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Just really busy-and now I'm off to spend a weekend in a "cabin" very similar to the one we stayed in for FRED last summer. Only this time, it's with my in-laws...Somehow, that's just not the same. Wish me luck! (And Jen R-it turns out this cabin is in Broken Bow, you've still got my cell # right? Chris-if you all DO go to Krebs to eat Italian, you've got my cell number too!)
Feel free to use the Comment section and let me know what you think. Thanks! For other (possibly better) Tuesday topics, see The Lazy Organizer who hosts this gabfest each week.
By 1:45 1:55 I will have...
At work, they are calling today "my day off." (I may have some other words to describe it.) Fortunately, Thanksgiving break was peaceful.
Reading-
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer-I took some friends' advice, borrowed Book 2 in the Twilight series, and read it this weekend. Jacob was less annoying and Bella was far less whiny in this one, than they are in Eclipse AND they went to Italy. Did I mention that Christy dropped it off on Friday and I finished it before bringing it back to her Sunday afternoon? Twilight is still the best, but I liked this one better than what I've read in Eclipse so far...
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer-As I said, Jacob is annoying and Bella is whiny. At least the Cullens are back...
Watching-
Heroes, Season 1, episodes 8-18-I am oh-so-addicted to this show! Thanks to Scott for letting me know I can watch Season 2 on Netflix since I'm so close to the end of this one. I remember Watch with Kristin (something else I'm addicted to) mentioning a cameo by George Takei, but I had forgotten it until he showed up, I love him (and Hiro!).
Battlestar Galactica: Razor-Watching this on Tivo right now...I'll have more to say next week.
It's a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving-I don't love this as much as I do the Halloween and Christmas specials, this has not been helped by the kids watching it over and over and over...It was cute the first time, though.
He's a Bully Charlie Brown-Ditto to what I wrote above this.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade-I wasn't incredibly impressed with the casts of either Xanadu or Legally Blonde. I do really want to see Young Frankenstein. Give it about, oh-say 5 years...it will get here to OKC.
OU v. OSU-A great payoff that I was more than a little nervous about watching yesterday. Bedlam is always good. Next stop: San Antonio
In My Netflix Queue-
The Nativity Story-I was very impressed at the quality of all aspects of this movie. Also...it made me cry even though I knew exactly how the story went. I recommend watching it this month (it's on HBO).
Legally Blonde: The Musical-Funny that I mentioned above that I wasn't impressed only to have it show up on Mtv right after the parade aired. Natalie wanted to watch it, so we did. It was cuter than I thought it would be and I have the song Legally Blonde stuck in my head, but I still like Reese Witherspoon better in the role. Still, if it shows up on my season ticket rotation, I won't cry.
Out and About-
I survived some Black Friday shopping and the annual Thanksgiving round-trip to and from Tulsa (I'm always a little lost there too, Christy.)
The best part of the week (aside from the family gatherings) was definitely the sealing at the OKC temple that I've already blogged about. It was great to see Christy and Carl and to see how much their kids Caleb and Eva have grown. Caleb just looks a little taller, but Eva has gone from baby to little girl. Speaking of them, Anna (the YW from my branch who watched them while the sealing was going on) is still talking about their "freakishly good" behavior for her. She said it was her cushiest babysitting gig ever. I hope they kept it up for their parents on the drive back to Nebraska.
All in all it was a better week than most. I hope the rest of the year goes this well.
Zoo pics are up! To see the ones of the kids, you have to be my Flickr friend. But since Lammy and Christy know all parties involved, I will post this freebie of everyone who went (except me and Sis F. who were smart enough to stay BEHIND the camera lens). We had 2 of the YW, 2 of my kids (Tristan and Natalie were Sat. morning bowling), and all 6 of Sis F's kids.
P.S. Christy, that "baby" KL is the one on the far left next to A and E.
I whine a lot here on this blog about my struggles with church. What I don't mention often enough are that these struggles are mainly superficial. While I will admit to struggling with some of the perceived notions of what an LDS woman should be, I've never had a problem with any of the doctrine. Well, I've never had a problem believing them-living them...well that's a whole slew of other blog posts. Still, it hasn't always been easy. I stick with it because I do believe that, in the end, it will be worth it. Occasionally, I get glimpses of why I keep going. Today was one of those days.
