Let me repeat that...I'm ALONE.  I don't know if I can effectively communicate how novel that fact is.  When you have a husband, two young children, a crazy ex-husband, and a host of needy friends/family members/acquaintances...it's a very rare and valuable time when you can say you're alone. 

Scott is out of town, Larry and Angie have the kids, and the B family (that's Ryan, James and the kids) is off to California to visit Keiran. I have the whole weekend to myself and no idea what to do with it.  I really should do something more substantial with this valuable time than watching movies.  Maybe I'll hang out with Pascale...or go riding, I haven't been on a horse in ages.

Oh well, I guess I'll figure something out...I have plenty of time to think about it, right?

That weekend alone I was so happy about turned out to be a bust.  I couldn't think of a single thing to do.  I finished all my festivus shopping nearly two weeks ago so I couldn't even do that.  When I realized shopping was out of the running, I decided to try and catch up on some sleep since I don't necessarily do a lot of that when the kids are here.  Guess what?  Couldn't do that either.  I've gotten so used to having another body (Scott, one of the kids, Ryan, one of her kids, etc.)  in bed with me that I couldn't even do that. 

I ended up watching crappy movies (yes, I'm talking to you X-Men 3) and talking to Ryan and D. Speaking of Ryan, they just got back from CA.  She hates Kieran's boyfriend, so that relationship is very likely to be over soon.  They're pretty tight, so I don't think she would continue to date a guy her sister hates.  Oh well, we'll see how that plays out.

In other news...

I got a new tattoo last week, brining my final total to six...although I consider four of them to be one piece.  The latest is a Cherokee rose with the word "Tsalagi" under it.  I love it.  It's on the back of my neck so it fits well with the existing Cherokee letter I had there.  So there's the rose, the word, and then the letter all in a row.

Scott won't be home until Friday, so it's just me and my Miami Ink reruns until then.  Normally I'm not attracted to heavily tattooed chicks, but Kat Von D is a hottie.  I lot of ink tends to look very harsh on most women, but somehow she manages to pull it off and still be amazingly girly and feminine.  She's easy on the eyes and ridiculously talented too.  I think I'm done with tats, but if I ever find myself in the market for some serious ink I'll definitely track her down.

Hell no, not me.  I've been down that road...not going there again.  Scott's been snipped and we made sure it was for good before we gave up the condoms.  The title refers to my baby factory friend, Ryan (of course). 

She and James have always wanted children, so after Asha was born they decided to take the "whatever happens, happens" approach to reproduction...meaning they don't want the stress of planning a pregnancy, but they're not going to do anything to prevent it.  Everyone I know who has actually planned a pregnancy has said it was a huge ordeal.  When you plan and it doesn't happen when you want it to it's extremely frustrating and stressful.  Ry and James are taking a more relaxed approach to parenthood, but at the same time, it's not ideal because she could end up pregnant again before her body is ready for it.  I don't think anyone is ready to watch her go through another miscarriage.

Lately she's been exhausted and suffering from bouts of nausea...not that those symptoms are exclusive to pregnancy, but I think it's the first place every woman's mind goes when she's in her reproductive prime and has had unprotected sex.  She did the pregnancy test thing and it was negative, so I only have one babyshower to throw and that's for D.

She and James' anniversary weekend is in full swing right now, so who knows how long that will last.  Their anniversary is actually not until Monday, but he has to work so they're celebrating this weekend and enjoying some much needed alone time together.  It almost didn't happen though.  Ry's parents had to back out of babysitting, but I saved the day (or weekend).  

There's no lack of lovin' in either of our marriages, but I totally understand the need for that time together.  Once you have kids, you still have sex...but only when homework has been done, dinner has been served, and the kids have been bathed and put to bed.  By that time it's necessary stress relief, but not exactly the most romantic thing in the world.  When you have a whole weekend alone you get to do the things you did before there were babies.  Take baths together, lie in bed naked all day and alternate between making love and watching movies...as opposed to the usual quickie in the bathroom while the kids are watching Dora the Explorer (which is all Scott and I managed to have time for today).

Four kids in the house, yay me!  It's cool though, we'll definitely let them return the favor soon enough. 

It's finally starting to calm down in my house, so I actually have time to update this thing.  Christmas is always a hectic and annoying time for me.  Emily Gilmore (aka my mother, Angie) is Christmas obsessed.  Every year the house is fully decked out in over-the-top, Martha Stewart style seasonal decoration...you know, gorgeous and tastefully done, but the work of someone with way too much free time.  I hate being smacked in the face with festive.  It always makes me feel obligated to act cheery. To top it all off she decided to extend her wrath to my house this year (thanks Scott!).  I came home one day only to be assaulted by the sight of wreaths and garland and bows...bah humbug.

Anyway, the evil spawn had a blast.  Between Scott and my parents, they got more toys than they could ever need in a lifetime.  Scott took them to FAO Schwarz the week before Christmas and pretty much let them pick out anything they wanted.  I'm still working my way through all their old toys so I can donate those and make room for the new stuff.  My dear husband didn't dare forget about me though.  I got custom tailored button down dress shirts, a vintage 50s shirt dress, and the promise of a trip to Rome and handmade shoes from Dal Co.  I got him a new closet...he's very excited.  Of course the entire walk-in closet in the master bedroom belongs to me, so Scott has been using the one in the guest room.  It's terribly inconvenient and I feel slightly guilty (eh, not really).  There's a small office beside our bedroom that I'm going to have converted into his closet. They'll remove the original door and wall that opening, then relocate the door to our bedroom.  I'll have to rearrange the sitting area to accomodate the door, but that's no big deal.  I figured I might as well have all of the closets redone, including mine (yay!).  The people who owned this house before us just had that useless wire shelving everywhere. Ugh.  I've got a serious wardrobe; I need serious custom closets.

I'm afraid my baby Asha didn't have a very good Christmas.  When I went back to drop off all the B family gifts she and mommy were both curled up on the sofa looking miserable.  They're feeling a lot better now though.  In between taking care of his girls, James managed to drop a gorgeous black and white diamond bracelet on me.  Did I mention James is the man?  I got him some Prada boots he's been drooling over for months. Mrs. B got cufflinks and some double cuff shirts from Thomas Pink.

After all that I'm in desperate need of a low key New Year's Eve, so my door is open for whoever decides to stop by and hang out, but I'm staying home.