In 2007...

• I lost 70 pounds.


• Princess H became a Mama's baby.


• Super Z learned how to write his name.


• Randy started working again, part time.


• I started this blog.


• Princess H learned how to say, "Shup Zane!" We are so proud.


• Super Z started demanding to say (sing) the blessing at every family function.


• Randy got the first "nice" vehicle of his life.


• I read 15 books. This is not very impressive. I have to do better.


• Princess H grew 8 inches of hair.


• Super Z fell in love with the Back to the Future movies.


• Randy finally figured out how to take charge of the house and all of its many many needs.


• I was able to give my family everything that I wanted to give them for Christmas.


• Princess H spent the night away from Randy for the first time ever.


• Super Z stopped talking to "Little Zane", his imaginary friend.


• Randy discovered that he STILL can't sleep in our bed if I am not in it.

In 2008, I hope that...

• I lose 70 more pounds.
• Princess H gets potty trained.
• Super Z learns to read.
• Randy knows every single day how much he means to me.

Happy New Year to your family from mine. I can't wait to see you all in 2008!

Happy Birthday, Super Z

Zane,

I am putting this letter up ten days late because as you know, your birthday comes at the craziest time of the year. I always feel like you have been cheated somehow. Your day is usually overshadowed by Christmas prep and you party is always postponed until January. My poor baby, I would move your birthday if I could...well, maybe I wouldn't. I remember when you were born I called you my Christmas elf. You had the cutest little pointy ear. That ear is a testament. You were meant to be a holiday baby.

For your birthday this year I let you choose where we would go to dinner. The sky was the limit. I offered up all of your favorites..shrimp, pizza, steak. But no, you chose McDonald's. So on December 20 at 7:45 PM, 5 years to the minute after I brought you into this world, I sat in McDonald's Playland and listened to you laugh and play with your sister. It occurred to me that night, that the sounds of you have become the music of my life.

In the three years that I spent trying to get pregnant with you, there were a lot of silent moments in my life, moments when I would sit alone and read or think, moments getting to know my husband and best friend, moments when I would cry and think that I would never be a mother. I would not trade any of these moments for the world, even the worst ones. They were my preparation for you, my symphony.

You wake me up in the morning with your questions and your stories. You need to know everything...right now. You want to know where God is and who invented wheels. You want to tell me about this green motorcycle that you saw and a superhero that you dreamed of. You want to know where I lived when I was a kid and how tall you are going to be. Your laughter and your words never stop. Sometimes when I listen to you playing alone and talking to yourself, I stop to listen at your door. You are truly a song that never ends.

You are the son that I wanted with all of my heart. You are everything that I ever dreamed that you would be and more. Even now, as I listen to you in the kitchen playing with your cars, I am astonished that you are mine. I am astonished that I get to be your Mom...your best friend.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I hope you like your new "Big" bike. I hope you don't mind being squeezed into the holidays. Just know that you are the best Christmas gift that I have ever gotten. You are my miracle and my baby and you always will be.

Love, Mom

Noses and Lips

I have a body part theme going on, first ears, now noses and lips. It isn't intentional. It just happened.
I need help. Does anybody out there have experience with extremely chapped lips?
Super Z has had a runny nose for three months or forever, I am not sure. He also LOVES to play outside and unfortunately he has the very bad habit of wiping his nose on his sleeve. As a result of all of this loveliness, he has developed the worst chapped upper lip in the history of the world.
His lip has been red and ugly looking for over a month. On particularly cold days it has even turned purple. It is awful.
We have been putting Neosporin on it everyday, multiple times a day. If we put any kind of bees wax or chapped lip ointment on it he screams in agony.
So I need fresh ideas. How do I get rid of this and prevent it from happening again? Give me all your good ideas. I know that you have them...

Ears

My sister got Princess H's ears pierced for Christmas. It took a little bit of convincing to talk Randy into it. He was 100% against anything that might cause his baby girl pain.
I was more open to the idea. In my experience, the younger you are when you get your ears pierced, the less likely they are to grow up and have to be repierced. Mine were pierced when I was 2 and I can go years without earrings with no issues whatsoever. My cousin Becky didn't get hers pierced until Jr High and she struggled with them She might still struggle with them. Beck?
So after much cajoling, the DADDY consented. Alisha and Dennis took her off to get her ears pierced. I didn't go. I am a coward. I knew that I could not watch. I wimp out at vaccinations and those are NECESSARY.
They said that she hated the lady touching her. She is not a big toucher, she gets that from me. She freaked out after the first ear and had to be held down for the second. I can't even imagine. I am sure that she thought her aunt and uncle had lost their minds.
After the torture..I mean piercings were over, they took her over to see Santa. She lay her head on Santa's knee and cried, "ears...ears." Santa declared her the most pathetic thing ever. Maybe that is why he got her that super cook kitchen??
She came home slightly distraught. But as the days go by she seems to like the earrings more and more. She makes a point to show everyone and declare proudly, "EARFRINGS!" It is pretty cute.
When I put the antiseptic on her ears she fights and cries, but other than that it is not so bad. If I let her put antiseptic on my ears first she cries a little bit less. SO my ears should be really healthy by the end of six weeks.
Have a great day!

