Family Rocks!

The majority of my family lives in Chicagoland.  I miss them like crazy.  For some crazy reason, I haven't been able to visit since March of 2009.  This week, I pulled my kids out of school and I headed out.  

You see, in a few weeks, my family and I will be heading out on our Big Fat Family Road Trip.  Being I just had a new-to-me engine put into my car, I decided I needed to have my dad's guys give it a once over before I headed cross-country.

Anystupidcar, yesterday afternoon, after a short visit with my super old gramma and lunch with my monsters and mom, I went to Baby Brother's house.  The monsters and I spent a few hours with Baby Brother, his wife Wonder Woman, and their four awesome boys!  My nephews are so much fun and I was so excited to play with them.

Today I spent the day with my "favorite" cousin, her three babies, my aunt, and my wanna be rockstar cousin.  It has been such an amazing day!  

As I sit here at the kitchen table in my dad's house, watching the thunderstorm brewing outside, I hear my kids laughing and enjoying time with their grandparents.  I am blessed.  I am happy.

It's An Award! Honest!

Last night, as I was getting ready for bed, I received a comment from my bloggy friend FeliciaE over at Living Just Like Grandma.  She wanted to let me know show had bestowed the honor of an award on me.  I got really excited!  I mean, really?!?!?  Who doesn't LOVE awards?!? (If you say you don't, I'm calling you a big, fat liar!)  Even more exciting, it's the Honest Scrap award.  I don't know who started this award, but I've been DYING to get it!  Weird, I know, but I love, love, love the graphic.  Call me crazy...  So thank you SOOOO  much Felicia!  I will display it proudly!

Here are the rules:

1.) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.

2.) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

3.) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.

So, here it goes!!!

Daffy at Batcrap Crazy - She's a new bloggy friend.  I know she already has this award, but she makes me laugh, so I'm awarding her again.

Nancy at If Evolution Really Works - Again, I know she already has this one, but she cracks me up and I wanted to show her a little love and gratitude.

Leigh at Leigh vs. Laundry - What can I say?  I mean really?  A pegasus in the salsa?  She's gotta be amazing to be raising a kid with an imagination like that!

Charmaine at Middle Aged Dating - You've gotta love a woman that bulldozes an ungrateful's place...  Hehehe!  Can I borrow your bulldozer, please?

Lisa Anne at Smell the Coffee Lisa - One again, she already has this award, but since I've been following her, I've come to the conclusion there is nothing this woman can't do!

Lunhatikk at Attitude of Gratitude - Not only is it damn hard to be that grateful all of the time, she is a kick arse face/body painter.

Amy at My LaLa Land - An adorable, 20-something, non-mommy blogger I heart.

Now for 10 Honest Things About Myself

1. I never wanted to be a mom, but my kids are my whole world and the force that drives my lazy butt out of bed every day.  They are the cheese to my macaroni.

2. I am involved in animal rescue, mostly bully breeds, and have had over 100 different foster dogs in the last 10 years.  Check out Underdog Rescue.  It was started and is run by my friend Shannon.

3. I was laid off last April (2008).  I have no desire to go back to work full time.

4. I'm looking into going back to school in the spring.  I always wanted to be a veterinarian.  Marriage and kids halted that...

5. I am a movie junkie.  I own over 300 DVDs, still have an extensive VHS collection, AND DVR tons of movies weekly.  Being an only parent only enables this addiction.  (Hey!  It's better than crack!)

6. I love trying new beers.  When I travel, I always try local or regional microbrews.  My favorite beer (currently) is Spotted Cow from New Glarus, WI.

7. I am a REALLY BIG DORK.  I love sci-fi and fantasy.  I watch Star Wars (The Clone Wars cartoons), read Tolkien, and love things like The Dark Crystal.

8. I was supposed to get married this year (10.17.09 to be exact).  My ex-beau (Chef) is 7 years younger than me and is probably one of my best friends in the whole wide world.  I love him very much but think he is too young to settle down.

