Summer of Love

so it's either a GOOD thing or a BAD thing that I haven't blogged in so long.





BAD, cause I've been doing a lot of stuff that I should have blogged about.... but GOOD, I suppose, cause I've been doing a lot of stuff and haven't had time/energy to blog.





either way.





here at the fever, we have been experiencing the summer of LOVE. love love love, I tell you! We spent a good three weeks up in jersey, in which time we were able to see a large number of friends and family.





Each trip/visit was good in its own right. how VALIDATING to be surrounded by people you love and love you right back. When I was at susie's, the best term I can think of to describe how I felt was 'unplugged'. no tensions, no stress... (ok, maybe a TEENY bit when my kids were screaming and when we allowed our 3 year olds to sleep in the same room "cause you know what, momma? I've never sweeped in We-um's room before and we are just good friends and I am going to sweep in his wittle bed and we are going to have so much fun cause I've never sweeped over his house before..." (and so on and so on) and that first night took a TEENY bit longer than normal to get the kids actually settled and sleeping.) but seriously. no stress. there were comfortable silences, there was no urge for hoopla. ok, maybe an ass-grab here and there... but it was just a coming home of sorts. ODD, as I had actually never been IN that particular house of theirs, nor had I actually met their youngest in person... but it was that kind of home that only your heart can speak to.


I ALSO got to see a dear friend of mine from college. It had been a few years since I last saw Little Girl; collectively three children had been born since our last meeting. Marilyn is one of those people that I lost touch with during my year of puking and subsequent darkness while trying to survive Danny's first year on the outside. Actually, we had lost touch during the move to NC process; me puking and being sleep deprived just compounded the fear of rejection and lack of energy I felt in trying to reconnect.

BUT, like any good love story; we got back together, and even had the reunion hug in a parking lot to boot. Seeing HER and her children was another wave of emotion for my soul. To know and see that a friendship can withstand that much time and space without a drop of love lost... well... how can I not feel blessed?


Back in jersey, more visiting was had. we saw my brother, his wife and the kids. unfortunately not as much as I would have liked to, but the kids were still in school, which meant their incessant schedule of practices and games and meetings and homeworks were still at full blast. (side note holy CRAP I'm so glad we only have 2 kids cause the school years and coordinating schedules scare and TIRE the living bejeezus out of me)


I saw my cousin Rachel. This was one of the most conflicting visits I had while in jersey, and I'm almost glad it was one of the last ones. Rachel, as you know if you've been around here for a while, has cancer. Rachel is 3 months older than me, and by every right of our upbringing, is the closest blood-relation I have that could very well be my sister. Rachel looked like SHIT. which, in saying that.. I say with no ill will... just calling it like it is. cancer SUCKS, people. and it does NOT look good on my cousin.


She is bruised and has a yellow tone to her skin. Her hair is gone again due to this current regime of chemicals. She is weak, and walks worse than our 90+ yr old grandmother. yet.. amidst all her frailty, I saw the strongest person I could ever meet. I could never possibly encapsulate another person's will to live with words, but the mere fact I have personally witnessed it makes me re-think how I view things. Seeing Rachel reminds me how precious life and relationships are, and it really reminds me to choose my battles, especially when the relationship is worth fighting FOR.


being gone for so long made me realize how much I missed home, too. and this time I mean home as in Stepford. sure, I make fun of stepford all the time.. but this is our HOME now. and Troy was still home. now... I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I really didn't miss troy that much at first. I mean.. being in jersey was NICE. no laundry, no cooking, no cleaning... no errands. I really got a break! but by the time week 3 rolled around, I knew it was time to get back. we are truly a team of FOUR, and when anyone is out of the picture too long.. well... things just don't level out.

But the time gone was good. my parents did their usual bending over backwards to accommodate us in every fashion. speaking of bending over; I'm sure they were happy to give the knees and backs a rest after we left. not saying the kids gave them a run for their money... but they did. oh, and my coming home drunk that one night probably didn't help much either. HAH! (and we won't talk about danny's meltdown at the picnic or him throwing up all over my mom or me dropping the shower door on my foot.... that shit's just par for the course, right?)


eventually I'll sign up for the upgraded version of flickr, and I'll get all of our pictures up. that's on my list of things to do this week.

but we're back. (speaking of back; I'll go back over this post later today during naps and update with appropriate links and pictures.)

