Friday, May 27, 2005

Fifteen years ago today

I was going to post a mushy, poetic verse here, along with cute pics, to celebrate our anniversary. Flickr is getting a massage, and the craziness that has become our family schedule is still grinding along.

But, I do want to take a moment to celebrate that my wonderful, sweet, adorable, and geeky, hubby and I have been married for an unbelievable FIFTEEN years as of today. I was a dumb kid, literally, when we met, and he had no idea how young I was (I WAS legally an adult - shut up) and I realize how lucky we are, to not only have made it this far, and this long, but we actually lived through my growing up some more, two kids, several job changes, many moves, motorcycle accidents (for another post) sometimes devastating illness, and not only do we still love each other, we mostly LIKE each other a lot too. My dear Brit is funny, charming, sweet, caring, and I feel so blessed that I was right, at 19, when I chose him. After all, he did move more than three thousand miles away from his home to meet me.

Michael, I love you more than I can say. Thanks for enjoying the ride with me. Here's to a lifetime more. I love you, you geek.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Two words for you

MAPQUEST SUCKS



that is all.

Friday, May 20, 2005

What a WEEK I'm having!


DSCF0302
Originally uploaded by Broken Bindings.

Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but really, these two adorable creatures have been running me RAGGED this week.

On the upside.......no time to be depressed. heh

The past 10 days or so have been unbelievably busy. Mostly good stuff, our springtime activities heat up every year, with school band/chorus concerts, the annual dance recital coming up, end-of-year girl scout trips, etc. But come on, 10 days with nothing but driving, packing, unpacking, driving some more, screaming, etc?

puhleeeeeeeese gimme a break.

Friday, the 13th, Bookworm and I had a sleepover party at our nearby Girl Scout Activity Center. I was NOT looking forward to this, but actually, we had the time of our lives!
The party was called "Freaky Friday" and included several troops from the area, each girl bringing an important older female in her life. I got to be the Bookworm's important lady.
The evening was chock-full of girly activities like manicure time, making friendship bracelets, creating unique outfits out of construction paper, buttons and bows, and then dragging out the sleeping bags and snuggling up to watch "Freaky Friday" on a huge prejection TV.

WE HAD A BLAST!

Bookie and I laughed, like we haven't in a loooooooong time, cuddled, crafted, teased, tickled, and hugged, both of us reveling in the mother/daughter alone time. We soooooo needed it. I am amazed at how caring, funny, original, creative, and fun my (gasp) nearly 11-year-old baby has become.It was really, really nice to spend that time with her.
The next day, after tackling the 'rope course' at the camp ground, we made our way home. At 1:00
At 2:00-

Kiddo had to be 20 minutes away at a neighbor's birthday party. I dumped luggage, grabbed the Kiddo, and took off. Thankfully, my very sweet hubby had treated Kiddo to a night out at the Golden Arches, and a trip to Target to get the birthday present, otherwise we would have been VERY late.

Meanwhile, said British gentleman assembled our Kiddo's brand-new 15 foot trampoline, which was a birthday present for the lil one, we had promised it to her at her December birthday party and finally delivered.

Okay, this is getting too wordy, even for me, heh.

To be continued.....

I have been reading you all, and missing the interaction. But hey, Spring only comes around once a year, right?

Hugs all

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Jealousy


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Originally uploaded by Broken Bindings.

How pissed do you think it makes me that this chick can look THIS awesome with NO HAIR!?

I want my frizz gone.

Crazy, crazy weekend, still running around like a psycho, gotta run now and pick up my nephew and then kiddo, will update later. promise

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Great sisters come in sets of three

I have three sisters. Actualy, two of them are my stepsisters, but since our parents have been married now for 25 years, the step part no longer counts.
We all gathered Sunday at Sissy's house. She is six weeks younger than me, and constantly reminds me of that fact, by the way. All of the hubbies decided to throw a cookout for the wives, and let Sissy's hubby be in charge of the purchasing. Big mistake.
With children, our party was a grand total of 17. Present was my family, 4 of us, all 3 sisters, their hubbies, and my niece and 3 nephews, and my Dad's ex-wife and her 'friend'. My kids call my step-sisters' mom "Grandma Dee" and just consider her another part of our very big family. (My mom is one of 6 kids, my dad is one of 5).
We played lots of volleyball, had many shots and mudslides, fabulous salads, hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled pork loin. I was impressed with my bro-in-law's preparations. Until.
Until we were packing up to leave, and my bro-in-law started asking for the guys' shares of the cost. He wanted a hundred bucks apiece from each of the hubbies. I handed the Brit the cash, as he NEVER carries enough, but started scratching my head, wondering how he spent over five hundred dollars. We found out.
My mom, as usual watching out for her baby chickies, asked how he could have spent that much. The answer?

