Miss me?

Wow! It's been a while. I'm sorry. But I can explain. I've been so busy with Gracie and all her extra curricular activities that I simply didn't have the time. Do you believe me? (sorry Kori)

What has happened in 5 months? Let's see.
Gracie had her very first feis (Irish dance festival. It's a competition) in January. She came in 5th 5th 7th and 1st.
Then she had her second feis on May 1. She came in 1st, 1st 1st and 2nd!! So yeah, she's improved quite a bit!

Also on May 1st Chris and I celebrated our 11th anniversary! We spent the day at the above mentioned festival. All in all, a very good way to spend the day!

In February and March Gracie was in Annie. She was an orphan and loved every second of it.
She loved it so much that recently she auditioned for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and was cast as a kid in the "children's choir."
She's been bitten by the acting bug. She loves every second of it.

That's the quick wrap up for you and I promise to update a little more often.

The Future Is Now!

Happy 2010!!!!

I wish you all the very best in the new year!

Where the heck is my flying car I was promised back in 1984?

Welcome to the future friends! Have a great year!

Inebriated Child Rearing

Drunk parenting is one of the Worlds greatest spectator sports and includes fantastic dialogue like;

Child: Is it ok if I watch some Scooby Doo before I go to sleep?
Drunk Dad: Hey, No problem. Just make sure your tv is off. (said with a totally straight face)

My husband is home from patrol. He is enjoying a drink. Something he hasn't done is (quite obviously) a very long time.
Welcome home Chris!

Friends are Priceless...But Some are Worth Even More.

Today I was reminded of just how important my oldest and dearest friend Jennifer is to me.
She was my next door neighbor growing up.
She visited me in the hospital the very day I was born.
She went on family vacations with me.
She spent every single day at my house (or vice versa)

She gave me the chicken pox.

Today she gave me a gift that I honestly don't believe I will ever be able to repay.
Have you ever had something so valuable, personally valuable, lost forever?

I did.

Today I got a call from Jenny. She wanted to meet for coffee as she was passing by my house on her way to the ferry. She had something to give me.

She told me it was something that had belonged to me. She said "remember when you moved and you had people come in and paint?" I remember vividly moving from my childhood home. So I said yes.

It seems we had left behind a few items that the painters and carpet guys tossed out. One of those items caught my neighbors eye.

She at 13, pulled it from the trash, cleaned it then lovingly placed it in her hope chest to give to me.
It's been 23 years.
Today she gave it to me.

23 years ago she found a quilt. Not just any quilt. A hand sewn quilt. The very last one my 96 year old Great Grandmother ever made. She had made it for me and I cherished it then even when she was still alive.

Today, I would have given my weight in gold to have it back. You see, my Gram died at the same time we moved from that home. I knew the quilt was lost. We assumed it had been lost in the move but never placed where.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I cried to my husband how I wished I had that quilt.
A small piece of my sweet, intelligent Irish, Great Grandmother. Whom I adored with all my heart.

Thanks to my oldest and dearest friend, I have it back.

Someone else would have thought we meant to toss it out. Not Jenny. She knows me to well. She knew better. She knew how important that piece of cloth was to me. That is a true friend...no, that is family.

Thank you Jenny. I am truly blessed to have you in my life and I always have been. I love you my dear friend.

Thank You.

What Ever Happened to Soccer Mom?

My daughter. She is exuberant and outgoing and quite a talented kid...if I do say so myself.

Last year we did one activity, dance. Two, once the weather was warmer and swimming could resume. So two things to shuttle between.

This year was gearing up to be a rather uneventful one. Easy. My daughter on the other hand had different plans.

She started Irish dance....and we added choir. Because, she can sing and sing well for an 8 year old. She loves to sing and I decided, what's it going to hurt?

Then we got word that Annie was going in production at the high school...and they needed kids!
So naturally my Annie addict wanted in on that action. Seriously, she is addicted to it, she even has the "vintage" dolls from the 70's and saw Annie live on stage for her 7th birthday.

So we went to auditions. I naturally tried to do my best to remind her that regardless of what happens it's just awesome that she is so brave and willing to sing in front of everyone.

We walked into the auditions and I wanted to turn around and walk out for her. I never had problems on stage, but I freaked at the amount of people in that auditorium. I was scared for her!
I know I have Mom ear and think everything she sings is sunshine and roses. When in fact it could sound like a strangled cow for all I know.

I asked her if she wanted to leave after 10 or so REALLY good girls sang. She said "no way"
So we waited. Finally after about an hour she was called.

She walked on stage, said her name then belted out Tomorrow. She nailed it!
However, like I said there were a ton of people in there so I didn't expect much.

Two days later the director called and offered her a part as an orphan. She was thrilled...Of course!
I'm bragging now...but the director also told me they had over 150 girls audition....they cast 8 parts. My Baby's Gonna Be a Star! (said with a thick southern accent...of course)

So she has been going to Annie rehearsals twice a week for the last few weeks.

Then last night we got some more good news.
She applied for the Miss Kitsap/Miss Poulsbo little sister program. They aren't contestants themselves, but the girls get paired up with one of the contestants and do publicity things with them as well as a number on stage during the actual pageant.

Now, I'm not a big pageant person. But this program is really fun. Plus, it's another thing that was open to all third grade girls in our county. Only a few are selected because there are only so many towns in the county! That is a really big deal!

