My Inspiration

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"My children are my inspiration."

My children really are my inspiration, as well as my best friend Nina.  I'll get the short people who live in my house in a minute.  I REALLY want to dwell on how awesome Nina is first!  She is amazing and talented and cool and super smart and she's going to hate this run on sentence with incorrect grammer and spelling.  I like messing with her. [And I'm leaving it uncorrected so everyone can see what I put up with. -Nina] She wouldn't speak to me when we first met.  I like to remind her of that. [I thought you were way too focused on clothes and being better than everyone else. Which probably means in real-world language that I was jealous of your shoes. Nice shoes, by the way. -Nina] [Thanks a lot.  I still pretty much wear jeans and t shirts! YOU were the one who introduced me to fancy makeup and fashion magazines.  And you had the awesome hair.- Katya] Then I yelled at her one day, and oddly became best friends, pretty much starting that day. [Not sure why I yelled, I think she cut me off on the sidewalk or something really horrible.-K]  We've been through a lot of boys stuff together.  And lots of music.  I think we've only had one big fight, and it was 100 years ago in college, and for the life of me, I've no idea what it was about. [Me neither. Huh. -Nina] I like to think that we have superhuman communication skills with each other, but really I know it's just because we are about the same amount of crazy.

On to the short people. They are wonderful, most of the time.  I have Grace who is now 8 going on 18.  I'm giving her the name Grace here in the blog because I find myself yelling, "For the LOVE of Grace!" Only half of the time is it something she did, but she is the oldest so she gets blamed. And then I apologize profusely.  She is a great girl. And she puts up with me as a mother, so I think that makes her the most amazing Grace ever.  Grace is also a diva.  She has a ton of clothes (my fault) and 'borrows' from her little sister who is taller. The battles have begun...

The little sister, who is taller, is 6 3/4.  I have to make the distinction lest anyone thinks she is only 6 1/2. Bank, is her name here because I'm convinced she will grow up to be a kung fu fighting banker. [I agree. -Nina] Sometime when she was 2 or 3 she managed to hide over the course of a few months $100's in the house.  Maybe she had an ulterior motive of trying to get me to clean up and organize, but I've never found it.  Also, she is the one who started our 'swear' jar.  She is brilliant, sweet, quiet and sensitive.  But, don't EVER sneak up on her, she will throw you down in an arm bar and stab you in soft tissue with a pencil. Really.  She can't throw me down yet, but she's not even 4 feet tall. Give her time.

The last of my girls is Crow.  She has the name because she is loud.  I honestly need hearing aids (too many concerts) but the audiologist said not to bother until I can teach her volume control. She is 4 1/2 and has NO volume control.  It makes it interesting while trying to do any shopping with her.  I love the one where she commented on all the fatty, unhealthy foods in a very obese person's cart while I was trying to pay for groceries.  Super. Crow delights in torturing her older sisters.  And loves to grab my iphone and call people.  If you get a message with heavy breathing, it's probably her.[Only "probably"? -Nina] [Well, its not me!-K]

My amazing husband, Q (I would call him X, but my fingers don't like to type that letter), gave me these wonderful girls.  It has recently dawned on him that they will all PMS at the same time as me (in years to come, but still).  He is scared.  He wants to build an underground doghouse with cable TV out back, I'm guessing he means something really cool like a batcave.  I don't blame him.  It's not going to happen though. I think our homeowners association would have a problem with it.  I'm sure he'll figure out to plan his work trips, he's smart like that.

Me: Well, I'm Katya.  I drink lots of tea and diet coke so I'm over jittery for most of the day.  I love that people can home school (Nina) but I would go crazy(ier). I sing in the car, loudly and badly, sometimes it's the kids music I have on CD which is awkward because all of the minivan windows are tinted.  No, I really don't enjoy singing The Wheels on the Bus.  I like people watching; sometimes it makes me laugh out loud, again awkward. I am wildly inappropriate at times and make my kids shake their heads.  I love textiles of all sorts and really want to go shop at a market in Istanbul for a carpet. Really, one of my life's dreams right there.  I also have a keen sense of smell. It has led me to trouble, think pastries, and led the gas men to hazardous leaks, seriously. I like shoes. That was an understatement.  I love them.  And I have lots. My favorite right now are flip flops, mostly because I'm too lazy to pull socks out (and I just don't wear socks in the summer).  I also can't spell for beans.  So if a word looks a little off, it's because I misspelled it and Nina wasn't home when I called to ask her how to spell it. Or she was ignoring the phone because I'd already called her 12 times. [No worries, babe, I'm allowed to edit for you post-publish! Like now. I fixed Istanbul. You're welcome. -Nina] [It's okay, now I know how to edit, and I can edit your stuff too!- Katya]

My family is great.  I vent about them a lot to Nina, because we all don't get along some days, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.  They are my inspiration.