So. My Fabulous weekend with Mom!

First - an update on the dresses. Well. They did arrive. In time for me to try them on and see that they looked like shit. So. I bought a skirt a few weeks ago... and I found a shirt that did just fine. All worked out ok...I'm returning the 2 dresses. And returning the shawl and clutch that I ordered to go with the dresses that DID NOT arrive on time.

First, let me say that traveling with my mom is a blast. She is always up for a road trip. She packed a cooler of drinks (non-alcoholic, of course), snacks, etc, because the place we were going was so far out in the country, she was afraid that the Wal-Mart would close at 9 and we wouldn't be able to find anywhere to get snacks. There were 2 hotels in this 'town'. The closest we could get to the actual site of the wedding was 30 minutes away.


We drove down Friday afternoon, checked in, drove 30 minutes back the way we came to find a decent restaurant. Then we went back to the hotel and relaxed all night and the next morning. She stayed in the room, I went to the pool. Which was empty, except for me. Score!!!

Went to the wedding. It's so far out in the country that mapquest and Mom's GPS let us down. It's a good thing we left the hotel early and remembered to bring the map that was included in the invitation. Always remember the homemade map. It won't direct you to the middle of nowhere and tell you that the barn you are looking at is the church!!!

The wedding was very simple. These kids are 27. They have been together since they were 16. It was sweet. He cried. She cried. His brother cried. Everyone cried when she lit the candle in honor of her sister that died 3 years ago.

The reception was at her grandparent's farm. Again, very simple. Tables outside, tents with food and drinks and dancing. Lights and paper lanterns, candles in jars hanging from trees. We saw people that we haven't seen in years. People that we dearly loved. People that I still dearly love, even if I can't see them often.

All in all, a fabulous trip.

Aggravation...

I am going to a wedding this weekend. It's in Mississippi and Mom and I are making it a girl's weekend. We are leaving Friday around noon and won't be back until Sunday. It will be awesome!

It has been YEARS since I've worn a dress. It isn't required for work or church. So, I don't have any in my closet. A few weeks ago I started looking. I found a shirt/skirt combo that would do in a pinch - they are both black, so to me it doesn't really say 'wedding'. But I also found 2 dresses online that I ordered. But I don't know how they look, since I haven't tried them on.

I order things online a lot. I track the packages religiously. Well, as soon as the dresses were shipped, I started tracking. They were shipped via UPS. I was home all day yesterday (Evan was sick). I tracked. Got the glorious status: Out for delivery!!!!! I waited. And I waited. Around 7PM I checked the status. Delivered to the Post Office. Are you kidding me??? I was home all freaking day. Never a knock on the door. So now, I have to wait and see if the Post Office delivers it today. I just hope they decide to leave it...and not wait for a signature. Because I won't be there today. And then I'll have to make a special trip to the Post Office - and it closes at 5. So, not convenient in any way. And the departure time draws closer and closer.

But here is what bothers me... It was to be delivered by UPS, but they leave it for the USPS to do??? When did that crap start?

Arrrghhh!

I'm Back!

Well, I've been out of the loop a while. The past two weeks I've been at home. It was awesome! But I didn't really feel like getting on the computer much.

About a month ago, my sister-in-law and I got together to have the kids' pics made. I was introduced to an AWESOME photographer that I now adore - this was our first photoshoot with her, but it will not be our last. We do this every 2 years as a present for our Mother-in-law, but I usually take the pictures. There is NOTHING she loves more than her grandkids and pictures of them are always the best present. Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

The next 2 photos show a pose we do every time - shows how much they have grown. The first one is the latest, the second one is the first.

Evan - 11, Anna - 8

Evan - 5; Anna - 2

I have never been so scared in my life

Thursday was stressful. Preparing for surgery Friday, my nerves were already on edge. But poor planning on my part created the scariest 2 hours of my life.

