Brother #3 is back in Dallas. We had a great time while he was here. We decided that Pat’s on 9th Street in Philly really is the “King of Steaks”. David had someone to play video games with, and we all got to try “water ice” which is kind of like a slush.

Henry didn’t do too well with Brother #3. He freaked out and barked at him at the oddest times. Right before we left for the airport, Henry went crazy when Brother #3 set his cereal bowl down. I don’t understand why Henry acted so badly. He didn’t have any issues with David’s father when he was here a few weeks ago.

Henry’s just lucky I have such a nice brother. Another brother might have killed him after the third incident.

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David’s father got to come visit us. He was headed to New York on business. He arrived Wednesday afternoon, and we had a great time visiting over dinner. It was so nice to see some family.

The next morning David got up early and went to the Apple Store to get the Iphone 4. FIL and I got up later, and went to meet him for breakfast. If you were anywhere near an Apple Store Wednesday, you probably understand why we had to go eat breakfast without him. The line was insane.

I’m not sure when people had started camping out, but I have to ask, “Why?” I get that it’s an awesome phone. I just can’t imagine wanting to have it that badly on the day it came out. After we ate, we brought David a to-go breakfast. He got the Iphone 4. In fact, he even got one for me. The biggest draw for me is the fact that I can take pictures. We still haven’t found our camera. We’re hoping it’s in storage in Dallas with our wedding china and guest bedroom furniture.

Thursday afternoon, our air conditoner stopped blowing cool air. It was still blowing air, but it was just like running a fan. Maintenance came out quickly and worked on it for about an hour, until a bad storm knocked out all the power in our area.

When David got home from work, we still didn’t have power. I couldn’t use the stove, the oven or the microwave. The electric company said over 70,000 homes were without power in our area, and they had no idea when we’d have power back. At 8:30 we decided to go find a restaurant with power. We drove quite a ways until we found a McDonald’s. It was PACKED, but they still had some food. After we ate, we bought bags of ice at a gas station so we could keep David’s medicine cold. We were already in bed when the power came back on at 11.

I had not had fast food in quite some time, so I woke up with a horrible stomach ache Friday morning. I took a Pepcid, and an hour a half later it had done nothing. The maintenance man was working on our AC by 8:30. I was really glad he came, but it hurt so much to move I really didn’t want to answer the door. I don’t think I’ll be eating McDonald’s again any time soon.

The air conditioning was quickly restored, and we got a wonderful surprise. FIL’s business meeting was canceled, so he got to come back and spend another night with us!

It was a great week, but phew! We’re tired. David sees his new rheumatologist this week, and we found out Brother #3 is coming for a visit in July. Can’t wait!

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Brother #3 turns 18 today!

As a 4 year old, Brother #3 could pick me up. I was the same size then as I am now. He’s a tough guy.

A few summers I watched him a couple of hours a week while my mother was working. I’d read the Chronicles of Narnia to him after we watched Nick, Jr. We always muted the volume or ran to the kitchen for a snack when Face started talking. Remember Face? Oh, wait. Is he still on Nick Jr?

My parents have a swimming pool in their back yard, so often we’d swim. Once, we’d watched a lot of TV and I told him we needed to do something else. He started whining and saying, “No! I want to watch more TV!”

So I picked him up and threw him in the swimming pool, pajamas and all. Eventually, I got out of the pool. Brother #3 stayed in the pool in his pajamas until my mother got home, at which time he started screaming, “MOM! Look what Ashley did to me! She threw me in the pool!”

A few years ago David had a business trip in Washington, D.C. Since David and I are joined at the hip, I had to come up with a reason to go with him. Well, the middle school my brothers and I attended had a trip to D.C. for the 8th graders every year, except the year Brother #3 was in 8th grade. So, we HAD to take him. He couldn’t miss a trip to D.C. when all of his other siblings had gone!

Brother and I tagged along on David's business trip.

We had a good time. I’m not saying we didn’t fight. We did. At one point we had to call Mom. But we did so much while David was working. We went to Mt. Vernon, and Brother #3 convinced me to walk down that steep hill to get closer to the water and see some of the buildings further away from the main house. We also decided to eat in the pub at our hotel. It was probably the worst food we’ve ever tasted. And we paid good money for it. So we went to the hotel gift shop and bought junk food. We had lots of fun at the Smithsonian. We decided to see Sharks 3D at the Imax. We both fell asleep.

My Youngest Brother and I in DC riding the Metro. We were cool, dude.

