Today is an incredibly auspicious day for us Buddhists. In honor of that, here’s a great clip from the articulate Pema Chodron. What an inspiration.
February 21, 2012
Updatos-A Thank You Note
Had some testing done this morning and at least one of the tests has come back totally normal. HUGE sigh of relief. Should hear back within the next few days what the other tests read…
More importantly though, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the outpouring of love surrounding this. I really so genuinely appreciate it. Though I know all will be fine, you can’t help but think about things you fear when something like this comes up. One thing I really realized through all of this is how lucky I feel to have you all in my life. It’s the people that make this whole gig worth it for me. Not the accomplishments, the winnings, the amount of money, fancy trips, nothing like that. It’s all of you, whether you’ve been sending love from Hatfield or Cali, Virginia or right down the street, you’ve all been amazing. I am damn blessed to know each and everyone of you. Love you all so so much.
Thanks as always for all your support. All is well.
Love you,
Brie
(ps-And now I will get back to making fun of things on this site. The serious stuff is too damn much).
February 20, 2012
Baby Mama Drama
I went into the ER this weekend by ambulance. That’s right. Wha? Totally unexpected..
I have some really sick kids, so I decided to head into my doc on Fri just to make sure I was clear before the weekend. After checking me out and giving me the okay, I mentioned offhandedly that I’d had a few chest tightenings with exercise lately. Nothing major, I was just curious what that might be about. The nurse said she couldn’t release me until we went through the motions–EKG, etc just to make sure I was cool.
I knew it would be nothing. At least, I thought it would be nothing. The young nurse took three different EKG readings, all of which came up abnormal. My heart was skipping beats. She kept thinking she was doing it wrong, she told me. Shortly thereafter, a team of four nurses and doctors walked into my room, none of whom I’d seen before. It felt so strange, they spoke to me in too-calm-of-voices, like I was a child. Like when I was told I had to have a c-section with Cora.
“Something just isn’t reading right. We need you to get over to the hospital. Please lie down, we don’t want you to pass out. We’ll call an ambulance. We need to monitor you the entire way. We don’t feel safe with you in a car even if you’re not the one driving.”
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
And I had come in for a cough.
I went into shock. The news made me light-headed and almost pass out. I started to cry a little. I felt sick and scared shitless.
Luke and my family rushed around to get everything in order–the kids, the dog, work, my clothes, my pump–all of it.
I spent the rest of Friday in the ER on oxygen, with an IV and wearing heart monitor stickers, going through various tests. They let me go late that afternoon saying it was nothing emergent at this point. “No exercise, even hikes, careful in hot showers and baths, no drinking, no caffeine.”
But I’m young, only 31, I feel like running. And drinking..
So now the search begins. More testing this week.
I’m still hoping and thinking it is nothing. How on earth could it be something? It just doesn’t add up. I really do believe I’ll be just fine. And going through all of this really gave Luke and I the chance to talk about the things that really matter. Bigger things. I so frequently live my life forgetting that it won’t last forever…
Updates when I get them..
February 14, 2012
I Love Love
I love love. Seriously. So much so that I try to set every one of my friends up with each other, even when they don’t go together just to try and get some love going. (Friends, you know this). Today is my holiday. Not in a traditional sense, I’m not a big gifts girl, but I just love love so much. I wanna talk about it, feel it, relive it and appreciate it. And how lucky I am to have had the same Valentine for 12 years.
The year 2000
12 years ago we were in college at Cornell and Colorado College. Luker sent me a huge box filled with yarn and candy (I was really into knitting then). It was so big I had to get a dolly to cart it to my dorm room. That was our first Valentine’s Day. And last year was the Valentine’s Day we found out we were having a boy. So so memorable. That’s right, today is one of my fav’s. I love V-Day, even if it makes love feel forced…
It’s even better this year because I have cherubs:
And…
Show someone some love today..
February 10, 2012
About a Dog.
Last night, Luker and I were lovin’ really hard on our dog, Manali.
The poor dear has become a second class citizen in our house since having two kids. But every now and again we realize it, and really love him to bits. As we were petting him, we remembered a special story about when we first got him as a puppy…
He was the most darling dog on the planet: fat, fluffy and quiet. He looked like a little grey gosling. Not Ryan, but still edible.
And he would just sit there and stare at us wanting to be squeezed. He was weened from his Mama too early, and his Pops was euthanized (This could be the start of a country song). He lived with his 5 week old siblings in a chicken coup outside in the bitter cold of January in Colorado. (Pretend that it’s bad, mmmm-k? It adds to the story).
