Last Minute Hairspray (GBE2 #66 Topic: Snapshot)

Here in New York's "capital district" we have musical theater in the park every summer.  It's a fun, not to mention free, way to spend an evening.  I have many fond memories of going to the shows when I was younger.  As the years have gone by, I haven't had as many opportunities to go.  The kids were small and I had no sitter....I had no one to go with....it was too hot....I was too tired.  I've had excuses a-plenty.

Until this year.

Finally, in the form of my oh-so-beautiful and amazing ten year old daughter, I had a theater buddy!  She's fun.  She's good company.  She loves musicals just as much as I do and she is finally old enough to have the patience to sit through the show. 

When I discovered that one of the musicals was going to be "Hairspray", I knew this was the year for Addy and I to start a new mother daughter tradition.  I talked about how we were going to pack a snack and some drinks, get a blanket and snuggle under the stars while we watched her favorite musical. 

Then family crisis hit us.  Hard.  And going to the theater was the last thing on my mind.  I told her to remind me.  I was going to keep this promise no matter what, but she had to keep me on my toes in case I forgot about it while trying to sort out our problems.

She reminded me on Sunday night.  I promptly checked the park's website only to find out that Sunday night....was the LAST night of the show!!  And it was starting in thirty minutes!!

So, we ran out the door.  We did have a blanket.  But we didn't have time for snacks and drinks.  We hurried to the park as fast as we could, made our way through the crowd and wedged ourselves into a small space in the grass.

She snuggled up against me and waited impatiently for the last ten minutes to roll by before showtime.

That's when I snapped the photo up above.

It wasn't the perfect outing that I had planned out in my mind.  But I kept my promise to my little girl and started a new tradition in the process.

Who knows?  Maybe "Mammamia" will be in our future.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Eleventy-seven Questions

A little while ago Gill from Mojo Writin (Bright Blessings) tagged me to do this eleven-tag thing.  Being the colossal procrastinator that I am, I totally forgot about it kind of pushed it aside, until today, when I saw Beth (Word Nerd Speaks) take on this tag from about eleventy bajillion people.

Since today is pretty much a lazy day for me, I figured it might be fun to actually do it.  I'm going to do both Gill's and Beth's questions (since she tagged anyone and everyone!) but I'm not going to tag anyone myself.  This tag surely won't die with me and, honestly, I'm not feeling ambitious enough to come up with people to tag :-)

Eleven Things About Me!

1. In the last couple of months, we've adopted three senior cats.  Two girls, Big Mama and Bob, and one boy, Graphite.

2. Since doing this, I've discovered that I am actually a cat person.  More specifically--a fat cat person. I fell in love with Big Mama at first sight...she weighs in at 20 pounds!!  Bob weighs about 13 pounds.  I don't know...there's something about a fat cat that makes me smile.

3. I am making split pea soup for dinner.  I am a great soup maker.  I can make a tasty soup out of just about anything.

4. I've always hated mint.  Until very recently.  Lately I've been grabbing every chocolate/mint flavored item I can get.  Weird.

5. I do not own one pair of single color socks.  All my socks are wild crazy patterns.

6. Whales are my favorite mammal.

7. I absolutely love reading to my kids. 

8. I keep my spare change in an actual piggy bank,   She's a pink pig wearing a tutu and tiara.  I call her Priscilla.

9. I love perfumes that smell like food.  My recent favorite is called Un-Birthday. It smells like candy and it is awesome.

10. I have a job interview on Friday...send me positive vibes!

11. I am nowhere near interesting enough to come up with eleven things.

Now...for Gill's questions...

1. What is the first book you remember reading as a child? I read a lot of books!  The first one that comes to mind is the Sweet Pickles series.  I used to love those!

2. Have you ever owned a fad toy--such as a tamogotchi?  When I was a kid, I had cabbage patch kids and collected garbage pail kids cards.  That counts right?

3. What was your favorite childhood game? Clue.  Hands down.  I still love playing Clue.  Second would probably be word games like Scrabble and Boggle.

4. Can your body do anything strange--such as ear wiggling?  I can do the taco tongue thing.  My toes also can spread really wide apart.  I have pretty talented toes.  When I was young, I could flip the record I was listening to and restart it all with my toes.

5. If you had to spend the rest of your life in one room, who would you take for companionship?  I can't imagine anyone would want to spend forever with just me.  That's a punishment I wouldn't want to inflict...they'd go crazy for sure.

6. Do you have a friend who knows to wipe your computer should you suddenly die? No...and I don't think there is anything on here that I would be embarrassed for anyone to see anyway.

7. What is the worst grammar pet peeve that you have?  Oh but there are sooo many!  They're/their/there...your/you're....to/two/too...I see people say that they 'half to go to the store'  that irks the crap out of me.

