Ladies Who Lunch

My best friends (Pam) little sister (Katie) got married in a small ceremony in Colorado in June. Us folks who have known and loved Katie for years didn't get to celebrate with her. Katie came into town this week and Pam arranged a lunch for all of us.

I drove down to Phoenix to spend a few hours with these ladies.

It was a great restaurant, but what I loved was the dessert. Little shot glasses and we got to pick which one we wanted. Is it wrong that I wanted one of each?

I chose red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum. I'll toast to that.

Then we gave Katie some gifts.

And one last photo of the ladies after lunch.

It was a great afternoon. I love spending time with the girls and we didn't even talk about kids the whole time!

Real Housewife of Prescott Valley

I've mentioned before that Noah copies everything I do. From combing his hair to folding the clothes, he mimics me. I wrote about it a few months ago here. I'm seriously turning this boy into a housewife.

But now he is even helping in the kitchen. He even wears an apron because David and I usually do. So, he'll go to the apron hook in the pantry and have a fit until we put it on him.

By the way, David is making Philly Cheese Steaks. You get any meat, pound it out, grill it up, melt some provolone on some bread, add some grilled peppers and onions. Yum. I like a little A-1 on it too.

But, Noah doesn't eat that. He just has pasta. I think he needs his own apron.

 

He also helps vacuum the floor. He even holds the cord because I do.

 

He's great at using the Swiffer.

If you are interested in hiring him, just let me know. Although, he usually makes more of a mess then he cleans up, but with this face, who cares?

How Could We Forget.

We all think about what if's in our life. What if I took a different route to work and was in an accident? What if running back in the house to make sure I unplugged the curling iron meant that I avoided an accident? What if I was never on Match.com and saw David's profile and sent him an e-mail. What if, what if, what if....

A year before 9/11/2001, my best friend Pam and I took a wonderful trip through the New England states. We did all the tourist stuff.

In Boston, we took part in a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party.

In Vermont, we went to the Von Trapp Family Lodge. Pam loves The Sound of Music. Thank God we got there on a Wednesday because every Tuesday, they have a sing along. Dang, just missed it.

We went to the Ben & Jerry factory in Vermont and paid our respects to the ice cream flavor graveyard.

We had lobster in Maine. We had no clue what we were doing with a whole lobster. But when in Maine...

We went to The Statue of Liberty and took an audio tour of Ellis Island and saw some of my relatives names on the wall.

Like the Travelocity garden gnome, we brought a little Jessie doll from Toy Story and took her everywhere with us. She posed on the back of a Harley in Boston. The troll with her belonged to the biker.

She soaked up some sun on a rocky beach in Acadia National Park in Maine.

And here she is on the top of the World Trade Center.

A year before they crumbled, Pam and I stood on the very top of one of those towers. After 9/11, I've thought about that day. How cold and windy it was at the very top. We were outside, no glass room, you take some stairs above the observation floor and you are literally outside. I believe it was just a railing, and you could feel the building gently sway a little with the breeze. Honestly, it was freaky. We got one quick photo of Jessie and got back inside.

I've obviously had some what if's since then. What if the terrorists were ready for attack 14 months earlier? What if I were on top of that building when a plane hit it? It was so early that I don't think any tourists were on the top of building, but what if it had been later... what if, what if, what if...

Ten years ago, I was in a very different place. I was 27, dating and thought I'd write a book one day about my adventures called "Single With No Dependents". That didn't happen. I went down a different path that led me here. Now, I blog about my kids. I don't question my life at all. I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.

And, I'm grateful.

David and I talked about 9/11 and decided not to tell the kids yet. One day we will tell them or they will see pictures and ask. When we get on a plane for a trip, Ben truly thinks he is a superhero and he's flying. He'd rather look out the window the entire trip and listen to the engine instead of watching a movie. I don't want him thinking about terrorists and if our plane is going to end up in a building. He's 5, let him pretend to be a superhero for a few more years.

David's family is in the early stages of planning a family reunion next summer in Canada. I did some checking on flights and pricing. I found out that I could actually get a free flight with my US Airways miles. Unfortunately, that would mean David and the kids would probably take another airline because they have cheaper flights. And I absolutely refused to even think about getting a ticket on a different flight. No how, no way. If something happened to them...

And that's how things are different 10 years later. Those thoughts are always in our minds. Is it fear? Or loss? Both? We don't need to be reminded to never forget. Seriously, there is no way we ever could.

Around Our House

We moved the airplane teeter totter to the backyard when we got our carpet. I think it's staying out there, but we'll move it to the grass in a month when we stop mowing. The teeter totter got thoroughly cleaned in a downpour we had last weekend, hail and all.

The kids don't want to sell the teeter totter, but they don't want it moved back in the house either. They are having too much fun playing dodgeball with their Dad in the big open room.

But David made up some rule that they have to sit in jail (the step) when he pegs them with the ball, which happens about every 5 seconds. David doesn't believe in taking it easy on the kids. The kids (Ben especially) don't like jail.

Yesterday, the kids found the biggest spider I have ever seen. They said it was yellow. So, I had to go check it out. Yep, yellow and it looked like a crab.

I have never seen such a thing, but apparently there are crab spiders according to google. Who knew? Emily thought it was half human, half spider. Ben thought (or hoped) it was radioactive like the spider that bit Spiderman. I thought it looked like the King of all spiders, so we had some fun and fixed up that little spider.

The kids thought that was hysterical.

Noah's new favorite thing is to bring me Barbies and tell me "off". He wants their clothes off. Then, he sits and admires them. Pervert.