If you ever reach a point in your marriage when you wonder exactly why it is you are so committed to it in the first place, I suggest attending a temple sealing. (Needless to say, you have to be LDS to do this.) Today, my friend Christy's mom (who blogs here from time to time) was sealed to her husband. It isn't my story to tell and I won't. I will say that a happy marriage and a temple sealing were a long time coming for this wonderful lady and it was nice to be there and share such a well-deserved day with Christy and her mother. To sit there in the beautiful celestial room, to listen to President Gillespie speak a little before performing the sealing, and to be among people that I love a lot but see very little was special. Of course, I couldn't help remembering the day it was Dave and I (and a very young Natalie) at the altar and my oft-repeated phrase that I'm determined to make my marriage work "for the sake of my temple covenants" become more than just words again to me this morning. My heart was very warm as I left the temple (and that's good because the weather was freezing). Congratulations to Darla and Greg and thanks for letting me be there!
As if that weren't enough, I continued from the temple to an 8 year-old's baptism at my local branch. I don't think I praise the branch enough on this blog and I really should. I've belonged to the church now for almost 15 years and never have I found a place where I feel so much a part of a family as I do here. Maybe that's because most of the members in the branch actually ARE family. Maybe it's because in a small branch like this, there's just more room to be a little bit flawed or have slightly eccentric personality traits. Whatever the reason, I am happy to be part of it. The baptism today was no exception. I arrived ten minutes late, and even though the actual service hadn't started; I still had to grab a chair from the stack of extras and sit by the door because the place was packed. The service itself was quite touching. Grandparents said the prayers and gave the talks, one older brother performed the baptism, the other did the confirmation; and we all sang several Christmas carols in the interim between baptism and confirmation. I had debated driving straight home from the temple out of fear of missing the opening Sooner play for this year's bedlam game. But, as I've known the newly-baptized young man quite literally since birth (I went to see him in the hospital while nauseously pregnant with Tristan) and knowing that his brothers were Sooner fans too-I made the detour. I'm glad I did.
And as if the day couldn't have been any better-my Sooners pulled it off 49-17 over OSU today and I didn't miss a minute of the game either. And, my friends, in my world it gets no better than that.
I usually avoid shopping on this day like the plague and while I certainly did not get up at 4 a.m., I did venture out for a couple of deals that I thought were worthwhile. Happily, I found what I wanted and I swear the crowds on the street and in the check-out line were bigger than any crowds I encountered in the stores. I'm glad it's all done...but still, how did it get so close to Christmas without my noticing it until today?
Since I started working part-time, the chaos of my home life has multiplied proportionally. Between a very busy field trip season at work (and we LIKE those), a big PTA fundraiser, and the day-to-day business of being a mother of four children; I often find myself spread pretty thin. I've never been the world's best cook, and yet I hate to let Mazzio's, Sonic, or McDonald's become the family chef either. While I've known about the place since it opened, I finally broke down last month and ordered two weeks of thaw-and-assemble meals from Dishing It Up. All I can say is that I wish I had done this 6 months ago! While I admit that I could pre-cook, slice, and freeze everything in the same way that they do, the fact is that I would rather spend my weekends with my kids. Because we do eat at my grandmother's every Friday as well as go out at least twice a month (not to mention try and use up our leftovers), twelve meals from there stretch for a month here allowing me both to utlize their meals and still cook on my own without the stress of fixing something every night. Not to mention, the ladies at Dishing It Up are much better cooks than I am. Works for me!
I'm sitting here watching my first ever episode of Dancing with the Stars. Now it's over...I wish the kids would go to bed so we could watch some more Heroes.
If you take it, PRETTY PLEASE link, comment, or email me with your results. This was fun.
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Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in with? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as SG-1 (Stargate) You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body.
