Annie & The Twins-30 Weeks!

Wow, I am so incredibly proud of my sister, Ann. Being pregnant with twins cannot be easy at all. She looks so beautiful! If I remember correctly, Baby A is the girl and Baby B is the boy. I never can tell on ultrasounds. I am really proud of myself for recognizing them as little people in the ultra-sound pictures, much less figuring out which is which!

Ann and Bobby are in the process of registering at Target, and their partial gift registry can be found at Target.com or on the in-store kiosks by clicking on “Target Baby” and entering the first two letters of the Mommy or Daddy’s first name and the first two letters of the Mommy and Daddy’s last name. It will then prompt you to enter the state abbreviation, in this case, CA. It is really easy and straightforward. I have to promote shopping at my place of employment!!

Let the "House" Love Begin!

House

Okay, let me begin by saying if you are not watching this outstanding hour of television, you are really missing out!

House airs on Fox at 8:00 p.m. and is easily the most riveting, enjoyable show to watch. And this is coming from a 24 and Alias fanatic, so people, I know my high adrenaline TV shows!

House follows the main character, played brilliantly by Hugh Laurie, a Brit, as Dr. Gregory House. House has an "American" accent, however, so part of the genius of this show is just sitting back and marveling at the acting acumen of Hugh Laurie. The man is amazing. I dare you to find the flaw in his "American" accent!

Hugh Laurie manages to make you love, not just like, a Vicodin addicted, cranky, pompous, self-centered ass in Dr. House. I mean, you really love him, even when you are screaming "I can't believe he just did that!" at your TV screen. Sometimes you will want to hate House so much...but you just can't bring yourself to. This is one of those shows where you will be screaming at your TV screen a lot.

House also marks the return of Robert Sean Leonard and Lisa Edelstein to roles they really make their own; the Drs. James Wilson and Lisa Cuddy, respectively. Those of my generation will remember Robert Sean Leonard from Dead Poets Society and his truly heartbreaking role in the movie that brought carpe diem into the teenage vernacular. Good times! Lisa Edelstein had a fantastic recurring guest role on Ally McBeal.

The rest of the supporting cast is excellent, as well. Seriously top-notch! Yes, Microsoft Word, I realize this is a fragment and, no, I will not consider revising it.

Please, give this show a try, and if anyone would like to borrow the Season 1 DVD, my father-in-law has it! For those of you who have Net Flix memberships, I think it is available on there as well. House is currently in its second season.

Ladies, Start Your Engines!

My sister, Christine, in all of her infinite wisdom, suggested I start blogging about things that I like and know something about that other people might not. I thought about it for a little while and decided she was right; I do have something to say about one of my biggest sports passions, NASCAR.

Okay, specifically, Bobby Labonte, 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion (now known as Nextel Cup Champion), and the driver of the #43 Cheerios Dodge for car owner Petty Enterprises. First things first, yum! The man has some serious sex appeal. He is a true woman's man and a man's man, a pretty tough combination to come up with, if you really think about it. He is one of the last of a dying breed, a "gentlemen driver", both on and off the track. To me and many others, he exemplifies the best of the sport. However, this post will not descend into my Bobby love, which would be really easy, but to why I think NASCAR is so great and why I think more and more women are agreeing with me.

First, NASCAR is exciting! It is not like other sports where there are moments of excitement, but they are few and far between. When you watch a race, the excitement is always there, from start to finish. Think about it, how boring could it be watching 43 drivers go 200 mph? Or, in the case of short track racing, the equivalent of bumper cars where you know no one will get hurt, but the cars will look like hell by the time the race is over. With a Daytona-like race (super speedway), the cars have to remain very aerodynamic, so the slightest damage could ruin a drivers' chance of winning. Short track racing is a different beast; the drivers' can basically ram around like bumper cars, the speeds are slow enough that no one is going to get injured, but, man, they really beat on each other! It's fun! Never boring, that is for sure.

