty spot-on with what I find myself facing on the day-to-day with my two-year-old. Happy reading (and feel free to click on the article image to enlarge, if necessary)!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???

I got an email from Pottery Barn Kids this afternoon, advertising a pre-holiday toy sale. When I went to the site to look around, I saw this:

DECKING THE HALLS...

It's taken me a whole week to post about this, but life's kind of busy these days, isn't it?! We had a busy weekend last weekend getting things together for the holidays. After picking out our tree last Saturday, Steve and I were supposed to head to his company's party and then on to an open house at some friends of ours who live near us, but I wasn't feeling great and so we decided to make it a low-key evening at home, getting out the Christmas decorations and beginning to set things up.

A quick snapshot from the treestand

After a dinner of Chinese food, we trimmed the tree and put out some of our other table toppers, vase fillers, and garland, as well as Steve's ever-growing (and utterly annoying) collection of singing, jingling animatronic animals and snowmen - most of which found a really nice home in the rec room in the basement :) . We also took our menorah out of storage and put it in a place where it will be easy to find when the time comes to light the first candle! Although we are raising Caroline Catholic like her Mommy, we want to make sure that she understands where Daddy and his family came from, too.

Here's Caroline, hanging her first decoration and ornament!

Playing with some decorations - the fabulous animatronic animals are in the background...

Decorating was so much fun this year. Over the past several years, we've often rushed through the process, treating it like something we had to check off our holiday to-do list. This year was so different - mainly because of Caroline's enthusiasm. It was awesome that she could finally participate in some of the set-up, even as she hung thirty ornaments on the same branch and spent a good deal of the time undoing what we had just done. This has been something I've been looking forward to since she was born, and makes me even more excited at the prospect of having another little one to help get into the spirit, understand some of the religion behind it all, learn our extended family's old traditions, and begin new ones with our own young family.

Last Sunday, after dinner with Steve's parents and sister, we decided to drive around our neighborhood for a bit to look at the lights on the houses - just like my parents did with us when we were little. Over and over Caroline exclaimed, "We make Mommy's house Kiss-mas, too?!" and "Oh, gosh! Another lights!" It was too adorable. I have a feeling that we'll be driving around quite a bit over the next few weeks! And, as she has requested, we will be working on getting our own lights and garland up soon...

OH, (PINK) CHRISTMAS TREE!

While we were in the bathroom at Noodles and Company after her class at Kidville today, Caroline informed me that she wants a pink Christmas tree this year. Upon hearing this, some moms might have gotten excited at the prospect of decking a traditional tree out in all its Lilly Pulitzer-esque glory, with cute ornaments and grosgrain ribbons like this to go along with the theme, but I knew better. My daughter was, I am certain, literally referring to this:

When we arrived at the tree stand after lunch, just picture her initial disappointment when she saw a plain, old sea of green. Thank goodness she got over that quickly when she realized she not only could play hide-and-seek amongst the stands, but that they also sold hot apple cider and popcorn. Maybe it'll be just the pink fix she needs when she sees that we indeed have a few fabulous Lilly ornaments to hang up on our beautiful new frasier fir!

RANDOM THOUGHTS...

So I am sitting here in my den, and it's 12:30 in the morning. I'm working to print a stationery order for my best friend and business partner Christy, who just had her third adorable baby. She and I timed this whole pregnancy thing perfectly, didn't we? Our newest kids will be close enough in age to hopefully be the best of friends like their mommies, while at the same time there's one of us available to hold down the fort with our company while the other gives birth/recovers. I'm really excited about how her announcement/Christmas card has turned out (I mean, they are such a cute family that coming up with a design and layout was easy):

I want to be able to get these to her tomorrow so that she could send them out ASAP - she's the friend who literally times it so that her card arrives before anyone else's on the first day of December, so it's practically killing her that they are not out yet. She pays no mind that she had a c-section literally nine days ago. I, on the other hand, typically get my act together around the second week in December and have the audacity to print our names on the card rather than sign them myself - even though totally I agree with all those people (like Christy - who made a concession for just this once) who say it's tacky and sends the message that you couldn't be bothered to take the time to write your own name. The truth is, I would do it if I could, but these days the whole idea of finding any more time to put towards Christmas cards could scare me away from sending them at all. Hopefully the recipients can forgive me for this minor indisgretion. But I digress...

