The Making of a Christmas Card: Behind the Scenes!

Request DENIED!

Done: (Fri -Sun)
X 1/2 day hospital incident command drill
X Dentist appt for extra ouchie tooth
X Migraine
X Eliz grad party w/dad
X Lu and Nat dance recital
X Did not attend company holiday party
X Church (morning)
X Meds picked up from pharmacy
X Christmas pics taken, cards ordered
X Church Christmas celebration (evening)
X Bday party for a little man

To Do: (Mon-Friday)
__ Missing Admin team meeting
__ Drive Lu and classmates to Tech Museum
__ Nat piano recital
__ Thank God Worship Team practice is cancelled
__ Remember Tues is late start for school kids
__ Meeting #1 on-site
__ Staff meeting off-site
__ Meeting #2
__ Meeting #3
__ Lu and Nat dance class
__ Lucile Packard w/ Lu
__ Meeting #5
__ Endodontist appt
__ Meeting #6 <-- may need to cancel... if I can't talk after dentist...
__ Nat piano practice
__ Meeting #7 (next morning... if I'm not dead by this point)

These are just things booked onto my calendar. After E's grad party on Saturday (10pm) dad wanted to know if he could have an hour or so to show me some music DVD he got. Um no. Sorry. Dying here. Gotta get home. Gotta get my kids to bed. Or they'll be a wreck tomorrow.

Really did I REALLY think I was going to be able pulling off leaving again around Christmas this year? There's no way. I couldn't have done it. The team leaves Friday... and it's a little bittersweet 8(. I want to go too.

At the birthday party this evening for a 5yo friend, Emi shat on the floor. SHAT. In case you didn't catch that part. Copped a squat, pulled the diaper to the side (curiously didn't have to take it off or even undo the little Velcro parts,) and laid a big one right there on the party floor. That's not the best image to promote of one's self. But hey. Yup. That's my kid. See her? Nope not that one playing nicely. The OTHER one, yup that's her, the one shitting on the floor right next to the dinner table.

It's clear my request for a quiet, uneventful season, has been denied. Any time things get rough... I'm just going to remember that I lived through my 2yo crapping right in front of a party of 25 people. I can live through anything. Bring it on.

Summary

Negative on the time, energy, intellectual ability and so on... therefore the summary post is a must, and in fact, all that I can muster. (Which reminds me of the Fireman's Muster back in the day and I swear they called it MUSTARD. Hmph. Sorry. Easily, happily side tracked these days.)

1. Emi has all her teeth. Meaning the ones that should be in her mouth, are still there, as are the supporting bones, muscles, etc. One jumping 2yo + one hard edge of the bed + gravity =gushing blood, tears, a little bit of screaming (not just on her part) and the ER.

2. I like fire. Fire likes me. You'd think we're on to something here. Wrong. It follows me. Like a rite of passage through each phase of life. Almost burnt the house down last night. Did NOT though- thanks be to dear sweet baby Jesus. Loooong story. Apparently I make one kick-ass fire for a cold wintery night. In the middle of the night the logs stacked to the side of the wood burning stove got in on the fun. Every bit of the house: the carpet, our clothes, my hair, the baby, my purse, even my shower curtain smell like an ash tray. And my scarf. 8( I am NOT complaining. I am grateful to Nat who came peeling into my bedroom, and thus no actual damage, just smelliness ensues. And my eyes are burning. And a little trouble breathing. Ok. I'll stop.

3. Johannesburg. Never been there. Don't really have a plan to go there, or so I thought. My yahoo account (which I've had for 11+ years) decided last week I was actually located in Johannesburg. Isn't that the FARTHEST I could actually be from where I am now? What are the chances that that very night I was reading to Lu a chicken-soup-type book, and blindly picked the story whose fairy tale ending ended in Johannesburg. Odd odd ODD!

