Going To The Chapel...

... and E. B.'s getting married! I have known E. B. for going on 15 years, but the last time I saw her in person was about 14 years ago. How sad is that?!? Thank goodness for email, FB, MS, and texts!

Anyway, her wedding is in August and I am going! I told the husband that I'd love for him to come if he can get the time off, but I am not about to miss this. So, today, I made hotel reservations. Stupid 800# people told me I couldn't get one of the reserved wedding rooms (they reserved a chunk of rooms together for people flying in or in the drunken -- haha -- wedding party), so E. B. called them directly and pitched a fit. I now have a KING room for a cheaper rate, on the same floor as everyone else. T/y, E!

Now, I'm trying to work on my flights. This would be fairly simple if I was just going to Fargo and back home, but I'm not. My plan is to go to the wedding, then meet my husband in S.D. to visit my parents, grandmother, and "little" sister (and to finally meet her bf!), then fly home with husband. Not sure if that's going to work, but I'm going to try...

My Princess is not coming with us for this trip. She will be staying with my mom, since that weekend is their annual camping/beach trip with their church. She's been going every year since she was 3 and loves it. She hopes next year (when she's 10 1/2) her cousin, C, can come, too. C will be almost 3 by then...

Weekend Near The Bay

"When the lights... go down... in the city..." Every time I hear that song, I think about San Francisco, as I should be. That IS what that song is about.

This past long (Memorial Day) weekend, Princess and I accompanied T, D, and C to the Bay Area for a full weekend of gaming (them) and kid-wrangling (us). The hotel we stayed at was not near much, and I didn't have a car or carseat, but we made due.

We arrived Thursday evening, checked in, and got situated. Dinner was in the hotel pub, Knuckles. C was cute, cheering for hockey (that's D's influence, being from Canada). D had a staff meeting (she worked the event, T played), so T actually put C down that night. Princess and I decided it would be best if we went down to the lobby to read until C was out. We ended up doing that every night (although the other nights, it was D that put her down).

Friday, I found the hotel's STARBUCKS (better than most I've had, btw; not a big SB fan) and had the girls share a banana. That was our morning routine (since D showered & fed C when she got up every morning). D had to work 'til early dinnertime, so D.W. came down from Vacaville (a little over an hour's drive north of where we were) and did lunch and the park with us. She even brought her "fuzzy baby". C's funny about dogs; she loves them, but only when they're no closer than 4 feet or so... Any closer than that and she gets uncomfortable. In the small amount of time we were outside, I actually got a little bit of a sunburn. Not enough to blister or be uncomfortable; just enough to be red (forehead, nose, forearms, & clavicle areas).

We got back and C went down pretty easily for her nap. What surprised me was how good Princess was at the whole process. I guess it shouldn't; she has taken care of babies before. D was off work in time to meet us for dinner, so we headed back to Knuckles. Princess decided to give C a bath to give D a break, which was cute (I got video of one of her baths).

Saturday, D only worked a little in the morning, so we waited until she was done and did lunch buffet in the lobby. D & T got me a 20 minute chair massage, too, which was fabulous! C went down soon after that, and we had a relaxing afternoon. T was done with his game by mid-afternoon, so they had a little date night while Princess and I took C back to the room and ordered pizza. Luckily, a couple of pizza joints DO deliver to the hotel! They were back in time to get C down and T was off again to go play with his friends.

Sunday was a lazy morning for us. D had to work early (and most of the day), but T didn't have a game 'til later so he hung for a bit. I wanted to take the trolley to downtown for shopping and walking around (since there were no playground parks within easy walking distance - both were on the other side of the freeway & difficult to get to), but since C was napping, we didn't make the 150p. That meant we had to wait until 350p... I told T what we were doing, and after some back and forth, he asked us to stop by his gaming room before we left. That actually made us late, so we had to wait for the next one, 45 minutes later. Argh. That gave us only 45 minutes to shop before we had to get back on the trolley to make it back to the hotel by 6p.

