All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...

On Wednesday night Ruby was drying her hands in the bathroom, turned to run out the door, tripped over my foot, and fell, face first, into her wooden footstool.

I immediately scooped her up while she wailed and grabbed at her face.

As I looked her over, I saw no blood, but something about her mouth looked odd.

Her two top teeth were angled back far enough that she couldn't bite down.

In a panic I called Aleks, who called our dentist at home, who in turn calmed both of us down and reassured us that nothing needed to be done until the morning.

Sweet Ruby went to bed with a dose of ibuprofen, a swollen lip, and lots of cuddles.

The next morning we headed to the dentist.

We watch minimal TV in our house and when they do watch it, it's just the kid shows on PBS.

It's been a great choice for our family, and yesterday I realized that one of those benefits is that the kids love the dentist.

Not only do they get to watch TV, but it's usually the DISNEY CHANNEL.

It kept her calm right until the very end, when she was just fed up.

So basically, the arrow is pointing to the place that her tooth should be.

The other side was out as well, but the right tooth took the brunt of the fall.

There are a few fractures in the teeth as well.

The dentist hemmed and hawed for quite awhile and tried to get ahold of a pediatric dentist for a second opinion.

Finally, he decided to try and manipulate the teeth back into place, rather than go ahead and take them out.

They gave her laughing gas and a local anesthetic before injecting her with more numbing agents.

Then the dentist manually manipulated the front teeth back into place. He said that he could hear them "pop" back in.

After the first one, and as he started working on the second, Ruby in her sweet voice pleaded "don't push!"

I didn't have much of an appetite for the rest of the day.

After a short nap we headed out to get an ice cream with the "get a free ice cream cone" coupon that Ruby got from the dentist for being so brave.

She nearly ate the entire thing.

Her lip is still swollen this morning and black and blue underneath, she looks like a Botoxed lady who got in a fist fight with another housewife.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that they don't become infected and that the bone heals well so she can keep them until they're ready to come out on their own.

She's such a brave little girl.

We'll see how her cleaning goes next month...

This post contains some poop talk

Two weeks ago, Aleks and I (well mostly Aleks) were engaged in a tumultuous pooping debacle.

Ruby refused to go.

She would hold it in for days and days, until we'd end up cleaning several pairs of underwear a day.

Was it because she couldn't go or because she wouldn't go?

Potty time because a struggle. 

She'd get incredibly grumpy and horrid to be around until we'd be forced to make her sit on the toilet, screaming and hitting us.

We'd try threatening and rewarding and reading books and schedules and nothing seemed to make a difference.

Until one day, when she and I were alone, Ruby headed to the potty and went by herself.

It wasn't easy, but there were no tears or screaming and she did it all herself.

Ever since that day, Ruby has taken care of business like a boss.

I wish I knew what changed, but it doesn't really matter I suppose.

My friend Christy has a 6 month old and is going through sleep training woes that completely remind me of our experience with Maia.

And now that I've gone through it, the perspective is priceless.

It's the same with Ruby and her pooping.

When we were in the heat of battle, it was so hard to see how she would ever figure it out.

But they do somehow.

Figure out how to poop and sleep.

We are miles ahead of where we were last year.

------------------------------

We had a fantastic time in Arizona.

Aleks ran his first half marathon and I had a running buddy.

I gave a recital and got to collaborate with my mom.

It's a good thing we don't live closer, I'd probably take advantage of her skills way too many times.

It was a great concert with a fantastic, large audience, and some really fine music making.

I had a lot of fun.

On the first day my mom pulled out the costume box and Ruby found an adult-sized costume meant to be worn over a leotard.

Girlfriend wore that thing for 2 days straight.

The girls and I spent a full day at the Phoenix Children's Museum.

I'm still convinced it's one of the best in the country.

My mom asked me if I had a book to read on the flight home.

I laughed, rolled my eyes, and said "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to have time to read."

Well, I ate my words.