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Reading-
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer-
I know, I know it's BAD to have skipped book 2, but as I suspected, book 3 explains any major points from that book in the text. I heard that New Moon has very little Edward in it and I also didn't want to pay $6 more for it than I did for either Twilight or Eclipse. I'll get it when it comes out in paperback and probably feel bad for not reading it in the proper order. Meanwhile, I'm quite enjoying book 3 in the series. As an adult, I laugh a little about Bella's so-very-intense love for her first boyfriend, but I'm still completely sucked into the plot. So far, I still like Twilight the best. But I'm not finished with this one yet.
Watching-
Heroes, Season One episodes 3-8-
This show has proven completely addictive. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I run out of Season One DVD's-Season 2 is already midway through and I hate to start without seeing the beginning. I should have been using my DVR all along, I guess I'll have to wait for it to come out on DVD too. It's funny...I loathed Milo Ventimiglia on Gilmore Girls and I've thought Hayden Panetierre was a brat for leaving Guiding Light when she did even though it obviously was the right career move. But I love both of their characters on this show. And while she realized it was the wrong thing to do, I LOVED it when she drove into the wall with the quarterback in the car. Really loved it.
Grey's Anatomy-
I saw last week and this week's episodes back to back. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Miranda Bailey. I'm not so fond of yet ANOTHER potential love interest for Derek showing up...but whatever. And Meredith was right. I don't think any one of us ever really and truly grow up...(I also had to LOL at Derek admitting to being a nerd in high school considering he is played by Patrick Dempsey.)
Oregon v. Arizona-
Well, it was enjoyable to watch that day anyway. (Remember, I went to the U of A for a year and have a healthy Sooner dislike of the Oregon Ducks.)
OU v. Texas Tech-
I made it through the 1st half while at dinner at a friends' house, then gave up after we got home and went to bed. From the looks of the score today, I made the right choice. Sigh...However, I do want to point out that throughout the entire Oregon v. Arizona game the announcers went on and on about how the loss of the QB was the problem...Not once did they speculate (while I was watching) that perhaps the removal of Sam Bradford might have something to do with the team's struggle. I don't know why those stupid sports announcers are NEVER sympathetic to the Sooners, but they aren't. Jerks.
At the Movies
Love in a Time of Cholera-
I broke one of my own cardinal rules and saw a movie before I had read the book. But a friend and I both really needed a night out and we were curious about the movie. The first hour was slow, but the second hour made it worth it. I wouldn't really recommend it to any of my male readers. It gave a lot of food for thought, though. I particularly liked the last line about 'life instead of death being limitless.' It was interesting to see John Leguizamo in a dramatic role, always good to see Hector Elizondo, a very talented Italian actress in the lead role, and Shakira making a dramatic musical departure on the soundtrack. All in all, a good movie in my opinion; but in the same way that Cinema Paradiso is a good movie-which means it's appeal is limited.
The Bells of St. Mary's-
It's a classic and the holiday season approaches. I couldn't resist when I saw it was on today.
Out and About-
Movie Night-
To refresh your memories, this was the big PTA fundraiser night. It could not have happened without the donations of printed raffle tickets, prizes from Hollywood video, Rusty's custard, CiCi's Pizza, Subway (Noble), Sooner theatre, Kendall's restaurant, free concessions, the hard work of some of the best PTA officers and members that Kennedy has had since my kids have attended there, and all the ticket sales that students and teachers made on the last 2 weeks. It was a pleasure to be a part of it all. We titled the evening "I love this school!" and I do.
Oklahoma City Zoo-
We took the YW to the zoo along with two of my kids and all 6 of my friend's kids. It was a really fun day. The weather was perfect, Caroline and Elisa loved having all of my attention, the girls helped us with all of the kids, and it wasn't crowded at all. I took a lot of pictures, to see them on our Flickr acct. I have to add you as a friend unless you just want to see the animals. I'm not doing this to shut anyone out, just to protect my kids and any other kids in pictures with them. I'm happy to add anyone to my Friends' list, all you have to do is ask.
Dinner Out-
Dave and I were finally able to get to our friends Scott and Lauri's for dinner. We've been trying to do this for about a year now. Lauri and I used to be in the YW Presidency together and our four kids are almost exactly the same ages. She makes it over here for a big play date at least once a month, but the dinner date has been harder to pull off-I'm glad we finally did. It was a lot of fun, even with the OU/Texas Tech debacle.