When we brought him home we had to carry him up and down the stairs of our condo outside so he could pee; he was too wee to get down them himself. One night while making dinner, Luke hollered up to me: “Brie, for the love of God, why have you been feeding Manali spaghetti?”
I looked down to find him yanking something long and stringy from the back-end of our sweet pup. “The noodles are stuck in his rear and he can’t poop them out.” In shock, I ran outside to see what all the hullabaloo was about. Though I have my blonde (wannabe) moments, the dog had not feasted on Italian cuisine under my watch.
Luke continued yanking, Manali howling, and I tried not to throw up in my mouth. A trip to the vet informed us that what at first may have appeared to be spaghetti was actually a gut full-a worms. Lord. Poor Luker was scarred for life from that one.
Moral of the story? Never pull things out of butts. Also, maybe skip out on pasta tonight. Happy weekend, friends.
February 3, 2012
Ten Things That Make Me Happy Today..
- SNOW DAY for Luker! He’s home, people (though still working)..
- Tandoori Grill Indian Food..
- Squeezing myself into my tight jeans..
- Running (waddling, rather)..
- This:
- Discovering a new art studio play place for Cora..
- Hawaii in T minus 4 weeks!!!!!..
- Hearing about a friend seeing Star Wars for the first time, coining it her STARMITZVAH..
- The two hour window when they sleep during the day at the same time..
- MY FUCKING RING TONE.
February 2, 2012
Crunchy Moms
I know these are getting effing annoying, but for obvious reasons, this is one of my fav’s:
January 31, 2012
Livin’ the Dream
It’s been a really big week for me. I checked off something huge from my bucket list. I got an iPhone last week and have been trying to figure out how to use it. Getting the phone was clearly not on my bucket list (if you know me, you know this). But I DID get a killer ringtone. One I’d been fantasizing about for years. For realz, people. I’m livin’ the dream.
I think you can tell a lot about a person’s level of coolness by their ringtone. Luke informed me that one of his good friends has the ring tone Back Then by Mike Jones as his jingle.
Mike Jones -Back Then by lilmarcus
What’s so wonderful about this is that Luke’s friend is as white as they come, has some big fancy job and a young baby at home. I appreciated picturing him sitting in important meetings and then his phone going off in front of all these big shots.
Whole new level of love.
My tone idea came to me three years ago. And every birthday and Christmas since, I’ve asked for it. Though I could have just spent the $1.29 on my own, figuring it all out felt like a million dollar present. Well, it all came together this week, folks. So please, give me a call. Because every time you do, I get to relive the joy of my incredible ringtone. Cool as they come people, as cool as they come…
(Enjoy the dance moves as well. Love me some Hindi films..)
January 30, 2012
Too Fast
Okay. Alright. I finally get what people are saying about this whole kid thing. It is going too fast. I want it to slow down. Pause. Freeze. Stop. Please?
We are through the hard months and life feels a bit too blissful. Cora and Kierian are at perfect ages-2.5 and 6 months. And it is definitely going by way too quickly. I finally see why people have like 13 children. But I guess that’s the bitch about impermanence. No matter how many precious dumplings you squeeze out, not a one of them will remain two and a half forever. I guess that’s why we see so many mamas treating their fourty year old youngest like he’s three. Shit, I’ll probably do the same. Just tryin’ to hang on…
Cora’s new thing is tickling Kierian. He laughs until he can’t hold his enormous head up anymore. And I want to cry from happiness. She also likes to walk around public places with her glasses on and her hands in her pockets.
Every single person that walks by smiles. And I am dying on the inside. Kierian recently started eating a few foods (sweet potato, banana, prunes) and he always eats until he is so full it hurts him. Food coma, we’ve all been there. But he stays happy and I love it so much.
In an effort to make it all stop, or at least help me to appreciate it, I’ve been scrap-booking my ass off. That’s right. And though I still cry when I have to cycle through clothes that no longer fit them, I think the pictures are helping. Because I don’t want to forget the year when Cora told me every single day that I am her best friend. Or how Kierian flails on his tummy and yells with glee and how darling that is because he is stuck. And how I finally got my fat baby in Kierian (for a Vernon). Though sadly, even baby-man boobs are impermanent. (Not so sadly for him, I suppose).
This is all going way too fast…
