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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Feeling Awkward



Dearest Candidates,

I enjoy listening to your speeches. However, can you please not stand so close to each other while the other guy/girl is talking? It's a little awkward. McCain didn't know what to do with his hands when he appointed Sarah Palin. He was digging in his nails.

I am currently watching a Obama/Biden Ralley and Obama has his arms crossed, standing 6 inches away from Biden, staring off into space. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

I'm trying to figure out your strategy here. I think it would be much more affective if you would kindly sit down while the other person is speaking. Then you have something to do and then we don't have to watch the awkwardness of it all.

That is all. May the Love Fests continue...just not so close to each other next time.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Living Desert

In spite of the 100 degree heat, we enjoyed yesterday morning at the Living Desert. It's a really beautiful zoo and the kids enjoyed themselves immensely. We look forward to coming back when it's a bit cooler so we can truly enjoy it. Here are some pics from the adventure....

Of course, every good day begins with Starbucks.


Some of the scenery.






They had a great petting zoo.



My 2 cool cats.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hillary.


I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton. Ever.

I did however love that a woman got as far as she did in a presidential race. But between her and Obama...Obama all the way.

Fast Forward to the DNC. What Hillary has done the past two days has moved me in a way I can't quite explain. I'm blogging about it, cause trying to talk to Curtis about it didn't work. Maybe I will be more articulate with a computer.

Where before, I couldn't imagine having anything in common with her, I now feel a strange connection to her. It's like I am hurting with her. I know what it is like to lose something that is so important to you. I know what it is like to put on a happy face to a big crowd of people, and then cry yourself to sleep at night. I know what it is like to tell everyone that it is okay...when every fiber of my being was telling me that it wasn't okay. The only difference is, I didn't have to go through that with the whole world watching.

And in spite of whatever inner turmoil she may be experiencing, she has carried herself in such a positive way. She delivered an amazing speech last night. One of my favorite lines was... "My mother was born before women were allowed to vote, and this year my daughter voted for her mother for president." The gravity of that line took my breath away. Then watching her suspend the rules of the roll call today to nominate Obama for president was so powerful. I've never seen the idea of teamwork played out like that.

I'm not naive enough to think this is all a selfless act. I know every politician plans out every move. But I know enough to know the disappointment she is feeling is real. And I find that I am hurting along with her.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Fun in the Sun.

Palm Desert. Relaxation. Fun. Family. Friends.

Here's a look at what we've been up to...

Day 1.
Curtis' mom rode up with us giving us the evening to ourselves so we could enjoy a night out. Dinner at the La Quinta Cliffhouse. Perfection.

Day 2.
We hit the pool which of course had a waterslide.








That evening, Matt & Christie came up and joined us, as well as Granddad Bruce. We all went to dinner at Pacifica Seafood and had a fabulous dinner together.

Lexi helped Christie get ready.


And doesn't she look pretty now?


DaY 3.
Grandma & Granddad took the kids to the pool while we went to a timeshare presentation. We didn't buy one this time (although Matt & I had to practically drag Curtis out of there.) But we did leave with $100 each to Morton's Steakhouse.
We had a lovely dinner together that evening, and though I will spare you the details...have decided to reengage my commitment to not eating red meat ever again. Not worth the repercussions.

Day 4.
Grandparents are gone. Matt & Christie are gone. But the fun lives on. Curtis took the kids to the movie theater here on the property to watch Charlotte's Web this morning while I relaxed and watched CNN (I'm a Convention junkie). Then we played at the pool for several more hours. Took LONG naps. Had a great dinner. Got a new Camera. Relaxing.

All is well. Vacations Rock.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Dear Curtis


I miss you. I am (spa) glad you are coming home (spa) tomorrow and I'm thrilled to be (spa) going on vacation with you. The only problem is, I can't (spa) move my neck. AT ALL! Seriously...this might (spa) put a damper on things. If only (spa) there was a place (spa) where someone could rub my (spa) back and make it feel (spa) better. I'd love (spa) to be in good shape for this (spa) week. Sigh. Whatever (spa) shall I do?

Monday, August 18, 2008

Apparently We're Moving...

Riding in the car today on the way to gymnastics, the traffic report was about Orange County. Haley said, "Mom! He's talking about the Orange County Fair." Here's the rest of that story....

Me - No, Haley. He is talking about Orange County. That is where we live.
Haley - We live in Orange County?
Me- Yes.
Haley. Oh. (Silence for 5 seconds.) We're going to move out of Orange County and live in a different house somewhere else Mom.
Me - (Wondering if my daughter is speaking a prophetic word) Really? Where are we moving to?
Haley - The Red County.
Me - The Red County? Wow. I don't know where that is. Do you know?
Haley - No. But ask Dad. He'll know.
Me - Okay. I'll do that.
Haley - And I don't like the Blue County either.
Me - Oh. Good to know.

