Tonight we had a family dance at school. You were "invited" to this dance if you had bought tickets to it at last year's auction. It was put on by our PE teacher and our music teacher. Everyone was required to wear a costume and we were all assigned something to bring. Of course, being our group and all, we had to have a pre-func. to get the adults loosened up and ready to dance. A beer and pizza party was held and everyone came, got filled up on food and drink, and headed off to dance ( which I did not attend because I am sick and my mommy would have been very mad at me if I had gone). However, I did suck it up and take the kids to the party.

Since I was under the weather ( and sober ) I didn't dance much. In fact I danced once, the Hampster dance. But everyone else did dance. And as I sat there watching this group of people that I have become so involved with over the past four years, my heart just melts. Many of them are very prominent people in the community, our city, as well as our state. But not at school....at school they are just someone's dad, a scout leader, or a baseball coach. And they are on the dance floor, dressed like Mr Incredible, or a spider, or a priest, and they are doing the hustle with 40 other people and their daughter who is dancing on the top of her daddy's shoes. We are all very close in one way or another, we are all "related" somehow. And it feels like such a tight knit caring community and it just makes me so incredibly thankful that we are a part of it.

Afterwards we headed up to the local haunted house. It is a house that opens itself up each year to a. scare the crap out of all the kids and b. collect food for the Oregon Food Bank. I have never allowed my kids to go because I felt they were too young and I spent years trying to get them to sleep through the night and I'll be damned if I am letting anything screw that up. Since "everyone else" was going, I figured I give it a shot. When we got there, there were more of the kids' classmates there and they had the whole place to themselves. Jack made it about half way through when he started crying and completely freaking the fuck out. I reminded him that he had to walk back though all that scary stuff to get out, but he was not walking One Step Farther, so back we went. Dagny and her girlfriend and I made it though, and Jack managed to finish the "back of the house loop" where one of the hightlights was some teenager dressed up chasing them with a staple gun, amongst other things. We will take daddy back on Halloween and try to finish the inside of the house.....Jack feels confident.

Eevrything is just so good....cheer is winding down, soccer is winding down, my chrismtas and birthday shopping is getting done, the weather is beautiful, the scenery is gorgeous. Everything is all in order, and cozy, and good.


Oh and SOMEONE I know is having a birthday tomorrow :) I am giddy....

These two girls

These two girls have been best friends since 1st grade.

Tonight Red is sleeping over and at the same time, I was working on Dagny's scrapbook. I will give this scrapbook to her at Christmas....It documents grades 1 thru 3. While scrapping, I came across pictures of the two of them together, back when they were six, with no teeth. They were on the same baseball team, in the same class, they took dance together. And here they are, big bad 4th graders and still completely inseperable.

As I was putting together their years of friendship on paper, I started doing all the what-ifs. What if their friendship manages to survive the years and years or turmoil ahead? Kids have come and gone out of these girls lives, but the two of them have managed to remain loyal to each other and OMG that is a beautiful thing to see. I wonder if my scrapping will become sacred to them? A testament of their friendship....

My daughter



Cried




In




A




Movie




for like the first time. Ever.


My two kids and I will sit and watchsome Animal Planet show about Baby penguins and the Hunters that kill them. Jack and I will be sobbing thru the whole thing and Dagny will ( in a very Brian-ly manner) pat-pat us on the back and reassure us this is the way life is...there are the hunted, and the hunters and she will explain to me the beauty of nature and how if we didn't kill the baby penguins, they would obviously grow up and rule the world and women would have to start handing over their uterus's so men could balance them on their webbed toes and society as we know it will come to an end. Cause she is very logical like that.


Until today.


Today we went and saw Flicka

being a rider, she has been waiting for this movie to come out for months. We had to go to THE first showing on THE first day. At one point during the film , she turned into me and she sobbed. And sobbed. And sobbed. And her whole body shook with those sobs. And then something else happened and she started all over again. I held her, and I consoled her and I 'shhh-shhh-ed' her. And I was so amazed at how it has take her 10 years to get moved by a movie....

But man, if there was a movie to get moved by, it is Flicka.

