July 2010 Archives

See, it says NO SWIMMING, but that's the lake we'll be swimming in. I'm such a rebel. Well, me and about 2,000 other ladies. Check out that crystal blue lake! It was so pretty to swim in!

Before we left for Texas, I did a GIRLS TRIP TRIATHLON! What? what!? So, JulzHOLLA! and I drove to somewhere in Illinois and met up with one of her Ya-Yas, we'll call her Cricksta. And Yallison and her running pal and fellow super cool chick, Yashley met us as the Cricksta's. Cricksta and her family let us all stay with them and then the next morning we woke up and headed out to Wisconsin for the Women's Trek Triathlon. Oh yeah, we travel to far and unusual places like Wisconsin now for triathlons.

Yallison and I still get together every year. This year, it was girls trip time and we brought together our favorite peeps and Yallison and Yashley did their inaugural triathlon with us! It was the perfect girls trip.

First of all, it was so fun to roadtrip with JulzHOLLA! We put a lot of miles in minivans together, but it's usually with some kind of combination of 5 kids. This time, it was just us. We didn't cut up anyone's food, although she offered out of habit a couple of times. We didn't have any pit stops for diaper changes. And we got to listen to all the unedited versions of tunes. We might have had fun hooking up my fart app on to the speakers of the car. We laughed so hard, we cried. At some point, we went over a big bridge. I saw a bunch of houses on the shore of some water and said, "Wow - that's a big lake!"
To which JulzHOLLA replied, "Uh Les, that's the mighty Mississipi."
So see, I even got a geography lesson.

The day before the race, we went to the expo and heard Sally Edwards speak. Sally Edwards is brilliant. And she doesn't know it,but she's my new bestie. I've mentally added her to my ya-ya list. As a novice - and I'm pretty sure I'll stay novice for a very long time - triathlete, a communications instructor and just basic human being in general, this woman is brilliant. She's a great speaker, a great motivator, sincere, and an overall bad ass triathlete. See for yourself. I don't know how I've been doing tris for this long and haven't stumbled on to Sally Edwads yet. But I did this weekend - I stumbled onto the entire Sally Edwards experience on a girls trip. It was the perfect storm.

Here's a bit of a photo essay for ya:
Me and my Yallison! When we're apart it feels like our next meeting will never get here. And when we get together, it's like we've never missed a beat.

The whole crew with Miss Sally Edwards: Yallison, Cricksta, Miss Sally, JulzHOLLA!, Me, and Yashley.

Cricksta is getting her bag signed by Sally Edwards. Sally pauses and laughs at one of our very funny comments, I'm sure. You can't not laugh hysterically with this posse. Sally signed my bag too and set my goal for me. I was nervous I'd let her down, but I did it! Thanks Sally! And thanks Cricksta for bringing us all together to this amazing triathlon!

JulzHOLLA! always makes the best of every situation. Looks like she's making out with Sally, doesn't it? Hey, I'd make out with either one. I'm just sayin.

That woman gets every wave inspired just before we take off. She spoke of personal achievement and encouraging each other. She's there at your take off, and she's there at the finish line to congratulate you. As if that's not enough, Miss Sally makes sure that no one finishes last. And so, at the end of the race, she goes and finds the last person, and runs in with them, talks to them, inspires them, empowers them and then makes sure they cross the finish line before she does. Kind of makes me wanna hang back in last place, but since she was all motivating and stuff, she actually inspired me to rock out my best time so far in sprint distance triathlons.

Most triathlons we do are usually about 300-500 people. This one was 2,000 women. What, 2,000 bodies, let alone women, vying for space and changing clothes in a race? This can't be good. But it was and I actually had fun biking by people and checking out their triathlon accessories and clothes. It was fun.

I also got to see one of my favorite Tall Momsters who moved away a couple of years ago. Here she is with JulzHOLLA! It was so fun to see her and watch her do cross the finish line!

After the race, she came up to me and said she could hear me on the run talking. And then Yashley, Cricksta, JulzHOLLA!, and Yallison each individually, asked me, "Dude, were you talking the whole way you were running?" The last mile was a loop around the pretty lake, and they could hear me talking as I passed, or was being passed by others. Well, maybe. Look, I have a gift. I try to explain this to trainers and people at the gym who beg me to shut up, it's a gift - I function better talking than I do breathing. And Sally Edwards got me all motivated to do this and be inspired and be inspiring. So, I did. Sue me. Sally would be so proud. And she was, because she was right there to greet me as I crossed the finish line and she hi-fived me. And 1,999 other women too.