Being up so late at night has my mind wandering a bit. I've finished the other designs and layouts I had in the works for this evening, so here's what seems to be helping to keep me up until the printer stops:

1) I really need to get my act together and start thinking about this new baby's room. I have a few ideas, but the poor thing is definitely ranking as "sloppy seconds" on our priority list, which is just plain wrong. Her room is full of boxes from our move that have yet to be emptied or at least relocated, I have no idea what kind of furniture I am going to pick up, and the obsession with which I pursued Caroline's bedding when she was on her way is no longer in existence. I am waiting for an epiphany. As my doctor said at my 28-week appointment on Tuesday, if you have a diaper, a onesie, and a bassinet, you are pretty much set for the first little bit. I know he is right, but I am still determined to not let #2 turn into an afterthought...

2) I am pissed at my Shu Uemura eyelash curler. It has inexplicably broken, a fact that I discovered when I pried it off of my lashes the other day and found them crimped like a bad 80's hairdo. I tried to pick up a new one at Neiman Marcus when I went to my salon nearby to get my hair cut and highlighted yesterday, but they don't sell them there (unbelievably). My eyelash curler is one of my top three items in my make-up case, and the Shu Uemura one really is the best (I have tried them all). Sometimes, I don't agree with the beauty critics when they rave about a certain tool or product (i.e. - What is the BFD with Mabelline Great Lash mascara? I have tried it many times and still don't understand the obsession...), but they are spot-on about this one. My curler is kind of a staple to my morning routine, even when I don't even have time to shower, so it goes without saying that it needs to be replaced - like, yesterday.

See? Even Jodie Foster isn't excited about crimped hair...

3) I'm excited to decorate our house for the holidays. When we bought it, even my Jewish husband Steve thought it had the perfect spot for a Christmas tree (right in the front window of our living room), and couldn't wait to put lights up (even then, the neighborhood just felt like the kind of place where people get into the spirit of things). We buy a real tree, and it's from a stand run by a really nice family at the Catholic church where I grew up and went to grade school. Caroline is getting into the holiday for the first time, which is really cute. I'm trying to temper the whole Santa-which-gets-out-of-hand thing by explaining that it's really a birthday party for a baby named Jesus, but as one of my other best friends Kristy mentioned, she'll probably still miss the meaning and focus on the fact that she might get cake at said party. She knows my two-year-old so well...

Okay, so my printing is done. Now my mind is wandering towards thoughts of sleep. Thanks for staying up with me!

HAPPY (BELATED) THANKSGIVING!

Things have finally calmed around here and I'm getting on my computer for the first time in several days. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was relaxing, enjoyable, and filled with good food, family, and friends!

Steve, Caroline, and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving this year. We usually have to split our time between the two (luckily everyone lives in the area) - having dinner with Steve's family and then dessert with mine. As Steve observed, this year was the first in fifteen years (we dated for 8 and have been married for over 6) that we haven't had to drive from house to house. I have to say, hosting almost 40 people while having the luxury of staying put in our own home was well worth the effort!

Our menu was pretty extensive, as we were so lucky that so many people brought delicious contributions to the table. In addition to the standard fare of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy, we had a buffet that included marinated filet, different vegetable casseroles, eggplant parmesean, cornbread, homemade cranberry sauce, steamed asparagus, and butternut squash, to name just a few of the dishes - all of which came after some fabulous appetizers and preceded some amazing desserts.

For the first time ever, Steve and I brined, rubbed, and cooked the main turkey. I used a basic brining recipe of sugar, salt, and water, as well as The Barefoot Contessa's turkey breast rub (I doubled it to compensate for the whole turkey) prior to cooking. Although the cooking time lasted for about 45 minutes pasted my estimations (I'm still getting to know the oven at my new house and have decided I am DEFINITELY a fan of my old house's gas oven rather than my new home's electric one...), we had dinner on the table by 6:15. My cousins Mike and Bill marinated and fried two more in a deep fryer out back - I know it sounds like a heart attack on a plate, but trust me, they were DEVINE.

We also used the holiday as an excuse to get our butts in gear and finish up as much of the house and decorating as we will be doing for a bit (aside from the new baby's room), so that occupied our time too. I have always been a proponent of planning an event in order to motivate myself to hang up more pictures and pull another room together. Add to that a stubborn-double-ear-infected toddler and we had the makings of a busy week! It all came together though and we had a wonderful time. Hopefully, our guests did, too! The one regret I have is that I didn't really take any pictures of the event, as I was too busy hovering over the unmotivated turkey to get any really good shots. Oh well - mental note for next time, right? Now on to the next phase of the holiday season... :)

FUN CRAFTS FOR THE KIDDIES!