She's OK...

So I have this BFF.

I have about 3 BFF's....one from high school, one from college, and one from about 3 years ago. I also have a handful of very close friends. But my BFF's are my world. I talk to them at least once every day on the phone, but more often than not, 2-3 times per day. My love for these women runs incredibly deep. I think I would do almost anything for them or, their children. I can not imagine my life without them.

So one of the three had to go in for a "procedure" this week. I have had other friends that have had this "procedure" and while I was concerned, I wasn't completely-the-fuck-freaked-out.

My BFF is a poop queen. I mean seriously. They will come over for dinner late, and the reason will be, they had to stop 3 times so she could poop. We live about 5 miles apart. Who can POSSIBLY poop 3 times in 5 minutes? Not to mention the time she had to pull over and poop in the ivy. Doesn't matter when, where, or what or the time of day. When it is time to go, it is time to go.

Then there is me, her BFF, who poops, if we are lucky, every other day, but only if she is at home, in her own potty. Week long trips to New York = a week's worth of poop saved up for home. The mere IDEA of pooping in another state freaks me out....the idea of ivy pooping is enough to make me not crap my pants.

But I love this girl very, very much. So when she told me she had made an appointment for the old "in one end....and the other", I was a. so freaking relieved and b. so freaking scared. This BFF has had many an (airquote) ailment end airquote) . There was the breast cancer "scare", there was the side pain liver failure "scare", I think there was a brain tumor in there as well at some point. All of these tests meant nothing to me.... I thought "AH, if it's breast cancer, we will deal with it! I shall knit her a jaunty skullcap !"

But this test she had to go in for today, scared me. It scared me because I just knew they would find something. They would find Chron's or cancer, or God knows what. No woman can poop 10 times a day and be alright.

I had many thoughts and realizations during the past 24 hours.... mostly about, how much this woman means to me. How much her survival and happiness mean to me...and not only her's, but the other women in my life. How heavily I rely on them, and take them for granted, and desperately need them. How we spend hours, weeks, years, investing in people, building these intricate and sturdy structres we call relationships that are so crucial for our survival, and how in one minute, it can be entirely wiped away. And when it is, how we are so, so crippled by the emotional loss that we physically can not stand up.

B and I called late last night around 11:00 pm and left farting noises on her machine....seemed like the right thing to do, no?

She called this afternoon after her procedure sounding lost and confused saying she couldn't find Dingus and could I come and get her. My heart pounded as I was searching for my keys. OMG, she was frail, lost, confused and farting....I must get to her....Then I heard her start laughing and realized she was being a dickard. She was fine, the procedure was fine, the Polyps! looked Promising!

The way she and I cope with stress is by laughing straight in it's MoFo face, taunting it and teasing it to just c'mon and try to get a piece of us. We can do this cuz we are young-ish. But these little close encounters....trips to the ER for migraines and dog bites, colonoscopys, blood pressure medications....We are slowly inching closer and closer to our 40's and I gotta say....40 is really NOT the new 20.

So could someone please email Miss-Jackson-If-Your-Nasty and let her know? That would be great....Thanxs.

It used to be so easy...

Last night at dinner, Jack was flipping thru his latest issue of Lego magazine, circling all of the things he would like for his birthday and Christmas. He got to the Spongebob Legos and got all atwitter.

He says, "oh, mom, I REALLY want this one" and points to one of the sets.

I say " Oh you do huh? Why just that one? Why not the other one?"

He looked up at me with those darling green eyes and said, " Because, Dagny told me you already bought this other one for me."

I assured him Dagny MUST be mistaken as I most certainly have not bought him the Bikini Bottom Lego set.

Then he says, " Mom. Please. If you haven't bought this set for me, then what do you call that package hidden under your bed?"


Little shits. BOTH of them.

An Inconsolable Brussel Sprout

You must go read This post over at Fancy Toast

Funniest damn thing...

It is pouring down rain. Dark and gloomy. The kids are at school. And I am snuggled in bed reading this month's book group book which is so, so incredibly good. I love fall.