On the road trip back home I re-explained all that to JulzHOLLA! who was trapped in the car with me and my ipod touch, d-jaying. And finally, "I said, it's like Inward Singing."
"Uh, what are you talking about?"
"Sigh, hold on. I think Jack Black can explain it for you better."

After we pulled over in a desperate attempt to not pee ourselves from laughing so hard, again, atleast JulzHOLLA! understands a little better. And Jack Black, you made a joke about it, I made it possible.
That's how I roll.

Song of the day: Inward Singing by Tenacious D (Earmuffs, y'all. It's not for kids)

Today is the anniversary of losing our girl, Carrie. I'm doing fine, and time does heal the heart a little bit. But there's a little scar there, shall we say. So, I suppose, she'll be with me always, just like my stretchmarks.

As I said before, a death anniversary to me, is just remembering the date of the year. If you've ever lost someone close to you, you know that each day counts. Not just every 365th day. Every day. And I think when you lose someone that's your age, your peer, your sista, well, it's taught me to embrace every day. Every. Day.

When I was in Texas, I had a moment to go visit the cemetery. It's always a very quick and peaceful moment for me. Max and Lucy and my mom joined me this time. Mom let me have my moment. Lucy and Max were gentle, sensitive and minimal with their questions.

It makes my heart warm to know that they got a part of Carrie too. And every now and then, they blow by (because they always just blur right by me, there's no slowing down) and have a memory about Carrie and then say, "I sure do miss her!" Me too sweets. Me too. And then they run right out again. I'm starting to really rely on the memories and usually end up spontaneously giggling at our antics.

I also got to visit with Carrie's parents and see her dogs. Her parents let me have visitation with the dogs. It's nice. Her parents are two of the strongest souls I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. They also let me in, feed me and laugh at all my jokes, in just the right places.

Yallison and I and just about everyone who knew Carrie miss her deeply. When you met Carrie, you never forgot her. She was vibrant, crazy and determined. She taught me a lot about loyalty, friendship, heartbreak, tape mixes and crazy. That girl was brilliantly stubborn. Thank you so much for allowing Yallison and I celebrate Carrie. We lean on each other so much. And Carrie would get a big kick out of how close she's brought us together even more.

That's how I roll.
Song of the Day - The Space Between - Dave Matthews Band

This is my bird dog. As you can see he's ruthless when he picks up on a bird's scent. And by the way, the bird flew away about a full minute before Farley began his mosey over to this plant. It took him that long to get there.

Ricardo and I pride ourselves on getting our kids to bed at a decent hour. The incentive would be all that chocolate cake the kids don't know about. But it's summer, and I haven't been able to eat my chocolate cake without interruption for weeks.
The kids have been stalling lately with:

• I forgot to give you a hug.


• I forgot to give you a kiss.


• I'm cold.


• My finger stings.


• I poked my own eye.


• I had to poop.


• I had to check on Lucy because she pooped.


• I left my DS at the neighbors house.


• Fireworks are waking me up.


• Lucy's bothering me.


• Max is bothering me.

Atleast 3 of these excuses are used each night. And I'm pretty sure one night, they were all used in a single-file manner. Our responses (with cake harboring in our mouths) usually are:

• You should have thought to hug us earlier. Kidding. But they really do skip hugs and kisses so that they can bring that one back. And it's usually separately. So, if each kid comes down for a hug and then a kiss, that's 4 interruptions to my chocolate cake. I'm just sayin.


• We give hugs.


• Get under your blanket. Or for the house streaker: Uh, put some clothes on.


• Put a bandaid on it.


• Sorry you poked your own eye, you wouldn't have done that had you been asleep. Close your eyes.


• Well, everyone has to poop.


• Now, that's ridiculous go to bed.


• You'll have to get your DS tomorrow.


• It really does sound like war here from July 25th-July8th. So, we just tell the to listen to music.


• Lucy stop bothering Max.


• Max stop bothering Lucy.

