Hello Atlanta, once again!

Today Mike and I  traveled to Atlanta, where Breanne and Danny and Belle and Zay were picking us up for a mini vacation.
The trip started out just fine....I actually ended up with an empty seat on a "overly filled" plane, according to the attendant. Score!! The guy in the aisle seat was as giddy as I was.
Mike sat in front of  me because we both wanted window seats. So be it.
All went well until the sleeping child behind me woke up. Half way thru the trip.
From then on, it was "let's see how many times I can kick the seat in front of me and oh, let me jam my foot in between the seat cushions so I keep nudging her in the behind!"
In case you're wondering, yes, I asked him to stop. twice.
The third time, I lifted myself up and turned towards him ( while his brother and grandmother were totally ignorant of anything happening around them) and said" Ok, that's enough, Now. No More."
He kinda shrunk down in his chair and looked at grandma. No help from her, she was oblivious. She was more interested in giving geography lessons. " Is that your cul de sac boys? I think I see your house! Can you see your Prius?"
I sit down and"boom"....another strike with the foot.
By now I am a nervous wreck just wanting off the damn plane. And mentally plotting his demise and where to get rid of the evidence.
We finally land and I could not get off that plane fast enough. Where I proceeded to wait in line for the restroom ( last place I would want to "rest") 17 women deep. Only to get a stall with no toilet paper.
Forced to ask the lady in the next stall for some. " I don't have any either" she says.
Wonderful.
Seat covers have more than one use, turns out.
As I exit said restroom, I noticed the boys waiting for their grandma. The one locked eyes with me and I gave him my best " if I could get you alone, you would be a goner" look. He looked away.
That's right kid. May your next flight find you sitting next to an extremely flatulent man.
I have my family to meet.....not another thought wasted on you.
They took us to a farmer's market that was called Dekalb Farmers market.
Dekalb Farmers Market was founded in 1977 as a compact urban produce market. The company operates a world market in a 140,000-square-foot facility in Decatur, Ga. Dekalb Farmers Market provides a variety of services, such as an in-house bakery, with more than 175 varieties of fresh baked breads, rolls, bagels, muffins, cakes, cookies and pastries; a floral department, with fresh and exotic flowers from Holland, Hawaii, Georgia, California and Florida;  Dekalb also features a meat shop, with beef, pork, chicken and seafood; deli, with sliced meats and cheeses; produce department, with fruits, vegetables, herbs, juices and specialty products; and a beer and wine shop.
Because they do not allow any photos of this place, I had to find them on the internet for you.

When you enter, it is bustling with hundreds of people all buying their produce, meats , seafoods and breads. We ate at the cafeteria they have where they sell home made dishes, salads and all around delicious food ,all organic. Mike tried the goat and loved it. Anyway....we finish our food and then walked all the way down to one end of the building to start exploring. Let me just put it this way...if they don't have it, it doesn't exist. I was fascinated by the spices.....check out the prices on these in the picture!

I start going thu them all and buying whatever I could think of that Mitch would want in his new kitchen. I got a big bag of bay leaves for a dollar. Whaat? I felt like I was robbing them.

The fruits and veggies were beautiful, the breads amazing and we didn't even make it to the meat and seafood section. It was time to go home. 

Since we have an almost 2 hour drive home...we needed to get going.

Time to go home and relax for a day before we head out for a beach vacation!

See you then!

The most Disgusting and Wonderful thing , ever!

Allow me to begin this journey with telling you that I have always wanted "baby feet" , like my husband, Mike has.

Seriously, he has feet of  a newborn. And it's ridiculous. And by ridiculous, I mean I am super jealous.

That being said, in my explorations of products to lighten  my happy little dark brown elbows ( a whole other subject), I discovered a product called, of all things..."Baby Foot".

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Ok, this could be interesting. 

 This "miracle" product claims to give you baby like feet within 7-10 days. Can this be?  After much research into this and reading a million reviews ( I NEED to be straight forward and honest with whatever I post, it was my responsibility to make sure I was not presenting something to you that you would curse me about later.)

