Life with Aleesh

CLOSURE

2010-10-01T14:39:00.000-07:00

It is such an overused word. The first time I ever really remember hearing the word used in the context most people use it for today is when Rachel said it to Ross on a voice mail message on the TV sitcom “Friends.” Remember, Rachel was drunk on a date or something and leaves Ross a message saying she is “over him” and he listens to it and says something like, “She is over me? When was she under me?” Hilarious! Anyway, even with saying closure is an overused word, I do understand the need to wrap things up. I have always been that kind of a person. I am not fond of books or movies that don’t give you a solid ending. I like to use my imagination as much as the next person, but if I am going to pay to buy a book, take the time to read it, or pay to watch a movie – I want an actual ending. I don’t want to be left wondering, “did he or didn’t he, or will she or won’t she?” I like a neat little red bow tied onto the ending. That is just me.

I think that is one of the hardest parts of losing someone unexpectedly. You don’t get the “neat little red bow” ending. You are left wondering, contemplating, projecting, guessing etc. It is not fun. It is frustrating and difficult. There are so many things that were unclear and more things I wanted to say. There were questions that were not asked and answers that were not given. There were emotions, feelings , regrets that were never spoken and it leaves me feeling broken and in a certain state of constant anxiety. I know I need to come to terms with the fact that I don’t get the “red bow” but it is going to take time. Time is not my friend right now because you can’t speed it up or slow it down, it just happens. You can’t force your mind or your heart to do what you want, you just have to patiently wait for the healing to happen on its own.

So for now, I get up, get ready for work, get the girls off to school and begin my day. Then when I end my day the wondering and uncertainty rears its ugly head.

So go ahead and overuse the word because if you are anything like me, you understand it and feel so much better when endings can be tied with a little red bow! For those endings that aren’t……..ask me tomorrow, I may have a better answer for you.

Farewell My Love

2010-09-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to begin my blog again for some time and now is as good a time as any. Since our life has unexpectedly suffered a tremendous loss, I feel the need to address it and begin our new phase with a tribute to one of the most hilarious and loving men I have ever known.

To My Incredible Hulk (for those who used to read my blog - you understand the reference).

Every Time.....
I watch a Jim Carrey movie
I hear our wedding song
I glimpse a man in camouflage shorts
The family turns on "The Burbs"
I look into our daughters eyes
U2 comes on the radio
A silver mustang drives by
I encounter a good looking bald male
I shed a tear
I pet Sammy
I see the #14
I kiss our girls goodnight
I lay my head down on my pillow
I breathe

I will think of you! I love you so much and cannot wait until we are together again.

No, You Look Good!

2008-11-13T17:51:00.000-08:00

So Monk was at school and she was looking in a magazine at a picture of some food and she remarked, "That food looks good." And her classmate, a cute boy who sits next to her remarked back to her, "No, you look good." It wasn't the first nice thing he has said to her. We are pretty sure he has a little Monk crush!

Here are a few more pictures of my beautiful girl dancers.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

We had fun at the school parties and the parade.

We also had fun on Halloween Night!

Pumpkin Carving Fun

2008-11-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

This is the first year that Smoke has been able to carve pumpkins with us and the girls had lots of fun. Too bad I forgot to put the pumpkins outside on Halloween and they ended up rotting on my kitchen counter. It was fun so I guess it doesn't matter.

Monk with her carving kit along with my favorite centerpiece in the world....

The girls getting the guts out...

Monk and Tink drew their own faces on their pumpkins. Here they are carving.

Tink taking a break during the pumpkin carving because she has the attention span of a fly!

All Finished!

Tribute to my MIL

2008-10-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, October 1, 2008, was my Mother-in-Law's Birthday. If I was a really good daughter in law I would have blogged this yesterday, but hey - it is what it is. So back to my mother in law. Her name is Sharon and she ROCKS! You always hear stories of how difficult MIL's are, but I hit the jackpot with mine. First of all, I need to add her to my previous blog below because I can't believe I forgot to put her on it.

When I need to decorate ANYTHING...What would Sharon do?

Thanks to ValPal for unintentionally reminding me that Sharon was not on my list.

So my MIL is an amazing decorator and artist. She has more talent in her pinky finger than most people have in their whole body. She is caring, loving, giving, unselfish, funny, creative, artistic and I could just go on and on. She is genuinely just nice to the core. I know if I ever needed her for anything, she would be there for me in a heartbeat. Just as an example a few weeks ago I was cleaning my carpets and I could not get the machine to work. I called her and asked her if she could help me and she was at my house ready to fix and do whatever I needed her to within 10 minutes of my call.

