If you don't count the various leap years - it has been 11,315 days (as of today) since I gave birth to my first baby. Somehow saying the days, rather than the years, puts it in better perspective for me....because it truly feels like a lifetime ago. Can so much have really happened to me in 31 years? Can I have done so much but accomplished so little?
I had such high hopes for my life....a long list of wants and don't wants...the "don't wants" sometimes won out. But there's the funny thing about life; every single morning that you wake up and open your eyes - you get another chance at it! You get to thank the heavens that you are alive and breathing and you get a "do-over" EVERY day.
So on this 31st birthday of my oldest daughter, I say to you: Seize the day - seize the moments. I am so proud to be your mother. You are one of my "wants". I love you to the moon and back.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Fallin' for Colin
It has been a really really long 25 years coming. I saw Colin Firth in a movie while I lived in Germany in the 80's. Fell for him then...fell for him hard. When I came back to the states, no one knew this young british kid I was referring to. I ranted about his sex appeal to everyone and anyone who would listen to me. Family laughed. Friends laughed. Fast forward ten or fifteen years later and suddenly, post-pride & prejudice and post-bridget jones's diary, everyone wanted a piece of this actor. Girls came out of the woodwork to find the guy in the wet, white t-shirt. No one was watching all the other dozens of really good parts he played. They all wanted to meet Mr. Darcy. When all I wanted was to meet Mr. Firth. Share a pint and a laugh with Colin the man...not the actor.
Fast forward to Santa Barbara Film Festival over Valentine's weekend. Colin was there...I was there....and somehow the planets aligned in such a way as to bring us together for a brief moment in time.
And so I fell again. I fell hard.
Monday, March 15, 2010
A New Year....A New Plan
Sometimes the zookeeper has to take a break. Sometimes the zookeeper closes down due to the nature of the job. Sometimes the zookeeper's timecard tears or her keys to the cages don't work. In other words, don't ask about absences in the zookeeper's log and the zookeeper won't let the monkeys throw their poop at you when you visit. 'nuff said.
I'm back and I'm way behind in updating you all with the zoo's new year's resolutions on our infamous kitchen chalkboard. Here is what appeared when I cleared the Christmas Wish List and relisted the board as a place to put resolutions. Pretty tame for this zoo but yet the levity still lives on. Enjoy.
I Resolve To:
1. Laugh more (I always try to start the board off on a positive note; it just goes downhill from there!)
2. Weigh less than a hippo
3. Be nicer (my youngest daughter tries to swing the board back to the positive but it doesn't last long)
4. Get straight A's (I'm more than positive this was NOT written by my teenage daughter!)
5. "Will find nice sensible boyfriend" *B.J.D. (A quote from my 23 year old in search of Mr. Right)
6. Park 1 car in garage (later changed to "2" cars by my ever hopeful and totally disillusioned hubby)
7. Get some $$ from ****-go-braless (name has been purposely omitted in order to spare embarrassment, but you know who you are and we love you anyway!)
8. Find real parents (written by teenage daughter who keeps hoping she was adopted!)
9. Kill zombies, then Francis. (don't ask. cuz i don't know. idiot monkeys no doubt wrote this!)
10. Meet Colin Firth (oh how they all laughed at this zookeeper when I wrote that!) *Check. Done.
11. Plan PDB's big 50th Birthday Bash (oh, yes, PDB...mid-life is here at last!)
So I'm back....and the animals who live here have all come out of winter hibernation. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I'm back and I'm way behind in updating you all with the zoo's new year's resolutions on our infamous kitchen chalkboard. Here is what appeared when I cleared the Christmas Wish List and relisted the board as a place to put resolutions. Pretty tame for this zoo but yet the levity still lives on. Enjoy.
I Resolve To:
1. Laugh more (I always try to start the board off on a positive note; it just goes downhill from there!)
2. Weigh less than a hippo
3. Be nicer (my youngest daughter tries to swing the board back to the positive but it doesn't last long)
4. Get straight A's (I'm more than positive this was NOT written by my teenage daughter!)
5. "Will find nice sensible boyfriend" *B.J.D. (A quote from my 23 year old in search of Mr. Right)
6. Park 1 car in garage (later changed to "2" cars by my ever hopeful and totally disillusioned hubby)
7. Get some $$ from ****-go-braless (name has been purposely omitted in order to spare embarrassment, but you know who you are and we love you anyway!)
8. Find real parents (written by teenage daughter who keeps hoping she was adopted!)
9. Kill zombies, then Francis. (don't ask. cuz i don't know. idiot monkeys no doubt wrote this!)
10. Meet Colin Firth (oh how they all laughed at this zookeeper when I wrote that!) *Check. Done.
11. Plan PDB's big 50th Birthday Bash (oh, yes, PDB...mid-life is here at last!)
So I'm back....and the animals who live here have all come out of winter hibernation. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Humble Pie
Normally I want to write something humorous...something funny...something comical. Not today.
