Good News . . . I'm feeling better.

Bad News . . . My voice still sucks and I can't do two of my favorite things, laugh and sing.

I'm not posting much because the Real Housewives of Orange County are on and I've got to watch.

More about that tomorrow . . .

Well, I now know I should have no problem posting over the next couple of days . . . I have no voice.

I started feeling the cold early last week. After 2 days of taking Zicam (which is my new best friend), I stopped assuming the cold would not be nearly as severe as what the rest of my family had dealt with.

I was wrong!

Friday wasn't so bad . . .

Yesterday was fine, but I could feel my voice slipping a little by the evening. Of course we had a big to-do planned with some friends of our so I spent the rest of the night talking. We had a great time, but by the time I went to bed, I knew I would be hoarse today.

One problem . . . out girl scout troop had a planned outing this afternoon for Thinking Day (A BIG deal in the GS world) and we were representing the country of France.

Good news . . . the other girls had a great time and we won an award for the best craft project! Who knew making a model of the Eiffel Tower with marshmallows and toothpicks would be so popular? So popular that we had to make 2 emergency trips to the store to buy more toothpicks and paper plates (for the base).

Bad news . . . I had to make 2 trips to the store (one in the pouring rain), my voice was gone within the first hour, and my darling daughter spent nearly a half and hour under our table because she was tired and crabby after having stayed up until 11 last night.

To complicate matters, Kid #1 and #3 decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at each other's throats.

So now I have no voice, a throbbing headache, and Mr. Monthly has finally arrived.

At least I got to watch the Academy Awards with very little interruption . . . in between the yelling and screaming of all three kids.

So we'll just see how tomorrow goes . . .

I know . . . I know . . . it's been a while since I've posted. But in between a sick family (myself included), Girls Scouts, Basketball, etc. I haven't had much time to do anything much less keep this thing up.

I've also been messing with the layout of this thing and have been getting increasingly frustrated with it. There are some things I just can't figure out.

Now on top of that I'm being interrupted by Kid #3 because he can't understand why he can't drink strawberry soda and quarter to 10 in the morning!

So hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things this week.

We'll see . . .

I borrowed this from KELLY . . . I'm suprised at how much I remembered . . . I mean it has been almost 14 years!

Have fun with it! :)

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Marriage Meme

1. Where/how did you meet? Very long story, but basically we've known each other all our lives.

2. How long have you known each other? First picture of us together, Christmas 1971 - I was 1 he was 4.

3. How long after you met did you start dating? 16 years.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? Almost 4 years.

5. How long was your engagement? 2 years.

6. How long have you been married? 14 years come June.

7. What is your anniversary? June 19th

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? I have no idea . . . maybe 150.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? A 3-tiered cake, alternating white w/strawberries and chocolate w/grand marnier.

10. Where was your wedding? San Rafael, California.

11. What did you serve for your meal? We had a buffet with all sorts of appetizer type stuff.

12. How many people were their in your bridal party? 4 on each side

13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes.

14. Did you or your spouse cry during the ceremony? I bawled, he choked up.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? Dancing our first dance.

16. Any funny moments? Apart from my 2 yr old niece wandering around the altar during the ceremony and almost knocking over some candles . . . no.

17. Any big disasters? Okay, so the above answer COULD have qualified for this . . . if had it ended differently.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Drove up the Northern Ca. coast stopping at different B&B's along the way.

19. How long were you gone? 10 days.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Absolutely nothing.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? Left side.

22. What size is your bed? King . . . my guy's 6'3".

23. Greatest strength as a couple? We are each others best friend.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Dealing with family and a certain family business.

25. Who literally pays the bills? Hubby makes the money and I dole it out.

26. What is your song? "I Can't Tell You Why" by the Eagles.

27. What did you dance your first dance to? "I Only Have Eyes For You" the Art Garfunkel version.

28. Describe your wedding dress? Wow, I remember it had a sweetheart neckline with lace flower appliques, short cap sleeves, floor length gown with a long train.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? White and light pink roses, white freesia, and some small lavender accent flower.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? No . . . I honestly have no idea. Maybe "GO GIANTS!" :)

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I have mixed feelings about today . . . because 11 years ago, Feb. 10, 1996, my Grandpa, Paul William Lamm, passed away.

I have to admit that I don't always catch the significance of this date. With three kids and everything else going on in my life, I'll admit there have been years that I have totally forgotten. But this year I would have been hard pressed to.

Yesterday I helped Kid #1's class set up for their Grandparent's Tea.

It was a wonderful function. The kids worked on family trees and wrote stories about their grandparents and how much they meant to them. But it was the picture slide show that got to me and seeing the family picture with my son and my father-in-law.

When I was growing up I didn't get to see my grandparents that often. We lived in So. Cal. and all our other relatives lived in Wisconsin. I got to see them more when I was younger, but the visits got fewer and more spread out as I got older. So I really came to appreciate my time with them and why I'm so grateful that my in-laws live a mere 30 minutes away and my parents are just a day trip away.

I was lucky enough to have all my grandparents with me at my wedding 13 1/2 years ago.

My last real conversation with his was a strange one. It was Nov. 1995, and he had called me because he had sent my birthday card late (my birthday's Nov. 1 and he called me around the 20th). We had a great but very interesting conversation. We talked about all sorts of stuff, and then I congratulated him on the impending birth of his first great-grandchild. He thanked me, made a comment around the circumstances behind it and then said something that struck me . . .

He said, "I'm waiting for you dear."

I knew something was wrong when my Dad told me in Dec. that Grandpa was going into the hospital for by-pass surgery. Even though both my grandpa's had fought, and won, battles with cancer, a stroke, and ulcers, I knew my Grandpa Lamm was not in the best of health. I was just starting to work on my writing, but I had this poem pop into my head . . .