I could have stayed in downtown all afternoon. Had we made the 150p, I would have been absolutely content. We basically had time to hit one women's clothing boutique (didn't buy), a baby boutique (bought a couple things, including a nice necklace for Princess as a "thank you" gift), and Baby Gap (bought a couple things there, too) before we had to go. However, I wasn't about to miss In 'n Out for dinner, so that was fine. After we all ate together in the big room T & his buddies were gaming in, there was an awards ceremony. T & D both won a little something, so yay for them! Their friends, M. S. and C. S., also won some stuff. M. S. paints miniatures; I've seen some of her work. She's really good. So is D, though...

That turned in to a later-than-usual night for C, so it actually took D about an hour to get her down. D was super-exhausted and was planning on going to bed early, but I kept her up talking. I love my SIL very much and am so very glad T has such an awesome wife (& daughter, of course).

Monday, D worked a little bit after getting C up and ready for the day. T, Princess, and I packed up most of our things and headed downstairs to meet their friends (and D; turns out she got off work in time to come eat with us). We planned to hit MAX'S (a diner practically across the street) for breakfast, but found out they were closed; darn holiday! So, we all traipsed upstairs to the atrium for breakfast.

During breakfast, I chatted a little with M. S. and found out since I'm T's sister, I'm "in". HAHA! Cool. I've been accepted! Actually, that was nice.

Highlights of the weekend include:
1. C saying my & Princess's names. Actually, her toddler-speak is very understandable for the most part. The funny part is how quickly it came back to me.
2. The chair massage.
3. Shopping in downtown.
4. In 'n Out Burger.
5. D.W.'s visit, even though it was short.
6. Being trusted with the care of my niece.
7. Being invited back next year.

Mother's Day Weekend, 2009

For me, "Mother's Day" actually started the Tuesday prior, when the Princess, the husband, and I went to the craft store. They went off in one direction, and I went off in another. I was in search of card-making supplies. I am not what you'd call "crafty" (although I do have an artistic side), but I was watching a morning news program and they had a very simple "recipe" for making cards for mom's day. Since I have two moms, I thought I'd enlist the help of my daughter.
We got home from the store and started working. I have one set of specialty "craft" scissors (in a wave design), and had bought three types of card stock, stick on flowers, and stick on "mom" decorations. Took us most of the afternoon, but we got them done, and I was proud of our work.
Wednesday, she brought me not only a marigold plant, but also a cilantro plant. They are now sitting in our garden window in the kitchen.
On Friday, the Princess brought home a cool placemat she made for me. She drew photos, wrote little things, & colored/decorated a piece of large white construction paper, which her teacher attached to a slightly larger piece of purple paper and laminated. It now sits at my place on my table. Later that afternoon, we picked up mom from the transit station and went to the Princess's school for their "Spring Fiesta", where we had Mexican food and got to hear a live Mariachi band!
Saturday, I worked, then M and my mom replanted my flower box at work! After a quick trip to the Farmer's Market, she had a game. Their team lost by points, but she pitched the second inning, and struck out two players. In our eyes, that makes her a winner. We had a birthday party to attend after that, so by the time we made it home, we were exhausted. We had chili cheese hotdogs and salads for dinner because I was just too dog-tired to cook much. It had been a long day; I was up since 7am and went to bed (early) at 10pm.
Sunday, Mother's Day, I got to sleep in. When I got up, we made my mocha and vegged on the couch 'til the husband got up. I did hardly anything that day; it was my day. Dinner was Spaghetti Factory with some fam -- T, D, and C were in town (surprised mom), so there were seven of us. Good visit (even if C did prefer M's company to anyone else's!). When I got home, M gave me a third gift (one that my husband helped her with -- hence, the craft store trip). She had made me a key chain that says "MOM ROCKS" in beads. I love it!
Every year, I am reminded just how much my daughter loves me. It's not the gifts (although, I do like the thought she puts behind them); it's that I get to watch her grow. I get to see, every step of the way, who she is as a child, and a glimpse of who she'll be as an adult. I have questioned some of the choices others have made in her name. But, I will NEVER question any choice I've made. She is an angel, a blessing, and my not-so-little Princess, and no one can ever take that, or her, away from me.