Merry Christmas!

So, I am alive!! I told you that I would be busy..I just had no idea how busy. Christmas went off beautifully, Super Z turned 5 (he will have a tribute post this week and a party in January), two of my best friends became parents to twin boys, I worked, I had four separate family gatherings to celebrate the holidays, Santa came, and I got to goodies that will help make blogging easier...are you ready?? A laptop and a scanner!!! I know, I must have been good. I am through the roof over it. I can't wait to scan in a picture to show the world what a cute baby I was.
I just wanted to wish any wandering readers a Merry Christmas and throw out my first post with the laptop. I'll see you all tomorrow...I promise.

Thursday Thirteen

13 Christmas Memories

1. We always celebrated Christmas Eve at my Mom's parents house. It was a very busy loud celebration with tons of people (and still is, but a lot of things have changed over the years). I remember that my Uncle Woodrow would always bring fireworks and we would set them off at 8 o'clock on the dot. I have no idea why.
2. One Christmas when I was about 7, Santa's car broke down in front of my Grandparent's house. He was on his way to a party. He came up to use the phone. None of us saw him until he walked in the door. My Aunt Cathy was so surprised to see Santa that she fell over backwards in her chair.
3. One Christmas Papaw paid someone to dress up as Santa and he locked them in the basement. Halfway through opening presents we heard shouting and banging from downstairs. My cousin Treyce went to check it out. The next thing we know Santa is running through the living room yelling at Papaw that he had made him late. You can't even imagine how upset the little kids got.
4. My Mom's car had T-tops and the sky was always so clear on Christmas Eve night. I would lie on the backseat with my sister and marvel at the stars on the way home on those Christmas Eves. It always felt like magic was in the car with us. I remember that like it was yesterday.
5. I remember lieing in bed too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve night.
6. I remember squeezing my sister's hand at every noise and whispering, "Did you hear that??"
7. I remember getting up at 5 AM with my sister and sneaking into the living room to marvel at the riches that Santa had left. We couldn't wake our parents up until 6, so we were always very quiet, smothering our squeals of delight with our hands, handling all the gifts gingerly so that they would not be disturbed when Mom and Dad came in with us.
8. I remember charging into their room at 6 AM and tackling them on the bed. I remember two little girls screeching, Santa came ! He came!!!"
9. I remember my Dad teaching me how to ride a bike on my blue banana seat butterfly bike on Christmas morning when I was 6 years old.
10. I remember that Santa always brought my Dad a bag of oranges. He brings those for Randy now.
11. I remember marvelling at how Santa had eaten all of the cookies but one. The one that he left always had a perfect bite mark in it. It was unreal. I was holding a cookie that the man had bitten into.
12. We always spent Christmas day at my Dad's Moms. The drive out to her house in the country was always fun, but especially so on Christmas. We would sing Christmas carols the whole way.
13. When we got to Mamaw's it was all cousins and food and gifts. In the living room was the biggest live Christmas tree that you would ever see. The tree always came from the fields behind the house. It was simple. It was perfect.

I got tagged by Captain Picard for this story meme. People are writing this story one tag at a time. This was a great idea that Splotchy had. I had a lot of fun writing my section. I hope that at least one of you that I tag will pick it up and carry on Splotchy's story.

