Wednesday, February 18, 2009

California Dreamin'

Well, the family and I are here in sunny Southern California for our February "vacation". It is a vacation, in that we are getting out of the cold, and into some nice ass weather. Taking a vacation from health (the girls had their first mcnuggets, first McDonald's ever, and snacks and lollipops all day yesterday on the excruciatingly long flight(s)), and from life in general. It is a "vacation" in that we are seeing family, family and more family, and there's no time to just relax. Oh, the Lil' Rascal is not napping well, up and down every 15 minutes. Damn! And my fish tacos are on the way (BIL dropping them off while Drew keeps the ILs at bay...) I feel for my girls. Jet Lag is a bitch. I almost bit someone's head off yesterday after we arrived. And the Diva is NOT herself. Thankfully, she is napping peacefully, despite the other one's continual wake-ups. (We are all sleeping in the same room, at my best friend's house, thank god, and not with relatives.) Well, got to go before the BIL gets here, so stay warm! And I'll be back soon...

Monday, February 9, 2009

40 Random Things at 40

This is not the 25 Things from Facebook, but I did this for my fortieth birthday...

1. I once had a Raggedy Ann doll which I named "Mother".

2. When I was potty training (at age 2), I told my grandmother, "Nana, this is MY life!"

3. Every time I hear the theme song from "The Jeffersons", I bust a move and sing along.

4. I started out as an advertising major in college.

5. I'm not a competitive person, so I switched to Spanish major.

6. One of my Spanish professors accused me of cheating when I did not. We were allowed to study together and make notes. I contributed as much (or more) as the others.

7. The one time I actually DID cheat in college I did not get caught, but was sick with worry for weeks, because I thought I got turned in (it wasn't a Spanish class, but I don't remember which class now).

8. I don't like ice-cream with cake.

9. I don't like cheesecake, tiramisu or pie.

10. I once went parasailing in Mexico when I was 15.

11. I am scared of heights.

12. I went to the top of the World Trade Center the year it opened. I still have the pennant my aunt and uncle bought me from there (still has it's original tags, it's in a frame now).

13. Two days after we moved to Atlanta (when I was eight), I said the word "count" as a two syllable word. "Cay-ount"

14. My southern accent was lost in college.

15. Sometimes it comes back when I've had too much to drink.

16. Although I'm jewish, I don't have many jewish friends and can't relate to jewish women in particular.

17. I was in a jewish sorority in college.

18. I used to smoke cigarettes.

19. I started inhaling when I was 21. Then I got hooked. (Before that I only "dabbled" in it.)

20. Most of my close friends are ex-smokers. I am drawn to them.

21. When I was in elementary school, I got a scholarship to go to Saturday art school at the Atlanta College of Art. (or Columbus, I can't remember where we were living, but I DID go to both of those art schools, one of them on a scholarship...)

22. One day at Saturday art school I discovered I wore two different shoes upon arrival.

23. That day the art teacher asked us to remove one of our shoes and put it in the middle of the room. The task was to draw a shoe from the pile and then find the match.

24. When I had my first (and last) tap recital at around this same age, my shoe flew off my foot and beaned some guy in the head at the end of my performance.

25. It seems a lot of my embarrassing moments involves shoes, or the lack thereof.

26. I once jumped off the balcony of a hotel room so I wouldn't be caught by a sorority sister (it was her boyfriend's room... oops!). It was only one story off the ground, and I jumped in a driving rainstorm.

27. I am not a strong swimmer.

28. I swam for exercise when I lived in Spain and New York, but then my ears started bothering me.

29. There are some words that I know in Spanish that I still don't know how to say in English.

30. My first language is English.

31. I was a cheerleader in high school.

32. For the longest time, my favorite t.v. show was M*A*S*H.

33. Now I like E.R. and Gray's Anatomy.

34. In my real life, I am extremely squeamish about even a drop of blood or anything medical.

35. At an English academy/sports camp in Spain one summer, I was promoted to Assistant Program Director (from lowly counselor) to replace a woman who went haywire in front of our eyes because she went off her lithium.

36. During her "haywire", she locked me in a room (with her in it... nothing happened, except I was a little freaked out.)

37. I had Michael Jackson posters on the walls of my bedroom as a teen.

38. I can't always tell if people are black or white. This has happened to me at least four times. I think it's a sign that I am "color-blind", but in a good way!

39. Things I have stolen include (but are not limited to): pink flamingos, a scarecrow, a number three from a car dealership (mechanic?), sake cups and a pack of diapers (that was unintentional, of course).

40. I am usually annoyed when others are not following the rules.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Two, One, ...

Yesterday was filled with many surprises, most of them birthday related, and most of them fun! Today, I unexpectedly had guests in town, so I did not get a moment to myself to blog (or anything else for that matter...), but it worked out o.k. Suddenly I find myself in the middle of rearranging my house the night before I turn 40. Which is o.k. Change is good. And we had people here to help. And tomorrow is just going to be like any other day.

But I'll no longer be in my thirties.

Which is weird. But I can live with it. Age is just a number, and I feel truly blessed with all that has happened to me in the first forty years. It'll be interesting to see what the next forty will bring.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Three Days to Go

There was a young blogga' from Maine
Who used to live somewhere in Spain
She's off to Boston with Bonnie M.O.T
They won't be smoking POT,
But they'll probably drink some champagne.