My very good friend Megan is always looking out for me. She knew that today, since we had to cancel our play date because Caroline's sick, I might be looking for something to fill our time. She sent me a link to this craft site where you can use, um, let's just call them "familiar household items" to get some decorating done for Thanksgiving. Pottery Barn and William Sonoma it is not, to say the least. The site's creators are either a) really resourceful and creative, b) really twisted and a bit disturbed, or c) a bit of both. You be the judge... :)

SOME GAME DAY SHOTS FROM THE PAST TWO WEEKS (AKA - GO 'SKINS!)...

Here are some shots of some of the Redskins' favorite fans from the past two weeks... You'll notice that in the last two, Caroline's still in her pj's, recovering from her ear infection (but still never one to shy away from being fashion forward, even when under-the-weather)!

November 16 - Redskins vs. Dallas (Unfortunately, we lost!)



November 23 - Redskins vs. Seattle (We WON! - It must have been the tutu and Uggs that did the trick...)

IT WAS HER EARS!

So I was really concerned, as you know, about the whole "Caroline-turning-into-a-rabid-animal-at-preschool" issue from last Tuesday. As much as the teachers tried to reassure us it's "normal" and that they are viewing it as an isolated incident, the parent and teacher in me knows that no matter what, it wasn't cool and certainly makes her teachers' jobs harder (not to mention Steve's and mine!).

Well, it turns out I noticed a pattern but thankfully, not with the biting... On Thursday, when I went to pick her up, she wasn't acting like herself at all - very whiny, glossy-eyed, and not hungry. When I got her home, I took her temperature, and sure enough, she had a fever. A trip to the doctor's later that afternoon confirmed an ear infection, which I wasn't surprised about at all given that she's had this head cold for almost 2 weeks.

Driving home that afternoon, it all started to click when I thought back to the past few times Caroline's gotten sick - her behavior totally deteriorated in the days leading up to the illness itself (i.e. - trying to take off all her clothes at ballet class the day before she had her febrile seizure). Not that the whole biting thing should be excused, but I think I've put together another piece of the puzzle that is my toddler. I'll definitely have to file this one away for next time...

MY DAY WAS LIKE A REALLY BAD COUNTRY SONG...

...in which the singer croons about things like finding out his dog died and his wife is leaving them just as he gets home from a night in jail after a bar fight or something. You know how a day starts off on the wrong foot and then it's like someone out there thinks you haven't been put in your place quite enough? That was my day. Here's the running list (just to vent for a second...):

1) I woke up 1 hr. and 15 min. late. Not too late to get Caroline to school, but late enough that I had to skip most of the things I had planned to do before leaving the house.

2) I lost my engagement ring for 20 minutes, and couldn't leave the house without it because our housekeeper was coming (thank God) and I knew that if it wasn't found right then, it likely would have disappeared forever with the laundry, trash, or whatever.

3) Once the ring was found, my running shoes were also missing and they were pretty much the only thing that could go on my feet this morning (too cold in DC for flip flops or ballet flats, one of my Uggs were wet - don't ask, and my feet were a bit swollen). Queue five minute hunt for said shoes...

4) We got off to school late (although I did make up for lost time while most likely getting a speeding ticket by the speed camera on the way - it nabs you if you are even 5 miles over...stupid cameras).

5) I didn't get any of my errands that I had planned to do during school done because of late wake-up (I had to take care of the early-morning stuff instead).

6) I did stop off for a vanilla latte (my favorite) to cheer myself up, only to spill it all over the ground under my car while climbing out.

7) When I went in to pick up Caroline school, I got the words that any parent dreads hearing: "We need to talk to you for just a second..." Remember the post where I told you the story about how she bit my finger after I told her she couldn't ride her wheelie bug down the stairs? And how I was convinced it was just me who she wanted to bite? Um, guess what - I was WRONG. Silly novice mommy. A little girl tried to take a bike away from her on the playground and after Caroline told the girl "no" several times to no avail, she decided to step it up a notch. There wasn't any blood or crying involved, but no matter. My kid's a biter. At least for today, anyway (hey - a mother can dream, right?). Oh, and she also likes to rip pages out of books, apparently.

