I Love You More

Ive always told the boy-child I love him all the way to the moon and back and around the age of 2 he started with, "and to the stars momma?" So then it became "I love you all the way to the moon and the stars and back."
Well, for the past few weeks my boy-child has been on a "I love you more than.. " kick. Most days its ,"I love you more than a hotdog momma" repeated about every hour. Ive gotten a few "I love you more than ice-cream"-s. Its awesome to hear the kid tell me he loves me a dozen times a day; Especially considering how much he loves hotdogs....
Yesterday we headed over to the doughnut store to get him a chocolate long-john. As we are getting back into the car he says to me, "Momma I love you more than a hotdog, but I dont love you more than a doughnut. No I love doughnuts more than you." Niiiiiice kid. Real nice.

Back to Reality

Im no longer free from the realities of my life. Im firmly planted back in Arizona. Yes, we can all cry now :'(

First, lets reflect before I whine about life.....


WARNING:This is the part where I get sappy

I spent a lot of time simply enjoying the fact that I was around family.
That side of my family is so polar opposite of the other side of my family. They're generally happy to see you. Jokes can be made. Kids can play and squabble without adult interference. Theres no bitching and moaning about how crappy their lives are.
I just cannot put into words how much they mean to me. How much I have searched for that here in Arizona; tried to replicate it. The sense of family unity is the one thing I wish for my children. I want the big family Holiday meals, backyard BBQs, birthday parties, etc. To me, there is nothing more important than family (this includes friends who become family too!) Its just so important to surround yourself with people who love you, people who want to laugh with you, and people who are there to help/support you.

My kids had cute little "southern" accents while there. They sounded totally fake, but hey *shrug*
The boy-child caught frogs every single day. Lightening bugs, too! He swam, fished, played with babies, slid down Sliding Rock in NC, dug for worms, planted a garden, and probably more things that I just cant think of :-)

The Diva, well she definitely had the phoney accent! She enjoyed all of the same things her little brother did, but especially liked playing with the babies! She asks daily when daddy and I are going to have a baby girl *eyeroll*

I spent the last couple of days hanging with my "baby" cousin H. Gosh kids grow up so fast! Shes 15 now and just absolutely beautiful! Shy and quiet, too. I finally got her to mumble a few words back at me towards the end. Convinced her to try driving and we went shopping for new clothes :-) The "child" definitely needs to gain some confidence though! (so H, if you read this, You are BEAUTIFUL and SMART)

It was absolutely great for our souls to "escape" for awhile. We saw some beautiful sites, relaxed, enjoyed life.





Now onto LIFE-

My grandma is now schedule for some pretty serious surgery. I really wish I could be there with her. My poor mom is just a mess :-(

We are BROKE. Like seriously so. Whats new, right? This level of broke is new to us. Scary.
Im down to working 1/3 of the hours I normally would. 'E' is bringing in 20% of his normal pay. Yeah, its just craptastic right now. We will get through it, but at what cost I dont know and that worries me.

I have no freakin' clue how im going to juggle kids school, work, my school, and all that comes along with those things without my mom here to help. Childcare is our biggest issue. We have no money for a sitter and trying to coordinate with the free offers is pretty difficult. I have faith thatll we will figure something out , though. We have to damnit!

My bestie is leaving town for like a year. Boooo! WAAAAAH! Whatever will I do? Looks like ill be traveling more or going crazy ;-)

Wheres Waldo?

This week I have been visiting family on the opposite side of the country. Can I just say, its about time!, ?

I have missed them so much these last 5 years. So much changes so fast that you just feel like itll all be gone before you know it.
Luckily, my family never makes you feel out of place or like a freak stranger :-)


In just a few days I have gotten to meet and play with my cousins 'J's 2 babies (who were not even in the plans last time I was here!), briefly meet my cousin 'N's 2 new babies (making a grand total of 3), see my baby cousin 'H' turning into a beautiful young woman, go to a haunted graveyard, and go to the beautiful forest of North Carolina and watch people fling themselves down sliding rock (I did not partake.)

Every time I am here I feel such a peace. The peace you only feel when youre "home."

Family means everything to me. Everything.
________________________________
My grandma is very sick. The truth of the situation is that I will never see her again after I fly back home next week. Every time I look at her I am reminded of so many childhood memories, and of the fact that I am about to lose a very important part of my family.

I fear the affect this will have on my mom. I dont know how I am supposed to support her during this time. I especially dont know what I can possibly do to help her recover from the loss of her own mother.
Im scared of the changes it will bring to her; To our family. It will, without a doubt, change my mother. It will scar her very being; It already is. She already is facing her own aging and future mortality because of this situation.


