The Will to Survive

Spare the time to watch this video because it's the awesomest 9 minutes of nature ever.

Did I Mention We're Done?

Did I mention we're done? As in, when the hell is he getting the operation so we can well and truly and (mostly) safely be done with the whole baby thing? After an exhausting second pregnancy followed by delivering my second 9 1/2 pound baby (and yes, I squeezed her out myself), who began sleeping through the night at six WEEKS (hallelujah!), we've decided that we don't need to go through all that again. Not even to get a boy. See, we've got him OUTNUMBERED right now, and you don't give that up for the chance to get a boy, when what you could end up with is FOUR BOYS. At once. And to quote my youngest, "Girls rule, boys drool."

During my visit to Cali, I was able to see a good friend who gave birth six weeks ago. To a baby that is STILL smaller than my children were when they came out. I got to hold and snuggle with their little girl twice. You know what? Nothin'. Not a tug, not a yearn, not ANYTHING remotely resembling baby fever. I just looked at her and them and their 3 year old who is potty training and thought, "Nope. I'm never doing that again."

Life is good right now. I would not trade one of the "do your homework"/inappropriate clothing/eye rolling/"whatever mom" moments for the years they have ahead of them. I know babies are lovely. But couldn't we just put a picture of one up in the corner? (Anyone know this reference? Darryl Hannah? Anyone?)

Oh, Hey Right. I Should Blog.

Wow, just looked at my blog and realized it's been nearly two weeks since I've posted. What with the holiday parties, dance recitals, trips to California, and endless Christmas present exchanges, I've neglected you all. Oh, you didn't notice I was gone? How odd.

We returned tonight from a nine day trip to California that went by WAY too fast. Hightlights:

- Going out with high school friends Kim, Tiffany and Michelle to eat outrageously good food at The Hitching Post and gambling our children's savings away at the Chumash Casino. Sorry, Tiff, for busting you with my quad 7's. It had to be done, and there's no crying in poker. Also, many props to the ladies for the delicious meal from Kim's aunt's cookbook. Mmmmm, lemon chicken with orzo.

- Doing the traditional drive to view Christmas lights, which culminates in a trip to Baskin Robbins for ice cream in cold weather. Favorite fake award given out to houses we drove by? Best Use of Drunken Joseph. It was brilliant. And never have five people been so eager to drive up to a stranger's house, eagerly receive a candy cane from random dude standing next to the mailbox, and lick away with no regard to personal safety. Mmmm, LSD candy canes. And if you ever get the chance, go Christmas light viewing with my brother, 'cause man alive is he hilarious.

- Spending the whole morning with my Mom, sans kids, wrapping presents, watching the Food Network, and chatting about life and the crazy things that have led us to where we are today. We talked about things we never get to because of the hellions, er, rugrats, er, girls. I still hope to convince her to move out here to Texas, but she's pretty complacent right now, and that's just fine. I'll get her eventually.

- Cooking Christmas dinner with my mother in law, and having a great time bumping around her little kitchen, burning gravy and overcooking roast that still turned out really delicious.

- Christmas morning. One of my girls still believes, and the joy of seeing her excitement at Santa's gifts was well worth getting up at the butt crack of dawn. And this year? It's on video. I took not a one photo this year on Christmas Day, opting for moving pictures (you know, the talkies) to capture her excited eyes and grateful words over getting the Barbie she's been wanting. I loved seeing my eldest smile conspiratorially at me when Loodle noticed Santa had eaten the cookies and milk left out for him. Boodle wins back that little space in my heart that was losing patience with her, by simply enjoying her sister's wonder and excitement.

- Oh, the pirate gift exchange. It's never any fun until someone gets the shaft. Sorry, Margaret, but Pop 5 really was a fun game, so you'll just have to come visit me and bring it to play again, missing piece and all. Thanks Jenny for an awesome Par-tay. Thanks Claudia for the S&P shakers, which I really need and would NEVER buy for myself.