Some Things Come In Threes

1. About two weeks ago, I tripped over my dog. Now, I trip over her on a pretty regular basis (she's black, and follows me everywhere), but this one took the cake. Her favorite spot while I'm on the computer is up against the recliner to my left (which sits about a foot from the desk chair -- yes, I have a small house). My typical move is to spin to the right, and get out of the chair. For some reason, my brain wasn't functioning properly (my brothers should be familiar with this concept), and I decided to spin to the left, instead. So, I spun to the left, stood up, and proceeded to fall into a stack of large Rubbermaid containers filled with clothing (I had just gotten done going through them and reorganizing; they are my daughter's too-big clothes). One of my artificial nails popped off (ow) and I fell to my knees (major ow). I lay there for a good couple minutes while my husband took my coffee mug & cell phone off the floor & set them on the table.

I then decided it would be a good idea to just sit down, so with my husband's help, I got settled on the couch and he brought me some ice packs. There I stayed for two hours or so. By the next day, my knees were both swollen to the point where there were no indents at the knee cap and I was purple & green. Over the next few days, I turned more colorful, and realized I had lost feeling in my left knee. I have since gained most of the feeling back, I am no longer swollen, and the bruising is all gone. As bad as it all sounds, it could have been worse. On the other side of the Rubbermaid containers is our CD rack. It's one of the types that are tall, have four sides, and rotate. Had the containers not been where they were, I would have fallen right into that rack, and probably would've whacked my eye to the point that those who didn't know better would think my husband beat me...

2. About a week ago, I was switching out our sheets (flannels for summer whites). We have a nice cedar chest in the closet in our bedroom (remember I said we have a small house?). I pulled it out just a little; enough to open the lid (it's on hinges and has a nice decorative latch in the front) partway. I lost my grip on the latch while my hand was still partway inside and scratched up my inner left wrist. A scratch wouldn't have been a big deal, except I happened to also catch one of my veins on the latch, too, so it was bleeding a lot. I got it all cleaned & bandaged up, but had to change the bandages because I bled through. After that, I made sure it was cleaned & I put Neosporin on it twice a day. I will probably have a scar from that one...

3. Finally, I stabbed myself in the wrist (right side this time) with a nail from my very-old-&-needs-to-be-replaced deck. Our other dog (the blonde one) likes to crawl under the deck on occasion. She gets muddy under there, though, so we try to keep it blocked off (yes, the deck will get ripped out soon, and replaced with something else -- smaller deck and flagstone perhaps). The husband & I were out there discussing tentative plans for the yard (small raised produce area, outdoor seating, bbq area, etc), and I noticed one of the boards he had put against the underside of the deck had come undone & was just laying there. I turned it upright and pounded it into place with my hand... and got stabbed in the wrist. Hmmm, perhaps I should check these things first, huh?

I had to work that day, but only for an hour, so I called my doctor's office. I couldn't remember the last tetanus shot I had had, so thought I may need one again. She called me back and said my last one was in 2005, so since I got hurt, I should come in to get another one. For the record, the doc said if you have no issues (ie: don't get stabbed with a possibly rusty nail), you can go 7-10 years in between shots. If you do have an issue come up, they recommend 3-5 years; therefore, I was due. She asked me to come in when I was done with my client, which I did. The nurse has been my nurse for 5 years (Melissa), so when I got in the room, she goes, "What in the heck did you do?!?!" I told her the story, and she couldn't stop laughing.

I really do hope bad things happen in threes, 'cuz I'm done being hurt for a while!