Sharon has not had an easy life and for the last 20 years her health has not been great, but she just keeps on doing her best to be strong and faithful. I love her and am so thankful I am part of her family. She treats me like her own daughter and she is a great mother to me. I love her with all my heart and wish I could take away all of her pain. Her character is something I admire more than she knows and I send this tribute out to her as my way of telling her how much I love her and how much she means to me, even though I don't always show it.

I love you Sharon!

What would you do?

2008-09-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

I am tagging all of my friends who all have special gifts and talents that have blessed me in my life at one time or another. if I mention you here...do the same on your blog...and tag me in one of your things...if I deserve it =)?

When you need to work on your car...What would JUSTIN or CRAIG do?
Computer Graphics or Digital Scrapbooking…What would TANGIE do?
When you need to clean your house...What would MIC HELLE T. do?
When you need to fix your house...What would CRAIG or JAKE do?
When you need to fix your air conditioning…What would CASEY do?
Need to look hot...lose weight...What would JEN or AFTEN W or TARA CURTIS do?
When you are worried about finances...What would MICHELLE CURRY do?
Having a baby...What would BETH do? (cuz she has had so much experience)
When you need to work on a friendship, or influence people for the good...What would AFTEN W do?
When you need to throw a great party….What would KELLI do?
When you need love, laughter, fun and a little spontaneity in your marriage….What would KIMMIE AND ROB do?
When you need to toilet paper someone’s house….what would BETH, KELLI, MICHELLE C., CORI, AMY AND JULIE do?
When you need to be strong in the face of trials and adversity…what would BETH and KYLE do?
When you need to travel ….what would AMY H. do?
When you need to be creative or crafty….what would CORI do?
When you need to sing...What would LIZ do?
When you need to talk to someone, or someone needs to talk to you...What would STACY do?
When you need to sew a shirt...What would SERENA do?
When you need to laugh out loud...What would JUSTIN or KAIDI do?
When you need to be a sister to someone who really isn't...What would STACY or HILLARY do?
Need to make something yummy for a party...What would JEN do?
When you need to watch TV...What would JAKE do?
When you need to take a picture....What would AFTEN W do?
When you need to send someone a gift just because….What would Amy H. do?
Broke you car windshield...What would COUNTRY COMPANIES do? (hee hee)
When you need to be there, sincerely, for no good reason at all...What would NOEL or KELLI do?
Legal Advice....What would STAN do?
When you need to have faith...What would AFTEN W do?
When you need to feel unconditional love…What would the SAVIOR do?

Tagged - Quirks

2008-09-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks Tara - I think these things are fun as well.

The Rules:-Link the Person who Tagged you-Mention rules on your blog-Tell about 6 quirks of yours-Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same-Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I constantly crunch on crushed ice. I have an absolute obsession with QT Ice. I fill up about 8 64oz cups a week with the crushed ice and keep them in my freezer. I plan all of my errands around a QT if I need to get ice. My mom even brings me ice whenever she comes over.

2. A well known quirky thing about me is my laugh. I laugh loud, without restraint and sometimes at very inappropriate times. Anyone who really knows me can verify this.

3. I hate when people chew with their mouths open or talk with their mouths full of food. I can't stand the sound of smacking lips or teeth when eating. It makes me crazy. I even though I crunch ice all the time - that is different than actual food)

4. I am the worst passenger in a car. I make other people so annoyed when I drive with them because I cringe and make noises and basically act like I am about to die. I guess I like being in control in the car.

5. I love putting on mascara. It is my favorite part of getting ready for the day. I take my time and enjoy every minute of it. I used to be obsessed about clumping so I would use a safety pin to separate my eyelashes, but I have since found the most perfect mascara so my eyelashes no longer clump. My nervous husband is very happy since he no longer has to worry I will poke my eye out.

6. I am unusually reactionary in movies. I laugh when no one else is laughing, I sometimes talk to the movie and make comments like, "Oh no way" or "I can't believe that just happened!" I get mad or I might cry. Or even like when I watched Pride and Prejudice for the first time there was a moment when I watched Mr. Darcy walk up to Elizabeth and I sort of moaned out loud because I thought Mr. Darcy was so Beautiful and Sexy. (my cousin Tara can attest to this). A bunch of people started laughing because it was pretty hilarious.

I tag Stacy, Tangie, Amy H, Beth, Amy M and Kimi

Memories

2008-08-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, to all my readers, friends, family and stalkers...I seriously love to laugh so post a comment about you and I, funny sad, good, bad, or ugly for all to read...
1. Leave a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you...HAPPY REMEMBERING!

Silly Faces & Fun Pics

2008-08-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few funny faces and cute pics of Monk and Tink I thought you might enjoy.