He's definitely a butt man and likes both blondes and brunettes. Good to know.

Groove

Last year in August, Noah turned one. I tried to put on my wedding ring and it wouldn't fit. You can't use baby weight as an excuse when the baby is walking. I was about 20 pounds over my honeymoon weight, and I was not going to get my wedding ring resized. I absolutely refused. But, I didn't want or have time to exercise either. I know, I know, everyone always says, "you need to put yourself on the top of the list", blah, blah, blah. I had three kids at home under the age of 6. My needs were not on any list.

So I cut back where I could. I love dessert and eat something sweet every day. Instead of 2 cookies though, I have one. Instead of two scoops of ice cream, I have one. You get the idea. Then, I made a small change at dinner. When I go to put that last scoop of pasta or mashed potatoes on my plate, I put the spoon down. And when I think I filled a bowl with enough fruit or vegetables, I'll add a few more. That's it. Easy enough right? I've lost over 15 pounds in the past year and I'm happy to say my wedding ring slips on my finger like the day we got married.

My 20 year high school reunion is next month (not that I'm going) and I'm a size 8. I'm cool with all that. But, lately I've just been feeling blah. Noah is a difficult child and had he been our first, he would've been an only child. I love him of course, but the kid is sucking the life right out of me. I hear, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." honestly about 200 times a day. There he goes right now. Ok, he wanted orange Tic Tacs. He'll be content for about 60 seconds. The truth is I don't want to be a Mom every second of every day. Sometimes, I just want to be Gina.

Is that bad to say? I don't think so. One day, my children will move on and yes, I will always be their Mother, but I'm so much more. If I don't tap into that other side of me every once in awhile, I'm going to look around in 20 years and not recognize who I am.

Back to finding my groove...I've never been a huge exerciser. I always enjoyed the more social aspects of exercising, hiking a mountain with my best friend Pam or playing racquetball with my friend Katie. I never exercised because I wanted to. I exercised because I had to, as in had to look good to find a husband. I had bought a treadmill after I met David. We were training for a half marathon. I got pregnant just in time to get out of running it, but I got up to running 8 miles at one point.

There's Noah again, "mommy, mommy"...more tic tacs...

I don't have any time to exercise anymore and haven't in years. It's probably been 4 years since (dang, Noah's back and I'm out of tic tacs) since I've got my heart rate up and seriously broke a sweat. David and I were watching Dexter (the best show ever) the other night and he was running on a treadmill. And I wanted to jump up and start running too. But it was 10:00 at night and our treadmill is a coat rack.

I thought it was a fleeting moment and a few days later, I wouldn't think about it anymore. But, I was wrong. I want to exercise. I want my muscles to be sore and I want to sweat. I want to challenge my body and work my muscles. In order to find time to exercise, I took something off the daily list. Cleaning the bathrooms. They will still be dirty tomorrow and possibly the day after that, and I don't care. I want to put myself on the list right after load the kids up in the carpool and before start the dishwasher.

Today I did.

I found my sports bra buried at the bottom of the lowest dresser drawer. I dusted off my running shoes and the treadmill and moved the toys out of the way. I made a playlist on my Ipod with some of my old running music. I got Noah all situated with Barney and I was off...

I didn't kill myself. I ran when I wanted to run and I walked when I needed to walk. 32 minutes later, sweat was running down my spine, I was out of breath and I felt great. Noah did good too. He'd look at me and smile and I'd smile back. I think he knew that I need this. I need to do something for myself everyday.

And somewhere between the Counting Crows Mr. Jones and U2's The Sweetest Thing, Gina started to get her groove back. It felt fantastic.

Pants On The Ground

As Emily has grown, she has followed sizes exactly. When she was a year, she fit in 12 month clothes. At 2, she went to 2T. Her third birthday brought 3T clothes. And she is still following that pattern. She just turned 7 and most of her clothes are still size 6, but if I'm buying something new or for the winter I'll by a 7/8.

So, imagine my surprise when my boys are just the opposite. I forgot Ben's swim trunks this summer on vacation. No problem, Ben (whose 5 1/2) wore Noah's 18 month swimsuit. Sure they were a little on the Daisy Duke side, but they fit fine in the waist. He looked like a European in short shorts. Shirts are another story though as anything not a 4 or 5 shows his belly.

Noah just turned 2. He's completely caught up on the growth chart and is an average size for a 2 year old. I went through his closet and took down some new outfits that I had been waiting for him to grow into. There was this really cute Calvin Klein outfit that Grammie Gwynne bought for him. It's a size 2T. The shirt will definitely fit him. The shorts, well, not so much.

He fits in well with teens today.

And if you've never seen the audition of Larry Platt on American Idol singing "Pants On The Ground", you should watch it here. Funny stuff.

I imagine Noah will be able to wear the shorts in another few years. No worries though, we found someone else who fits in them perfectly.

Differences

We don't leave our kids for overnight trips often. In fact, the last time we were both gone for 1 night was when Noah was born over 2 years ago. So when we told the kids we were going to Phoenix for the Diamondback game last Saturday, they weren't thrilled. They like consistency and having us at home.

Emily and Ben dealt with the idea of us leaving differently. Ben immediately drew a picture of us and put it on his dresser, so he could look at us and not be sad. I must say that this is a stunning resemblance to what my hair looks like first thing in the morning.

Emily, on the other hand, gave us a picture of herself and told us to put it up in our hotel room so we wouldn't miss her. Then, she cried a whole bunch.

I love the differences between boys and girls. And I totally think I should give David a little mohawk like in the picture next time I cut his hair.