I just can't make this stuff up

I hurt my foot again.

I KNOW!!!!


the GOOD news is that the injured foot to which I'm currently referring to is NOT the foot that sustained the broken toe. no... I'm an equal-opportunity klutz, and jacked up my LEFT foot last night.


so it goes like this....


last night the kids and I went out to eat with my folks. being that Danny was a bit skoodgey the whole day... it seemed like a good idea to bring the kids home, toss their asses in the bath and put him down for the night. He's a happy boy in general.. but when the happy boy does not get enough sleep or naps too early or doesn't poop for a day or so (or even worse.. ALL of the above!) well... happy he AIN'T.


so blabbity blah... baths are done. awesome. their daddy is called, messages are left, kids are donned in their pjs, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.


I bring the kids downstairs so my mom can watch them while I assemble the bathroom back to its original pre-bath condition. To do so requires mopping up the water that had been splashed around, collecting the bath toys, removing the bath mat, then putting the shower doors back on their tracks.

so whatever.. I mop, I collect, then I get one door on. crap. forgot the bath mat. ok. remove the bath mat, time for the final door.


hmmm. hands are wet from the bath mat. I pause for a moment cause (here's the real kicker) I thought that since my hands were wet, by holding the shower doors on the sides like I normally do.. my wet hands would cause the door to slip. SO..... I look at the towel bar; debate its strength, lift it a few inches with a little shake... then figure it'll be ok, and begin to lift it the 2 feet needed to put it back on its track.


it wasn't strong enough.


faaaaaaaaaahck!!!! big plexi-glass-framed with metal door came sliding down on the bridge of my left foot. oh, I saw light; it just was different than that end-of-tunnel one. I also saw a LOT of curse words fly out of my mouth and fill the bathroom like speech bubbles on the old-school batman fights.


please do not think that I have missed the irony that I spent more time FALSELY debating the strength of the attachable towel rack to support the weight of the door than doing the SMART thing which would have been to just DRY my hands first. dumbass.


also not missed is that the jacked-up toe was finally starting to feel better (notice I did not say LOOK better) and I have been able to wear shoes for more than a few hours at a time without being in pain. and now I can't wear shoes again.


another funny point to ponder in my world of humor is that the reason why my hands were wet was from removing the BATHMAT... created, purchased and USED to make bathing the children more SAFE.


oh well. and so it goes. on a good note, the towel bar probably slowed the door enough such that I didn't actually dismember half of my foot. so yay for still having my foot. my bruised, swollen, sliced, and in-pain foot.



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New York State of Mind

so yesterday the kids and I went to visit our friends in Brooklyn.

We weren't there LONG.... only a few hours. but it was a GOOD few hours. It's hard to put in to words the sense of happy and peace I get from seeing a friend that GETS ME and that I love so much. Even harder is when I only see that kind of friend once every other year or so (or longer).

Our children played well together. it was as if they were family.. just with less bickering.

Next week we continue the trip of never-ending-love and head up to see Susie and her boys. let the good times roll, I say!


to see more of the fun from yesterday... you can FINALLY check out my pictures on flickr. I know.. I'm slow. but I'm getting there.


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PLEASE sleep til... BROOKLYN!!!

we're off to Brooklyn today to visit some friends.

of COURSE the kids were up at the butt-crack of dawn....


I'm praying that the kids take a quick nap on the way.. otherwise I may have to take a detour at the Bronx Zoo and drop the kids off to be with their behavioral kind.


just sayin'.



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Full Circle

life is funny.


ok, maybe not like funny HA HA.. just that wistful, make you go hmmmm kind of funny.


As y'all know.. I'm up here in jersey with the kids. yesterday, we went to see my grandmother. she's like 92 or something. old... very old.


anyways.. we went to her house, and as I drove there, it reminded me of all the times I used to go there growing up. it took me back to a time when I thought her back yard was the most ENORMOUS garden I'd ever seen in my life. how I'd stare with wonder at all the knick-knacks on the walls and always see something different each visit.