- Game day with the in-laws which actually involved games this year. Also hence forth to be retitled "Movie Day" for the children who were left neglected in front of the TV whilst we tried to tell a yak from a longhorn.

- Mmmm, Island's burger and Kabuki Tempura California Rolls.

- Seeing all my peeps back in L.A. Mama DB and I buying enough sandwiches to tilt the Earth's axis, Wendifer getting a herpes ridden cat sneeze to the face, Mrs. A lovingly telling us, in her Uruguayan (SP?) accent, that her husband, "He's costly." To know Mr. A is to laugh until you pee because you love him so, and no truer words were ever uttered. Oh, good times. It's killing me to be so far away from these ladies.

- Getting that tearful hug from my best friend and sis in law after finally finding my beloved digital SLR camera and video recorder after a frantic and at times tense search for over an hour. Thank you for knowing how much I needed that hug. Thank you to The Man for not rubbing it in when it turned out he was right. Dammit.

It was a tough year, this year. My Dad's been gone three years now. His mom, my closest and most loved Grandmother after whom I am named, passed away last March. Her boyfriend of 42 years, whom I consider my Grandpa, went to spend Christmas with his daughters this year, for the first time since I was a baby. It wasn't the same without all of them, but we seem to be building new traditions with my kids and my husband's family, proving that life does go on. My Grandmother always said Grace before we ate our Christmas dinner, and this year, my sweet 5 year old piped up that she wanted to say it. I had no idea what she would say, and can't remember it word for word, but it was full of thanks to God for family, friends and food, and what more can you ask for at the holiday season? Amen.

Merry Belated Christmas, everyone, and if I don't get to you in time, Happy New Year!

Feast or Famine

Three dining experiences are up for discussion. They are thus:

1. Went to Village Inn for lunch on Saturday. Now, if you've not been to Village Inn before, it's a step down from Denny's. I should've known, but they have a crispy chicken sandwich with ranch dressing that I CRAVE to a disturbing degree. So I order and read my newspaper, and wait and wait and finally get my sandwich. I open it up to slather a goodly portion of ranch dressing on it (see, I order it on the side so as to control my ranch intake-by which I mean I get to spread the whole tub MYSELF), and what do I find inside, but a hair.

Gross. Gross gross gross with an extra side of gross. I send the sandwich back and ask for a fresh one, all the while struggling to decide if I should even be staying here. I've been here lots of (too many) times before with no problems, so I don't run screaming from the joint. I also tend to give everyone on the planet the benefit of the doubt, and I don't get overly freaked out by those restaurant exposes on the news and vow never to eat out again. All places probably are dirty and/or have a sneezer working on your food. Get over it.

After I get another sandwich, I examine it carefully and find no problems, and am informed by the waitress that the sandwich was on the house. That's right it is. Then she tells me the reason I waited so long was the chefs collided just as one was plating my food and dumped it on the floor. Hmmm. Recycled sandwich with a hitchhiking stray hair? Could be. Could be I need to STOP EATING CRAP.

2. The Man and I went out on a date to a swanky joint called Eddie V's. We had to dress up, which means I had to shelve my beloved jeans and t-shirts and break out slacks and heels. Don't worry, I changed right back when I got home, so the business casual didn't get a chance to grab hold and INFECT me with style. The place was lovely, and the food amazing. But the MOST amazing part was that dinner was on The Man's company, so we ate and ate and ate, and then for dessert, we ate. Tempura Calamari, Crab Stuffed Shrimp, Ribeye, Garlic Green Beans, Corn Chowder, and made to order Apple Cobbler. Mmmmm, Deeeee-licious.

Rounded out the evening with a viewing of No Country for Old Men, which was then topped off with The Man explaining the finer points of the movie to me, as I get muddled easily by movies that don't involve animation or Sandra Bullock. Fine time had by all. AND did I mention the babysitter? Who does my dishes? And cleans the girls' rooms for them? WELL worth it.

