Reconnections

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

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!

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

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?

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?

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!

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!