One Down...

Just got home from infusion #1. I don't know how I forgot the taste that comes into your mouth. yucko. The next few weeks are going to suck, but I'm still on a high from finding out Mike isn't going to deploy that it just can't be as bad as it was last time when he was gone. At least I know to expect that as of midnight I will be curled into a ball with muscle charlie horses and puking my guts out. It's good to know what's coming next right? Good news is this will make me stronger and happier and will end up imparting lots of energy for shopping and parties and fashion shows and Hollywood premiers and being interviewed by Oprah...oh wait. I got carried away for a sec. A girl can dream though right?

Good News - Let's Try Not To Jinx It!

We found out today that as of now, right this instant, Mike has not been tasked to go to Afghanistan or anywhere else in this next cycle of deployments. We had been prepared for him to deploy again in June. Thankfully, the Air Force needed to fill less slots than they had thought and there were other doctors who either had not deployed or who had been skipped in their last rotation that are being deployed instead.

Obviously, we are very happy for this news. However, we realize that there are a bunch of other people who will deploy in this next cycle and will leave their families. We are mindful of them in our prayers every day and are so thankful for their service.

We are relieved that our family will not have to separate again more than you can ever know. We believe that God puts us where He needs us the most in the world if we are willing to serve Him. We found out tonight from our Stake President that Mike will be working will the Marshallese branch of our church that we mentioned in my last post. He'll be going to their branch for church and serving as a missionary again among the Marshallese. He's so excited. I am going to continue to go to our ward near our house for now but plan on discussing the whole thing with our Bishop and maybe our whole family will be going to the Marshallese branch soon.

Whatever happens in regards to this, I'm just so happy we'll be together in the same house and he'll be going to work at his clinic and we'll be together. I'm the most happy for Jessica. She had a rough go of it last time Mike deployed and has been having a lot of nervousness and anxiety about summer coming because we told her back in January 2009 that she didn't need to worry about Dad going back to Afghanistan until after she turned 5 in the Summer. Of course, she remembers everything and has been feeling nervous about it since her birthday. I never thought we were doing a bad thing by telling her that. We were just trying to reassure her. When we told her tonight that Daddy had talked to his big big big boss and that they didn't need him to go away like we thought, the relief and joy and nervousness on her face was heartbreaking. I am so happy for her tonight. We made sure she knew that going away is part of Dad's job and that things can always change but that for now, he is not going away like we had talked about and planned for.

Please Air Force, don't make us eat our words.

Our house is a happy home tonight. Full of gratitude, feeling undeserving of our many blessings. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We love you!

HELLO Hello hello hellohhhhh.... hello?

Is there an echo in here? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I've been gone for a while haven't I? Well, I've been busy and tired simultaneously and I have made a discovery. Being tired and busy does not lend itself well to blogging. Either does your husband's computer going kaput so he's on yours all the dang time. So I've got a lot of ground to cover. We left you at Easter and we were down and out. But we rebounded, well sorta. My iron levels are in the toilet and I have to get infusions again which suck but I don't have to start them until this Thursday and our parents, my Grandma and girls from church are volunteering for various things as I will be out of commission. I forgot how tired I get when I have anemia. It's like if you go to reach for the milk and you look at it way up on the top shelf of the fridge and it's just too high to reach and too heavy to carry and too much to pour and put back all the way on the top shelf that your arm is shaking by the time you are done. So basically, anemia makes cereal not even worth it. In other words, anemia is of the devil.

But some great things have happened over the past few weeks that I truly don't want to forget so endulge me won't you? Well, ahem, um, do you really have a choice?

The most important thing is that my babies turned 5. FIVE. I can't believe they are five. Mike took the day off work and we hit Fairy Tale Town and Funderland and of course they picked Osaka for dinner that night. This all happened on Thursday the 15th which is their "actual" birthday. Then, on Saturday, some kids from preschool, grandparents and their two Great Grandmas that live in the area all came over a BBQ and party. There was a big pink princess castle bouncy house and a pink, yellow and silver pinata. The kids had a ball. I've never seen Katie and Jessica that excited and happy. And the kids played so well together I was amazed. They took turns and bounced and ate their lunches on the grass and had the best time. I will post some pictures ASAP. I really will. I know I always say that. But I will.

My sister in law Heather had a birthday. And I forgot to call her. No it's even worse than that. I talked her that day and forgot her birthday all together. It's not because I don't love her because you guys who know me know I love her tons and I have no good excuse other than I suck at remembering stuff right now. I had to remind myself all week long not to forget my own kids birthdays. I'm sorry Heather. Your I'm Sorry gift is coming soon. If I remember. Heather's husband, Mike's brother, is getting ready to deploy for the military. This makes me very sad and scared. I'm not scared for Heather so much because she's like super duper stronger than me. But it's just so hard on kids and their daughter is Katie and Jessica's age and their little boy is the same age the girls were when Mike went and I just feel badly for that whole situation. And it makes me scared for us for Mike to get his orders because they are coming soon and he'll be gone again in the very near future. War sucks. For a lot of reasons, not just because our husbands are going away. It's just there's nothing good about it. It's sick really when you think about it. Killing people. But it's okay because it's war? That just doesn't make sense. Peace is awesome. Let's try it world!