Stake Conference-
As each of us wrestled our respective families out of the church building, an old friend from college said to me with a wink "Conference just isn't as fun as it used to be, is it?" In a way, that's true. I was ready to give away each of my four children-especially my son. And yet, I still left with a good spirit. The talks were all good and almost all of them were presented with people I know and respect. As I listened to them today in the stake center, I was inspired by what most of them said and when my mind would wonder, I remembered things...My husband's baptism and ordination to the Melchizedek priesthood, attending church there as an investigator, coming in for my first Sacrament meeting in America on Christmas Eve after returning from Italy, and all four of my babies being blessed at the front of that chapel...And even when it's crazy, it's still good to see people from old wards, to see their new babies and how big their older kids have grown year by year. So, while it may not be as easy or fun as it was in years past, there is still a lot of good that comes from attending conference.
You're doin' fine!
(And here's a little Hugh Jackman for your viewing pleaure-oh wait, that's MY viewing pleasure!)
I sing this song sometimes while unlocking the buildings at work in the morning.
I made it home before 5 p.m. for the first time in about 2 weeks tonight. I should type up a witty TT list of 13 of Murphy's Laws that seem to apply specifically to my life. Instead, I think I'll just let Dave cook dinner, curl up on the couch, and watch Heroes DVD's and DVR'd episodes of Grey's Anatomy until tonight's episode starts. Anyone want to join me?
P.S. I replied to everyone's comments to yesterday's post in that section. If you want to continue the discussion-I would welcome it. I like participation and other people's perspectives here.
I've got a lot of random thoughts floating around tonight. I'll do my best to put them into a coherent blog post. Be patient...
My good friend Jen posted a question to me in the comments section about whether or not I would have Tristan play football since I was such a college football fan. (And because those college boys often go pro, I'm now getting interested in that too. But I digress...) When he was a husky little 10 month-old in the highest percentile for height and weight; I thought maybe so. Now that he is one of the smallest, thinnest little guys in the second grade who has a problem 'playing nicely with others' AND hates to be bad at something; I'm thinking "no." He did just start a kids' bowling league on Saturday mornings and he seems to like that. It's the first thing he's ever shown any interest in doing as far as extracurricular activities, so I signed him up for it. Along those same lines, Natalie came to me after the first day of school step-team practice and said she didn't want to try out after all or even attend any more practices, she said she didn't like it. I don't believe in forcing activities on my kids, so I let her quit. She still likes her piano lessons and wants to start drama classes in the spring. Still, should I have let her quit without a gentle nudge to hang in there until try-outs? Should I push my son to do more than Saturday morning bowling? I haven't had a lot of time to involve my kids in extracurricular activities and I wonder if I've done them a disservice. These are things I worry about...feel free to share your thoughts.
My other thought is completely unrelated except that it's also about kids. Last night was the first really big fundraiser I've done as PTA President that didn't include a catalog or candy box. Dave and I got a mailing last year about doing a PTA family movie night and planned on trying one this year. Early this fall, the new PTA officers invited a fundraising expert to attend one of our meetings and we got the idea to combine this fun night with a raffle. For eight weeks, we started gathering prizes and printing tickets in earnest. I'm sure I have whined here before about lack of parent involvement, low sales with fundraising, and always feeling so frustrated and spread so thin as an executive board. Well, over the last two weeks I have had more parent involvement and more participation than I've seen since my son started Pre-K and I first became involved with PTA. Our little bitty movie night turned in a fundraiser that grossed over $3,000. I'll admit there were a few bumps (the concession line went on until about ten minutes before the movie)...but the night went very well. As I lay in bed at about 5 a.m. reflecting on how it felt to have actually done something right for once, I thought about how involved I am in kids' organizations. As a college student, I always thought I would be more involved in politics. Then again, I also thought Ross Perot could get elected president...so there's that. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a candidate I really believed in since the early '90's and I just can't get excited about someone that I can't trust. So, rather than politics, I choose the kids. Over the past several years, I have worn myself out as a mother of children at home, a teacher of children at work, and a PTA leader at school. I sit here right now with sore feet, a stress-induced cold sore, and a zit on my chin but also with a PTA account that's $3,000 richer; and so, it's all been worth it. Politicians lie to each other, their voters, and sometimes themselves. They play dirty, take money from lobbyists, and lose whatever focus they may have had when elected to office in the first place. Kids hug you, kids say 'thank you,' and even when they act crazy...they are still grateful for what you do for them. It's not that I don't vote, I absolutely do-but if I choose to throw myself into any cause, I'm glad that I choose the kids.
