And I Still Can't Get His Name Straight

So a feather was found on the wing of that plane that used the Hudson as a landing strip. One feather!? This plane’s engines seized because of one feather? Is this what they are trying to tell us? And if one feather is found on the wing a week after the accident isn’t it logical to think this might be a new feather from a random bird of someone’s winter down jacket?

I don’t like thinking my flying life depends on the wind’s direction and bird migration patterns and feathers and wind shear and freak weather events. This isn’t going to make flying easier for me.

Nicole flies off to Boston today and will be there overnight. Which means two solid days alone with the girls. Which is fine, except I worry about nighttime. Two nights ago, Madeline had another bout of night terrors. It was just awful. And it took a while to get her back to sleep for good. And last night, Avery woke up for no reason at all. She wakes up in the middle of the night for no reason at all maybe every three months. Last night was that night. Nicole brought her to bed with us and she sat between us for two hours chatting up a storm while Nicole and I struggled to sleep and played the “whoever seems to be sleeping harder doesn’t have to be responsible for making sure that the baby stays safe on the bed” game. Avery’s late night culminated with her saying “eyes” in this high-pitched falsetto voice over and over again, while poking at Nicole’s eyes. At that point, I was deemed the one to bring her back to her crib. And she went, without a peep, back to her crib and slept the rest of the night. My point here? Please please please let the ladies sleep like angels tonight.

Since the temperature is going to be over 30 degrees today, I am venturing out with the girls, who will be bundled up in hats and mittens and puffy coats and blankets. I am so looking forward to the spring and summer and taking long walks and visiting the playground without hats and mittens and puffy coats and blankets. Being cooped up indoors is just plain hard. Thank goodness for Sesame Street. I try to limit the viewing to two shows a day: Once before naptime and again around 4, when everyone, including myself, start going a little cabin-fever crazy. But once spring comes, I intend to downgrade to one show a day. More best paid plans.

One more reason I am proud to be an American: Remember that milk problem in China back in the summer? How the factories used some chemicals in formula and milk? Some of the people involved in that are sentenced to DEATH and some others are sentenced to life in prison. Now I don’t want to get into a death penalty argument here (well, actually I don’t mind) but killing some of these people for their mistakes, isn’t that extreme? Granted, thank god no one I knew suffered or died, but even if they did, I would like to think I am evolved enough to not wish death on another human. Also in China news, parts of Obama’s inauguration speech were censored. Nice.

And still I have to say “Barack Obama” in my head in order to figure out which is his first name and which is his last. I wonder if I can get it right over the next four or eight years. And it looks like Joe Biden is going to live up to his foot-in-mouth reputation. That memory joke was not so nice.

Pictured above, Avery worshipping at the alter of Sesame. And below that, newspapers that will be added to the girls’ collection of saved newspapers. I bought tons of copies to save and give away and sell on eBay.