Love is in the Air

We went to a wedding this past weekend. We all went, the bride was a family friend. DH & I are friends with her parents and she lived with us for a brief time when Queenie was a baby.

So it was good to see them - the beautiful bride, her brother and her parents. I miss seeing them and hanging out.

Congratulations and best wishes K & N!

Why I Love Being a Mom

Being a Mom is a wonderful thing. It's one of the hardest and most rewarding jobs in the world. And it is a job. But I LOVE it. There are so many reasons I love being a mom. I wanted to share some of them with you.

* I love being the parent my children ask to kill the bugs.

* I love having to leave 30 minutes early to get anywhere 10 minutes late.

* I love having dirt stains on left front thigh and left butt cheek all during sports season from the monkey on my hip.

* I love being called "Mrs. [child's name]'s Mom."

* I'm proud that I don't have stretch marks.

* It makes me smile when my sister in law (Marvelous Marie) tells me she loves my "relaxed parenting style" and wishes she could do the same.

* I love slobbery kisses.

* I love giving spit baths.

* I love having to listen carefully to my four year old's word to understand. It has helped me become a better listener.

* I love being able to stomach Chicken McNuggets & pizza on a regular basis.

* I love that when I get in my minivan after my husband drives it the Hannah Montana CD is cranked up too loud.

* I love that when I go to bed at night I am so tired I can hardly move.

* I love that my son is still excited to tell me about his day.

* I love that my daughter will still hug & kiss me in public.

* I love having 3 little people look up to me like I can do no wrong and like I am their biggest hero in the world.

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms, Grandmas, Mothers To Be & Moms at Heart. Have a wonderful day dedicated just to you.

When I Fall in Love... Part Deux

Part Two of "When I Fall in Love."

DH and I had our first official date on July 4, 1995. We went to a family cookout then to watch fireworks downtown. It was fun. It was sort of a group date. Yeah, I know, not really a hot date, huh? But, it was nice. Really, really nice.

Things went well, we went on more dates, and well, to make a long story short, by the end of August we were engaged.

People have asked "How in the world did you know so early?"

I just knew. Honestly. I just knew he was the one. One day it was very painfully obvious.

He really just bounded into my life when I was not expecting it or wanting it even and completely took over my heart.

So on February 17, 1996, we became husband and wife. It's been the best 12 years of my life and I can't wait to get started on the next 12.

When I Fall in Love...

Don't worry, I'm still in love with DH. It's just that it's February. 12 years ago this month, we exchanged marriage vows and began our life together as husband and wife.

The Chick told a great story about how she and The Hub met and fell in love, so that made me think, since it is our anniversary month and Valentines are in the air, why not take the time to tell about mine and DH's story?

DH and I met several months before we ever went out on a date. We met at a church picnic, of all things. I thought he was a nice guy. Now, the thing to note here is that I'm a bit shy. When I first meet someone, yes, I am shy. But I do warm up and then it's hard to get me to shut up! The other thing to note is that DH was a new minister on staff at said church. So I met him and then about 10 minutes later he stuck his hand out to me over the pecan pie and introduced himself. (which we had already done) So, I shyly said, "Yes, I know. We met already." I did forget to tell him my name again, like I said, I'm shy.
He will tell you that he thought I was blowing him off. I wasn't!

So, I was away at college but I would come home every so often on the weekends. DH would call my apartment to say hello and let me know what was going on for college students over the weekend. He's a nice guy who never meets a stranger and he's always been that way. So, yes, I was a little clueless, I really thought he called all the college kids.

* Another thing I should mention is that DH was not a 40 year old minister to senior adults or anything like that. He was 24 years old minister to students. It was his job was to hang out with us. So you can see why I might have thought he called everyone! *


My roommates, on the other hand, were wise to DH's motives.

Sunflower: "He TOTALLY likes you."
Smash: "Um, isn't it obvious?"

I don't remember if those were their exact words, but you get the idea. That is how my girls talked back then and they still do. Smash reminded me the other week that it was "SO obvious" that DH liked me back then.

So when I graduated from college and moved the big 40 miles home, we started spending a little more time together. I started hanging out with the college students, it just happened naturally. After a little while, I decided he was a little cute, so maybe he should come with me to a family cookout.

To be continued...

Hugs Today

My friend, Lois, lost her husband over the holidays. She's a good bit older than me and he had been sick for a while, but it was still very sudden.

It was Christmas Eve and they were visiting her sister. They were all laughing and chatting when suddenly he just fell over into his plate. He never regained consciousness and they unplugged his ventilator on Thursday. He died 45 minutes later.

I cannot imagine. The loss of a loved one is traumatic, no matter what time of year, but to lose someone at Christmas or any other memorable holiday is so very sad. What a way to remember each year.

Lois is a strong woman and I know she'll be alright. She has a strong faith. I know it gives her comfort to know that he was smiling and laughing up until the moment he basically died. But my heart hurts for her.

I feel like an especially bad friend because I missed the funeral this morning. Remember, I said DH let me sleep in this morning? I plan on visiting with her soon, and I probably shouldn't have gone anyway, feeling as badly as I have felt this past couple of weeks.

