The Best Non-Political Vote You Can Cast All Year

Okay, people. We need your help here.

My brilliant husband learned about a contest to win a Thomasville Furniture sectional sofa by posting an Instagram photo of one of their couches on the company Facebook page.

And because he is so brilliant, he took our kids on their school holiday Wednesday (while I was at work) and captured this hilarious photo of Spidey and Butterfly Girl relaxing in the Thomasville store.

Now all we need is for you to click over to the Thomasville Furniture Facebook page and vote for our photo -- you have to "like" their page first in order to vote (sorry about that). If you vote for us and we actually win, I promise to let you come hang out with Junius and Pippi on the new couch. We'll even let you choose your own costume.

Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/Thomasville/app_364041783617057 (Note: Lots of people are having trouble with the link. Not sure what's happening, but it might not be mobile-friendly. Try going to https://www.facebook.com/Thomasville and look at the top of their feed for the link to the promotion.)

And may the odds be ever in our favor.

Best Anniversary Gift Ever

Tomorrow is my anniversary -- or as Pippi calls it, my Wedding Celebration Day.

Number 11.

Apparently the traditional gift is steel (which seems like maybe I could count the metal rooster we got this summer at the flea market, but according to the Bloggess, that's for 15th anniversaries), but I haven't actually bought a present for my husband yet. And I have no idea what to get.

Maybe that's because he doesn't really need anything. Or because the things he'd really want -- like a week with me on a private beach or a convertible BMW -- are completely out of my budget.

But the truth is that I know anything I come up with will pale in comparison to the Best Anniversary Gift Ever of 2005.

In keeping with the traditional linen for our fourth anniversary, I gave him the perfect gift: a quiet night's sleep in our freshly made guest room. Alone. Because that was the year that Junius was born.

Junius was a delightful, beautiful blessing of a baby who never ever slept for more than 45 minutes at a time unless he was being held. So he slept in our bed propped up on my chest every night for the first three months of his life. That's why the best thing I could have possibly given my husband that year was a night without me.

Giving him the chance to sleep undisturbed not only between feedings but through an ENTIRE NIGHT was the absolute most luxurious thing I could do for him. And now I don't really know how to top that.

What I do know is that I love him very much and that marrying him was the single best decision I've ever made.

Now quick - post some gift ideas in the comments here. I promise to give you credit if I steal incorporate your idea.

Marital Threats and How You Can Help

Somehow, I just can't believe that 76-year-old Lennie and 87-year-old Pearl are a threat to my "traditional" marriage.

And yet, conservative politicians, religious leaders and other groups keep trying to convince me that allowing homosexuals to get married threatens the very foundations of the institution of marriage.

Yeah, right.

I'm here to tell you that what threatens my marriage is not the notion that my across-the-street neighbor might one day want to marry his adorable boyfriend, or that my friend a few streets over is planning to have a baby with her girlfriend. And I definitely do not see a clear and present danger in two septuagenarian/octogenarian women who have loved each other faithfully for 45 years while making great contributions to their community and generally being nice people.

If you really must know, here are a few things that are an actual threat to the health of my one-man-one-woman, walked-down-the-aisle, have-a-license-to-prove-it marriage:

