Updates on new milestones for the girls

Annika -

Competed in FOGANA and won third in at Cincinnati in Minor Folk Dance on July 16th. She said she is not interested in doing FOGANA ever again but would be willing to do it again next year. She has the same love/hate relationship with cultural commitments that I have.

July 20th - Asked to eat a salad with her dinner at LaRosa's completely unprompted.

Early July - helped Samir catch a fish in a friend's pond and then the asked to eat it. Samir actually did gut and clean the fish and they ate it. Not sure how I feel about this but am impressed with her commitment and courage.

Amara -

Tried to catch the rain while moving in the car by holding her mint container outside the window. She kept saying, "Slow down, Mom, I need fill this up."

July 16th - Fell asleep in the back of the convertible at 11:00pm on the way back from Preeti's house after FOGANA. The top was open and the wind was blowing her while the moon was full and beaming down onto her.

Early July - Amara realized that she is in love with Jeeps. Annika helps her determine she is wants a Jeep Wrangler with an open/soft top. Amara now can recognize any car that Jeep makes so I guess "JEEP" is her first sight word.

Mid-July - Amara asks me how to build a television. I don't her I have no idea and have never thought about how. She says that she is going to learn and build one in her room. Then she will build one for Annika's room next. So kind. : )

Adorable things said on Friday, July 22nd.

Conversation with Annika at 1pm>

Annika - "Mom, can you come upstairs and play with us. I packed my suitcase and put in a lot of effort to set up Vegas."

Me - "Why are you in Vegas?"

Annika - "Because I am here for a wedding. Come on up and put on your swimsuit. We are just relaxing by the hotel pool".

Me - "Well, I am in the kitchen unloading and then loading the dishwasher but I have some great music on. Why don't you come down and we can pretend its a dance club in Vegas."

Annika - "Mom, I don't there are any dance clubs in Vegas."



Conversation with Amara at 3pm>

Me - "Amara why are you naked, its almost 3pm and we need to go for a nap."

Amara - "Because I am going to a baby shower in Vegas".

Me - "And what happens at a baby shower in Vegas that means you need to be naked?"

Amara - "Babies take showers, Mom!" (exasperated with me for being so clueless).

Let me count the ways I love my IPAD2

I just realized how easy and quick transferring IPAD photos are to my blog. Still not sure how to do it but Samir did it so one day I can learn. This means I don't have any ridiculous excuses for why our profile photo is 4 years old. There are two things in modern life I wish I could enjoy more but my fear/battle/disgust with technology keeps me from succeeding at: Photo albums and listening to music. While the rest of the world works out the their favorite up-beat music, I still spend 5 minutes untangling my earbuds to plug into an eliptical because I don't have an IPOD with music on it. I do have IPODs, 3 in fact have made into my hands from someone or another. But none of them have any of my work out music on them. Also, I 3 beautiful digital cameras. One without a charger cord, one with a broken battery recharger, and one that is small and perfect but I have never downloaded pictures from yet. I am pathetic. Career and business success. Even motherhood is overall a success. But technology keeps me under its thumb and I have allowed myself a sob story of being a victim too long. I am taking on the challenge of learning something new. Forget med school. I am starting with downloading photos and creating albums online. Simple and so rewarding for me and my future generations.

I will also post a pic of my new closet soon. Still figuring out how exactly to do that and Samir is not here right now.

And God has thrown down the gauntlet!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

This is my public admittance of my shopping obsession and having too many clothes - this shot does not even include my pants. I believe this a challenge to minimize - I am going to research what a healthy closet looks like. Perhaps a lighter closet will mean a lighter body, mind, and spirit.

Location:What is left of my closet