Our weekend was a nice one. Saturday was spent at each of the kids' games. Sunday Dagny went out to the stables and rode. She rode my mom's friend's horse which she rides bareback. She could hardly walk later in the day as she was quite sore (iykwim). Our school matinee program kicked off with Over The Hedge so I took the kids and Jack's new BFF to that. We sat with M and her kids which put us at 8 seats which was almost an entire row.

It was a stormy kinda night. We lit a fire and did Madlibs. For dinner I made steak, twice baked potatoes, and a beet/goat cheese/candied walnut salad with an orange dressing. It was very, very good. Comfort food at it's finest.

Back to my book and hopefully a little morning nap :)

Ripped off from The Lovely Slut of Softball


1.You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

today it would probably be Kim Jong Il, but damn, I'd love Osama to be blown to bits.


2. You can flip a switch that will wipe any band or musical artist out of existence. Which one will it be?

Mariah Carey


3. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

Brittney Spears. Mostly as a "wake the fuck up" kinda punch. Where are her parents and how the hell are they standing by watching their daughter spiral?

4. What is your favorite cheese?

As in, I have to pick one? Just to pop in mouth? Feta. On my salad? Blue Cheese


5. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your immediate disposal. What kind will you make?

Tuna salad with mango and sprouts

6. You have the opportunity to sleep with the movie celebrity of your choice. We are talking no-strings-attached sex and it can only happen once. Who is the lucky celebrity of your choice?

Vince Vaughn ( and it has been for about 10 years...that "Jennifer" chick needs to get the hell away from him)

7. You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who do you pick?

STING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. Now that you've slept with two different people in a row, you seem to be having an excellent day because you just came across a hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk. Holy crap, a hundred bucks! How are you gonna spend it?

$100 bucks huh? Uh, I'd deposit it and spend it on whatever.

9. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Greece

10. Upon arrival to the aforementioned location, you get off the plane and discover another hundred-dollar bill. Now that you are in the new location, what are you gonna do?

Eat and drink

11. A demon rises out of Hell and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. It is...?

Cakebread Chardonnay

12. Rufus appears out of nowhere with a time-traveling phone booth. You can go anytime in the PAST. What time are you traveling to and what are you going to do when you get there?

The 50's. I have always obsessed with/ fascinated by the 50's.....I love the clothes, the music, the politics, the expectations, the innocence. All that with running water and black and white television. I would immediately by me a ton of poodle skirts, sweater sets and get to the nearest maltshop.

13. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

Agree to disagree

14. You have been given the opportunity to create the half-hour TV show of your own design. What is it called and what's the premise?

Mad about you....10 years and three kids later.

15. What is your favorite curse word?

Fuck

16. One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren't really doing anything, they're just standing around your bed. What do you do?

Wake up Brian and tell him to either get the mummies out of our bedroom, or ask them to join in...his choice.

17. Your house is on fire! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don't worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what's the item?

the laptop !!!

18. The Angel of Death has descended upon you. Fortunately, the Angel of Death is pretty cool and in a good mood, and it offers you a half-hour to do whatever you want before you bite it. Whatcha gonna do in that half-hour?

Sit down with my children and tell thm how much my world will always revolve around them. Let them know that they have the BIGGEST Guaradian Angel sitting on each of their shoulders and that I will be waiting right here for them.


19. You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what's even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What's it gonna be?
Fly, fly, fly, fly.....

20. You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

Giving birth

21. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
9/11

22. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool stuff... you can move to anywhere else in the world! Bitchin'! What country are you going to live in now?
Greece

23. This question still counts, even for those of you who are under age. Check it out. You have been eternally banned from every single bar in the world except for ONE. Which one is it gonna be?

Some bar down in Key Largo


24. Hopefully you didn't mention this in the super-powers question.... If you did, then we'll just expand on that. Check it out... Suddenly, you have gained the ability to FLOAT!!! Whose house are you going to float to first, and be like "Dude, check it out... I can FLOAT!"?

Meghan's....she deserves to float with me

25. The constant absorption of magical moonbeams mixed with the radioactive vegetables you consumed earlier has given you the ability to resurrect the dead famous-person of your choice. So which celebrity will you bring back to life?