1. My children get up absurdly early. Every. Single. Day. My son is up AND DRESSED no later than 6 a.m. Even on Saturdays -- okay, he's still in his pajamas on the weekend, but he's up nonetheless. My daughter, convinced she might miss out on something fun, is up with him at the same time. And they expect to be entertained. Otherwise they start whining and annoying each other.
2. My husband has his own opinions and ideas. I mean, I thought he was just going to agree with me. Who knew he'd have his own vision about decorating the house, planning vacations or scheduling our weekends. Now we have to work together and compromise to get things done -- this means disagreeing sometimes, even arguing or fighting occasionally. After 10 years, there are no deal breakers, but it still takes work.
3. Babysitters can be expensive. In order for us to spend time together without our kids to nurture our relationship, we have to hire a babysitter. Then we have to go somewhere, which means spending more money. Without even doing anything fancy, we can easily spend $100 on a evening out. It might actually be cheaper to go to a marriage counselor who offered childcare in the waiting room than to plan a date night.
4. Social media is a time suck. After the kids go to bed, when we should probably be engaged in quality conversation together, we both tumble down the rabbit hole of Twitter, blogging, Words with Friends, Angry Birds, Pinterest, Gentlemint and a hundred other online traps. Not that there's anything wrong with reading blogs (ahem), but it does keep our focus off of each other.
5. Downton Abbey and Mad Men are too good. Again with the night-time distractions. But seriously -- how can we focus on each other when there's Lady Mary and Don Draper to worry about? Plus there's Modern Family and 30 Rock when we need a laugh, or Psych and White Collar when we want some investigating, or Portlandia when it's time for something random and hilarious. That TiVo box is seriously hazardous to our marital health.
6. The house is not self-cleaning. Even if we manage to turn off the TV and other electronics, there's still the laundry to fold, the dishes to wash, the grass to mow, the bathrooms to clean, the dinner to cook, the lunches to make, the bills to pay, the groceries to buy, the appointments to schedule. It would take six adults running this house in order to free up enough time for us to really stop and just be with each other. Again, Downton Abbey seems like a good idea.

So if you're really serious about wanting to protect North Carolina families and preserve healthy marriages across the state, you have a few options:

a. You can volunteer to babysit my children for the weekend free of charge.
b. You can donate time or money to an organization like Protect NC Families, the Equality NC Foundation, Race to the Ballot or We Are NC -- or attend the Love Wins dance this weekend in Durham.
c. You can make sure you're registered to vote NO on May 8.
d. All of the above.

Just let me know when you're ready to schedule that babysitting weekend.

Capture the Everyday: Halloween Close-Up

Halloween got rained out at our house tonight.

Thankfully, our kids are young enough that they didn't seem to care. Plus, they'd already had a neighborhood costume parade on Sunday (complete with pinata) and trick-or-treating around Daddy's office on Monday afternoon. So they're not exactly starved for candy.

We hit a couple of milestones for Halloween this year. For Junius, it was his first year dressed as something in a full face mask and carrying a weapon (Anakin Skywalker). Wearing the full mask was really creepy -- even though it was just a hard plastic face -- because it made him look so stern and angry. That's not his normal look.

And for Pippi, I suspect this may have been my last year for enjoying her in a non-princess-based costume. The allure of the tiara is strong. But it turns out that the ears were a bigger draw for her this year.

In case you can't tell from the close-up, that's her Olivia costume. I love that she picked that one -- over Strawberry Shortcake and Cinderella -- because it suits her personality oh-so well. Olivia also comes with happy memories for me because I bought a hardback copy of Ian Falconer's original book in French when we were in Paris more than 10 years ago. At the time, I had no idea it was an American story and soon-to-be Nick Jr television show.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, that's a Halloween kazoo in her mouth. You just never know what sort of treats they'll be handing out at Daddy's office.

Capture the Everyday is about getting you to capture those everyday moments in your life! Each Tuesday, Melissa at Adventuroo will issue a simple challenge to capture something that’s a part of your daily life. You can post just a picture or add some words to go along with it. You’ll have a week to get it done and then she’ll issue another. It’s a quick, easy way to start capturing those little parts of life we sometimes take for granted.

Friday’s 5: Take Your Lovey to Work Day

We all stay really busy around our house. Like most families, we're passing ourselves coming and going from gymnastics, preschool, dance class, elementary school, hockey, work, church, work, friends, volunteering and who knows what all else.

But it turns out, it's not just the people in my house who are busy. It's also our loveys.

A couple of weeks ago, Pippi sent her Lulu to work with Daddy. And it turned out that Lulu had a very busy day. Here's what her day looked like:

1. Lulu at work: Lucky for Lulu, she’s in an office that’s been named one of the Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work.” That doesn't means she's not working hard -- but at least she gets some good benefits.

2. Lulu on coffee break: I'm pretty sure she's drinking decaff while reading the Wall Street Journal. She's in public relations, so it's important for her to stay current on the day's headlines.