Our stake just founded an official Marshallese branch of our church here in Sacramento. Our church is organized by geographic regions. Your immediate surrounding area is your ward, then if you go further out it's a stake (comprised of several wards) then district or area. This allows us to get to know our neighbors. We learn to rely on them and serve them. I really like how it's done because there's never a question about where you belong. The only exception is for certain cultures in which a different language is spoken, there will be a branch (a tiny ward) formed that services can be done in that language. There's a Spanish branch in some areas, Korean branches, Tongan branches etc. Well, our stake just formed a Marshallese branch. This is significant to us because Mike served his mission on the tiny Pacific island of Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Our Stake President invited us to this first sacrament meeting of the Marshallese branch and we were so excited to go. Mike served his mission from 1990-1992 and he's never been back to visit the island he grew to love so much. It's super expensive to fly there and he's been in school/residency pretty much the whole time. When we got there, it was just as they were welcoming people for coming out. We quickly found a pew and sat down. We sang the opening hymn and Mike cried. Then an older man got up to say the opening prayer. Mike tapped me and whispered..."I know that man, he lived in Rita when I was there." (Rita is a small village on the island) I got all choked up and as he prayed in Marshallese it was so moving and I was so happy for Mike. In our Stake President's remarks, he had us stand up and mentioned that Mike was a missionary in the Marshall Islands and that the members could test him on his vocabulary during the luncheon following the services. chuckle chuckle. During the time in which the sacrament was being passed this little boy (maybe 18 mos) was climbing like a monkey all over our pew. He climbed up me, then across the back of the pew, over to his mother who was obviously of island descent. Now this branch is 1/2 Marshallese and 1/2 Fijian. I didn't know if the family next to us was from the Marshall Islands or from Fiji, but their little boy was so cute and I enjoyed playing with him when I was supposed to be paying attention. After church was done, I noticed the mother of the boy was talking to Mike. I was trying to keep the girls occupied. They needed to go potty. So we went and came back to find Mike still talking to this family. I approached him so I could say hello and urge Mike into the gym where they were getting ready to eat. He explained that the mother that was SITTING NEXT TO ME was the daughter of a family he baptised 19 years ago. She was only 11 or 12 at the time so he didn't recognize her. But she recognized him as the missionary that baptised her and also her Mom had a photo album with the names and she's always known Elder Meeker as the person who baptised her. It was in the smallest village on the whole island called Laura and was Mike's favorite area he served. She came here to live with relatives that moved here for better jobs and education. I couldn't believe it. It was so cool. Mike was really choked up. I am so grateful that our Stake President took time in his super dooper uber busy schedule to think of us and be inspired that it would mean a lot to us to come to this church service. And the luncheon after? BoyOH! My family is from Hawaii so I'm not a stranger to how islanders cook but I've never seen so much food in my life. It was so good and Mike was so happy visiting with the people, singing Marshallese songs and speaking Marshallese again. He was in heaven! We are so happy the Marshallese people have this branch to fellowship together, it's awesome.

My baby brother in law Stevie (or Steve, whatever) graduated from COLLEGE on Friday. It's painful to me that I'm so old. He was 3 years old when I started dating Mike. I love Steve so much. He recently competed for a job with a bunch of interns and won the job. They gave them like 4 months to do various projects and then they would offer one person an actual job with their firm at the end. And Steve got the job! I'm so proud of him. And he's single. And so cute! I can't say he's hawt or fiiiine because ewww, he's just a baby. But if he wasn't my baby brother and will forever be about seven years old in my mind, I would be able to tell you he's not just a smart brain if ya catch my drift. He's a CATCH! Photos, resumes and bribes can be sent to email address on the side.

I'm going to do Happy Birthday letters to the girls in separate posts so I'll fill ya in on what they are up to in those posts coming up. Mike is busy at work but loves his job and we are praying that he'll go to the safest possible place when he deploys again. I ache just thinking about him being gone. We work as a team and when you live with someone for 18 years, having them gone feels like a physical part of your body is missing. It is painful and horrible. I can't explain it other than that. The idea of him leaving makes me sick in the deepest part of myself. And yes, I know we signed up for this life. And yes, I know it's what we are supposed to do. But I had no idea the impact it would have on my children and for that, I will always feel guilty and wonder if I am being all of the mother they need me to be.

The next few weeks are going to be spotty around here because of the infusion schedule and all the feeling like crap and sleeping that will be going on. I hope it goes smoother than last time. I am thankful that Mike is here this time. I am grateful for the offers of help and service.

The Easter That Never Was Or...Tangible Proof I Am A LOSER!

We lied. We told the girls the Easter bunny would come hide eggs outside for them on Easter. Then, we got the rainfall of all rainfalls, the windstorm of all windstorms. It was drenched outside. And cold. And we have all been or are currently sick. So when those little cherubs woke up from their nap, eagerly anticipating eggs hidden to and fro in their magical backyard, we showed them a note. It said the following:

Dear Katie and Jessica,

Hop Hop! You guessed it girls, it's ME, the Easter bunny!!! I have eggs all ready for you with nifty treats inside. I know I was going to hide them today but because of the rain storm, you couldn't go outside and find them. SOOOO, I tell ya what... I am going to come back to your house on Wednesday when it is sunny and hide all the eggs I have for you PLUS TWO SPECIAL EGGS that will have an extra surprise inside that you are going to love. Thanks for being patient and I'll see ya soon.

Love,
EB

Okay Internet, how pathetic is that? Seriously? It's bad. We could have hid the eggs inside but I didn't load them with candy and I didn't feel like it because my throat hurt and I just was not in the mood. So I didn't. Instead I forged a note from the Easter Bunny. Just like I used to forge notes from my Mom to get out of Senorita Almas' Spanish class freshman year. My karma is in the toilet isn't it? It is. Oh how badly I SUCK.