So what I've accomplished today is pretty minimal - the laundry isn't done, the errands aren't run, I have had no caffeine fix for the day (I know - good for the baby, but BAD for the mommy, in my opinion...), and I had to spend part of my evening creating a sticker chart to reward my daughter for every time she "uses her words" - rather than her teeth - to solve her problems (at least the teacher in me knew how to do this last one...). It's been an AWESOME day... I'm off to bed in the hopes that tomorrow just has to be better!

TEN-SECOND TOM...

So I was listening to a conversation that Caroline was having on the phone with my sister Suzy this weekend. It went basically like this (as they always do...):

C: "Hi Suzy! How you?"
S: "Hi Caroline! I'm fine. How are you?"
C: "I fine Suzy! What doing, Suzy?"
S: "I'm studying for my CPA exam. What are you doing?"
C: "You drive Suzy car?"
S: "No, I'm at my house right now."
C: "Where Suzy car go?"
S: "It's parked in front of my house."
C: "Um, hi Suzy! How you?"

...and so on and so forth. A good deal of the time, conversations with Caroline go like that (like the time we spent the 15-minute ride to school running through the list of people in our family who wear their seatbelts in the car... again and again and again). It occurred to me that she, like most toddlers, is totally Ten-Second Tom from one of my favorite movies, "50 First Dates" :

**REMINDER: Be sure to stop the music player to the left prior to viewing!**

STORY TIME!

Last night, we decided to grab the video camera and record Caroline during her bedtime routine. We've been slackers lately on the video front, so we wanted to save it for her for when she gets older. I thought it would be fun to post it here for you to check out, too!

**Don't forget to stop the music player to the left of the screen before viewing...**

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

LOVE HURTS...

So I was debating whether to even post about this because who wants to show the utterly beastly side of their own child, but in the interest of transparency, I figured what the hell. You, my loyal readers, won't judge me or my abilities as a parent (even though I definitely questioned myself this morning!). Here's what transpired:

We were getting ready for Caroline's Ballet Tea Party class at Kidville. Yes, they wear tutus, and yes, Caroline likes going, but it's really the cookies and juice at the end of class that pursuades her to put on her little black leotard and tights each week. But I digress. I was getting myself dressed in my bedroom. I turned to see Caroline taking advantage of the fleeting freedom of having the gate of the top of the steps temporarily open by trying to drag/ride her ladybug Wheely-bug down the stairs. Um, what?! Of course, I went right over to her and told her that Wheely-bugs aren't for stairs, and tried to take said bug away from her. And do you know what she did in response? The little bugger bit my left index finger! She hasrecently taken to occasionally biting walls, furniture, and her stuffed animals out of frustration, but never an actual human person - that's been too taboo, and she is far more demure around her little friends to ever try it on them. Apparently, she feels comfortable enough with me to conduct her little experiment on me. Grrr. As I told my mother later, we've crossed a threshold.

Not that I'm too concerned about her with her friends and classmates - just the other day I got to see a great example of how she tries to handle conflict with other kids when a little girl at the park tried to take away her Dora balloon. I was actually proud of her then - she used her words and wasn't at all physical. Oh, the joys of being the one she's closest to...

So, back at the homestead: of course, Caroline landed her little self in a rare (for her) time out, which "the experts" suggest should not extend past the child's age in terms of the number of minutes they are in there. But here's where the dilemma/guilt sets in: I just don't think that's effective enough for my kid. She's two, and spends well beyond two minutes screaming and snotting all over the place before beginning to calm down enough to reason with.

My feeling is this: until she is at the point where she's able to at least think about what I'm saying, she's not ready to be out of time out. This time, it lasted about 15 minutes. After the first 10 minutes (which seemed like an eternity), I went in because she sounded a bit calmer and I reminded her sternly, "No biting!" and explained to her that when you hurt someone, you say "I'm sorry" and give them a hug. She responded by playing around and laughing, which landed her back in time out (cue the screaming and snot). At this point, there was no salvaging getting out the door for ballet, which also had me silently cursing - now I had to fill another hour + of our day!

After another 5 minutes, I went back in, and apparently she got the point this time, and immediately said "Hug!" and said "I'm sorry, Mommy" (with a little prompting by me). A quick reminder of "No biting! Biting hurts!" and then we were on with our day, relatively unscathed and with a little life lesson thrown in for fun. When we walked past her Wheely-bug on the way to the elevator to go downstairs to the kitchen, my smart girl showed me she knew how to play my game - she rode the bug into my bedroom this time, instead of to the top of the stairs like the budding Evel Knievel she is. Score one for Mommy!