9. I have two brothers.  Redneck Brother and Baby Brother.  Redneck Brother lives about 15 minutes away from me and I see him maybe  a dozen times a year.  His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer last week.  Please pray for them.  Baby Brother lives in Chicagoland with his wife (Wonder Woman).  They are high school sweethearts and have 4 B-E-A-Utiful boys that I adore.

10. I believe that my husband's death was a blessing in disguise.  Some feel that is callus, but I don't care.  My kids don't have to live with his demons and broken promises.  I think that is far healthier than having a crackhead dad that pops in and out at his convenience leaving a wake of heartache in his path.

So, that's that!  Check out the 7 fabulous women I listed above and have an amazing day!

Dream a Little Dream

"Everything that is or was began with a dream." ~ Lavagirl

Our founding fathers had a dream.  The Wright Brothers had a dream.  Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream.  I think some pretty great things came from these dreams.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a ballerina.  Mind you, I can't dance.  I've never taken a dance class in my life.  I was 3.

When I was in elementary school, I dreamed of being an actress and model.  I had head shots taken, I got involved in community theatre, I went on auditions and casting calls.  As a teenager, I even went to LA for pilot season to get experience with on camera auditioning.  My dad asked me, "What will you do for a real job?"  I stopped chasing that dream.

In 6th grade, I dreamed of one day going to UCLA.  For spring break that year, we went to Southern California.  My dad took me to tour UCLA.  To him, that was a practical dream.  He would give me news articles on women like Paula Zahn and would always tell me, "Naked people don't run the country."  (He gave me Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People when I was in 4th grade.)  Although his dream consisted of scholarships and law school, mine leaned more toward theatre programs and music.

When I was 16, I started attending the University of Minnesota.  I dreamed of freedom from my parents.  Escaping the reality of their divorce and my dad and Baby Brother moving far away.  My parents dreamed of academic overachievement and a future riddled with successes.  I drank a lot and smoked a lot.  I quit college at 19.

I look at my life today and it does not at all coincide with the dreams I had.  I love my life.  Are there things I would like to be different?  Yes.  I would like to be more financially secure.  I would like to have a life partner.  I wish I better understood ADHD, ODD, Schedule II prescription drugs, how nutrition affects the physiology of a developing brain.  I wish my kids got to see their grandparents more (which would mean I saw my parents more, yay!).  That's truly only the tip of the ice berg.  But would I change anything of my past?  Do I have regrets?  Absolutely NOT!  All of those things -the good, the bad, the ugly- make me the woman I am today, and I really like me!  Sure, I am FAR from perfect, but only one man could walk on water and I am not 2009+ years old (and I'm not a man!).

What are your dreams?  Is your life close to what you envisioned or so far from it?

Three Months And Counting... The Before 2009 Ends List

I'm a procrastinator.  Not just kinda.  Really. 

I have all kinds of good intentions (we all know by now where that gets us, according to my Dad), but always seem to find a reason to not follow through.

The funny thing is, I don't procrastinate on my commitments to others (although, I can be forgetful.  It drives BFF bananas!).  I only procrastinate on commitments to myself and my home.

It needs to stop!

So, I've decided to compile a list of things I need to accomplish before the ball drops on 12.31.09 and we welcome in 2010.  I'm trying to be realistic,  here.  But sometimes I go overboard.  So here it is:

The Derek Zoolander School for Kids That Can't Read Good
The Before 2009 Ends List 'O Things To Do:

1. Find the bar counter top in the kitchen.
2. Shampoo carpets
3. Get my laundry put away.  Don't laugh!  It's a muy serious undertaking that I haven't been taking too seriously.
4. Get to Chicago to visit Dad, Step-mom, Baby Brother and Fam, Fave Cousin and Fam, and everyone else.
5. Clean the laundry room.  I will find those dust bunny colonies and wipe them out single handedly.  Yes, I'm a force to be reckoned with.
6. Beat level 6 on Word Mole.  (Shut up.  I told you, I'm addicted to my Blackberry!)
7. Pick out tile for my kitchen and bathroom.
8. Paint vent and outlet covers (that I took down when painting over a year ago) and get them hung.
9. Replace the lightbulb in my oven...  And the one in the garage, and on my front porch, and in front of the garage, and in The Girl's closet... (If anyone has any recommendations for how to get broken bulbs out of sockets, I'm all ears!)
10. Get through the Flylady's Holiday Control Journal in one piece.

