Welcome to the Rainforest ...

And what a lovely day it was!!!! Silas and I spent the day with Grammie and Grandaddy.
It was a big surprise for Silas. He knew ... 2 days ago ... that we were going on one of our "dates." What he didn't know was that it was going to be at The Rainforest Cafe AND that his Grammie and Grandaddy were going to surprise him there.
It was so awesome to see them hiding behind some silly kiosk. I saw them ... Silas didn't.
When I told him to look up and see who was standing there, he ran through the mall like a maniac to love on them. Let us not forget that he ONLY ever wears his Batman cape. So, I imagine people thought that he had some major crime to fight.
We had a wonderful lunch.
Grandaddy and Silas went to one of those machines that you put a penny in and it flattens the the penny out and changes it into some sort of keepsake. Grandaddy told Silas that it was a souvenir. When Silas didn't understand what that was, Grandaddy tried to define the word and told him that a souvenir is something that reminds one of something or some experience. Silas looked at him, straight faced, and said "Grandaddy, that penny doesn't remind me of anything."
Good try Grandaddy.
Next time, tell him the smooshed penny is an example of what happens when you have sex before the age of 35!
xoxo
Anna

... simply sweet birthday celebration for our K-Dawg...

01-19-2011:
Lovely evening with girls that make my sides ache from laughter.
xoxo
Anna

From CNN...

This is unbelievable:

Aleisha Hunter is not your average 4-year-old. In fact, she's the youngest breast cancer survivor in Canada.

Not exactly the news her mother Melanie was expecting when she noticed a small lump in her daughter's right breast while bathing her when she was 2. Finally after trying to figure out what was causing Aleisha so much pain, at the age of 3, doctors diagnosed juvenile breast carcinoma, a very rare form of cancer.

"Certainly breast cancer has been reported in children and in adolescents, but it's very rare in prepubrescent girls," says Dr. Thomas Olson, medical director of the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service in Atlanta. Fewer than 5 percent of invasive breast cancers occur in women under age 40, according to The National Institute for Health. About 12.2 percent of women born today will get a breast cancer diagnosis at some time in their lives, according to The National Cancer Institute.

"There are many adult woman who have been tested and know that they carry a breast cancer gene mutation. I think it's important for them to realize that there is no evidence to support the risk of breast cancer in childhood for their daughters," says Dr. Sharon Plon, chief of Texas Children's Cancer Center Genetics Clinic.

Aleisha's physician, Dr. Nancy Down the deputy chief of surgery at North York General Hospital, decided on a radical double mastectomy for the 3- year-old because the tumor had grown quite large she told NBC. She didn't treat Aleisha with chemotherapy or radiation. "Whenever you have a rare case you go with a logical treatment. First you know you need surgery. The question is whether chemotherapy will add to that therapy, but you probably should not give chemotherapy unless you really think it will help," says Olson a pediatric oncologist.

Downs told NBC the advantage to this rare type of cancer it's slow growing, it doesn't spread as aggressively as other types and the prognosis is usually very good. She says Aleisha will have to get reconstructive surgery on her breast once she hits puberty. "If parents are suspicious of something unusual...you have to be your child's best advocate and it's important to follow-up if you are concerned about something in your child that you haven't seen resolved," says Plon.

In November Aleisha was honored as the 2010 Ambassador for Random Act of Kindness (RAK) Day in Cambridge and North Dumfries in Canada where she is from. The day encourages people to "pay it forward" and pay tribute to those who do kindnesses on that day and all yearlong.

xoxo,
Anna

More beautiful Madeleine Peyroux...

More gorgeous music from this lovely lady.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwT12wF_iUA&feature=related

xoxo
Anna

Gorgeous Elliot Smith cover ...

