Never did I realize how similar the voices of Mike Doughty and Trent Reznor were until I heard the new Nine Inch Nails song, Only. This song makes me want to dress in black and dance all night under a strobe light.

In progress: www.justinrice.net

I joined Netflix recently and it was the best thing I've ever done for moving watching. Even with the chaos of two babies I am able to see a good film every once in a while. Or television series--right now I am caught up in the first season of Rescue Me. My parents got me into it.

I'm reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston currently when I have time. I also have a stack of magazines that I haven't had time to touch including the latest Real Simple, a fabulous magazine.

I have caught such a bug to start redecorating this house. We are making plans to move the furniture around for some quick changes. We are trying to find the perfect paint color for the bedroom...Andy is leaning towards a greenish golden yellow but I will try to convince him that a deep red-orange is the way to go.

Of course I am watching the new series of Project Runway. The contestants are definitely more experienced this season. I really liked the evening gowns this time with the exception of The Log:



I fell in love with the flowing ethereal pink and brown one. The picture online does not do it justice:

For fun I have created a wish list for Merritt and Justin. Now if I could just get around to updating their websites.

Starwars Robot Chicken

You know I love anything Star Wars (thanks Erin!).

I keep waiting for the gopher tortoise to show up again so I can get a photo. I can see the entrance to his burrow but it's securely surrounded by thorny blackberry bushes so there is no way to get anywhere near it. Amazing to think his tunnels can be 40 feet in length and 10 feet deep!

For the past four plus years we have lived here we have wanted to buy the lot behind us, to preserve the beautiful natural view and maybe someday expand and fence in our backyard for the boys to play in. Now it seems we will finally get our wish. The owner has verbally accepted our offer and we just have to wait a few months for some title issues to clear. With that this house will be so perfect I don't think I will ever want to move. Which is fine--we will have fun adding to it and modifying it. Our plan is to live for short periods of time in other parts of the world with this as our home base.

It's cool that Americans have become so conscious about Africa lately thanks to Bono and Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie. My dad's first cousin (does that make it my second cousin?) was ahead of the curve on that. It would be interesting to go to Uganda someday and see the clinic that was named for him.

Things have settled down a lot with Justin and he is smiling at me a lot now. I have established a bit of a routine with him which helps manage my time with Merritt also. Family dinners had to fall by the wayside though, there was no way to do that and get Justin ready for bed, etc. Justin spends a lot of time sleeping in his swing during the day. With Merritt I would have felt guilty about this but things are a bit different with the second.

Hey!
You're a crazy bitch
But you fuck so good I'm on top of it
When I dream
I'm doing you all night
Scratches all down my back to keep me right on


I heard this Buckcherry song on the radio today. It's probably been in heavy rotation for a while but that goes to show how out of the loop I am. And to think Tipper Gore once made a big deal about Darling Nikki and her grinding, and that song didn't even get played on the radio at the time.

I also heard a fantastic Mike Doughty song--it was definitely his voice but I am having a tough time tracking it down. It was about the most danceable thing I've ever heard.

I am usually driving the van and listening to Sirius so I rarely hear the latest pop songs. Today I drove the Acura and got an earful.

Stubbs the lizard is back permanently it seems. Today he was out there mating with another anole and she was quite small--I guess Stubbs likes em young. I went to the window to check out their copulation progress and there was a huge gopher tortoise hanging out in the grass just a few feet from the house. I love Florida.

Words to describe my world right now: isolated, hectic, exhausting, loud, stressful, confined, busy...

Merritt was a dream to breastfeed but he did not sleep well at night. Justin is the exact opposite. I find myself looking so forward to the golden age of babyhood, 4-6 months old, but I try to remind myself that he will never be the way he is right now again, all floppy headed and cross eyed and cute. He loves his bath, no matter how fussy he gets, and this kid is a major fuss; he becomes so content and sweet in the water. A portent of things to come?

Currently listening to: Dandy Warhols-13 Tales from Urban Bohemia (thanks Angel!)

Currently watching: So You Think You Can Dance? (thanks Julie!)

Currently weighing in at: 148 lbs. (thanks Justin!)

I can hear the fireworks going off all over town.

I'm so tired and moody right now! My body is challenged in every way. It is hard keeping up with this baby's appetite. He went from 8 lbs. 3 oz. to 12 lbs. in a month and gained lots of height and head circumference as well. He's in the 90 something percentile for ALL THREE. The weirdest thing is seeing Merritt and Justin next to each other and to notice that Justin seems almost as big as his older brother!!

Right before Merritt was born, a lizard I named Stubbs was hanging around outside our window everyday and now it appears he's back. I can tell it's him by his tail, which has totally grown back now. What a survivor.