P.S. This HAD to be short. I have to go to bed so I can function tomorrow on my "fun day out" for my birthday that Drew planned for me. I am almost 40, you know.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Four Days To Go

I've always enjoyed
the fine art of the haiku.
Let's see what I've got.

Four days till forty.
But I still look much younger.
Genetically blessed.

Drama queen Diva
And stubborn Li'l Rascal:
You snuggle- I melt.

Oh, Drew, how you try
to pull one over on me-
But I can't be fooled!

Too tired to write
Any more of this blog post.
Must go to sleep now.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Five Days To Go

Shit! I forgot to do "Six Days". I was in the bath last night, after having a nice glass (or two) of wine, mentally composing my blog post. And then I got out, got distracted, turned off the computer (OF ALL THINGS!), so I never wrote it. Oh, well... See, that is just another fine example of what happens as you turn 40. Mental defectiveness sets in.

So, yesterday, before the brain freeze, I looked for, found and read an old journal of mine. You know what a journal is, don't you? It's the kind of thing one wrote before computers were "all the rage". I looked for the journal, because I couldn't remember any full names (first and last) of people I met in Madrid when I lived there. I thought it would be fun to look them up on Facebook, so I dragged out and read the journal (skimmed it, really).

Let's just say, after reading that journal, that there is A REASON WHY I HAVE FORGOTTEN ALL THOSE PEOPLE! HOW EMBARRASSING (FOR ME)! I really must burn this journal for fear that my husband or children might one day read it and find out (choose one):
a) I exhibited some slutty behaviour back then.
b) I was a wee bit desperate
c) I may have had a weight problem (over, not under)
d) I drank and smoked too too much
e) All of the above
Damn, WHO WAS I?! I was more sure of myself in High School than I was in college and the aftermath (3 years in Madrid). That?! Is some crazy shit. Really.

Well, now at 40, I can see that I still have some weaknesses, but they are not as problematic for me as my past weaknesses were.
a) If I want to be slutty, that's ok, as long as it's with Drew.
b) I am no longer desperate, but I tend to dissolve a friendship quickly, if I think there is an unequal interest in maintaining said friendship. I wish I knew the saying, "He's just not that into you." back then. I could have used it!
c) Now, I'm happy with my body, but I always want to lose a few pounds (especially after eating a lot of sweets for an extended period of time).
d) I don't smoke anything any more, and haven't in a long time. Not sure my lungs could handle it at this point anyway. I DO drink a little more than I probably should, but who doesn't?!
e) All of the above and DAMN PROUD!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Seven Days To Go

I'm losing steam... and there are still seven (six?) days to go. But that's only because it's Monday, and Mondays are my long days. Any day after The Diva wakes me up at two in the morning is a long day. If you've known me since The Diva was a wee one, you'd have no sympathy. This waking up in the night thing is VERY new for her (and us); I used to be able to count the number of times she woke up in the night on one hand. The Li'l Rascal has had more ups and downs, but our sleep STILL has not been too compromised by her either. We are/were/have been/will always be determined to have our girls be SLEEPERS, and up until two months ago (more or less), that was usually the case. Something about being three, sleeping in big girl undies, having a "big girl bed" (read: crib with the side taken off... a converted toddler bed). I remember when I was a little girl and staying with my brother and the cousins all in the same room at my grandparents' house in Michigan. I would be so wound up thinking about stuff while the other three slept peacefully. Eventually I would get out of bed and make the walk to the kitchen, or wherever, and be given some milk with a hearty dose of alcohol (brandy?) in it. (This explains a LOT!) Oh, I don't know where I was going with that. I guess that is not going to work, since the Diva sleeps from 7:30ish until waking up later in the night (and then goes right back to sleep). I need at least six (preferably seven) hours of uninterrupted sleep to function. And coffee, LOTS of coffee.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Eight Days to Go

If you are a man, you need not read any further. Go work on a car or something. This one's for the lay-lays.

I only have one thing to say today...P.M.S. Not the normal amount of PMS, but it seems I've skipped a period (and, no, I'm not pregnant... I know for a FACT), so I've been feeling this way for a month or more. When will it end?! Can I PLEASE just get my period already?!!

It should come as no surprise to me that I'm irregular. One time, in college, I went eleven months without a period (that was a bit of a shocker... worrisome to say the least). But now that I'm older and I've had a couple of babies, you'd think I'd be all done with that. This isn't the first time this has happened since having kids either, but this time is particularly frustrating because I feel my body reacting to food (ingesting large amounts of sugar) and water (retaining some days, the opposite of retaining on others) as if I were getting my period.

Finally, my mother went through "menopause" at age 35. I put it in quotations, because since then, I've learned from my OB-GYN that she must have had what is called ovarian failure, because women don't EVER go through menopause at that age. At any rate, I was always worried that I wouldn't be able to have kids if I waited too long because of that issue, but much to Drew's dismay, we got pregnant on the first try (or earlier!), so clearly I didn't experience any failure in that department.

If I don't get my period soon, I really will bite someone's head off. Aaaargh!!!!