march 2011. the month i will eventually forget.

so today . . . is the last day of march. this means my self-imposed exile from the land of blogging is almost over...

it has been quite a month. i have had ideas for blogs rolling around in my head, but i never seemed able to sit down and write...

there was the day rollie took me to the outlet mall to choose a birthday present, and the result was me sitting in a chair in the corner of the coach store with an armful of handbags, paralyzed with indecision...

there was the day i sent my pre-k kids across the hall to an empty classroom with a huge piece of butcher paper, toy cars, and paint... oh yes, and my teaching assistant... and paint shirts, which were of no help at all...

there was the day diandra and i zipped to the outlet mall after school and experienced deja'vu...

there was the day i discovered the top on my beloved convertible was 'letting the sun shine in'--even when it was closed...

there was the day my future son-in-law came straight to our house from kuwait... well, actually he went to germany and georgia and lax first... but then he came straight to our house!

and then there was the wedding...

and my wedding dress... which was nearly a catastrophe, but turned out to be something really special... and las vegas on st. patrick's day... and purple christmas balls, silver christmas balls, and clear, lucite jewels... and terrible wind... and a beautiful bride with a sparkly bouquet... and a groom with a temperature... and a dad who loved his daughter enough to step waaaay out of his comfort zone...

there was the day i took my mom to the las vegas outlet mall... and made her go into the juicy couture store... and the guess store... and the coach store... and she made me go into chico's... and the store with the elusive hush puppy shoes... and then i made her go back to the coach store... (and before you think someone should take all our credit cards away, we did not actually make purchases in all those stores...)

there was the day my brother called to tattle on my mom... which was also the day my dad had some kind of major surgery... which is why my brother felt the need to tattle on my mom... yes, some days we are still children!

there was the day i started walking the dogs again... and decided to walk them both at the same time... (let's just say, we survived, but it wasn't pretty...)

there were the days that rollie left the house at 8:00 a.m. and didn't get home until 10:30 p.m... and the hunt for the perfect couch for his new office... and the chairs that almost got away...

there was a whole week of rain... and not one single weather blog! (count your blessings!!)

there was the day i tried to play music on my iphone and couldn't figure out where the ipod icon was... (anyone with an iphone is now saying to themselves, "what?!?!? how could she not see it???" all i have to say is, you just don't understand how my brain works...)

there were days i laughed, and days i cried, and days i just felt like crying while wishing i could laugh...

and there were pink shoes with flowers that unexpectedly appeared...

and once in a lifetime moments.

yes, march was quite a month. and as i read back over this list, i am really sad that i missed all that blogging! because while i remember these incidents happening, i don't remember the small details, or who said what, or how i felt... because i didn't write it down.

i blog so that i can remember the small, funny things that happen to me... just in case, you know, my brain ever fails me. (EVER fails me?!?!? please. my brain fails me every. single. day.)

you thought i blogged to entertain you, didn't you. but i don't. i blog so i can remember my life.

april fool's to you!

;-)

happy birthday to yooouuuuuu!

so today . . . is my mom's birthday.

birthdays seem to be about how old you are, but i'm not going to tell you how old my mom is. because if you have ever met her, you wouldn't believe me anyway! no one does. sometimes people look at diandra and me and my mom, and shake their heads--because the math just doesn't work. diandra seems older than she is, my mom seems younger, and there i am in the middle . . . which is not a bad place to be :)

my mom is way younger than her birth certificate would show. i think that is because she has so many interests. and she is always learning new things--mostly electronic things. she is on facebook. she is on twitter. she sends text messages. she even uses the internet on her new phone to read my blog sometimes. and now she is learning to read from a kindle.

according to my friend wendy's facebook page, mark twain said, "age is an issue of mind over matter. if you don't mind, it doesn't matter." i think that is true. age is somewhat relative. it doesn't really matter how old a person is. what matters is who a person is.

my mom is smart and funny and well-read and organized. she loves her family and her dog and her friends and her church--even though none of them are perfect. well, except for the dog. she likes movies and puzzles and books and electronics. she hates to have her picture taken. (i know this about her, but i really wanted a picture for this blog. i searched my photo files, but mom sightings are few and far between! i was lucky to find this one.) she is strong and healthy and takes good care of herself, so that she will continue to be strong and healthy for a very long time.

my mom is awesome. i hope i am just like her when i grow up :)

happy birthday mom! i love you!!

a mother's day rant

so today . . . is mother's day eve. but you will probably be reading this on mother's day--unless you are too busy celebrating . . .

i am going to write a proper mother's day blog tomorrow, but tonight i just wanted to take a minute to say that i have the best mom! she didn't try to be my friend when i was growing up--she was my mom! we enjoyed being together, i think, but she made sound decisions about what was best for me without worrying if i was going to be happy about it or not. she was the mom! she didn't try to be my best friend--that wasn't her job. she made me dust the house and clean my room. she didn't let me ride my bike to the mall (she knew i would fall over and get hit by a car--i'm not a very good bike rider. but my friends were going . . . ) she wouldn't let me watch m*a*s*h*. i'm sure there were times when she would have liked to wimp out and just be my friend. but she didn't. because she was the mom. and she was a good one.

