A Series of Mini Stories

   November has been crazy. We flew to Disney World, I flew to Minnesota and then drove to Minot North Dakota for my sister's wedding. I then drove back home with my sister and new brother-in-law because they were joining us for Thanksgiving. We spent two days cooking for the big day and had a wonderful time. Kids went back to school today and I am finally getting a chance to sit down here and write something. With so much having happened I have no idea where to start. So, I am going to tell a series of mini stories. Here goes.

The Long Walk 
I am in Milwaukee on a layover. All I have with me is a carry-on bag and my purse. I am wearing these ridiculously gorgeous and impractical boots because they won't fit into my bag.  I'm starving but I figure if I can at least get a coffee I will be okay. So, dragging my bag I start trekking up the ramp in these high heeled boots. I walk down two corridors before I finally find a place that sells coffee. I order, I wait, I pick up my steaming cup and walk back to my gate.  This entire process has taken me twenty minutes. I put the cup to my mouth and take a satisfying sip.............this is not what I ordered.

The Boot Exchange
There are six girls in my family and none of us share a shoe size. My youngest sister did not have a pair of boots to match her dress for the wedding so I had brought along an extra pair of boots (a big reason why I got stuck wearing mine through the airport). These boots were too big for me but too small for her so another sister wore my boots and gave hers to our baby sister.  It worked out great for the big day but there was quite a scramble to get all the boots back to their owners after the reception.  Having sisters is fun!

The Wedding Cake 
As with most things, when information passes through multiple hands it tends to get distorted. This must have been the case with the wedding cake because I can think of no other reason why, when the cake arrived, we were looking at a bright yellow cake with baby blue ribbons and black dots. Our initial response was to try to make it work and take cake pictures in black and white. But with one look at my sister's face I knew we had to take more drastic action. Thankfully, five phone calls later we were heading off to the ceremony with the understanding that a cake would be ready for us on time.  As soon as the ceremony was over the step-father of the groom rushed to the store to pick up the cake and I rushed to the reception hall to hide the old cake and have the place unlocked and ready for the new cake.  Luckily the new cake was all the right colors, a soft cream with teal ribbing and silver beads. And the rest of the evening went off without a hitch.

The Ceremony
We are not catholic. My sister's fiance's family is Catholic Orthodox. So throughout the service there is all this chant and response going on and we have no idea what to say or when to say it.  My sister and I are about to fall over in our high heels (I was the Maid of Honor) if the service took much longer when suddenly the Priest starts off on a rant about marriage in the news. The look of alarm on my sisters face was almost enough to make me stuff a doily in the old guys mouth but thankfully he stopped after a few painful minutes.  There are a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of symbolic steps that go into a Catholic Orthodox wedding. I do not recommend ever going to one.  My poor sister looked like she wished she wasn't there either. But, when one side takes it that seriously I guess you just need to comply. 

Road Trip 
I love road trips so I was looking forward to this one with my sister and new brother-in-law.  We had great conversations and debates, my sister and I napped frequently.  We drove through Chicago and Cleveland. All in all it was a really good trip. Except for one thing......My Husband is a speeder, not by a lot but you can pretty much bet he is going nine over the speed limit at all times. My new brother in law goes exactly the speed limit or even a little under. Sitting in the back seat watching the minutes add themselves to our arrival time on the GPS was near torture.  Every once in a while I offered to drive but (I guess it's a guy thing) he was determined to do the whole trip himself. He's a good driver, very smooth. By the last few hours of the trip I was ready to knock him out and stuff him in the back just so I could speed things up.  It didn't help when we realized that his GPS did not account for time change and we actually had an hour longer to go than we thought.  But.....we made it. Without anybody getting knocked out. 