The only excuse I have is I have a wicked sore throat and I am so tired and dizzy. I went to urgent care today and I tested positive for strep throat AND my iron deficient anemia is out of control and I have to get iron infusions again. For those of you who were here the last time my anemia came back, you know the depth of my grief. Iron infusions are given at the UCD Cancer Center. It is much like chemo therapy in how it makes you feel afterwards. You are fine for about 24 hours, then you beg for death to come for about 48 hours then you are fine until the next week when you have to do it all over again. Lather rinse repeat, six times! And the worst part of the whole mess is that you sit next to these amazingly brave individuals who are getting actual chemotherapy and as you can imagine, some of these folks look very very sick. And you sit there, feeling horrible about yourself because you are so grateful that the substance pumping into your veins will cure what is wrong with you while the substance being pumped into their veins might not. Your substance, life affirming and strength giving iron. Their substance, poisonous toxins designed to come as close as possible to killing them so it can actually kill the cancer. It is not a good time. And I leave feeling like a horrible person but also so incredibly grateful. But the guilt consumes me and each week my anxiety level goes up because I know all I will do for the three hours it takes to get my infusion is self reflect about how glad I am for my life and I wonder what goes through the mind of the little old lady that sits next to me all by herself bald and frail. I doubt that she is thinking the same thoughts as me. And that makes me feel even worse.

So on that happy note, I'd just like to say that "I am officially a hot mess". My throat has blisters all the way down it and the next eight weeks are going to bite and as soon as they are done (most likely) Mike will deploy to the desert for six months. Yaaaaay Meeee!

And just when you think it couldn't get any worse, I have this little confession for you regarding Easter. We were all sick. Mike was at the end of his rope because he's sick but not as sick as me and Jessica so kid duty went to him this weekend. He can't cook and I just couldn't cook yesterday. So for EASTER DINNER, we ordered Round Table. On a Sunday you guys. And we, like the losers we are, got ham and pineapple pizza because then it would at least have something on it that people eat at Easter...ham. I can't believe I just told you guys that. It was an all time parenting and human existence low point.

So my pita pocket Passover Shout Out never happened. Heart shaped waffles never materialized. Salmon for Easter dinner? Nope nope nope. Cupcakes for Grandma Meeker? Not a chance. Peanut butter and jelly, cold cereal, canned soups, Easter Pizza and a forged note from the Easter Bunny is what I will remember from Easter y2K10. So all you moms out there that think you suck? You don't. You really really don't.

Traditions...

As I've mentioned before, I love Easter. It is my very favorite holiday. But this year, nobody in my neck of the woods seems to be in the mood to go all out for a celebration, including me. Our church is broadcasting a global general conference that we do twice/year. Normally, this conference doesn't hit on Easter weekend. The glorious thing about conference weekend is getting to stay home in your PJs with your family, veg out on the sofa together, tickle backs and have pillows and blankets. I always, ALWAYS make blueberry pancakes one morning and we enjoy a really mellow weekend. But with it falling on Easter, it just has me all confused and jumbled. Last Sunday, I had my family over for brunch and the menu was very Spring/Easter themed. We even did an Easter egg hunt for the girls. So now, this weekend, I feel sort of like I already did Easter. And given there aren't church services actually taking place, there's no place to showcase Easter dresses, bonnets and such. What to do? Add the colds and fevers we have all had and you can see why I am not downloading and testing new recipes for an Easter feast.

Here's what I think we'll do instead. Friday night, we'll do rotisserie chicken pita pockets for Passover. Ever since I taught New Testament for early morning seminary, I have always done something to mark Passover. Sometimes it's just reading about it, sometimes I've just thrown some pita and herb spread on the table to remind us it's Passover. I've always wanted to do the whole nine yards with the brisket and the kugel and the salt water and on and on. But I've never gotten up the motivation to really research how to hold a proper Seder and I wouldn't want to do anything to offend my Jewish friends so I've just sort of done my version of a Passover Shout Out and called it that. So rotisserie chicken, stuffed in a pita with an herb and mustard sauce and veggies ought to do the trick to give props to Passover for this year. I think the girls will like to hear the story because they are super into all of the stories and traditions this year.

Saturday, we'll just chillax around the TV, watching conference. I am baking some cupcakes for Grandma Meeker and for us. We'll eat leftovers for dinner of tonight's meal which was pork chops stuffed with apricots, celery, peas and cornbread stuffing. We will dye eggs on Saturday.

Sunday, I'll have Mike's parents over for brunch in between conference sessions. I'll just make a simple meal of heart shaped waffles with strawberries and cream, bacon, scrambled eggs and OJ. Then, they are leaving to go visit Grandma Meeker and I'll send the cupcakes and Easter card for her with them. I would plan on us going with them but we've been sick with this virus and Mike and Jessica are in the coming down with it stage and Grandma Meeker is 96 so taking a chance that she might get sick from us just isn't worth the risk. If we are all completely better, maybe we'll take the ride up anyway and join them for dessert. We'll play it by ear. If we don't go up, I'll take whoever is well enough over to the Meadows to pick up Grandma Bea after the last session of conference on Sunday. It ends at 3pm. So we'll get her and bring her back here maybe and have my Mom and Dad join us. I think I'll make salmon, roasted asparagus, rice and a green salad for dinner. That is a really easy meal that takes next to no work. I have the best sauce for salmon that is from my Grammie Bea that I'll make to go with the fish. It's butter, ketchup, dry mustard, soy sauce, sherry and garlic. It sounds like it would not be good but it is amazing. We'll have the cupcakes we baked on Saturday for dessert. At some point we'll hide eggs and let the girls go look for them and we'll do Easter baskets.

