Ctrl+Alt+Del

We've all seen this before. (Except maybe for the Mac lovers out there...) Those of us with a stubborn PC habit have uttered plenty of four letter words in the name of Bill Gates when this screen ruined our day. Of course the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" had horrible timing. My theory is that Gates somehow used his super-computing-geekiness to analyze, calculate and predict Murphy's Law since I only experienced the blue screen in the last few critical moments of working on a paper or presentation.

No big deal though, right? Three key strokes was the cure. Ctrl+Alt+Del. It even seemed to work a little better if you hit Ctrl+Alt+Del really hard (I think my old PC with Windows 95 could actually feel the pain).

Wiki describes blue screens as: "... caused by physical faults such as faulty memory, power supply issues, overheating of components, or hardware running beyond its specification limits"

Too bad life doesn't have a Ctrl+Alt+Del function. The Betz family has experienced a physical fault... one erroneous gene... one malfunctioning protein.

We don't have a keystroke to restart life. She is flawed, yet she's flawless.

Andy

CopperTop

She may not be able to keep going and going, but what she lacks in skills she more than makes up for in beauty.
JEB

With Warm Regards

Dear Old Man Winter,

Thank you for the enticement to stay in our pajamas all day, for the chance to cuddle and drink cocoa and watch the flakes fall, for the summons to relax and enjoy the fresh mantle of white.
Warmly,
Jenni, Andy, Celia and Colby

An Invitation

I have some favorites. There was the one that started "Jennifer Elizabeth and James Andrew, together with our parents..." from about six years ago. And then a really special one, for a really special little girl's first birthday, that used this photograph:

We've been issued an invitation recently. It's not the kind to which you can RSVP regrets. It will require twenty four/seven attendance, and attire isn't an issue, as long as we're cloaked in courage. It isn't fair. But, we have to do it. It's impossible. Impossible, impossible. But we will do it. We'll saddle up and ride. And we know many of you, our blog readers, will be riding with us, will carry part of our load, will be behind us all the way. And that will make the journey less burdensome.

And good hair days, those help when you've been invited somewhere -whether you're eager or hesitant to go - too, right?

JEB

All Through the Night

(posted Sunday afternoon by Grandma Rosie posing as Andy & Jenni)

When we are fortunate enough to have Celia for a sleepover, we play her favorite lullabyes. Some nights we sing more than we sleep, but this weekend Celia's had sweet dreams... at least I think that's why we've been treated to so many of her throaty little laughs.

It's no wonder. Celia got to watch Noggin (and football) with G'Rod and play Bubblewash (in and out of the tub) with G'Ro. Grandma Jan even ventured out on an icy winter afternoon to come and play for awhile.

Dreams carry us away to special times and places, so Celia might just have been dreaming about the oh-so cold, but oh-so fun night she took us to Wildlights at the Zoo. As her Aunt Kate would say, "Celia loves an aquarium!" This afternoon Celia is snuggling with Grandpa Tim, which may be the stuff of more sweet dreams tonight. I hope so.

Celia will be snug in her own bed, but G'Rod and I will still be hearing those familiar melodies -- "Love, to thee my thoughts are turning, all through the night."

Memory Lane

A walk. A stroll. A trip.

Forgive me... I can't help but go. I'm afraid I may be otherwise engaged at a more appropriate time (like when Celia turns 2, and her sibling is due) but it's a path you don't really plan to take, rather it takes you. I've been taken, recently, by lots of memories. Celia is 22 months old today. She's a big girl. A toddler, even though she doesn't toddle.
At 9 months, she began a brief affair with language. She waved and said "hi" to everyone and everything. She had a way of capturing the attention of everyone in a room with that one word. She had us all at "hello"...

She also courted the word "shoe," pointing out shoes wherever we went, and I often replay in my mind the way she made that little 'sh' sound. I hope my memory of her laugh doesn't fade before she finds it again. There were things that invariably made her laugh - blowing in her hair, spinning her around, a sniffing, puckered-lip expression we called the "silly face," tossing her on the couch (there's video on YouTube - CEB Couch Toss - that Andy revisited recently, describing her laughter as "riotous." He misses it, too).She used to spend lots of time in front of the mirror. She shared her toys with her mirror friend, and did some of her best walking when she headed toward the mirror.

Today we don't hear words or laughter. We miss the smiles and the steps. The intervening months have required courage and caused tears - they're not months I'll want to revisit. I imagine caring for a typical two year old may require courage and cause tears, but perhaps in different quantities and for different reasons. Until things improve, though, we have good memories and are willing to be taken back to them...

JEB

All "Spruced" Up

Actually, it's time to kick the tree to the curb and 'un-spruce' the house, to pack away the fancy Christmas dresses and finish writing thank you notes... but before doing so, we captured some more obligatory holiday photos of Celia while she was all decked out or all spruced up or whatever.
Aside from some wonderfully generous and genuinely thoughtful Christmas gifts, what we're most thankful for this year are things that aren't material. That's not to say we consider the tangible gifts immaterial or insignificant. But the gifts that can't be shopped for, or even handmade, were some of our favorites this year.

Dr. Seuss wrote,
"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

This holiday season, our more came as time with lots of family, some new heart parts for Grandpa Tim, and a little girl who's relearning what it's like to sleep at night. These things are awesome. They weren't really on our wish lists, but they are huge gifts. And so is she:

JEB