So that's it. Apparently, we are moving to the Red County. Any ideas on where that might be?

Friday, August 15, 2008

I've Scarred my Daughter.


This morning the trash truck came by. I jokingly asked Lexi if I should take her outside and let the trash man take her away. She looked at me with sad eyes and said "No mommy. No trash truck take me." Of course, I felt awful and kissed all over and said that I would never let anyone take her away.

We passed by another trash truck later in the day and she said "No trash truck take me mommy." She must have said it 50 times.

I was gone tonight. I came home and Curtis said "You've scarred your daughter....anytime she heard a truck pass by, she said "No Trash Truck take me daddy."

I am a horrible mom.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Where I've been....

3 days/Nights of a Vocal Intensive Workshop. Traumatic and Tiring. Tears involved.
1 Extremely Late Night of Karaoke & Hanging out With Hubby & Vocal Coach ( I can compartmentalize.)
OLYMPICS - Lots of Late night TV Viewing.
Moved out of the hotel and back into the house.

Where I'm going....

To bed. Naptime ROCKS.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

My hair is gone.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Well....


I went by the house today to see how are floors were coming along and oh what a surprise....there was no one there. So, moving in Friday is off. The flooring guy said there was a problem with the order. I think the problem was he forgot to order it.

I gotta keep this blog short. I need to work on changing my permanent address to this hotel.

Breaking the Silence.

My husband is out of town again. Amazing that even though we are thousands of miles apart, our minds think alike. I was thinking of posting a blog today on our house(s) situation. It's not something I talk about in detail except to a few people who don't mind hearing about it. It's all a major bummer...and I don't like dwelling in the sadness of it all. But Curtis wrote everything there is to say...so you can read the saga on his blog if you'd like.

www.antibloggerman.wordpress.com - or just click on CTEdwards over on my blog link.

The reason I was going to post this information was to simply ask for prayer. We need some closure in our lives.

Monday, August 4, 2008

PAT & SANDY O.

I have loved Pat and Sandy for 9 years now. I loved Pat & Sandy before Pat and Sandy were Pat & Sandy. Pat sang at my wedding. Pat drove my stuff in a big ol' truck from Vegas to Cali and moved me into my home and endured Curtis' bossing him around to hang ceiling fans which almost resulted in the loss of his and Bill R.'s life. Sandy made me laugh. She put up with my crazy expectations of juggling a full-time job, motherhood, and all my rehearsals when we worked together in Vegas. She loved me as her leader even though I made countless mistakes. She wiped tears from my eyes. I've wiped tears from hers. We have lived life together. We are forever friends.

When Pat & Sandy got married...one of the best things that came out of that was combining their families. Sandy has two beautiful girls that used to sit and eat their McDonald's happy meals while I rehearsed with Sandy. Now these beautiful girls come down to California every summer for a week and love on my beautiful girls. I can't begin to describe how special that is. Truly...I'm sitting here trying to find the words to tell you what it means to me...and my fingers and my mind can't find them.
So I will just say this.... I love that I have friends that I don't see all the time, but it as if time has not passed. I love that I have friends who see past all the faults that I have in my life and choose to love me anyway. Friends that are older than me and pass on precious wisdom. Friends that encourage. Friends that endure.

Pat & Sandy...Thank you for our time together last week....it was more special than you will ever know.

Here are some fun pics from the days we spent together....







Look Familiar?


Remember Willy Wonka? The first one? Where Charlie's Grandparents share a bed? Well...that's what Curtis and I have become. Once the kids are down, we retreat to our side of the suite where we lay in bed. I started giggling tonight when I realized I was on my laptop and Curtis was flipping through stations watching t.v.. and I said, "AAGH! We are SO Willy Wonka right now."

And before all my sarcastic friends send me emails about other stuff we could be doing....yeah, we've done that too. TMI - perhaps?! But I thought you should know.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

We've been told...



More days until we can move back in. That means this Friday I have to give up my 4 weeks of maid service and go back to cleaning up after myself. Sigh.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Target Mishap #2

For those of you who check in on this blog regularly, don't be alarmed. Lexi did not poop all over a Target cart again. (For those of you not so regular readers who would like insight on that story...feel free to scan the archives. It's a peach. A poopy one...but a peach nonetheless.)

No. This one is of a serious matter. It happened Monday. It's been bothering me all week.

My sister and I met at the Spectrum to go to APPLE. Side note - I went to buy an Iphone but after horrible discrimination decided I would not shop at that store nor would I buy an Iphone. So...we scurried on to Target.