I was dropping my daughter off at high school this morning and was listening to a disc jockey calling her sister, Pam, live on the air. The disc jockey wanted to get a first person story from her sister who works with a ministry of some sort and helps orphans. Pam (the sister) was working in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.
The disc jockey called her sister on the air and asked her to tell the story of what she was doing when the earthquake hit. Pam said they were luckily inside a house that was well built but survived falling down. She said it felt like it was an 8.0 compared to other California quakes she had witnessed. It went on for what seemed forever and then it stopped.
She said it was as if the world had stopped and it was deathly quiet for many seconds after they stepped outside....and then she said it was as if someone told everyone on the island, at the same time, to scream. She could hear one collective scream from the entire island.
Families knew people who could help were at this house and they started to bring injured people throughout the day. One family brought a young girl that had a severe wound down to her exposed ankle bone. Pam said the family had cut off a hunk of the girl's hair, burned it, and then stuffed it into the wound! She did not know why they had done that - perhaps their only way to stop the flow of blood. Pam had to pick the burned hair out of the cut and then try to sterilze her open wound with hydrogen peroxide. She never wanted to see something like that again.
I was sickened. I was saddened. I was humbled. If you do ANYTHING today, do something for someone else. Whether it is for someone you know; or someone you don't know...give of yourself. Don't complain for one day...one minute...nor one second. There is always someone in the world who has less than you.
I am off to eat my own slice of humble pie.
I was dropping my daughter off at high school this morning and was listening to a disc jockey calling her sister, Pam, live on the air. The disc jockey wanted to get a first person story from her sister who works with a ministry of some sort and helps orphans. Pam (the sister) was working in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.
The disc jockey called her sister on the air and asked her to tell the story of what she was doing when the earthquake hit. Pam said they were luckily inside a house that was well built but survived falling down. She said it felt like it was an 8.0 compared to other California quakes she had witnessed. It went on for what seemed forever and then it stopped.
She said it was as if the world had stopped and it was deathly quiet for many seconds after they stepped outside....and then she said it was as if someone told everyone on the island, at the same time, to scream. She could hear one collective scream from the entire island.
Families knew people who could help were at this house and they started to bring injured people throughout the day. One family brought a young girl that had a severe wound down to her exposed ankle bone. Pam said the family had cut off a hunk of the girl's hair, burned it, and then stuffed it into the wound! She did not know why they had done that - perhaps their only way to stop the flow of blood. Pam had to pick the burned hair out of the cut and then try to sterilze her open wound with hydrogen peroxide. She never wanted to see something like that again.
I was sickened. I was saddened. I was humbled. If you do ANYTHING today, do something for someone else. Whether it is for someone you know; or someone you don't know...give of yourself. Don't complain for one day...one minute...nor one second. There is always someone in the world who has less than you.
I am off to eat my own slice of humble pie.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tis The Season...Fa La La
As I promised, I changed the chalkboard in our kitchen to reflect on the season of merry and giving - by asking everyone to fill in their "wishes" for the holidays. As you've seen in my previous posts, my family can get quite silly or even downright ridiculous. Well, they did not disappoint....below is the list that materialized over the first couple of weeks in December. You decide if I live in a crazy, mixed-up household!
"Wish List"
1. World Peace (of course I tried to start this off right)
2. New Roof (also a long standing wish of mine over this past year)
3. Cat Tree
4. Official Red Ryder carbine action, two-hundred shot, range model air rifle*
5. A new furnace (my kids complain when I watch the movie "A Christmas Story" but I notice they quoted several things from the movie!)
6. Tinker Toys (ah ha! another reference from "A Christmas Story")
6a. 82" T.V. (my husband obviously thinks we need another television to add to the six (yes, 6!!) we already own in this house.
7. Football
8. Snow (I had to insert this as it can be depressing celebrating the season in Southern California weather - no insult to the people in the midwest or east coast who really have to put up with snow storms)
9. "I Wanna Hippopotomus for Christmas" (this was added by my youngest who is fond of this song I had NEVER heard of till she turned me on to it this year....it really is quite a cute song and is now permanently stuck in my head - thank you very much!)
10. Spleens (written by my son who is the silliest of us all and obviously does not know we, as humans, only have one spleen!)
11. New Xmas lights 4 dad (written, i believe, by my 23 year old daughter who does not appreciate her father's ancient antique C-9 Christmas lights used for decorating the outside of our house!)
12. For my kids to eat their vegetables (written by me but within 24 hours was quickly crossed out...i've asked and asked who crossed it out but none of the brats will fess up! It could actually be any one of the 4 youngest as none of them eat any vegetables!)
