Am I Really A Grinch?

I am not a fan of Christmas. AT ALL. I worked too many years in retail and heard WAY too much Christmas music. 

Don't get me wrong. I like the family gatherings and seeing friends in town that I would not get to see if not for the holiday. I like that MOST people are in a better mood or at least more forgiving around the holidays. But this is what I dislike:

* The huge drain on my bank account because of the universal expectation of gift giving. I love giving my friends and family gifts. But I start thinking about what to get them in the spring, and I find perfect gifts. Then I can't stop myself from adding on and adding on when I see other perfect gifts as the year passes. If we just gave at birthdays, I wouldn't have this problem. Or, if random gift giving with no expectations at Christmas was the norm, I would be FINE. That one is totally my fault though.

* Christmas Creep. Stores get in their Christmas merchandise earlier and earlier. Hobby Lobby had Christmas product in their stores in JUNE. This is more than 6 months out. Most others have Christmas stuff up before Halloween is even over. And THAT is my favorite holiday and I don't appreciate the creeping of pine trees and ornaments into my spider webs and pumpkins. 

* Christmas music on November 1st (or earlier). Last year I couldn't bring myself to listen to any Christmas music except "Straight No Chaser" singing A cappella about a day before Christmas Eve. This year is a little better with the discovery of the "Holiday Party" station on Slacker radio. But still, a girl can only take so much. 

* STUFF. I buy all the stuff I want. I have nothing to put on a list for anyone, so I end up getting stuff I don't need or want. Then I feel bad because someone spent time finding me a gift and spent their money on the gift, but I don't care about it. The (old Catholic) guilt is a little overwhelming. I ask for gas cards and grocery cards because that is stuff I actually NEED, but it's never exciting enough for the giver. In turn, I want to buy people what they NEED also, but then I feel like a douche because Jake opened a package with underwear and Ty got more socks. They are just going to have to deal with it because it can't all be toys and candy. 

* SIX CHRISTMASES! Children of divorced parents have it rough. Yes, they would like their parents to still be together. And it sucks. However, when those parents find other spouses, there are now SIX CHRISTMASES for those children to enjoy. Christmas with dad, dad's family, and step-mom's family. Christmas with mom, mom's family and step-dad's family. It makes it incredibly tough to buy them ANYTHING because I already know they are getting SO MUCH. And just because they are dealing with divorce, doesn't mean they deserve so much STUFF. 

* Rearranging my house. My living room is pretty small. The only way I can get a tree in is to move around my furniture. This year I decided to forego the whole tree thing, mostly because I had some home improvement projects like painting a birch tree mural and putting in quarter round, and we're having a small gathering New Year's Eve, and the tree would have to be down before that. So I've turned Jake's "big" present into our tree. 

* The Myth of Christmas. So... not to rock the boat or anything, but Christmas isn't a REAL holiday. It's on the calendar as the birth of Christ, but even Christian scholars don't believe that is the day Jesus was born. I've seen March, April, September and November being suggested as His real birthday because NO ONE can agree on anything except it's NOT December 25th. The reason the Roman Catholic church chose that day is because of Saturnalia and Winter Solstice. Saturnalia was an ancient pagan Roman festival celebrating the deity of Saturn. December 25th was also the first noticeable day after the Winter Solstice that seemed to have longer daylight. The church chose December 25th because it was much easier to take a date already celebrated (with debauchery) and turn it into a holy day, rather than come up with an entirely new date. Gift giving was actually part of Saturnalia, so you can thank those devious pagans for that tradition. 

Now, I am off to continue cleaning my house, getting out my New Year's greeting cards (in lieu of Christmas cards this year) and working on my latest home improvement project, all while listening to the Holiday Party station on Slacker. See? I'm not all Grinchy. I'll leave that to my eldest child. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Turning Tricks for Treats?

I LOVE Halloween. LOVE IT! It's my favorite holiday. Good thing too, because I married a guy who is a FREAK about it. We have a yearly party called Toxic Waste. This all started because Eric used to work on foreclosed homes, and we had access to A LOT of crap. Old tires and batteries, junked out furniture, and lots of empty containers from RV antifreeze he had to put down the drains to winterize. 