Whew...just typing all that made me tired. I am feeling quite a bit better than yesterday but still not at 100%. I'll need to be careful on Friday and Saturday not to over-do it so I can have plenty of energy on Sunday to make Easter at least somewhat memorable for the girls.

I love to hear about what other people are doing and their traditions. My SIL Amber's family has a big Easter egg hunt on Saturday where her Mom hides tons of eggs filled with money. I think one of the eggs is a golden egg and has like a fifty in it and the others go down from there. All the grown ups and kids hunt for the eggs together. Doesn't that sound fun? They have a big family so I think that would be a blast. I wish we had more family that lived close by so we could organize some gigantic, cool Easter egg hunt for all the kids. I guess it's no big deal. Growing up, I hunted eggs all by myself at my Oliver grandparents because I was the only grandchild and then just Bo and I hunted for eggs together at my Santos grandparents because everyone else lived far away. I never felt sad about it growing up so I guess my girls won't either. I think it's all about how excited the adults get and if we try to make it special for the kids, then they'll feel that it's a special day. If we just say "whatever...we aren't doing anything because it's just us" then the holiday won't be a special time for them either. Who knew this parenting thing came with all this responsibility? You have to keep them alive, get them shots, buy cute hair accessories AND give them warm and loving holiday memories to boot! It's a lot for a Mom to keep up with. But it's so worth it.

Today, my Dad called and asked for Jessica. He told her that there was this big red thing in the sky and she should go to the window and look. So she took the phone and ran to the window and looked and looked and then he announced "APRIL FOOLS"! She was so excited because then she got to be the one to go do the same trick to Katie. So we've been doing April Fools Day jokes all day. Katie called my Mom and said "Grammie, Oh NO! My mom and dad left and I'm all alone in my house." pause "April Fools!" And then they told their Dad they saw a zebra in the living room. But mostly, they would hide and as I walked by their hiding place they'd jump out and yell APRIL FOOLS as loudly as they could. I tried to explain that hiding wasn't really an April Fools joke but they didn't get it. Whenever I think about April Fools I always think about the time Marilyn told me that Grandma Huntsman played a trick on Grandpa Huntsman one year. She crumbled crackers (I think) into his shoes. If you knew Grandma and Grandpa, they were pretty by the book, no nonsense type of folks, even though they were amazingly loving and fun. She said as a kid they got so excited that their Mom played a joke on their Dad. It's funny the stuff we remember as a kid. I hope my kids remember all the little traditions we are trying to implement into our family history and memories. While I am thinking about it, I'm just going to list some of our traditions we've started so far so I can be sure never to forget them.

New Years: We play beauty parlor, we bang pots and pans, we toast with sparkling cider and drop balloons from the ceiling.

Valentines: We have something red for dinner and we hand make old fashioned Valentines for others with paper doilies, glitter, stickers and handwritten messages of love.

St. Patricks Day: Leprechauns invade our home! They turn our milk green and put gold dollar coins in our shoes. We have grasshopper pie for dessert.

Easter: We will always from now on do the resurrection eggs. We dye and hide regular eggs the day of Easter. We do Easter baskets but instead of candy it has a new outfit including shoes and a special Easter accessory like a hat or purse.

Birthday: We go for manicures and pedicures and the girls get to pick where we go out for dinner.

Mothers/Fathers Day: Girls make breakfast in bed for mom/dad and pick out or make cards and give presents that they pick out from Target.

4th of July: we don't really have traditions except for a BBQ and fireworks and we wear red,white and blue.

Halloween: We always go to a ward Halloween party, girls go trick or treating and they get to pick what they want to be.

Thanksgiving: we make dream catchers for everyone who will be at Thanksgiving dinner with us.

Tree trimming at Christmas: We set out cheese, meats, crackers, cheetos and sparkling cider. (we are very specific in our menu) The engraved silver bell is the first thing to be placed on the tree, even before the lights. We lift the girls up together to put the star on the top of the tree. That night, Santa leaves a snow globe and a letter for each girl on their pillow. They are able to communicate with the North Pole through their snow globes so they can let Santa know the "nice" things they do in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Christmas Eve: we read the Christmas story out of the Bible and we put the pieces of the nativity in place as we read about them. We only eat appetizers for dinner but we have a huge variety of food that we spread out and snack on all night. We decorate graham cracker gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies. We leave cookies, milk, carrots, celery and apples for Santa and the reindeer. We open new pajamas and wear them to bed that night. The girls must be asleep by midnight in order for Santa to come. Mike always hears Santa's bells ringing at about 11:30 as a warning to get to bed.

Christmas Day: we do stockings first. We open presents and when we are 1/2 way done, we stop and make breakfast that always includes freshly baked croissants from Williams Sonoma. Then, after breakfast we finish opening presents. We try and go really slowly so we enjoy it and we open one gift at a time and everyone watches the person opening the gift.

