Whew! Glad the past month or so is over!

By the end of last week I was feeling run down.

Simultaneously with helping relaunch Xfinity.com (and playing a role I’m not used to playing – but looking to do much more of (hopefully did well at it) – everyone did a fantastic job), Richelle first got an ear operation (new tubes), then went on vacation, then came back with a cold. There were three birthdays (including mine and on the 21st, Mom (miss you Mom). The 9th anniversary of my nephew passing away from SIDS (miss you Hunter). On top of that, Dad was dealing with something that looked scary health wise, and a friend had a mastectomy (she’s doing great – I’d love to have her strength). They are the two who were dealing with real stress in the circle of my life – my thoughts have been with them both amidst all this. Oh and Emma went back to school. Although no stress there – she was all systems go, she loves it. She keeps the spring in my step.

My apologies on missing emails, tweets, comments, and more.

This is water. Hopefully I’ve done a good job of staying in the moment.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you are having a great 4th of July weekend. Yesterday was a big one here, hanging out with family and friends. The parade was fantastic, and it was capped by one awesome fireworks display. They were lighting off directly above us. Some days I can’t help but feel like the luckiest person in the world, and yesterday was definitely one. Some great memories to keep, including watching Emma have fun with her friends and watching her smile and laugh light up brighter than the fireworks. I just posted part of the display to YouTube: “86 Seconds: July 3rd Rockledge Fireworks”:

I hope you have a safe and great weekend.

Parenting while plugged in – don’t do it

I am guilty as charged and with Richelle’s help, changing my ways: NYTimes: “The Risks of Parenting While Plugged In”:

…children in higher socioeconomic homes hear an average of 2,153 words an hour, whereas those in working-class households hear only about 1,251; children in the study whose parents were on welfare heard an average of 616 words an hour.

Part of the reason the children in affluent homes she studied developed larger vocabularies by the time they were 3 is that “parents are holding kids, the kids are on their lap while the parent is reading a book,” Dr. Hart said. “It is important for parents to know when they’re talking to kids, they’re transferring affection as well as words. When you talk to people, there’s always an implicit message, ‘I like you,’ or ‘I don’t like you.’ “

Emma’s Playlist for Saturday February 20th, 2010

Emma’s Playlist are links, videos, and music that Emma loved and asked me to play again and again. First in a not so regular series.

YouTube: Spidey Meets the Yeti:

YouTube: The Muppets: Beaker’s Ballad:

YouTube: Fraggle Rock* “Let Me Be Your Song” (okay, this last one is for me – Emma declared ‘THATS NOT ROCKNROLL”) and clicked away.