First Day of School

2008-08-08T00:50:00.001-07:00

So my last post of the night or should I say morning is of the girls first day of school. Both Monk and Tink were very happy to get back to school. Summer proved to be too boring and they missed their friends and the monkey bars. Here are my cutie patuties on their first day. Check out Monk's new adorable hair cut. I can't believe I have a 4th grader and a 1st grader. It blows my mind how time flies.

Girls Girls Girls

2008-08-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

I recently hosted a girl cousins sleep over at my house and it was a lot of fun. Of course we waited until the summer was almost over before we finally did it, but that is not the important thing. What is important is that the girls are creating memories together. The girls colored, made fun designs with wikki stix, sang their hearts out to Playstation SingStar, ate junk food and ended the evening watching The Waterhorse. The next morning I made french toast for everyone, sent them on their way and then made sure that I got a nap in later :-)

Girls Night Out

2008-08-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

I made plans to see Mama Mia with my good friends and neighbors NC and HC. We had so much fun. Well in order to go to Mama Mia I had to cancel going to another girls night out with some other girl friends of mine. So those friends decided to toilet paper our houses, but they got mine the worst because our neighbor busted them when shortly after they started. NC, MC and I got some revenge by driving to their homes at midnight and using window paint on their cars. I tell you - I hope I am never too old to forget the kid in me. What fun!

Time Flies

2008-08-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

School has just begun and I can't believe how fast the time flew by. I finally figured out how to download the pictures off my camera so I will attempt capture some of the fun things we have done since my last post (and some before).

My good friends took me to the Cheesecake Factory right after my birthday and we had a really great time. We watched the movie Get Smart and laughed more than anyone else in the theater - go figure!

My kids stayed behind with my friend D's hubby and their amazing kids and they had a blast watching Pirates of the Caribbean, the third one I think. Here are some pictures.

We also had an adventure at the Kiwanis Wave Pool. We invited some new friends to join us, the Gibson family, and we had a ton of fun. The wave pool was great - and scary at the same time. At one point HG and I were with Tink and her two small girls trying to get to the "shore" and the waves just kept hitting us. Wave 1 - Boom, I went down. Wave 2 - HG's little girl went down - I am trying to get up and the waves keep knocking me down and HG is trying to grab her little girl, while carrying her other little girl on her hip and then Boom - Wave number 3 hits and Tink goes down. HG tries to grab Tink as well and it was just so funny because I couldn't get my balance to get up and help, I just kept getting knocked down by the force of the waves. The whole experience was hilarious. There is so much chlorine in the pool that all of us were grossed out by our hair. It literally felt like Barbie hair. It took several washes for it to feel normal, but it was worth it. I definitely recommend the wave pool if your kids can swim.

We went to a friend's baptism and here is a cute picture of my girls and SD.

Monk has been a great kid this entire summer - helping out with her sissy and chores etc. so I rewarded her by taking her and her cousin J to Waterworld. We had a great time. We were there all day and were exhausted. That same week my nephew was visiting from CA and we all had a good time hanging out at the pool.

Drama Queens

2008-07-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

4th of July was a lot of fun this year. The girls and I (Smoke was working of course) went over to my friend KD's house and had a barbecue and swam with many other good friends we love to hang out with. Tink can finally swim without assistance so being in the pool is so much more enjoyable. So we ate good food and enjoyed hanging out with 25 or so kids ranging from 9 1/2 to 4 weeks old.

So a few of the families decided to go see fireworks at MCC. I should admit here that I am not really that patriotic. Don't get me wrong - I love our country and am proud of our soldiers and respect the flag and all of that, but going to parades and fireworks to celebrate our independence has never been my thing. Well this year I decided to take my girlies to see the fireworks since I really did not have a good reason not to.

As we are driving into the parking lot, the guy directing traffic asks me for $5. I was like, "UH - I don't have $5 - I did not know this cost money" He says, "sure you did - if you know about the fireworks here, you must know there is a cost." I declared that I sure did not and that I did not even have my wallet with me and that I only came because my friends in the van in front of me invited me. So Mr. Traffic guy says, "well make them pay for you" so he starts yelling to the other traffic guy by my friend SD an KD and tells them to pay my $5. By this time the line of traffic behind me is ridiculously long and SD does not have an extra $5. I was just getting prepared to turn around when Mr. Traffic guy gets all irritated with me and basically growls, "just go ahead, you are holding up traffic"

Next we get to the spot on the grass we like and all 4 families that were there sit down with blankets, get kids situated and calmed down after major drama over who had glow sticks and who didn't and who had more than someone else. I am sure you can get the picture.

