The Brattychick

Which obscure holiday was I born on? a) Earth Day b) Cinco De Mayo c) Labor Day d) Memorial Day e) Arbor Day Where was I born? a) Washington DC b) Virginia c) Nepal d) California e) Tennessee How many siblings do I have? a) 10 total. 6 halves, 4 steps. b) 3 brothers. c) 2 brothers and a sister. d) 6 total. 5 halves. 1 step. e) 2 brothers I was almost named..... a) Chrysanthemum b) Tammy c) Venus d) Kelly e) Sapphire How old was I when I went on my first date? a) 9. I was totally boy crazy starting in 4th grade b) 14. We went to a church dance in our Sunday best c) 13. And I had to sneak out to do it d) 12. My mother trailed us all over the mall e) 16. I wasn't allowed out of the house until then Which (school approved) extra curricular activities did I participate in? a) Choir and Sports Medicine b) Band and Track c) Debate Team and Cheerleading d) Drama and Dance Team e) Junior Republicans and Lacrosse I've known my b...

My church has an informal basketball team. A friend asked me to come to practice and somehow I forgot how much I hate sports. Nothing strikes The Fear into me like team sports. A lot of it has to do with gym class. The competitive boys in gym class were horrible and ruined sports for me. They would scream at you any time you made a mistake. The worst was Brooks Hunt. I don't know what was wrong with that kid, but he was purely hateful. He couldn't stand to lose, and would have a screaming tantrum any time a girl didn't execute something according to his standard. I can't take the screaming for something I didn't even mean to do. Ms. Ronemus was our elementary school P.E. teacher and Brooks lived in her back pocket. I don't ever remember him getting reprimanded for his constant loud verbal abuse. Somehow that boy ended up in my gym class almost every year of my life from 4th grade on. Usually when he did his screaming I would completely ignore him, even though i...

As I have mentioned on occasions prior to this, Dexter is a madman. Last Friday we were at a playground and he was going up the slide (which I have told him repeatedly not to do) and he fell and split his chin open. Off we went to the emergency room, but not just any emergency room, the ER at Children's Hospital in DC. We learned our lesson to steer clear of regular ERs with children roughly eight years ago. It had something to do with a three day old , an IV, and a student nurse that is lucky I let her live. Once we finally got there we only had to wait 4 hours before being seen. The people at the hospital were wonderful, but it was extremely traumatic nonetheless. I almost perished. They wrapped my son in a papoose and gave him some sort of topical anesthetic. He screamed and shook his head and stuck his tongue out in an effort to cover his chin with the only thing that was available. He sobbed and I sobbed right along with him. But the thing that nearly did me in was the pleadi...

I've finally decided on a name for my Apple iBook. Peaches. Peaches is white, shiny, quiet, and 12" (just how I like my men). The iBook love started about a year ago. I had a broken leg and couldn't get to our computer upstairs. Jamie was using our laptop to work from, and so my brother Jonathan lent me his iBook. I loved it so that I tried to buy it from him, but it turned out that he also loved it. Psst...by the way, have you ever noticed that no one ever loves their PC? Anyway, Jamie and I were sitting in the living room about five months ago and we had a conversation that went like this. "I would love to have an iBook." "Geez Heidi, those are really expensive." "I know. I'm just saying that I would love to have one." "You are such a gadget girl." He is referring to the tremendous cravings I have for various gadgets and my intense love for my pink Kitchenaid mixer, pink flip phone, pink glittery electric guitar, pink iPod, ...

My Dearest Friends and Family, As I sit in the preschool parking lot pondering 2005, I realize that we've learned great lessons this year in overcoming obstacles and I'm left with a feeling of thankfulness for all that we have. For our seventh anniversary in February, Jamie and I headed to the Shenandoah Mountains for a weekend of skiing. On our last day (which just happened to be the day of our anniversary), we were skiing on the easiest slope on the mountain when I fell and broke my femur in to lots of little pieces. To make a very long story not quite as long, I had to have surgery and get a titanium rod put in my leg. I spent a week in the hospital and five more weeks on crutches and not able to drive. We were obviously hamstrung (no pun intended), and worried about how we would get by and also how we would get through airport security for the rest of our lives. Fortunately, the long road to recovery was made much sweeter and tons easier by many of you, our friends and fam...