I try to plan my costume well ahead of the party. I knew by last year's party what I was going to be this year. And I think I know what I am going to be next year already. Last year was my favorite, as I suckered 5 other people into dressing up like Clue Characters with me. 

Shane (Professor Plum) and Molly (Miss Scarlet) Kahler, Me (Mrs. Peacock),
Eric (Colonel Mustard), Krista (Mrs. White) and David (Mr. Green) McNurlen

One year I wanted to go as the Fun Police, but I could not find a female costume that was not slutty, and I didn't think the male costumes would fit right. I ended up as a "pop art" piece.

Not my favorite. But fairly original. And as a bonus my hoo-ha was not hanging out. 

I find that as a LARGE woman (I want to say "girl" but I think at a month shy of 40 I should stick with "woman") there is very little out there for me in the way of off the rack costumes. Which is fine. Because it makes me think harder to come up with something better. 

However, I have SO MUCH FUN looking up what crazy ass costumes are available to women now, that I just had to post a blog about it, complete with awesomely horrible photos that will make you question your faith in humanity. Here we go!

Let's start with the category: Ruining My Childhood with these "Retro Yarn Dolls." Or for those who don't recognize them: Cabbage Patch Dolls.

And for Cory... who could've had a Sexy Bert to go with his Ernie a few years ago: 

Every summer as a kid we'd travel to northern Minnesota where we would see Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox... that looked NOTHING like this... If Paul Bunyan was real, he'd be rolling over in his grave.

I can NEVER look at the Muppets the same again:

Or Scooby Doo (this is just all kinds of wrong):

Or my beloved Ninja Turtles (pre-Michael Bay):

Let's move on to the Food & Beverage category. Because who doesn't think food is sexy? 

We'll start with Beverages. I have always dreamed of being a bottle of Schlitz beer... 

If that doesn't thrill you, maybe this sexy array of condiments will get your mouth watering:

No? Fruits and veggies maybe? 

Or maybe fast food is more your speed?

I love the hamburger. She's all, "You want fries with this? Didn't think so!" 

Slightly related, but in the category of WTF... a female version of Ronald McDonald. Again I say WTF? I'm going to have nightmares.

Now that I made you vomit in your mouth a little... We're going back to the Food & Beverage Category... sub category Other Foods (this one's for Eric). Because who doesn't want to be a fortune cookie? Or Popcorn? 

Speaking of cookies, let's move onto another sub category: Sweets! Having worked in a candy store in high school and college, I am just LOVING (sarcastic font) these costumes! I should see if they have plus size... 

Now let's focus on Disney. Every little girl wants to be a Disney princess, right? Well, how about Snow White? She was a total babe. 

If you don't want to be a princess, you can be Mike or Sully from Monsters' Inc., Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, or Mickey or Minnie Mouse!

I seriously can't believe how many of these costumes are out there... I just checked my picture file, and I have a few more. 

Under the sea:

LOVE the placement of the eyes on the jelly fish. Creatures that sting, bite and pinch you sure are SEXY. I wouldn't get your "manhood" too close though... 

And FINALLY let me present to you the Sci Fi Category and dare you to watch Star Wars without thinking of these lovely ladies. It could make a good porn, actually... 

There are more, but I think I am running out of room... and probably your attention span. Although, it is a lot of pictures and few words this time around. If anyone shows up to Toxic Waste VI with one of these costumes... you're going to freeze to death since the party is outside. But good for you for having the cojones to try to pull it off! 

The End Of Summer

I've been seeing some clients I haven't seen in awhile and they are still asking how my summer was. It seems like it was so far away now that the days are so short and it's gotten chilly. 

All I can tell them is that it went by REALLY fast but I can't really think about all the stuff that happened. So I took a look at the calendar and my Facebook pictures.  

Jake had football practice most of the summer, so for many weeks, I only had him Wednesday night through Sunday night. Other weeks he wasn’t here at all. We had a lot of quality time with Ty, even though he had 4 weeks of Camp CF that he loved.

The boys had their last day of school right before Memorial Weekend and came to Cedar Falls to start their summer vacation. At the end of May we threw our annual summer bash. We decided we liked the White Trash Bash so much that we would throw a second one. 