I woke up hungry. I pulled my bedroom curtain to the side and looked out on a hazy morning. I dragged myself into the kitchen, in search of something to eat. I reached for a jar of applesauce sitting next to the sink, and found it very cold to the touch. I opened the jar and realized it was frozen. (Splotchy)
"That's strange," I said out loud to no one in particular. My fingers slowly reached towards the jar again. My body experienced a wave of apprehension as weighted blanket covering me as I did so. The jar was completely frozen.I picked it up and stared at it, my fingers stung with little knives of chill.
"What the..." again I spoke aloud. Then I realized what had happened with a shock. Suddenly the jar flew from my hand. It shattered creating a collage-like mixture of frozen applesauce and glass shards on my kitchen floor, the lid lazily rolling to a stop across the room.(FranIAm)
I half noticed at first glimpse that there was something odd amidst the solidified apple sauce as I reached for the broom and the dust pan. As I knelt down to clean up the frozen mess, I could clearly see a tiny figure within the goopy mess. It was a human eye, with tiny arms and legs! I resisted my initial urge to pick it up with my hand, and then reached down to scoop it up with the dustpan. The eye looked up at me in horror and gave out a frightening high pitched screech as it ran for the living room.I was dumbfounded by this turn of events.
I didn't even like applesauce - And I had guests coming for dinner! It would not be proper to have a homunculus eyeball running around during the appetizer - I had to think fast. I crept into the living room so as to not startle the small creature. The eyeball was under the coffee table, peeking out from behind one of table legs. When I approached, it quickly darted under the couch!I got on my hands and knees to look under the couch, but I could not see the eye through all of the old newspapers and dust bunnies that had accumulated under there. I had to hurry! the guests were coming at seven o'clock, and I had not even started the buffalo chicken skewers with blue cheese dipping sauce yet! Not to mention the couscous and the broccoli noodle salad. (Zaius Nation)
I shook my head and leaned back against the wall. Surely this couldn’t be happening, surely there isn’t an anthropomorphic eyeball running around under my couch. It just couldn’t be real, could it?
“Ahem,” a little voice squeaked. “Ahem.”
I looked all around for the source of the voice. I finally found that it was from the eyeball peering around the back of the couch. I leaned in and looked at it closer. It still appeared to be uneasy (I mean, I’m sure that’s how it appeared, but then again I’m not all that certain about behavior patterns of walking eyeballs.
“Did you say something?” I asked it.
“You’re not going to poke me are you?” it asked. “I hate getting poked.”
“Uh no,” I answered dumbfounded. “I won’t poke you.”
“And you’re not going to lock me away in a jar of applesauce are you?”
“No, I’m not going to do that,” I replied, still bewildered by the sight in front of me.
“OK.” He made the eyeball equivalent of a nod, hitched up a pair of nonexistent trousers, adjusted the chimerical hat on his head, and walked up to me. “I am forever in debt to you, sir, for freeing me from the confines of that jar.”
“OK, sure,” I smiled lamely. “How’d you get in there?”
“The evil wizard trapped me in there,” he answered. “He knows the only way to trap a geneye is to use a jar of applesauce.”
“You’re… you’re a geneye,” I managed to blurt out. I may not get the appetizers done, but this may be one heckuva party anyways.
“At you service,” it bowed. “And to thank you for freeing me, I would like to reward you with two wishes.”
“Oh, so you’re like a genie.” It all started to make sense to me now. No, not really.
“Yes,” it rolled its eye. “Like a genie, only we’re geneyes. They sure do know how to warp a good story in Hollywood, don’t they?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, again dumbfoundedly. “So I get two wishes? What about three?”
“Ugh!” the geneye slapped the top of its head, or the top of its eyeball at least. “You get two. Two. Only two. That’s how it works. And no wishing for more wishes, we’re onto that. Aladdin tried that once, it wasn’t pretty.”
“OK, so I get two, let me think,” I said thoughtfully. Screw the party, this is way more interesting.
“Yeah, hurry up, I don’t have all day,” the magical homunculus eyeball tapped it’s foot. “I’ve got places to go.”
“OK, OK,” I answered. Well, I could always wish for a lot of money, except that never works in the stories. The villain always wishes for riches and gets trapped in the cave with the gold, or sent to the bottom of the sea with it or audited by the IRS because of it. As much as I’d like to pay off the mortgage, I don’t think I can.
“Well?” it asked impatiently.
“I want peace on Earth and good will toward men,” I say with a forfeiting shrug.“Peace on Earth and good will toward men?” it repeated.
“Is that one wish or two?”
“One,” I replied. “You know, ‘tis the season and all.”
“Nice choice,” it nodded. Then the geneye snapped its fingers.
“It is done.”
I felt it. For one moment, I felt nothing but peace and joy all around me. Others felt it, too but no one would ever be able to explain it. All around the world, people stopped what they were doing and just enjoyed the moment. Evil men stopped thinking evil thoughts and just smiled nicely. The hurt, the sick, and all who were in pain be it physical, mental, or spiritual, felt the warmth of a brief reprieve. Bells rang. Angels sang. Then I felt it end.
“Hey, that was nice,” I said. “Why didn’t it last?”
“Come on,” the magical being snorted. “I’m not that powerful. You got one more wish.”
One more wish. What should I wish for? Hmmm. (Jon, Intergalactic Gladiator )
"How about 'as many wishes as I'd like?"
"Hey! That's cheating." the Eye said, "It's not allowed in the Geneye Code Of Conduct. It's one wish only, and that's your lot."
"How about 'trying to understand the opposite sex?'" I suggested.
"Too tough" it replied, "No being is as capable of such an undertaking."
I sighed and thought. This was going to be harder than I imagined. I wanted this wish to be a good one that was value for money.
Suddenly I thought about it. Friendship."How about friendship?"
"It's possible." said the Eye.
"Would it last a long time?"
"Oh, sure." the Eye replied, "It's not like that peace and goodwill one where it applies to all. A wish like that means you'd always have good friends."
"That sounds great." I said, "I'll select as my other wish to always have friends, and no enemies,"
"Fair enough" and the Eye clapped his fingers.Suddenly the telephone started ringing.... Captain Picard
"Let me guess, that is a friend calling?," I inquired with a raised eyebrow towards the Eye.
"Well, it definitely isn't an enemy.," the eye said shortly, rolling around to check out the room as I sank down onto my knees. "Aren't you going to get that?," it asked after the third ring.
"I couldn't possible talk to someone else right now.," I said shaking my head. I couldn't quite shake the feeling that I was losing my mind. I had to get rid of this eye.
"You seem to be doing a fine job talking to me.," the Eye said as is sauntered over to check out a magazine that was lying beside the couch.
"Now that you mention that...aren't genies..or geneyes..or whatever supposed to leave once the wishes have been made?," I asked slowly.
The Eye scoffed at me, as much as an eye can scoff at least, and sauntered towards the bookcase.
"You have a lot of books. These could keep me busy for a while.," it said simply as it began to check out a few of the titles on the lower shelves.
"Don't you have somewhere to go? Somewhere to be?," I asked, struggling to keep the desperation out of my voice.
"Where in the world would I need to be? I am an eye with legs. I have been cramped up in a frozen jar of applesauce for the last hundred years. I just granted YOU two wishes. Surely I deserve a little break, don't you think?," the Eye asked as it focused its unblinking gaze directly on me.
The phone began to ring again. I could also hear my cell phone ringing from the bedroom. I couldn't look away from the Eye. (Serina Hope)

