Combining the alphabet again...in hopes of completing the alphabet by tomorrow. I may be a day late and a dollar short, but by George, I think I will finish!
So this weekend, I was out in the sun a bit. I'm developing a farmer's tan which is not making me happy. I must confess to Cherry that I did NOT reapply the sunscreen. Don't hate me! My dilema is that I can't very well hide myself in a sweatshirt til August and risk heat stroke. What am I to do to solve this problem in time for the wedding?
If you wore a strapless wedding dress (or a dress with minimal coverage on the shoulders), what did you do about unsightly tan lines?
J showed me this video this weekend and I thought it was hilarious. Jack McBrayer is so cute and funny. Saw him in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which I totally recommend.
No, I'm not really going to right about sex. I think it's funny in life how you have certain friends you can talk about taboo subjects with and some you just don't.
Really what I am posting about is SoCal. The brood and I are leaving this afternoon for southern cali. Our first big roadtrip together. Listen, if I'm not back online by Wednesday, please make a donation to your favorite charity in my honor and remember me always. hahahahah I'm kidding. I'm not worried in the least that we will survive the trek. It's not like we are driving to Philly!
I will be meeting my future FIL for the first time. And possibly, his hetero life mate Frank. I find this one very interesting. The Dad has this best friend Frank. and Frank used to have a lovely wife (sorry J can't remember her name). She unfortunately passed away not long ago. Frank was totally devastated and told his BFF that he didn't want to live alone and need him to move in. The Dad moved out from the place he was living with his girlfriend and he and Frank have been co-habitating ever since. That my friends, is the ultimate friendship.
We will be staying with J's BFF from high school. BFF is going to be baptized this weekend along with our youngest child, L. I'm pretty excited! We all are. For different reasons. The kids are excited because this means a trip to Disneyland! I'm excited to meet more of J's family and friends. And to be away from our daily lives for a little while. I don't complain on here about our struggles to be "settled" for many reasons, but it's a constant fight with circumstances that are just beyond our control. Through it all though, we remain united as a family and look forward to the day where we will finally call somewhere home and live in peace.
We leave this afternoon and will be returning Monday. Can't. Wait! I wish I had the chance to say hi to my SoCal peeps! But it's a jam packed weekend. And one of you is out of town anyways. The other, I sure I hope I get to see you in June.
Thank you for always being there for me. You were a fun mom who was never too strict. I loved when we'd go to the movies or drive in together. I remember talking you into taking me to see a scary movie and telling you to close your eyes during the scary parts. (mom gets nightmares) You'd go on the rides at the fair with me even though they made you sick. Thanks for holding onto me tight when I almost flew out of that roller coaster. No seat belts! How crazy is that???
Thank you for spoiling me. For letting me go. For holding the net out in case I fall. When I was 18 you'd always have a spare $20 for me on a Friday night. And now 20 years later with inflation and all, you've still got some spare money for me and Autumn.
Thank you for being a wonderful grandmother to Autumn. And for opening your heart to four other little boys who will love you as much as she does. I remember when Autumn was a baby, you'd call and leave her messages on the machine. You are so sweet! I loved that you'd sing to her and play music with her. My favorite video you took is of Autumn singing Hit Me Baby One More time. Over. and over. haha
Thank you for my wedding dress. And for walking me down the isle. I used to worry when I was younger about who I'd want to walk me down the isle. I know it's a silly thing to worry about, you know I worried a lot. But now there is just you and it will be perfect. I can't wait.
I could go on forever, but I'll just say that I love you mommy.
I had a pretty bad allergy day yesterday. I went home and tried to lay down and get rid of the headache I had. I probably nodded off in 15 minutes only to be woken up by children playing outside my window. I couldn't shut the noise out, so I ended up on the couch for the rest of the evening.
Normally I wouldn't say I'm a light sleeper. But I do think I have a Mother's ear. I can hear Autumn if she gets up and walks around. I used to be so tuned into her I could hear her stirring...before she woke up. I wonder what it will be like now, with four other little sleepers in the house.
Most weekends, we start off saying..let's spend it in bed! Oh yea, we got kids. Sigh. Then we say, ok, let's have fun on Saturday and Sunday we'll spend in bed! haha This weekend start off just like that.
Friday we went to out to dinner with my family. It was Burger night at LynnDenise's work and it was super yummy! The kids all seem to get along really well. Not sure if it's because they actually like each other or because my nephew has a WII. Seriously, they do get along pretty darn well. My nephew has always wanted boy cousins and now he has them. A LOT of them.
Saturday we decided to take the ferry from Vallejo to San Francisco and go to Fisherman's Wharf. This is pretty huge for me. I usually never initiate a trip to the city. It was one of the most clear and warm days yet so it seemed to be the perfect time to go. I thought the ferry ride alone would be fun for the kids. They had fun letting the wind whip them up into a frenzy. We arrived around 11:30 and went straight to lunch at Bubba Gumps. I like how the kids meals all come in a little paper boat modeled after the Jenny.
We watched the sea lions on the pier, what a bunch of fat lazy bastards! The kids thought they were great. Little J kept asking me if he could have a sea lion. haha Maybe when we are millionaires, kiddo. We strolled through the stops. Got some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and watched some street performers. I was really bummed I didn't remember my camera. It sat in the car the whole time. Booooo! Here are some not so clear ones from my camera.
L and B pretending not to have a good time
Snoozing on the ride home
Sunday we did NOT end up spending in bed. But instead woke up late, went to breakfast and decided to head out to buy bathing suits for the kids and go swimming. We have a small pool in our complex that doesn't seem big enough for as many kids that live there :( The water was still pretty cold but the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. Hey Ma, when does your pool open???