4. Nat, bless her heart, is such a little love. I gave her a few dollars a few weeks back to get something from the book fair at school. (Have I already posted about this? Deja vu....) When I picked her up from Mama Hen's that day after school she bounded into my arms with a wrapped present. She was so proud. She spent her money on a birthday present for Grandpy! She said it was a football book. Cool. Appropriate. Very thoughtful especially for an 8yo. Today (12/10) is his bday. He opened it. Oh my goodness child..... love her. Grandpy's 54th(?)-ish bday blessed him with a 1st-grade reading level football book. Ginormous font and all. 8)

5. I like Christmas itself. What it stands for. (I like this little ditty: Jesus is the reason for the season.) I like the little white lights. Lots of them. I like going through the Christmas ornaments. I have failed to yet take a Xmas picture. But I tell you I can BARELY handle the rest of the busy-ness, the drama, the tension, the demands. But there comes a point when no matter how badly I want to do just one more thing, my body actually starts to shut down. It's happened before. I don't want it to happen again. How can I make sure that Jesus is the reason for my season if all I'm doing is powering through one event to another, and then falling in a heap at the end. That's not the kind of Christmas-y I want to be. I guess this year I'd like to just be the intentional, quiet, reflective bystander.

Christmas Medley

Finally At Rest

My old computer has been on the fritz for at least 6 months now. It was a long, slow death. Near the end, the screen needed to be held at a certain angle so the screen wouldn't be black. Then it turned from more of a holding interaction, to then a wrestling, then a down right rastling. And then it just stopped having a picture all together. =( Sad. I have most of my pictures saved else where, but there were some things I wasn't able to transfer over. Oh well. Life does apparently go on.

After church this morning, Bitty and Nat and I made a B-line for Costco, where we were no doubt distracted by SO MANY good deals. AND A COMPUTER! Which I am typing on right now... without holding the screen with one hand and typing with the other. The keys don't stick when I press in, and they aren't sticky either! (A note of thanks to Bitty for all the stickiness she contributed to the old computer.)

Once Bitty is up from her nap, I hope to take a picture worthy of Christmas card status, then load to the computer and order prints, all this before the big storm is to arrive. Gosh and it'd be great to get the Christmas tree too today. I don't think we'll get it up today, but it would be much fun to decorate in the next few days, if this storm is as powerful and they say it will be. Going through all the Christmas boxes would be an ideal 'power's out' activity.

I'm feeling a little sad about putting the old computer down. At rest. Replacing it. Like I'm trading teams or something. May this uber-emotional time of year not continue to plague me with such silly little ideas. Sheesh.

I Heart My Friends

I haven't been blogging, as I haven't been thinking much lately. Welcome to the cave, the abyss, the twilight that is my life. I am currently in the 'zone.' Not the diet, rather the state of mind. Poop. Which leads me to the two kids down in two days with the flu. Poop. And barf. In the middle of the night. In the hair, bedding, blankets, and the carpet. Gross. One more to go. Eh.

Lu got a hickey! WTF!?!?! Before you choke, let me say that when she showed it to me, she hadn't a clue what it was. She pulled her shirt down a little so I could see just below her neck line. She had a perfectly circle purple f-ing hickey right there in the middle of her chest! I said 'Lu! Are you a hussy?' 'Mooo---ooom (the two syllable mom)! NO!' Hmmm... 'Well then, did you suction cup something random to your chest?" Wait for it... "How did you know?" Hahahahahaha. Wait. She has my genes. Never mind. I take that laughing part back.

Nat asked my dad why he doesn't have dark hair anymore. He explained that's what happens when you get old. Then she talked on and on about being old and how old he is. (He's NOT that old! Sheesh.) She then said it was pretty cool that ALL his hair is gray because his eyebrows and nose hairs matched too! I think she was trying to make it a compliment. I wanted to become spineless and just slink right under the table.

Today in particular (but ALL days) I am thankful for my friends. They exceed the 'normal' expectations of friendship of today's norm. And I am blessed. Abundantly. =)

This week was also marked by a conversation I had with Lu and Nat about friendship. It was hard, but important, and necessary. And I have a feeling this is the first of many of these...

There will be many degrees of friends, tiers of friendships, tears over friendships, and heartache. How you and your friends evolve over the years, how you work through problems, or side with avoidance, will determine the path. Choose wisely. Thoughtfully. Lovingly. Boldly. There will be friends who NEED you, who tap into your emotions and resources til you're all dried up. Friends who claim and support love while in the flesh, but when the head's turned it's another story. Friends who always teeter on the line of acceptance and rebellion, but with a heart built of gold. Friends who are quiet and happily so. Friends in the clouds happy and lofty, and only one foot on the ground. The friend with the loud mouth, but who always tells you exactly like it is. The one who when your cards have folded, they take the next train out. The secretly highly critical one, whom you can never please. And the one who you may not see or talk with often, but you feel their presence, and knowing that they are out there thinking of you too is enough.