8. You can go back and change one life decision--would you?  Nope...I'd keep it all the same.

9. You're coming back to this world as an animal--which one?  An orca whale.

10. Would you confront someone who was doing something illegal--such as littering or cycling on the pavement--if there were signs forbidding it?  I'd probably make some sort of obnoxious passive-agressive comment in a loud-ish voice.  I'm not big on confrontations.

11. What sound can make your heart miss a beat and a smile break out unbidden?  The sound of my children laughing and playing nicely.  

Now for Beth's questions.... 

1. When did you start feeling like a grown-up? I'm not sure I've reached that point yet.  I mean...I know I am...I'm almost 40...but it sure doesn't feel like it.


2. What celebrity made your heart go pitter-patter when you were a kid/tween/teen?  First it was Corey Feldman (my sister was the Corey Haim fan) then it was Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids On The Block.


3. What song do you and your sweetie think of as “your” song? We really don't have one.  There's been a few over the years that have been more like inside jokes but no real "our song".


4. Do you consider yourself patriotic? Why or why not? I wouldn't say that I'm overly patriotic.  That being said, when blatantly anti-American comments are being made, it does make me irritable.


5. What is something you once believed, but no longer do? Santa?  Tooth Fairy?


6. Jean shorts: Just fine or a sure sign of extreme dorkiness? I think it depends on the style of jean shorts.  They aren't my style but I've seen many people pull them off nicely.


7. Has an infomercial ever prompted you to make a purchase? If so, what did you buy? Nope, I can't say that I have bought anything. 


8. What snack do you have hidden in the back of the cupboard/fridge? Nothing especially decadent today.  I do have snap peas and salsa.  Healthy and tasty!


9. What book or movie seemed to speak to the masses, but didn’t do much for you? Fifty Shades of Grey.  It's just so badly written. I feel like it has an underlying message that risque sex practices and abuse/trauma are always linked.  That seems like a bad message to me.  And I honestly don't know how she got away with using "he smelled like Christian" that many times to describe his scent.  Ummmm....hello?  We can't really smell him...you have to do better than that!


10. What do you wear to bed?  Four days a week, I sleep at work.  I just wear whatever I put on to go to work that day.  At home, it's usually shorts and a t-shirt or some similar combination.


11. Is there a story of you as a child that your parents told so many times that it became part of your history? Something cute or funny you said or did, maybe? Care to share?  I can't really think of anything.  Maybe I was a pretty boring child ;-)

Right Now, Today (GBE2 #48 Topic: Now)

It's a lazy Saturday evening and this is a lazy Saturday post!  Sometimes you just need a day to be a little lazy...right?  Although the day was rather uneventful, there were some really spectacular parts thrown in.  So without further ado.....

Things I LOVE right now, today!

1.  The feeling of accomplishment that happens when I walk the entire perimeter or Joralemon Park.

2.  Baked apples with splenda and cinnamon.  It's like pie without the pie--or the guilt! 

3.  Two hour naps in the middle of the afternoon.

4.  Donut Shop Chocolate Glazed Donut flavored coffee.  Yum.

5.  Marathon of Supernatural with Jeff, Addy, and Bear.  We love the creepy adventures of the Winchester brothers.

6.  Lounging around with no makeup on, wearing my favorite jeans and Run-DMC t-shirt.  Lazy day couture!

7.  Rain and cool breezes.

8.  Music by Gossip.  My personal soundtrack for weeks.  The family is probably ready to beat me. (Oh no!  Not this AGAIN!!!)

9.  Cuddling up with my tubby kitty, Big Mama.

10. "Starfish kisses" from Mathias. (Kisses where he stays stuck to my cheek like a suction cup.)

Have a spectacular weekend everyone!!

Twelve Moments (GBE #44: Make A List and Title it)

1. I got to sleep until 8:37 today.  For me, that is the equivalent of someone else sleeping until noon.

2. The seeds that Jeff, the kids and I planted are starting to sprout. 

3. Mathias is missing his two front teeth and, when he smiles, he kind of looks like a vampire.

4. Addy wrote a joke of the day on my white board (something that I have been doing) What does a student write to math?  Dear Math, I am not a therapist.  Go solve your own problems.

5. My new haircut looks really good!

6. The weather was not too hot...not too cold.  Just perfect.

7. My very good friend from school passed her boards and is now, officially, a nurse.

8. Jeff told me I looked sexy.

9. We went grocery shopping and now have a house fully stocked with food.

10. My newly adopted cat, Big Mama, ambled her big 'ol behind out onto the balcony to sunbathe.  She looked like she's been living here for years.