It started off rainy and ended “with a bang” as Eric says. There was an “incident” up the street, where a bunch of people from Waterloo broke into a house and had a party, and someone was shot. Not something that happens in this neighborhood very often. It’s usually pretty quiet except for some craziness from the college crowd. It shook us up for awhile, but all has calmed down in the 'hood. 

I had been secretly planning a surprise HALF birthday party for Eric for the past year (because NO ONE wants to celebrate birthdays that close to Christmas). With the help of many friends and family members, he was completely flabbergasted. We had people from California, Texas, New Jersey, Minnesota and Illinois here. We had people who rearranged travel schedules and others that came a few days after they moved. It was awesome and overwhelming, and I am SO glad they took the time to make it happen. I’m glad I spent the hours planning it, even if I had to miss out on Tyler’s art being shown at the Art Festival in Des Moines. Thankfully my parents were able to attend and take some photos for me.

We attended the wedding reception of our dear friend Mike and his new bride Lynn in Kansas City. We were also able to squeeze in some time with another high school friend of ours, JoAnn, who let us stay with her for the festivities.

We saved our neighborhood albino owl.

I played 2 woman volleyball all summer on Sundays. I played on a 6-woman team on Tuesday and another on Wednesday. It was my go-to exercise for the summer, because I did not seem to have the time to go on bike rides, there was some flooding on the trails, and my bike was broken for half the summer.

Eric and I went in with another couple to create an LLC company and bought our first rental property. I spent MANY hours painting that property and putting in carpet tile. I hope the renters like it.

I played in 2 mud volleyball tournaments. After the first one in Dunkerton, we took the dogs and the boys to Backbone for our annual summer trek through the trout stream.

We got to celebrate one of our favorite people’s 40^th birthdays. Krista’s was the first of many we will experience this year, since we are all getting OLD. Although 40 doesn’t really seem old now that we’re here.

We spent a day at Lost Island Water Park where I went on almost ALL the water slides including this one:

The boys and I were able to coerce my father into letting the dogs on his boat for our first and only trip out on the river this year. 

I went to the State Fair for the first time in MANY years with my friend Nikki. It was fantastic people watching and the food was great too. It was also an awesome surprise to run into one of my best friends and bridesmaids - Kim Stonehouse and her son Zach, who looked to have grown a full foot since I’d seen him last.

I got to meet some awesome new women at my friend Mandie's bachelorette party. It was a BLAST and I had over 5000 steps on my Fitbit from midnight until 1:30 in the morning when we finally decided to stop dancing. We MUST do that again. 

We took the dogs to the closing day at the aquatic center, and made an awesome video of their time there. You need to watch this:

We decided to squeeze in a SUPER quick trip to Texas over Labor Day Weekend. It was a blast, and the least we could do after Woody and Nova made it to Iowa for Eric’s party.

It was a REALLY fun summer. It went by WAY too fast. So fast, in fact, that I completely forgot to buy fresh sweet corn from a road side stand. I think this is the first summer that has ever happened. And I can’t let that happen ever again.  I hope your summer was just as awesome. 

Nostalgia

My husband is an extremely sentimental person. He still has toys and books from his childhood, tools from his grandpa, and we even live in a house that his grandparents built. I, on the other hand, am the complete opposite. My parents gave me a plastic tote full of items from my childhood.  I sat down and went through everything. I kept the Indian head pennies. I tossed the candle I made for them in 1^st grade, the papers I wrote in grade school, my art projects in junior high. I took a photo of a cool “old lady who lived in a shoe” clay boot I made in 8^th or 9^th grade, and promptly dropped it into the trash. “Stuff” makes me crazy. I am surrounded by it and try to purge it often. This quirk of mine makes my husband crazy and I think he is going to will himself to outlive me just so I don’t get rid of all of his stuff.

If the house burns down or is swept away by a tornado, it is likely I will have to commit Eric to an institution because he will be completely distraught. I will be sad about losing some of the kids’ photos, but there are SO many photos of them, and will still be so many photos taken of them in the future that it doesn’t really matter that much to me. My parents and my ex have copies of most things. Digital photos are backed up on Facebook and other places you can reach from anywhere. My "stuff" I don't really care about. I can always buy new things. I've been wanting a new sofa anyway... 