I read about women with "hooves" and "cracks in heels the size of the grand canyon" and "feet that scare small children". I swear, I can't help but to look at women's feet now whenever I go anywhere. Ew. They ALL touted the wonders of this product. All! 

 I'm in.

 So I bought one. It cost me 20 dollars on amazon. Since I am a prime  member, it got to me in two days. 

Did I jump in and try this immediately?

Heck. No.

I will admit, I was afraid . Afraid that I was going to be the ONLY person in this world that this did not work for.  Because let's face it, if there is one person that something ridiculous would happen to, it would be me. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to be the only person Baby Foot could not help. 

So after about two weeks, I put on my big girl panties and finally did it.

Join me in my journey, would you?

Warning: This is not for the faint of heart. This is not for those who hate to look at other's feet. You have been warned. Turn back now.

So last Sunday, I got the box out and looked it over. Here is what the booties look like.

I washed my feet first ...because they suggested it . I thought to myself " who would put their dirty feet in these" anyway?  Ok.....I looked them over and then put then on. They come with a couple pieces of sticky tape to close the area around your ankle.

Now, when you do this, you should just be stationary. No moving around. They are very difficult to walk in, due to the plastic sliding around on your foot.

 Oh,what a shame. I have to remain still for one hour or more. 

So I left them on for an hour.( I have since read that you should leave them on for a little over an hour if you want faster results. Dang it. I obviously didn't read a million and ONE reviews.)

After the time was over, I took them off and washed my feet again. Put cute socks I bought just for the occasion on my feet because they suggest it. Maybe because all that skin comes off so fast? Cool.

Then waited in anticipation.

Remember, this was a Sunday.

Monday came = Nothing.

Tuesday came = Nothing.

Wednesday came = Nothing.

I will admit, I was beginning to feel like this was not going to work. Really? Why me?

 I need baby feet for the summer!!

Thursday came= oh. Oh ... what is this? My feet feel "rough".

 I feel the need to tell you I have heels that do  crack sometimes and that , even after a pedicure, I can still see the lines and small cracks and dryness in them. Makes me feel like I just threw money out the window, with the exception of the nail polish , of course.

my usual feet....see how dry and ick they look? Not attractive.

 I look at my feet and ( * insert glorious angels singing here*) lo and behold,  I saw some little bubbles of loose skin!!! YESSSS!!

must. peel. skin. off.

It wasn't anything amazing but I felt it was a start right?

Throughout the evening, my foot was morphing before my eyes. Brace yourselves, here come the icky pictures. I warned you.

I was so excited to see that something was happening and I was NOT going to be "THAT" girl who Baby Foot did not work for! I mean, A million women used this and for me to have that notoriety was just not working for me!

Of course, I log online to read more and scan other women s pictures ( holy crap) and discover,

 ( again, I was negligent in my research) that other women soaked their feet every day. I was not doing that. Maybe that is why it was taking so long? Duh, Colleen.

Now, let me tell you....during this time, my feet may look sore or tender but they absolutely were not! No tenderness at all. 

However, I should tell you that they warn you NOT to pull the dead skin away if it resists. It should just peel away like a suntan that you want to stay! Not pulling at the skin is a toughie. I wanted to. Man, did I want to.

Today is Saturday and I am still in the process of achieving baby feet! Look at today's pictures! See the new skin underneath all the  (ugh) dead skin? How in the world can I be so excited to see this and share this with you? (No, I am not being endorsed by Baby Foot But I should be!)

glorious new skin !

I see new skin!!! Hallelujah!! I am on my way to baby feet!! Hah! Take THAT, Mike Shelley!!

The reason why I decided to post this early is so that you can see that this product works.

 And in the chance that you would want pretty summer feet as well as I do, you could buy this  and discover your own horror/sweet story!

So now, I wait for all the fruit acid peel to do it's complete job and let the days take care of themselves. 

And resist the urge to whip off my shoes at the closest human being and say " Look at my feet! It works!!"

UPDATE!!!!!!!!

