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!

;-)

another year older . . .

so today . . .  is rollie's birthday.  but it was not a happy birthday . . .

it was monday.  and he had to work.  and mother's day was yesterday.  all these things conspired to make his special day less than wonderful.

diandra tried to save it--she took him out to lunch.  i tried to save it--i called him at lunch time and had my whole class sing happy birthday to him.  he had a church board meeting tonight, and the people that were there tried to save it--they brought him a peach pie (his favorite!)  of course, they ate most of it, but still . . .  he did manage to bring a couple of pieces home.

and yet, it wasn't a happy day.  it didn't feel like a birthday.  no special dinner (there was no time--he had that meeting,) no presents, really (well, because we are all giving him money to replace his lost ipod touch, which he doesn't have yet, because we are just now giving him the moolah,) but mostly it was work, work, work.

i think rollie's ideal birthday celebration would be a whole day with nothing that he had to do, no phone calls, no agenda, just a day to goof off.  during the course of the day he would probably like to go to a movie or the beach.  he would like to eat at wood ranch where they serve the best barbeque tri-tip anywhere!  and, if it could be legally arranged, he would like to drive really fast on a curvy road somewhere in his car with the top down--maybe pch--because of course the weather would be perfect too!  and then he would come home and eat a huge bowl of perfectly ripe cherries--he lives for cherry season!

if anybody deserves to have a wonderful birthday like that, it is rollie.  he has been working some long days in the last several months, with very few real breaks.  he has had some very stressful situations to deal with, and many times he is the calming oil poured on some very stormy waters.  he deals with all our financial issues, which can get a little complicated sometimes with the house rental in oregon and a wife who doesn't get a paycheck in the summer and unexpected household repairs and maintenance to be done.  he is juggling a lot of balls, and there has been very little resting lately . . .

yesterday i was talking to diandra, and i told her that she is the joy in our family.  whenever she is around, the mood lifts.  we have fun.  she and her dad get goofy together.  she is the joy.

but if diandra is the joy, rollie is the anchor.  he is the one who keeps our family steady.  he keeps us from going off the deep end.  he keeps our heads above water and our feet on the ground.  (i know, i know, i am mixing my metaphors . . . )  he deals with the hard things, when he can, so that we don't have to.  he is the anchor.

so rollie, on your birthday, i just want to thank you for all you do for us, to make our lives better and easier, even though sometimes that makes your life harder and more frustrating.  without you, our ship would be tossing about--and probably mortgaged to the hilt :-)

i love you.  you are the best!!