There are a couple things that are irreplaceable though.

I own a piece of artwork that hung in my grandparents’ home (the Boesens) that I have had since my mid 20’s and it hangs in my dining room. I have a set of brass bells on a rope that those same grandparents had hanging up in their home. I’m still looking for a good place to put these, but they are hung in the basement for now. I think I might have a clay bowl that a great-grandmother made. A couple of milk glass vases. A set of "nude" lady porcelain drinking glasses painted by my maternal grandmother. None of those can be replaced. Because someone else's milk glass vase has no meaning for me. 

I have a couple of old photos that mean the world to me though. Thankfully the originals are with my parents, and I have digital copies, so they will never truly be lost. 

Betty and Louie Billick. Ada Boesen.

None of the people in this photo are still alive. On the right is my Grandma Boesen who passed away just after I turned 4. To this very day, cinnamon toast and Coca-Cola make me think of her. The other woman is her sister Betty. And the man is Betty’s husband, Louie. This photo was taken at Cattle Congress, behind Estelle Hall, where Betty and Louie ran a concession stand. It was still there during my child hood and I visited that concession stand at least twice every year during the fair. I especially remember getting 3 foot ropes of red licorice. It was the only place I’d ever had it.

The three of them look so happy in this picture. Aunt Betty’s smile was contagious. Uncle Louie’s kindness was unmatched. And my grandmother, well, I don’t know what to say about her except that she died way too young and I never really had the chance to know her. But I still miss her anyway. Maybe even more so because I feel robbed of time with her.

And this photo, with all of my grandparents at my parents’ wedding in August of 1971. I LOVE this photo too. 

Don and Ada Boesen. Norma and Howard Briden.

My maternal grandparents (on the right) are 90 and 91 and living in Sun City, Arizona. Eric and I drove out in February of 2013 for my grandpa's 90th birthday. I sadly could not make it this past March to my grandma's. I need to get out there again soon, because their health is rapidly declining. I'm just happy to have had almost 40 years so far with them. 

So my husband is wrong when he says I am cold hearted or not sentimental. I am. But I don't need a car or house or garden tool of my grandpa's to remember him. I have hours and hours of big band music that does just that. I have just a couple of items from my grandma, and that's enough. My Grandpa Briden made me choose one of his wood carvings when I was in Arizona last time, and I will have that after he passes. I wore some of my Grandma Briden's costume jewelry in my wedding 3 years ago. I don't need much "stuff"  in order to remember my loved ones who have passed on. My memories will suffice. And maybe when my memory isn't so fantastic anymore, and I don't remember much about them, I won't miss them so much. 

True Friends

I've been thinking about writing this post for awhile. It was even more on my mind after last week's surprise half birthday party for Eric, where friends came from California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Minnesota. They worked out complicated flight schedules, and even came during a completely inconvenient time (2 days after a move) just to show Eric their love. Then this morning I noticed this article (why-women-need-their-girlfriends) on an acquaintance from junior high and high school's Facebook page about friends, and how you need your friends even more as you grow older. So here goes.

I'm not changing any names in this post to protect anyone. 

My true friends mean the absolute world to me. I'm not the easiest person to get along with all the time, but I have many friends who know this and love me anyway. Then there are the people who are no longer friends, who were my very best friends, or so I thought. Here are a couple of stories.

I grew up next door to a nice older couple with 4 adult children and I think 14 grandchildren. One of those grandchildren was Leslie, who was 6 months older than me, and a year ahead in another school system. We spent our summers riding our bikes to the pool, talking about boys, and torturing my little brother. We had sleepovers, watched music videos and ate lots of junk food from the convenience store on the way back from the pool. We kept each other's secrets. We even stayed friends when I moved to Cedar Falls in 8^th grade, especially once she could drive, as we'd go to the mall and drive to the Cedar Falls pool. But Leslie was the type of girl who could only have one close friend at a time and I wasn't always it. She cycled between me and 2 other girls from her school. 