As you can see, these are all stellar defensive tactics. And the kids have caught on that their stalling isn't working.

So, Max took it to a whole new level the other night.

The latest go to sleep stall tactic is: in his sweetest most concerned voice "Mom, I'm worried about Farley - I think he's dead."
"He's not dead sweetie why do you think that?'
"Well look at him - he's not moving"
"That's because he's sleeping - he does it like all the time."
"Well, I pulled his eyelid open, and it slammed shut."
Nice. This goes on until I get off my computer and assess the situation with Max and/or Lucy. Because, yes, it's happened more than once.

So, I get up and go sit with Max and/or Lucy and show them how to watch his belly to see the air fill his lungs and prove that he's indeed, breathing. But his belly doesn't rise. Oh no! For what seems like a lifetime (probably 3 seconds) I pet him, try to push a little bit to see if he'll move. Then I move on to tickling his face which usually he flinches at a bit. But nothing. And then finally, his belly rises and he blows it all out with a big sigh. And then I swear to you, that damned dog grinned at me with his eyes still closed.

Nice new trick, Farley. You jerk. Then he got up and barked at us. "FOOLED YA! STUPID HUMANS! Now tell those kids to go to bed!"

"Did you hear that, Max? Farley says to go to bed."

"Okay." And then he bolted upstairs and went to sleep. Just like that. Dang dog.

That's how I roll.
Song of the day: Poker Face - Lady Gaga

Oh yeah. I went there.

Well, well, well. Look who's here! Summer and roadtrips and menial tasks like work have taken me away from my very true love: this awesome blog. So, I apologize and I am back to gracing you all with my antics of motherhood.

My most recent adventures included what seems to be my destiny of road trips. Somehow, per our schedule or someone else's (dying, uggh) I end up in Texas in July or August. Fret not, this trip was just for fun. I'm from the Houston-area, y'all. Without bashing Houston (I personally refer to it as the armpit of America, but whatever), lets just say that there's hundreds of other places in Texas that are a wee bit more pleasant and less humid, trafficky, or uh populated. So, I planned a roadtrip that would include Houston to see some family but also some other places too that it turns out are also hot, humid, trafficky and uh populated.

Here's our itinerary:
Tuesday: drive all day. To Dallas/Fort Worth. I'd tell ya which one, but really, it's all one ridiculous gigantic city to me. I think I was more on the Dallas Side. We stop to see some of Carrie's co-workers and friends and then head to my cousin, Sophie's house. She graciously lets us stay with her. Our kids are close in the same age range, so we get to visit while they play. It's perfect.
Wednesday: Drive Houston to see my momma! I shlep off my kids on to my momma so that I can go visit Carrie's parents who always welcome me and are so darn funny and sweet. Momma and her man make us some delicious grilled stuff. Life is good. And very hot and humid...
Thursday: My mom (the kids call her Mena) and I take the kids to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Corpse Flower in bloom. It's a stinky flower and very rare and special and the kids are excited to smell it. It's supposed to smell like rotten meat. Don't I have the coolest kids? The flower was a bust and hadn't opened yet. I have to make up for that by eating Tex-Mex at my all-time favorite place: Pappasito's. God Bless Pappasito's. It did not disappoint. We say goodbye to Mena, and head to Austin. Dinner with my rockstar pal and his best gal who by the way uh, is smokin hot and lovely and fabbo. And she endured a meal with my children, so that's extra points.

Friday we went on an urban hike with Auntie. We stay in a guest room in her downtown condo. Urban living is quaint and perfect in Austin. I try to explain to Auntie, "Hey this is just like the Suite Life of Zach and Cody except my twins causing all the havoc are Boy/Girl twins!" But I don't think she can quite dumb down to understand the reference. Given I know she's got chocolate stashed somewhere, I'm okay with that. I hope the manager of her building thinks it was funny. We spend the day in Austin walking and chilling by the very chic pool. My uncle g3 came with his lovely wife and we have a good time, lots of laughs. G3 has the same energy I remember when I was a little girl. He was one of the few who would take time out and pay attention and entertain us kids. So, he does so with my kids too. This time it's more fun, as I get to sit back and watch, and laugh hysterically. I am so grateful they have come to see us because I've done a lot of driving and it's so hard to get to everyone. Thank you g3! We even went to the State Capitol and Treaty Oak. Lovely day. We ended the day with a walk to get pizza with Auntie and Uncle. The kids aren't sure about all of this excessive walking. Everything is too close by. Max explains that if only it was far enough for us to drive...

