What Ana Does

For the last few years I've been hosting my three sisters, one brother, mother and various brothers-in-laws and nieces (as they came) at my house for Christmas. This year, 10 visitors (and two dogs) arrived at my doorstep for five days of Christmas merriment. I've been preparing and anticipating for the last month, so I was ready. What I wasn't prepared for was getting some virus on the first day and being out of commission for two days. The worst part of this was not being able to kiss my baby nieces, or put a bunch of plans I had in motion. However, we persevered and everyone had a jolly good time -- despite the frigid weather. My Favorite Part? Everyone Around My Dining Room Table Eating Lasagna. (Why can't they be there every week?!)

Benny Boy!  The day before ALL my family arrived at my house, we picked up our new, adopted Beagle, who we named Benny. And in the last month, he's been through a lot of change -- with the transition from the lab to the foster house to our house. (PTSD, maybe?) Not to mention the house swelled to 14 people (5 of whom were under the age of 7) and then dropped back to four. So, he continues to be skittish and anxious about, well, everything! The good thing is he doesn't bark much, doesn't chew or bite. He'd only had a few accidents in the house and he's pretty content to be around people and have a LARGE place to roam around. He liked all the little girls, but he continues to like ME the best. Ha! Because of all this anxiety he paces quite a bit. At first, we were sure he was looking for the foster mom. Then, he paced for a place to hang out. Now that everyone is gone, he seems to be looking for all the people. Once we get in our weekly routine, we're ho...

A few weeks ago we met some friends at the Chicago Botanic Garden and checked out the Wonderland Express exhibit. They recreated some famous Chicago buildings and set them in fairy-like settings -- with several trains running around them. It was kinda magical! (And by "magical" I mean seeing a GREEN landscape in winter fills me with warm feelings of spring. Sigh!) Here are a few pictures I snapped. Pretty!  Train Swooshing Past

First, you should know that when we got married I made a deal with Dave; "Buy me a house, and we'll get a dog." This was back in my 20s when homeownership seemed a million miles away and nearly impossible. Our path was leading into New York City, so this deal, on my end, seemed pretty empty. Our path lead west instead, and we're in our second house bought together. And he looks at me and says, "now can I have a dog?" Truthfully, I am not what you would call an animal person. We had one dog in my family and that was when I was in kindergarten. He was a huge German Shepard and I was terrified. Terrified! Ever since, I've really disliked dogs, especially when they do stuff like sniff your crotch, lick or bark -- oh, and drool. Gross. But, okay, some of them are kinda cute. In Rhode Island, I babysat a dog for a week and I loved it. Her name was Zoomie and she had a horrible, abused past, so she was especially kind and sensitive if play got too rough...

Hello, my name is Jessica and I am addicted to lists. There. I said it. And because of my love of lists, I started shopping around for an app that would help me organize them. I'm not unhappy with using paper, but I tend to leave the Target list on the counter and don't remember it's there until I'm getting out of the car. DOH! What was I supposed to buy? Time to turn to technology. My criteria to move to the "digital age" of list makers & keepers was mobility; It had to be available on my phone, iPad, computer -- everywhere I had access to electronic tools. Therefore, I could update that Target list at work, at gymnastic class and still have it with me at Target -- right on my iPhone. Viola! I also wanted to tag and search my past notes, in case I'm looking for last year's holiday shopping list or the list of girls we invited to Leah's birthday party. Plus, I wanted to save links to sites, helpful information and photos while wanderi...

Because I'm raising sisters, I love to share stories of my three sisters (and brother) growing up. I tell them about how Mom used to pull our hair sooooo tight in braids we'd have tears in our eyes, and the bunk beds my sister Carol and I used to hide from the alligators in our closet. Car vacations and Christmas and the times we all played soccer in the backyard and Maggie would end up crying. They LOVE these stories almost as much as hearing about their own births and name (don't ask me why). And they're fun for me, too. My Family, Me Second From Left So I was delighted to find I was doing something GOOD for them by reminiscing! (Score one for me!) There's an article this month in The Atlantic that highlights the research on family storytelling, and all the benefits to children. They're pretty awesome and include understanding emotions, advanced narrative skills, high self-esteem and self-concepts. Here's a sample: Over the last 25 years, a s...

Because I've been spending so much time on Etsy (doncha love the holidays?), I'm completely smitten by all the handmade dollies available. I've now made it my goal to sew a doll in the next 12 months. Until then, I may have to purchase a few of these dolls -- for research, of course. Related posts: My Etsy Doll page