Kurt Cobain

26. The Gates of Hell have opened, and Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person, etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

Timmy

27. What's your theme song?
Far too many to list...."Comfortably Numb" comes to mind though



I am taggin one person on this MeMe......My newest blogher, Meghan. If ( and when she replies) I will link her blog here ( hint hint)

You know cheer and soccer are like WEEKS from ending....then I will be a posting maniac.


So some updates....

Jack's arm- this happened about 2 or 3 weeks ago at soccer. He and another child collided. Apparently, Jack laid on the ground screaming " My arm...My arm !!" and was crying, which for Jack, well, he may as well have parted the red sea because he cries at the drop of hat when he watches Lassie or
Homeward Bound. But pain? Well, he just don't feel it. So after trips to ....
a. the hospital for x-rays
b. the pediatrician to read them
c. the bone and joint clinic ( week 1)
d. the bone and joint clinic ( week 2)

they decided to cast it. His elbow was swelling up and he couldn't move it, straighten it or use it...except at recess when he could manage to swing from the monkey bars with it. They decided if the sling wasn't enough to get him to hold his arm still, they would make damn sure he couldn't use it. Hence, my friend, the filthy dirty most disgusting thing I have ever seen called, the cast of a 7 year old boy. Seriously.


School. School is going absolutely fantastic. So far this has been the happiest year for both of my kids. Dagny is so, so happy and in love with her teacher. She has a wonderful group of girls in her class and I don't know why, but all the chaos that started off last school year, has subsided. She seems to have morphed into this whole other person who recognizes the drama and is trying to stay away from it. She is so happy and focused and I am so proud of her. Jack is also incredibly happy with his teacher and his classmates. He had his first sleepover last week which delighted him to no end, but was a big step for mommy. It is so nice to have our year start off in such a great way.

B's Job. Dr Phil. Do I need to say anything else?

Vegas 28 more days until we leave. But who's counting?

Us We have been running the tots here and there while shoveling in as much homework in as we can. We have conferences this week and while I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say, I am not quite as invested in them as I have been in the past. I used to take teachers opinions and recommendations very seriously....after all, they were the *professionals* and knew far more than I. Last year however, woke my ass up. I realized their opinions are valuable and to be taken into consideration. However, I being the mommy, have power and insight regarding my children and their potential that they will never come close to understanding. So I will go, and listen, and smile, and either agree or disagree. And then I will go home. And sleep. And not dwell or give it a second thought.

I wish I had my son's preschool teacher's conference on tape. 'Cause she was wrong about a million times over.



Fall weather has crept in. The flannel sheets are on. The windows are closed at night. Salads for dinner have slowly been replaced by meatloaf and potatos. We
took our Girl Scouts to the Pumpkin Patch this week on a glorious sunny fall day. I love that they still love going:)

In addition I had one of my "a-ha moments" last week....

It was a cool crisp, sunny fall morning. I woke up around 7:00 ish. B had left me coffee on my nightstand and it had cooled just enough so I could drink it. Jack woke up soon after and climbed in bed with me. I laid there and rubbed his back and inhaled the smell of his red, cowlicked, sweaty, 7 year old head. I could drown in that smell. We talked about his dreams and what he'd wear to school that day as it was Lap-a-thon and all. Dagny woke up and joined us and we watched a little of the news ( they are obsessed with the weather). Eventually, I got up, went downstairs, packed their lunches complete with " I love you" notes and "Good luck on your spelling test!". I made egg and cheese sandwiches with ketchup on the side to dunk. I pack them up in our car, turn on the classical music channel on my Sirius satellite and head them off to school.

These mornings with my children bring me so much happiness. As I was lying there with them, I thought about how lucky we are to start off every morning this way. Being snuggled, talking about their dreams, having their hair brushed, eating breakfast together, driving to school in a calm quiet car. I thought about how happy I was. How , 10 years ago, I had to make the very tough decision of whether or not to return to the corporate world, to a job I loved, to a boss I adored, to a 401K, bonuses, stock options, and the best thing of all...the box at the Rose Garden. I left the money, the grown-up world, the promotions, the reviews, the adult interaction, the after work drinks and Shawn driving me home in the snow.