As the first set of fireworks goes off we see that we are literally right underneath them - it was fantastic and amazing. Because we were so close they were actually very loud as well - everytime they went off it sounded like gunshots. So picture the fireworks begin and then picture a 6 year old blonde girl named Tink begin to have the most traumatic and shocking reaction to them. Tink lets out the most blood curdling scream you can imagine - it was something right out of a horror movie. As she is screaming she begins to cry hysterically as if she is being beaten or like someone is performing surgery on her and they forgot to give her anesthesia. Tink keeps on holding her ears and burries her head in my shoulder.

I look over at Monk and though she is not crying, she is covering her ears too and looks pretty scared. I was in absolute shock. My girls aren't afraid of much, they both love to watch scary movies and don't get scared at all and then here they are acting like the biggest drama queens I have ever witnessed. Tink continued to scream and cry until I literally grabbed everything as quickly as I could and took off like a bat out of you know where. All I could think about was getting out if there as quickly as possible to avoid any more drama or embarassment. I also wanted my friends to have a nice time and there is no way that was going to happen with Tink flipping out publicly.

So I ushered my kids back to the car with a very "unhappy" face and we watched from the car. The next day they had the nerve to be disappointed when I said I would not take them back the next year.

So our celebration of Independence Day ended with more from the Drama Queens, a very very late night.

Happy Belated 4th of July to all of my friends!

Sloppy Joe's

2008-07-10T23:42:00.000-07:00

So anyone who knows me knows I don't like to cook, but I have really been trying to cook more at home so that we eat better and save money. Well everyone has to have a few "quick" dinner items and since I am very much against Macaroni and Cheese (albeit that once in awhile crazy craving for it) I thought I would try sloppy joe's. Believe it or not, I have never made them before and the last time I ate one was at my friend KD's house last Halloween. They were very yummy.

BTW - I should mention here that Smoke LOVES it when I cook anything. He loves coming home and having actual food in the house to eat. So Smoke sits down and eats one sandwich without much ado. Then all of the sudden, Smoke lets out this loud grunt and literally begins spitting sloppy joe mix onto his plate (okay I am alreay laughing hysterically as I remember it). He is just grossed out and keeps spitting. In between spits he manages to say, "it tastes like dish soap" Once he says this, I begin laughing uncontrollably and my mind wanders back to a few hours before when Jade was in the kitchen washing her dish out in the sink. I remember telling her to stop playing in the water. I also remember going to the kitchen sink and taking the "tupperware" container that was sitting in the sink and seeing that it was clean, I put the leftover sloppy joe mix in it.

Well Jade must have poured a little dish soap in the container and I could not tell it was there and Justin must have mixed the dishsoap in with the second batch of meat he took out. *Flash Forward - My hubby literally did eat dish soap. It was a priceless memory that I had to blog about so I can laugh often when I re-read this. I'll never forget his face as he was spitting out the sloppy joe mix and wiping off his tongue (much like Tom Hanks in the movie "BIG" - my total favorite scene in the entire movie - just ask my friend Stacers...)

The moral of this story.....there isn't one, except maybe I should wash out my dishes before storing leftovers in them.

ABC's

2008-06-25T11:35:00.002-07:00

If you read this blog - you have to keep this going.

ABC's

A- Attached or single? Attached
B- Best friend? Several
C- Cake or pie? NEITHER - ice cream all the way baby!
D- Day of choice? Saturday
E- Essential item? Deoderant
F- Favorite color? Yellow, Hot Pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms
H- Hometown? San Bernardino, CA
I- Favorite indulgence? Pepperoni Pizza
J- January or July? January - nice weather and my daughter's B-day and my Anniversary
K- Kids? Monk and Tink
L- Life isn't complete without? my children, family, friends, happiness
M- Marriage date? January 11, 1997
N -Number of Siblings? 2 brothers
O- Oranges or apples? Oranges when they are in season, Apples all year long
P- Phobia and fears? Phobia of extreme heights and tight spaces. Fears - something happening to one of my children, fear of not living up to my true potential
Q- Quote- "Maybe God has bigger plan for me than I have for myself"
R- Reason to smile? My sweet girls Monk and Tink
S- Season of choice? Spring (which is March and April in AZ) and Summer only for swimming.
T- Tag 10 people. Anyone reading my blog who want something to blog about
U- Unknown fact about me? My first real kiss was when I was 10 years old - I know CRAZY!
V- Vegetable? Cucumbers
W- Worst habit? Diet Dr. Pepper and crunching QT ice
X-xylophone:) because what else goes with X? not recently
Y- Your favorite food? Pepperoni Pizza
Z- Zodiac sign? Cancer

