Love 'em or hate 'em, they're family!

I was thrilled when I received a phone call from my mom saying that she and my dad would be coming to town for a visit. I spent most of last Friday taking care of a sick child and cleaning (and disinfecting) the entire house. They arrived on Saturday evening and everyone was so happy to see them - and Mugsy the dog. We opened some wine and enjoyed a yummy meal cooked by yours truly. Sunday was fun... Monday was nice... Tuesday was okay...Wednesday was umm, fine... and Thursday they left!!!!

Why is it that I cannot wait to see my parents, cannot wait for them to leave and then, get sad when they are gone??? Okay, it wasn't that bad that I wanted them to leave, but I was kinda thinking it. Just is case someone related to me is reading this, let me say that it was my dad who was working my last nerve, once again, causing me to feel this way... along with one dumb comment from mom, but she pretty much was in the clear.

Am I alone in feeling this way? Why do some of us treat our family crappy? Is it because we know they are 'family' so they can't break up with us?

Do the humpty hump!

Here I go with my reference to music again...

Where to begin? When my 2.5 year old daughter was about 10 months old and I would hold her on my hip, she would do this strange gyrating thing on my hip. I remember my son doing it for a brief period when he was her age so I brushed it off. In fact, I thought it was an 'exercise' that she was doing to strengthen her muscles in an effort to start walking.

A few months later she starts walking and the humping on my hip doesn't go away, but me and my husband just laughed about it.

Present time - when we're home she literally mounts all 4 edges of our coffee table and starts well, humping! We've told her repeatedly not to do that to the table, but she laughs at us. My son even tells us when she is 'humping' the table. So of course, now that she knows what hump means, what do you think happened next? We're at her doctor office and I am holding her because I don't want her walking around and touching all the nasty things found in that waiting room when all of the sudden she asks, "mom, hump you? can I hump"? I almost croaked! I started cracking up on the inside while whispering to her to be quiet and no, you cannot hump!

After finally discussing the humping with other moms of girls, most of them went through the same exact thing with their daughters... sigh.... At least now I know that my daughter is not the horn dog I thought she was. Instead, she's just like every other curious girl, right?!

Question - does your child or children have any "private" moments that they do in public?

Do you believe?

I'll start off by saying that I have not written in 2 weeks simply put, because I was lazy. Although, I don't think anyone missed me...

I few weeks ago, dear friends of mine had their second child - a beautiful, healthy, perfect little boy. They also have a beautiful, charismatic 2 year old girl who has struggled with some health problems but with loving care, is perfect herself!

I went to visit them to see the newest arrival and when holding that little miracle in my arms, I once again got to thinking. See, I have two beauties of my own and have been through this before, but thinking about 'it' never gets old... the miracle of life that is.

If you've ever given birth and been through the wonderful, and perhaps not so wonderful, nine months of preparation, you have witnessed the miracle that was growing inside of you. From the egg dropping, to the zygote with a tail (which is crazy), to the ears forming, etc. I am not going to give you the play-by-play but I bring this up because it amazes me that some people do not believe in God - Jesus Christ. I realize this subject is touchy, but it's my blog and why the heck not shouldn't I pimp Him out? When you stop and think about what goes into making a baby, you have to believe in something... I choose to believe in Jesus Christ.

I grew up in an extremely liberal household and still hold liberal views as an adult however, as a christian I can't help but be puzzled how or why there are non-believers. Anyway, regardless of whether or not you believe in a God or my God, you have to agree that the gift of life is truly a miracle...

I'll Fly Away

I'm starting to notice that most of my post titles are song lyrics. It must be because I am from a musical family, but I digress.

Last week I took an impromptu trip to NYC to visit friends and family and if you don't know me, I cannot stand to fly. It's not like hating okra or liver, I REALLY hate it. I've been flying for a very long time, but it doesn't make it any easier. I am afraid. I think part of my fear is because I am no longer in control. I always think that if I flew in the cockpit, I'd feel much better - no joke. Obviously, that is not an option. Everyone has different fears and I respect that, but some people just don't understand fears and it's so upsetting to me.

While talking with a friend of mine some time ago, we were discussing my upcoming flight and I was sharing my feelings of anxiety with her. She proceeded to tell me that flying was safer than driving, which I already know but it does not make me feel any better. I responded that if I got into a car accident, I'd have a pretty good chance of surviving, but not so much in an airplane crash. Although, I've recently learned that more people survive plane crashes that you'd think. Still not assuring. Then this person told me to just pretend that I am in a car and when we hit turbulence pretend it's like going over potholes. I honestly wanted to ring her neck! Clearly, she did not understand my fear, so I no longer discuss it with her. I am aware of the statistics of dying in an airplane crash, and I can rationalize all day long, but when I am 35,000 feet in the air, it all goes out the window. Why can't people who clearly do not understand a particular fear just acknowledge what I am going through and listen instead of offering the dumbest advice ever? This said, I made it to and from NYC without a problem (just some minor turbulence). If you suffer from a fear or know someone who does, please be sure to be sensitive to them. What are some of your fear and how do you overcome them? By the way, the best way I found to overcome flying is either chardonnay or xanax!