So why are women flocking to NASCAR? For me, the answer is easy, it is a way to bond with my Dad, aka Poppy, aka Dr. Arthur E. Johnson. NASCAR races boil down to physics, a subject my father can speak about until you want to shove a cork in his mouth, BUT a great way to have a long, thoughtful discussion with him.

So many fathers are absent in their children's lives, mine has a very demanding career as a research scientist. He has always made it known that his family is his first love, followed by work in a very close second. But let’s face it, as an award-winning scientist he didn’t have the time to spend with us like my Mom did (by the way, also part of a dying breed, women who give up very successful careers to stay home and raise their children!). My Dad chose stock car races as an activity to take me and my twin brothers to when we were young and Mom needed some much deserved time off. Dad let us suck the foam off of his beer, bought us cotton candy and popcorn, and the races were loud and exciting, something kids can never get enough of! These memories are so vivid in my mind that I can almost smell the fuel off the cars and taste the beer foam! I would bet money my brothers can too!

Now, as an adult, Dad and I progressed to NASCAR races where I can buy beer and hot dogs and smell the fuel off the cars and hear the deafening roar of the engines. My father and I can talk about NASCAR for hours. Topics range from which drivers we like and which drivers we don't, the physics of short track racing versus speedways. What the hell aero push is…you get the idea. I can talk to my Dad about something that excites us both, and as adult children, who among us doesn't long for the ability to do that? I can talk with my Mom for hours about anything from topics ranging to the best brand of toothpaste to her love of bird-watching to what really happened when I was ten and almost burned the house down. Mom was and is always there for me, even to talk about the most inane subjects (although I personally think they are fascinating). With Dad, I have to work a little harder to keep his attention as he probably thinks there is only one kind of toothpaste and that its brand name is "the kind your mother buys".

Now, my passion for NASCAR has transferred to my husband, and we can talk for hours about the same things I talk to my Dad about. I guess it will sound sexist, but it is a great way to bond with the men in my life. I get to watch a sport that I love with two of the best men I have ever known, what could be better than that?

So when I hear "Gentlemen, start your engines" on a Sunday afternoon, my heart beats a little faster. Not only because those engines can roar, but because it is a love affair I can share with my husband and my Poppy. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing".

To sum up, thanks for the memories NASCAR & Texas Motor Speedway. And Bobby Labonte? Just thanks.

Request for Help From All Dog Lovers!

My poor aussie, Sophie, is having a horribe time with really dry skin and losing her beautiful hair! It is so sad! To rule out the first possibilities, it is not mange, either sarcoptic or demodectic, and is not contact dermitites. It is just the most stubborn case of alopecia I have ever seen, and of course it would have to be happening to the sweetest dog on the planet! I have her taking Omega 3 fatty acid supplements three times a day with food.

Her food has changed to dry Royal Canin for skin/hair problems and wet Nature's Recipe for skin problems (it's also vegetarian, which I thought a little odd being that fish oil is the first thing the vet suggested once the hair problems first began).

I am also giving her two cans of tuna packed in oil a day. All of this has helped, but not fixed the problem entirely. Poor sweet, little Sophie is still itchy and biting at the balding spots.

Any advice? I have done everything the vet said to do, so at this point I am hoping one of you will have some obscure advice that my vet wouldn't have thought of/known about/or shared. All my time at Operation Kindness and I never saw a dog with this problem, this badly.

No picture posting of Sophie today, she is not ready for her close up, Mr. DeMille!

Yikes!

I swear I am going to cut it out with all the weather postings, but seriously? Seriously (Grey's Anatomy shout out!)?!? These temps don't even factor in the wind chill. Stupid Bailey loves the snow, so she keeps begging to go out! This is Oklahoma people! It was 75 degrees when I went to work on Thursday!

Snow and Ice!