That's all I've got for tonight. Thanks for reading!
Since Oklahoma will celebrate its Centennial this coming Friday, I couldn't resist showing off this song written especially for the occasion. Enjoy!
And while I'm showing off my Sooner Spirit-here is one of my favorite things about attending OU football games live and in person.
And the crowd goes wild while the Sooners take the field!
I am so proud to be from Oklahoma!
Reading-
Ender's Shadow-
I finally finished this about twenty minutes ago. I agree with Nancy Face about this one being a bit better than Ender's Game in some ways. Things ended a bit more nicely for Bean than Ender, anyway. I guess now it's time to find more Orson Scott Card at the used book store.
Watching-
Heroes, Season 1, episodes 1 & 2-
After realizing that my poor Netflix queue sits still for weeks on end when things get busy here, I realized that I couldn't wait to get through all the Lost, Season 1 dvds that are still in queue before I started watching this. So, a ten minute run to Wal-Mart for a gallon of milk wound up being slightly more expensive than I originally planned. It was worth the money or at least it has been so far...We will probably watch more episodes tonight. I like these much better than Lost, but anyone who knows me probably isn't surprised.
Grey's Anatomy is still sitting on my DVR and I plan to watch Cold Case and Brothers and Sisters later tonight. (I was pretty sad watching last week's Brothers and Sisters and don't have a lot to say about it.)
Out and About-
Girls' Night Out-
Apparently, there have been a series of these events in the Metro. The most recent one was hosted by my place of employment and with the lure of a free ticket, I checked it out with some of my co-workers. There was good food, line dancing, and a cute motivational speaker. It was a fun evening and worth the drive to The City.
OU v. Baylor-
We saw our last game live and in person last night. The weather was perfect and Baylor never quit playing despite what the final score said. I would love to see OU v. OSU with my parents, but I'll bet that ticket is already spoken for.
Shopping with "the girls"
If my nieces and my oldest daughter MUST grow up, at least they have become lots of fun to take to the local mall-even if two of our stops were Claire's (Libby's favorite) and Limited Too. I am so not ready to have a "tween" in the house. At least she will be a well-dressed one.
I'm sorry I skipped yesterday, but it would have consisted of about three sentences. The first one would have been about how I know there's a God because there's no way I could make this stuff up on my own. (It would refer to Dave's step-sister, her husband, and their son showing up in my group during their field trip yesterday-though we all actually had a lot of fun together.) The second sentence would have been to inform you all that you can, in fact, burn canned green beans if you try hard enough. And then I would have said 'goodnight and God bless.' I was that tired. Today, I feel more like making my 1,000th post. So here goes...
Several months ago, AGK asked some questions about blogging. I didn't comment then, but I've thought about them a lot since then. I thought my answers might work well for a 1,000th post. First of all, I started blogging while pregnant with my 4th child. I tend to suffer from depression both during and after pregnancy. I've got no problems admitting to my health care professionals that I have a problem or doing whatever it takes to remedy it. However, I won't medicate while pregnant and that's usually what is most effective at treating me. During the worst part of the pregnancy, I remembered how a weekly email I sent to friends and family used to help me cope while Dave was in Bosnia for 6 months. Because not everyone likes 'all Melessa all the time' showing up in their Inboxes, I didn't want to go that route this time-but I did feel like I needed to write. I asked some friends about setting up a blog, and to my delight discovered that Blogger had finally become a free service. I signed up immediately. In the beginning, I didn't say much. It wasn't that I didn't type a lot, but only parts of it made it all the way to the "publish post" button.
