Well, we're back from our Mother's Day Roadtrip, and in the words of George W, "Mission Accomplished". Except the difference is, I actually had a tangible mission and it really was accomplished. That's all I'm sayin.
We started off our 16-hour roadtrip with a little barf incident about an hour into the trip. Just 15 more hours of this to go. I pulled over, got Lucy changed, gave her some motrin and kept going. She was fine, people, relax. And seriously, what did we do without cell phones? Because I managed to coordinate a visit to my pal's doctor in Houston all while driving, "No, I can't make it at 1:15 this afternoon...Because it's 11:45 a.m. and I'm somewhere in Kansas, ma'am." I must have talked to the office assistant 5 times on the road because of the insurance card. Our insurance card has 5 logos on it, and 4 toll free customer service numbers on it. That's a bit difficult to negotiate when driving 90 down the tollway, just fyi.
Thanks to my great new pal I met online, we had a whole slew of movies to watch on the way down. Max and Lucy had a blast watching the new shows, because they were new, and they'd been cable-deprived for a week up to that point. By the way, the no cable thing is going just fine. I'm rocking out to some Aretha Franklin as I type now, where as back in the cable days, I would have probably been happily distracted with those annoying women on the View. Rosie is par for the course, really....although, I m ight have sent an email their way suggesting I'd be perfect on their show. Hey, it was worth a shot. They lose on that one...or atleast I'll keep telling myself that.
So, we made it to Houston, got to visit with some amazing friends. We took the kids to the beach for their first time ever. I probably learned more than they did. For example: apparently sunblock is sweat proof and water proof, but CAN be removed by rubbing the eyes and a good sand scrub. Max's eyes were so bad the next day, that I got back just in time to beg the Preschool, "Please don't call CPS, let me explain". Lovely.
I'm not sure what made me so emotional....it could be that it was my kids' first time at the beach, and I have some great memories of my childhood at the beach. Or it could have been the fact that we were sharing the moment with some dear friends. And let me take this moment to tell you, that friends without kids are cherished because then they can put all their attention on my kids. Will is a dear friend of mine and Ricardo's and he met and married Bonjour, and thus by process of good wife-pickin, and that she's fabulous, Bonjour is now a dear friend. They've always welcomed Seek and Destroy (Max and Lucy's sub-alias) as family. Their friendship is precious, and my bambinos are precious to me. So, when you merge the two....I get all verclempt. Watching Will play with Max at the beach was a cherished moment. But I'm guessing, what sent me over the top was that's where my dad is. Daddy died almost a year ago. It was sudden and very sad. And when it came time to decide wear to bury Daddy, by process of elimination, we opted for cremation with the intent to spread his ashes somewhere he loved and we'd go visit. So, Daddy is at the beach. Oh, stop your sobbing, it's a pleasant and joyful place to remember my dad. But with my kids there, with good friends, and "visiting Dad" for the first time, I was a bit emotional. Still, we had fun.
The next day was the wedding I went down for. That was a blast...it was a little bigger than our garden wedding, but still, fun to see old college pals and to see Mattie so happy and meet his wife. I tell ya, nothing says "Corn Hick" like rolling up in my minivan with Nebraska plates with the back looking like a tornado hit, and me telling the valet, "Hold on, I gotta get the gift out of the back," and whipping out a rake. Hey, it was wrapped, and that's what Mattie asked for!
On Mother's Day, we woke up, said our goodbyes to my pal and her beautiful kiddos and headed to North Houston for breakfast with my mom. Somewhere in all of this, Ricardo called and told me to check in the StowNGo compartment on the passenger's side. What? Yeah, Ricardo, the greatest man ever, planned ahead,boys and girls. He took the kids to the store and had them pick out whatever they wanted to give mommy. Max picked out a ring with great sentimental value. We tell each other, "I love you more than the stars and the moon." Sometimes he tells me an abridged version like, "Mom, I love you more than race cars." It's so sweet. He didn't get me a ring with a race car on it though, he got me a wrap ring with a star and a moon on each end. Lucy got me some earrings. Take note:
Maybe I'll wear them to the park or something. THEY TOUCH MY SHOULDERS. That was sweet. And Ricardo got me rabbit ears for the tv. The gifts were all great, but just the planning, the effort, and the fact that he wrapped them, and individually, got cards and everything. It was so sweet. Thanks baby.
We had a wonderful breakfast with my mom and headed for Fort Worth. We stopped and stayed with MyDaphne and her family. We went to see a volleyball teammate who had her baby two weeks ago. What a great way to spend Mother's Day. It's always fun to hang out with MyDaphne, but to coordinate all of our kids into the car, that was pretty fun. It was hard work (again, it really was as opposed to what GW says he's doing), but fun. Congratulations Kristi and I hope you had a great first Mother's Day, because on your 4th Mother's Day, when bambino picks out earrings for you, well, you'll see. We got home, I showed MyDaphne the earrings to which we got a good giggle and took the picture. Her daughter played with pooh, we grilled burgers and then my flygirl came to visit! We'll call her Viv. And Aunt Viv rocks! Viv is a dear dear friend of mine, who in recent months, has become evermore precious to me than I could ever imagine. And again, watching her with my kids just makes my heart smile.
My point in all of this mess is that as the kids get older, on this Mother's day, I got to celebrate with other fabulous moms and friends who are important in my kids' lives.
I promise less mush in future posts, but you know, That's how I roll.
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