So for now I will just savor the laughter, the peace, the memories........

Magic!

Magic, magic, magic
Magic, magic, magic
Magic, magic, magic
I got the magic in me!



I have discovered the Magic!

Magic Shaving Powder :-) Its a girls bestfriend. Seriously.
Run out now and buy some. No more jungle between the legs! No more $80 [painful] wax job! Itll be the best 10minutes of your life. Well, maybe not your life, but most certainly your week ;-) And its so freaking cheap! (less than $2) I am as smooth as a baby's butt :-D

[Do you think I use enough exclamation marks?]


On to other magical news......

My momma has been gone for 3 weeks. She left me to fend for myself [read:take care of the kids by myself 24/7] to go care for my grandma. Grams is not doing well and I can only hope she gets magically better.


Ive lost 3lbs this week, for a not-so-grand total of 7lbs for the month of May.

The Diva was tested for learning disabilities and barely qualified for services. This is magical because we wanted her to fail (or pass -however you look at it.) She can use all the extra help she can get :-) (yes, start nominating us for the Worst Parents Award now!)

The boy-child finally started wiping his own butt. Its a freaking miracle , really.



Im hoping to have some BIG news in a few short months. Keep your eyes open 8-)

Men are dogs/pigs/"donkeys"....

Right.

I know plenty of bitter women out there who regularly spew what horrible creatures men are. My sister is one of them. I always remind her that she has a nephew ;-)

So on to the point of this pointless post...

This week I have really wanted to kick some men in a not so nice area.
Ive dealt with many men. Young, old, really old. You get the idea. I do not generally label them as "animals."

I have found them to all be basic in their general thoughts and actions. They usually center around sex, sports, and food. Oh, and sex.
I can appreciate this in men. I get the love of casual sex, a good game, and awesome food. I partake in all of it!

I do not get crudeness and rudeness.
Dont ask me to be [essentially] your personal raunchy porn star. Im up for most things and very giving, why push it?
Dont expect me to be cool with being blown off. If you want something purely for your convenience hire a personal assistant/house cleaner/prostitute... whatever. If you cant show some basic respect and appreciation, fuck off!
Umm, what happened to opening doors for women? Or even just holding it open once you pass through and see someone coming up behind you?
Married men: Please remember to compliment your wife. Romance her a little. Something. Doing the job I do, I am around many married women. They all complain about their husbands lack of attention. Ask yourself, would she have married you if you were the person you are today?

Ok. The end...

Who Am I?

I hear often [on Oprah] that women dont really discover themselves until their late 30's/40's. Its always "I didnt know who I was." or some other variation of the same sentiment.
I can recognize this in myself. I know who and what I want to be. I know the steps to get there. I do not, however, know who I currently am.
I am ..........................blah. This is not to say that I am a much different person than I appear to be, but that .............im not functioning at full potential :0) I have shut myself down so much in order to cope. Survive. Deal.

I want to continually discover who I am. Not just find myself at 40.
I believe in living without regret. I think the only regret I can foresee is not letting myself live a bit.

So, im now -
Gym-going.(Not to be confused with outgoing, haha)
Calorie-restricting (sob!)
Homework-doing(booooring)
NSA-ing
Laughing

Time

What time is it?
I dont have the time for ____
Time sure does fly!
Now is not the time!
Its time for a change!
Where has the time gone?
Remember the time__?


The word time is in our vocabulary so much (mine especially!)

I often wonder why our lives revolve around time. I like to speculate that its because once-upon-a-time there was someone as schedule obsessed as myself. [However, I do blame my need for schedule on the fact that I grew up without one and my mother always ran late]
This week, I really have no time. Well, im sure if I made extra effort I could squeeze an extra hour into the day...
Im just so busy. I had several opportunities present themselves this week that I just had to turn down. I also missed a very important Dr. appointment because I didnt manage time well.
I have yet to take advantage of 2 separate gym trials...really, like I have the time to be fat?
There are times that I think time is confused with effort. Such as my gym saga...

As for the other type of "time"...
My birthday is quickly approaching. I know im still young, but I do feel that my life is just slipping away. Im not where I want to be. I dont want to just be starting life at 30, damnit! I want to enjoy my 20's (which, to date, I have not) and be successful. I fully intend to be done raising kids in my 40's, thus allowing me to enjoy the success I achieved in my 20's (see how this all ties together?)
I desperately want another baby, too(well, 2-3 more actually.) Its been nagging at me for months now. Ahh, but the timing....