Thanks to Melissa and Doug (as always!), my girls colored for an hour straight (out of an hour and 45 minute flight)!

And we got to see a beautiful sunset.

We did have one little incident as we were deplaning.

I'm pretty sure Maia tooted and the next thing I heard was Ruby's clear, projected voice announcing "it smells like penis!"

The thought crossed my mind that perhaps she meant to say "peanuts," but she's very articulate and doesn't usually have problems pronouncing words.

On the other hand, it's not like she knows what a penis smells like.

I didn't push the topic.

------------------------------

Yesterday Maia went to a birthday party.

After watching sticking with the slide and trampoline, Maia summoned up her courage and tried the zip line!

I'm excited to see bravery become part of her character. 

I hope she encounters life's challenges the same way.

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon: Arizona edition

I dragged and dragged my feet in signing up for this half marathon.

Part of it was that I had injured my ankle over the summer and it took a long time to heal.

Part of it was because my last half marathon was miserable.

And part of it was because I didn't expect the next race to come up so quickly after the first one.

Aleks, frustrated with my indecision, finally gave me a deadline and by the time it came, my ankle was feeling better so we bought 2 race numbers for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix.

This time I had a slightly different training program; same amount of miles, but running 5 days a week instead of 4.

I also had more knowledge about nutrition during the race.

And most importantly I was planning to run it with Aleks.

Training went pretty well, it was sporadic around the holidays with my performing schedule, but I was mostly consistent.

And thankfully my ankle cooperated.

The majority of my training was done alone, on the treadmill, but Aleks and I were able to do our last two long runs together.

Aleks had a completely different approach to training.

He had hired a coach who was incorporating swimming and biking into his training schedule so as to keep up his triathlon chops.

Also, his runs were dictated by time, not miles.

From the get go Aleks let me know that he would love to have me run with him, but that he was not going to compromise his training plan or be pushed to run faster than he wanted.

He's got a big plan for the next few years and this race is one of the smaller steps toward that goal.

Even though I am able to run faster (not that much faster mind you! it's like I'm a slightly faster turtle than Aleks) I lack the mental confidence that comes so naturally to my husband.

Another of life's examples that shows me how Aleks is the yin to my yang.

Or something like that.

What I mean is, we balance each other.

So, for our long runs together, we braved the 30 mile an hour winds and freezing temps, running for 4 minutes and walking for 30 seconds.

And it was great, running with my husband.

SOOOO much better than running on a treadmill memorizing music or watching a movie.

There were over 20,000 people registered for this event and I expected packet pick up to take forever.

I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't have to wait in a line and the whole thing took about 20 minutes.

The night before I got a solid 8 hours of sleep and woke up before the alarm went off at 5.

We both ate a small breakfast and headed to the start line.

We both decided to just run with a fuel belt and to take a salt tablet before the race.

What we didn't expect was to be cold.

Thank God for the Methodists who opened up their fellowship hall and bathrooms to runners for free.

I think it kept our fingers from freezing off.

Of course, with such a large amount of people running the race, they did a wave start and so we stood in our coral for about 30 minutes before starting.

Those were a cold 30 minutes!

By the time we started, it was really, really hard not to go fast, just to try and get warm.

Finally by mile 2, my fingers were no longer cold and my muscles were warm.

There were some bands along the course and honestly, they were kind of terrible, but it was better than nothing.

We stuck to our plan, running 4 minutes and then walking 30 seconds.

At times it was frustrating for me, but that's where Aleks is really good.

He makes a plan and sticks to it.

I'm more easily swayed by how everyone else is running.

So we ran. And just kept going.

We Gu'd at 5 miles and I took another salt tablet around mile 7.

At mile 9 we were faced with a rather large hill and Aleks' hip really started to bother him and I could just see his morale plummet.

Ironically, it was at this point that I was feeling pretty good.

So, I tried to motivate Aleks and if he'd had enough energy, I'm sure he would have told me to shut up.