3. Today I had another lunch to myself (I swear, I DO spend time with my family on the weekends!). I am trying to be good, and am really sucking at it. I ended my personal training at the gym two weeks ago, and have been back a sum total of twice since then. Have gained back 4 pounds and there are no signs of stopping. So, I consider my food options, give myself a talking to, and end up at Taco Cabana ordering nachos with sour cream and guacamole. It's all about control, people.

My number is called and I go to pick up my tray, only to find a REGULAR order of nachos, not the PERSONAL size order of nachos. See, the personal size is smaller, so it's not bad for you. Plus, it's personal, so it KNOWS me, and it feels my food pain and won't just callously attach itself to my a$$ like some REGULAR nacho would. Bastard.

I go get my receipt and find that I was charged for the regular size, and I bring this to the register gal's attention. Apparently this causes the time space continuum to collapse or something, because there were so many looks of dismay being exchanged between the cook, manager and register gal that I was afraid for my future self. I finally just said, never mind, I'll take the larger size. I KNOW, big of me.

However, remember that I'm eating by myself, dressed in my Sunday best, as I've come from church. I walk to a table by myself with a plate of nachos that would feed all of John and Kate's Plus 8 AND their friend with the quads. I sit at my table and refuse to look around to see who's judging me, and it's then that I become aware that it's lunch time for my family, and that they could conceivably pick this very restaurant to eat, and they will walk in and discover me at the nacho trough and I will have to go home in shame, knowing they have discovered how I REALLY eat when they're not around.

In case you're wondering, no one noticed me eating the giant nachos. I know this because THE WORLD DOESN'T REVOLVE AROUND ME. And also in case you were wondering, I only ate about half of the nachos, which perfectly equals a personal size serving. See, healthy.

Check out my mad mom skillz

Had an afternoon to myself today, but got a call from the babysitter, who is awesome, soon after I left the house. She wanted to know if she could show the girls "Home Alone". I considered and thought it would be okay, even though it was PG rated. What's a little slapstick violence and abandonment issues compared to that precious Macauley Culkin? She said that the girls loved it, but tonight Loodle is having trouble sleeping.

Seems she's afraid that because the fan in her room is loud, she doesn't think she'll hear me if I decide to leave her. You know, HOME ALONE. I pull her into the big comfy chair (ohhhhhh, the big comfy chair), and attempt to reassure her that my job is to take care of her, and not to leave her, and aren't I great at my job? Ummm, after an awkward pause, I come up with something brilliant. I took over 4 community college courses relating to child development, so this qualifies me to craft these sweet parenting moves.

Ready? I told her to go get my car keys, and keep them in her bed with her. That way, I couldn't leave her there alone. You're bowing to my superior mind. I can tell. But it WORKED. She shot over to the key hook, skipped off to bed with them and crashed in a heartbeat. Oh, the power to mold young minds.

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas. Finally.

We're finally getting a string of cold weather days here in central Texas, so maybe I will get into the Christmas spirit after all. I moved here from Los Angeles, so it's not like I'm used to a winter wonderland, but for crying. out. loud. 82 degrees in the middle of December? Really?

Blessedly, today we're in the mid 40's, so it's all good. However, I over to the Wal-Mart (see how southern I'm getting?), and saw a woman in what I can only describe as fleece hotpants. Now, I know the weather here has been a little unpredictable. Yesterday was humid in the mid 70's, today it's raining in the mid 40's. But honey, you gotta put those short shorts AWAY already (and IMO, put them away FOREVER, 'cause DAY-UM). Invest in at least a pair of capris, or those formal shorts if you just HAVE to leave your knees uncovered. Although I'm just not on board with that look, but at least I'm not getting mooned by you in the produce department.

What I did notice were the amount of second looks you were receiving from EVERYONE YOU PASSED. So, if that was what you were looking for, then in the words of my new favorite friends at Go Fug Yourself, well played.