Nowadays, we enjoy watching musicals together. But we watch them our way. As in, we skip the songs we think are boring and we sing and dance during our favorite songs.

Brother #3 has applied to the Naval Academy. His goal is to become a Marine Officer. One of my “happy thoughts” about New Jersey was that I would be much closer to the academy living in New Jersey. You know, for bring you sister to class day.

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I’ve had my share of dumb blonde moments. Blame it on “chronic illness brain” or “arthritis fog”.

*I was unloading groceries one day, and I saw a man working outside two doors down. I waved and said, “Hey, there!” Since the two neighbors I know, and my parents, and my in-laws all work on their homes themselves, it just never occurred to me that it wasn’t my neighbor.

He was a contractor. He came over and gave me his business card. He was telling me something, probably what his area of expertise was (or that I really shouldn’t talk to strangers), but my dog, Henry, was going crazy and barking so loudly that I couldn’t hear a word the man was saying. I was afraid Henry was going to jump the gate and attack the man. That contractor probably thought we had the friendliest neighborhood.

Lesson Learned: Know your neighbors.

*Awhile back, I was wakeboarding with my family. My dad was driving the boat, I was riding shotgun and my brother was being pulled behind the boat in an inner tube. This particular tube isn’t a donut ring. It’s got a floor so you actually sit down in it. My dad likes to go really fast when he pulls my teenage brothers and take sharp turns to see if he can knock them out. They love it.

Well, Dad took a sharp, fast turn and the tube flipped upside down. The boat lurched backwards and Dad killed the motor.

“Whoa! I didn’t know the boat had brakes!” I exclaimed.

“It doesn’t,” said my father. “The tube filled with water when it flipped and acted as an anchor. We’re lucky the boat didn’t flip.”

Brother was laughing when he resurfaced, just in case you were worried.

Lesson Learned: Boats don’t have brakes and always wear a life jacket when you are on a boat. Also, I am glad I am my father’s daughter, not his son.

*Recently I was working at my part time job at the law firm. I was at the front desk and a solicitor came in and gave me his business card. He started giving me the whole sales pitch. He was talking quickly, people were walking by and the phones were ringing. I managed to catch a few words here and there, including “server” and “process”.

Being the geek that I am, I told him, “Ok, thanks, I’ll give Stephanie your business card.” Stephanie handles a lot of our computer issues. Since I’d heard those two key words, naturally I thought he was a computer guy. Nope. He was a “process server”. The guys that hands folks papers and says, “You’ve been served.”

Lesson Learned: I work for a law firm, I have no legal experience, and I need to watch more Law & Order.

*I’m in a book club with some very nice, Christian ladies. We’re reading “12 Extraordinary Women” by John MacArthur. The night we discussed the introduction and the first chapter, talking about all those wonderful Christian women’s virtues: grace, being a helpmeet, modesty, etc. I came home much later than I’d expected to. I burst in the front door, yelling at David, “I’m sorry I’m home so late! I’ve got to pee like a trucker!”

I looked up to see David putting his finger to his lips telling me to be quiet. He was playing XBox Live. With a headset. With a microphone. Oh, yeah. Just call me Mrs. Proverbs 31. And just FYI, I have no idea where I heard the phrase ‘pee like a trucker’.

Lesson Learned: Someone’s always listening, or pay attention to the lessons in your Christian women’s book club.

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We received so many lovely, thoughtful gifts for Christmas. Here are a few highlights.

My mother covered a cocoa container and filled it with dog treats for Henry.

David’s parents gave him this heating pad that conforms to your shoulders and neck. My favorite part is the timer. You can set the timer so that it will turn off after so many minutes, which allows you to fall asleep while using it without the danger of it overheating and burning you. Heating pads really can do that. I personally know someone who fell asleep with one and had terrible burns. The timer is a great feature!

My sister-in-law made me this adorable apron! It even matches my kitchen.

Brother #2 gave David this awesome coat. David hasn’t been hunting since I’ve known him, but David absolutely loves this coat. It maintains your body temperature. The cold really bothers David’s joints. When you pull the red cord, it makes the coat warmer, and the blue cord pulls open a vent to let air in. Pretty nifty! I had to ask him not to wear it to work. Maybe we could spray paint it black?

This was a gift from my mother. It is one of my grandparent’s wedding favors from the 1930′s. The paper has my grandparents’ names and wedding date written in lovely cursive inside. It was such a meaningful gift.

We had a very blessed Christmas. Hope you did, too!

Love,
A Young Wife

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