Seeing Rhena and Danny walk in to her house made me realize that Lion King wasn't too far off when they sang about the 'circle of life.' I saw the wonder and awe in their eyes. Even more poignant was holding my grandmother's hand as she walked out the door to the back yard. just like I hold danny's over a step. or being patient as she tried to express what her thoughts were but kept losing them mid-sentence like Rhena trying to tell a story.


I know each life must come to an end, but how frail, simple and childlike she looked to me just made me take pause. Watching my mom was tough, too. I knew she had a bunch of shit going on up there in her head and heart. But I didn't say anything. I just watched and took note. I probably shouldn't even say anything now, out of respect for the privacy of her relationship with her mother.. but it did make me want to make sure i say what I need to say to my mother in the here and now... so should we ever get to that point where I saw yesterday.. well... I guess I hope I would just hold her hand more and take in the wonder of it all.


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Bunch of ANIMALS, I tell ya!

so as promised.. here are a few pictures from the zoo.

I definitely feel like this was NOT one of my best ideas ever. I mean.. the zoo WAS enjoyable, and overall it was so nice to share the experience with my folks... it's just that the zoo is MUCH further away than I remembered. like REALLY far away. like over an hour away. which I SUPPOSE isn't too bad, but when sitting between 2 carseats (me), teething (danny), getting ready for a 9 hour car trip the next day (my folks) and being impatient in general (rhena)... perhaps taking on the zoo was a little more than I had bargained for.

no matter. we went, we had fun.

we saw animals, and even saw the creatures of wildlife. seriously.. there's nothing like going to a public place in the middle of red-neck NC to make you feel educated and slender.

Drawbacks include capturing the BACK of everyone I love in the majority of the pictures I took. I mean, sure.. I COULDA hopped the big wall to stand behind the lions, tigers and bears so I could get the FRONT of rhena's face... but.. uhhh. no.

loved the irony of Danny MOWING down on animal crackers the whole day.

Merry-go-Round was a must for Rhena.

we all did a lot of walking, and were a bit pleased to make it to this sign indicating it was all 'downhill' from there.

like I said.. it probably wasn't my BEST idea for an outing.. at least with the timing, but when I see pictures like this one below, I know that it was worth it.

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Back

Given the amount of time it's been since my last post, I should PROBABLY have a really long post stored up in my head... but to be completely honest... there's not much of ANYTHING up there these days.

I've been a complete DUMBASS lately when it comes to the calendar. seriously.. you could probably hold a big one right in front of my face and I'd still get the date wrong.. it's been that bad!!! I attribute that to having been on the road for the past two weeks, but really that's just an excuse. The bottom line is that I have been having severe focus issues. prehaps Rhena is rubbing off on me??

so anyways.. I've been on the road for the past two weeks. We took a trip up to jersey to visit the family, and it was long overdue. My neice and Godchild made her first communion (which, as you may guess.. to a CCD teacher like me is pretty awesome shit!). Other highlights from the trip include getting to see my cousin Rachie and her daughter, seeing my grandmother and Aunt Ann, Danny cutting a tooth, drinking some wine (!!!!!) with my best friend one night, and taking a mini-trip up to boston area to see my dear friend Susie, who is due with her second baby in a few weeks.

Lowlights were getting a flat tire on my way BACK from the boston area, NOT seeing my girlfriend Jody and her new baby girl, rhena waking up every day at about 5am, danny SCREAMING for a total of about 5 driving hours, and of course... having to say goodbye.

I probably COULD go into great detail of the trip, but one tone resonates through this echoing head of mine.. and that is that I am such a blessed person. I have a great family that loves me... and friends I cannot imagine being without.

and I guess that's all that really matters in the end, right? here are a few pics; enjoy. more to come soon.

Home again

hooray hooray.... we're HOME AGAIN!!!


when all is said and done, we had a nice trip to see the inlaws. This does NOT mean I'm not happier than a pig in shit to be home again, though.


