My Little Prayer for a Little Girl

Today we all need to take a minute to realize how lucky we are and pray for those who are struggling.  There is a little girl in a hospital in Denver with a bleeding disorder of some kind, and I know her family is terribly worried as they try to figure out what's going on.  She is the niece of my MOH, and I would appreciate any prayers for her.

My little family is healthy right now, thank God.  We've had a few bumps in the road--infant asthma, broken collar bone, car accident, broken wrist, and so on.  But we made it through it all, relatively unscarred.  So far so good.  But seeing your babies suffer is just about the worst form of torture there is, and my heart is just hurting for the little girl and her mom, who I've known since she was a little girl.  She is a tough cookie, but stuff like this can bring anyone to their knees.  So I pray out loud, quietly, and now I'm writing it:  Please oh please, God, take care of little Hannah.  Hold her in your arms and keep her safe and strong.  Be the strength her family needs so much right now.  Amen.

And I am powerless.  I live several states away, I can't even bring them a casserole, which is what my Minnesota mind is telling me I should do.  All I can do is text them and wait for updates.  I hate that powerless feeling.  I hope someone is making them a casserole . . .

So that's all I feel like writing today.

The Beauty of a Buddy

My Buddy

I had coffee with my Chihuahua friend yesterday.  We talked about the fact that I call her that on this blog, and thankfully she gets the meaning behind it and isn't offended.  I just want to throw it out there that I call her that with love.  I had a Chihuahua.  Her name was Buddy, and we loved her so much.  She was five pounds, and we could carry her in our shirt.  My friend just got that "pet" name from me because she's tiny, cute, and I wish I could carry her around in a tote bag.  I just wanted to make that clear.

Chatting with her is always therapeutic for me.  We are friends for the simple fact that we enjoy each other's company and have a LOT in common.  As much as I adore my family, it is so refreshing to hang out with someone once in a while who has no stake in anything related to me.  Her life is so separate from mine, yet so similar.  We are both raising boys, similar in ages.  We have lived in the same states.  We like the same kinds of things.  It's so important to have people like that.  She can tell me things that she can't tell other people close to her, and I can do the same.  Like I said--therapy.

It got me thinking about friendship and how precious and important it is, and how rare.  Over the years, my friendships have really evolved.  I don't mean my specific relationships with certain people, but the way I relate to friends and the roles they play in my life, not to mention the priority that I place on the relationships.  When I was in grade school, it was tricky because of how often I moved.  I remember having close girlfriends, but they changed year to year, since we bounced around.  But back then it's all I knew, so it didn't seem that strange.

Once I was in high school, my friendships were deeper, more important.  I had few girlfriends, but good ones.  Girls are more difficult to hang out with than boys--we are so competitive with one another, it's part of our biology.  But I had three solid girlfriends in my first high school--one whom I have lost touch with over the years, one who I reconnected with over e-mail several years ago and now am friends with on Facebook, and one who was a foreign exchange student who I also keep in touch with on Facebook.  Technology is a wonderful thing.  These women were my friends during such a critical time in a person's life, that even though we were close for a very short time, they left an absolutely permanent mark on me.

At my second high school, I made several friends who meant a great deal to me.  My senior year was so wonderful.  At school at least.  The kids at my new school were so welcoming to me, and I was lucky enough to earn several real and true friends there, male and female.  It was a horrible year for my family, and I don't know what would have happened to me had I not had them in my life.  But as life goes on, it takes a cruel toll and we grow apart from each other, grow into our careers, our new families, our adulthood.  And we look back on those years the same way we look back on John Hughes movies.

College friends are a different breed.  Through my years in college, I had roommates, drinking buddies.  I loved them, I really did.  They were fun, silly, necessary.  I had one close girlfriend that was like a sister to me, but most of my best friends were guys.  And I love them all to this day.  They all know who they are, and I think they know what they meant to me.  They saved me so many times, from so many different things, they were like the big brothers I needed while my real big brother was far away from me.

Once college was over, and I began life as a wife, my world got so much smaller.  In a good way, but still, smaller.  I think it happened to almost all of my friends.  You become an adult.  All of a sudden figuring out your real life is your priority.  Not figuring out your weekend.  Marriage, bills, and starting a family becomes the focus.  Our new families begin to replace our friends, and we grow apart.  It's a bittersweet thing.  Our lives have new meaning and focus, and we leave behind what seemed so necessary and critical to us only a few short years ago.  But it's natural.  When I see some of my old friends now, I feel heartsick about how little I know of them now.  Sometimes I get nervous when I know I'm going to see some of my old crew, at homecomings or reunions or weddings.  There was so much intimacy, so many skeletons that we all knew about each other.  In some cases, it's probably best that time and distance has separated people.