Give your family & friends hugs & kisses & tell them all how much they mean to you. You never know what tomorrow brings, but you know you have this moment, today.

XOXO

Touched Lives... continued...

So we found out that M's lymphoma has made it to her brain. I'm not sure where she goes from here, but our household is pretty bummed. She's a special friend of our family. All 3 of our children have special gifts they got from her when they were babies and the older 2 see her on a regular basis as she works at their school. Prayers all around. What is supposed to happen will happen, but I'm not going to lie, we're all pretty sad.
Then my old pal Skittle is facing a scary skin cancer. She has had 2 surgeries already and we are hoping to hear some good news soon. She's a pretty brave girl, if I do say so.
She has a really fun blog where she has recently been venting and dishing out the frustration she's feeling. She's getting Boss Lady household prayers all around too. DH has a soft spot for her, but don't tell him I said so. We've known her since she was a wee lass. Ha, ha! She hates that!
Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend. No pomp and circumstance on this post, just wanted to update.

What does "Normal" mean?

My daughter asked me that tonight. I actually pretended not to hear her for a moment. How do you answer when a six year old asks you that question?

Webster's dictionary: Normal (adjective) - conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern.

However, here is my question. Who decides what that type, standard or regular pattern is? I mean, whose job is it to tell my six year old daughter what normal is for her?

I am looking around at our society right now and that really scares me. The "role models" we have put up on pedestals around us. The people we have directly or indirectly given the right to decide what is the norm.

Vanessa Hudgens? Lindsey Lohan? Michael Vick? Al Gore? Hannah Montana? Rosie O'Donnell? Posh Spice?
I'm being a bit facetious, but you get my point.

I try to monitor and control what my children watch on television, read in books, what they say and what friends they play with outside of school. But anything other than that is fairly out of my control. I try to have a say so in what they learn and are exposed to at school, but short of getting a job up there, I have to trust the administrators and teachers.

When Queenie asked me tonight "What does normal mean," I didn't know what to say at first. I am not sure I would have had as much trouble had Number One Son or The Flying Monkey asked me that question. Boys pretty much do their own thing and don't really care what "normal" is. To a point, I mean all people want to be accepted, but boys seem to let things roll off their backs more quickly than girls. Girls are different. You can look at the women & girls who are in the public eye these days and see what I mean. (For examples see pretend list of who decides what's normal - with the exception of Hannah Montana. And obviously Rosie. don't get me started.) They look for approval. They say they want their own style, but they want to be noticed, they want to be a part. They want to be "normal." That is the burden of being a girl that I don't want my daughter to feel like she has to carry.

So I looked at her - my beautiful, smart, spunky, future of America daughter - and I said, "Normal is whatever you want it to be."

Touched Lives

When you are a part of a circle of friends you are touched by whatever touches the lives of those in your circle. The larger your circle becomes, more life events touch yours.
In our circle of friends, we have been touched by new love, old love, births, illness & death. We have celebrated, prayed, and mourned with our friends. And our friends have celebrated, prayed and mourned with us.
The illness part is what is really on my mind at the moment. Our lives have been touched by cancer a lot in the past few years. I used to think it was odd how often cancer had touched our lives in some way or another, but then I realized, as I said earlier, it was because our circle had expanded so.
Of course, we have probably all someone to sickness or possibly a tragic event. Death is hard, no matter who it is, how old they were or what happened. But when it is a "younger" person, seemingly with a lifetime ahead of them, it seems even more tragic.

Of course, cancer isn't a death sentence; it is often a second chance at life. A chance to re-evaluate what is important and a chance to get reacquainted with the special relationships in your life, the human ones and the spiritual one.

DH had a cancer scare about 3 years ago and it brought about some rearranging of priorities for our family. I can remember thinking, "How in the world do people who don't have a relationship with Christ, or even for that matter believe in God, get through something like this?" That's another blog for another day, however. About the same time this was happening to DH, 2 of his college buddies were diagnosed with cancer. The Cute One (affectionately named so by one of my bridesmaids) has been in remission for 2 years and E lost his battle last year. Uncle B recently had successful surgery to remove his cancer and M has recurring lymphoma which we continue to pray about. And I recently had my first mammogram (see Breast Cancer Awareness post) which was prompted by the discovery of a lump.

I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with a very aggressive Her2 positive breast cancer. Rosabella had a bilateral mastectomy and will begin her chemotherapy soon. She has been an inspiration to me. Did you hear that? To ME, I said. She has 2 young children, the same age as Number One Son & Queenie. And she is sending out humorous updates on her progress. I don't mean I smile and tilt my head to the side when I read them. I laugh out loud and shake. She's bringing sexy back to breast cancer treatment! I want to be bald too! You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

So, our circle is all the more rich for knowing E, continuing to pray for M, celebrating with Uncle B & The Cute One and for knowing, celebrating & praying for Rosabella.

My prayer is that your circle has only been touched by love & celebration, but the reality is, I know it hasn't. I do hope that you grab every opportunity to celebrate your love, celebrate your life, celebrate your family, celebrate your friends and celebrate your God. He has a plan and that circle is a part of it.