An April Morning In Tennessee

A Memo to the Easter Bunny

To: Easter Bunny
FROM: Misfit Hausfrau
DATE: April 13, 2009
RE: Next Year's Easter Egg Hunt


While the girls were more than satisfied with the quantity of Easter Eggs found on the front lawn this year, we do need to address the quality of the candy inside of said Easter Eggs. The candy in the eggs, quite frankly, was much too good for the girls' untrained palettes.

There was no need for Reese's Peanut Butter Miniatures and Hershey Chocolate Eggs. In addition, they did not need the Lindt Chocolate "Carrots," Cadbury Eggs and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs (again with the Reese's!) in their Easter Baskets. Such delicious candy is proving to be hazardous to the inhabitants of the house when the girls are in bed, in school, or not within earshot of the kitchen, which is the current location of the girls' stashes.

In the future, please purchase hard candies or things like jelly beans and Skittles. The girls will be just as happy since they only see candy twice a year. The asses and guts of the adults in our home will thank you as well.

A Hurting Heart

It's hard to say how I have found my favorite blogs. About a year ago, I came across a blog with a photo of one of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. I am not kidding. I love my girls and think they are adorable. I love my friends' children and think they are all adorable too. But this little girl, what a beauty! The bluest blue eyes and candy apple cheeks that were probably squeezed by every old lady who encountered her. Her smile was so stinking cute, I couldn't stand it. Her mother and father both had blogs and I read them regularly. Essentially, I started reading a couple of blogs because of a breathtaking child. I think that is saying a lot since I don't get really mushy about other people's children--especially children I have never met.

This child, Maddie, was born very prematurely. Their blogs chronicled their lives with Maddie, including the medical challenges that Maddie faced. Over time, Mike stopped his blog because he became really busy with a new job, but I kept reading Heather's blog.

Yesterday, Heather wrote that Maddie had been taken to the hospital because she had been having respiratory problems all weekend and hadn't gotten better. Heather sent updates on Twitter throughout the afternoon. I got concerned when her last update was this:

"They're going to intubate her, I'm freaking out"

And then she was gone.

I can't even begin to fathom the enormity of Heather and Mike's grief. I cannot begin to imagine the feeling of drowning, the burning sadness, the aching in their hearts. Parents shouldn't outlive their children. Parents shouldn't outlive their babies.

Mike and Heather are very active in the March of Dimes and plan to be a part of an event at the end of the month. Please consider clicking on the widget below and sending a donation in Maddie's memory. It has been so good to see that there is considerably more than the $3000 that was pledged as of this morning.

But I Don't FEEL 40!

I woke up on the morning of April 1st and was 40 years old. I didn't feel older, although I think I saw a few fine lines that were not on my face the night before. I'd like to think that the Vitamin E oil I am rubbing into my face every night is working, but I can't tell for sure.

I have looked forward to this day for a long time. Honestly, I never thought it would come. As a kid, I put it in my head that I would never marry, never have children and die before I turned 40. It's a good thing I didn't become a psychic. I would have been out of business within a week.

I started celebrating my 40th birthday in February with a Girlie Weekend in Mexico. In the back of my morbid head, I thought there was still time to not actually live to April 1, so why not do the celebrating early. It also helped that it was President's Day Weekend and we got cheap flights.

I didn't really freak out until the gifts started coming in on the day of my birthday. And the phone calls. I got phone calls from relatives who NEVER call me on my birthday. I got really cute gifts from my neighbors. My friend Amy flew to Nashville to surprise me the weekend before. My friend Katy called a spa near my home and set up a spa package for me. Even Corey went over the top with a beautiful (but too expensive) piece of jewelry. When I told Corey that that the trip to Mexico was gift enough, he said, "But it's your 40th birthday. This is a BIG DEAL."

A Big Deal. I realized on Tuesday that the "Big Deal" about turning 40 is the realization is that life is going by FAST. Too fast. My first 18 years went by at a pace that was torturous. I thought I would never turn 18 and escape from my hometown, escape my life. The last 20 years have positively flown by. I can only imagine how fast the coming years will come and go. That's what scares me. I'm having a pretty good time right now. I have a good life. I love and am loved. I just don't want that to end.