This is an installment of Splotchy's Story Meme. According to Splotchy, "Here's what I would like to do. I want to create a story that branches out in a variety of different, unexpected ways. I don't know how realistic it is, but that's what I'm aiming for. Hopefully, at least one thread of the story can make a decent number of hops before it dies out." You can read all of the details here

I am going to tag the following lucky people. Good luck with this Eye guys.
Cat at Soulsurvive
Amanda at The Milk Bar
Bilbo
Secret Agent Mama
Bren at Three Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Mad Dash Monday

I am too freaking busy. The travelling has begun and yet there is shopping left to do. Let's not forget that there is still the daily grind of work and dinner to contend with. I may be missing in action more and more on these frantic days. Please do not be discouraged. Things will calm down one day...I hope.
In the mean time, I promise that I will post and surf as often as I can. Just remember, I still love you.
In other news, Randy and I got a Wii for Christmas. It is awesome. (Yes, we have already hooked it up, because we have the patience of a rabid wolf. It cannot be helped.) We get to have date nights right in the living room!
Randy: So, you wanna go bowling?
Me: Sure, turn on the TV!
No babysitter needed for these romantic dates, folks. You can't beat that.
Have a great Monday!

Haiky Friday

Happy Birthday, Britty

Britty was my first,

the first baby of my heart,

more than just a niece.

*

She looked like Snow White

from the moment she was born,

the prettiest girl.

*

She wrapped us all up,

capturing us in her blue

bluest eyes of all.

*

I was just twenty

and her Mama, my sister,

was only sixteen.

*

Some people whispered,

"That Alisha, she is pregnant."

People always judge.

*

They had no idea

that some wonderful Mamas

start out as scared girls.

*

They had no idea

that what they called a mistake

was really a gift.

*

And oh, that gift now...

it glows and sparkles and smiles...

My lovely Britty.

*

She is a good girl,

the kind that everyone loves,

on the verge of more.

*

I love you Britty,

my very first baby girl.

Have a great birthday!