First of all, I should say a HUGE thank you to Poppy for teaching me to drive on snow and ice. I shall never forget the first time we had snow or ice in Oklahoma after I got my driver's license...Poppy got me up and out to the Lloyd Noble parking lot to "learn how to drive like we do in Minnesoda". Come on, guys, you know that is how you pronounce Minnesota, heck, even I do it now!

This entire weekend has been crazy ice and snow. I closed on Friday night and we were all at Target for an hour after we left the store scraping the one inch thick layer of ice off of each other's cars. Thankfully, I have awesome co-workers, so we all stuck it out in the 15 degree sleet until everyone was able to see out of the windows of their cars. Note to all, de-icer does not work worth a hill of beans on ice that thick.

I opened Target on Saturday morning, so thank God for Poppy's driving lessons. At the time, we both wanted to kill each other, but my car and my life are entirely unscathed by this weather, so I have to give him props when they are due. You all know how much I hate to admitt when he is right about anything :)!

I close the store tomorrow night, so I am dreading the upcoming 60% chance of precipitation for Sunday. Ah, such is life, I suppose!

I included Gary England's 7 day forecast in this post for all of you Okie transplants who miss him. Seriously, he is one of the best parts about moving back to Oklahoma! That and it will always be home.

Disclaimer: I so did not take that picture of the ice! Googled it!

The Twins!

Okay, so all my thoughts today are about my niece and nephew who are arriving April 20, or sooner if their Mommy can convince them to vacate their "vacation home"! Poor Annie, she sounds exhausted and ready to get to the fun part where she has babies to play with! She looks absolutely amazing, with that great pregnancy hair and skin you always hear about!!

Question for the group: What should I get the babies for the upcoming shower? James and I don't have children yet, so I am pretty clueless. Any thoughts? I want to be a little original, but also get things that will be fun and helpful to both Mommy, Daddy, and Babies.

I am so excited, I can't wait to meet them! It sure is fun shopping and getting ready for their birth, but I really want to snuggle them, like, yesterday!

Ann's sister, Kate, is giving the shower, so I am sure it is going to be amazing. Kate is really super creative and I am so sad I can't be there! Work calls, duty calls, however, but you can bet I will be flying out to California to meet them after they are born!

Love to All,
Christine Lee

Christine and James 

First Post!

Hi all! I am going to try this blog thing and see what all the fuss is about.

First off, my adorable, perfect, brilliant niece, Astrid, turned 1 on January 4! She is the daughter of my brother, Eddy, and sister, Christine. This is a picture of her in Encinitas, CA when she was 8 months old. She loves her Auntie Christine! Her Mommy and Daddy let me babysit one morning on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and I think they were both expecting disaster, crying baby and crying auntie! However, she was awesome and we had a great time. I think my brother and sister (in-law, but that is just the technical title. I feel she and my other sister-in-law, Ann, are the sisters I never had but am beyond blessed to have now) were a little sad when they got home and she was smiling and playing and not as excited to see them as they figured she would be. Ha, ha, little brother, I have turned out not to be as incompetent as you were expecting!! Next time I visit, I expect to be allowed to babysit for longer...maybe we could try for 4 1/2 hours next time :)!

The HUGE news in the family is that my other brother and sister (in-law, but that's not how I think of her), Bobby and Ann are expecting twins April 20! A boy and a girl, lucky us! I am so excited because I grew up with my brothers being only a year and 12 days younger then me, and they are twins, so I can't wait for our new set of twins! I will not be posting the twins' names until their Mommy and Daddy make it official, but they are maybe the most eagerly awaited babies of all time, so we all can't wait to meet them! Hi, little babies, your Auntie Christine already loves you and can't wait to smother you with kisses!

James and I have our nine year wedding anniversary coming up on May 7, and we can't wait!!! We have a romantic weekend planned at the Bed & Breakfast we went to last year and are looking forward to having just as wonderful a visit this year as we had last. Can you believe it has been nine years already?? We can't. I don't know how many of you know this, but May 7 is the day my Grandma and Grandpa Harker met, so it is a very special date to me for more than one reason.