Thanksgiving
I'm all about home cooked so I spent two days in the kitchen making two pumpkin pies, two apple pies, sweet potatoes, cookies, cheese ball, mini hot dogs is secret sauce, greenbean casserole, stuffing, a 20lb turkey, gravy,  cranberry mold and more. By the time we sat down to eat I was exhausted and barely ate a plate of food. I didn't mind though. I figured even with three men and two boys in the house there would be leftovers and I could eat more later.  Uhm, yeah, I was wrong on that one.  There was barely enough left for one serving of everything. But before I could get to it Hubby snatched it all up.  I feel like I missed out on Thanksgiving. But I learned my lesson. On Christmas Eve I'm hiding a plate of food for myself.  Can't fool me twice!

Caught Looking Goofy

         It's that time of year again.  School pictures are coming home and I get to see just how goofy my kids managed to look this year.  I have many of my own school pictures and most of them should be burned - they are soooo embarressing. Big plastic blue glasses, a bad hair cut, aweful clothes......  I have some of Hubby's too; let me tell you, when I first looked at both of ours I was a little concerned about what our kids would look like.
        Thankfully, we made pretty cute kids.  But cute kids can make weird faces as good as the rest of them.  I can't tell you how many pictures I can't use because one of the three of them is making a face.  Well, there was also that period where my oldest tried to look all gangster in every photo and ended up looking like he had no control over his limbs and was in pain - but we won't go there.
         I get handed the first envelope and with a deep breath I open it up. Wonder of Wonders! It is the best picture I've ever seen of my youngest son! He looks positively angelic! I am so thrilled!  With a lighter heart I open the second envelope. And........ there it is. Chin down, eyebrows raised, biting his top lip and crinkling his chin. My oldest's pictures are not going to be able to be passed around. Thank goodness for re-takes.
        I haven't seen my daughter's yet...........I hope she wasn't caught looking goofy.

Spent the Week in Disney World

      We just got back from Disney World.......Wow! What a fun time.  We have been before and each time we have such a good time and have new adventures. It truly is its own world.

      When you do a repeat activity like this it is easy to see how your children have changed.  My oldest didn't want to get pictures with any characters this year and when Drizzella (Cinderella's evil step-sister) kissed him on the cheek and left lipstick behind he had his hoody up to hide his face and was looking for the nearest bathroom to wash it off! Last year my middle son barely made the 48in height requirement for the biggest rides and was always getting measured. This year they didn't even glance at him as he walked by. He also pushed the stroller for most of the trip (such a sweetheart!).  My five year old daughter was so excited to see the characters and talk to everybody.  But then she noticed that during the fireworks Tinkerbell is on a zip line and not actually flying.   And then she noticed feet under the snowman's costume.  She felt so tricked and betrayed! This is all such a difference from not just our first visit but our trip just last year as well. 

        But enough about them and on to me! (hehe).  We had the dining plan in Disney which means TONS of delicious food.  I really waned to eat it all but there was just no way I could.  For one thing it hurt my

 stomach to even look at all that food but also I knew all too well that the pounds would be more than happy to attach themselves. I drank sugar free ice tea or water, avoided the fries and fried food and always left food on my plate.  Hubby on the other hand was eating all his food plus some of mine and the kids while drinking milkshakes and eating dessert.  

Yesterday morning was the moment of truth. I stepped on the scale.  Even with all that walking and never finishing my meals I still gained 2 1/2 lbs.  Hubby, well,  he lost four. Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggggg!!!!!! I could have killed him dead right there! How is that fair at all?!?!?!? Why oh why does he get to LOOSE FOUR POUNDS and I gain two and a half???????. I ate less,  I took more steps with my shorter legs, I carried the backpack. It doesn't add up! Men suck. That's all there is to it.