Like women in many churches, I had been encouraged most of my adult life to ignore those parts of my life that were painful or imperfect and pretend them out of existence. Kind of an "accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative" plan, but instead of eliminating you just ignore. I tried to implement this policy in 1994, and by 2003 I was close to exploding from all the details I had supposedly "eliminated." I pushed them to the back of my mind, but like any closet you can only fill it so much before you can no longer close the door. The more I wrote, the more I remembered. The more I remembered, the more I wrote about it (and either saved or erased it). At first, I was afraid of it. After all, good Christian women do not giggle about being drunk in their early 20's. They are not amused by the irony of running into old lovers either at church or the pediatrician's office. (Or the girlfriends they were cheating on with you on the same airplane flights or when they bring their children on field trips to where you work.) But I still find that stuff very funny even though I'm glad I'm not that neurotic and insecure 20 year-old who felt she had to prove herself an adult with such juvenile behavior. Good church girls are 100% devoted to their husbands and those husbands are pillars of strength and good examples to their families. They don't say they've quit chewing tobacco only to be caught doing it over and over again behind your back. They don't leave you at the hospital just hours after their first child is born and is still in bad condition and unable to leave the nursery and their usually stoic wife is intermittently crying from pain even after a shot of morphine and asking continually for the baby (because the drugs only leave her capable of remembering everything that happened for about half an hour at a time). Church husbands don't go happily for days without engaging in conversation with their wives, AND even if their husbands do fall short of perfection...good church wives NEVER complain about them. Like I said, I was holding back a lot. Once baby number four came along and I started back to school, I could no longer hold back...
As life became more and more stressful, my blog became my coping device. Sometimes what I wrote was funny, sometimes it was whiny, and every once in awhile; I was really proud of it. Living with four small children and a very disinterested spouse; this blog (whether people read it or not) became my confidante. And then, I discovered blog hit counters...and learned that there were indeed people out there reading. There weren't many and I had no way of determining who they were, but they were there. Meanwhile, this blog had become my confessional. I admitted to my liberal politics, my mother's cruelty, my history with domestic violence, and to stupid mistakes in my past that I hadn't allowed myself to think of for years. I also began to tell the whole truth about being a mother. That while I loved my children, I was struggling. That my white picket fence and 'happily ever after' were constantly alluding me, that my life didn't feel like my own, and that instead of shrugging it off with an "oh well...at least I'm following God's plan for women," I wondered if it wasn't too much to hope that God had a little something more in store for me. I had intended for this blog to be a family website with the occasional political or religious rant. It had instead become my own personal therapy.
That was how this blog got started...it has seen me through a pregnancy, a new baby, a move to a new house, a college graduation, and many other milestones. I have realized that, while we most definitely share the same beliefs, I really may not ever fit in with the other church ladies and that as long as I am doing what is right, that I'm OK with God and that is all that matters. (And strangely, this self-realization has made me comfortable enough in my own skin to actually make a few friends at church. Who knew?) I have realized that my husband isn't perfect and neither is my marriage, but so far...it is OK and that ultimately we will figure out what our future will be. I still have every reason to hope that things will work out, and I trust myself to decide that one way or another in my own time. I also know that I'm not the mother I once envisioned myself to be, but that I'm still a good one and that 90% of the time, I'm doing my best. Along the way, I have met some new bloggers both online and in person, resolved long-standing issues with some old ones, gotten some freebies for plugging them here, showed off my kids, written innumerable trip reports, book and movie reviews, been published (via interview) in a national magazine, and worked through a lot of the personal clutter I once thought best hidden and ignored until it was forgotten. I have definitely accomplished more than I could have hoped for when I first signed up with Blogger and these first 1000 posts have been a great ride. I can't wait to see what the next 1,000 will bring. I hope you all stick around with me to find out.
For variation, I'm back to posting the first line of each song and letting you all guess which song/artist it is:
Thank you very much for playing!
Did you guess? Did you play? Leave a comment! Sorry if I heard a few lyrics wrong here and there. You'll forgive me right?!
For tomorrow: My 1,000th POST!!
Happy 34th Birthday Christina! I searched my saved photos for something glamorous or even cutesy, but all I found was this:
You look good, I look possessed. I'd say it works! I hope "Mr. Mapquest" is treating you right. Much love
Melessa
Hell is a taligate party in your in-laws' 5th wheel WHEN THE AFOREMENTIONED IN-LAWS ARE PRESENT. It's gonna be a long night. Go Sooners! (Something has to go right before I fall asleep tonight...)