3. Lulu eating her lunch: Everyone has to eat, even loveys. But there's no time to stop working, so she's eating at her desk.

4. Lulu proofing a press release: Before heading home for the day, she checks to be sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.

5. Lulu spots a punch-buggy: As part of the family, of course Lulu is also participating in the ongoing punch-buggy game. Being the giver that she is, she credited that one to Pippi's account.

Photo credit: @pwsoneil

A Week in My Life: Friday at the Fair

Keeping up with Adventuroo's "A Week in My Life" project. has turned out to be nearly impossible. Too much life happening to have enough time left over for writing about it. But I'm doing what I can -- check out my Monday here and my Tuesday here. Then you'll have a good idea about why I'm so tired.

Friday was no ordinary day. It was Go to the North Carolina State Fair Day.

So for our documentation purposes here, we'll skip over the morning part where I went to work, Pippi went to preschool and Junius went to the office with his Daddy, blah blah blah. Let's jump straight into the crazy fun part....

If you can make it, they can fry it. More on that later, but we just couldn't resist a photo on the way in.

Self-portrait so that my dermatologist will be impressed. The weather was NC perfect on Friday -- but definitely required sunscreen and a hat.

The one ride we all went on together was the Ferris wheel (or, "ferist wheel," as Junius calls it). This unedited photo was taken while we waited in line.

Here are my two dare devils, waiting for the wheel to start turning...

...and here are my white knuckles as I gripped the handle. I was seriously nervous on this ride. My children were not. I spent much of the ride telling them to hold on and sit down. It's been a long, long time since my days on the Carolina Cyclone and Thunder Road.

The view from the top of the Ferris wheel was very cool. But it was hard to grip the handlebar with one hand and take a photo with the other hand without dropping my iPhone.

Some of our beach buddies came into town for the day so they could go to the Fair. And what a bonus for us that we were already planning to go on the same day! Pippi was so happy to see her friend, they kept holding hands and hopping around. So adorable...

Junius really liked controlling the map. I'm not sure how well-developed his sense of direction is, but knowledge is power -- and now that he can read, he really likes having the power tools.

Junius and his beach buddy directed us (more or less -- okay, less) to the animal area, where we watched the sheep getting sheared. The sheep did not seem happy about this plan. The children were mesmerized. I was considering switching to synthetic fabrics.

I don't know what this lovely girl's name is, but she was one of the people showing off recently-sheared sheep in the animal section. She must be really good at it because she had on one hell of a belt buckle. Pippi was jealous.

And here's another celebrity at the Fair -- my friend, the Practical Cook. In addition to being awesome because of her deep and abiding love of cereal, she is also a Deep Fried Ambassador for the NC State Fair. Seriously. She has a media pass and everything. Check out her blog -- including video of her taste tests with deep fried Kool Aid, deep fried bubblegum and the Krispy Kreme burger. I'm not kidding.

Pippi was desperate for ice cream with sprinkles. Not sure you can see it here, but she ended up with sprinkles in her hair because she was so excited.

Thanks to a tip from the Practical Cook, based on her extensive deep fried Fair research, we located the best stand for deep fried Oreos. After sharing a taste with Pippi, she promptly declared the Oreos to be even better than ice cream. If you'd like to hear an on-the-scene description of what it tastes like, check out the video at the end of this post. Here's a peek inside...

While we were indulging, Junius was busy spending the last of his ride tickets (which we bought in advance because they are SO much cheaper that way). He looks kind of serious in this photo, which could be because he takes his fake four-wheeler driving very seriously or might actually be because he is flippin exhausted.

By that point, we had clearly overstayed our welcome at the Fair. Thus, Pippi got carried back down the long and winding path back to the car (free parking at Gate 8, thankyouverymuch) -- first on a mommy piggy-back and then on daddy's shoulders.

And before you get alarmed that I'm not wearing my hat anymore in this photo, rest easy knowing that it was dark out by then. Seriously time to go home -- but worth staying to see the Fair light up as we said farewell until next year.

A Week in My Life: Tuesday

Yes, I know it's Wednesday. But Tuesday was very full and there was no time for blogging -- but lots to document. I'm participating in Adventuroo's "A Week in My Life" project. You can see my Monday here.