Reconnections

2008-06-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

So recently my favorite cousin in the entire world reestablished contact with me. It has been 4 years since we have talked and almost 8 years since our kids have seen each other. She has a 12 year old son and a 8 1/2 year old daughter. Needless to say, our kids don't know each other. I have so many good memories of spending time with my cousin when I was a kid. Sleepovers, going to the "Airplane" and "Duck" park, swimming, going Lake Pleasant, getting in fights, her yelling at me for making sucking noises (cuz I sucked my two middle fingers until way past appropriate) when we were trying to go to sleep because it kept her awake - remember D? Oh good times :-) So she invited me and the fam to a barbecue on Saturday and we had a great time. She is so much fun to be around and it made my heart so happy to see her and the kids and my Aunt was there to. Her kids are wonderful and everyone got along so well. There is a comfort level I have with them that I don't have with other family. We went through some very tough times together and they mean the world to me. It was a great day. I can't wait for more good times ahead. I'll post a few pictures when my cousin sends them....hint hint!

In addition, two other important people from my past reconnected with me due to finding my blog through other mutual friends. It has been amazing to reestablish these friendships. I feel so lucky to be in this day and age where finding people is so easy and keeping in touch is a button a way.

My life would not be what it is today without these people in my life and I feel blessed for their friendship and love.

Bathroom Etiquette

2008-06-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

My friends at work said I just had to post this latest moment of embarassment in the life of Leesh, so here it is.

I was in the restroom stall the other day at work when I heard the door open and what appeared to be two men talking and at least one of them walking in to the women's restroom. I instantly thought, "oh my goodness, they misread the sign and they are walking in to use the restroom. So instead of just keeping quiet and laying low, I just had to open my big fat mouth and say in a not so nice tone.....

"Excuse me, this is a woman's restroom!" (in other words, get the heck out)

To which came the reply, in a similar tone as mine, but in one of the most "manly" voices I have ever heard,

"Yeah, and I'm a woman!"

Let's just say we should NEVER EVER make assumptions about people's gender based on
the pitch of their voice AND we should just keep our mouths shut in the bathroom no matter what happens so we don't get ourselves in trouble.

Not a Chance!

2008-06-11T23:22:00.001-07:00

So my Monk and Tink - they are very different children as you might have gleaned from my other posts. Monk is outgoing, a people pleaser, obedient and surprisingly - a risk taker. She will usually try something at least once before she will refuse to do it again if she decided she is too scared or isn't comfortable. Then there is Tink who, as her mother, thought for sure since she is sneaky, mischievous, charming full of energy and STUBBORN like you would not believe, that she would be the first one to try new things. WRONG! This would be perfectly described in our Friday adventure at Hamilton pool on Friday, June 6th. Tink is 6 years old and has had swimming lessons before and knows how to swim, but absolutely refuses to do so. So she hangs on me the entire time grabbing and pinching me to hang on while she swims around. She is happy as long as she is holding on to me. I spent two hours trying to get her to swim in the kiddie part of the pool and she flat out refused.

So my sister-in-law (HB) and I were talking by the wall and Tink was standing there jumping up and down in the water (of course holding on to me at the same time) and HB says to Tink, "Tink - why don't you go to the kiddie slide with your cousins?" Tink, without missing a beat, turns her head to HB and emphatically states, "Not a Chance!" I then tried to coax her and she again replied, "Nope, I am not taking any chances, no, no, no!

This got me to thinking about life. I am not a risk taker, in fact I am just the opposite of a risk taker. I play it safe all the time. I am sure people think I am a risk taker because I am very outgoing, friendly, sometimes loud and outspoken, but I am really a very safe person. I always wear my seat belt, I wear sunblock, I don't drive that fast, I usually order the same thing every time when I go to a restaurant, etc. I guess I am boring! Anyway, as I thought about my daughter, whom I want to experience everything that is good and exciting in life, I thought it was sad that she is already so afraid to try new things. Aren't kids supposed to want adventure and freedom to explore new and exciting things....? I think most kids are and maybe Tink will get there someday. I mean, it is fine that she likes to play it safe, there is certainly nothing wrong with living a safe life, holding an imaginary sign that might read, "I'm a safety girl" (kudos to anyone who knows what movie that line is from), but there comes a time when I think that taking chances and taking risks can lead us to greater happiness then we could ever know. Like with Faith - you have to jump off that cliff, believing that you will be caught and then you can experience things you would never have experienced than if you just played it safe.

So I decided that I am going to take a risk before the end of the year. I am going to try something that I normally would not do. I am going to try a new dish in a restaurant and I am going to seek out an adventure. I'll keep you posted on how it is going. Anyone want to join me?

