To the moon and back

The title to this post will make sense later, just hang with me.

For Labor Day weekend Ava and I headed to Clifton. Josh used the long weekend to study. We've found that he actually likes to study with "Autumn & Ava noise" in the background. I guess seminary study and LSAT preparations have conditioned him to learn in an atmosphere of Beauty and the Beast soundtracks and giggle sessions. Still, a quiet house allowed him to work ahead for the week. On Saturday the girls headed to our FAVORITE Waco spot - Spice. It's actually called The Shops of River Square Center, but who's going to say that? We enjoyed browsing all of the wonderful things that none of us needed to buy.
Here are Baba, Aunt Sarah and the Bave.

Baba, Mommy, and Ava

In her too-cute dress on Sunday, nice work Baba!

Daddy Daughter Mani Pedi time

If you look closely at Ava's pinkie in this picture you'll see Josh wrapped around it.

Here are some random musings.
Those of you who just blurk the pictures can click onto the next blog you stalk.

Since Ava was born I have always sent her to dreamland with the words, "I love you to the moon and back." Josh's Dad has patented, "Good night, sweet dreams, I love you," with Josh and Jaryn. Seriously, Gordon can say it in one syllable. I wanted to have a phrase like that with my little one. As she grew Ava began completing the phrase, I would say "I love you to the," and she would finish, "moon and back." Then for a while she would respond with, "I love you to the moon and back too." Well, the other night after I said my parting words for the night she asked me to come close. I bent over her bed and she said, "Mommy, do you know where I love you? I love you over the rainbow." Anyone who has known me for more than 5 minutes knows that I am a HUGE fan of The Wizard of Oz. How could she possibly have known that "over the rainbow" is exactly where I'd want to be loved?

The kiddos I'm nannying for are 6 and 8. Ava is picking up some big kid lingo from them, but she's not exactly sure how to use it. Here was an Ava quote this afternoon, "Mommy, these jelly beans are yummy. That's not fair!" She said this with a spectacular smile and sweet tone. Just wanted to throw in some big kid phrasing.

I've had a rough day today. Ava's hacky cough took a turn for the worse and was joined by some nasal congestion. Since our student health plan was in place (or so I thought) I took her to the doctor on campus. She has an upper respiratory infection, but lungs are clear...for now. The doctor was insistent that she take a round of antibiotics and cough syrup to make sure it didn't get more serious. There was concern in her tone. She also prescribed a once-daily Singular for asthma and allergy symptoms. When I got to the on-campus pharmacy they said that they couldn't give me her medicine until we paid the insurance premium in full. In full? Our health insurance for the year is slightly less than $4000. If I had that kind of money on hand I wouldn't need health insurance, duh. I called the insurance folks and sobbed while Ava hacked in the background (there also may have been a casual threat to contact Michael Moore, but I can't be sure). LOOOOOOONG story short, the insurance company made an exception and released the pharmacy to give us Ava's medicine. I'm not going to get political here. I know most (okay, all) of my blog lovers do not agree with anything I would say. But, the health insurance system is totally broken. I have been "covered" by 5 different health insurance providers in recent history and have been royally screwed over by every stinkin' one of them. Sure you may be able to get a surgery quickly in this country, but your great-great grandchildren will be paying for it. If you were to check my credit score right now you would find an unpaid surgery bill for a surgery I never had. I fought this as long as I could, but in the end it just isn't worth it. (Plus, the surgery in question represents a baby that I never held in my arms, not exactly something I enjoyed rehashing 1000 times to complete strangers.) HEALTHCARE IS A RIGHT, especially for children. Choose who you think should fix it, government, deep sea divers, the Dallas Cowboys, I don't care. Just fix it. Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

In happier news, I've decided what I want to do when I grow up. I want to cook and bake scrumptious things in Sookie's kitchen. I want this kitchen to be inside of an ancient edifice that is steeped in history, and preferably slightly haunted, but in a romantic-not gory way. I want to serve my food (and fantastic coffee and teas) to interesting, kind people who come and sit at cute tables and read while they eat. They will all be reading their favorite books, my favorite books, or stuff I've written. These sweet people will discuss works of literature with each other and with me, since I'll have plenty of time to sit and enjoy their company between cooking, baking, writing, and serving. When my family needs me, I'll ask the folks to rinse the dishes after they're finished and hit the road. This will be acceptable because no money will be exchanged, money sucks the life out of me. Who needs it?

Okay, so who can point me in the perfect career direction? What's my first step?