Photo Editing A Go Go

So, I love to take pictures. I don't have a vast wealth of knowledge on the subject of photography beyond high school classes and years of playing around. I have a digital SLR that I use to take approximately 5,347 shots, of which I keep around 13. I have been dinking around with Digital Photo Professional, but because I am lazy, and haven't openly researched how to USE it, I haven't gotten very adept at doctoring my stuff.

Since I want to start getting serious about it, I decided I might as well switch to the more popular Photoshop, as long as I was gonna do some learnin'.

I installed an older version, since it was free and all, and have been playing with it. I don't have a miraculous example of what I've done to a particular photo that made it spectacular, but it did lead me to want to post this photo of Loodle:



I didn't want to post it because it was a particularly awesome shot (I messed around with it in Photoshop, and I'm sure I actually made it less awesome than it was originally). This photo encapsulates her entire personality,and makes me sigh with envy of her joyously carefree nature. She is the polar opposite of me in so many ways. I envy her ability to roll with the punches, to change her mind with no qualms, to take life/people/her next meal as it comes, and to not sweat the small stuff.

Anywhoo, if I actually DO do something spectactular with a picture, I'll be sure to post it for you to enjoy/mock mercilessly.

PS - I've now typed the word spectacular as both "specatular" and "spectactular), so I think I'd better away to bed before it becomes "spectasticalular". Too late.

I'm Technomological

I think we're a little too dependent on our advancements in technology.

I was at the mall tonight, and followed two gentleman onto the escalator. We stepped forward and stopped, and then looked at each other in bewilderment. It took way too many seconds for us to realize that the thing wasn't actually on, and that we weren't moving.

Um, duh.

And have you seen this? Remember when games were supposed to be fun ways to learn things? I am horrified by the number of times a young cashier makes an error on the register, and fumbles through an attempt to manually figure out change.

Bring back the abacus!

Staying At Home

I have been a stay at home mom since Boodle was born over 7 years ago. I've always known that I would be here with my children, even before I considered having them. The reasons are varied, unsurprising, and private, so I won't outline each and every one. The most important one is that I wanted to raise them, not let someones else do it for me.

I am lucky. So, so very lucky to have a husband who supports this decision we made together. I am lucky to have a husband who works hard (well, works anyway) at his job, which allows me this ability to stay home. I am lucky that I had a career that was fulfilling to me and allowed me to see what my strengths and weaknesses are. It allowed me to be successful at something, build my confidence and solidify my self worth. Having those early successes allowed me to walk away without a backward glance or an ounce of regret and start this new life.

I have friends who stay home with their kids. I have friends who work outside the home. I have friends who work at home and have a nanny. I make no judgements (okay, I TRY not to judge), but I know that I could not have parented my kids any other way.

The thing that prompted me to post this was witnessing a friend talking to her daughter about borrowing one of our board games recently. She is one of the work at home/nanny friends and we love them to pieces. However, she was reluctant to let her daughter borrow this game, even after I said it was okay. The mom's last salvo was, "But daughter, who will you play it with?"

That judgmental part of my brain was severely pounded on by the polite part of my brain before it could shout, "YOU! YOU should be playing this game with your daughter, preferably still in your pajamas, sprawled out on the living room floor, with not a thought in your head except what a remarkable time you're having with this precious child who God gifted to you."

But I said nothing. What could I say? I don't live her life, I don't have a CLUE as what drives their family. I don't know their financial situation, her emotional makeup, her daughters' temperaments, aside from what I see on a playdate, nothing about them that would justify me passing judgment. There is no way for me to impose my views upon her or condemn her for her decisions, nor should I. Ever. And for all I know, she might have just said that because, like some of us, she just couldn't deal with One. More. Toy. in the house.

Except, in that moment, I see just what she is missing, and hope and pray that those moments don't keep passing her by.

Vacation Pictures, Take 2

I finally figured out a way to do it. I'm sure it's the longest, most awkward procedure possible to post photos in order, with captions, but I got 'er done.



