the gig is up

K

Last night your Dad and I went out with your Uncle Alex (your Dad's brother, not Aunt Meg's husband, just to be clear). We were celebrating his 21st birthday, a little late. (This was also the 12th year of celebrating birthdays with your Uncle for me.) It is amazing how this celebration has evolved over time. At one point the celebration was going to be in Vegas, then Chicago, but we settled for Springfield. That's right, Springfield, home of Honest Abe. Your uncle wanted a horseshoe. That's right, a horseshoe, which meant there was only one place to go.

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Not only is Springfield the home of Lincoln, but the origins of the horseshoe sandwich and the corn dog. What's a horseshoe? Well, it is an experience. You start with a bed of Texas Toast, followed by some type of meat, covered in crinkle cut fries (at D'Arcy's at least), topped with a cheese sauce. It sounds like A LOT of food. It is a lot of food, which is why you can get a ponyshoe as well. Your Dad had a chili cheese hot dog horseshoe, while your uncle went with the walleye one. (They went in thinking they would get the buffalo chicken horseshoe.) This is the closest picture I could find of my ponyshoe.

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After dropping off your uncle, your Dad and I went home. During the drive we discussed what we are doing for Thanksgiving, which also means missing your first birthday. We know this is going to be difficult. We know we will see you the following week, but it still doesn't make it better.

So we talked about your birthday cake. I know we have had a Star Wars theme going on this whole time, your room will be Star Wars when it is done, but you don't know the awesomeness of Star Wars, yet. So it doesn't make sense to do a Star Wars birthday cake. So we talked about a train (in all of your pictures you are wearing a train bib), which led me to say something about using your aunt Courtney's pan she used for "W" for his Thomas birthday. I think your Dad just kinda looked at me. (Since I was driving, I can't be sure about this.) I do know he said, "Kara?" Which I responded to, "I don't have time to bake and decorate a train cake." So you are getting a train cake, but Janet is going to do it.

K, I need to apologize to you. Your Dad is a little crazy. Right now your Dad is watching the Buckeyes lose to Indiana. That's right, they are losing to Indiana! Crazy! But it is okay, Ohio State just scored their first touchdown. This might be okay.

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I have a confession, I am a horrible person. That's right, at times I am not the nicest person. We know we are making your current name a middle name once you are home. We have our reasons, which we will share with you when you are older. We don't know though what we want your first name to be, so we are waiting. "We" (aka your Dad) thought we should wait to decide until we meet you. Well. . . This is why I am not always the nicest person. It has been bugging your Aunt Meg how she doesn't know your name, outside of calling you K. So for the past two weeks, I have calling and talking with L, telling her a different name each time. Yep, I have been using your cousin to bug your Aunt. It so helps that L is 2 and can be difficult to understand. Your Aunt Meg caught onto my little game. So as of this morning, when I called to talk to L, the gig is up. It was fun while it lasted. Plus, I can always remind Aunt Meg about "Hazel."

Love,
Mom