GRANDPAS ARE LIKE LOLLIPOPS

Grandpas are like lollipops
and as strange as that my seem,
the more and more I think about it
it does make sense,
you see . . .

Most Grandpas are sweet
of course most lollipops are too
and they come in all shapes and sizes.
As for lollipops, that's also true.

But the one big difference
I can make between the two,
is that lollipops come and go,
but your Grandpa is always with you.

I love you Grandpa with all my heart
and I hope you always know
that you'll always be with me
wherever you may go.

I got the chance to see my Grandpa a week before he died and I read the poem to him. It was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I didn't go to his memorial service, but a couple of my cousins read the poem at the service. I hope everyone there enjoyed as much as he did.

I'll admit that I did "see" my Grandpa one last time. 3 weeks after my Grandpa died, I found out I was pregnant. At 30 weeks, I went into pre-term labor for a very strange reason (I had an asyptomatic bladder infection). While I was in the hospital, a flurry of activity of nurses and doctors around me, I had an incredible sense of peace because I could feel someone in the room, telling me that everything would be all right.

It was my Grandpa.

I was on bedrest for 4 1/2 weeks, and Kid #1 made his entrance into the world on Oct. 10, 1996. 8 months to the day after my Grandpa died. With blond hair and blue eyes. What makes this even more significant (or in my case funny) was that Kid #1 was a month early and my Grandpa had always been INCREDIBLY anal about being on time.

He lived by the credo, "If you aren't early, you're late."

Do I think my son is the reincarnation of my Grandpa? That's for others to wonder. But at the very least I think he has a very special angel watching over him.

I just wanted to say . . . I miss you Grandpa . . . and just remember, Lisa loves you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEANUT!

After taking SSSOOOOOO long to post ANY pictures from Kid #3's party a couple of weeks ago. Here's at least one. Hubby was helping the kids with a pull-string pinyata that was a MUST-HAVE! I was really suprised he didn't want the hitable kind since he loves all sports that require a ball.

BUT . . . the hitable pinyata didn't have a picture of Lightning on it.

Anyway . . . more to post later.

I SEE A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!!!

I know this phase can mean many different things, but I'm using it in reference to Kid #1. I have been talking at length about some of the stuff he's been going through. Well on Friday, I had a breakthrough.

About a year and a half ago I met a woman at a confernce who was telling me about her 14 yr-old twin boys who had just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. If you've never heard about it before, it's one of the "spectrum disorders" associated with autism. It has to do with kids (mostly boys) who have difficulty with social skills. Actually there's alot more to it, but I have a limited amout of time to write right now. While she was describing some of her boys habits, behaviors, etc. I sat there with my mouth agape . . .

She described Kid #1 to a T!

That night I called Hubby and asked him to pull up some info for me off the internet so I could read it when I got home.

To say my Hubby got defensive is a VAST understatment. He basically blew me off.

I tried to explain to him that I didn't KNOW if he had it, but I was interested in finding out more about it.

He wouldn't do it.

Fast forward to last Thursday night. We were sitting up talking and he tells me, "I wish there was a way to help him (Kid #1) with some of the stuff he's going through." I brought up the subject of Asperger's again, and this time . . . he listened.

I told him that we probably needed to start with our school psychologist (who already knows our son because of some work she did with him in K & 1st grade). When I talked to her about what had been going on with him and my concerns, what did she say?

"I've thought that he could possibly have Asperger's . . . "

WHY DIDN'T SHE TELL ME!!!!

She told me that she hesitates to talk to parents about these types of issues for fear of the same reaction I got from Hubby 1 1/2 years ago.

Go figure . . .

So now I have a plan on what to do. I'm going to be sending a letter to the principal requesting an assessment for social communication skills, and go from there.

Am I scared shitless? You bet!

But now, as I said before, I see a light at the end of the tunnel and we can deal with this head on.

As I've said before . . . my life is NEVER boring!

I know, I haven't posted Kid #3's party pics yet . . . I'll try to do it later.

I swear I have been going through more hormonal mood swings lately, and these past couple of days have been REALLY BAD! It's a good thing I haven't posted anything until now.

The best way to describe how I've been to Hubby and all three kids?

Buffy the Wonder Bitch!

Everyone and everything was setting me off! Tuesday was really bad because Kid #1 was being a total pain in the ass. It didn't help that I needed to get to a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning and I needed everything to run like clockwork.

But it didn't, and the entire day SUCKED!

Yesterday was a little better. I was still dealing with kids who weren't listening, but that afternoon I had an interesting experience. I took them to Target after I had picked up Kids # 1&2 up from school. They had been pretty decent while I shopped and I ended up in line behind a woman with a 6 or 7 year old boy. I was calmly trying to get #3 to stop whining about being tired by deflecting every "PLEASE!" coming from #1 as he was continuously asking me for a soda. The woman gave me an astonished look and said something to the effect of, "I don't know how you do it with three kids." I told her I had my moments and she gave me a little 'We're not worthy!' sign to me while adding, "I have a hard enough time with one!"

It helped make Buffy the Wonder Bitch go away . . . at least for a little while.

Then everything came to a head last night . . . I was facing a kitchen I hadn't been able to clean in 3 days, the house was a disaster, and NO ONE was helping me.

Hubby always says, "If you need help, just ask."

Yeah . . . right. Didn't you just hear me? I'm Buffy the Wonder Bitch!

I was so overwhelmed with everything that was going on this week (in addition to being blindsided by PMS) that I really COULDN'T ask for help.

Lucky for me . . . just as I was about to lose it last night, Hubby came over and took the dish brush out of my hand as said, "You go upstairs. I'll finish it."

And finish it he did.

God does work in strange and mysterious ways . . . like bringing me that woman in Target . . . and giving me a DAMN GOOD man!