Dream On

Has this ever happened to you? You have a dream about someone you know, perhaps a colleague or a pro football player and when you awake you seem to have a slight crush on that person? I know I am not the only one this happens to so I will assume your answer is yes! That said, last night I had a dream about a former colleague. In the dream he asked me for a piece of gum, so I said what any girl would say - the only way I'll give him a piece of gum is if you give me a kiss on the lips - fair enough, right? So as he was giving me what seemed to be the most incredible kiss, he morphed into Matt Lauer (I clearly ate too much before going to sleep last night). Long story short, when I awoke this morning and turned on the Today Show like I normally do, I smiled at Matt with a lot more affection than normal. But let's be real. Matt is a bit out of reach, so I will just have to have a crush on my former colleague for the day. If this does happen to you, you know that these dreams are harmless and the "crush" only lasts about a day - thank goodness!!

So, who have you had a dream about and did you then have a crush on that person? Do tell!

I'm hooked on a feeling!

I am sure many people can relate to the feeling I get every time I get a great deal on either clothes or groceries - doesn't matter. I can honestly tell you that I get a euphoric feeling when say, I buy a pair of shoes that were originally $100 for $25.00! Even when I buy consigned clothes - which I buy often, I still go crazy Nothing makes me happier! Okay, that's not necessarily true, but I do love it!

A few months back, I went to a junior league sale and bought ten items of clothing for $10! Not 10 crappy pieces of clothing either, I'm talking Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Lily Pulitzer... you get the point. I was on cloud nine and still am and that was six months ago! Until a few weeks ago, when I snatched the ultimate deal that unless you get something for free, you'll never beat! I was shopping at my local department store and had two sweaters in my hand. The original prices were marked down and there were additional markdowns but quite frankly, I never know what the actual markdown will be until the cashier tells me what I owe. So, I walk up to the counter to purchase my sweaters and the first one rings up as $17.32. So, I agree to get that sweater. The second sweater rings up as 0.01 - yes, that is ONE penny!! So I take my bag and practically run out the store with a huge grin on my face as if I had just committed a crime. When I got in my car, I examined the receipt and there it was in black and white - one cent. It was originally $44.00 marked down to a penny! How crazy is that? I called my husband from the car to share my excitement but he was not as excited as I was, so I called a friend to share in my moment...

Since I know I'm not the only person who feels like this, I'd love to hear about your deals! By the way, I can't wait until it gets cool so I can wear my one cent shirt!

Me, and enabler?

I never considered myself to be enabler to my husband and kids but someone made me see the light. Long story long, my family and I were at a friends house this past weekend for a open house to showcase all of the work her and her husband did to their house - which is amazing! My two children, ages 4 and 2, were running around with the other kids having a great time. At one point, my son had to use the bathroom and my daughter wanted more strawberries, so I excused myself from a coversation my husband and I were having with a friend and took my kids along their way. When I returned, my husband asked if everything was good and taken care of. At that point, our friend, who is a male, made a joke that I was taking care of everything while my husband just talked and drank his beer without worrying about anything. So, I got to thinking... have I gotten him used to this? Is this my fault? At first, I denied it, but after thinking about our daily routine, I realized that I was way wrong. Here are some of the ways I enable: while on vacation at the beach last week, I awoke with the kids every morning and fed them breakfast. I fed them lunch. I changed my daughters diapers. I fed them dinner. When we're at home I feed them breakfast, I feed them lunch, I change my daughters diapers and you guessed it, I feed them dinner. This is insane! What have I done? Yes, my husband will not cut the edge of their sandwiches the way I do, but will they get sick from it? No. He may forget to shut the blinds when putting my daughter in her crib for a nap, but will she get hurt from this? No. So, as of a few days ago, I have decided to delegate and let go and it feels good. It is not an easy task for a control freak such as myself, but this is a great exercise. Last night, as I was preparing dinner for myself and my husband I asked him to come up with something to feed the kids and then fix it. It was a step in the right direction. Sometimes, for the sake of our sanity, we need to let go and speak up. My husband would never have known that I was boiling inside - it's just how men are wired. It took a friend of mine bringing it to my attention and I am so glad he did, otherwise I would continue this madness.

So my question to you is do you ever resent your spouse for anything?