As adults, I was in her first wedding when she was 20. She had a daughter and was separated by the time I first got married, at age 23. She was Matron of Honor. I remember not being able to find her during the wedding party dance at my reception. She had gone home to change into something more comfortable. That's just how Leslie was. We spent the next several years in our on again off again friendship, through the birth of my 2 boys, her remarriage, and the birth of her son. There were several years we were not in contact, not even for Christmas cards. During this time I'd gotten a divorce and she'd had another child. We got pulled back together because her husband, and my boyfriend (now husband) Eric, bumped into each other at a poker game, and realized they had been in band together in high school. She and I had an awesome evening out, catching up, and Eric, the boys and I were invited to their house for a delicious chili dinner. But then things changed. I had been fighting a battle for custody of my kids to move them to Cedar Falls with me. I lost. She no longer wanted to be my friend because I should NEVER have let that happen. Instead of supporting me during the toughest time in my life, she disappeared. I sent her a sympathy card when her mom passed away a few years ago, but I've never heard from her again, nor do I ever expect to. And I don't think I want to. 

And then there's Jes. I was separated from my ex, living in a duplex in Urbandale when she moved in next door. She had just gotten a divorce, had 2 younger kids (her eldest and my youngest were the same age) and was a year younger than me. We had a lot in common and were soon bosom buddies. We went out, shared date stories, and told each other about our childhoods, our families and our failed marriages. We just clicked. The owner of our duplex passed away, and once her adult children got involved, the rent was going up a couple hundred a month for each of us. That was too steep for us, so we discussed finding a big place for all 6 of us. We found a townhouse in Ankeny. Her kids were part time and so were mine, so we sometimes had the place to ourselves, and sometimes we were overrun with kids, but it all worked out. We both bought groceries, we both cooked meals, we both cleaned. We still went out together and planned to write a book about our hilarious and awful dating stories. 

Then I met Eric. And I got a new job. And I started a custody battle for the boys, just months after the divorce was finalized. Then I lost said job, and the market crashed. I couldn't find work. I paid for my half of expenses for the remainder of the lease, but ended up moving back to my hometown of Cedar Falls with Eric.

She found an affordable apartment. Then she lost her job. She ended up moving into her ex-husband's old house (they were still good friends). Through all of this, we supported each other.

I got engaged. She found a new boyfriend. She moved in with him, got knocked up, and got married within 4 months. I did not show enthusiasm for her pregnancy because she had had 2 previous relationships where she proclaimed, "I'm going to marry him!" and within 6 months that "him" was declared a douche-bag and was dumped. She hadn't even made it that long with this guy. I was worried for her. I wrote her a long letter of apology explaining my reaction, and was blasted in her reply. She stopped talking to me, and since she was supposed to be in my wedding, I asked her if she still wanted to be my friend, because if not, I did not want her standing up for me. She eventually came around and said she wanted to be in the wedding. Her position in my wedding? You guessed it: Matron of Honor. 

Eric and I were the only ones to represent her at her intimate wedding at the grocery store where her first date with her husband had been. My wedding took place and she played an integral part, as she lost Eric's wedding ring during our April Fools' wedding, and made it truly memorable. (She later found it in her dress when she took it off that night.) I helped throw her a baby shower. I visited her after she had her baby girl. She was frankly a bitch and no fun to be around until she finally found a job selling flooring to builders. Then the "real" Jes came back. The one I knew and loved. All was well, until her ex asked me for interior design help for his friend who was opening a restaurant. Jes had him talked into vinyl plank flooring, but I talked him into carpet tile because of acoustics. She had said the carpet wasn't in her system at work, so I told him I could sell it direct. She called a week later to get pricing and was pissed that I had given it to him already. I immediately put up the white flag and said I refused to let something like this wreck our friendship. I gave her pricing that was better than I’d given him, but her bid to him was so high he could no longer afford the carpet. A month went by without her talking to me. I left messages and sent emails and texts. Her reply was to call Eric and tell him if I begged for her friendship I could have it. After the way she had made me feel numerous times, I refused. 

Our kids were in the same class that fall. She went out of her way to avoid eye contact at the Meet the Teacher event. The next spring at a chorus concert, she made sure to say hi to Eric, but again went out of her way to ignore me. I understand if you no longer have real time to be my friend, since you think you no longer need friends since you have a husband and HIS friends, but being cordial would be nice. 