Tuesday started painfully early for a good cause. If I look a little blurry in that first picture, it's because I was volunteering at my polling station at 6:30 a.m. in the RAIN in the DARK and I wasn't totally awake yet. The kids joined me at 7:30, mostly playing in the car for my last half hour of greeting. (Translation of J's post-it: "Christine is are [our] school board.") And no, no one wanted my little candidate flier.

Once our shift was up, we headed home to play. Also to lay out the newspaper across the counter because it was somehow soaking wet inside the plastic bag.

At 9:00 we got ready for our friend Baby J, who hangs out with us on Tuesday mornings. That means dumping out an entire basket of toys and then confiscating all the tiny things he might try to eat. We also got our They Might Be Giants station playing on Pandora (via TiVo, which I LOVE). You can see here that we all love Baby J very much. He loves us too, although sometimes I think he'd like a little more personal space.

At 11:00, we loaded up Baby J and took Pippi to her gymnastics class. Baby J took a nap while Junius played games on my iPhone.

After we returned Baby J to his parents, we loaded back into the car with lunch and headed to Daddy's office for flu shots. Junius, apparently exhausted from the morning, gave out along the way. Pippi managed to keep herself awake by singing the entire time.

Junius and I were very brave for our shots (Pippi already got hers at the pediatrician). Then we argued over who would get to push the buttons in the elevator.

On the ride home, we rocked out to one of our most favorite CDs: the aptly-titled Songs Your Mom Will Like by Big Bang Boom. That's Pippi beatboxing and playing the air trumpet on track 14. Buy it now and thank me later.

After a little rest time (read: 30 minutes of TV) at home, we loaded back into the car (are you noticing a theme here?) for some play time at our friends' house. Pippi showed us how she can buckle her own seat belt (which can take up to 5 minutes, depending on the amount of whining involved). We admired our friends' fabulous Halloween decorations, debated the scientific names of toy dinosaurs and generally had a whirlwind of fun.

At 6:00, we picked up Daddy and went out for dinner at a local restaurant that was having a fundraising night for our arts school. Junius impressed his friends by reading all the signs on the way in (yes, first-graders are that cool). The kids played with wikistiks while we waited for our food (smart restaurant), then Pippi cleaned her plate and part of Junius' too. My girl loves some pasta. I had the yummiest bleu cheese mac-n-cheese with bacon -- comfort food on a rainy night.

Back at home, we filled milk cups (I don't know why, but that blue cup is THE ONLY WAY Junius will drink milk and he MUST have it at bedtime every night) and went upstairs for bed. Junius brushed his teeth and protested all the photography. I spray-treated Pippi's shirt (why oh why do I ever buy white shirts for her?) and pondered the need for gender-specific children's toothpaste. Then Daddy showed the kids pictures from his day touring cool Raleigh locations like the science museum and the RBC Center.

It was my turn to read to Pippi. She picked out "The Shy Little Girl," a book I somehow still have from my childhood. I love how much she loves the book, even though parts of it are really dated. The trick to getting Pippi to sleep is to get her to be still -- see how she fidgets with her hands to stay awake?

Finally at 8:00, with both kids asleep, my political junkie husband and I settled in on the couch for election returns. With two laptops, an iPad, an iPhone and the television between us, we stalked the results, read tweets aloud, flipped news channels and cheered for the victory. Who says you can't have champagne on a Tuesday?

And so my day ended where it began -- worn out, but happy to support a great candidate.
.

One Great Day Plus Ten Amazing Years

The first time I went to an Eddie from Ohio show and heard lead singer Julie Murphy Wells belt out the band's a capella "Great Day," I leaned over to my date and whispered that the song would make a perfect wedding processional. 

Less than a year later, I married that date -- and although we didn't play the song during our wedding ceremony, we did use it to make our grand entrance into the reception.

Even with the red eye, this is one of my favorite wedding pictures. A candid photo from a friend, it captures how very happy we were in the moment. When our friend and emcee DSR introduced us as the song rang out through the room, it truly was a Great Day -- what a blessing to be together and to have so many wonderful friends and family there to celebrate with us.