Rhena was fantastic for all 14 hours we were driving home, so today she's pretty much getting the run of the house. (what's that? you want to play with the toilet brush cleaner?? oh.. ok!! just don't put it in your mouth!)


today has my plate full with going through mail, paying bills, and beginning the unpacking process. I say process, because Troy won't be helping, and I'll be damned if I try to do it all myself in one day. besides... I have to blog!! and talk to my girlfriends!!! and eat bon bons!!! (cause you KNOW I don't do shit around here like clean toilets or go food shopping or cook and feed anyone)


speaking of toilets.... can I TELL you about the bowling ball I shat out up at the inlaws???

yeah... forget me bitching about popcorn shits. I had about 10 of those popcorn nuggets stuck together and they all decided to get together and come out of my ass at the same time. repeat... AT THE SAME TIME.

let's just say I ended up pushing out a bowling ball the size akin to fred flintstone would use, (and YES... it was rock hard, that fucker!!!) and my poor hiney got a roid the size of a freaking superdome on it for like 2 days.

have YOU ever tried sitting down and making pleasant conversation with your inlaws with a bleeding superdome between your ass cheeks????

trust me.. it AIN'T pretty, and I really deserve a reward of some sorts. or a guest spot on Montel or something. SOMETHING!


In other news.. I only puked TWICE and had three wake-up-choking-on-acid-in-my-throat-nights during the week I was gone.... so that's good. at least God likes to spread out my misery, as none of the fun-fun-fun bodily events happened on the same days. Even the rupturing of mount my-ass-vious happened on a non-puke day! Perhaps a small favor for putting up with 24 hours of non-stop nascar and baseball.

and SPEAKING of Nascar.... troy and I did go out and catch a matinee. (though it cost us $16 for 2 tickets, so I'm not sure if we got matinee prices, those bastids....) but I saw the Will Ferrell Nascar movie. it was stupid, but funny. I happen to like Will Ferrell, though. crazy motherfucker. ( oh, and don't think the irony is lost on me that my one afternoon out alone with my husband during a week-long subjection to everything nascar, and we go see a movie about Nascar. I live for this kind of twisted sense of reality... (ok, actually, I don't... but you have to admit it just figures, you know?))

as for the one within.... it continues to grow. I'm looking pretty big now, and I fear my days of wearing my pink band on my ankle are numbered. Troy... in all his kindness, told me that my ass is getting bigger, too... so that's just greaaaat. oh well, more room for future superdomes, I guess.


alright. I've wasted enough time with babbling here, and I really ought to read some blogs or unpack or something. or clean out all the stuff that died in the fridge when we were gone. yeah. that would be good.


happy monday, gang!

still gone

just a little note to remind you all that the fever is still burning from afar.

I *THINK* Karley and I almost have our act together, and should be hooking up (Maybe??) while I'm up here at Troy's folks' place. time's running out, though, so we'll see.


yetserday troy and I took boogie into chicago. we went to the Shedd Aquarium, where we took a LOT of pictures and Rhena begged to "show me mow-wuh" (yes.. I DO love that she has a jersey accent when it comes to certain words...)


after the fish-o-rama (and dolphins and otters and lizards and other shits that swim) we took a cab over to the Navy Pier. we had some lunch at Bubba Gump's... which was fine enough for a chain. I don't (read can't, else it causes mass-amounts of digestive horrors) eat seafood, so I just had a burger, but I'll admit that Troy's coconut-crusted shrimp looked good.


from there we had some time to kill, so Rhena took a couple of turns on the nerry-go-round. this made everyone happy... rhena for getting to go on, me, for NOT having to go on, and Troy.. for being the hero who let her go on twice.

took a cab back to the train station and railed it back to the homestead. watched yet another game of baseball on tv, and ate some REALLY good sweet corn.

more family-visiting-boating-lollygagging on the horizon for the next couple of days, then we're going to head to Troy's brother's new house on Saturday. we'll visit with him and his fiance, spend the night, and get an early start towards NC on sunday morning.


I've only puked once since I've been here, and woken up a la momma cass style one other time. so not bad.... but we ain't home yet, ya know?