It was hard moving to Cedar Falls and leaving my friends behind in Des Moines. I still see many of them for lunches while I'm in town. I still make appointments for my hair in Des Moines, just so I can spend time with Jennifer, who I have known since way before she became a kick ass stylist, and she's still around despite her turn as Maid of Honor in my wedding to Eric, so at least that position isn't cursed (though I don’t plan to have any more weddings). I'm lucky enough to have reconnected with a grade school friend, Nikki, who lets me stay at her place when I need to stay overnight in Des Moines. We've gone on a couple of road trips and always have a blast. Back home in Cedar Falls, I reconnected with my grade school best friend Ninya, (who of course is now moving to the Des Moines area) but I don't fear losing her friendship because of this. I also reconnected with my high school friend Amy (we also went to grade school together, but were merely acquaintances), who is also moving to Des Moines for work. These 2 moves make me sad, but I know I'm not losing these friendships. I just won’t see them as often. I have made other friends here, like Krista, who seems to be the exact opposite of Jes, in regard to her always making me feel wonderful about being me, and always puts me in a great mood. I am so happy I can call her my friend. And Dawn, who despite disliking me at our initial meeting, has decided I am not so bad after all. And I have her solely to thank for getting me involved in volleyball locally, where I have met so many other awesome women. And then of course there is Heather, who has been my friend since the middle of 8^th grade when she moved back to Cedar Falls. She’s the mother of 4 very active kids, so I don’t see her much, but we do email and catch up at lunch every so often.

I have friends that live far away that I don't talk to for months at a time, like Kim and Kate, but I know we can pick right back up where we left off. I have no doubts about our friendships.

I have girl friends I only know through Eric (Kim, Nova, Christine, Mandie, Molly, Arren) who I know I can call if I need to talk, or need advice, or just want to catch up. And then there’s the multitude of other friends in Eric's life who seem to love me by extension since they already love him.

I have awesome neighbors who bring me fresh eggs, come to our parties, hang out on our deck for a drink, or pop over at 11:30 at night because they see the lights on, to chat or heat up hot dogs in our microwave because theirs isn't working (Rowena, Sarah, Chris, Amy, Kevin, Angela, Eli, Briana, Jay, Katie, James). And those neighbors who have moved away, who we still see on occasion, or at least follow on Facebook to keep up on what's happening in their lives (Sarah, Chet, Mariah, Chris, Maria, Rory) and that I miss dearly since I no longer see them on a regular basis. 

Family seems obligated to love you (although I count a couple of cousins as friends, like Alexia and Sharon, and would hang out with them regardless of relation). But friends have a choice. They can walk away at any given moment, sometimes with no reason that you can understand. Sometimes it hurts even worse than breaking up with or divorcing a significant other, because they know you in a different way. I truly hope the friends currently in my life stay there indefinitely, and there are SO MANY more than are mentioned in this post. I appreciate and love them and will do my best to make sure they know they are important to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being my friends.

A Little Blurb About Memorial Day

I am such a sap when it comes to our military. I think of the sacrifices they have all made and the floodgates open. (By the end of this post, no doubt I will have tears running down my cheeks.) And honestly, I can't even truly appreciate the sacrifice because none of my immediate family was ever in the military. I did get to experience something that not many people have though. Last year, we drove to Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary of the battle. We took the boys with us as well. 

Our camp

We dressed in period clothing, and we camped out, just like the soldiers did in 1863. The weather was hot, and we were miserable. All I could think about were the luxuries we had, like ice, coolers, and delicious food, prepared over a fire by a guy we dubbed as "I Love You". We had corn on the cob, steak, scrambled eggs and bacon, and other delicious foods that I know no one had 150 years ago. We were able to drive right up to camp and unload our belongings. We did not have to drag them with us as we walked for miles and miles. We had the luxury of being with family and friends, and not having to worry about any real battles. I was able to look forward to a nice long shower. I had sunscreen. We took a break and went to a museum with air conditioning. It is incredibly difficult to fully imagine what it was like back then. 

The clothing we wore. ALL WEEKEND.