And so today, on this Great Day ten years later, with blue skies, green grass and beauty surrounding us, I am counting my blessings. A lot has changed in the past decade -- and not all of the 3,650 days were easy ones -- but every day together will always be a Great Day.

Related anniversary posts:
- For My Husband (or, Our First Dance)
- A Decade of Dancing
- Happy 9th Anniversary
- Naming Conventions
- Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
- Thankful for Blue Skies
.

Tenth Anniversary of 9/11

Home.

All I could think about in that moment was getting home. As fast as possible.

I'd been sitting in my Tuesday morning graphic design class in the basement of Carroll Hall when some journalism student ran past shouting something about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.

Silly undergrads, I thought. Those kids will do anything for attention.

And then I could hear the news coverage suddenly playing live on the big screen in the classroom next door. Not a joke at all. Not even close.

A quick check of my email showed a message from my almost-husband sending me to CNN's website, but by the time I clicked the link the internet had screeched to a halt along with the rest of the watching nation.

Home. If I can just get home, I said to myself, I'll be okay.

As classes ended abruptly across campus, I stepped outside into the bright blue day and called P to come get me. I didn't think I could walk the mile back to our house.

Looking back on that moment, I'm struck by how many people just wanted to be home at that same instant and weren't able to call someone to come get get them. How many people were waiting by the phone to get that call, but it didn't ring.

P and I spent the rest of that day hugging each other and watching the news and cleaning our house, as if eliminating the dust bunnies from our hardwood floors would somehow eliminate the threat of terrorism in our country.

Then four days later, we got married.

It's a strange thing to share the week of my wedding anniversary with a day of national terror and destruction. But it's also a powerful reminder of how blessed and lucky I am to have been able to call my true love that day and have him scoop me up and take me safely home.

Sending prayers for all those who are missing loved ones from their homes today.
.

Camping: A Timeline

That's me and my husband at our campsite earlier this month -- photography by Junius, or maybe Pippi. Give or take a few minutes, here's how our first family-of-four camping trip went down:

11:30 a.m. - Leave Raleigh for a two-night camping trip.
12:00 - Stop for lunch at Smithfield's in Clayton.
12:10 - Get back in the car with way too much food.
12:15 - Begin answering the eternal question, "Are we there yet?"
[I'll spare you the itemized count of how many annoying questions we got along the drive.]

3:15 p.m. - Arrive at the ranger station for Hammocks Beach State Park.
3:30 - Leave our car in the parking lot. Load ourselves plus one jogger stroller, one large pack, two large tents, one large duffle bag, one large tote bag, two small backpacks and one cooler onto the ferry. Realize we have a metric ton of stuff to carry.
3:45 - Arrive at Bear Island and disembark the ferry. Eye dark, looming clouds and pray it doesn't storm.
3:47 - Begin walking the half-mile trail to the beach. Thank the heavens and our sweet neighbor for the jogger stroller we borrowed because we've loaded half a ton of stuff into it. Pippi is walking.
4:01 - Arrive at the beach. Buy cold drinks and chips at the snack house. Curse the discovery that they don't sell any other food on the island. Pee while we're at the bath house.
4:19 - Start walking the next half-mile to our reserved campsite. Redistribute the half ton of stuff onto Daddy so that Pippi can ride in the stroller. Thank the heavens for a strong Daddy.

4:36 p.m. - Arrive at the sign for our campsite. Climb past the protected turtle nest, over the dune and down into the valley to our picnic table and tent area. Marvel at how beautiful and quiet it is.

4:47 p.m. - Commence Operation Tent Set Up. Marvel at how patient Daddy is about letting the kids help.
5:18 - Decide we can help Daddy more by going down to the beach.

5:26 p.m. - Decide that I love beach camping because we have the whole place to ourselves and my children are so happy that they pretend to surf. They race in and out of the water's edge in complete bliss. I forget all my worries.
6:14 - Climb back over to our campsite. Make sandwiches and fruit for dinner. Wonder if we brought enough food.
6:58 - Walk back down to the beach. Because we can. Because it's right there. Because it's still light out and we know these kids are not going to fall asleep yet.
7:45 - Realize we're going to wear out before they do. Corral kids down to the bath house for showers and pajamas. Carry them back to the campsite in a futile attempt to keep them from getting sandy.