I Gu'd again at mile 10.

From my past experience, I knew that this was the hardest part of the race.

We'd gone so far, yet weren't quite in the homestretch.

Starting a half mile or so out from the finish line, spectators started lining the street and it got more and more dense at we neared the end.

I had told my mom to bring the girls and watch us cross the finish line.

It quickly became apparent that it would be a miracle if we saw each other.

We crossed together (well, apparently true to my selfless nature, I let Aleks cross the finish line ahead of me by one second) and were immediately given our medals and then bombarded with water and chocolate milk and protein bars and pretzels and fruit.

Official time was 2:57.

As we headed to pick up our bag, we just happened to see my mom and the girls sitting on the curb.

It was amazing we found each other in the midst of all those people.

Aleks and I were both tired and a bit sore for a couple hours after the race.

Today, I've felt good, mostly just tired.

It was such a different experience from the last time.

I felt stronger and happier at the end of this one.

I do feel a bit disappointed that I didn't run a faster race, but I'm glad that I stuck with my husband.

I don't know if I'll ever do a half marathon again.

Life is funny and you never know, but I think I'd like to train for something that isn't so high stakes.

Or maybe I'll become a bodybuilder.

Or a yogi.

Success

I'm preparing for this vocal thing later this year and I want to do it as best I can.

So, I've planned a few recitals to get the repertoire into my bones, so that its really mine and I won't be distracted by pitches or rhythm or memory.

Thursday was the first of those little recitals, at a retirement facility.

At the rehearsal leading up to this event, the cold, from which I have been recovering, had moved from my sinuses into the back of my throat and my cords were fatigued and covered in mucus.

On my recording I could hear some swelling and a fuzziness in timbre.

Things were a bit better on Thursday, thankfully.

The residents and guests that afternoon were gracious and warm.

In my opinion and by my standards my performance was fine, albeit a work in progress.

And it's hard for me to admit that it wasn't fantastic because I don't want to disrespect the wonderful audience who took time to come listen to me sing.

Lately, I've had a hard time feeling that I've done a good enough job anytime I sing.

When will I feel validated?

When I have [x] number of roles under my belt?

When I win this or that award?

When I sing in front of a certain audience size?

When I get paid a certain amount?

I hesitate to write about these insecurities, lest you think less of me vocally or emotionally. 

However, I don't think I'm alone.

Anyone whose job involves offering something to an audience, becoming transparent and vulnerable and communicating a personal interpretation of a work while striving to deliver a technically masterful performance is bound to feel as if they fall short of the mark once in awhile.

If performing were like a race, it would be easy to know if you had done the job. 

You'd have completed the distance in a certain amount of time, either faster or slower than those who had run the race before you.

But art is not like that.

And as an artist it is that subjectivity that gives my work its allure and at the same times makes it maddening.

So, I've got to develop a new rubric for satisfaction.

Any suggestions?

I think I'll start small.

I'm not exactly sure of the details yet, but I'll be sure to fill you in when I figure it out.

A good start to 2014

The last of our guests left several days ago, the Christmas decorations are packed away until next year, and we are finally starting unwind from the busyness of the semester.

We managed to share germs with everyone who came to visit, and I'm on the tail end of some antibiotics, eager to clear all this gunk out of my head and throat.

Everyone is catching up on sleep and yesterday a nap trifecta was achieved in our house.

We find ourselves in a place that's just scheduled enough to help us remember what day it is, but with ample time to nap and read and exercise when the sun is out.

Why is it when there is only one job to accomplish on a given day, it becomes almost impossible to force oneself out of bed to do said task?

Oh, all I have to do today is shower? Let me put that off until tomorrow.

Of course this arctic blast, or whatever it is, isn't helping.

These next two weeks are going to be filled with half marathon training and resting.

Oh, and I may have started the Divergent trilogy and can't stop reading.

What?

I'm on vacation, don't judge my reading material.