Internet this is J. J, internet. I have been wanting you guys to meet for awhile now. Feel free to ask him questions or tell him embarrassing stories about me.
This is the person who makes me feel things even when I don't want to.
Who tells me I'm beautiful ever day
Who reaches for my hand as we walk away from the car.
Who whispers it's going to be ok when I cry.
He's the one I want to tell my good news to first.
The one I want to hug and kiss and tee hee hee..
The one who makes me laugh til I pee.
He'll send me a single rose, just because.
He's pretty much perfect in an imperfect sort of way.
And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life doing all of the above.
PS Jiggle Boobs is a joke for my OTHER friend J haha
Do you read your horoscope every day? I think it can be fun sometimes, when coincidentally it seems to know what's happening in your life. Do I seek it out every day to guide my daily life? No, that would be silly. I do find it interesting though. Who write the horoscopes? Is it written by some guy sitting in a dark room somewhere in his undies? Who has no clue what the universe is trying to tell me?
Do I really need to play it safe today? What if I want to go and step on every crack I can find? Should I plan that get together I've been thinking about? Because seriously? I didn't even know I was thinking that. Hey did you know if you are Sagittarius you can make a difference in someone's life today by just being your cool self? WOW Tell me, do you feel like you did?
I just saw this one. John, yours says it's a good time to rethink your deepest beliefs. What does that even mean? Let's throw Christianity to the wind and start worshiping ladybugs! Ya with me?
You know I started this post because I'm some times fascinated with horoscopes but I feel like I ranted about it instead. Maybe that's because I have been searching for some answers, and I didn't find them in todays daily overview.
I was talking to the love of my life this morning and he was telling me that this week in the car on the way to dropping the boys off at school, they take a turn and say one thing they are grateful for and have to say one nice thing about everyone in the car. Isn't that a lovely way to start off the morning? I also like that it encourages brotherly love. Cause you know, brothers can get on each others nerves sometimes.
Today I'm going to do the same thing with you, my bloggy friends.
I'm grateful to have a mom who still takes care of me. I'm grateful that I'm employed and all my bills are paid. I'm grateful for my growing family. And I'm grateful that even though I keep eating cookie dough, my pants still fit :)
Now, here's the nice part about my bloggy buddies.
LynnDenise has great taste and a smart ass sense of humor Julie is beautiful inside and out. Cherry makes the best berry cobbler Lizzie always has an ear for me to bend PY has the most awesome mix sixes Gina tells it like it is! Starshine is full of grace Beenzzz will cut a bitch (and I mean that in a good way ;) Donna can spin some yarn! MsMamma takes the most awesome pictures eva! John is the most generous loving person in the whole wide world!
Four months from today, I will be getting married. This time, it's forever. Easy enough to say isn't it? I mean it. I'm sure a lot of people mean it at the time. But life and circumstances, maybe even God have other ideas. When I got married the first time, I knew it wasn't going to be forever. I knew this but I went through with it anyway, because I was young and stupid and thought what the hell.
I'm now older and hopefully wiser. I know what I want and I know now the kind of person I want to be with forever. I know that I've found him. I know now that there was a family out there missing something. That something was me and Autumn. We were definitely missing something. Only we didn't know it was 5 boys! (sorry, 4 boys and 1 bald man) (ps.. love that bald head!)
I've found the person I want to hold hands with through this life. And I know he feels the exact same way about me. And it's forever.
J was talking about Desire today. That was a pretty cool knife, by the way. This is what I covet..Must talk about coveting since I'm only on the letter C.
I'm hoping with my little tax refund I can buy this
and maybe this..
Patchwork is always fun..
Something for my BFF..
And something more for myself. I actually have one of these in a flip flop. Yellow with a white daisy.
Have a crunchalicious day. DON'T forget to check back tomorrow for the letter D. hmmm D for dot? D for Divorce? D for douchebag? So many possibilities.
B is for boys. Lots and lots of boys! Soon I will be Autumn, A, B, J and L's mom. Autumn will go from being an only child to being the oldest of five. I think she's ready for the challenge. The next in line, another A, is younger than Autumn but in the same grade. He's a sassy little mimic and pretty good at thumb wars. Twins B & J will be in 5th grade. They are fraternal twins and polar opposites. B will be the first to be on his brothers shit lists, but makes friends pretty easily everywhere else he goes. J is quieter and more thoughtful. He likes to do puzzles and eat candy. L is the youngest. You know the youngest is always the cutest. He turned 9 yesterday. He is a sandy haired, freckle faced little cutie. Don't get me wrong though, he will cut a bitch.
Being with boys is so very different. Being with 5 kids is so very different. I find that there are lots of little hands to help around the house. Get this, I almost never take out my own trash. That alone is worth inviting these little human vacuum cleaners in! It's fun to know that we can always find a way to entertain ourselves just the seven of us. The other night after a pizza party for L's birthday we went to the park and played with super bouncy balls. When was the last time you did that? It's just as fun as when you were 8. Although, my back had other thoughts the next day.
I feel like I've been neglecting you! And in turn I feel neglected myself. I miss the adoration of my bloggy friends. So, for better or worse, I'm going to try and make this work...hanging on the coat tails of Starshine and Julie I'm going to try to post about every letter of the alphabet.
A of course, seems obviously easy. As I am known to you and the 7th grade class as Autumn's Mom. I always thought it was cute when I'd pick up Autumn from school, or participate in a school project and hear little voices saying, Hi Autumn's Mom! Hello back little human!
Soon, I will be performing a metamorphosis into a mom of five. Which gets me thinking that maybe on this blog, I've been in a cocoon and am waiting for the right time to transform into a beautiful butterfly..but of course, we'll have to continue this tomorrow with the letter B.
