Draco’s Rose

It was really sad to see the news that Frances Reid had passed this week. I grew up watching Days of our Lives. My Mom used to watch it when we were little. Over the years I drifted back and forth to it like any show, but Frances Reid was always a constant. Mrs. Horton was always there. There was always one show I made sure to watch each year and that was the Horton Family Christmas Tree. This was the first year I can remember it not being on and it was sad that it wasn’t there. A tradition that I had watched for close to 30 years.

I’ve got two videos below. The first is a clip from the first episode of Days of Our lives. The second an interview with Frances Reid. She was 95 years old.

Yes I’m still alive. I know I’ve been slacking on posting. It’s kind of gotten to the point where a lot of the things that would make great blog posts I can’t really blog about. Some things just can’t be discussed on the web or might scar my children for life.

I’m at Write Club right now and we are discussing team writing and it’s going quite well. Looking forward to working on my team writing project with Tommy on Monday.

Mister Man got glasses last week and now looks like our own Harry Potter. He’s happy with them especially now that he can see.

So today is our two year wedding anniversary. Or as we have explained it to the kids it’s our two year family anniversary. We’ve always made sure that the kids knew that when Big Daddy and I got married they were very much a part of it and we were now a family.

This morning I went through some pictures from the wedding just looking back. Mind you we didn’t have a traditional church wedding, or even a church wedding at that. We got married on a Friday, at 4 p.m. with a very small group with us at a local park. The kids fed the geese on the lake. (God Mister Man and Little Price look so small 2 years ago. Hell all 5 kids have grown so much.)

The Justice of the Peace arrived and we went over everything and then had the shortest wedding ceremony known to man. And our JoP was hysterical. I wish we had a video camera. But eleven minutes later…yes eleven… and we were married.

Yes I realize that below is a picture of my flowers and well a slight bit of covered bewb but Big Daddy doesn’t want his picture on the web so it’s a compromise. As you can see we were both comfortable too. Both wearing jeans and a sweater.

We even had a guy walk right through the middle of the ceremony like it was nothing.

After the ceremony we let the kids play on the playground for a little bit. The biggest kid of all my Father in Law joined them.

From there it was to Bottom’s Up Pizza where we had friends, and pizza and cake. We all had a blast.

After that it was time to open presents and we got the best present ever from one of the kids. Kick ass wedding present don’t ya think??

So this was a very round about way to get to the title of this post. But Big Daddy got creative. With the economy the way it is and Yule/Christmas coming up we decided not to exchange gifts. First year wedding anniversary is paper so we got cards. This year however…second year anniversary is cotton. Now I want to preface this by say I am in no way, shape or form upset. I am serious when I say this was the best present ever. He took the time to get the best gag like wedding anniversary present ever. (Especially when we said no presents) I personally think it’s hysterical and laughed my ass off.”

Happy Anniversary baby! I love you more now then I did when this crazy ride started. Here’s to many more years together.

I picked up Little Prince today after school today and as usual when it’s been his father’s weekend I haven’t seen him since I dropped him off at school Friday morning. I stood at the end of the aisle in the cafeteria and spotted him coming towards me. He ran up and hugged me tight and then backed up a little bit. He said, “Mommy I have a note for you…” He handed me a folded up piece of paper and I opened it. It has one sentence on it.

I love you Mom a lot.

It made my day

Eight years ago my childhood skyline changed. Eight years ago the safety you once felt at living in the USA changed. Eight years ago we sat with our eyes glued to the nearest TV with tears in our eyes feeling utterly hopeless. Eight years ago the skies were suddenly quiet and not a plane was seen in the sky. Eight years ago our world changed.

Yup still here…I know I’ve been lacking in the updates lately. I feel like my head is going to explode some days. Seems like it’s always one thing after another. Let me say without a doubt having a relative with Alzheimer’s SUCKS big time. It’s an insidious disease and it’s harder on the family then it is the person going through it. My grandmother has it and I hate watching my Mom and Dad struggling to help her. Adding to all of it my grandfather was recently diagnosed with two brain lesions and a spot on his lung. I know there’s a lot going on right now with health care reform and all that but I’m quickly finding that for the elderly the main goal of most places is to rape them. Almost $100,00 a year just to care for your grandparents these days. Who has that kind of money??? If you don’t have that kind of money what then?? It’s all stressful and nerve wracking and generally not fun.

Big Daddy and I are going on vacation this weekend. one that we seriously need. More then anything we need time away from everything. A weekend with no kids and just us relaxing.

