girls day

today my mom, two sisters and i met in the twin cities for a wonderful "girls day." i can honestly say i don't remember the last time the four of us got together, just US. no kids, no men, no cousins, grandmas or friends. just mom and her three daughters! our first stop was this restaurant called "the melting pot". the melting pot was my first encounter with the dining experience of fondue. and it is most definitely an experience! my slightly germaphobe self had a bit of trouble with the whole double dipping thing that is bound to happen. but i survived. and it was fun, if nothing else!

next stop was the mall of america. we spent about two hours doing some hard-core shopping. i generally don't mix hard-core shopping and the MOA, but today was an exception to the rule. i had three critics to help me choose, and it was really fun! i got an adorable dress at the gap, and some great work clothes at NY&Co.

our last stop was a movie: a shameless chick-flick. it was all "fluff" and just what i needed. (along with a generous helping of popcorn and a diet coke.) it was kind of fun to zone out and give my brain a rest.

all in all, it was a lovely day. a little bonding time with the fam. i wonder when we'll manage to do it again?

my night as a sardine.

though the universe seemed to be conspiring against it, i did end up going to the bob schneider concert with my sister on friday night. she lives over an hour away from me, and i was supposed to be at her house at 8. due to some drama with the bf, i didn't even end up leaving my place until just about 8.

i swear i got stuck at every possible stoplight on my way up. every. single. one. when i arrived at her house it was almost 9:30. i needed to fix the crackwhore look i had aquired during the drama with the bf before i left. i threw on a different shirt, touched up my makeup and we were off.

bob was due to start at around 10:00, so time was tight. there was a lot of construction in the area of the venue, so we had a hard time finding a place to park. finally we got a prime spot for FREE because of a connection my sis has through her husband.

we got inside and saw little "sold out" signs posted all over the box office. shit. sis had not purchased our tickets ahead of time. she was ready to cry. back out to the parking lot to talk to her "connection." we followed him back into the venue and were able to get in for FREE. sweet.

the place was beyond packed. bodies were squeezed together on the floor with not an inch of breathing room between them. i had flashbacks of seeing club fires on the news and everyone creating a stampede that caused our bodies to burn into a charred mass of wreckage. but, i trudged forward, following my starstruck sister through the pack of sardines. there weren't going to be any pyrotechnics tonight anyway, where there?

we barreled our way through the crowd, making our way towards the stage. some little old lady actually pushed me. "keep moving ladies, you aren't taking my spot!" she growled angrily. i turned around and told her that maybe if she got her effing hands off me i'd get out of her way.

finally we fould a halfway decent spot to plant ourselves. there were a few really young guys between us who were loud and obnoxious but friendly. they buffered us from the crowd most of the night.

after we settled into our spot i started sipping these:



well, sipping wouldn't be quite the correct terminology. i practically guzzled my first one. i mean hey, i wanted to be able to really get into this concert of music i did not know. and get into it i did. if you have never been to a bob schneider concert, know that it is very interactive. a lot of sing alongs, etc. the more woodpeckers i consumed the more confident i was shouting out the words to these unfamiliar songs. i think my body was moving to the music the entire two hours. it was a blast.

it was too bad my sister had to be sober cab, she wasn't able to join me on my quest for the ultimate buzz. and buzz i did. it was great. i would definitely do it again. um er...the concert that is.

the real meaning of easter

easter=eggs


















right?

will the real easter bunny please stand up?

tonight, the kids had an easter party at their daycare. and below is their picture with, you guessed it, the easter bunny.



after happily posing for pictures, my five year old daughter ky, jumped down, looked at the easter bunny and said accusingly:

"there's gotta be someone in there."

then: "mom, i think there's a teacher in there!"

kids everywhere ran screaming and crying to their parents, the myth of the easter bunny ruined for them all.

kidding

but it was funny, the contrast of the effect of our bunny friend on my three year old son.

as he hopped down from the bunny's lap, my darling son walked backwards, eyes on the bunny and wide with awe, bumping into people as he made his way back to me.

what a difference a couple of years makes.

seriously?

last night when the kiddos got back from their dad's house, my five year old, ky, told us that her brother had been really naughty to her while they were there. she said that when her dad was in the shower, her three year old brother had done the following:

1. hit her.
2. punched her.
3. bit her. twice.
4. threw a shoe at her.
5. kicked her.
6. spit at her.

this is basically the exact same story she told last time they got home from their dad's. and ko got in BIG trouble. i think she enjoyed that. needless to say, we were a slight bit suspicios about her tale last night. so, the bf and i decided to quiz her a bit. the following is based on our actual exchange.

us: "so, ky...your brother was naughty to you again?"

ky: "yes!"

us: "what did he do to you?"

ky: "he hit me, and he punched me, and he spit in my eyes, and he kicked me, and threw a shoe at me, and he bit me here and here."

us: "really?"

ky: "yes." (looks all sad)

us: "so, did he kick you in the knee?"

ky: "yes."

us: "did he kick you in the other knee?"

ky: "yes."

us: "did he kick you in the back?"

ky: "yes."

us: "how about in the stomach?"

ky: "yes."

us: "did he throw a shoe at you?"

ky: "yes."

us: "did he throw four shoes at you?"

ky: "yes."

us: "really? four shoes?"

ky: "uh huh." (looks a bit worried)

us: "did he throw eight shoes at you?"

ky: "yes." (starting to sweat)

us: "are you sure? he really threw eight shoes at you?"

ky: nods.

us: "wow. that's a lot of shoes."

ky: "uh huh."

us: "are you sure all of this happened?"

ky: "yes..." (looks a bit nervous)

a bit more quizzing revealed that my dearest daughter had been lying through her teeth about her brother. thank goodness the bf was there with me, because i found the whole exchange to be hysterically funny. i felt like we were laywers. for the prosecution. i could barely contain my giggles.

seriously.

i heart my daughter

ky, my little poser, my mini-me. the one who talks so cheerfully non-stop on the way to daycare and work every morning. the one who gives her mommy random hugs and kisses or shouts "i love you mommy!" out of the blue. the one who has made literally hundreds of pictures to decorate my "office". i always think i am ready to have the weekend off... but i miss you when you are gone.

the fam

okay, i know it's downright silly that i haven't managed to figure out how to post pictures until now. really, really sad in fact. but, here it is, my first blog picture! i will probably end up going crazy posting images for a while now. this picture is of our crazy, mixed-up, blended "fam". we went to the minnesota state fair together this summer. it was a lot of fun! the two "white kids" are mine, and the two "tan kids" are the bf's. (those are his names for them, not mine) all in all we blend together very well. the boys like to gang up on ky once in a while, but i am there to stick up for her! it's funny, but if anyone else picks on her the boys are the first to defend her. typical of siblings, i suppose...though technically they aren't siblings yet. i think we are very lucky that everyone gets along as well as they do. we will all be cooped up in the house this weekend, playing video games, watching movies, reading books...trying not to strangle one another. no really, i joke about it, but i'm sure it will go just fine.

no go

so, we won't be moving to the suburbs anytime soon. which is probably just as well. i don't know if i could be a suburban "soccer mom" anyway. i am stuck here for at least the next...11 years! well, assuming bf and i are still together. need to stay close to the boys and to the ex bastard.

we are family

my mom called me a little while ago with some bad news about my little sister, A. apparently she had a miscarriage last night. none of us even knew that she was preganant, but that isn't surprising. while pregnant with her third child she kept it a secret for three months! my sister is only 25, she is five years younger than me. she was married at 18 and was pregnant within a year. this would have been her fourth child!

i feel very bad for her and would like to be there to support her, but here is my problem: she never called me. she lives a few blocks from me, but she called my sister who is two hours away and had her come over last night. the three of us have always been fairly close, although i am definitely the "black sheep" of the family. i ran away at age 15, i have lived with boyfriends, i was pregnant before i got married, i eloped to vegas, i got divorced. i have always felt the weight of their disapproval, although it has never been expressed out loud by any of them.

i am very hurt that she didn't call me. if i were in the same situation i would have called both of my sisters. now i'm not so sure. i talked to A twice yesterday and she didn't say a thing about it.

of course i won't mention that i am upset, that would just be selfish. but i am definitely taking a step back and re-evaluating my relationship with my sisters. maybe i am just not as important in their lives as they are in mine?