Is a black cat in your path ALWAYS bad luck?

Okay, a little history. I think I've hit a bird once while driving. I've been in the car for several "roadkill" accidents or incidents (including a sad time a little rabbit became grill art on my Poppie's minivan on a trip to Big Ben). But, I've never seen the animal coming and then heard the thump-thump... Until Saturday night. Dave was driving. There was no avoiding it, I realize. I became hysterical, sobbing out loud. So loud that I woke Hannah and frightened her a little. In the midst of my sobbing, I started laughing at myself a little, but then I was horrified that I was laughing and ended up crying some more. Poor Dave. We thought the cat didn't know what hit him/her. Dave surely didn't know what hit him either. He pulled over at the first gas station and checked for any signs of the innocent animal (there was none). I really am not superstitious about a lot of things, but there have been occasions where a black cat has walked across the street ahead of me, and I turn around if an easy alternate route is available. So, my question is if you squash the black cat as it crosses your path, is that worse or better luck? I mean, it didn't make it all the way across our path... Just to the front tire. (BTW, Dave swears it was a skunk to ease my mind and at the very least he saw white, but I saw legs moving as the black shadow ran out in the street, and the skunks I've seen waddle close to the ground... I'm convinced it was a black cat.)

Hitting the books

So, I'm on my kids' cases regularly about the importance of reading. Last week, one of them called me out and asked what I was reading these days. I was mortified that I couldn't answer because I don't have time to read. I got home and picked up a book Dave got me for Christmas. (Okay, I really got it for myself because I saved on shipping from Amazon if I ordered more, but I let him put his name on it and count it as his gift!) It's Water for Elephants, and it's actually pretty good. My problem with reading, though, is that I can't put it down! It's ridiculous, but I actually stay up later to read than I do to grade papers, clean house, or anything productive... BUT, I can tell my kids that I am reading now. Next time, I just hope I can pick up a book and take a little more time to get through it.

Baby steps

Baby steps have a whole new meaning now that Hannah is attempting to walk. She took a couple of steps Saturday night after a day of watching her little friends walk around at a birthday party and then while playing with Nolan (who's 2). Today, she took two baby steps to Dave and then me. When she gets close, she does a nosedive. She leans so far forward when she walks holding our hands that I don't know if she gets how important it is to stand up straight. She's a goof! She wowed her teachers at school today by saying "turtle" while playing with a toy turtle. I made a list of some of the words Hannah can say, and I think I'm up to 25 words. Of course, most of the words sound very similar ("Ba Ba" said while doing a 'milk the cow' motion looks and sounds very similar to "Bye Bye" that comes with a wave that looks a lot like 'milk the cow', but she's teaching us the difference!) The best is her laugh! She's started doing a goofy, deep "huhh, huhh" while we are riding in the car and she's talking to me or playing peek-a-boo. It cracks me up! Then, she'll start giggling for real with me; it's hilarious! I guess I wanted her to repeat herself a lot this weekend because Sunday she kept saying "huh? huh? hmm?" It made me realize I speak in questions to her A LOT, so I'm trying to slow down the questions. It's amazing and overwhleming to think that she is nearly 1. To think that just a year ago, I was huge and ready to have this baby that I could carry with one arm. We were excited when she opened her eyes, and now less than 12 months later I have to use both arms to hold her while she's laying down, and she's got such a funny personality. --- On a school note, students wrote autobiographies. After typing hers, one student's dedication read "I defecate this story to the people in my stories." Not as funny as Hannah's laugh, but funny enough to share with other students (with no names, of course) to teach kids the importance of checking their work and not relying on spell check!

Testing limits

H is so awesome! With just 3 weeks until her first birthday, she is totally testing me lately. She will sit and look at me with this devious look on her face and put her fistful of food over the floor. With a look from her fist to the floor to me she dares me to stop her. As soon as I say something to her ("Give it to Mommy" or "NO!" or "Let's put that on your tray"), she drops it. With the look in her eye, she might as well say "Nanananabooboo!" I don't know if it's because I'm tested by 13 and 14 year olds all day or what, but I am NOT good at figuring out what to do with her when she does this. I take away the plate of food or say something else about it and she bursts into tears. Tonight, the tears were so intense, she won and I picked her up out of her highchair to console her explaining why I don't want her throwing food on the floor. I think that just put me back a week in getting her to stop diong this. Oh God! She's already winning and she's not even 1!