Our non holiday traditions are "Nobody Cooks on Friday" is where we always, ALWAYS ALWAYS either go to a restaurant or get take out on Friday nights. It's the end of the week, we are all tired and nobody should ever have to cook on Friday. "Family Slumber Party and Movie Nights" is where once/month, we have a pizza party on our bed and we watch a movie in the dark like a movie theater but we are all four in our big bed together. We eat popcorn during the movie and when it's time to go to bed, the girls jump into their sleeping bags on our floor. Grandma Meeker's two handed wave. Mike's mom always comes out of her house when we are driving away and waves goodbye to the girls with two hands up and down like her mother used to. The girls wait for it and then wave wildly back at her with their two hands. Grammie's secret. My Mom always tells the girls she needs to tell them a secret. She whispers "I love you in their ear" and then they and Grammie scream "Ahhhhhhh!!!!" with delight. I have no idea how this one started. Also, when it's sleepover time at Grammie and Papa's the girls sleep with Grammie period. They will take naps with Papa but at night time they will announce "NO BOYS ALLOWED" and the three of them stay up very late telling stories and tickling backs and arms. And the last one is our cheer. Whenever we need the girls to focus in a busy place or whenever they get scared and need our attention, someone in the family will call for "MEEKER HANDS IN!" Then, you have to put your hands into the middle on top of each others and Mike will say "Meekers on 3. 1, 2 3" and then we all yell "GOOOOOOO MEEKERS!" It's so cheesy and dumb but if the girls aren't behaving in public or running around, we can do this cheer and before we say "break" and go our own ways we are able to have their full attention and remind them of the rules and behavior we expect. So we use it more to get their attention in a way they like.

I guess we are a really tradition filled group. And we are a lot more nerdy and cheesy than I realized. But I'm glad. Maybe the girls will pass some of these down to their kids. Some of them came from our growing up homes for sure. I never realized how many there were though. I guess I shouldn't worry so much about whether or not we are raising the girls to have traditions. I think we have it covered.

Seacrest Out. (oh, and we all four of us, always vote for American Idol and Dancing with the Stars)

Weekend In Review

Last weekend was a blast. We all got bad head colds though by Monday. We've all had fevers and sore throats. And when I say all of us, I mean all of us. My parents, us, cousins, Grandma Houlie. We are waiting to find out if Grammie Bea will get sick or anyone else. Baby Luke is in the hospital and we are praying so hard for him. I'm glad the doctors are taking it seriously and seem to be taking a lot of diagnostic measures to figure out what exactly is wrong with the little guy. We feel so badly for their family. Luke is the baby of my cousins Jeff & Ali and the brother of Emi, who my girls adore and played with all weekend. We are waiting for updates on Luke and just pray he'll be perfect. He is the cutest and sweetest baby you've ever seen.

Everyone got into town on Friday and we all went out for sushi/Japanese food on Friday night at Mikuni's. Bens Crab Shack Roll...mmmmm, it's my favorite sushi I have ever had and I am a fan of the sushi. My girl's favorite type of food is Japanese. They love miso soup with extra tofu and edamame. They always get shrimp tempura and share a sunomono salad with me. I love that my kids like more than nuggets and pizza. Don't get me wrong, they love chicken nuggets and love to go out for pizza. But they also like seafood, vegetables, brie cheese, all Asian food as well as Mexican and Italian. Jessica doesn't like spicy foods but Katie does. The next day we got up and I made heart shaped waffles with strawberries and fresh cream. Jeff, Jut, Mike and I took the three girls and Luke to the park to feed the ducks. The girls made up a version of duck duck goose but played it with real ducks and geese. Katie would go up to sleeping or unaware ducks and tag them on the head saying "DUCK" then they'd try and sneak up on the geese to yell "GOOSE". But the geese at EG park are really big and aggressive so I don't think they actually got too close to any. But they fed them all the bread and we had a nice picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruit and vitamin water in the park. Then, we all came home and got gussied up for Grammie Bea's 90th birthday party at Cafe Vinotecca. Most of our family was there. All four of my Grandma's daughters, all of her grandchildren and all of her great grandchildren except for Jut's kids. They live so far away and tickets were really expensive to Sacramento so Jut's wife Tara and their kids couldn't come out. We missed them tons and wished they were with us but totally understand the cost was prohibitive. I am sad when I think that we'll be moving away in a year and will miss family gatherings. I have gotten used to attending all of them. Anyway, my cousin John and his family came from Idaho, all of our family from Portland came. Aunt Jayni came from Tacoma (we missed Uncle Tom too) and Jeff and Ali brought their family down from Southern Oregon. Everyone else is local. Grammie's one remaining sibling, my Auntie Sue came as well as Grammie's sister in law, Auntie Madeline. It was a really nice party and Cafe Vinotecca did an amazing job with both service and food. It was great to see my cousins. As we were taking the "grandchildren" picture, Bo gave me a wedgie just as the camera went off. It made me nostalgic for the old days when I could count on wedgies and rabbit ears or Bo's finger in my nose just as any camera took our picture. It was fun to see everyone but we are all so old!

The next morning dawned earlier than I would have liked and I rushed around to get everything ready for a brunch in honor of my Mom's birthday. All of our out of town family came to my house along with my Mom and Grammie Bea and Grandma Houlie. It was fun. We did the resurrection eggs with the little girls and gave a lesson about Easter. It was really touching and I was shocked at how good all three girls did paying attention and following the lesson. It was fun to hunt for eggs. Katie is just like me when I was little. I couldn't find eggs to save my life. Every adult would be yelling for me to "look up" "right there!" "it's pink Amy, LOOK FOR PINK!" And just as I would finally go to grab it, Bo would zoom in and grab it from it's hiding place. Katie was awful at egg finding. She found three eggs and Jessica found six. I never really cared and Katie seemed to handle it just fine. Brunch was yummy and the best part is I bought most everything already premade from Nugget or Honeybaked ham or Williams Sonoma. It sure makes entertaining easier! It was so fun to sit around and laugh with my family. I love the people in my family. We all have really good senses of humor and we love to laugh. My cousin Jeff is the funniest person on the planet and he tells the best stories. At one point in time I looked over at Mike and he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe and he got a cramp in his side and was all "Owwwww...haaaaa haaaaaa owwwww." I think those are the best moments when you laugh so hard it hurts.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I hate that it was so short. But by Monday, we had fevers and stuffy noses so I didn't care as much. I am happy how it all turned out except for little Luke being so sick. Pray for him okay? Even if you don't know any of these people...pray for Luke anyway! Thanks.