Thursday started off normal enough. Got up, went through the normal routine. But right before I dropped Evan off at school I realized I had left my cell phone at home and so had he. With the morning school traffic, there was NO WAY I was going back to the house to get it. We laughed about it. I told him to call my work number when he got home. Since he walks home every day, he is supposed to call me the minute he walks through the door. Well, 3:05 rolled around. No call. So I started calling the house. Nothing. No answer. By 3:30 I was in a complete panic. I work about 45 minutes away, so I called my parents to go check out my house. They did. The front door was unlocked. The dog was still in his kennell. No backpack to be seen. They started driving around the neighborhood. No one had seen him. I didn't call Mike - I knew this would all be resolved and he would have left work for nothing. By 4:00, I couldn't stay at work anymore. I flew home. It took 30 minutes - but I was home by 4:30. I grabbed my cell phone and checked messages. There was one - from my sister-in-law. Then I saw the texts.

I had one from Mike to call Evan at a number I didn't recognize. He had gone home with a friend. But Mike didn't know I had left my cell phone at home... Evan had gotten permission, but the info never got to me.

When he got home I hugged and kissed him like never before. I think my blood pressure is still a little higher than it should be.

Next time I forget my phone, I don't care if I'm half way to work. I will go back and get it.

I know what is best for me

The past year and a half I've had to make a lot of decisions. Mostly with input from my doctors. My mom has had breast cancer, and so has one of my dearest friends. Both had a different kind of treatment than I did. But when I have questions that they can relate to, I go to them. Don't get me wrong - I don't mind talking to people about what it has been like and the choices I have made. I don't mind people saying "If I was in that situation, I think I would x, y, z." But. When I want an opinion, I will NOT be asking a person who has not been through this. And if I'm not asking you, that probably means I don't want your opinion.

Here's the latest example. Friday I will have my tissue expanders removed and REAL, NORMAL, BREAST-SHAPED implants put in. So my latest decision is saline? or silicone? I researched it. I thought about it. I asked my friend that has saline. We discussed. I decided on silicone. Why? Well, since I've had a mastectomy, I have no breast tissue to cover the implant. So if I go saline, it will literally be like having 2 bags of water on my chest. How do I know? My friend and I discussed. Silicone will be more "natural" looking/feeling. At this point, looks and feeling mean a lot. And I understand the risks of leaking. I do. But silicone implants have come a LONG way from the 70's and 80's where they were a real danger.

But back to the point. Again, I don't mind talking about all this stuff. Hell, I don't mind showing what they look like now if anyone is curious. But when I started letting people know that I was having surgery on Friday, the questions started. "What are you going with?" And when I give the answer....holy cow. People feel free to start giving opinions and trying to scare me to death about the choices I've made. The only thing I can compare it to is when you are pregnant and strangers feel free to give advice. And I'm starting to feel like a woman that is 11 months pregant and pissed off! And soon, very soon, I'm going to stop being polite.

The guts of destruction

What did I do after packing Evan off for his first day 6th grade? And also, his second day?

BEFORE:

This is the crap I pulled out before I remembered "before" pics.

AFTER:

Why, yes, that is a steel trap in the floor by his bed. He found it at his great-grandfather's house this summer and HAD to have it. Pawpaw was a hunter/trapper/farmer/fisherman and all around enemy to any animal that could be eaten or that threatened his crops. But he loved his family with a love that was known to all.

The Before pictures. That's what happens when I let things slide for any period of time. Guess that won't be happening again. Now, off to tackle one of MY closets.

How much is too much?

How much should a parent interfere in the social development of their children? How much is too much?

When I was a kid and had a fight with a friend, it was up to me to solve the situation or take the consequences. Outside of our immediate neighborhood, my parents knew very few of my friend’s parents. So if we had a fight, the parents didn’t get involved except maybe to say “If you can’t get along, then you can’t go there anymore.” But today, if you don’t know intimate details of the parents of your friend’s kids then you are being a negligent parent. This has brought a new set of complications that is driving me insane.

NOW, if kids get in a fight, it demands calls between parents trying to work it out. And here is my problem with that – the kids lose the opportunity to learn how to deal with each other. They don’t learn how to take up for themselves when parents step in over every hurt feeling. This is creating a bunch of whiny kids that run to mom to solve their problems. Yeah, I believe that adults should step in when a child is being a bully. But just because one isn’t getting his way? Or was called a name? Or was ignored? Come on. Give the kids a chance to deal with it.