For those of you using a feed like Bloglines or Google, you will actually have to click through-sorry. Sadly, this was not my first choice of headers. What I actually want is a winding country road-but I wasn't smart enough to take a picture of one during FRED last summer. So for now, it's this. At least the colors match.
Someone I once knew defined hell as "a Highland Park DeMolay Installation in folding chairs." A few of you will know what I'm talking about and laugh in agreement. That definition worked throughout my teen years and early 20's. Since then, I've added other defintions. For the last several years it's been: "Hell is being left at the hospital by your husband just hours after giving birth and too doped up on morphine to shoo away all your well-meaning visitors so you can get some much-needed sleep." (Actually it was just one well-meaning visitor, and the reason this person just WOULD NOT LEAVE was only because they realized that I was in no condition to be left alone. Had this person not been the kind that you really have to have a lot of energy to deal with, I would have welcomed the company. And, for all that person's shortcomings, at it least it occured to them to stick around. Something I wish had occured to my husband. It's OK though, it inspired a really good scene in my screenplay.) He did this with the two worst deliveries out of all four of them, so at least he's consistent. Now that the baby phase of my life is effectively over, I have a new definition of hell. "Hell is spending several hours with your four kids in your in-laws' 5th wheel." I think this definition will stick around for the next few years at least.
The schedule for yesterday and the day before it involved insanity like getting up at 4 a.m. and driving to and from and back to The City all by 9:30 a.m. and included showcasing my children on a live TV broadcast (video soon to come), collecting fundraiser money each morning, doing my normal day's work, attending Halloween parties (that's right, plural), and keeping four children's costumes and candy neat and under control. Looking at the calendar, I dreaded these days for the entire month of October. I thought they would be awful. For once, my inner Eeyore was wrong.
For many years, I was conflicted about celebrating Halloween. Not for any religious reason, but because during my senior year in high school; two close friends died within days of each other just before Oct. 31st in completely unrelated incidents. Spending two All Saints Days in Italy didn't do much to change my attitude. However, from the time Natalie was old enough to put on a costume, each Halloween has steadily improved. This one was the best ever! On Tuesday, FOX 25 taped three shorts featuring all four of my kids in their costumes playing games to show how much fun the Halloween event at work was going to be. While I didn't see it live, I ate up the TIVO'd version like you wouldn't believe. Especially Tristan correcting the reporter on what his costume was on live TV. Funny stuff that made the early hour and 2x round-trip worth every minute and every gallon of gas. That night was the Fall Festival at Elisa's pre-school. We gave ourselves a break by eating at Mazzio's pizza buffet and showing off the costumes to GranD since her house was close. She loved it! (The kids spent Halloween night at work in The City with me, and she wouldn't have seen them otherwise which she was quite unhappy about.)
I'll admit that being Homeroom Mom for two of the three kids on the next day was a little crazy, but still fun. It's amazing how many moms I've become friendly with since Tristan started Pre-K there. And it was wonderful to have some help and some company while counting fundraiser tickets and money. I don't know when I quit being the odd man out in almost everything that I'm involved with, but as four of us 30-something moms of many were giggling and putting lipstick on each other-it occurred to me that my outsider status is in serious jeopardy. (And I'm quite fine with that.) After the classroom festivities, I packed my kids back up and returned to The City yet again. The work even was even more fun than last year and the kids were SOO cute. After some games and trick or treating, Dave took the little kids home and left Natalie with me. She sat on the Farmhouse steps and as I handed out candy, she would disappear inside with any visitors and give an abbreviated tour of the one I give almost daily. It was cute and Mom was proud. Natalie and I don't have nearly as many 'moments' as we used to-I blame it on her being in 4th grade, but last night we really did.
And so, I was a lot more tired than usual and I probably shouldn't drive until I've had a good 8 hours of sleep-BUT life is good and the two days I dreaded the most turned out to be two of my best as a mother. Doesn't it usually happen when you least expect it?
*We have a traveling blue ribbon at work. I won it for making two round-trips to work and back on Tuesday.
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