Dear Oprah,

So first there are the unfortunate sex abuse allegations at your girls' school in South Africa, and now you have chosen Ken Follett's, The Pillars of the Earth as your book club selection. It even has it's own special edition! When will it ever stop? I inhabit such a small space in the world; why must you invade my space? Is this some sneaky means of getting me on your show? Because if it is, it will work.



Seriously, I am really annoyed by this for some reason. I have always disliked being one of those on the bandwagon sorts of people, not that I go out of my way to purposely be different, but still.

I guess I would characterize myself as having somewhat of an obsessive-compulsive personality when it comes to my reading habits as I tend to get hooked on a topic (usually historical) and then read as many books as possible on said topic.




Recent topics have included Italian Renaissance art history, Tudor England, and the Black Death. I read this book last year as an aberration during my Renaissance obsession and it was as if I had struck gold... secretly. Now Oprah has to go and make this an instant smash hit and everyone will know my little secret, well not so little as this is nearly 1000 pages. Screw you Oprah, I found this first, check my library account!

An exciting side note is that Ken Follett has just published a follow-up to Pillars, and it touches on the topic of the Black Death. See how nicely this fits into my obsession. I am 30-something on the waiting list at the library which is fine, as I am reading another book on Tudor England; Philippa Gregory's, The Boleyn Inheritance.

And don't all be sitting there thinking to yourselves, "What the hell does she think she is doing reading all of these books. She doesn't have time for that? ". No, I don't really have a lot of free time (or any for that matter since I can't even go to the bathroom to pee without Quinn following me in), but I sneak it in when I can- which is usually during the wee hours of the night when all others are sleeping. Thankfully I read quickly.

Here are some of the books I have read in the recent past:


The entire Harry Potter series. Yes folks, I finally broke down and read them all after the final one was published. Am I ashamed to admit I really enjoyed them? Slightly.


Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
Letters to Father: Suor Maria Celeste to Galileo, 1623-1633 by Sobel
The Ruby Ring: A Novel by Diane Haeger
Artemisia: A Novel by Alexandra Lapierre
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland
The Birth of Venus: A Novel by Sarah Dunant


Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley
The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett
Plagues and Peoples by William H. McNeill
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
Nectar from a Stone by Jane Guill


The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles (currently reading)

Stats and updates

Here are a few of the goings on in our little world.

Eddy's parents are coming for an extended visit this next weekend and they are just going to die (not literally I hope) when they see Quinn and the babies. His mom last saw them when they were still in the hospital and his dad saw them for 2 or so weeks right when they came home. They didn't even look like real babies at that point and have come so far. Babies go in for their 9 month check tomorrow so I will have official stats, but they were in for a sick visit about a week ago and the results from that were as follows:
Ewan ~ 14 lbs.
Noel ~ 13 lbs.
Mairin ~ 13 lbs.

If I must label the children I would say the following:

Ewan seems to be really thoughtful and even-tempered, perhaps a future peacemaker? He is the bulkiest of the triplets and a great jumper and swinger. The 2 bottom teeth are coming in concurrently. I just felt them for the first time with my finger yesterday and then again today though unfortunately not with my finger if you get my drift. Yeow!

Noel is either really up or really down. Luckily since he has been better able to get around and amuse himself, his moments of unhappiness are becoming less frequent. He would, love, love, love to be held all day long, or better yet, surgically reattached to momma. I think he may be the clown of the family and also jumps like a maniac. His first tooth came in a couple of weeks ago and number 2 made its appearance this past week. Also enjoys biting toward the end of a feed.

Mairin may be the world's laziness baby and has become so soft and squishy. Will complain if made to work too hard at something. It is quite humorous. No teeth yet but the biting still hurts the momma. Her response to my yelp... a goofy grin and big belly laugh. Quinn is ridiculously in love with her and is always acting like a mother hen when she is around. Very expressive and generally happy, though who wouldn't be if they slothed and snacked all day.

Quinn is still enjoying both preschool and excessively pushing his limits with the parental units. That boy is so intense and not likely to give up; traits I hope will serve him well in the future. Still has an amazing ability to pick up and memorize music. Must get that more from Eddy who can play anything by ear on the guitar. Me so jealous. Since he seems so musical, we decided to enroll him in Suzuki violin lesson at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music. He has a private lesson with me and his teacher on Wednesdays, and a group class with 4 other students and parents on Saturday mornings. For those unfamiliar with Suzuki the general idea is that young children can begin to learn an instrument much like they learn language. There is a lot of repetition and memory involved (right up Quinn's alley) and a very set course of study- everyone begins with variations of Twinkle, Twinkle and progresses from there. So far so good! He gets to participate in the winter recital which should be interesting. I have to say that there are few things cuter than a little child walking around with a tiny violin case strapped to their backs.

That is about all I can think of right now.

Please keep in your thoughts

my friend Carrie who could use prayers right now.

Her mom has recently been diagnosed with a form of lymphoma and her maternal grandmother has been hospitalized with chest pains/heart problems.

If you could spare some thoughts and prayers for her family I think she would be appreciative.

I hope you don't mind I posted this Carrie. Let me know if you prefer I didn't.

Check out her cute fluffy duckie- haired daughter as well. She is the same age as the triplets should be. Ewan and Noel will probably be fighting over her in the future. She is going to be a heartbreaker, as is Mairin I fear.

We did it!

We took our first family vacation...

and survived.

We had been thinking of going somewhere fun and romantic to celebrate our 4th anniversary, and frankly, what could be hotter than vacationing with a cranky three year old (just getting over a nasty cold) and super-cranky 9 month old triplets (in the throes of the aforementioned cold and teething)?

Initially we were thinking of going to Chicago because we miss living and more importantly, eating, there. I was a little leery of going any further in the car than the babies could theoretically go without having to feed again, as stopping to feed all three could literally take 1.5 hours. We decided to go up to Duluth and the North Shore area as Eddy and I have never been there before. I had skimmed through my friend Emilie's blog for places to stay as I knew she has been up there many times before with her husband Steve, baby Daniel, and now lemon drop the sequel. Whilst doing that I also was checking out exploreMN and just as I was about to log off I came across our perfect destination.

We ended up staying at Northern Rail Traincar B&B, largely in part because we knew Quinn would most likely be happy there (can anyone say train OCD?). It essentially is 2 rows of train cars that have been refurbished into comfortable rooms. We stayed in one of the Queen conductor suites which worked out really well for our needs. It had a separate sitting/living room in addition to the bedroom and bath. We literally had an entire traincar to ourselves, which, I am sure our follow travelers appreciated in the wee hours of the night when they weren't kept up by the noises emanating from our room. It was almost exactly like the sexy traincar scene in Risky Business, aside from the sex and prostitution. That was replaced by crying babies and poopy didies. Hot, right?




We had a good time though and the weather was in the 50's. Will try to post some photos and more info later.

We were able to partake of a couple of slices from Betty's Pies in Two Harbors, which was strategically located about a mile away from our lodging. I enjoyed both the French Silk as well as the Key Lime. The Key Lime was probably my favorite and one of the best I have ever had.

Tart but not too tart... much like myself:)