Brian and I decided to have a little less stuff, fewer nights out, shorter vacations, a less expensive house, fewer concerts and even fewer Kate Spade shoes. We traded all that in so our kids would have someone to climb into bed with every morning.

And it was worth every single penny.

OMG I am star struck

Famous people eat at Brian's restauarant all the time. He'll come home and tell me that so and so was in and I am all "Wow, really? Cool." And that'll be it.

But last night my boyfriend came in. And I think I said "OMG SHUT UP NOW WAY" about a 100 times all while I was punching my husband repeatedly. I wanted to know EXACTLY what he ate and EXACTLY what he drank. But my husband didn't know. Or care. All that mattered to him was that Channel 6 faxed over a credit card to pay for everything. So who cares what the hell he ate or drank.

We are so sitting in that booth next time we go down.



Oh and yeah, he brought his wife with him. Whatever.

Stolen

I stole this from Dagny

Visit this site and plug in your numbers. I was listening to a numerologist on the radio the other day and it completely intrigued me.....

Anyhoo, I am a #9

#9 The Performer

9's are natural entertainers. They are very caring and generous, giving away their last dollar to help. With their charm they have no problem making friends and nobody is a stranger to them. They have so many different personalities that people around them have a hard time understanding them. They are like chameleons, ever changing and blending in. They have tremendous luck, but also can suffer from extremes in fortune and mood. To be successful they need to build a loving foundation.



Famous 9's: Albert Schweitzer Jan 14, 1875, Shirley Maclaine April 24, 1934, Harrison Ford July 13, 1942, Gloria Steinem march 25, 1934, Jimmy Carter Oct 1, 1924, Elvis Presley Jan 8, 1935, Cher May 20, 1946, Nostrodamus Dec 24, 1503.

30 days.....

The little cast that could...

Kitty all snuggled in watching Dane Cook at the end of a busy week

Could it be the end is near?

So here it is October and we are well into the new TV season. We have added a few new shows to our repertoire but for the most part are falling back in love with our safe and predictable regular shows.

I will say I am absolutely thrilled with the lack of reality shows. Don't get me wrong....I love me some Survivor and Real World. But I, like most of you, actually live in *reality*. When I sit down to watch TV, or when I go to see a movie, a concert, a play, I am usually going to, for a few moments, escape reality. Escape the worry of my children growing up safely, my aging parents, the mortgage, my expanding waste line, terrorism.....I am going to be entertained and to put reality aside for just a little bit.

There was about a 2 or 3 year time period when my evening TV choices looked something like this:

who wants to marry my mom
who wants to marry my dad
who wants to marry a millionaire
who wants to marry a prince
who wants to marry a princess
who wants to trick their family in to thinking they are marrying a loser
who wants to live on a deserted island
who wants to live on paradise island and cheat on their boyfriend
who wants to jump off a cliff and eat pig intestines
who wants to work for Donald
who wants to work for Martha
who can race around the world the fastest
who can dance
who can cook
who can sing
who can juggle, hoola hoop, unicycle
who can live in a house with 7 strangers and get the drunkest
who will be the next top model
who can lose the most weight
who will Flavor Flav pick
who's children are the most in need of a good British nanny
who's wife goes the craziest when she moves in with a family more screwed up than her own
who wants to be stuck with Tommy Lee trapped in a tour bus

and let's not forget

Anna Nicole
The Osbournes
Dr. 90210
Brit and Kevin
Nicole and Paris
The Hogans
The Barkers
The Gottis
The Gastineau "Girls"
The Queer Eye boys
Jess and Nick
Ashlee


and the ten bajillion other shows I am missing.

It is so wonderful to sit down and chose from shows, put on by actors, who are talented, and who are trying to entertain me, and my family, and not make me question the entire human race and why we are here because OMG if this is what we have become, please someone get me the hell out of here.

Now if they could please bring back Mad About You, I would die a very happy woman.