Big Smiles

While Skip was blowing away nilgai with Big Medicine (his custom Turnbull rifle), Pippa was learning to control her facial muscles. We started with early morning smiles and threw in a little video session. I planned to send it to her daddy via text so he wouldn't miss her too much. Unfortunately the file was too big causing an unheard of four day wait. Maybe it was for the best because this nearly broke his heart. We wouldn't want the natural killer to shed tears on the hunt.

Egg Wars

Leave it to the Greeks to inspire a friendly competition during a celebratory religious holiday, like the egg wars on Easter. My marriage into a Greek family put this tradition on proud display last night. And I had a vendetta.

Those beautifully dyed eggs the Easter Bunny hides in baskets and yards are used as weapons. Two people head off, one holding an egg in defense while the other uses an egg to strike. The crushed egg is thrown to the side and the victor looks for a new victim. This continues until one solitary egg is left unscathed and is then preserved until the following year. Rumor mandates that the victor will have a year of love, health, and luck by doing so.

Last year I dominated Skip. My winning egg taunted him with it's precision and strength. Then I made a rookie move and retired the winning egg for the final battle. This was the rationale: The winning egg had struck several blows and I was certain it had a hairline fracture. The final battle was between my winning egg and MY second string egg. So really I had already won. But in the final battle, I gave Skip the winning egg and I used the back up. Skip won and somehow, despite my previous record, he claimed the title.

This year I was ready to destroy him, however his parents were here and the reigning Greek (his mom) kept court. She made sure no funny business went down and kept it light hearted. That's one version of what happened. Here's the other.

We gave Skip a bum egg to begin with. His name was on it so he had to use it, but after the first round he was free to pick his next egg. He raffled through the pile and found an egg with a reinforced end and some bumps on it...or an eggtooth! Papou went down. Yai Yai went down and when he got to me, Skip gave Pippa the famed egg. Pippa crushed me and she went on to wipe out the remaining eggs.



 I suppose I gave her my beginner's luck.

Happy Easter!

Smurfette

A month ago, when Pippa was still a newborn, I was having a wardrobe crisis and needed some bras I could sleep in. The mothers reading this will understand. They will also understand how expensive those purchases can be and why I headed to the clearance rack. Here in Peoria, the clearance rack is reserved for XL and proved semi-unsuccessful.

So I went to the colorful display of spring fashion. There I grabbed a lovely turquoise thing certain to make nursing at 4 a.m. blissful. And it has. Added bonus? It dyes my skin blue. I have a lovely tatoo outline, like a bikini, or a Smurf, or the chic from Avatar. I figured it just needed a good washing or five.

No, it still leaks onto my skin and sheets as if I've done a quick tie-dye session in my sleep. I'm sure it's completely healthy for my baby.