Friends and Family

I remember in high school, my friends and I skipped an assembly and headed to Marie Calendars down the street for breakfast, which was probably pie. We laughed and talked and stayed so long we ended up eating lunch there too, (probably more pie). Those were the days. We were seniors, we were invincible, we were best friends, and we thought we'd always stay as close as were back then.

We were also naive.

I still consider them my good friends, although we don't see each other nearly often enough. Those were the days when I would rather be with my friends than my own family. But times change.

Yesterday I went to Chili's with my best friends, we laughed, we talked, we cried and reminisced for 3 hours. Other than the waitress, no one wanted to leave. We try to get together for dinner for each of our birthdays. Tomorrow is my sister Susie's birthday. Did I mention the best friends I went to dinner with were my sisters? (yes, my mom and sister in law are my sisters too). My brother came too, sweet! Like I said, times change.

Susie was only 9 years old when I got married so I missed out on watching her grow up. I had to hear about the time when my parents heard noises in the middle of the night, and found Susie trying to walk through a locked door. She announced she was on her way to Kristin's house to play. I didn't even know she was a sleepwalker. I missed out on her "New Kids on the Block" groupie phase. I never actually witnessed the kissing of Jordan or Donnie on her poster, so I can't be certain if that rumor was true, or if a certain sibling was just getting even for some unresolved sibling rivalry issues.

I wasn't there when a certain young man moved up the street and quickly became her new best friend. Years later when that same young man asked Susie to marry him, I was the one caught off guard, afterall, I thought they were just good friends.

Susie has been more like a big sister to my girls, and Chelsea looks more like her than me. She's only 12 years older than Chelsea and has always enjoyed the title of "The Favorite Aunt". She's always been the designated babysitter, and even after she was married, the girls loved to have sleepovers with Susie and Chad. After Susie had kids of her own, Chelsea became their babysitter.

Susie has always been such a happy, optimistic person. She is always making us laugh. With her tender heart and pre-disposition to leaky tearducts (in other words, inherited cryer gene) I always wondered how she could do her job without constantly losing it. Susie is a nurse and works in the NIC-U with pre-mature or sickly babies. But it's her tender heart and compassion that makes her so good at what she does. And even if she's worked a 12 hour shift all night, I've never seen her cranky or grouchy or moody. She's always been our little 'Susie Sunshine'...

...but then again, what do I know. I haven't lived with her since she was 9 years old.

Happy Birthday Sus! I love you!

My love/hate relationship

I'm in a love/hate relationship.

Actually, I'm in several.

I love/hate food. Love it going down, hate where it ends up. (usually my hips). I love a clean house, hate to clean it. I love my job, hate getting up so early to go to it. I guess this is what the scriptures mean when it talks about opposition in all things. Then again, probably not.

So I don't know why I was so surprised when I bought a new bathroom scale and fell in love with it. It has the ability to show me my weight in bold digital numbers, no more counting little lines as they bounce back and forth everytime I shift my weight. It also has the ability to tell me my fat percentage and water weight percentage. It's white and sleek and chic...what's not to love!

A minute and a few shed clothes later, I hate the stupid thing. According to my new Biggest Loser scale, I am 1% away from being in the obese category. WHAT? How did that happen? My old scale didn't tell me I was obese. In fact, my old 'watch the lines bounce between the red line' scale said I was 15 pounds less! I love my old bathroom scale. Why I felt the need to replace it is beyond me. I was lured by my love for the Biggest Loser show, by the contestants who inspire me and make me think that someday I might be able to run a marathon. I was lured by Bob and Jillian on the box, promising accurate results and a free Biggest Loser workout guide. I was lured by the Kohls early bird special and my extra 15% off discount. Stupid Kohls coupons that I love/hate. (add it to my list) They get me in trouble.

But I mostly love/hate the feeling that I now need to do something about this new revelation.