My Incredible Hulk

2008-06-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

I was unexpectedly surprised last Thursday night when my husband (who from now on will be referred to by the name of "Smoke" in reference to his Hero, Nascar driver Tony Stewart who calls himself Smoke) told me he had the weekend off. The whole weekend meaning - Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This has not happened in at least a year if not longer so the girls and I were very happy. I took the kids to Hamilton pool during the day on Friday until the overgrown teenage boys ruined it for us. Then I came home to get ready for my first date night with my husband in a very long time.

Smoke sits down on the chair when he came in for errands and this is the first time I have seen him that day. I need you to visualize what he looked like. He is a larger man with broad shoulders, about 6'2 with his shoes on, he shaves his head, has a goatee that is beginning to look like a foo man chu (spelling?) he has on green camoflauge shorts, white socks, black Nike's and a black T-Shirt with a giant bright green Incredible Hulk on the front.

He looks at me and asks, "should I shower?"
Me: Did you shower last night?
Smoke: No
Me: Well then, yes, please shower, you do remember we are going on a date?
Smoke: Yes

So he proceeds to shower while I beautify myself. He gets out of the shower and what does he do? He puts back on the same clothes he had on before. He sits on the side of the bed and begins to put his black shoes (over white socks remember) and sees me looking at him. He asks, "What?" I say, "Are you really going to wear that on our date?"

Smoke: Yes, what is wrong with what I am wearing?
Me: Really, are you serious - you are wearing an Incredible Hulk T-Shirt on our date.....?
Smoke: Yes, I think it looks good. I can be your very own Incredible Hulk....(this is when he proceeds to bow out his arms, flex his muscles and growl like the Hulk).

I just laugh and roll my eyes. I have long since given up trying to dress my husband. He is a very good looking man and when he gets dressed up, he looks mighty fine, but I don't get to see him dressed nicely very often. Oh well, at least I got my very own Incredible Hulk for the night.

So we go to see Indiana Jones. I had already seen the movie, but my husband had not and he really wanted to see it. I wanted to see a scary movie, but since it was his Birthday a few days before, I let him pick without much of a squabble. So we sit down for the movie which is entertaining, but I guess I was tired because during this one part I actually fell asleep. I woke up to Smoke elbowing me in my side, looking at me with this very disgusted look on his face. I ask, "what, was I snoring?" and he says (agian with the disgusted look) yeah! I could tell he was just like, "oh, my goodness, my wife is snoring in the movie theater..what a LOSER"

You see I am always making fun of my mom for doing the same thing. She can't stay awake in a movie or watching TV for more than 5 minutes at a time and I suddenly had this overwhelming fear that I am beginning to turn in to my mother. Please Oh Please Oh Please NO NO NO! I will forever and from now on drink lots of caffiene at the movies.

We then went to dinner at PF Changs (one of my favorite places) and we got to see the aging half naked woman with breasts hanging out the side of her dress the entire dinnner. It was nice. Smoke was like, "you know, there is a certain time when that is just no longer attractive." I say, give my man a Klondike bar!

It was nice to be out with my Hulk - dressed nice or not, it was wonderful to hold hands, laugh and talk since we don't get much of a chance to do any of those things these days.

At the end of the date, Smoke looks deep into my eyes and says, "don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. I think it is time for some gamma radiation baby.....!

What's Up Doc?

2008-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Lately, life has been less than extraordinary. I'll start with the better parts. Last week was Tink's Birthday and we had a good day on the 22nd. I took her and Monk to see The Chronicals of Narnia, Prince Caspian with my mom. My mom snored through the entire thing, but the girls and I loved it. It was raining and I LOVE the rain, LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! We went to dinner at Souper Salad and I am finally going to remember that I HATE that place. No matter which one I go to, I am always disappointed. I am a Sweet Tomatoes girl all the way.

Friday and Saturday are a blur, I can't even remember what the girls and I did. I know we played a bunch of board games - that is always fun. Oh, we played Bunco and I was so bored with it. I can't imagine the reason that it has become such a phenomenon, especially in the mormon culture.

Saturday night and Sunday were not so much fun because I have an eye infection and it got really bad over the weekend. By Monday it was getting better, then got worse again until I finally went to the eye doctor and got antibiotics. Monday we finally got our piano delivered and I am so excited to take lessons. Monk and I are going to take lessons and I am finally going to fulfil this dream of mine to learn to play the piano. Plus, I love the idea of there being music in our home over the next however many years that my daugthers and I create together.

Monday was also fun because I took the girls swimming, then the whole family including hubby, who finally had a day off, had tons of fun with friends for the rest of the night and I love spending time with good friends.

More later.......

Wanna Talk About Stuff?

2008-05-14T19:46:00.001-07:00

So I had a profound moment with my Tink and I want to capture it. We were sitting down to dine together (Monk had decided to eat earlier) and after we were done eating Tink puts her little hands on her cheeks, elbows on the table and says to me, "Wanna talk about stuff?"

