July 1st

The beginning of the end.

The end of sleeping diagonally in the bed-- oh, who am I kidding, with two children in my bed, I have NOT had it to myself enough days to sleep diagonally.

The end of worry-free towel use (the purple towel is MINE).

The end of chick flicks available at all times (*sniff* bye bye Mr. Darcy)

The end of eating what I want when I want--again, who am I kidding? I've taken to eating in the pantry just to keep the vultures away (what ten extra pounds? I don't know what you're referring to!).

The end of being the ONLY one who seems to notice when there's a used diaper on the floor...

...of being the only one who recognizes when milk jugs bounce around your feet, the recycling might need to go out.

...of cooking only to be met with "I don't like that".

The end of dragging every child everywhere.

The end of left overs going uneaten.

The end of running out of milk so often, requiring me to drag every child everywhere at hours not conducive to good sleeping habits.

The end of being the only one to lock up at night-- there are so many stinking doors and windows in this house!

...of being the only one who speaks in multiple syllables.

...of trying to video or photograph historic children events with a mini human climbing up my leg.

The end of easy laundry... visions of uniforms with specific washing instructions are dancing in my head.

The end of some very long, soul-searching months.

I love July.

I love that when it's over, the Sexy guy will be back...

which will mean the end


for some unwelcome (squeaky) guests...

Mouse hunt anyone?

Fun Beckons

2005,
we packed our kids and an exchange student and headed to Disney World.

Yes, A2 IS wearing his pajamas, we started driving in the middle of the night to get to our plane.

and

at the risk of losing everyone to a cliche,

it was magical.

Oh, there were not-so-magical moments--





The exchange student's 8-day ticket disappeared from our room;

I lost my memory stick;

the hurricanes skirting Florida pelted us with downpours for a very wet, first Dumbo ride
click on the picture if you don't believe me






and my Hubby spent most of our trip trying to sort out meeting times with his Dad. His cellphone became permanently fixed to his ear (and my scowl lines grew deeper).

But I have so many more fond memories--

Like seeing this little guy have the time of his life... up to the point where we broke him.
(we walked so far the first 2 days that for the rest of the trip we had to pose him with characters since he couldn't unbend his legs... and yes, we finally decided that a stroller would be a good idea)

This is all going to be used against me in court, isn't it?



And eating the best food I have ever
over-consumed
at Boma's while laughing at J1's excitement
over the dessert (Him: "Mom! You have to try these, it's like putting a jelly fish in your mouth!"
Me: "uh..., yum?").

No matter how hard you look,

you will not see J1 in this photo.

He ate TOO many desserts

and was being sick in the bathroom.

Oh, and watching my kids smile and laugh uninhibitedly, with no schedules or obligations
for any of us.















Seeing the admiration (ok, it was more like hero-worship) of my three boys
who had no idea that their Mom was the reigning champion of Galaga in her youth
(Hubby says I smashed the record at Pizza Planet, but I don't remember details. I only remember wishing I'd just get killed off because my old lady hands were hurting).

sigh. Good times.

We were planning our next trip before we even boarded the plane for home.

That trip is now, we've started the 60-day countdown...

It's a small world after all,
anyone planning a road trip that wants to meet me at the castle?

Just When I'm Berating Myself For Wasting Time...

... I read a post somewhere that kick starts my memory, creativity
or touches me in a way that reminds me why we're all out here.

One of the recent "Oh, I'm so glad I read this!" posts was over at (surprise) (again) Woman in a Window' s place, with Reverential Dwarf.

It gave me reason to reflect on the people who have passed through my life, maybe just briefly, but who really need to be credited with a little of what makes me, me.

The most predominate memory for me today is of the woman who would let me sit at the bar in that small desert town that was baking in the sun (before laws said 6 year-old children couldn't sit at the bar) eating her maraschino cherries (regardless of the formaldehyde stories attached to their sticky wonderfulness) while my dad drank icy cold Budweiser from a can.

The inside of her home was orange. The brightest orange walls you ever saw and I was enraptured by the boldness. I had never seen such a color anywhere other than in an LA diner where we quickly inhaled our greasy eggs and bacon before retrieving my runaway sister from the juvey detention center. I use bold colors on my walls now.

My first spanish words were spoken in her home. "Uno Blanco Lobo" was her dog's name (and I'm pretty sure the adjective was in the wrong place, but who am I to say what someone names their dog?).
Her name was Neva and she made up one part of the timeline that was my childhood-- her children made up many more (it was her son, Larry who crushed the Christmas "Jolly Elf" myth and ruined the surprise of a bicycle waiting under the tree).

It's like that Orange commercial...

oh, go ahead, watch it and then tell me...



...who from your past or present popped into your mind?

Share,

you know you want to.

Just Say It

Ok look. At the risk of sounding like Sad Sack, I'm just going to say it.
I am not a big pity party waiting for a place to happen.
I actually pride myself on being pretty good at keeping it fun and light (be quiet husband), but for some reason
again,
I was hugely rejected.

It happened yesterday and here we are 24 hours later and I still can't shake it.
The poor Hubby had to talk me down from the ledge on a dodgy ichat connection at 1 am.


At a recent school gathering, the subject of New Moon came up-- with smiles and laughter--
from the woman I had to beg to read Twilight. I actually bought TWO copies of the book and passed both out among a particular group of friends to convince them to read it. They all loved it. She told me she was counting down to the movie-- she was going to see it in London.

Silly Me: "Oh! I want to go!!" (That brash American trait where I will invite myself when it includes Twilight)

Thoughtless Her: "Oh, I'm sorry, you can't, it's a private party". (laughter, smile smile)

Silly Me thinking she was being hilarious, or maybe a little serious because she had this special "date" booked with her teen daughter: I'm the one who convinced you to read it and your snubbing me! (Ha, ha, I am so funny)

Unkind Her: "Well we have had this group lined up for ages!" (smile laugh smile --Oh, did i just hurt your feelings? Never mind, the sun is shining, smile smile)

Me: "Oh. I. see."

I began to excuse myself to go get refreshments for my boys. She sort of caught on that maybe what she had just done was a little tactless and began saying, "Well, you can come on then if you really want to come".

Not feeling quite so silly now Me: "No, really-- thank you. I had actually considered flying to the states to see it with friends before I found out it was being released here on the same day "(real friends, I'm thinking, and no, I didn't coat it with sarcasm).

So, I'm hurt.
Am I over sensitive?
I saw this as an "in your face, you don't really matter to us" incident.

I have some good people who have done some wonderful, thoughtful things for my family, so why am I dwelling on this?

Do you suppose I'm just suffering post-cookie-baking-in-the-middle-of-the-night disorder?

Can You Help Me With Some Math?

It's algebra I think...

(Hypothetically)

If one were to make several dozen chocolate-peanut butter cookies at 2 am,

requiring one to taste the

cookie dough repeatedly,

and sample each

batch for quality control...


and if that tortured individual washed

the sticky sweetness down with 2 cups of milk,

how many crunches would it take to cancel out those calories?



And

could those crunches be done the next day?

Because like I said, this (hypothetical) situation would have occurred at 2 am.



Did I mention that the same week J1 was supposed to have his tux, there was a special outdoor door lunch for the kids one day, another outdoor lunch being hosted by the class of the 6 year-old (requiring food and raffle donations) and a disco?

I need a nap.