I've always loved this song. Madeleine Peyroux does this amazing cover of Elliot Smith's beautiful "Between the Bars":


drink up, baby, stay up all night
the things you could do, you won't but you might
the potential you'll be, that you'll never see
the promises you'll only make

drink up with me now and forget all about the pressure of days
do what I say and I'll make you okay and drive them away
the images stuck in your head

people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

drink up, baby, look at the stars
I'll kiss you again between the bars where I'm seeing you
there with your hands in the air, waiting to finally be caught

drink up one more time and I'll make you mine
keep you apart deep in my heart separate from the rest
where I like you the best and keep the things you forgot

the people you've been before that you don't want around anymore
that push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktNzLg_te4

xoxo
Anna

Forgot this one of Sweet Rita...

... and what a sweet girl she is. If I ever end up in Charleston, I'll be working at her salon. Until then, she continues to be a source of strength and inspiration. Such a lovely soul ...
xoxo
Anna

night of flashbacks...

My sweet Jysen ... one of my best girlfriends from college ... has been a life saver for me. I never took photos. She did. ALL THE DAMNED TIME. She recorded EVERYTHING. I so, so regret not having taken more pictures in those impressionable years. I didn't grow up with parents that were "camera-hungry". I try, myself, to capture sweet moments with Silas. But, I don't think I have "that knack" ... the vision that so many of my friends and family members have with a camera.
It's so amazing to look back at these pics and remember where we were at that time. What we were going through. Man .... we thought we were going to rule the world.
And, in some weird way, I think we've reached that. Considering all that we've all gone through. I think we made it there.
Cheers, girls.
I love you.
xoxo
Anna W.

He's smiling??? What fucking nonsense. I wanna punch him.
I could care less if he's mentally deranged. He killed 6, brutally harmed 12, and ETERNALLY wounded a member of congress.
Laugh it up, big boy. I hope you enjoy your time in prison.
You killed a 9 year old baby girl. UNBELIEVABLE......
Here's to justice.
xoxo,
Anna

And then there was Christmas...

... and what a Christmas it was!!!! Uncle Josh and Aunt Tracy hosted the family at their beautiful home. Tons of food, drink, and laughs. We walked in that evening to find my brother in velvet Santa Claus boxers ... cooking. That was his attire for the evening. See ... I'm not the only crazy person in the family ... BY FAR! I cannot begin to describe how wonderful Silas' and my gifts were. UPS is gonna make a killing on all the shit that is still being shipped up here that we had to leave behind. I filled a HUGE (extra) suitcase with all his stuffs. That, barely put a dent in it. That kid has more toys/clothes/games than Target ... on a good day. It was such a wonderful evening with such beautiful family.
Man, we're blessed.
xoxo
Anna

Meanwhile ... back at the farm ...

These pics are from my Aunt Pam's house. Not "code" for Lorazipam. Just my aunt Pam. The kids had a ball. They were like wild banshees. We "adults" laughed our asses off. Angi introduced us to the most horrific beverage: Wild Turkey "Honey." Don't buy it. It's too sweet and it makes you get on a four-wheeler and do stunts in the middle of a herd of cows going about 40 MPH. Not pretty. We played beauty parlor, as my only gift I could afford this year was to do everyone's hair who needed it. So, so much fun...
xoxo
Anna

South Carolina was great ... for the most part ...

Any given night (or day) whilst home, we might imbibe in "The Devil's Brew" ... just here and there ... for medicinal reasons, obviously.
I wasn't driving this evening, dear readers. I was, simply, trying to prove my point to Angi that if a "chicken" crosses a road (naked ... with a bottle of Vodka) it can get to the other side without being arrested.
All was going according to plan until THIS asshole rounded the corner.
xoxo
Anna

2 years ...

... and it is still so surreal to me that this beautiful, kind, witty, and bold lady is not still here with us. I speak to her daily. Think of her more regularly than that. It's amazing to me that our lives still go on, and on, and on, and ...
I hope I do her proud as a Mama that, actually, has the blessed opportunity to be alive and raise her own children. This goes for all the women I've known that have lost their battle with cancer and have left children behind.
I love you, sweet K-Dawg.
You and me and the Bamboo Tree...
xoxo,
Sweet Coochie Croissant