It was bound to happen eventually. Judah likes to take the cordless phone and "call people" (he is typically calling some random sequence of numbers that don't actually dial out and will chatter away at the dial tone or busy signal). He really uses his imagination and has conversations that last five or more minutes that include "Hello, yeah, {{{gibberish}}}, OK, Bye!". I encourage him to do this because he is starting to speak to his Grandma and Grandpa when they are on the other end now.

So, today Judah finally pushed the buttons I've hoped he'd avoid. He called "9-1-1-1-1-1-#". I could hear the phone ring, so thought he had hit the redial by accident. Imagine my horror at what I saw on the display. Sure enough, two seconds later, emergency services called to ask if everything was okay. How embarrassing! (I wonder if this happens a lot?)

I just wrote to my 2nd cousin, whose infant son had to have surgery to repair his saggital suture (it fused too early), a condition called scaphocephaly (a type of craniosynostosis). He has a big zig-zag scar from ear-to-ear across the top of his head and was just fitted for a cranial orthotic helmet to reshape his head. My son had to wear two DOCbands for four months each for plagiocephaly. Luckily, our insurance covered both bands. Hers denied the claim and so I just spent the last hour researching the status of a bill that had been introduced to the 108th Congressional session - S. 977 - which in a nutshell was introduced in hopes that insurance companies would be required to cover procedures to correct congenital deformities in a minor child. (The bill has been sent to a committee and apparently deferred). I feel so horrible for her (and angry!) because it is hard enough to be a new parent, much less go through all of this.

In other news, our car died this past week and we just got it back on Friday night. I am so traumatized by my finances right now, but can only buckle down, be money smart and hope for the best.

Micheal went bowling with his men's church fellowship group on Friday night. Judah & I played with Weebles, his abacus and trains while watching the Counting Crows on Direct TV "Freeview". I am not a fan of theirs...they don't bother me one way or the other, but he loved the mandolins, etc., so I kept it on for him. Saturday morning, I met a few moms from playgroup at a local tea shop for our "Sad Sisters Sewing Circle" (we meet to knit, talk and have tea & scones while our children are home with their daddies). Saturday night, we went to our friend Mimi's birthday party. It was a great party, only I had to be home by 11pm, so I could put Judah to bed. I was happy to see my friends, especially since we never get together very much anymore. Stephan Pyles, one of the greatest chefs in the nation, and highly regarded for his Southwest style cuisine, was at the party. My old friend Peter was bartending, which was a surprise to bump into him. He runs a catering business and was hired by the party hosts. Today, I slept in and then went to church to teach Sunday School. Today's lesson was "People Love Me" and we talked to the kids about unconditional love. We read The Runaway Bunny and then they made construction paper bunny ear hats to wear home.

I am leaving for a trip to Newport Beach, CA tomorrow to facilitate a strategic planning session for 15 CEOs. I haven't had a lot of time to prepare for this, so it will be 75% "winging it". I've done four others, though, so I think I can handle it. I'm working all the time and it's wearing me out. I can't wait for March 8, which will be the day after our last big conference ends and I can take a vacation for a few days to unwind and plan my department retreat which will be in Puerto Rico for 8-10 days in July.

I hate leaving my family tomorrow. I get really depressed when I am away from Judah. It's just not natural for a mommy to be away from her child.