Saturday we say our goodbyes to Auntie and Uncle and the urban living gig and left got kicked out and went to see my other side of the family. I get to see my other Uncle - the man my dad left to take care of me. Not an easy task, trust me. I'm actually surprised he still takes my calls and lets me in his front door. He had pay backs though - he drug my kids all over Lake Travis on a tube. We go to see more family and I get to see a cousin of mine I had not seen since I was my kids' age: seven. And yes, that's almost 30 years. She's still as stunning and sweet as I remember. It was fun to catch up.

Sunday: drive home. I'm hoping on the drive, we can stop through the FW of DFW and have a quick bite with MyDaph. We leave Austin at 6a.m. The GPS says we'll be home by 8p.m. But I know with the kids and me, we'll make several stops. I just had no idea we'd make THAT many. We average out stopping every hour. EVERY HOUR. And we do get our quick breakfast with MyDaph and her beautiful babies.
Somewhere, on the I-35 toll road, my flat tire light goes on. I call Ricardo to confirm what I should do. He says to pull over and take a look first. So, I pull over, opened the car door, and immediately hear hissing. Uh-oh. The kids were watching Harry Potter and weren't even fazed. So, I call AAA, and while I'm on the phone with them expecting, a road side assistance pulled up. For a millisecond, I think AAA maybe had upgraded their lame services. But then I realize I was on the tollway and all those coins pay for roadside assistance. The AAA guy on the phone says they'd be about 30 minutes. It was 105 degrees out and I had my two babies in the car with 5 more hours to go. I tell AAA not to bother and Jason, the lovely roadside assistance guy, puts my donut on my car for me. It's not an easy task. Thanks to the Chrysler engineers, the spare is under the car, under the driver & passengers seats. So, he has to crawl on that asphalt and under a running car. Then of course, the kids have to pee. So, they get to check toll booth bathroom. So if you've ever wondered, they have a bathroom in those toll booths. So, he gets my spare on, and told me where to find a Sam's Club in Wichita. I was only 9 miles from Wichita. We thank Jason profusely, and head to Wichita to get a new tire. I explain to the kids how how lucky and blessed we really are. It's a 13 hour drive. We are on the toll way for only 20 minutes of the entire drive. And we go 100s of miles without seeing a town nearby. All that and we roll up to Sam's Club at 5:37. They close at 6p. We really squeezed by a big catastrophe. I'm also thankful the light came on, I noticed it, and we didn't have a blow out. We get back on the road and twenty minutes later, Max announces he has to pee again. Five stops later, we end up home at 11 p.m. at night.

I think I've pressed my luck just about as far as I want to with that road trip by myself with the kids. Still, we had a ball visiting with friends and family. And even with as much fun as we had, we are so glad to be home. Tucked away in our little beds in the metropolis of a little place known as the Good Life: Omaha, Nebraska.

And so, folks, that is where I've been.

That's how I roll.
Song of the Day: I Wouldn't Need You by Norah Jones

Hey, check out how super long my hair is now! It goes into a ponytail, so it's long for me. Especially when I tilt my head back like this for this super angle. Photo by Karen Granger (family photo magician)

The other day I went to get my hair trimmed. I'm on a quest. A mission if you will - I'm growing my hair out. And if you know me - you are probably rolling your eyes and saying , "Yeah, that'll last." I have a long term relationship with many break ups and make ups of my ever changing hair. The longest time I went without breaking up with my hair - was the A-line bob. But I even ventured out many times with variations of color. Me and my hair like to experiment. Sometimes its fun. Sometimes its wrong. Very wrong. At that point, we just have to take a bit of a break from each other. That's when I just stop looking at it.

So today - I went in for a trim. It is getting longer. But these ends need a whack. I heart my hair magician. She is sweet. She listens to me and laughs in all the right spots. So when she says "Ok what are we doing today?" I know that is code for "Did you really come in for just a trim or you wanna go back to your A-line bob...again?" And my response is to always ask her to make me look like a movie star or super model. Today I chose super model:
"Well, today I was hoping you could make me look like Elle MacPherson."

