Memory Lane

This afternoon the girls asked me to take a box of their baby clothes out of the closet so they could look at them. I took the box down and realized that it contained some baby memorabilia kinda stuff too. I spent a little time digging through it. We oohed and aahed and did the, "can you believe you were so tiny?", "that's you in mommy's tummy", etc...



Then I came across this little gem.



Olivia was about 11 months old and I was very pregnant with Jamie. My mom and I were just leaving the doctor's office.

This is the note that Jimmy's secretary wrote while he talked to a customer on line one. I think the story tells itself!

I feel old today

I have been tired, feeling old and rickety and a little overwhelmed these last few days but I have been actively fighting it every way I can and have been pretty successful at staying on top.

However...today I worked an extra long day and the rain was a little too much in combination with 14 children.
I went out after work for a tasty adult beverage and grown-up conversation in an effort to ward off the impending doom.
Headed home, plopped down to breathe a sigh of relief and what do I see?

Facebook chat: (paraphrased)

Jen: Did you see the FB invite to our 10 year class reunion?

Me: No

Jen: Yeah. Family swim. I'll be there in my bikini.

Me: hehehe. Yeah. Me too.

And you know what I thought? Not the predictable "Oh my! High school reunion! I feel old!"

Nope! I thought, "I'm too damn cranky to have been out of high school for only 10 years. OH MY GOD I'M ONLY 27 YEARS OLD!! I'm a spring chicken! Why do I feel so stinkin' old?"

UGH! I think I need to go to bed and try again tomorrow!
The sun will come up, right?

Number 16

My dad, Jimmy, the kids and I rocked the rollerskating.

Warren, Joe and Kels totally weinered out and got rollerblades instead of kickin' it old school.

My mom took pictures and rabble-roused from the bench. (pics to follow soon)

Jamie wanted nothing to do with it.

Olivia was more gangly than ever before. She's like a cracked out daddy long legs with only four legs.

Joe and I won the race. Oh yeah. We raced and Warren disowned us for stupidity.

Jimmy is pretty sure he pulled a shoulder muscle with his fall-preventing wild-arm flailing.

Candy and soda were consumed in mass quantities.

And one more thing...I won 20 free admissions!!

SKATE PARTY ANYONE? WOO!

You can't help but smile..

I tortured myself tonight by listening to a particularly sad CD but I was inspired to turn it off when I heard Livi singing along under her breath,

"My mama sparkle and shine, sparkle and shine...."

Nothing like unconditional love from a 5 year old to brighten up one's day.

A question for you

Do you or have you ever named a car?

I have only owned one car that I felt compelled to name.
I had a teal Honda Civic that I got my senior year of high school.
The guy I was dating at the time was a "car namer" and pressured me into naming my car.

So I named it Jade and imagined that it was a very feminine acting gay man.

(OMG! I just realized that if you know Jon you are totally going to laugh your ass off at that last statement!! I must have been subconsciously retaliating!)

Note To Self

and to you if you need it...

Love the end of this post at Angry Chicken:

I snapped this picture of Ezra yesterday. On the same day I boycotted the laundry to finish my sweater, I found him walking around the house with his precious knitting tower (from Nova Naturals) making a crazy-long i-cord, with the skein of yarn clipped to his shirt. When I asked him what was up with the clothespinned ball o' yarn, he replied, "Well, my legs were tired of sitting so I had to get up and walk around, but I didn't want to stop making it, so I clipped it to me to keep going!"

Find a way to keep doing what you love. I think he gets it.

Sometimes these things - our passions and our projects - get done in simple, yet miraculous ways: in the two-minute increments of time that may appear at a time; with the help of a sweet husband who carries a little extra weight for a moment so I can do something as silly as knit a sleeve in silence; or as the chosen priority for a day over a pile of laundry/bathroom cleaning/bill paying. Sometimes we go to extreme/comical/ridiculous measures to make our passions happen in the everyday. Because the way it makes me feel - the way it feeds my soul - well, that fuels me to be a better person. And a better mom.

One little stitch at a time.

Remember this?

A little over a month to go on this little "project" here and I have to say that I am not as far along as I expected but I also know that knowing this list is out there has pushed me to do some things I may have continued to put off.

1. Make a collage DONE
2. Write letters
3. Park my car once a week. Take public transportation or ride my bike to work.
4. Surprise someone with exactly what they want.
5. Make out at the drive in movie.
6. Watch 5 classic movies. DONE (a lot)
7. Switch to re-usable bags for grocery buying. DONE
8. Take Olivia skiing. DONE
9. Go on a weekend trip with my best friend...like we used to.
10. Go on a weekend trip with just my kids and I. DONE
11. Go on a weekend trip alone.
12. Remember to floss every day.
13. Call my oldest brother.
14. Keep in better touch with my sister.
15. Unsubscribe to all that crap that floods my inbox. DONE
16. Take my kids rollerskating with my dad.
17. Go paperless as much as possible at home and work.
18. Go without eating at a restaurant or fast food for a month. DONE
19. Get a front porch. However it has to happen.
20. Spend at least 4 nights of this summer with my backpack only.
21. Get out of the city limits once a month all year.
22. Eat more green stuff. Encourage my family to.
23. Write in a journal 2 times a week.
24. Don't flinch.
25. Say what I want.
26. Read more non-fiction.
27. Figure out that whole map and compass crap.

#9, 11 and 16 I still hope to accomplish before my birthday.

#5, 24 and 27 I will move to next year's list

and # 2, 3, 4, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 26 are moving on to some random list in my head that says something like, "lifelong goals" or "the person you wish you were"

and # 13 and 14 I have more to say about at a later date.

#19 goes on a list that says something like, "you have commitment issues" or "the real estate market blows" or "quit hoping that possessions will give you the life that you want" or "100 year old houses are a pain in the ass"

So...my goal for the next month:

Rollerskating, Utah and being a big girl