Boodle, next to our ship.




The Man and Boodle on the bus to the ruins at Dzibilchaltun.




Me, Loodle and Boodle at the ruins. Thanks for the hat, Wendifer.




Climbing the ruins.




A sinkhole, which goes down 120 feet on one side.




Don't Jump!!!!




And don't you DARE throw that balloon at me!





Awwwwwwwwwwwww.




Yes, she's surfing down the slide. Why do you ask?





The beloved balloon baby, which shall not be splooshed.





The family BD.

Photos from our vacation

Here is where you would have found photos of our vacation. Actually, you would have found them in the initial post of our vacation, but it is very late, and I am very stupid. I don't have a clue how to upload them in any semblance of order with captions that run next to, or anywhere near, the photos. I get a big blob of photos and words that appear randomly. If anyone out there can speak computer-idiot language, please feel free to enlighten me. Otherwise, how will you ever know what the view looked like from our room? Actually, I can post that one photo, so I won't keep you in suspense, as the view is breathtaking.

Vacation Recap

So, as you might know, we bucked tradition this year and went to Mexico for Thanksgiving. I know, you weep because you're jealous, and I laugh because you SHOULD be. We had a marvelous time. Here's a long fundown of events (see what I did there?):

Satuday:

- Drive 5 hours to Galveston, with only two bathroom stops and one meal stop. With two girls who CANNOT coordinate their bladders, no matter how much I demand they do so, I considered that a record.

- Check in with minimal fuss and board the Carnival Funship Ecstasy (bow chicka bow bow-ewww). Proceed to lifeboat drill, and wish fervently to be napping already. I'm on vacation!

- Eat buffet dinner at back of ship because our dining time is at 8:30pm. Are people still AWAKE at that hour?

- Go to show which consists of dancing, singing, and a not very funny comedian, who, I'm told by Loodle, should not be making fun of fat people.

- Spend approximately 7 1/2 hours discussing who will sleep where, since for only $50 extra bucks, The Man got us two cabins. Sweeeeeet. After much ado, I ended up a twin bed, Loodle a twin, and Boodle on a pull out mattress on floor, while The Man slept like a king in the other cabin. Don't worry, it's all good.

Sunday:

- Fun day at sea. Girls go swimming, only to disover that it's SALT WATER. Duh. Come back after 20 minutes.

- Check out kids club and discover they have a Build A Bear workshop going on. Ohhhhh, sweet mother of all things holy, we have yet another stuffed animal. BUT, it introduces the kids to what mom and dad refer to as "the place where they show questionably age appropriate cartoons from Cartoon Network and Boomerang". They make fast friends with Katie, and the bond of lifelong (cruiselong) freindship is formed.

- Foist kids off on Camp Carnival and take another meal in the stern, due to it being formal night and all. Trust me, we ain't formal here in BD-ville. I brought varying tops to go with my jeans to wear to the nice dining room.

- Skip the show and go play some poker. Whoo hoo! Texas Hold-em, at last we meet again. The Man and I while away several hours and finally free the kids at midnight, who complain about having to leave.

Monday:

- Cozumel is WET. Torrential rainstorm cannot deter us from snorkeling (okay, it deterred Loodle, but that's because she has my temperature range: 73 degrees to 76 degrees is what weather should be always). Boodle and I got dragged around the ocean by a wonderful guide who told us specifically NOT to kick. (Okay, but you realize that I'll have to marry you now for instructing me to just lay there and do nothing while you do all the work). Anywhoo, we saw amazing fish, got to hold a sea cucumber and a big shell with a creature living inside. It was marvelous. Lest you feel sorry for The Man who was stuck on shore with Loodle, they were captivated by tide pools the entire time we were out in the ocean, so his little nerd heart was full.

- Got back to the ship and took a two hour hot shower to warm up, and dumped the kids back into Camp Carnival. Finally met our table mates at the dining room. They were from Tennessee, and had a daughter aged 13 and son aged 10, and proceeded to tell many embarassing stories about their kids. We had great fun with them.