How do you explain that the friends you keep, speak volumes of your character? You are essentially guilty by association if you choose the less popular route. But please don't choose to be exclusive in your friends, just for the sake of being so. Every body has a light within. It just takes the right kind of friends to create the safety net of friendship to allow them to blossom.

What kind of friend are you? Be purposeful in all of your actions.

TGIF

Me: Emi, what are you doing?
Emi: I hug the fishies goodnight. Hug. See?
Emi: and Kiss
Emi: And high five

Me: Let's change your diaper before bed. Come here. Did you poop?
Emi: No. No poop. Just pee.
Me: Ok. You still smell funky, maybe just a fluff?
Emi: I smell fu(silent N)ckie?
Me: Yes you do.
Emi: I pooped.
Me: Really?
Emi: A BIG one mom. See?
Me: Nicely done. Let's get it off your bootie.

Emi: Sing mama
Me: Sing what? Let's sing together!
Emi: K. You sing LOVES ME. Sing it mama
Me: Jesus loves me this I know...
Emi: Shhhh... Now sing LOVES ME ok? Sing it. I need it. Sing it now mama. Sing LOVES ME.

Me: Emi you are naked. Let's get jammies on you for bed.
Emi: I'm naked! See?
Me: And you are cute too, now let's get you dressed.
Emi: Mommy I run FAST!
Emi: Around and AROUND!
Me: Oooh you are sooo fast. Now let's get your jammies on please.
Emi: I'm still runnin'
Me: I can see that. Come here please.
Emi: I'm runnin FAST mom! See? SEE!
Emi: You like dat? You like dat mommy?
Me: Breathtaking dear, just breathtaking.

Date Night !!!!!!!

A few months ago I posted a a blog about this:



Dad saw this particular David Foster special on PBS and was SOOO excited about it, he became a supporter of PBS so he could get a copy f the DVD. And he got an extra one for me. AND he got the CD to go along with it. David Foster is the writer/producer of MANY hits including 15 grammy wins.


Then a month or two ago just in passing I heard that David foster would be coming to the HP Pavilion and I thought wouldn't it be awesome to be able to get tickets and TAKE DAD TO IT!?!?!?! I was online and got tickets within 10 minutes of them going on sale. OMG. HP Pavilion is HUGE. Gigantic. BUUUUUTTT...we got seats on the floor in row 15. So that is exactly what we did last night.



Perhaps you thought the date night was with hubby? Nope. With my daddy. =)



We went to La Fondue in Saratoga and woooo weee was it fancy! Valet parking and everything!(here I am particularly pleased to say that I no longer drive my first car... an 82 Plymouth Reliant.... no use getting Valet parking for those....)4 courses and each was oooohhh so yummy including dessert. Holy smokes. I felt very classy. Very special. And it was special to be there with just my dad.



So the deal with the David Foster concerts is that he plays the piano center stage and sings along, but he brings out artists that he's worked with in the past, and they sing old and new songs that he has written (but maybe not ones that that artist had sang originally.)



First was one of the guys from Earth Wind and Fire:
Then Peter Cetera, originally part of Chicago:

Then Debra Cox too... whose voice is literally like butter. BUTTER I tell you. Smoooooooooth like butter. She sang some songs originally sung by Chaka Kahn (written and produced by David Foster.)
Then she and Reuben Studdard (formerly of American Idol) sang the Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole 'Unforgettable' song. Oh.my.goodness. I didn't want it to ever end.

Then Reuben sang an R+B version of 'Home' and then David Foster said he had a theory that he could give Reuben ANY one-liner, and that Reuben could sing that line and make it beautiful. He picked someone out of the crowd and asked for one line. Then man said I LOVE ERICA. (His wife.) David Foster played a few chords on the piano and Reuben took off and seriously sang the most romantic one line I think I've ever heard.