13. Suzie Q fixed (this request again by my 23 year old daughter - thinking, incorrectly, that spaying or neutering animals makes them quieter or easier to live with)
* "You'll shoot your eye out!"
So ends this update regarding the health and well being of the animals who live at the zoo I call home. Are they sane? Are they silly? Are they just plain ridiculous? You be the judge. I'm going back to bed.
"Wish List"
1. World Peace (of course I tried to start this off right)
2. New Roof (also a long standing wish of mine over this past year)
3. Cat Tree
4. Official Red Ryder carbine action, two-hundred shot, range model air rifle*
5. A new furnace (my kids complain when I watch the movie "A Christmas Story" but I notice they quoted several things from the movie!)
6. Tinker Toys (ah ha! another reference from "A Christmas Story")
6a. 82" T.V. (my husband obviously thinks we need another television to add to the six (yes, 6!!) we already own in this house.
7. Football
8. Snow (I had to insert this as it can be depressing celebrating the season in Southern California weather - no insult to the people in the midwest or east coast who really have to put up with snow storms)
9. "I Wanna Hippopotomus for Christmas" (this was added by my youngest who is fond of this song I had NEVER heard of till she turned me on to it this year....it really is quite a cute song and is now permanently stuck in my head - thank you very much!)
10. Spleens (written by my son who is the silliest of us all and obviously does not know we, as humans, only have one spleen!)
11. New Xmas lights 4 dad (written, i believe, by my 23 year old daughter who does not appreciate her father's ancient antique C-9 Christmas lights used for decorating the outside of our house!)
12. For my kids to eat their vegetables (written by me but within 24 hours was quickly crossed out...i've asked and asked who crossed it out but none of the brats will fess up! It could actually be any one of the 4 youngest as none of them eat any vegetables!)
13. Suzie Q fixed (this request again by my 23 year old daughter - thinking, incorrectly, that spaying or neutering animals makes them quieter or easier to live with)
* "You'll shoot your eye out!"
So ends this update regarding the health and well being of the animals who live at the zoo I call home. Are they sane? Are they silly? Are they just plain ridiculous? You be the judge. I'm going back to bed.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Turkeys....The Sequel
Okay...I seriously have given birth to some silly silly children. Before I erase the chalkboard that, for the month of november, turned into one crazy list of items for which my children were thankful for - I thought I would list the few remaining items that somehow appeared on the board since last I wrote here.
13. pigs
14. a smart brother (which the word "brother" was then crossed off and someone wrote above it the word "cat")
15. oreos
16. Pablo (do not ask me what the heck this was here for....i believe it was inserted by my daughter who was taking spanish this semester...but that's just a guess folks!)
17. cinnamon rolls (definitely posted by my oldest!)
18. Raider Nation (NOT posted by anyone in my family!...must have been my son-in-law)
19. clean socks
20. stupid stuff
So hopefully, you all will feel sorry for me and what I have to put up with here at this crazy zoo I call "home".
In the meantime, check back here soon because my son has requested that I erase our "Thankful" list and replace it with a "Wish" list for Christmas season...Oh I just can't wait for the wisdom that will spill forth from their little pea brains now.
13. pigs
14. a smart brother (which the word "brother" was then crossed off and someone wrote above it the word "cat")
15. oreos
16. Pablo (do not ask me what the heck this was here for....i believe it was inserted by my daughter who was taking spanish this semester...but that's just a guess folks!)
17. cinnamon rolls (definitely posted by my oldest!)
18. Raider Nation (NOT posted by anyone in my family!...must have been my son-in-law)
19. clean socks
20. stupid stuff
So hopefully, you all will feel sorry for me and what I have to put up with here at this crazy zoo I call "home".
In the meantime, check back here soon because my son has requested that I erase our "Thankful" list and replace it with a "Wish" list for Christmas season...Oh I just can't wait for the wisdom that will spill forth from their little pea brains now.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
There are silly turkeys living at my house.
I thought I would do something seasonal on the chalkboard hanging on the brick wall in my kitchen. Since I purchased this chalkboard about a year ago, it has announced many happenings (the birth of our first grandchild), relayed notes to my children, even conveyed a bit of silliness from time to time. But this time I thought I would delve into the workings of my 3 teenagers' minds and maybe they would enlighten me as to what they might be thankful for this thanksgiving season. If I could not get them to talk to me (as most teenagers believe their parents are idiots), I figured I would trick them into revealing what might be really really important to them. This way I could tuck them into bed at night knowing (insert "hoping" or "wishing" here) that they were really good kids looking out for others and loving our family unconditionally. Yeah. What was I thinking? I guess I really AM an idiot. The picture above shows the insane workings in the minds of the lunatics I call my three youngest offspring. To give them their due, my son said he did include some things my husband might be thankful for!
There are silly turkeys living at my house.
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