Happy Anniversary

Nine years ago (yesterday) I married the most amazing person I have ever known. We had a wonderful wedding almost 350 people to be exact, and it was so much fun. We hopped into Dan's parents 1979 red corvette and met up with friends for a night cap. Then we headed off to STL and then to London. I remember being so hungry when we landed in the early morning hours and eating some chicken thing (it was gross). I am convinced if I had to eat what the British eat daily, I would lose all the weight I need!

It helped our travel around London that Dan had lived there a few years before, and pretty much knew his way. We toured the Tower of London, The Globe Theatre, saw Les Mis on the West End and Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix in a shot play called "This is Our Youth." These were all great, but the huge score was standing in line to get tickets to "The Phantom of the Opera." Okay, so we were just starting out, had a very limited budget and this was going to be one of our 'big spends' of the trip. Dan walks in to buy tickets. I waited outside and just SO happened to be standing by a very rice Russian couple who were West End regulars and had double booked the show that night with "Cats." Interstingly Cats ended around that time for good and ever. They asked if I was wanting tickets...I said yes, they said well we would sell you ours for 20 pounds TOTAL. For both. I looked at the tickets and they were 3rd ROW CENTER. I grabbed them, paid them, thanked them then ran into Her Majesty's Theatre and told Dan GET A REFUND NOW! Graciously they refunded him his 175 pounds (almost $225 American) and I re-told him my story.

I can remember it like yesterday. And sometimes it feels like it was so long ago! The main point of this story is that I am so happy and we have such a good life together with our sweet babies. I am truly a lucky girl.

Hold me close young Tony Danza??

I laugh EVERY time I think of this Friends episode, where Phoebe is talking about her favorite Elton John song...you know, the 'one about that guy from Who's the Boss. You know 'Hold me close young Tony Danza...." of course that episode along with the one where they are moving the couch up the stairs, "PIVOT...PIVOT!!!" Ross yells, or the one where Joey puts on Phoebe's maternity pants for Thanksgiving and calls them his 'turkey eatin' pants....okay, so that just leads me to actually SEEING ELTON in concert this past weekend! And even crazier?? In SPRINGFIELD MO!!!! Our night started out at dinner at Bruno's with friends Lucas and Cindy. Dan had swordfish and I had a light pasta with jumbo shrimp in a vodka red sauce. Cindy had the seafood special and Lucas the clazone. Some cab and we were set for the show!!! What amazing seats. Lucas and Cindy's parents really hooked us up! Elton went on a little after 8 p.m. and played for 2.5 hours straight (ahahaha) okay that was bad, I said Elton and straight in the same sentence. HE WAS AMAZING. I couldn't stop singing and it was just a once in a lifetime thing. I kept thinking in two weeks he will be at the royal wedding in London! We had fun, got home late and let our new favorite babysitter finally go home! Unfortunately by Sunday night the little ones had pretty intense sniffles and both had their vicks humidifiers going at full blast. Along with my new 17 inch screen HP laptop I got this weekend, I have re-done our study downstairs, pics to follow soon. Just picked up the new chair I think will match nicely.

Toof-fairy

It's a rite of passage for all kids, losing their teeth. Some take it better than others for sure. I remember wiggling teeth with my tongue, as I am sure most of us do. I lost teeth late, not any until 2nd grade, I remember vividly being quite distraught because the giant tooth on my first grade classroom's wall was filled with all the names of student's who had lost teeth, and my name wasn't on there. Fast forward 25 years and my little Tatum was dealing with her own tooth issues. First of all, she lost her little bottom teeth several months ago, and in November we could tell her other top tooth was getting loose....but then it just didn't come out. What DID happen was it started to stick out and it looked kinda silly. We took her to the dentist and he gave her 2 weeks to get it AND it's next door neighbor (other front tooth) out....

Monday night she and Dalton were upstairs and I hear wailing. Dalton was standing next to her wide-eyes and she was leaning over the sink. In the midst of 'playing silly' he had popped her in the mouth and out came said tooth. She was moderately traumatized and Dalton just kept saying "I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!"

Well everyone KNOWS that when you lose a tooth, that the tooth fairy comes to visit you. UNFORTUNATELY, the 'tooth fairy' went to get change out of the bowl and realized that it had been raided and stashed in two piggies banks....so here was a broke tooth fairy that had to steal back some change out of the piggy bank to deliver $2 in dimes to a very excited little girl. What cna I say, I was desperate!

Today is the day we go back to the dentist, and here is hoping that it goes well and the Toof Fairy will be better prepared tonight.