Happy Birthday Mommy

This lady gave birth to me. She taught me to talk (a huge help to me in life it turns out) and to pee in the toilet. She also taught me many more lessons. We call them in our family...DIANE-ISMS. Let me please impart the wisdom of the ages. Well at least all the wisdom you can cram in to SIXTY FOUR years! Happy Birthday Mom!

• If you don't have time to do something right, how do you have time to do it over?
• It's not your boss's responsibility to get along with you, it is your responsibility to get along with your boss.
• It makes my teeth long. (this is something that gives you the heeby jeebies)
• No matter how much you think you know, when you go to buy a car, they always know more. Just remember that.
• I only have one thing to say. (this is never true)
• You like those pretty teeth? You want to keep em? Keep it up! (in a threatening voice. I still have my original teeth)
• Go to Russia!!! (to yell at cars on the 4th of July if they happen to cut you off)
• A lot can be learned from that movie Funky Brewster. (Ferris Beuller)
• Strangers, they just have to talk to me. (she stares them down in an uncomfortable manner until they acknowledge her)
• It's called being an adult. Welcome to adulthood.
• They're four. (or they're three, or they're two, anything to get her grandbabies outta hot water)
• Hello? HELLO?
• We went to the Hamptons on vacation! (It was Hampton Virginia...ooops)
• You know, it's a law in the State of California if they operate on you, they have to take out your spleen.
• Welcome to my world.
• There's more of those than they have hairs.
• You know as much of that as the man in the moon.
• Try being me.

Weekend Forcast - Showers of FUN and Patches of happy TEARS

I am so excited for this weekend. Some of my very favorite people are coming into town for Grammie Bea's 90th birthday! I'm so excited she's going to be 90 because as my Mom always says..."turning (fill in the blank) is better than the alternative!" And speaking of mothers, my very own is turning 64 on Sunday. We will mark the occasion with a brunch at mi casa. Cousins and the kindest dog on the planet and Aunties will abound. Saturday is Grammie Bea's party which will also be the debut of the highly anticipated Pink Princess Torte that Katie, Jessica and Grammie Bea selected along with a family sit down at Cafe' Vinotecca. Then Sunday, it's all about the quiche, William Sonoma croissants, Easter Eggs and Happy Birthday muffins. It's my Mom's birthday party with an Easter theme since we won't all be together the following Sunday for the holiday.

Have I mentioned Easter is my favorite of all Holidays? First, it's super important because it was sort of the purpose and culmination of the greatest gift you could ever receive. (Even better than something in a blue box from Tiffany's) I love Jesus. Katie is crazy about Jesus right now and tells everyone she meets how much she "just loves Jesus" and then kisses any picture of Him she can find. I'm glad she views Him as alive and real because guess what Internet, He is! My second favorite thing about Easter is the colors. I love pastels. In fact, I have decided in our next house that all the khaki and cranberry and neutral is going out the window. I am going to switch to pale yellow and apple blossom green and PINK and robin's egg blue, because is there ANY color more beautiful than Robin's Egg Blue? No there is not. My third favorite thing about Easter is the weather, the rebirth of things that have died and the bloom of flowers. Anyone who has been to DC during the Cherry Blossoms knows what I'm talking about. And the last favorite thing about Easter is the occasion to get a new dress. There is something about a new Spring dress that makes you feel young and flirty and pretty no matter how old you get. Instead of traditional Easter baskets filled with candy, my girls receive a dress in their baskets along with new shoes, tights and accessories. I always try and add a special accessory like a hat or purse or jewelry. I LOVE this tradition and look forward to surprising them their whole lives with a new head to toe outfit for Easter.

What are your plans may I ask? Our church holds a world wide conference the first weekend of April and the first weekend of October every year. This year, since Easter falls on the first Sunday in April, we will have a traditional Easter feast in between or after the broadcast of the conference. It should be a really mellow Easter. Then, the following Sunday we will debut our Easter fashions. I think I shall not serve ham because I am serving it at Mom's brunch on Sunday. I think my Dad is going to grill lamb chops which I used to think I hated but then tried two years ago alongside this mint balsamic dipping sauce and realized I like lamb chops but not lamb shank or loin or leg.

I will do an official birthday post honoring all things Mom on Sunday. I think it might include a few of her favorite sayings. She is famous for her sayings. We call them Diane-isms. Mike can rattle them off without taking a breath. It is a hobby for my Dad, Mike and me. My Mom cares for it not.

Well then, I guess I shall go for now. My activities today have included straightening my home, washing and preparing bed linens for yummy guests and cleaning out silver bullet to lend to favoritest cousin and her husband. On the agenda for this afternoon is a nap, a pedicure and grocery shopping at my leisure because I have scheduled a babysitter who will leave upon my husband returning home after a hard day healing people and saving lives. In reality he spends most of his time talking with the elderly about their cholesterol and high blood pressure, checking suspicious moles, looking into the throats and ears of crying tots, calming nervous mothers about H1N1, doing pelvic exams (this always freaks our parents out when we remind them that Mike looks at other people's vajay-jays) and thankfully washing his hands many many many times per day. I guess on some level he heals and saves lives, but not like Dr. Hunt on Gray's Anatomy who let's face it is the biggest stud there is. Except that he has a wicked case of PTSD and strangled Christina in her sleep. So that's not so good. Yeah, I think I'll stick with Mike who just kicks me in my sleep and has an endless desire to plaster his body to mine in sleep which I'm sorry is just wrong. "MOOOOOVE OVERRRRR" is heard a lot in the night in our house. It is said by both me and Katie who share our beds with the King and Queen of Snuggle Town. Maybe I need to bunk with Katie and the Velcro twins can spoon the night away?

