How can it be possible? Our little girl is all dressed up to go to prom. It may not be her prom...her day will be soon enough! The boy invited her about a month ago. He arrived with yellow roses the day he came to ask Grace to the prom....sweet? Yes. Kodak commercial? Yes! Our little girl was asked to the prom...by a boy she knows from the winter ski bus.
It's prom day. It's time.
At the hair salon. Not the 1st hair salon with the crazy appointment time....12:30p.m. Yes. 5 hours before prom. Wait. No. Cancelled.
Really. The ONLY appointment! The prom is at 7p.m. Called another salon...and another...and another. Uh oh.
Grace was calm. We decided I could handle the curly locks pony tail that she wanted. No problem. Until I realized the mother daughter hair involvements I've lived through over the years. I called some salons in post prom towns. Score! 4:15!
I had just told the kids my traumatic story. The horror! Scarred for life because of my mom .....taking picture after picture of the wrong girl at a rather important 6th grade event. On the night before the momentous occasion, my mother curled my hair with pink foam curlers...lots and lots of pink foam curlers. My hair was so curly the next day...my own mother, the same woman who had given birth to me...only 11 years before...took pictures of the wrong girl.
I waved. Quietly. It didn't seem appropriate to create a scene. Mom. Mom. Hi mom, it's me...over here. When the film was developed, we had a whole roll of the other 11 year old...you know, the 11 year old with the straight hair. Maybe 2 pictures of me.
Issues? Who? Me? You betcha. I couldn't. let history repeat itself. Off we went to the 4:15
Prom Prep. Yup. Me....sewing. Just saying..just a little pressure...prom dress...the TOP of the prom dress...for our little girl. Yup. Uh huh. Hmmm. It's probably a good idea that the top of the dress stay ON! Pray for us! For real.
T.J. and I were just sitting. Quietly. Chatting about the simple stuff. No agenda. No rush. Just sitting. Cats. Dogs. Biff passing by. Stopping. Talking. Sitting. Grace singing. Pausing to listen. Sitting. Me. Biff. T.J. Grace. Dogs. Cats.Petting. Cell phones. Messages. Chatting. Facebook. Chatting. Commenting. Laughing. Comfy. Calm. Quiet. Family.
It is! That's what Mr.O told our friends long ago. Those words of wisdom, so simple, are words to remember. When things (or people or boyfriends or vacation rentals or jobs) look too good to be true....we don't like to question things.
We deserve good things and good people! We're having fun. Life is good. No. Life is great! It's all so intoxicating...we're living the dream. Finally. We think it's finally our time...our big break...our chance...our true love...that we've waited for so long.
Until...a shoe drops. Clunk. On our head..or heart...or paycheck. It's not until the clunk on the head that it all clicks....like a jigsaw puzzle. The pieces all begin to fit together. Little by little...we become acutely aware that there were clues that we eithee ignored or dismissed. Clunk. Click.
I'm watching another Dateline NBC story about a woman who married her "soulmate," a successful, well-educated,highly regarded surgeon,romantic, wealthy, genius...that's just the tip of the iceberg...or the click of the puzzle piece. I HAD to watch. The setting of the story...Greek Islands...Yacht...bikini blonde...billion dollar doc....and when she woke up, he was missing. Gone. Adios. Sionara.
Mr.O's words of wisdom...the words that follow the words, "by-the-way," are usually followed with unpleasant news.
By the way, if your lover, newly married bride or hot date is invited to vacation or honeymoon on a yacht, cruise or scuba diving, don't do it. They always end up dead..or they are leading a double life. "By the way," if it looks too good to be true.....it is.
Why is it so clear when we see other people falling? I guess we all learn in our own time. By the way, I hate when that happens.
My grocery shopping extravaganza...in reverse order. Just an average day.
20**Delicious steak and fabulous salad is served! Oops..how did I forgetting the potatoes?
19**Started grill.
18**Carried ALL of the groceries into the house. No way would I let Fitz get our steak and Twizzlers.
17**Drove off...thinking about the nice people out there.
16** So nice. The lovely woman thought it was her car. I confessed it was mine.
15. Nice woman in the next parking space stops to pet Daisy and Fitz. She asked if her car alarm scared my dogs.
15**Finally quiet.
14** Apologized to dogs for the whoop whoop noise.
13**Ran out to car, put key in to stop whoop whoop whoop blaring noise!
12**Found keys in little hand basket under checkout counter.
11** Run to checkout. nope. salads.nope. meat department. nope. magazines. nope. cereal. nope.back to cashier. to customer service.Run back into store to find keys while car alarm whoops!
10 **Get outside to car with no car keys....dogs in car...windows open a bit....stuck arm in and unlocked car. whoop.whoop. whoop. whoop. whoop. whoop. Good Samaritan leaves in a hurry when alarm started whooping.
9*** Nice gentleman asks if I need help with my car door. Hung up on friend.
8**Walk out to car with groceries, chatting with old friend on cell phone, I realize I have no car keys.
7**Take the little basket for shopping since it will be a quick shop..salad, steak, cereal. and uh, oh yeah ...replacement Twizzlers...I'm in the mood. After these, I probably won't want them fir months!
6**Run into store
5** Leave all car windows open a bit for doggies. Tell Daisy and Fitzy that I'll be right back.
4**Nice parking space...dogs have a nice location for people watching.
3**Drive to grocery store, sunroof and all windows open...singing to an old "Boston " song...no kids in car to complain about my "old school" music. Dogs happy with the wind blowing their beautiful golden fur...and mine too.
2**Get in car with the dogs in the back seat. Start off to grocery store.
1**T.J. and I were talking about dinner. I asked what he was I. the mood for...we settled on steak on the grill for tonight. Better get out to the grocery store.