So yeah…I’m still alive…just overly stressed and ready to disappear for a little bit. It’s not much of an update but it’s something right?

Sisters. It’s a simple enough word to understand. In most cases this is a blood relative your mother gave birth to or adopted another girl. But in rare instances you actually choose your sister. In my case that sisterhood was formed over a highway of wires and the internet. A simple hello on a forum quickly spiraled into something so much more. A connection. A feeling. Knowing that no matter what they are there in spirit even if they can’t physically be there they are there for whatever you need. Whether it’s to sympathize about the child got up on the wrong side of the bed, pick you up from your bad day, or to share something wonderful that’s happened. The safety in knowing you can pick up the phone and start the conversation with “Just friggen shoot me,” and they can tell just by the tone in your voice if it’s serious or not. The connection so strong that at times our minds move in sync. Writing tastes so similar that it produces OVER 24,000 posts on a message board.

No matter what happens you know that the other one will be there. Doesn’t matter if there’s been an argument, disagreement, or misunderstanding. An email, a phone call, a text message is all that usually takes to straighten it out. The ups and downs and moods of each other we work through. We tease we love, we virtually hug. Hoping for the day we are finally face to face and can hug each other for real. Which I’m positive there will be squeals and tears to go along with that.

There’s laughing, there’s crying, there’s occasional screaming. But there’s love, there’s hope, there’s heart. That’s how she became so much more then a casual acquaintance. She’s my best friend, my coven sister, and my sister. One that I am grateful for every day. One that goes beyond the bounds of blood.

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This post is dedicated to Sadie. We never needed blood to be sisters. I love you.

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I was inspired to write this for The Sister Project – as a chance to win a sponsorship to the Type A Mom Conference. Ironically I had already started writing a post about sisters last week and had not finished it. I’m hoping that we can both find a way to get to Type A Mom Conference. so we can finally have that hug.

I know some would look at that title and give a big old “duh”, but some don’t realize that things can change on a dime. Clouds shift and change moment to moment. People can do the same thing. One minute everything can seem peaceful and quiet and then next everything has been turned upside down. Even knowing this sometimes it still catches me off guard. Some changes are harder then others. Some we don’t want to accept even though we have to. I’ve had a few of those kind of changes recently and even if I don’t like them…I know there is nothing I can do to physically change it. Broken promises and plans…again nothing can be done to change it. But there is always the slight sting left behind from it. Sometimes the worst part of it is you don’t know why. You may ask about it…but you are met with silence as your answer. I’ve learned over the course of my life that sometimes silence is the answer. Maybe they are too ashamed to give you an answer or maybe they just don’t have one. Perhaps they don’t even know the answer themselves.

All that being said I know everything happens for a reason. Everyone we cross paths with in life has a purpose or reason for being in our life. Whether it’s someone you bump into on the street, someone you meet online or one of your closest friends. They all have a purpose. Sometimes it hurts to see those people leave and others you are just happy to see them go. Then there are even other times that you are happy when they come back.

I’m not sure where I was going with other then I’m rambling. I’ve had a few tarot readings lately that have been REALLY accurate and have also pointed a few things out to me. Even knowing something is coming doesn’t make the wait for it to happen any easier. If it wasn’t for other things outside of the cards pointing to it I probably would have brushed it off. Vague enough for you?

Anyway onto happier things. Little Prince went for an ADHD evaluation and it’s looking like that’s what it is. The meds seem to be helping him but he seems to be a little more sensitive lately. I have a phone appointment with his doctor on Friday and I’m planning on talking to him about it. Overall though I’m happy to see the change in him. Watching him focus more and not get as frustrated with some things is a definite plus.

Mister Man is doing well this summer too. He’s reading The Hobbit now and really liking it. He acts like he hates it when I make him read but then he’ll get lost in the story and I’ll have to interrupt for dinner or something like that.

Even better news is Big Daddy and I are going to get a vacation. An actual vacation with no kids. Thanks to some wonderful friends of ours it’s all taken care of too. It never ceases to amaze me how some people look out for their friends. It was pointed out that Big Daddy and I never really got a honeymoon. Well we went to the beach for a week about 6 months after we were married but that was with family. (And by family I mean 37 other family members on his father’s side…kids and all) We had a blast but it wasn’t a honeymoon. Anyway with the stress of the last year and a half we hadn’t thought about it but they did…and thanks to them we are going to Dragon Con Yes in 45 days hubby and I are going to geek out for an entire weekend with some great friends and thanks to some great friends.