- Saw the show. Um, having never partaken of the ganga weed before, I can now accurately describe what it is like. The video montage playing while the lead was singing was, um, surreal. And tell me if I'm wrong, but aren't the leads supposed to be the hottest ones of the group? The guy was all manner of icky.

Tuesday:

- Progresso was our favorite part of the cruise. First a tour of some ruins at Dzibilchaltun (no, still no idea how to say it), then off to a ranch for the Best. Mexican. Buffet. Ever. I'm still salivating a little at the memory of the lime soup and Yucatan Pork. After stuffing our faces, we were treated to Mexican dancers and singers, and then taken to see Mexican cowboys perform some roping tricks with their horses. Mad skillz they have. They even took the girls around the ring on the horses. They were in heaven. The Man won a tequila drinking/shouting contest, earning an additional shot of tequila, all of which I caught on tape.

- FINALLY got to do some touristy shopping, and managed to duck Boodle's request for many inappropriate Mexican dresses (they were WAY too revealing for a 7 year old) by buying her a pretty pink (natch) scarf/wrap thingy. We had split up from the other two at this point, and when we got back I asked Loodle what she picked out for her souvenir. She showed me the little wooden toy turtle she found for a dollar. Sigh. To have such simple pleasures in life.

- Kids back in Camp, grownups stuffed from wonderful dinner in the dining room and back in casino. All is well.

Wednesday:

- Another fun day at sea. Girls get over their disgust at swimming in ocean water (we lived in CALIFORNIA for crying out loud), and discover the wonders of the cruise ship pool. Loodle must have been slouching, because the guy running the giant slide said she was too short to go on it. I'm kinda glad, because she swims like The Man (picture much flailing and splashing of water over the sides of the pool), and I didn't want to have to fish her out each time she came down. Boodle proceeded to take the slide no less than 30 times, interspersed with a water balloon fight that left my beautiful camera miraculously unscathed. I exaggerate the word fight, as neither girl would actually pop their water balloon, preferring instead to NAME them and bring them to me to watch over. I got enough problem children, kids. I don't need 5 more that are "delicate".

- Last night on the ship, and the day before Loodle's birthday, so we sent the kids to Camp to have dinner, and then dragged them to the dining room for more dinner. All in the effort to get Loodle a birthday cake, the waiters to sing to her, and be able to share it with our table. She LOVED it.

Thursday:

- Thanksgiving day/Loodle's 5th birthday spent getting off the ship, finding our hotel in Galveston at Moody Gardens, and finding jackets, as it was FREEZING COLD. And we were just getting back from MEXICO, wearing t-shirts and shorts. Luckily Wal-Mart doesn't care much for their employees and they were open, and WE don't care much for their employees, so we went there and bought some jackets.

- Back at Moody Gardens we enjoyed 5 IMAX movies, a rainforest, a really crappy discover center (lord, it was crappy), and ate our traditional Thanksgiving meal at the Rainforest Cafe, complete with erupting volcano and river rapids ride. It really WAS Thanksgiving, because I got pumpkin pie. Don't be sad. I narrowly avoided being outvoted and eating my dinner at IHOP.

Friday:

- Checked out of hotel and ate breakfast at IHOP (now THAT'S an appropriate meal to eat there). Headed back to Moody Gardens to check out the Aquarium, and then another fun filled drive home, with a stop on the way to pick up Rock Band for our XBox, which was played that evening to cap off a wonderful, happy family vacation. Nothing says home like a 5 year old singing "Creep".

That's it, and since I've decided to make this our new Thanksgiving tradition, feel free to join us next year.

She did NOT just say that

Short conversation this weekend:

Everyone wakes up late and lazy Sunday morning, prompting us to skip Church (heathens).

Phone rings.

Me: "It's probably God calling to tell us we need to go to church."

Loodle: "It's probably your gym."

Ouch.