"Who is that?"

Good googly. Am I that old? Elle is not that old is she? I'm sorry, Elle. Forgive my hair magician, she knows not what she speaks of, and apparently there's a bit of a generation gap.

Still, she asked what I wanted, and I spotted a picture on an ad and said, make me look like that. I was half kidding because I don't consider my hair to be long enough yet. But hair magician said she could do it. Perhaps she was making up for the whole Elle MacPherson debacle.

Mind you, I never get my hair styled at the hair magician's. But today I was going to a party. Granted, it was a five-year-old's party, but it was a party. So, let's do this. She curled it but just little waves of curl. No Shirley Temple gig or anything. And I was floored that it even stayed.
"Youre going to do all this work and it'll fall."
"I'll make it stay."
"It'll fallllllllll."
"It's so going to stay."

And it stayed! She styled my hair and I looked flipping adorable. I hope I didn't steal the show from the birthday girl. I mean, I was really really cute.

When we left the hair magician, we had a couple of errands to run before the party. The kids assumed their position in the minivan. And as usual, my best conversations with them are when they are strapped in the back of the minivan.

"Mom your hair makes you look younger from behind."
"Well thanks, Lu."
And then just for fun: "How young do you think I look?" It's a daring question to ask a seven year-old. She took some time to think about it - I got nervous.
"So I'm 36 now. How old do I look?"
Still thinking. This can't be good.
"I'd say from the back you look like a teenager!"
Wow. Do teenagers have grey roots? I'm just sayin.
"Well thanks Lucy."
"And your front looks like....."
Oh God is she calculating the wrinkle to pimple ratio? Shouldn't those just cancel each other out agewise anyways? And what about the giant pores? Dark circles? I'm very concerned with what will her calculations be!
..."I'd say you look probably nineteen."
Whew!

Today I did my own hair. No curls, just a wash and and blow dry. For fun, I asked Lucy how old I look. "Um, you look your regular age." I suppose the teenage years couldn't last forever.

That's how I roll.
Song of the day: You Make Me Feel So Young - Ella Fitzgerald

This summer has me busy crazy. I realize that I induce the crazy on myself what with teaching and triathlon training and all that. However, I'm not crazy enough to teach triathlon training. So, that's good. And really, who would pay for this: "Uh, you just swim and then bike and then run. But you can walk if you want. And really, I'll show you how to cut corners and enjoy the whole experience but you'll be able to tell all your friends you did a triathlon. It's gonna be great. Now, swim over to that cooler and grab me a beer."

I'm also trying to be present for my kids. I'm waking up early and working and grading. Still, some things I have to prepare for during the day. I suppose I could just not sleep. There's that option. But I am mortal and all. I just wish Edward would hurry up and change me already. Woops, sorry. Wrong story...

So, instead I've been waking up at times that even my father would think were crazy fairly respectable and trying to get stuff done before the kids get up. I thought it was working out well until I explained to Lucy one day what our schedule was like for the week. She informed me, "Mom, why are you always working or working out? Can't you just play with us? You never play with us anymore."

"Well, I never played with you in the first place. That's what I had twins for. So you could play with each other." I'm kidding. That's not what I said outloud.

Uh, interesting. I'm around all the time. The kids want nothing to do with me. But okay, I'll still take that little nugget of guilt you just handed me, kid.

So, since then, I've been really concerned that I'm not doing this whole motherhood gig right. I have too much other stuff going on. I can't remember what I planned for the next day. The kids are sleeping in and staying up late. I'm trying to find a good balance between chillaxing at home and letting them play with their pals and keeping them on a busy summer schedule. And none of it's working.

I've been trying to come up with the perfect schedule. But just writing that out takes too much time. I love all of the things I do. And when I'm not busy, I'm a mess. So, do I stay busy? Do I quit everything and sit and wait for my kids to play with me? Do I prioritize my time better? Do I wake up earlier?

I suppose I could just do what I've been doing for the last 36 years - multitask my ass off and hope it works. I'll just keep doing it.

I'm glad we've had this talk...again.

That's how I roll.
Song of the Day: You've Been So Good Up Til Now by Lyle Lovett