Do I start a diet that I know I'll never stick too? Do I deprive myself of life's greatest pleasures, aka chocolate, cheesecake, ice-cream, do I pay a months salary for gym fees that I know I'll never use...or do I accept the fact I'm getting older and my metabolism has slowed down, embrace my new role as Grandma in a grandmotherly body, and get real about the fact that my jeans are not all shrinking in the dryer and that pant sizes haven't gotten smaller over time, I've just gotten bigger.

The mind can be a cruel thing. In my mind, I'm still in my 20's. I still get giddy and excited when I know that Faun is coming up to go shopping with me. I still love going to Disneyland. I still like to crank my "Queen" CD up and sing and dance to Bohemian Rhapsody. I think Jacob is hot and that Donny still has it. (so do you Tary). So when I look in the mirror and see extra baggage, on the face and on the hips, it always surprises me. I don't feel the way I look. I don't know who that old person staring back at me is. In my mind I haven't aged a bit, maybe just matured or gotten a little wiser (the jury is still out).

So when my new scale boldly declared what I've been denying all these years, it was like a slap in the face. Obviously, just because the mind can stay young, doesn't necessarily mean the body will too. It's time to get off the detour of denial and get back on the treadmill of truth....

...just as soon as I retrieve my old scale. Obviously there's something wrong with my new one.
Don't you just love/hate when that happens?

It's a Girl!

Isn't she beautiful! And look, she's waving to us! She must have known proud Grandma would post this on her blog, what a ham. If the dainty fingers don't have you convinced, take a look at this!Yup, looks like it's not a boy to me!
We're thrilled! (as in Chelsea and I) Trey, who has always wanted a little brother, was a little disappointed, and Joe was happy either way. Not that a boy would have been a bad thing, I love my little man, every mom should have a momma's boy, but let's face it, girls are much funner to shop for. I can't wait to buy all the cute girly things that weren't invented when my girls where little...the cute head bands with the big flowers on them. Crocheted beanies (with the big flowers on them), and having Faun taking her picture, laying on (you guessed it) a big flower!
(p.s. click on the bright yellow 'big flower' to see what I mean, she's adorable!)
Everyone keeps telling me how wonderful it is to be a Grandma. How much more you enjoy them knowing they won't be keeping you up at night. Being able to laugh through the terrible two's and reassuring my daughter that she was just like that when she was a little girl. For me, it's like a Do-Over.

I have often wished I could go back and do things differently. Not everything, but some things. I guess I always thought I would have more time to teach them the things I wanted my girls to know. When they were little they had the desire, but I didn't always have the patience or the time to teach them, as they got older they didn't have the patience or the desire to learn. Now that they're old enough, they have the patience, some desire, but not always the time. But over the years I've gained a few things, and I'm not talking about pounds, wrinkles and gray hair. I'm talking about maturity and wisdom. I hope I'll be a better Grandma than I was a Mom.

"Top 10 things I'll do better as a Grandma"

10. Teach her how to bake cookies and brownies from scratch, not being afraid of the mess it will make and how they will taste.
9. Teach her to love the feel of warm sudsy water and good conversation as she washes dishes, convincing her it's a mini-spa treatment for her hands.
8. Letting her rumage through my fabric piles and not cringing when she cuts up my good stuff for her barbie's clothes.
7. Letting her play with my hair and practice applying make-up on me, even if we have somewhere to go afterwards.
6. Looking her in the eyes as she tells me her stories, even the ones that feel like they'll never end.
5. Spending warm days at the park, feeding ducks and playing on the swings, not worrying about hurrying home to clean the house, do the laundry, or make dinner.
4. Taking her to the pool on hot summer days to splash around, not worrying about how I look in my bathing suit; afterall, Grandma's are suppossed to be chubby.
3. Buying her ice-cream cones from the ice-cream truck, even if they are too expensive and it will probably spoil her dinner.
2. Teach her to twirl around the kitchen floor and sing to her hearts content, not caring who sees you or what they might think.
and the no. 1 thing I'll do better as a Grandma will be...
1. Don't sweat the small stuff! p.s. everything is small stuff.

And we all know that the best things come in small packages!
( so far mine is 5 inches long )