David Foster is also famous for finding young talent and kind of introducing them to the big world. He brought out these young men (hold ALL of your negative boy band notions...) These are the Canadian Tenors. They do not have an album out yet, but will be out in February. Here think of the most beautiful voices in beautiful harmony with opera-like undertones. Really. Check it out. (Also just so all's fair in love and war... if something ever happens to me and Hubby, I totally call dibs on the guy second from the left!)

The Canadian Tenors sang Hallelujah. And I cried. Like a little baby.

The night was amazing. 3 entire hours of beautiful music. Question: Why don't they have season tickets (like sports teams) for these events?

But one of the best highlights of the night for me, and one for which I don't have a picture, was when he brought the 3 backup singers (girls) to the front of the stage and they brought DOWN THE HOUSE with 'To Be Real' yes written by David Foster and originally recorded by Cheryl Lynn. It is MY FAVORITE SONG OF ALL TIME.

As Promised:

Halloween

I haven't much in a blogging mood lately. 8( Well... that... and that my computer has been acting up (along with my mood and sassiness! HA!) I have a some really cute pictures of the kiddos to post from Halloween, but fully expect the computer to crash when I try to upload them from the memory card. Highlight of the night though was Lu and Nat's hip hop class doing "Thriller." It was pretty special, and the pics are awesome. Can't wait to get them up.

Also- a little aside about Halloween: if you are of child bearing age AND in fact have children... please don't dress like a hoochie with all your junk hanging out. Good for you if you think you're ALL THAT. Really it just makes you look silly and you look like a walking billboard for lack-of-class. What do they say? Money begets money. Kindness begets kindness. And I'm adding: Hoochies beget baby hoochies. Please don't go there.

Dear Mama Mo came to church today which meant the world to me. There are many things I'd like to say here about friends and life. But I can't get into it. Maybe in another post.

Nightie night and onward to self washing dishes, self cleaning kids, matching socks and a plethora of chocolate candy that will mysteriously disappear from the kids' Halloween buckets and into my tummy. Thank God for chocolate. EVERY. SINGLE. KIND. OF.IT.

Innocence Lost

Occasionally in my place of work you need something done by another department, but their honey-do list is already too long, and you are put to the end of the line to wait... for hours, or days, weeks or months. It comes with the territory and it's ok. You may once and a while make a friend in another department who might be able to speed things a long a little faster. That sure is nice.

Well this week has certainly had its challenges. Much is happening in the twilight zone that is my work. Lots of meetings, last minute. Preparing, planning, ordering, training. Editing, adjusting, emailing, approving. I can handle stress fairly well, however this particular time I got a little spazzy as i was spazzing from one task to the next. Spazzing here. Spazzing there.

I was asked to do one more major type thing. By an important Administrator. Almost put me over the edge. Thus the spazz effect. It required a great deal of effort, not something that could just be thrown together. When I was done I attached the document and here is the actual cut and paste of my reply email:

Here you go.
We usually accept bribes of chocolate for fast turn around times. But we made an exception this time. =)
Meg

Looking back even just a minute or two after I sent it, I realized that may have been an entirely TOO BOLD thing to say.... especially to someone like that. Oh shoot. In a time of need and here I go mouthing off to a big wig trying to be funny.... but maybe actually not so much. Sometimes I really do think I'm funny. But no.

Here's the response I received back

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Hallelujah Hallelujah Haaaaaa lleeeee luuuuuuu jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

There's Got To Be a Little Humor Today, and Today it's Good

Lu's tooth came out this afternoon, and she put it safely into a plastic bag. This evening while the girls were getting ready for bed, she remembered at the last minute HER TOOTH! She grabbed it from her backpack and told me she needed to scrub it 'really good.' Hmmm interesting. I asked why and she explained that she thought that f it was really clean the tooth fairy may give her extra money.

30 minutes later she emerges from the bathroom with a very sparkly tooth, and a very nice note to the tooth fairy explaining the value of this tooth. I asked her where she was going to put it, and under the pillow was her answer, just like she'd done every other time. But that dang tooth fairy isn't too dependable up in these here mountains... I suggested (without looking her in the eye) that maybe she should put it somewhere a bit more accessible. Ok she say and heads to her room.

Just now I go in there to kiss her goodnight and I'm looking slyly for that dang tooth. I asked her where it is. She said she decided to tape the bag to the wall so there wouldn't be any reason to miss it this time. I'm hoping it's by the door. So I look. Nope. Not there. She smiles SO PROUDLY and points right ABOVE her BUNK BEAD on the wall (10+ feet!!!)