But now my kids are growing up.  My life is in a comfortable routine.  I am meeting new friends, through parenting, through the community, through my family even.  And once in a while I meet someone like my little Chihuahua.  Someone who's like a breath of fresh air to me.  My husband is the best friend I could ever ask for.  I love my family.  I love my SIL's.  They are more than my friends, they are my lifeblood.  But we all need some friends.  Some people who are just our buddies.  They are like the cinnamon sugar on your toast--you don't have it all the time, but when you need it, well, it's there in the cupboard.

Bring it On!

My weather guy is telling my it's FINALLY going to start getting colder.  Sheesh!  My halls are all decked now, and I need some snow!  We live in Minnesota!  I have expectations.  I not only expect a white Christmas, I prefer a white Thanksgiving.  It's not necessary, but it would be nice . . .  My nephew is a ski-er (skier?  he skis?)  He's on the high school ski team (much better).  He needs his snow to get himself back in shape!  They can't even make snow on the hill unless it's cold enough, so come on!

So I'm continuing the process of decking my halls.  It's a huge job.  I have kind of a lot of Christmas decorations.  I'm more excited this year than I have been in a few years, though, so I'm going to try to do a very thorough job.  I have hosted Christmas Eve for my family every year since hubby and I were married. Until the past two years.  Two years ago we were starting a big remodeling job on the exterior of the house, and things were completely torn apart so my brother and SIL1 hosted.  Then last year it was MOH's first Christmas at his new place and he wanted to host, so two years in a row I haven't done it.  It was very difficult for me.  Both places did a beautiful job, but I'm so happy to have it back at my place.  For me, it's the big show.  But since I didn't host the past couple years, I didn't do a completely thorough job of the decorating.  

It's so on this year.  I have a Christmas Village--one of the Department 56 villages, the North Pole.  It's not a complete collection, but I have a pretty big chunk.  I haven't put it up in two years.  It's a LOT of work to put it up and take it down, and it takes a LOT of space.  I put it up yesterday!  It took me almost the entire day, but it looks so great!  I'd like to be like Lily Tomlin in the Incredible Shrinking Woman and move into it. 

My mom started me collecting these in 1994.  She got my sister, SIL1, and me each a church or chapel from a different village, and we've been slowly adding over the years.  I put my set up on some shelves in my kitchen.  It now fills all my shelves and spills down onto the counter below the shelves.  You can't see the whole thing in the pictures, it looks so cozy!

So I think I'll finish my decorating over the next couple days, and I'll post some more pictures.  I'm determined to spread this holiday cheer (sickness?) to at least some of you!  Happy Decking!

I Think I Need a New Sweater

A lovely weekend!  Hubby and I went to the Gopher game on  Saturday--it was a beautiful cool day, and we had a great time even though the Gophers got clobbered by Wisconsin.  Ugh.  Then on Sunday we had a crowd of family come out and celebrate J's birthday party.  SIL2 walked in and said, "Look at this place! It's like Christmas at a casino!"  Ha!  It was pretty funny.  I had half-decorated for Christmas and just put a bunch of magic and playing card decorations right over the Christmas stuff.  Deliciously tacky.

I'm very excited for today.  I have no more kids' parties to plan.  All I have now is Thanksgiving and Christmas, so now I can concentrated on that!  The rest of the Christmas decorations are going up starting today, and I can start making my list for our Thanksgiving extravaganza!  

So I've been thinking about our Christmas card.  We've evolved over the years to doing a photo card for Christmas, even though I resisted it for years.  I felt like it was too easy.  For many years I would do traditional Christmas cards and enclose a regular picture of my family.  It was kind of a lot of work.  Because I would write in every card, and write names, ages, and the year on every photo.  Then last year I was behind schedule so I just did a photo card.  It was so easy I almost felt guilty.  So I'm sold on them, and they've come a long way.  I love all the layouts and designs you can do.  Hubby got a new camera this year, and he's a talented photographer.  So it will be a fun project.

Now I just have to plan what we're going to do for our photo.  In years past we've done pretty traditional stuff, usually outside.  We always try to come up with something creative, and then just run out of time.  I was telling my brother that it would be fun to stage an "Awkward Family Photo" like the ones in that book (or on the website--you should really check it out.  Google awkward family photos and I promise you it's a good chuckle).  It's a fun idea, but I don't know if we could pull it off.  My kids might not want to play along.  So I have to plan something fun.  I'll never get my three men into tacky Christmas sweaters, so that idea is out.  I thought it would have been awesome.