I smiled and said, "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"
Tink: "I don't care, what do you want to talk about?"
Me: "Okay, why do you make wrong choices at school?"
Tink: "No, I don't want to talk about that?"
Mom: "So what do you want to talk about then?"
Tink: "Anything but that mom!"

My profound moment was 1-managing to botch a perfect mom, daughter moment and 2-images of her at 13+ with the conversation going much the same way except I don't imagine her asking me if I want to talk about stuff. I imagine me begging her to talk about anything at all. I need to blog about this moment because I will one day miss these days with my girls more than I can even imagine. The fact that my girls yearn to talk to me about their lives and can't wait to spend all their time with me will someday go away and it makes me profoundly sad. I cherish these times where we are the "three amigo's the three musketeers" Everywhere I go, except for work, my girls are with me. They are my best friends and I get so much happiness from being around them. Yes, sometimes I need a major break because they are driving me crazy, but most of the time we just enjoy spending time together.

Today we went swimming - the water was so cold I almost could not stand it. Tink and Monk kept waiting patiently for me to get all the way in. I was taking my own sweet time and when they saw that I was almost ready to jump in, they both started cheering:

Tink: "Go mommy, go Mommy, go Mommy"
Monk: "You can do it mommy, just jump in, come on, you can do it!"

My girls, my gifts from God, my very own Cheerleaders in life. Will they always be my cheerleaders? Will they always consider me their mom and their best friend..? I don't think so, but for now, I will cherish the times we do have and pray the days don't go by any faster than they already are.

What more can I ask for right now? I am truly blessed.

Holy Pee Batman!

2008-05-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

Today was just one of those days. I knew going into it that it was going to be long and also sad, but I did not know it would be downright embarassing as well. I volunteered to assist at the Rio Salado graduation which just happened to be tonight. This means that I knew it was going to be a 14 hour work day for me, but it is once a year so yes, I can handle it. Well - unfortunately it was also the day of the funeral of a dear co-worker of mine who passed away so suddenly that his death has been traumatic for everyone.

So I go to the funeral and it was a Catholic funeral, which I have nothing against Catholics, but it was very different from any funeral I have ever attended. I was emotionally drained from that and then I had to go to the Arizona Law Enforcement Academy to sign up about 50 cadets for college credits. It is always interesting going there because the cadets have to say "yes mam" and "no mam" and "yes sir yes" or "no sir no", to everything.

Well as I am leaving the academy to go back to Rio Salado and then go to the graduation, I realize how much I have to pee and that it can't wait until I get to the school. I rush into the nearest bathroom, throw down my skirt, and yes, you guessed it, I pee. Well I had this skirt on that has a lot of material to it and little did I know that part of my skirt had not come all the way down and it landed in my pee stream. I was like - oh my gosh, what am I going to do, I just peed on myself and I have to go to the Rio graduation? It was about a medium saucer size amount of pee. Which at the time seemed huge. I began to weigh my options, 1-fight traffic and try to rush home, change and make it back to the school by 4:30 (it was already 3:50 and I was at 7th Ave. and Baseline) and also, doing that would involve me having to tell my boss what had happened. OR I can wait for it to dry and hope I don't smell or leave a stain on my skirt. So I call my most trusted co-worker and good friend. I say to her, "once you are done laughing your face off, I need some advice." After she laughed for about 5 minutes she told me to get over it, let it dry and spray some perfume all over myself. I went with her plan and felt gross all night, but hey - you do what you have to do!

So the moral of the story is if you have to go to the bathroom very badly, make sure you get all of your clothes down before you begin peeing.

Love to everyone!

Out of the Mouth of Monk

2008-04-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

Monk had to give a talk on Sunday in Primary. The topic was Prophets. I quickly threw some data onto some paper at like 11:00pm on Saturday night. The car accident kind of made my brain freeze. So I scribble a bunch of stuff down planning to edit it and rewrite it in the morning before church. I know what you are thinking - "why didn't she just print it out like normal people?" That would be because my dear husband has been promising me he would figure out why our printer will not work and it has now been three years without a printer." Anywho - I woke up on Sunday with a massive migraine headache, compliments of the accident I am sure. I sent my girlies off to church with their grampa (one of the positive aspects of going to the same church as my in-laws). So Monk gives her talk, but unfortunately I missed it. So I asked her how it went and she said it was fine, that is was kind of hard to read some of my writing, but she did her best.

Well tonight at FHE I asked her to give her talk (I was totally just trying to get out of planning the lesson, but hey - whatever works). Monk was happy to do it, so she starts to read me the information I had scribbled down on Thomas S. Monson.