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas 2006

Are They Ready For Christmas?

Yesterday afternoon I took Super Z to Wal-mart for our weekly shopping trip. He agreed to sit in the "baby seat" of the buggy (a) so he could talk to me and (b) because I let him have a sucker. Hey! I never said that I was above bribing my son!
We had a pretty good trip. He wanted everything in the store because, "Me and my sister need it!" We were able to strike a compromise. I only had to buy half of the contents of Wal-Mart. Half is better than all, right?
As we were checking out, a Hispanic couple got in line behind us, directly in the line of Super Z fire. Of course, Super Z attempted to strike up a conversation with them, he has to strike up a conversation with everybody that he sees. It would have been rude of him not to.
As I was unloading the buggy I heard him ask, "So, what are you getting for Christmas, Man?"
I looked up to see the man smiling worriedly. In broken English he responded, "Yes, yes, Merry Christmas!"
Super Z shook his head and ignored the shushes from the Mom end of our arrangement.
"No, I said what are you getting for Christmas," Super Z insisted.
The man and the woman both smiled hopelessly at me indicating that they had no idea what the boy was saying. I returned their smile and continued to unload my buggy.
"You know, Christmas? What are you getting? Christmas?What are you getting for Christmas?," Super Z implored becoming more and more agitated by the minute.
"Super Z, they can't understand you," I tried again, smiling at the cashier who was cracking up by this point.
He glanced at me briefly and then looked back at his audience.
"You have to know Christmas," he declared and then broke out in song, "Jingle Bells Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a four horse open sleigh! HEY!" (What can I say? It is four horses in Super Z world.)
The people just smiled weakly.
At that point my son threw his hands up. "Aren't you even ready for Christmas?," he asked sadly. He shook his head slowly as I pushed the cart towards the door.
"You know, Mom. I don't think they are ready for Christmas.," he said simply.
I just patted his little hand and smiled.

Fun Monday

Our Fun Monday host this week is Robinella. Her topic is wonderful to me for two reasons.

1) I am suffering from NaBloPoMo Burn Out at the moment. Her topic allows me to share a wonderful post without actually having to come up with one! You can't beat that with a stick.
2) I get to share one of my favorite posts with you, a post that you probably haven't seen, because I wrote it way back in the day before I had many readers. Just in case you are wondering, that happened to be way back in August '07.

So, on with the show! Robinella's assignment was:

In honor of exhaustion, color and self-love, I present you with this week’s assignment. I want you to dig through your blog files and show us your best

effort. Why you consider it your best is up to you. C’mon, you know you have

a favorite - show it to me one more time.

It was a tad bit difficult to come up with a favorite. None of my posts are as wonderful

as the ones that you guys fling out effortlessly on a day to day basis. But, being forced at

knife point to choose, I chose Marriage Anyone? So now here it is in all its glory. I hope

you like it and I hope that you have a wonderful Monday.

Marriage Anyone?

Question: What are the three most important things needed to make a marriage work?

I had to think about this for a while, because I have to admit that personally I have spent more time around marriages that didn't work than around those that did. My Mom and Dad have each been divorced twice. My Mom's marriages have both died as the result of unresolved anger. So I would say that that is definitely a bad idea. I mean unless you are just really into being pissed off and miserable all the time... and if that is the case, I say go for it. I mean why forgive? Being perpetually angry and miserable probably burns a lot of calories... my Mom has always been really thin...
My Dad's second marriage ended because he was an idiot ( and an alcoholic ) who married a fellow idiot ( and alcoholic ) who he barely knew. So in big flashing lights I would have to say
* Don't be an idiot (or an alcoholic)* Those two things are definitely not good for a marriage. That divorce was actually a very good thing to us kids. We liked sober thinking Dad much better than drunk, stupid, married Dad. We are crazy like that.
Some would say that this legacy of divorce is a bad omen for me. I think not. Surely I must have learned something from all the failure, right? I really hope that I did. No, I know I did.
Randy and I have got it going on... in many many ways, but I have to pick three. I don't think I am an expert after only eight years at what is needed to make marriage at large work, but I can tell you the things that work for us.
So, I give you the top three things that make my marriage work:

1) We are best friends. I mean really, the man can make me laugh until tea comes out of my nose. He listens to me bitch (and commiserates!). He likes to hear me talk. He has even been known to let me put eyeliner on him...once, under duress...when we were really bored...and young...and drunk. But yeah, he is my favoritest, as Super Z would say.
2)We know how to keep it fresh. Now this blog is G rated, or PG-13 at worst, so I am not going to go into the bow-chica-wow-wow details with you ( I know, you were on the edge of your seat.), but we don't ever get tired of each other. We are not afraid to try new things. And let me tell you what, our grand finish conversations tend to be brutally honest and quite hilarious. Sometimes I can't believe the things coming out of our mouths. We should be critics... " Well on the plus side the lighting in the room was wonderful tonight..."
3)Nobody wears the pants in this house. No, we don't walk around naked from the waist down (Hahaha, I am so funny)...We are equal, team personified. There is no boss. ( There is bossy... but I am convinced that is a genetic flaw passed down through both lines of my family.) We are both more than willing to share our view of how the world should revolve and we are both willing to listen. Compromise is golden.

Haiku Friday

Amy Winehouse blares

The coffee steams on my desk

Work at five A M

The things that I do

To free up my afternoons

Always amaze me

Who knew that these kids

with their beautiful blue eyes

would give me such drive

There used to be days

when I would work until nine

and miss the party

Those days were before

December 2002...

Things fell into place

Kool-aid and a song

probably, Old MacDonald,

That is a good time

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Presents That I have Bought This Year

1. Super Z has been dying for this. I am not sure if he will be able to play it, but he will surely pass out with pleasure.
2) A round of pajamas for everyone!! I am a pajama fanatic, Every year I buy way more pajamas than I should...but it makes me happy, so there.
3)Dishes for the princess! She has already opened these once (oops!) and loves them, so I am sure that they'll be a big hit.

4) Super Z and Princess H loved this movie. I got it at Borders for 9$! Can you believe that? And it came with a free charm bracelet. I will let you know who ends up with it. I am sure that Super Z will want it and his Dad will cry from the shame of it all. I can't wait.

5) I love this book. It is one of my all time favorites. My two are definitely Wild Things, so I can't wait to introduce them to this book.

6) The Shake and Go Race Track was another MUST HAVE for Super Z. I don't know how much that means, since he MUST HAVE everything..but still, I think that this one will get a lot of play. 7) We fell in love with this little bike the instant that we saw it. The Princess is always trying to (kill herself on) ride Super Z's bike. We think that this might be a tad bit more her size.

8) Okay, who doesn't love Lincoln Logs? These are another essential in my book.

9) The princess is a HUGE Elmo fan. That, and this baby was only 10$ at Black Friday. Yes, I am crazy. I was in Wal-mart at 4 AM last Friday.

10) This is another Black Friday Special. I got this for my nephew Tater. Super Z LOVES his. I think it has a million miles on it. I am sure that Tater will love it too.

11) This is for Ty. He didn't ask for it. This is me taking a risk. I figure that it will go over well. I mean, he can take cool shots of his friends doing skateboarding tricks, he can take pictures of himself, he can take pictures of pretty girls. The options are endless.

12) A kitchen for Princess H!!! I am the most excited about this one and the next one. I can't wait to play kitchen with the girl. I think we are going to set it up in our kitchen so that we can cook together. I am betting that she loves it.

13) And last, but definitely not least, the red four wheeler!! Super Z has been asking for this for years. I have always been too cheap. I know, that is awful. I finally convinced myself that it was now or never. I can't wait to see the look on his face Christmas morning.

Wordless Wednesday - The Tree Perspectives

Oh, Christmas Tree

Tree Junkies

In the Dark

From Super Z's POV

Oh, Christmas Tree

I am feeling all better now. Thank you all so much for all of your well wishes. It makes me happy to know that you all care. It was a rough couple of days, but somehow there where a few good moments. The first magical moments of the Christmas season are always good in some way. How can they not be? There is magic in the air.
I got my real tree. The one that so many of you warned me against. This is the first real tree that I have had since my parents got divorced when I was twelve years old. The smell alone brings back a lot of happy memories. And isn't that what Christmas is all about? Memories and traditions?
It becomes obvious that my tree is a link to my past as I look over the ornaments. Of course, there are two very precious baby's first Christmas ornaments and the ones that Super Z has made in preschool over the years, but there are also some not so obvious pieces of memorabilia.
There is the giant red ball that I got last year when ball was one of Princess H's only words. Everyday she would point and stare and say ball a million times. Every time I see that ball I will see my baby with only those four teeth in the front. I will see her smiling and pointing and discovering the joy of Christmas. Oh man, you can't beat that.
There is the car that Randy and I bought together on our first Christmas. We were broke, so we had a hideously small fake tree and about ten ornaments, mostly hand me downs. I remember sitting there for hours, in the dark, admiring the magic of our first tree. I remember thinking that it was the prettiest tree I'd ever seen. I still think that every single year. I remember Randy's joy over the car that I had picked out in honor of his love of all things automobile. I remember still being amazed that I was his wife. It was all so new. It was all too perfect.