Speaking of Christmas sweaters, you should know that my hubby has basically said he would divorce me if I ever started wearing that stuff.  You know, the seasonal sweaters that are all embroidered and have flair all over them?  Like the sweater in Sixteen Candles that Joan Cusack wears in the water fountain scene.  It has a girl on the sweater with a skirt on--check it out here.  I'm talking blinged out sweaters with jingle bells stitched on them, or pom-poms sticking out of them, or other stuff.  Hubby HATES those.  And I know they're not that fashionable, but people, in my head, I am one of those ladies that wear them.  I know I am.  And I go as far as I can without crossing that invisible line.  I wear all kinds of gaudy holiday jewelry that jingles or sparkles.  I wear a Santa hat.  I have lots of Christmas shirts--like a red t-shirt that just has "Joy" printed on it in sparkly letters.  So as close as I can get to the holiday sweater without hubby being too embarrassed.  But I think I need to have one of those Christmas Sweater parties where everyone is supposed to wear the tackiest one they can find.  Because it's funny and you're supposed to be making fun of those.  And nobody would have to know how much I secretly enjoyed wearing mine.  Now that's an idea.  I need a reason to have one of those!  And I can serve all kinds of old-fashioned things like Tom & Jerry's (which are nasty) and hot buttered rum (also nasty) and Divinity (whatever that is).  Oh, that would be so awesome!!!!!  Folks, help me come up with a reason for the party!!!!  

Well, I have to get back to decking my halls.  

Cars

I'm not a motorhead.  I have always said that a good car is just a car that gets me from Point A to Point B without me having to wonder if I'm going to make it there or not.  I've had a LOT of crazy cars is my time, and now that I am used to having a dependable vehicle, I don't think about cars much anymore.

But I have a dream car.  And as time goes on, I think about it more.  Especially because one is featured in one of the tv shows that hubby and I are watching lately.  First, allow me to give you my vehicular history: my first car was actually my brother's, but we sort of shared it during my junior year in high school.  I loved that car, and I have fond memories of it.  It was a 1964 Ford Falcon.  I moved out of state the summer before my senior year in high school, and my brother kept it with him at college, and wrecked it a while later.  But it was good while it lasted.

After I got to Minnesota, dad got me a little Chevy Chevette.  It looked like this one in the picture, but it was solid poop brown.  It actually looked like a poop.  And it would backfire REALLY super loud and pour out black smoke from the tail end occasionally, which was sweet.  Especially since I was the new kid at a rich school  where all the kids drove either a new Bronco II or a VW Cabrioulet.  Awesome.  It had no radio so I had this little pink portable radio/cassette player that I put on the dashboard.  It had no floor under the passenger side front seat, just carpet.  You could literally lift up the carpet and watch the highway race by under your feet.  True story:  I was driving to my first real full-time administrative job at the University, my FIRST DAY no less, and it was raining.  I hit a huge puddle and a blast of water shot up through the floor, around the windows up the passenger door, along the ceiling of the car, and dumped down on my head.  It was so great.

That car died after a while, good riddance, and then in college for a short time I drove a Dodge Colt that I got from a boyfriend's friend.  It was a manual transmission with a skull on the gear shift.  It looked like this one, but totally matte orangish-red.  And rusty.  It didn't have 2nd, 4th, or reverse gears, so I had to go from 1st to 3rd to 5th, and I could never parallel park.  I would have to drive through open parking spaces and park facing out so I wouldn't need reverse.  And I'd have to parallel park butted up to a driveway so I'd have room to pull out.  And it only started sometimes.  So one time at the University, they were doing street cleaning.  Since I rarely drove, I didn't pay any attention to the signs to remove your car from the street, so my car got ticketed and towed.  I just let them keep it.

Then there was the Ford Tempo that had electrical problems.  I had to stick a hairbrush in this little butterfly thing in the engine (I know, you'd never know my dad was a mechanic) to keep in running, and sometimes on the highway it would just quit.  I'd have to pull over and jiggle some wires to get it going again.  That car only lasted a couple months.

And then my fiance (now the hubby of course) bought me a car.  A new car (well, almost new).  It was so beautiful.  A Ford Contour, 1992, beautiful shimmery light blue.  I loved it.  I drove it for a few years, until an incident on the highway with a chunk of debris that went under the car and damaged the car so bad we had to total it.  My car accident woes are a topic for a whole different post, by the way.  So I'll leave it at that.

But now I have had a string of very reliable, albeit not-so-exciting cars.  I've gone through Cadillacs, conversion vans, and now I'm driving my second Ford Focus.  We got it new in 2009, and I LOVE it.  I really do.  It's a nice size, it's got great mileage, it's roomy, and it's cute.  I'm happy with it.