On Empty

       My phone rang. It was a girlfriend of mine. "You're never going to believe this" she says "I ran out of gas across the street from you."
       She wanted to come sit with me until AAA could get to her but I had a can of gas in the garage, "Just sit tight for a sec" I tell her.  
        I grabbed my umbrella (Did I mention it was raining?) and went to the garage.  As I crossed the street a patrol car pulled up to the light. He sees me, umbrella in one hand, huge gas can in the other.  I get to my friends can just as the patrol car makes his turn and drives past us. Yup, past, as in didn't stop. We get the safety valve on the can open and start adding gas to her tank when a SUV pulls up and out pops another friend of mine.  She had seen me and wanted to make sure I wasn't the one needing help. Thankfully she had an umbrella because in order to hold the gas can I'd had to put mine down.  So now there are three ladies standing in the road filling up a tank.  One is holding the safety valve open, I'm tilting the can up and the other is holding the umbrella. A pick-up goes by and we hear two men laughing through the open slit of their window.  Nice. I'm sure we were a sight, wet hair sticking to our faces, none of us wearing anything warm enough to be out there, obviously ran the tank too long on empty. We have no idea how much gas is getting into the tank or how much she even needs before it will start again so we decide to check what the dash board says.  To do this we stop filling, take the can to the curb and wait. Nothing. So back we go, fingers freezing, trying to re-open the safety valve and add more gas. We are the perfect cliche of ditsy women.  Second time is the charm and she is able to get the car started. We say our goodbyes, I retrieve my umbrella, pick up my now lighter gas can and walk back home. I'm cold, I'm wet, my just washed and styled hair is a mess, I got laughed at. Being a friend is hard sometimes. Being a good friend can be a full time job sometimes. I am so glad I have friends that know they can count on me and friends that will stop in the rain when they see me on the side of the road.  I'm so glad I have friends I don't need to keep score with. This friend of mine? The one who ran out of gas? She takes care of me too.  She's driving me to the Airport in a few weeks and then picking my kids up from school.  Stand in the rain for her? You bet I will!

"To Fat for Prom"

            I  hate shopping. I hate HATE shopping - unless it's for shoes (but that's another story).  It started when I was a kid and my mom would list all the types of clothes I was too fat for. I was taller and thicker than most kids my age but I wasn't even chubby.  It got worse as I got older and got into high school.  I was too "fat" for a two piece bathing suit and too "fat" to go to prom.  I was too fat for skirts and dresses with belts and shorts......The thing was, I wasn't.  I was 5'4" 138lbs and a size 8.  My mother would sigh and say, "At least you have baby making hips. Some guy is really going to appreciate that about you and you guys will have tons of babies." That is such a mean thing to tell a young girl barely into puberty!  I've grown a little since then and I've lost 20lbs. I now wear a size 2 or a 4 depending on the store.  Shopping should be fun now but it's not.
       
             My sister is getting married so I need a new dress.  Hubby kept the kids and I took the day to go to the mall.  I was afraid to try on dresses that might make my legs look chunky or that would make my hips look too big. I was afraid to try on dresses that would flare at the waist.  I spent four and a half hours shopping, I only tried on three dresses and I hated how I looked in all of them.  By the time I got home I was depressed, stressed and had a raging headache.  I told Hubby I'm just wearing my black dress that I've had for years and that I feel comfortable in (but I'm getting new boots to wear with it!). 

            It shouldn't still be like this. I know I'm thin. When I wear clothes I already own I feel great; but, when I go shopping, I suddenly fall back into the same feelings I had as a kid and I hear my mothers voice in my head again.  The logic is all there: she was wrong then, it certainly isn't true now yet, I can't shake it.  Hubby wants to take me dress shopping (I usually only clothes shop if he takes/makes me).  He shouldn't have to make me shop (seriously, how twisted is this?)

            I'm working on getting over this. I can't undo the hurt that was done to me but I can make sure not to repeat it.  I'm working on not doing this to my own daughter.  I will always tell her how beautiful she is - even when her body is changing from a little girl's to an awkward teen's. I will always tell her how amazing she is no matter her size or shape.  I will always tell her how pretty I think I am and let her see my self confidence.  I want her to LOVE to shop - because she knows how great her own unique body is.