White House/Black Market

I am a bargain shopper. I actually feel like I have really accomplished something when I find a great deal. Like the little designer dress I found at a resale shop for $8, or the brand new Limited Too jeans I picked up for Tatum at Children's Orchard for $7.....these things make me feel thrifty and like I found treasures on the cheap. However, when I walk into White House/Black Market (though not often), my brain flip flops and something crazy happens to me. I LOVE everything about that store. I love the clothes, the materials, the shoes are amazing, the jewelry....oh holy night, it's just too much for my little brain to handle. Yesterday, in fact I went in specifically to look for a clearance only dress for my upcoming event. I dutifully walked straight to the back and tried not to make eye contact with the insanely expensive new items in the front of the store. I picked up a pair of cool light gray jeans, a skirt and a couple dresses. The jeans fit, the skirt was too big and they didn't have a smaller size, and the dresses fit, but weren't appropriate for this event,..... then they started on me. Here try this dress, it matches these shoes and this belt.... oh and these earrings....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I needed a calculater just to add up how much that glorious outfit would cost. I felt bad b/c the little sales girl looked disappointed that I wouldn't try it on...."come on, you might really like it." Yes, I KNOW I will, have you seen how much all this crap costs?????? At least I am a clean dressing room tryer on-er....I hung everything up, grabbed my cute clearance priced jeans, used my WH/BM 5% discount card, AND my $10 birthday coupon they sent me and I left spending very little money.....good job me. I am however, going to try to copy that outfit for cheaper somewhere else!

Dish it out.....

When I was a little girl, my mom and grandma tell stories of how I would 'help' bake cookies and ever so Not slyly steal chocolate chips when I thought no one was looking. I have great memories of baking sugar cookies around the holidays, and no one can forget the blueberry pie making spree I went on in 8th grade after learning how to perfect the best crust in home ec. It really wasn't though, until the past few years that I have begun this love affair with cooking. Yes, I still enjoy baking, but for me it's the unique and gourment ingredients that I really love. Nothing is more fun to me than watching Food Network and Paula Dean or Bobby Flay, or Big Bites with Guy, or barefoot Contessa (even though she is totally snobbish and weird) and THEN trying to remember all the ingredients and making the dish myself....I LOVE IT!

Cooking is like anything else, the more you practice, the better you get. It takes many years to learn 'tricks' and I am NO WHERE near a chef,,,but I hope to get closer to that someday. Tonight is homemade chicken parmesan, pasta, spinach gorgonzola and maybe something lemony for dessert. The other thing that is important to me is healthy cooking. Sure everyone wants cheese on a burger,,,,duh.....but my challenge to myself is preparing tasty, inexpensive (if possible) meals that everyone (including the kids) love. It can get tricky, but it is possible. I was at Target today picking up some needed items and I thought "I will just go over and LOOK at the cooking supplies" I stood there for far too long and one of the employees asked if I was working on a registry...hahahahaha....no but maybe I will register for my 9th anniversary in April! And I also think I am the last person on earth that does NOT have a kitchenaid mixer....hint hint.....!!!

This happened.

The reason I want to post this is that I want to be able to remember all the details of this one day many years from now, because I am quite certain that it wouldn't/couldn't ever happen again. Also, this post isn't exactly 'politically correct' I guess, but it is my blog and I can say whatever I want. It's hard enough for me because I am very funny and I have to turn my filter on a lot so that my humor doesn't come out wrong. But there is nothing quite like what happened a few weeks ago when I was returning back to work after a mid-morning meeting. This is where my politically correctness goes down the drain.

I have always had a fascination with midgets. I KNOW they are people, I am not saying that, but it's just....well, I stare at them. I can't help it. And so you have to know that first off. They also make me nervous, I HAVE no idea why, but it's true. Back to my story.

So there I sit at another very long stop light and I just happen to glance over through my passenger side window and I see the (I am not kidding here)...absolute largest van I think I have ever seen in my life. I thought...WHOA.....what in the world is in that thing? Then it happened. After processing this giant van, I will admit I expected to see a huge big truck driver looking man piloting such a beast on the road.

Nope. I saw the smallest little person I had ever seen. I could see the tops of his wee little shoes sticking up from the seat and then WORST of all, he grabbed a can of coke and then tipped back to drink it. OF COURSE my eyes must have been huge...what can I say? My mind was racing....how could he drive this thing? Is this legal? Safe? Does he wear a seatbelt? How does he look to change lanes!?

I guess I must have stared a bit too long. The light turned green, the guy behind me laid on the horn for me to GO, and the little person in the big van flipped me the tiny bird and sped off.

I have told numerous people this story, I even announced it to some just minutes after I walked back into work completely astonished.

Today I miss my dad

I know that it's been 16 years,,,but today I miss my dad. I want to talk to him. I want to tell him that I need him. That I think about him all the time. I want to ask him questions about life...I don't want to be harshly judged...I just want to talk to him. I so crave and hurt for his opinion and I have had many years to 'heal' but sometimes I just want to be the little girl that still had her dad. This post is NOT about feeling sorry for myself. I know that things happen for reasons that hopefully one day I will know. But I can not say that sometimes I wish to ask my dad about what he thinks. God gives me my dreams with him occasionaly. My heart hurts because I wonder so often what he would think; I want his opinon, I need his advice. This pain never goes away. I trust in God that all things happen for a reason, and I know that my Dad was taken when I was 15, my brother was 13 and my mom was so young...for a reason...but at times I just wish I had him here. Tonight I am sad. My heart hurts. Because I rejoice that my dad is in a good place....but tonight I miss you dad. I wish you were here so that I could share my worries and my happiness with you. I will always have you in my heart.