11. Bear and Mathias playing together nicely while I write this list.  I have extremely adorable boys who are both mighty passionate about legos.

12. Nathan voluntarily walked up to me, gave me a hug and told me that he loved me.

Title:  Twelve Moments from Today That Brought Me Joy

Busted! (GBE2 #43 Topic: Shenanigans)

With four kids running around this house, I am no stranger to shenanigans.

Sometimes it's cute and amusing....other times it's enough to make me want to bang my head against the wall.

And sometimes....there is utter satisfaction in busting one of my kids.  I can't possibly be the only who feels this way, right?  There are just these moments when I've assembled all of the evidence, prepared my arguments, and my counter-arguments...these moments when I am completely in the zone and I WILL crack whichever kid is suspected of whatever "crime" I'm investigating. 

Eat your heart out Law and Order, you don't having anything on detective Mom.

Last week, I had one of those moments.  My oldest son's English teacher had sent me an email about a missing homework assignment.  A whole paper that had been due last week but hadn't been turned in yet.  This was after the child told us every night that he was finished with his homework.  This was after he had been working so hard (or so we thought...) for weeks trying to work on improving his grades.  Just a few days before, he had brought home a report from another teacher that his science grade had gone up about twenty points. 

He was doing great.  We were so proud.

Except now I was mad that he'd been fibbing about his homework for a week.

And I was ready pounce.

I hadn't busted anybody in a while.  I had visions of Xbox restrictions dancing in my head.

Oh you think you're soooo smart don't ya kid.  You didn't think we'd find out about that English paper.  Well guess what?  No xbox, no computer, no cell phone, no anything until I see a complete paper in my hands that I can read!!!  Bwhahahaha!!! 
I expected excuses...and arguing...lots of arguing..because that's what teenagers do best.  But I was ready for him.  This kid wasn't going to know what hit him!

He strolled in the house at three o'clock and headed straight for the Xbox.  I wouldn't do that if I were you...his father warned...your mom wants to talk to you.

BAM!  I laid it all out for him and I waited for the teenage outburst to ensue.

Instead, he said "OK, Mom.  I'll do it right now." and then he sat down at the computer and typed his paper...even asking my opinion every now and then. 

He did everything he was supposed to do.  Without an argument!  Within the hour, there was a typed paper in my hands for me to read.  It sounded pretty good too!

How dare he do the right thing and take all the joy out of being "the mean mom"!!??

I don't know if I can stand for these shenanigans!  :-)

GBE2 #12--Saying 'I Do'

This week's GBE2 Challenge is a picture prompt--the picture you see directly above to be exact. 

Interlocking rings.  Marriage.  Weddings.

Lots of girls dream of that huge special day.  The traditional big wedding.  Flowing white gowns, hundred of people, bridesmaids...groomsmen...the whole enchilada.

I am so not that girl.  Unless you're talking about an actual enchilada.  Yeah, I'd be all over that in a heartbeat. 

Fancy weddings....not so much.

I really don't see the point in spending all that money for what ultimately is a really big party.  Spending all that money to show off to people you haven't seen in years or might not even know.  (To paraphrase a close friend in regards to her wedding:  "she and my mom were cubicle neighbors at work for almost thirty years...so I HAD to invite her to my wedding"  I just find that silly.)

Costofwedding.com says that the average price of a wedding is $24, 066!  Most of which, if we're following traditional protocol, is the responsibility of the bride's parents.  Seriously.  If my mom had 24-grand to pay for a wedding...I would just want her to give me the money.  I could find much better uses for the money than a big party.  A party you might want to repeat at some point down the road when your first marriage ends and you've met the second (third, fourth...) person of your dreams. 

I've been married twice.  I thought my first wedding was a small fun affair.  It fit who I was at that point in my life and it fit my then husband as well.  It fit who we were as a couple.  At that point in time, I would have said that I'd had the perfect wedding. The whole thing cost under $600.

But my second wedding was even more perfect.

May 20, 2005.  A lovely spring day.  The sun was shining brightly through our balcony window at our house.  We had seven family members in attendance.

Nathan, Addy, and Bear were there too.  They were 8, 3, and 2, respectively.

Jeff wore jeans, a dress shirt, and tie.  I wore a beautiful sheer lavender dress.

Nathan was the best man.  Addy was the flower girl.

Two year old Bear carried the rings on a satin pillow adorned by ribbons and bows (hand made by my best friend for the occasion).

"I do's" were said by the balcony window, in front of the people we cared about most.

We did it together--as a family.

It was all about love and not about putting on a show and looking good for the neighbors.

That IS the point of getting married.....right?

It would be really awesome if I could have my fairy tale doughnut shop wedding....someday.  But if I don't, I'll be just fine.

I've already had the wedding of my dreams.