We were having a nice leisurely stroll when we decided to go through the Toy aisle. I love this activity. We do it every once in a while and it usually involves me sipping a WCM from the Starbux at Target while my kids play around with all the toys. The only rule is "we look, we don't buy." So we were off to look!

We headed down the baby doll aisle when Haley said something that stopped me dead in my tracks. "I don't like that black baby." The world stopped for just a moment. I turn around calmly and say, "What did you say?" Surely, I did not hear her right. But once again, she points directly at that little black baby doll and says, "I don't like the black one...it's mean." My head is spinning. What has happened? Has she had a run in that I am unaware of? Did she see something on t.v.? Who has said something to my child that would make her say something like that? I calmly got down at her level and asked her why she thought that baby was mean and she said, "I don't know...she just is." Though inside I was speechless, I'm sure my mouth said something while my mind was frantically searching for a way to change her thoughts.

You see, up until this point, I have been surprised that she hasn't even noticed colors. She's never asked why a person looks different than her. She plays without discrimination. A kid is a kid. A person is a person. Unlike the rest of the world, I thought my child was color blind. And quite honestly, I have taken great pride in that.

Back story: My formative childhood years were spent in Tennessee and Kentucky. I remember in 4th grade having an all-school assembly to discuss the fact that two black children would be joining our school the following week and we were to be kind to them. I never understood that assembly. Why wouldn't I be kind to them? The little girl was actually in my 4th grade class. I befriended her the first day. She was gone by the end of the next week. I guess not everyone was so nice.

That day opened my eyes to a world that harbors racism, fear, and hate. I have tried to fight that since I was a kid. And though the world has changed since I was a kid, it is still there. Still prevalent. Still real.

After this conversation happened...I thought of 2 things.
1. A documentary I saw once from the 1940's - showing white & black kids choosing what color doll they would like to play with. In 2005, the same question was asked in a film called "A Girl Like Me" (totally worth a watch) and these were the results:

Davis asked 4 and 5-year-old kids at a Harlem school the same question in 2005. She found the children’s answers were not that different.

In Davis’ test, 15 of the 21 children said that the white doll was good and pretty, and that the black doll bad.

Clark concluded that “prejudice, discrimination and segregation” caused black children to develop a sense of inferiority and self-hatred.


Heartbreaking.

2. I thought of my friend Kristen H. who is a white mother with an adorable black son named Jafta and a white daughter named India. She talked once about how it is important to have multi-ethnic toys and books. She asked the question "what kind of shows do you watch with your kids?" "Are the characters diverse?" And these thoughts started running through my head.

I don't think my daughter is a racist. She loves black, brown, white, yellow, and every color in between of children that are ALIVE and REAL. But it still saddens me that she would look at a doll and make such a comment. So, I thought maybe we should work to be more diverse. I want her to look at different colors and see the beauty in them.

So I began Project Diversify yesterday. I bought Quincy one of the boys from Little Einsteins. I gave it to Lexi. He's fitting in perfectly. Haley plays with him all the time. Never has a word been said about his color. Should I bring it up? Do I not talk about it? I don't know.



Maybe the Target comment was a fluke. But it was enough to open my eyes. Reminding me to always be prepared to teach my children that "red, yellow, brown, black, and white...we are all precious in His sight."

Friday, August 1, 2008

Watch out Kobe!

Before Haley was born, I used to laugh with my friend Sarah (who is a superstar soccer playa) that knowing my luck, I would probably get a sporty kid and she would get an artsy kid. And we'd have to help take care of each other's children...becuase I definitely don't have any athletic skillz. (You only need to ask my college friends about my one soccer game or my Seapointe Friends about my year playing softball to confirm that I do in fact have no skills.) Well...turns out, I wasn't wrong at all.

Although Haley is quite a musician (she has close to perfect pitch....it's quite something). She's not interested at all in the things I dreamed of her being interested in. And by that, I mean the things I AM INTERESTED in. The biggest one being dance. I put her in a dance class once...and the teacher had to talk to me about her behavior and in the dance recital she grabbed the teacher's stuffed monkey and put it on her head and danced around so people would laugh at her.

So instead of hours sitting in an air conditioned room watching my kid rehearse a beautiful lyrical dance that would move me to tears because of her artistic abilities...it looks like I am destined to spend hours on the sidelines with a life that looks more like this....




And it looks like her sister might be following in her footsteps....


The truth is...I'm enjoying it. It's fun to learn something new. And I just love that she is happy. But it's kinda like math homework...she's going to get to a point where I am no good. Won't be the least bit helpful. Oh wait...I think she's already there!