9:15 p.m. - Daddy emerges from the tent victorious in the battle of Kids vs. Sleep. We enjoy the quiet darkness before trying to brush the sand from our feet and squeezing into the tent to join them.

12:35 a.m. - I climb out of the tent to pee. In the dune, of course, because no way am I walking a half-mile alone in the dark to use the bath house. Lean back into the tent, brush the sand off my feet, rearrange myself next to my family and fall back to sleep.
12:40 - Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, Daddy decides we will only be staying one night.
2:15  - I get up to pee again. Dune, brush, rearrange, sleep.
4:23  - Curse my post-maternity bladder. Get up to pee. Again.

5:45 a.m. - Pippi sits straight up, smiles and declares, "Good morning, Daddy!"
5:45:30 - Junius bounces up and announces "I love beach camping!"
5:45:45 - We pretend to be sleep, hoping desperately that they're both talking in their sleep. It doesn't work.
5:53 - My husband turns to me and says, "I'm just going to say this out loud. We don't have to stay the second night." I am both amazed (because things were going better than I expected) and relieved (because I wasn't sure how long we could last).

6:12 a.m. - We walk down to the beach to watch the sunrise. It's beautiful and peaceful and magical enough to make us forget (for a moment) how tired we are.
6:45 - Return to campsite for breakfast. Fight off hungry bees.

6:55 a.m. - Junius writes in his track-out journal: "I see Trtll Eggs. Thea are in a Net. I like it. I saw The sun Rise today." He draws an adorable picture of a turtle ("Trtll") beside a little cage with circles in it, more or less like the protected nest at the entrance to our campsite.

7:21 a.m. - Pippi entertains herself with the digital camera and her newly acquired shell collection.

7:38 - Walk down to the bath house so I can wash my hands and remove the sandcastle that has wedged itself under my left contact lens.

8:02 - Walk back to our campsite, this time with the ability to see where I'm going.

10:07 a.m. - I attempt to teach the kids how to make drip castles while regaling them with stories of how their Pop Pop used to teach me when I was a kid. End up making drip castles alone until they are crashed by the rising tide.
11:35 - Scavenge for lunch from what's left in the cooler. Trust that the squishy Babybel cheese is still safe to eat. Thank husband for deciding to head home early so that we don't have to go back over on the ferry to buy more groceries to bring back over to the campsite.

1:17 p.m. - Engage in major battle with Pippi about wearing her sun hat. Laugh at how adorable Junius looks in his sun hat -- like a sandy little member of the French Legion. Note to self that dermatologist would be proud of us (okay, maybe not of my swimsuit, but I am COATED in sunscreen).
2:15 - Begin packing up all our stuff. Wonder how we will find the energy to carry it all back to the ferry. Wish we had brought a strong, child-free friend with us to help.
3:15 - Loaded like pack mules and grateful (again) for the jogger-stroller-turned-luggage-wagon, we start back down the beach toward the bath house.
3:21 - Realize we'll never make the ferry if Pippi has to walk. Redistribute load from the stroller so that Pippi can ride. Force her to hold the clean bath towels because there's nowhere else to put them.
3:23 - Fuss at Pippi for letting the clean bath towels fall into the sand.

3:24 p.m. - Realize that Pippi is down for the count (note the puffy cheeks and pouty lip).
3:36 - Rinse off in the outdoor showers at the bath house, change the kids out of their swim suits and race off down the path toward the ferry.
3:52 - Board the ferry. Breathe.

If you've actually made it through this whole timeline, I'll reward you by wrapping up quickly: load into the car, find a restaurant for dinner, marvel at Junius as he scarfs down a plate full of fried shrimp without taking a breath, cruise through Swansboro, drive back to Raleigh, unload the car, crash in our comfy, mostly-sand-free, fully air-conditioned beds.

Success.
.