And I just have to say one more thing. (that's a Diane-ism) But I do, so hear me out. I am embarrassed a lot to admit on this blog that I have a house cleaner. I've mentioned it before but it's always been with trepidation because I am afraid people will think I am either bragging or will judge me for some reason. The only reason I have a house cleaner is because all 4 of us are really messy. I am horribly disorganized. I leave Diet Coke cans EVERYWHERE and I spill. All 4 of us leave clothes on the floor of our bedrooms and Bare Mineral powder dusts my vanity. But the thing is see...I hate a dirty house. It makes me very very very sad. So, I have a lady that comes every two weeks and does the really deep heavy cleaning. It is all I can do to straighten and clean up before she gets here so she can see enough counter to wipe. So bragging? No. Embarrassed that I am such a mess? You betcha. But my shame has caused me to avoid mentioning a person who is a valued member of our family and who we love with all of our hearts. Her name is Luz and she arrives like clockwork every 14 days and saves all of our sanity. When the girls walk in and smell pine sol - they exclaim "aaaaahhhh LITTLE LUZ has been here!!!" When Mike comes home after a long day of work and sees the order and cleanliness he smiles and says "it's like a little haven from the world!" And when I see what Little Luz does for my family, I am more grateful than you could ever know. I love Luz. And not just because she mops my floor. I love her because she is an amazing person. She is a wife and wonderful mother. She LOVES my daughters like a second grandmother. Today, she arrived with 2 gigantic pink Easter baskets filled with candy. The girls make her cards and draw her pictures as often as they do for anyone. When the girls see her they run to her and kiss her. She makes up their room so beautifully with different stuffed animals and surprises under their pillows. Sometimes she takes the bus to my house and has to walk over a mile from the bus stop. I am ashamed sometimes that I don't do these things as well as Little Luz does for my family. That's why I don't ever talk about her. Which is wrong. Because she's AWESOME. And she allows me to do important things like blog and watch Top Chef. So judge away.

Okay, so please don't really judge me. I can't really take it. I'm off to make my grocery list. Goodbye for now.

post edit - I just realized I talked of pedicures, babysitters and house cleaners in this post. You have every right to judge me. I am awful. But as of 7pm, I will be awful with less dead skin on my feet.

Lotzee

Last week, or maybe the week before...I've had a concussion you know...I taught the girls to play five different board games that they had received as Christmas gifts. Hi-Ho Cherry-o, Chutes and Ladders, Book of Mormon Bingo, Concentration and Toy Story Yahtzee. I taught them one game each day and then they played that over and over and allowed me to rest my aching head. It was a good strategy and it worked out great.

Their favorite game is Yahtzee. But they don't know it's called Yahtzee. They yell at the top of their lungs "COME ONNNNNN LOTZEE". And if they get one, they come running in the room and yell "MAMA, I GOT A LOTZEE!" So finally I broke down and asked them why they thought it was called Lotzee and they said it was "cuz in order to win you have to get A LOT in a row. You know A LOTZEE"

Makes total sense. From now and ever more it will be called lotzee.

The End.

Arrested. I should be.

You know I did it. I couldn't help it. It was just there, glowing at me like a beacon, taunting me to give up my free time and surrender. So I did. And it was delicious. I giggled and high fived the Meekster and giggled some more. I was happy I did it. Not ashamed at all. Until, today, the morning after.

I watched New Moon. Twice. And I love Jacob Black. Did you hear that Internet? I love him. But I figured out that it's okay. I love him sort of like a son. Like the idea that Katie or Jessica might marry someone like Jacob makes me happy. And giggle. And tingle. Oh dear. Maybe I love him a little bit more than a son.

It was bad enough when I had my crush on the Efron. First, I was younger. Second, he's older than Jacob. Now...I'm older and the object of my crush is younger. Am I going get the hots for Zach and Codie next? How sick am I?

I think more than anything I'd just like Jacob to mow my lawn, or sell me an alarm system. Is that so bad? Alarm salesmen don't wear shirts right? ugh. I am beyond hope.

So there you have it. Call the cops, send in the SWAT team. I am NOT a cougar. I'm just an old lady with a crush on a child. Sick sick sick. If Mike was going gaga over one of the Gossip Girls I would slap him and make him go talk to the Bishop. Double standard much?

My favorite part is when Jacob says "Age is just a number baby, what are you like 40 now?" Not quite Jacob, not quite yet. But I'm close. Which is just gross.

Hey Good Lookin...what ya got cookin???

I have been a maniac today in the kitchen. Go over to my recipe blog to see what's been cookin and where you can get the recipes. The best frosting in the world hands down bar none might or might not be listed. I'm not joking. The best frosting in the entire universe. I did NOT need to learn how to make this. I got it from Pioneer Woman this week. She's a bad influence on me. And now I am putting peer pressure on you. All the cool kids are making this frosting. If this frosting jumped off a bridge would... never mind. I got lost in metaphor and analogy.

Anyway, here's where you can find all the goodness...or badness. Well, it's where you can find the link to the recipes.

www.cookwithamy.blogspot.com

If You've Ever Read Bossy & The Geek

Okay, I've never ASKED for comments before, but today I am asking for something from you. Here's my dilemma and an explanation why I haven't written anything on my other blog for so long. It's been so much fun up until now. I took myself through Mike and my first kiss and ended there. Up until that point, it was all light and fairies and butterflies. There was no drama or seriousness. In order to continue, I am going to have to go into experiences that are impossible to keep light hearted. If I continue the story, I will recount my conversion to another religion, the decision to go away to school, my failure there and a bunch of parts of life that are hard to keep casual and fun. Not that life gets sad or that there is no humor in these experiences because there are...but it's just a lot more emotional to write about.