But here's my dream car.  I've loved them ever since I can remember, and the perfect one is driven by the wife in Breaking Bad.  I WANT ONE SO BAD!!!!  They're boxy and cool, and you can still find them for sale.  Unfortunately, they're usually too rusty, but I'm trying to get hubby to hunt for one in really good condition.  I.  Want.  This.  Car.  The Jeep Wagoneer, any time from a late 70's model to a mid to late 80's model.  Red, Silver, Brown, whatever.  I just want one.  With shag carpeting.  Be still my heart. Maybe that would be a good Christmas present. . . .

It's Going to be a Jammies Day

Man, it's nice out.  It's chilly, breezy, and there's a few new flakes of snow on the ground, our first of the season.  The air feels crispy.  I love it.

This morning at the end of the driveway, as we were waiting for the school bus, I was watching the kids toss around a football--their normal waiting for the bus ritual.  Not a word about the chilly air, just excitement over the snowflakes on the ground.  I'm raising tough kids.  Minnesota kids.  I'm very proud.

And the chill in the air is just what I needed to be inspired today.  I'm getting my jingle on!  I've already started a bit here and there, but as I've said before, I wanted to be careful since I also have to do the birthday party Sunday.  I can't take it.  I'm just putting it up.  Maybe not all of it, we won't have a tree up, but the majority will be up today.  I'll just decorate for the birthday over it.  It might be hilarious, but very festive!!!  Woo hoo!

Tonight we're going to see Nephew5 in his Veteran's Day program.  I love the little kiddo programs.  There's not really much cuter than that.  But since I have to go out in public, I will have to reserve time in my cleaning/decorating frenzy to shower and get presentable.

It's funny how when you're a stay-at-home mom there's not as much reason to get fixed up.  I don't want to admit the percentage of my days that is spent in jammie pants with no bra.  It's another one of those things that happens as a result of my particular line of work--I put myself last.  So much so that I actually tend to forget about myself.  The priority is to get the kids ready for school, dressed, homework done, driven here and there, meals prepared, house picked up (ahem), laundry done, etc.  There are days that (if I don't have anywhere I need to go that day) I won't get dressed and fixed up until right before kids or hubby come home.  It's not right.  I should try to start waking up an hour before the kiddos so I can shower, have a cup of coffee, and be presentable for my family.  Poor guys.

It's also funny how as I type this I'm sitting here in yoga pants (that I only changed into from my jammie pants so I wouldn't embarrass the boys at the bus stop), hair in a sloppy ponytail, and mascara smudge.  The kids are at school, hubby's at work.  NO reason that I shouldn't go take a shower and get dressed right now.  But I'm going to post this, and right after that I'm sure I'll go make my second cup of coffee, turn on the Christmas music, and start cleaning and decorating.

By the way--I did clean out my fridge the other day.  It's surprising how good it feels to have that done.  And it's a messy job.  Luckily I was wearing jammies when I did it. . . .

At Least I Remember to Brush my Teeth

I think there's something wrong with me.  Normally, I'm relatively organized, and I try to be ahead of the game.  But ever since my dad was put in hospice, and now after his passing, I just can't seem to get it together.

Last month was A's birthday.  I put the wrong date on the invitations I sent out (yes, I still do old-fashioned invitations).  I had to then send out an e-mail and let everyone one know that I was off by a week.  Now this weekend is J's birthday party and I have had to adjust the date and time several times.  Once because I actually forgot that hubby and I had tickets to the Gopher vs. Badger football game (in my normal brain I would NEVER forget something as awesome as that), so not only did I have to change the date, but I had to line up my mom to come over and hang out with the kiddos.  Then I had to change the time, because I forgot J is going to one of his best buddy's birthday party.

Also, these are just the birthday parties we have for the family.  I haven't even planned the kids' "friend" birthday party yet, where they invite buddies from school.  So I have to do that, and it's going to have to be later in the season, possibly the first weekend of December.  Wow.

There's much planning to do for the big Thanksgiving bonanza, and I haven't started that yet.

I know this may not seem like a big deal, but it's a signal that something's going on in my brain.  I am a planner, and a major list-maker.  I haven't even started making my lists!

This does not bode well for the holiday season.  I am giddy with excitement at the upcoming festivities, and the decorating opportunities, photo ops, and music and movies, but I'm so scatterbrained!  I have GOT to get it together.  My house is a wreck, and I have a party this weekend.  So what am I doing today?  Going out with my mom.  I am hoping to get a lot done tomorrow.

So what is wrong with me?  How do I get myself back?  Maybe I need to start exercising in the morning, get my brain straight.

People, I haven't even brought out the holiday glitter pens yet.  HELP!!!!