The scale of the event was small in comparison to the real battle. I still can not wrap my head around how they communicated with each other. There were no satellites. There were co cell phones. There were no fax machines. It amazes me they could coordinate any type of unified effort to win a war. 

A very VERY tiny portion of Pickett's Charge.

I see posts on Facebook from families that are separated right now and it breaks my heart. I am glad that technology allows our troops to better communicate with those back home. I can't imagine how hard it must have been waiting weeks or months just to get a letter. At least now there is Facetime and Skype. 

After Gettysburg, we went to Washington D.C. and stopped by several war memorials, including the World War II Memorial. My grandfather served in the war, although stateside. I am still proud that he served. The memorial is beautiful, and I'm glad it was completed in time for some of the veterans of the war to see it in person. They deserve that honor. My grandfather was invited on the Honor Flight a couple of years ago. He said it was a very emotional experience.

I am glad we could take the time to go on the trip last summer. I think the boys won't fully appreciate it until they are adults. I know I didn't. 

Let's take time this Memorial Day to thank all of the fine men and women who have served and are currently serving our country, as well as remembering all of our loved ones who have passed. This is the land of the free, BECAUSE of the brave. 

Mother's Day 2008

This year I will be pampering my mom (and by default my dad as well) with a nice Mother's Day lunch. I will celebrate a week late with the boys, and that is fine by me. I hate to say it, but Mother's Day is much more enjoyable without the kids.

6 years ago, I wrote a blog on MySpace (I know, right?) about my Mother's Day. It's funny to me now, but I was pretty pissed off 6 years ago. Enjoy!

Sunday, May 11, 2008 

Happy Fucking Mother’s Day to Me It is 10:30am. This is how my mother's day has gone so far. The kids were quiet for about a half hour this morning, then decided they were going to fight with each other, and yell at each other, and tattle on each other.... I told them to get dressed so we could go get donuts. Tyler did great, but Jake complained that he had NOTHING to wear. He had clothes from last year that he didn't want anymore.  So I told him to get a job so he could buy his own clothes. After a lot more bitching he finally got dressed. We go to Hy-Vee so I can get a chocolate frosted fried cinnamon, my favorite, and Jake says, "I don't like those."  I replied, "I don't care, I do." When we got to the store, the parking lot was packed, so I had to park far away... no big deal, except today is windy enough to blow away a small dog.  We grab a basket, go inside, and go to the bakery. They have rearranged everything, and the donuts are no longer in a case where the employees have to get them for you, but are in a self-serve type case.  And guess what? They have plenty of maple frosted fried cinnamons (gross), but practically nothing else. No long johns, no bismarks.. so I decided we're just going to get Hostess chocolate Donettes. The kids of course complain. We grab some other groceries, including a gallon of skim milk, and a half gallon of chocolate milk, and some food for tonight.  And I saw something that caught my eye.. Smirnoff Pomegranite Martini.  Already mixed up and ready to drink.  I figure "why not"? We get checked out and leave the store. I am carrying 2 bags plus milk, and Jake has one bag. We push through the wind to the car, and I pop the trunk.  While rearranging bags, and my purse, I dropped the gallon of milk, which exploded all over my shoes and my jeans. I hope next year's Mother's Day can be spent child free, on a massage table somewhere... And let me tell you how happy I am that I brought home some alcohol! Good impulse buy! I have a feeling I am REALLY going to need a glass at the end of today.....

I never went back in to buy more milk. If that happened now, I would send Tyler in to get it for me. He rides his bike to Hansen's with a backpack and is our "milkman" during the summer when he's here. I LOVE that they are older now and can fend for themselves and actually help me out a bit. They still fight and yell and tattle, but I can't expect any different, since my brother and I fought throughout childhood as well. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the boys from that summer (2008): 

Cheesy Monkeys

 

Selfie before they became all the rage.

Pic #1:Ty is being pretty good. Pic #2: Jake is being pretty good. NEVER at the same time though. 

And to show how much they have grown up. Five years later, at the end of summer 2013, Jake is almost my height. I'm mad at myself for not thinking to take these photos every year. 

Thank you, Jacob Harrison and Tyler Elliott, for frustrating me, making me laugh, teaching me patience, and getting me off my ass to have fun playing with you. I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Love, 

Mom