i look around me today, and i realize that quality is lacking in alot of families. parents are so worried that their kids will get mad or be upset, that they wimp out. i see it every morning at school when parents are bribing their preschoolers with toys and snacks to get them to stay at school. i mean really? if i hear one more parent of a four year old say, "but they won't let me . . . " there may be casualties. seriously. i see it at the mall when pre-teens pitch a fit to get what they want until their parents finally give in--which really only postpones the battle, because just wait until your ten-year-old tries to wear that outfit out of the house . . . i see it in college age kids who take advantage of their parents generosity without a second thought.

it isn't always fun to be the mom.

but . . .

there comes a day when it is. that day when your child realizes all that you have done for them, and the sacrifices you have made for them, and how the times you said no really were for their good. because you love them more than anyone else ever will. and they look at you with adult eyes, and they finally get it.

and THAT is the day that you finally get to be their friend.

so thanks, mom, for saying no when you had to, saying yes when you could, and always, always looking out for what was best for me--whether i knew it or not!

i'm glad that you were the mom when you needed to be, so that now you can be my friend.

i love you. lots.

co-dependant

so today . . . i need a diet soda. really. i NEED one.

i drink a lot of soda. i just like it. i know it isn't good for me, but i love it. it is my one vice. well, if you don't count 7-11 brownies.

lately i have decided i should cut down on the amount i drink. my doctor thinks it is a good idea. my husband thinks it is a good idea. but most importantly, my mother thinks it is a good idea.

i love my mom. she is great. she is always looking out for me. she doesn't nag or interfere, she just informs. when i started driving and was able to go places alone, she would refer me to newspaper articles (yes, in the days when we had to read newspapers, because there was no internet) about car jackings or abductions from shopping mall parking lots. her intent was not to scare me into staying home--i don't think--but just to make sure i knew there were dangers out there and i should be careful. and it worked. when i am out alone after dark, my eyes are constantly darting back and forth, in a surreptitious way, looking for the evil that might be lurking. i have even been know to call someone on my way to my car, in especially scary situations, just so that if i do get abducted at least someone will know and can call the police.

now i live 1000 miles away from my mom, but thankfully we have the internet. most nights you can find us both on facebook, chatting while we farm or play with our virtual pets. but she still sends me those cautionary articles through email. i can't tell you how many times i have received the one about the guy at the convenience store/gas station who runs up to your car with a $5 bill to get you to open your window . . . but it is a good thing she sends me these reminders, because after a while i tend to forget. and i do spend a lot of time in convenience store/gas station parking lots--i have to if i want brownies and diet lemon cokesi.

recently she told me about an article she had read online about the dangers of drinking too much soda. this came right on the heels of rollie deciding he would limit himself to one a day, for health reasons. so it got me to thinking that maybe i should cut back too . . .

this all occurred, coincidentally, on the weekend that we happened to run out of pepsi one. usually when this happens, i immediately run to the store for more. but this time i thought, no, let's not keep cans of soda around. maybe if it isn't in the house i will only drink it when we eat out (which is still quite often) and that will help me cut back.

it seemed like a good plan. and it was, until the soda i brought home from lunch was gone.

i thought that if i had to get into my car and drive some place to buy a soda, i would be less likely to do it, and so i would drink less. apparently that is not true.

it has been almost a week since i made this momentous decision about not keeping cans of soda in the house, and the people at jack-in-the-box are starting to ring up my order for a large diet soda before i even get to the cash register! seriously.

rollie is doing quite well with this new change. but then we all know that he is the disciplined one. diandra and i--well let's just say that we enable each other. i cannot tell you how many trips one or the other of us has made to the nearest fast food place to get sodas. whichever one of us is home will text the one who is out, saying something like, "i could really use a soda. could you pick one up for me on your way home?" and of course, whoever is going through the drive-thru at chick-fil-a is also going to get one for themselves. so i am not sure we are drinking any less soda. we are just paying more for it.

and thinking about it all the time. i am sitting here tonight, parched. i could drink water, but i don't like water. i wish i did. i was reading a new blog today where someone listed water as their favorite drink. i was so jealous!! all i want is a soda. i checked the refrigerator, twice, just in case one was stashed in there in the back, hidden accidentally. i looked in the garage, because sometimes i keep a 2 liter bottle out there for emergencies. i think i am starting to identify with people who have addictions.

this would be easier if it were cold here. then i could drink hot tea, or even hot water--which strangely, i like. but it was 80 degrees today! in november!! i'm sorry, but that is not hot drink weather. that is tall-frosty-glass-of-something-with-caffeine-splenda-and-bubbles-in-it-that-you-drink-through-a-straw weather.

tonight i have no soda. i do not feel up to making the trip out to get one. diandra would bring me one, but she will be home late. i guess i will just go to bed. i don't know what i will do tomorrow morning . . .

maybe it will be cold. if it isn't, i think a 12 pack of pepsi-one may find a new home.