There are the hand painted wooded ornaments of my childhood. These were painted by my Mom sometime before my memory begins. They have been a part of my Christmas tree tradition my entire life. They bring back everything from the Christmas that I learned to ride a bike to the Christmas that I had my first job at McDonald's. I can't imagine Christmas without these old guys. They are the Hallmark of my Christmas tree, the gaurdians of the magic.

There is also the silver glitter apple. I was a 6th grade teacher the Christmas that Super Z was born. The day that I was induced, December 20, also happened to be the last day of school before Christmas break. One of my students came to the hospital to see the baby (the CLASS baby) and brought me this apple. I remember being so happy that her Mom had gone to the effort to bring her. I remember being so proud to introduce my baby to one of my first kids. When I see this apple, I am flooded with love for all of my first kids. I miss them all so much at this time of year.

I could go on and on. There are at least a hundred ornaments and memories on my tree. I hope to keep adding to them for a long time to come. I hope that your trees make you feel this way too. I hope that you make a hundred new memories this Christmas and I hope that they are all magical.

Still Sick

I am feeling a little better, a little further away from Death's Door. I am still only useful for holding down the couch, but at least I am no longer a prisoner of the bathroom.
The Princess has been a 100% since this morning. Thank You, God. She is obviously the strongest of us girls.
We (meaning Randy and Super Z mainly) got the tree up. It looks great. Tomorrow I will share pictures. Tomorrow I will feel better. I hope. Tomorrow I will catch up with all of my Internet friends. But for now, back to bed or couch, whichever catches my fancy first.
Don't abandon me. I promise to be entertaining again one day soon...to be more than just a NaBloPoMoHo phoning in reports of illness.
I will leave you with this really cute picture of Super Z two years ago.

Phoning In A Post

In the words of Blue Momma, I am phoning this one in.

• I am so grateful to my guest posters. I think that they all did an excellent job. Actually, I think that they did so well that I pale in comparison. I will have to try to do better if I plan to have such fantastic guests in the future.
• Secret Agent Mama!! I am so sorry that I didn't get you the info. I am glad that you were able to find a way. I am almost ashamed to say that I worried about that all weekend.
• We had a great Thanksgiving.
• I am now dying from a stomach bug.
• I was holding the tree up for Randy today while he fiddled with the stand when it washed over me. ( I got a real tree! But don't feel like touching it. Super Z is so distressed over the naked tree.)
• Princess H got sick about two hours later. Poor sick baby.
• Bah...This sucks so bad.

The Two Serina's | Guest Post

[Guest Blogger: "Cat" from Soul Survive]

When I found out I would be a guest blogger, I felt honored -- like I was being asked to be a guest columnist for the New York Times. I immediately, as is my custom, went into over-thinking mode: What should I write about? How long should it be? Should it be something about me or something about Serina? I was not only representing myself, but had to maintain the integrity of Laughter, Love, and Madness. I wanted an angle. So, for some reason I began thinking about degrees of separation. Which references not only yet another movie I have never seen, but basically deals with the principle that we are all linked together somehow through our relationships with other people.

I began to think: If Serina and I had never met, what possible link would there have been between us?

I met Serina a bit over three years ago. I had just come to the firm and was settling in. I was quiet and innocent then. I drink and curse more now, so I don’t know what that says. But anyway, I digress… One day she sent me an email inviting me to lunch. We had not talked much up to that point, but I thought she seemed cool (key word: seemed). I’m sure I wrote back, as is my custom, that I did not want to intrude. But she was having none of that and said that there was no reason I should feel that way. And off to lunch we went. Skipping off into the sunset, I’m sure, because I could still skip back then.

And so although there have been ups and downs, we have prevailed as friends and are still driving each other mad. Deliriously so. I hope in more of a good way than bad. I insult her, she laughs. I still don’t want to intrude. She keeps inviting me. Working there would feel empty without her.

In high school I did not have many friends as I was apart of the original Geek Squad. However, we knew nothing about computers and had no cool Geek-mobile to ride in. One of my closest friends was uber skinny, funny, and one of the kindest persons I have ever come across. Although I was quiet and she was more outgoing, we had a few major things in common. Neither of our families had a lot of money and we each had a sibling we adored who had a disability of some kind. Even though she was in our group, she was always fighting (and losing) the battle to become one of the popular girls. The ones with new outfits every week, boyfriends, cars, and endless party invitations. But even as she tried to become one of them, she never forgot about us. I hated their cruelty. She was kind and seemingly oblivious to it all.