Yes. It's me. This is my life.
Biff poked his head in the door just moments after he walked out the door to drive off to his office......he quizzed me, "Just as a reference point, how many Twizzlers were remaining in the pack you left in the car?"
Uh oh. Fitz has been out in the car(her crate? no. more like her condo)...oh no...she didn't? ...yes she did!
She just digested her big gummy blue sharks! Just! Just! And her we go...3/4 pack of twisty twizzlers. Mmmmmwwwaaaaooooo..Blech!
Biff poked his head in the door just moments after he walked out the door to drive off to his office......he quizzed me, "Just as a reference point, how many Twizzlers were remaining in the pack you left in the car?"
Uh oh. Fitz has been out in the car(her crate? no. more like her condo)...oh no...she didn't? ...yes she did!
She just digested her big gummy blue sharks! Just! Just! And her we go...3/4 pack of twisty twizzlers. Mmmmmwwwaaaaooooo..Blech!
Connected from the beginning. I was blessed to have her love. I miss her everyday. I treasure the memories.
Half a cup? No. Have a cup! Pick out your favorite cup...it's your special mom cup...to take home.
Everyone was confused. I have collected lots of pretty cups over the years. It's a nice time to share....with other moms... as a little Mothers Day treat to ourselves. Moms have to take care of each other, look out for one another. The business of motherhood is tough stuff. We have to stick together...to learn from each other ...mistakes and all!
Have a cup!
All of the goodies are on the table. Strawberries, grapes, crumb cake, croissants, sugar, milk, juices, sparkling water ...and it's time to make the coffee. The fresh grounds are on the counter next to the Keurig Coffee Maker...so easy. Friends will be arriving anytime after 9. It's time for my coffee...I'll have that in hand so noone has to wait for their morning jolt. My coffee with a splash of milk is perfect.
Mari arrives...big hellos and hugs! We haven't seen each other in ages. I find a spot on the windowsill for the Aloe Vera plant Mari brought.
Prepare the Keurig for Mari's morning wake up call. We talk while we wait...patiently. We have lots to catch up on. Hmmmm. Her cup is half full....literally ....and metaphorically!
Half full coffee in the morning in a coffee drinker's world is definitely half empty. We panic.We laugh. The Keurig? The fancy pants coffee machine? NO! Let me get this straight. I've invited a million moms for coffee...alright, maybe 10 or so.....and I have NO working coffee maker! Giggling ensues.
Thankfully, I've invited my neighbor over too. She's home all morning and planning to come. I call her. Hi...remember how I invited you for a little Monday morning post Mother's Day coffee? Yes. Would you have a coffee maker that I can use? Yippee! You saved the day! GOOD MORNING MOMS. Mom's can handle anything!
Last week. My idea.... coffee...our house...some other moms. Just a fun way to get together with some of the fabulous moms I've met over the years, thanks to our kids.
It seems we never have time to just chat. It's time to chat tomorrow....it's late...I'm tired...exhausted from roller blading with Biff. I'd better start cleaning up around here...vacuuming, windexing, sweeping and putting out some coffee cups....and pretty napkins...and some flowers...and some trays.
I'm not trying to impress them....I'm just hoping to be able to let them in the door. Once they get in the door, I'm hoping to avoid the possibility of someone tripping over flip flops or topsiders or rain boots or a dog bowl or a dog leash...or a dog! A mother's work is never done...literally.Happy Mother's Day.
Yes it's true! Breakfast in bed. The all time number one Mother's Day dream come true. Sort of. Kind of. Maybe. Almost.
As Biff entered the bedroom followed by Grace and T.J., he and I gave each other a knowing nod.
It was a sweet moment. Here we are all together on the morning of the day we all celebrate our mothers....a day created by Hallmark. A day of forced loving and giving...ahhh....a lovely spring day created for the moms of America...that causes more stress than a house full of monkeys!. The right card from Hallmark, the perfect Zales diamond gift, perky flowers from FTD and dinner out with the whole family at Red Lobster or Olive Garden...at least, that's what the commercials suggest.
As the kids get older, their enthusiasm fades for the precious attempt to serve the ultimate surprise for mom, waking up early for the kitchen whirlwind of adventure making burnt toast slathered with butter and gobs of jam....lukewarm coffee with grounds clinging to the perimeter of the mug, a wilted flower yanked from the garden placed in the most treasured wedding gift handed down for generations..... hand colored cards on construction paper with giant hearts and misspelled words...all on an unsteady tray....hopefully all with supervision of their dad, overtired and overwhelmed by the sunrise surprise party for mom. The reality for most moms I know....is a very strained day...since the commercials have insisted that good children in nice families are publicly displaying their love and affection...dammit!
Teenagers would most likely prefer sleep rather than saccharin smiles so early in the day but they know the drill by now...so they rolled out of bed for their required performance.
We all laugh at ourselves. Its clear that dad pulled it together while the kids caught a couple more winks. We take a few moments sitting in the tousled comforters to look back at so many other magical Mother's Days. I look at our family...squished together...as I sip my lukewarm coffee and bite my burnt toast....and I couldn't be happier. This is my new magic! The burnt toast couldn't be better. I'm so grateful to be s so blessed as a mom.
I wore this ring yesterday. Grace looked astonished," oh my gosh...it's so tacky. I can't believe you wore that!"
Tacky? Perhaps. Just a tad tacky. She bought it with all of her love and enthusiasm. Grace was 9., old enough to want to take on her own gift shopping. She asked Biff to take her to Walmart to select her gift. She knew it immediately ....this was it!
I said thats partly why it's so special. "you were so proud that you picked it out yourself." "But mom, it's so cheesy. I'm sorry."
"That's why I love it.That's what makes it so special! That's when you loved me!" We both laughed. Priceless!