So here's what I am asking. If you want me to go on with the story, leave a comment in the comments section of this post. You can post a comment anonymously so I won't know who you are. So even if you've never known me but for some reason have read our story and want me to continue, please let me know. If not, I'll just end it where it's at.

Thanks!

No Self Esteem Issues Here

Katie has what you might call a healthy level of self esteem. Ummmm...how do I say this? She really really REALLY thinks she is the awesome-EST! Here are a few little things she has said recently that make us chuckle.

"Mom, I am gonna be a Lympic (Olympic) Ice Skater because it is like dancing on ice. And Mom, I'm already a great dancer so I would only need to learn the ice stuff!"

"Mom, do you hear those birdies in the tree? They are tweeting so loudly because they must know I am in the car and can hear them." Pause. "HI BIRDIES!!! IT'S ME KATIE!!! I CAN HEAR YOU!!!"

Katie holding a calculator at my parent's house. "Grammie, I am SO good at this game!" She hands my Mom the calculator. "Grammie, look how big of a number I can make...have you EVER seen that big of a number?" All she does is punch in a bunch of numbers until it can't take anymore numbers then thinks that means she "won" the calculator game.

"Mom, I make the best lemonade. It's THE BEST. You will loooooove it. Here ya go!" Hands me a glass of water with maybe a half teaspoon of Countrytime. It was so gross. But I told her it was delicious.

Remember that one time I impaled my head on that tree?

Just when things were looking up for the Aimster, I stopped looking where I was going. And just like that, WHAM...I went forth and smacketh my head on thy yonder tree. So check it...I was walking out of the girl's preschool class with Kyler's mom Kelly and I hit my head on a branch that was had been pruned probably last Spring but was hidden by new leaves that had come out and obscured it from view. The branch had a knob sort of end on it and sticks sticking out of the knob so it stuck in my head at about three places. It bled like stink. I'm not sure what that saying means. Mike always tells me "head wounds, man they bleed like stink." So I wasn't alarmed when the blood was plentiful and soaking and dripping and non stopping. I got it cleaned at the urgent care. Friday is when this all went down. Last Friday. I was pretty sore over the weekend, feeling out of it and tired. Then Monday, when I had to take the girls to school it all felt like a weird Alice in Wonderland bad acid trip. I always imagine doing acid is like unto watching Alice in Wonderland. So when I was out and about on Monday and everything seems so bright and loud and acid tripish, I thought it would be a good idea to get my noggin checked out. One CT scan later and here's the skinny. I have a concussion, a pretty good one. Or a bad one. Depends on your general feeling about concussions really. I have a bone bruise and blood and fluid have gathered together to sit in between my skull and my skin which gives a feeling of pressure, headache and like my right eye is going to pop out of my head. But I have been assured it is not. No permanent damage. It should all heal just fine. But I feel like an idiot and a klutz and not like myself.

So that's where I have been. Holding my head and taking ibuprofen and going man that white rabbit is annoying. Turns out it was just Mike.

A Letter To My TV

Dear Television,

I know when we met at the Circuit City, we had an instant mutual attraction. And when I asked you to come home with me after just three dates, I felt our future was as bright as your pixels. But lately, over the past few weeks, I feel like you have been giving me so many mixed messages and manipulating my emotions in the cruelest of ways. It started with the Olympics. Really television? You made my heart soar with pride and then brought me to tears so many times I stopped counting. Just when I thought it was okay to hope again, you sent Canada to break my heart. Then, the day after what I thought was the end of your emotional torture, you sent Jake into my house. Jake and his fickle stupid heart. Watching him with Vienna last night was just the last straw for us television. I just can't take it anymore.

I think it would be a good idea for us to break up for the Spring and Summer. I think it would be a good time for both of us to think about our future and whether or not we can continue in an emotionally healthy relationship. I feel like I've given you hours of my time and got only heartbreak in return. I've given you my tears and laughter and you've just given me your sharp plasma in return. I need more from you. I need Gray's Anatomy to be good again. I need Troy Polamalu to have an injury free season so we can celebrate decent football together. I REALLY need something decent on HBO because if you can't give me that...what are we even doing? And let's not even get into how your morals and values seem to be disappearing before my very eyes.

I am going to try and see other people. I don't have anyone specific in mind yet, but I am seriously thinking about taking up Kindle on his offer to go steady. I think kindle would be better for my overall emotional health. And besides, he's trendy and cool and doesn't come with any excess baggage loaded on. I am going to try and reconnect with books and my old friend the country road. I know you think something is going on between me and my computer based on what you think you saw that one time on my lap but I swear we are just friends. It's not like that. My computer is DESIGNED to sit there.

I will always cherish the special moments we have shared. Castle and The Mentalist have really been bright spots in my life and I will miss them, I really will. I just think we need to end this now before I get so emotionally caught up in the new season of The Amazing Race and the return of V that I am too weak to walk away.

I hope someday we can be friends that support and uplift each other. I wish you happiness and fun this summer. Of course, you'll be allowed to see and spend time with the kids. I wouldn't take that away from you. (or me)

Take care television...I'll be thinking of you. And remember, we'll always have five years of wonderful memeories laughing over The Office. Those were special times that I will never forget.

Love,
Amy