Where is it? Ask MAP!

For those who don't know, I travel. A lot. I thought I might slow down a bit with this new job, but it turns out the travel requirements are greater here than the other place.

After every trip, I bring home treats for the girls, in part to assuage my guilt and in part to put a smile on my kids' faces. I know, it's not the best practice in the world, but it seems to work for us.

Anyhoo, on my most recent trip to Charlotte, I bought this rather large, pink pen with a liquid center in which little sparkly bits floated by as you moved it (can't seem to find a good picture to share with you). On my way off the US Air flight (Read closely airline. I'll need your help!), I spilled my bag and I'm sure you can guess the rest - I lost the pen. Lost it. Couldn't find it. Gone.

So of course, when I picked up Petra from the sitter's house, the first question out of her mouth was, "mommy, what did you bring me?" And then I had to tell my 4.5 year-old that mommy lost her precious gift. It. didn't. go. over. so. well.

Flash forward to the next evening when Petra and I had the following conversation:

P: Mommy, here you go (handing me a picture).

Me: Petra, it looks great. Um, what is it?

P: It's a map. To help you find my pink pen.

Me: What do you mean?

P: Well, here (pointing to spot on map) is where you were on the plane when you lost the pen.

Me: Uh huh.

P: And here (pointing to another spot, further away) is where you are now. So, you just need to follow the map and go back and get my pen. See?

Me: Wow. You really thought that through. I'll see what I can do (not really knowing what else to say).

Did you get that? Petra DREW ME A MAP. Of how to get to the pen. The $4.99 pen. That I plan to BUY again when I head to the airport next week. But that's not good enough. She fully expects me to go on a treasure hunt...do you hear me US Air?

And perhaps that's what I'll tell her I did when I show up next week with a large, pink, liquidy pen in hand.

Has it been that long?

I realize it's been a while since I updated my personal blog, but I didn't know exactly how long until I logged in...ten days. Wow. I've been busy!

To bring you up to speed quickly, in the past ten days, I've:

• Started a new job with Quaero - www.quaero.com, a marketing services company based in Charlotte, NC, with offices in Burlington, MA. As the vice president of marketing, my job is to help the company position itself for future growth and (of course) generate revenue.
• Celebrated Raya's first birthday! How in the hell did that happen? The child was just born, like two weeks ago, right? Miss Thang runs around like a crazy person and has developed a lovely banshee-like screech that forces us to leave restaurants mid-meal. Yes, it's true.
• Watched as the evil sickness returned in full force. Rae Rae can't seem to catch a break, despite turning one. She's had a bi-lateral ear infection for who-knows-how-long and has been on every antibiotic under the sun. The only good news is there's a light at the end of the tunnel: Raya will have tubes put in on June 4.
• Been to the nose doctor to find out what's up with my poor and hurting beak (apparently nothing more than trauma).

So that's it. I haven't been up to much, huh?

Rae Rae walking

It's all downhill from here...

Another Petra concert

She's a genius, I know. And don't I love her for it.