Oh sh*t I'm so screwed.

I then say with a straight face and not even a hint of a smile, "Don't you think that's a little high? What if the tooth fairy can't reach it?" You can see the wheels turning.... (my heart is stopping...) and she says YA YOU'RE RIGHT MOM. She takes the baggie with the sparkly tooth and note and starts to un-scotch-tape it from the wall. I DON'T WANT TO MAKE IT TOO HARD TO GET THE MONEY, RIGHT? Right. Then she looks at me as she starts to climb down the ladder from her bed. MOM? and she looks confused but curious and like she just figured out the biggest secret ever...ARE YOU THE TOOTH FAIRY?

I can't lie. I am a horrible liar. I can't do it. Some day I pray that that will serve me well, but for now I can't even manage to sneak a few coins under a dang pillow. I look at her and give here 'the eye.' OH MY GOSH YOU ARE!!! I say shhhhh!!!!! Don't you dare tell your sister!!! I expect her to be sad or feel betrayed. But no. She erupts into laughter, almost falls giggling right down her ladder, trying to hang onto the bag. I have to shush her several times in between my own laughter.

We agree that for as long as she continues to lose teeth, and puts her tooth somewhere 'accessible' for the tooth fairy, that the tooth fairy will continue to leave coins. Should that at ANY TIME change or the true identity revealed, THERE WILL BE NO MORE COINS.

Deal 8)

Little Here Little There

Oh what a busy day. That was the name of my favorite book growing up. Well really it's been a busy week. Some of which I'll share and some of which I won't. Today marked (probably the first of many) where I just couldn't take any more so I got up and left. Hmmm. Not sure where I'm going with that.

In other news: Emi had another birthday party and Grandma's house. She took off her shirt and everything. She liked the singing so much that we just kept singing happy birthday over and over again.
In a rare evening out (in public and everything) we went and watched the first night game for the high school football team. Not only was it a STELLAR game, but I was not cornered by crazy babbling overly aggressive nosey you-know-whos whose life task it is to get the gossip, jumble it round so it insults more than necessary and spread it like wild fire. All in all, I'm going to chalk this night up to a success!

Last week we faced a pretty intense storm that came quickly, dumped 10+ inches of rain, closed the roads and the schools, took down trees and power lines, flooded my garage, left us without electricity for 3 days and reminded me: I LOVE this weather. Call me crazy (cause I totally am) but I wouldn't have it any other way. So there.

Nat was kind enough to document one of those days on the calendar for us:
The girls and I played cards, board games, Yahtzee, and a game of charades that took an almost surprising inappropriate twist. I then needed to end the game. We also baked yummy banana bread, pan fried some eggos, dug some ditches down the side of the house and garage, and stood in the rain and applauded the PG+E men when the power was restored. This is how the girls look on the day school was cancelled. Perfectly happy. 8)

And really WHO KNEW Friday was bosses day? My staff! Let me take you through the quick inventory of the below picture: 1 fruit tart from The Farm, 1 home made lemon cake, 3 bags of chocolate candy, 1 card signed by all, and one beautiful bouquet of flowers that include protea, which just melts my heart. I feel loved.

Somewhere in all this I also managed to scoot away for the better part of the day and most of the night to see Vince Gill in concert. FABULOUS. I hope his feelings aren't hurt, but sometimes the road trip is just as much fun as the concert itself. As a result of this trip the two ladies and I have made the following pact: 1/ we will never have perfect hair, 2/ we will never be-dazzle, 3/ we will never partake in old lady perfume use, 4/something about make up, 5/ I'm sure there was another one, but can't remember it. Anyone??

Oh my goodness and my kids are so cute and so perfect I can barely stand it. OK I know they are not perfect-perfect by OUR standards, but they are perfectly them in their little personalities and perfectly silly and they light up my life.

AND, let me not forget that Emi will be a singer one day. Not sure how that is all going to play out, but it will. I'm sure.

Signing off from the land of confusion, exhaustion, missed opportunities, unsaid feelings, almost enough laughter, unmatched socks, and chronic need for cookie dough...

And one last thing: 40 years today for mom and dad