Here is a very abbreviated version:

Thomas S. Monson was the 16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.......President Monson was called to be a Bishop at the age of 22. His ward had approximately 1,000 members, and among them were 85 windows that he visited regularly. Did you catch that.."WINDOWS" instead of "WIDOWS." I promise you I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Monk was like, "what mommy?" and when I pointed out to her what she had said, her face brightened up and she said, "oh, that is why Sister Hernandez was laughing during my talk." So sure enough, not only did I get the best laugh of the year, but so did the entire primary. Oh, I love my Monk!

Teenage Drivers #$@&#!*

2008-04-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

So the latest drama in my life is that I was driving home from picking up Monk and Tink on Thursday, the 24th of April (which had already been one of the worst days ever for me). I am heading East on Elliot and I begin to cross the intersection at McClintock and Elliot on a yellow light. Low and behold the 18 year old girl in a 94Camry who is in the left turn lane opposite of me, trying to turn South onto McClintock, turns left directly in front of me and, yep - you guessed it - WHAMMO! I crashed right into her car. It was a pretty big accident. Her car was totalled, mine has a lot of damage to the undercarriage drivers side. I was not hurt, nor were the girls except I banged up my knee pretty bad and of course we all have whiplash. The other girls looked like a freakshow because their airbag deployed and cut up their lips and stuff. So out of nowhere, like cockroaches, all of these teenagers appear. I am dead serious - like 20 teenagers all holding traffic court right in front of the cops. I was less than pleased. She was cited for failure to yeild to oncoming traffic. I went to the ER to see how much damage my knee sustained (nothing major, just really banged up).

So now I am dealing with insurance companies, adjusters, a rental car. Okay so I go and pick up my rental car and it is a black HHR which looks exactly like a modern version of a hearse. Or it also looks like an extended PT cruiser. It is hideous. All I need are neon flashing lights underneath and I can go and drag race it in Guadalupe - oh, wait, did I just actually type that? So anyway, I get in the car and am overwhelmed with the odor of what could have been, the cleaning crew smoking doobies the night before. NO KIDDING! The car reaks of previously smoked hashish, refer, weed, pot etc. I would know the smell because - well no need to get into all of that - those of you who know me can fill in the rest of that story.....Hee Hee! I'll leave the rest of you to wonder.......

And just in case you think I am making it up, my mom got in the car the day I got it and said, "wow, it smells like pot in here." Ding Ding Ding - give her a prize Vanna - she hit the jackpot. And if any of you doubt that I know what pot smells like, you can't deny that my mother, the queen of smoking doobies in her day, smelled it right on.

So needless to say, I took the car back today and got a Saturn. I still feel like an elephant trapped in a mini cooper, but it is better than the weird looks I was getting from the odor that followed me around. I miss my Tahoe. Once you go big - you can't go back!

I love my girlies!

2008-04-09T14:29:00.001-07:00

So I have two beautiful girls and for the sake of being on the internet and wanting to protect girlies, my girls are heretofore named Monk and Tink.

Monk is 9 years old and an angel sent from above. She is helpful, sweet, sensitive, well behaved, tidy, organized, smart, responsible, obedient, loves to read, clean, sing and watch movies with mom! She also thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread. Can you tell I just love her to death? So here is something funny about Monk - everytime she has to write the word "curve" in math, you know like it has curves rather than straight lines, she writes "curbes" instead.

Tink is my almost 6 year old and also one of the loves of my life. Tink is adorable, has twinkling eyes, loves to snuggle (my favorite thing to do), has the best laugh in the world, will eat all day long if I let her and is my sneaker -if she can sneak it - she will find a way! So we are driving home from Lowe's the other night and Tink says to me, "mom, can you read us the Baptism book you read to us last night again tonight?" I said, "sure." Tink says, "good, because I like non-fiction." If I would have been drinking something, I would have spit it out for sure. She then says to me, "I have been learning about fiction and non-fiction at school mom - non-fiction is when something is true and fiction is when something is not true, I like non-fiction stories the best." I am thinking to myself, "I don't think I knew fiction and non-fiction in kindergarten...... She cracks me up!

2008-04-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

Are pigs flying?

2008-04-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would actually have a blog. I am not sure that I actually do....this could be a dream since I was falling asleep at work earlier today. My friends have inspired me to join the world of blogging. I have decided to do it so I won't miss out on these hilarious years of trials and tribulations we call life. I was watching Oprah and was inspired by Jamie Lee Curtis who is trying to live the most authentic life she can and she is "paring" away the layers of superficiality and just putting it all out there. I think she is amazingly courageous and in my own small way I think I would like to do the same thing. We'll see how it goes.

Now I just have to figure out how to put pictures on my blog....help anyone!