Determined to Run

Hey, remember the other day when I told you about Jen and Ricky and how he needs to raise money for charity to run the Chicago Marathon?  I texted with Jen this morning, and they're not going to let what happened in Boston stop them from running.  In fact, they're more determined than ever to run it, even though I totally tried to talk her out of it because I am a big chicken.

Jen and Ricky are both cops - they're the kind of people who run toward danger every day.  They're the helpers that Mr. Rogers told us to look for at times like these.

Today I'm grateful that my cousin Jill, who was standing in between the two explosions with her boyfriend, cheering on her friends, is safe.  I'm grateful that Kate, my cousin Bridget's daughter who also lives in Boston, is safe.

And I'm grateful for the helpers.

Cream of Soup

I learned something new the other day...

BJ hates mushrooms.  He makes gagging noises if I even cook them in the house.  This puts a real damper on casseroles because every single one in the history of the world uses cream of mushroom soup.  Every.  Casserole.  Ever.

I didn't understand casseroles before I had kids.  Why would you cook everything once, assemble it, and then cook it again?  Why not just have chicken, vegetables, and pasta instead of chicken vegetable pasta casserole?  Two words:  Nap time.

Casseroles allow you to make dinner while the kids are asleep or having "quiet time" after lunch, and then put it up so that you can make it at dinner time.  The casserole alleviates a lot of evening-time stress.

So I've been bumming for years (um...  16 of them this summer, to be exact.  Wow!) that I can't cook with cream of mushroom soup.

Cream of chicken works for some recipes, but not for beefy recipes.  Cream of celery has a very off-putting greenish tinge that depresses me.  But last week I discovered that Campbell's makes a cream of ONION soup.

Boom.  Problem solved.

Apparently it's been right there in the store all along, and I have never seen it.  My sister Megan didn't know it existed, either.  So if you've been stymied, like me, by a family member's hatred of mushrooms, pick yourself up a can or two and thank me later.

Who knew?

Mommy's Little Helper

(Nobody paid me anything to write this post.  I'm just stupidly excited about soup tonight for some reason.)

The Chicago Marathon

No, no, I will not be running the Chicago Marathon - are you insane?  I can't even run around the block without leaving moderately-vital organs in my wake.  But my friend Jen and her boyfriend Ricky and 44,998 of their closest friends will be!

Jen and Ricky running a 5K

Apparently people are just dying to run this thing, and the spots sold out in a day.  After that they went to a lottery system.  Jen got a spot but Ricky didn't.  But he found a charity that will give him a spot if he raises $750 for cancer research.

Piece of cake.  Everybody hates cancer, right?

So Jen had the great idea to ask people to donate a dollar a mile - or $26.20 - to help fight cancer and get him a spot in the marathon.  Your donation to the American Institute for Cancer Research is tax deductible.

Jen and Ricky are awesome people.  Jen doesn't want me to enumerate all the ways that they're awesome, because she's modest, but they totally are.  She and I have been friends for over 20 years.  And honestly, if someone awesome wants to run farther than I'm willing to drive in Chicago, I think that we should help make that happen!

Please go to this page and make a donation - any small amount will help!  And thanks, in advance, for supporting my friends!

Dear Universe,

I know you think you're really cute with the irony, the Murphy's law, and the other-shoes that drop, but I have to tell you that if the cramping, heartburn, and competition-level burping that is happening to me today is a sign that I'm coming down with the hideous stomach flu that is going around, I am not going to be a happy girl.

Look, I've already been through it with all three kids.  I do not need to experience it first hand.  I am all done.  Stick a fork in me (as long as it's clean and doesn't have any norovirus on it).

I do not have time.  I do not have patience.  I do not want.  I know that you think that since I caught up with the laundry, it's time to smite me (and really, what is the deal with every piece of laundry growing legs and heading straight for the laundry sorter the instant someone throws up in this house?  Is that strictly necessary?) but let me assure you that it is not that time.

Yes, yes, I know.  Some people have real health problems, and I dodged that bullet this week.  That does NOT mean you owe me.  Kapiche?  Go pick on someone your own size.  Like Particle Man.

It's going to be nice this weekend and I have a porch to paint.

Be well,
Amy

Breaking news...

That MRI that I mentioned the other day, the expensive one?  Everything looks normal.  No need to worry about physical brain problems.  Now, if we could only figure out why my migraines are so much worse.

I don't get them when I'm pregnant.  The only solution to this problem is MORE PRETTY BABIES!

Mama

I've been trying to teach Jack to say "I love you."

"Jack, can you say, 'I love you,'?"

"Mama."

"Say 'I love you!'"

"Mama."

"I love you!"

"Mama."

"I love you."

"MAMA!"

And then it occurred to me, maybe those two things mean the same thing to him.