MY NEW FAVORITE PARK...

Caroline and her good friend Madison catch a ride on a swing together!

Yesterday, we went to an awesome new park with a group of our little (and big) friends. It's not too far from where we live, in one of my friend's neighborhoods. The park is brand-new, with a fully wheelchair-accessible playground (complete with a rubberized surface!), swings for kids of all sizes and abilities, a picnic area, a Bank Shot basketball court where people in wheelchairs and on their feet can play together, tennis courts, and a dog park, as well as walking paths and open fields. It's truly a place where all people can go to have a fun day outside without feeling limited by any challenges they might face.

The coolest part is that it's dedicated to an amazing boy named Mattie Stepanek, whose life was sadly cut short by a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Though he didn't live to see adulthood, Mattie did more to make a positive mark on our world than most people who live to see eighty. Mattie spent his time here spreading a simple message of peace and friendship that only a child's eyes could see or voice could speak, much of which was compiled into several poetry books that he wrote. He inspired so many to live their lives to the fullest while focusing on what was most important, and although he was wise beyond his years, he had a way of sharing his message in a manner that all could understand.

When the park was dedicated this past Saturday, a statue of Mattie in his wheelchair - with his service dog standing at his side - was officially unveiled within a peace garden that's adjacent to the playground. The ceremony was attended by everyone from people in his family, to people who live in the area, to dignitaries and news crews, to Oprah Winfrey, who became a friend of Mattie's several years ago.

His mom, who also has muscular dystrophy, lives in a house across the street from the park. I couldn't stop myself from glancing over there from time to time when we visited the park yesterday, wondering what she thinks of having such an amazing place being named for her beloved son just outside her front door. Being a mother myself, I can only imagine that such a sight is all too bittersweet - a beautiful but painfully constant reminder that her child is no longer here with her.

When we arrived at the park and first went over to look at the statue, I got a bit teary-eyed myself - not because I knew Mattie personally, but because of the effect he has had on my own outlook on life by encouraging everyone to "always play after every storm." Caroline, meanwhile, just noticed that he looked like he was in "Mommy's wheelchair!" and wanted to pet his dog. Then we went off to play with our friends and take in the beautiful day, just as Mattie would have wanted all of us to do. How amazing is it that a simple day at the park could so easily be the most fitting tribute to such a special boy?

BECAUSE I JUST CAN'T SHAKE THE TEACHER IN ME...

...I just think this is the most fabulous little gift for any beginning writer! I was looking around a really cute site this evening, The Silly Wagon, and stumbled across this stamper in the "Goodies" section. You can choose either an upper/lower case version, or just upper cases. I just love the fact that you can start getting kids to practice writing their names with some guidance but without having to sit there and draw out those little dotted letters yourself. They are great for signing thank-you notes after birthdays and as a take-along when you know you are going to have to wait somewhere. I'm thinking of picking one up just in time for pre-school next fall!

PENNY PRINTS AT SNAPFISH.COM!

Looking to rid your camera of all those pictures you have yet to do anything with? Well, for the next 3 days you can head to Snapfish and purchase up to 50 4 x 6 prints for just a penny! Any prints thereafter are just .09 each. Enter the code FALLPENNY08 when you check out to take advantage of the offer. If you don't have an account with them yet, it's easy and free. I'm heading over to get prints from yesterday's little golfing adventure! Happy shopping!

OUR FUTURE MICHELLE WIE!

We are really lucky because our new home is in a neighborhood that's part of a country club, and a membership came with the purchase of our house - a major selling point, especially since we were adding quite a bit to Steve's commute to work every day! This afternoon, Steve got home a bit early, so we decided to take Caroline out to the putting green for the first time.

She used my left-handed Jack Nicklaus Golden Cub clubs, which I totally use all the time (NOT - although I definitely plan to try to get more into it so that I don't become a golf widow). They were actually almost short enough for her, since Steve had the clever idea to get me a set of kids' clubs a few years ago so that I could go to the driving range with him and hit right from my chair. Caroline had a great time trying to putt, rolling the balls back to Daddy when putted to her, and occasionally chucking them from one end of the green to the other. It was too cute, so I just had to post some pictures. Enjoy!

EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS!

I was reading an article on AOL this evening about another theory on how to reduce the risk of SIDS. The article, which cited information from a published report in October's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, said that researchers have found a link to fan use in a baby's bedroom as helping to reduce the chance that the baby will succumb to SIDS.

The study used data collected through comprehensive questionnaires and interviews of both parents who had sadly lost a child to SIDS, as well as parents who had not. The bulk of the questions surrounded the condition of the baby's sleeping area, including whether or not a fan was consistently used during sleep. The number of interviewees in both categories were in the hundreds, and this was the first study conducted on this theory, so there's still alot of research to be done.

As I hope all my fabulous readers know, the best place to start in the prevention of SIDS is to place your baby on his or her back to sleep. However, the additional suggestion they are making sounds like an easy one to accommodate in a "can't hurt, might help" sort of a way. It's nice to know that there are so many doctors and researchers continuing to put such a great emphasis on this important issue. Just thought you'd want to know!

THE PINK TOTEBAG IS GETTING A LITTLE BIT "PINK"ER - AND AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME...

Caroline's future sister!!!

When we went for our "big" ultrasound this week, we got some really wonderful news! In addition to the baby looking healthy, with all its parts well formed and apparently in good working order (thank God!), we also found out that we will be adding another little girl to our family. Caroline will be getting a sister, which is something I have always dreamt of for her. I have 3 younger sisters myself, and there is truly nothing that can compare to that kind of bond. I know that if the baby had been a boy, I would have been so happy that things were as they should be (not to mention - Steve would have been thrilled to have a son and is feeling a bit outnumbered in our house these days). Caroline would have been a terrific big sister to her little brother, but I can't even put into words how I feel now that I know that she is getting a gift that I feel so blessed to be giving her - that of a sister.

This wonderful news couldn't have come at a better time for us. This time of year is bittersweet for me, as it has been for an unbelievable 19 years. While September is typically filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of impending Fall and all the newness and change that it brings, it also happens to be the month when I sustained my spinal cord injury. In particular, today - September 28 - is my anniversary. When I was 13, I had a spinal fusion for scoliosis. During surgery, a number of complications arose and a portion of my spinal cord was deprived of oxygen. When the doctors realized that the monitoring they had been doing to prevent just such an issue was not working properly, they removed the rods that had been placed along my spine, but the damage had been done, and I was paralyzed from roughly the belly button down.

Recovery from something like this takes a long time, but my yardstick for measuring mine hasn't ever really focused on the physical side of things. Sure, it's important to work to regain as much movement as you can to optimize your situation, and I spent a great deal of time in physical therapy over the years to heal. However, for me, the emotional journey that this experience has set out for me has been a far more difficult path to navigate at times. The anxiety and anticipation of all life's wonderful rights of passage, like dating, high school dances, starting college, getting married, or having a baby to name but a few, has always been compounded by the fact that I have this extra baggage in the form of four wheels.

It is a journey that I would not be able to face day in and day out without the support of my own sisters (along with the rest of my family and friends). This makes me value the future relationship that Caroline will have with hers so much. I know that when I was injured, they too were hurt and had to begin their own healing processes. I have the physical scars from my surgery and its aftermath, but the three of them also lost alot on the day I got hurt. They have always been there to help pick me up when I've fallen, both emotionally and physically. They help me turn limits into opportunities, and for that I am so grateful. I only hope that I return the favor to them in my own way. I am so lucky to have them, and I am a better person because of them.

My sisters and me

Like a really bad college roommate (not that I've ever had that!), my injury and I have reached an uneasy tolerance of each other while at the same time maintaining an extremely close proximity. We get in each other's way at times, and are constantly having to find ways to coexist. My chair and the limits it attempts to place on me are what I deal with every day, although I like to think that I push back hard to not let it stop me or my family from living our lives. I have to say that at this point in my life, I have reached an appreciation for the experience that I've been through, as it has helped me to learn things about myself that I don't think I ever would have learned otherwise. That isn't to say that I would even wish it on my worst enemy, but at the very least I can frame what happened to me in some sort of positive light.

Anyway, tonight, I just wanted to give a little shout-out to all the sisters (and future sisters) out there. They get us through some tough times, and for me especially, I had the opportunity on this anniversary to not spend too much time being sad about what happened so long ago, but instead focus on the future and all the hope and promise that it brings...