car-azy

I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've driven a car in the last 3 1/2 years. Yesterday was one of those times. And it was both as exhilarating and unpleasant as I predicted it would be. The whole task of picking up a rental car in Staten Island and driving it over the Verrazano Bridge back to our neighborhood (and in the dark to boot) filled me with unwarranted amounts of anxiety. But it's over, and I survived. And you can bet that I've handed the keys over to Blake so that he can take charge of driving until we are no longer in the grasp of the traffic congested tri-state area, with its overabundance of insane drivers and confusing roadways.

And why, you may be asking yourselves, are we in the possession of a car for the first time since we moved to Brooklyn? I will let Doctrine and Covenants 38:32 answer that one:

Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high.

Only for us it's not so much a commandment as it is a desire to spend Thanksgiving with my brother, Riley, and his wife, Chelsea. But given the fact that driving anxieties are still giving me a bit of an adrenalin rush, I wouldn't mind so much if on this trip we, too, were "endowed with power from on high."

Before I sign off to go enjoy the holiday, here are a few recent tidbits about the boys:

At his 15 month well check-up yesterday, Caleb's cold was diagnosed as a possible sinus infection, and, after a fever flared up last night, we started him on a round of antibiotics. Otherwise he is doing great, growing and developing just as he should. Here are his stats:

Length: 32 inches
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz

Garrett has entered a notorious stage of childhood. I call it the Band-aid Phase. Every malady -- whether it be major, minor, or nonexistent -- requires a Band-aid (or a "mand-aid," as he calls them). Because he is both so serious and sniffling about it, it is really hard for me not to laugh every time he comes to me whimpering a complaint of a boo-boo (a term he picked up at school, which also makes me laugh). It is also really hard for me to not get annoyed when he Band-aid-begs with broken record persistence.

Well, folks, here's hoping you all have a car-azy awesome Thanksgiving holiday -- we are sure planning on it.