Rhena has taken to waking up SCREAMING in the middle of the night. more on that when we get home, but hopefully not... as I'm praying this is just a weird environment thing going on, and not the beginning of a new trend on our journey to the fantastic 2's. (one more month, by the way... I can't believe boogie's gonna be TWO next month!)


ok. so that's all. I'll upload more pics to my photoblog when we get home... being that blogger isn't letting me do more than the one right now.)

peace out!

out of office

yeah.. so if anyone is actually still checking this; I wanted to let y'all know we're not in stepford anymore.


I woke up at 2:30am yesterday, and finished getting us ready for the drive-o-rama that was to ensue. Thankfully, Troy drove the whole time, so I got to wiggle into a comfortable spot when the baby decided to use my stomach as a punching bag.


all went well, though, and despite dealing with Chicago traffic on a friday afternoon, we got here to Troy's folks in one piece. or three pieces, if you count each one of us.

Rhena was a DOLL the whole time, and was even a good sport when she was clearly uncomfortable after shoving a dried apple piece up her nose. no.. *I* didn't shove the apple up her nose.. SHE did.... and YES.. it did eventually come out about an hour later when she sneezed. oh, and YES... I actually did whip around in my seat fast enough so I could retrieve the apple-booger before it ended up in her mouth. two points for the momma.


I FINALLY ate at a cracker barrel for the first time in like 10 years. I had one egg, 2 pieces of BACON (thick, greasy, glorious dead pig BACON) and a biscuit, and rhena a enjoyed her pancake. The food was good enough.. far better than a MC Donalds... and I'm proud to say that despite all signs pointing toward the inevitable.. I managed NOT to throw up. again.. score points for the momma.

I DO need to explain my fascination with cracker barrel, but now's not the time, as I'm using up rhena's nap time to hide in the basement to type this. oh wait.. I MEANT to say I'm missing some non-stop baseball and nascar coverage by typing, so I ought to get back upstairs....


ought to... but yet the feet drag. (or is it fingers?) either way; I really don't want to be rude, so I'll be ending this soon.

the weather here is fucking gorgeous. (yes.. it warrants a 'fucking')... NO humidity... sun is shining... it's like only 80 or 90 out. I'm almost cold, compared to the humidity oven I've been dwelling in these past few months... but we are taking rhena outside as much as possible. Boating on the lake will also take place, and rumor has it that we're going to take advantage of free babysitting and troy will be taking me on a date while we're here.


so anyways... all is well here. pills are being taken, throwing up is not happening.... and there's an air of relaxation about the house that suggests I may even just go watch some clouds. or eat cake.

have a great weekend, gang... there'll be more when I can; though troy and I are going to try to squeeze in a day trip with boogie into Chicago to do the aquarium. and of course... maybe eat some cake.

again... two points for momma.

weekend recap

ok.. so I know we're actually about to head IN to another weekend... but I thought I'd share a few pics from this past weekend.


as I said earlier, Troy, boogie and I went to myrtle beach, SC for the weekend. it was just for overnight, but we had a good time, and really filled up the days that we were there.


On our list was much swimming (in the pool.. NOT the ocean. apparently Princess Boogercup does NOT like the ocean or sand. AT ALL.) we checked out an area called barefoot landing, which was kind of a boardwalky kind of place with a bunch of shoppes and restaurants located on some lakey area.

we ate, we shopped, we went on the merry-go-round... twice. well... *I* didn't go on it... with my track record of puking, I didn't want to risk it, cause it looked like it was spinning pretty fast.


the next day there was more swimming, a quick morning nap, then off to an area called broadway at the beach, which was similar to the barefoot landing place. we went to the Ripley's aquarium, which illicted many WOWs from rhena... had lunch at Margaritaville (yes, troy ordered the cheeseburger in paradise, and rhena's menu was a mask that made her into a parrothead) did a little more walking, then drove back home.


and now-- the pics: (more to come... I don't have time to upload them all right now)

"daddy... that wave is getting closer.... are you SURE we should be standing here like this?"

ok... this is more like it. no more of that ocean and sand shit, ok???

just a rocking the night away by the general store...

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more to come.... stay tuned

EDIT: ok, I lied. blogger's being a piece of crap, so that's all the pics you get for now.