Hopefully this isn't too ambitious.  I'm hoping some of my new dear bloggy friends will help to keep me on task and on my toes...  Nudge nudge, wink wink...  I'll keep you posted!  Wish me luck!

There Was Life Before My Blackberry?!?!

My parents divorced shortly before my 15th birthday.  Upon the finalization of the divorce, Dad and Baby Brother moved to Chicago.  It sucked.

When I turned 16, my parents agreed that the best way for me to visit my dad and brother would be for me to drive there.  On my own. I wasn't even allowed to drive across the Minnesota River into Minneapolis (see "If you could change one rule your parents have for you, what would it be?"), but Chicago, here I came!

After much discussion, my parents decided that I needed some type of communication outlet in my car in case of an emergency.  After ruling out a CB radio (something about seedy semi-truck drivers and a 16 year-old, I dunno...), my mom and dad decided to venture into the new technology of...  Wait for it...  Wait for it...

CAR PHONES!!!!  (How cool is that!  At that point in my life, the only car phone I had ever seen was the one Punjab talked on in Daddy Warbucks' car when they were trying to rescue Annie from Rooster and Mrs. Hannigan!)  It looked something like this...

I know!  Cool, right!!!

Anyway, as time has passed, car phones have become obsolete.  And my inner snob required newer, greater, and cooler mobile communication methods.  After the car phone came the brick phone, then the flip phone, then (gasp) TEXT MESSAGING!  And from text messaging we've moved to having internet on our phones!! 

I've come to a sad realization.  If I spent more than a half hour away from my phone, I feel out of touch.  How on Earth did we survive before Blackberry?  Before text messaging?  Before cell phones?  And even before voice mail and answering machines?

Is there a cure for this addiction?  Will I ever be able to leave home without my phone and not panic?  I'd like to say I hope, but really, I'm not so hopeful.

A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place

In theory, everything should have a place. In reality, theory doesn't work so well for me. I long to have a home that would make even the Flylady jealous. (http://www.flylady.net/; She's amazing and gives step by step lists and tips to keep your house clean and organized. I just have a hell of a time staying on task.) Whenever I visit Baby Brother, I suffer intense pangs of jealousy because my amazing sister-in-law (Wonder Woman) keeps a spotless house (she's a SAHM of 4 boys). I wish I knew how she did it. On days like today, I kick myself for not getting on board.

In March, having lost my camera to The Girl's sticky fingers and inability to ask permission to use things, I had to buy a new camera for our Big Fat Family Roadtrip. After countless threats on her life, I thought for sure The Girl would leave this camera alone. No such luck. (I don't know why I'm always surprised.) So, I went to use my camera today. I was really excited to take a picture of the glass bead I made this weekend (Yes, I made it!!!), for a blog I was going to write. I had the bead all set up, ready to take the pictures and WTH! The camera is flashing, making beeping noises, and doing other nutty stuff!

ARGH!!! That Girl!!!!

The Girl, in her quest to play with all things that don't belong to her, has pushed buttons and changed settings and I don't know how to fix it!!! Now, if I, like the title says, had a place for everything and everything in its place, I would simply go get my instruction manual and fix the settings on the camera. Simple. No issues. Problem solved. But I don't.

I remember seeing the instruction manual recently. So now I sit and brainstorm about it's potential location. While I'm frustrated beyond belief with The Girl's inability to keep her paws off, I'm even more frustrated that despite my best intentions (Remember what Dad says about good intentions?) I have no idea in which pile, room, or drawer this desperately needed manual is in.

Ooooh..... Maybe I saw it in my closet.....