“So what they drove off without me after band practice? Surely they must have just forgotten…”

But she was my friend and more beautiful in my eyes than any of them could ever hope to be. She offered me rides in the old clunker she used to ride around in and worked downtown after school in a garment plant where she was paid less than what most kids were even earning at McDonald’s.

It’s hard to become popular when you can’t afford the privilege fee.

Her name was Sabrina. Although I told my mother this, she always called her Serina. I never bothered to correct her anymore after the first couple of times.

Sabrina and I lost touch after high school. We wrote a couple of letters and spoke a couple of times during college, but that was the extent of it. Actually, the last time I remember speaking with her on the phone, she was on her way out of her dorm room to take one of her spare blankets to a girl who was new to the dorm who did not have much of anything. Because that was Sabrina.

So six years passed. I left college and moved to Jackson and was in my third (and current job). In October 2005, Serina gave birth to Princess H at one of the nearby hospitals and I went to visit. I had been there a while and who should walk in the room but…Sabrina! She was a nurse now and, apparently, one of Serina’s! I was shocked and it was only later that we reunited when I was leaving the hospital. We thought we recognized each other but had not been certain.

She was married, in school, and most of all happy. And that’s really all I needed to know. I was proud of her. And I hope she was able to feel that in my hugs and smiles.

So the two “Serina’s” met. Two people I consider great friends of mine, great people in general. And I did not even have to lift a finger to make it happen! Cause I am great like that.

And lest my current friend “Serina” not realize it, I hope you know I am proud of you and I admire you. I think you are a wonderful wife, mother, and friend. In essence, you are a good boy, Charlie Brown. (I will, however, deny I said any of this come Monday morning.)

Thank you for inviting me to lunch.

Haiku Friday | Guest Post

Twas '97
I was due to visit "home"
Took a Greyhound bus

Set off from Nawlins
On a thirty-two hour trek
I'd meet many folks

I wore my ripped jeans
Listened to my music loud
In my own bubble

Up to Birmingham
No one had sat beside me
Feet up, relaxin'

Just about to leave
The seat next to me empty
I smiled inside

The door opened up
In staggered a greasy bum
Closed eyes wished him gone

"..next to girl in red"
I huffed as I moved my bag
Trying not too look

He smelled disgusting
I held fingers to my nose
To smell something known

Next stop it was night
I sat in the very back
Next to a black man

He told me stories
Army experiences
In the first Gulf War

He showed me the marks
He called it "Gulf War Syndrome"
Everyone listened

We talked the whole trip
He even shared his chicken
And Newports at stops

In the early hours
I finally caught some sleep
Ohio it was

Almost to New York
I grew tired of the bus
Missed a real toilet

The last stretch was spent
Painting my nails with a girl
She had to be five

Her mother told me
"One day you'll make a great mom!"
Prophecy maybe

For when I returned
To my husband in Nawlins
We conceived our first

Glad I took that trip
In a way I grew up on
The ride of my life

__________________________

That bus trip was something else. I was so tired when I got to Buffalo because I didn't sleep all that much. However, that would pale in comparison to the exhaustion I felt when going back home. My dad had given me his old Mercury Cougar to drive back in. My best friend, and another mutual friend, accompanied me on the ride down. We intended to stop somewhere to sleep, but didn't. We pushed through and got to New Orleans in 26 hours. There's this memory I have of how the street lights looked in the city just before our house, and how I felt completely drunk. It was very surreal.

Had I not pushed through that car ride back down south, we wouldn't have conceived our first child. It was in the wee hours of that morning that we got into New Orleans that Michael and I made love and created our son. Something made me push that trip. Divine Intervention? Perhaps. I totally believe it was a higher power because not only was the baby conceived, we also made it through 3 states with a car that kept overheating.

Funny how we take these trips, these rides of life. Funny how we become a little wiser. Funny how we learn a lot about ourselves on them. Life's a trip; it's a long, curvy, complicated, intoxicating, exhausting, and interesting trip. My name's Mishelle. I like to tell stories. I share many of my life's rides. Come along and ride!

You can come find me over at my blog: Secret Agent Mama

[Thank you to Serina for letting me guest post on her fabulous blog. It was certainly a pleasure as it's one of my favorites.]