He forget to take out and cook the three huge london broil steaks, had purchased 4 cases of beer, 6 cases of soda, 6 different packs of buns, 12 bags of chips that never got opened, 3 'box' wines that are still in his garage, and a box of one thousand plates.

We paid up and left, but my sister now has to host ALL of our summer parties, and maybe Thankgiving, Chrismas, and New Year's Eve too.

I hope all of you mothers out there had a great Mother's day. I have tried to post since Monday, but blogger ate my homework.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Future cosmetologist, doncha know


DSCF0316
Originally uploaded by Broken Bindings.

heh heh, if she only knew how funny she is...

While casually paging through my least favorite catalog just now, Kiddo and I had the following exchange.

Kiddo: Mommy, all I want is Samantha, Kit, Samanthat's tea party, and ....loook look see dis?
Mean Mommy: Uh-huh
Kiddo: 'member Kit and Samantha mommy? like Bookworm's best friend has? I want dem. And the tea party. Oh yeah, and the doggie, and there is this 'udder' 'Mercan Girl dolly that comes with the horsie.
Mean Mommy: Oh, really?
Kiddo: Yup. That's it. Is it enough, Mommy?

Sometimes they seem like 'bestest friends'


Sometimes they seem like 'bestest friends
Originally uploaded by Broken Bindings.

and at other times....

well, sisters will be sisters, ya know?

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Things that make you go "hmmmmmm"

First, I want to thank you all for the lovely posts and email responses to my return. I feel a little bit like Sally Field.

I tend to isolate when the depression hits. I got very lucky this time. I am blessed with a really teriffic hubby, but he was just letting me get on with things and not mentioning anything about how down I was, or how messy the house was getting. Not one damn thing. I think he was just hoping I would 'snap out of it' without him having to confront me. The guy is great, but he IS BRITISH after all.

It was my mom, again, who helped me realize my situation. She called one day, chatted for a minute or two, and then said "Are you really okay? You have not called me in a while."

My mother and I are very close. We normally talk at least once a day, even if only briefly. She was right. I had stopped calling, and wasn't even checking my email. I am so grateful she got concerned and had the guts to confront me about it. She does that sort of thing all of the time. The woman is literally my hero, the gutsiest lady I know.

On Sunday, she will not be getting any sappy Mother's day cards from me. She will be getting the best "Thank You" card I can find. Over the years, since adolescence, my mother has stuck up for me when doctors told her I was fine, not sick, or a hypochondriac, or on drugs, the list goes on. Somehow she knew that something else was going on, and kept digging until we got to the bottom of it. She has helped me pull myself out of the bleakness of depression several times, even when I wanted to hate her for it, and never EVER gives up on me.

MS causes incredible fatigue sometimes, and I think the fatigue and depression many many MS patients experience are definitely connected. Luckily for me, I was slipping into another depressive period, but hopefully my mother helped me recognize it soon enough to turn things around.

I only wish I knew why I isolate myself. I have missed the blog world so much. I just didn't realize it until now.

Again, thank you all.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Tailspin

What causes them anyway?

I have been battling an outrageous, scary, quick-striking bout of the blues of late. I think I see the end of the tunnel.

I have missed you all, I don't even know why I stopped writing. I got rid of my computer cooties a while ago, but I was stuck in depression no-man's-land.

Does the MS cause depression bouts, or am I just crazy?

That, my friends, is the million dollar question.

I have been reading a lot of your blogs. Thanks for writing. You guys make me smile.

Now off to go email around to get the word out that I am actually back in the world, see if any of you all actually want to come back!

:)