Naturally she is really excited about that too. So we are now doing four things, not including the Girl scouts troop she is supposed to join. ugh! thankfully they only meet once every other week.

Anyway, it's going to be a very busy winter AND Chris is out to sea and doesn't get to enjoy it!
Thankfully he should be home in time to see the end results. Hopefully!

Beware the Pig...

So much has been going on lately...but all of it has been over shadowed by one simple word.
SWINE.

You've seen the hype. Heard the news reporters tell you "we're all going to die"
But I am happy to report...that's simply not the case. though, you wish it were when it's you suffering from it.

You see, a couple weeks ago my handsome husband came home from work not feeling so hot. He never gets sick, so of course I took notice.
He coughed and slept, but still went to work and after a few days was on the mend again.

A few days later I was down for the count. Last Saturday I went to a family event on the boat, within two hours of coming home I was in bed dying. I remember nothing until I woke up Monday morning.

I had no choice. I had to get out of bed because Chris had to go to work and Gracie had the day off. So I pushed my way through. Even though my lungs still feel like they are on fire every time I cough.

Tuesday, Gracie went to school and I took it easy. I was starting to feel better, but exhausted and weak.

Wednesday Gracie didn't feel well. She stayed home from school that day with what I thought sounded like croup or something. A high pitched barking cough. Not much of a fever. 99, but the cough made her tired so I kept her home.

Thursday I went in to wake Gracie up...see if she was well enough to go to school. She was shivering. I put my hand on her forehead and it felt like fire. I ran and grabbed the thermometer, 103.9.
I told her to get dressed, we were going to the hospital.

I took her to the Navy hospital. She's taken back to a room where we wait, and we wait and we wait. All the while the girl in the next bed behind the curtain is getting juice and blankets and having her blood pressure and temp taken. Gracie...totally ignored. I went outside the curtain on more than once occasion to ask for help, blankets something.

Finally I was fed up. Gracie was hurting so badly and coughing like crazy. She was freezing (from the fever) and dehydrated. I went to the nurses station where one doctor and a nurse were flipping through a Vogue magazine together and told them we were leaving.

They tried to use the "we're really busy and we'll get to her as soon as we can" and while I can understand the Manolo's fall collection is an important topic, my daughters health ranks slightly higher.

I said "obviously you don't think it's the flu because you're not taking this very seriously"
Grabbed Gracie and walked out the door.

I was so upset I was seeing red, actually seeing red!

So I drove back home...almost gave up the whole medical evaluation with the idea that if they weren't taking it seriously, then I must be overreacting. But that nagging little voice in my head said to take her to see someone.

I called our doctor from my cell. No openings for another week and a half.
Urgent Care. Right there in front of me. I pulled in.

Within ten minutes Gracie was back in a room. The doctor came in minutes later. They did the rapid test for the flu....guess what. It's the flu!
They of course sent those results in to the State lab.

Vindicated, I called the Navy hospital. I got our insurance to cover the cost of the Urgent Care visit and informed the hospital that she does indeed have the flu. Way to go guys!

Anyway...the moral of the story, trust your instincts.
This bout of H1N1 didn't effect us like the flu.
We all had a bad cough, but not much of a fever except Gracie that one day. I was sick to my stomach once. That's it. And I think it had to do with all the coughing not nausea.

The biggest symptom...weak and tired. Ever active Gracie wanted nothing but to lay in bed and sleep.
It passes rather quickly. A week or so until you feel like a human again....but it feels like it take years.

The best news of all, we are now immune to at least this strain of H1N1. Yay!

What the H@ll Just Happened?

Caution, explicit language follows:

So there I am, minding my own business when all of a sudden I get flooded with emails, twitter messages and facebook status updates about Kanye West and Taylor Swift. WTF?

So I had to do a little digging because those two names go about as well together as eyeballs and hot glue guns.

Seems Mr. West pulled a very low trick on the Mtv awards. Something I might add, I haven't watched since Soundgarden was up for a nomination.

I digress. It seems Taylor Swift (who is a pretty typical pop singer, my 8 year old daughter loves her) won her very first moonman award. Good for you!

Kanye wasn't happy with this outcome and decided he somehow, is more important than anyone else on the planet and jumped on the stage, stole the mic from Miss Swifts hands and began ranting how Beyonce should have won.

Excuse me?

A flabbergasted Beyonce in the audience gave him a "oh no you didn't" look before turning all sorts of red. She even frantically looked around her like she was being Punk'ed and Ashton Kutcher was going to jump out.

Kanye took this, I'm quite sure (though I've never won a moonman myself) very important moment away from a 19 year old girl.

She's a freaking child you piece of shit jackass!

Who the hell does he think he is? Seriously? Didn't his mother teach him manners? You DON'T do that! I don't care who you are, or who you THINK you are. You just don't. It's reeks of low class.

Worse than that, his selfishness (though in his shallow, narcissistic mind made it out to be chivalrous) was a major embarrassment to the one person he was trying to defend!

None the less, the class act that Beyonce is, she gave Taylor Swift her moment. Kudos Beyonce. Proving once again that you indeed are a lady.

Now, the question I have to ask, when did people decide rude is ok? Kanye just did it in a massive way, but he's no different than most of the people who cross your path daily. His problem is ego. What's the excuse for everybody else?

Ugh. See, this is why I can't stand awards shows. Mind numbingly, self absorbed people doing ridiculous things.