Here are my feet as of today....still peeling a little on the top but all in all, almost done! No more cracks in the heels and down the sides of my foot anymore!! Look how new it all looks!! What are YOU waiting for???

look how smooth and new it all looks!!!

no cracks, just old age.....hahahhaa

Summer Dessert

Yes, Summer is finally here! And with this, comes to mind a dessert that I have had for about 30 years. I make this every summer. Sometimes, I mix it up and experiment with different fruits ( because I am a rebel like that) and sometimes I stick with the basics.

This is my Strawberry Angel food Heaven Dessert.
To make things as simple and easy as possible, I am going to take the convenience route.

 Go buy a store bought Angel Food cake.

No worries that it will affect the overall taste. It will not. So don't go trying to make your own home made cake...trust me, it makes no difference. Tear this cake up into bite size pieces.  Keep in mind you want some big chunks in there as well. Set aside.

 Now take a box of strawberry jello and make it according to the quick set instructions:

This is for a 3 oz box

Stir 3/4 cup boiling water into gelatin in bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Mix 1/2 cup cold water and ice cubes to make 1 1/4 cups. Add to gelatin, stir until slightly thickened. Remove remaining ice. refrigerate 30 minutes for soft set or 1 - 1 1/2 hours until firm. 
When your jello is the consistency of egg yolks ( or runny snot, take your pick) then add either fresh or frozen strawberries to the mixture.

The next step is to prepare your whipping cream. Originally, this called for one container of Cool Whip but because I prefer REAL whipping cream, that is what I use instead. You can use Cool whip, I will not judge. ( or will I?)

Walk this jello over to your bowl of chunked up angel food cake. ( I might have made that word up)

Slowly fold your runny jello and berries into the bowl of cake. Add a dollop of whipped cream. Add more Jello. More  whip cream.
You want to gently fold it all together, not manhandle it. Manhandling it is for later.
 Now, you  pour all of this into a tube cake pan or just pour it into a bowl. I use both. Depends on who I am trying to impress.  This picture is of the mix poured into the cake tube.

If you use a large bowl, make it a pretty one, so at least you get presentation points.
Then you simply scoop out the servings you want.
This dessert tastes like a mixture of shortcake and angel food cake. For obvious reasons.
As I said before...I experiment.
Sometimes it's strawberries, sometimes it's
raspberries, or peaches.
Use whatever you like. Only, if you use Raspberries, use Raspberry Jello. Duh.
 Alright, there you have it! A great fourth of July recipe to bring or , to just make and hoard.
I repeat. I will not judge.
You're welcome.

It's a beautiful hot almost summer day and I have to be productive.
I have to.
I could get in the pool but then I would be staring at what I should be doing and then have to get out.
So I avoid the pool and tackle the......plastic adirondack chairs.
You know the type....you buy them in a pinch and then you regret the color or the chair itself and it ends up on the side of the yard never to be used again.
Well. No longer.
Today we are doing something about it.

See? I told you do. Plain. Boring. Blah.
So today I am going to show you what I did to /for them.
I began by painting with a can of outdoor spray paint. Good on plastics. I decided to make it two tones to match my new umbrella I am in love with. Yep. I said it.

I sprayed several of the slats an aqua color. Then I let that dry. In this heat and weather, that equated to about 3 minutes. So I gave it a good ten, just to be sure. That, and I started to overheat and had to get some ice tea.

Making sure the paint was on there good , I used painters tape to lay over the aqua color.So that when I added the next color, it would not overlap.
Then I used a Royal Blue spray paint that I got at Hobby Lobby for an amazing price of 4.19 a can, on sale. Seriously a great price.

I gave the chair three coats of the Royal blue. Now, I know this make look a little streaky but for those of you who KNOW me, it is not.It's just the glare from the sun.
So I will let this set for a day and then put it next to my happy new umbrella.
Did I mention I love that thing?
In case you missed it, this is that bad boy.

So now you know why I choose the colors for the chairs that I did.
Chairs, Plural. I did two. In this heat. '
I am exhausted. I need more sweet tea.
What do YOU want to paint today?

"Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...."

Ahh, it's Christmas time. And this is the way my home would look if I had my way. Maybe a few more ornaments on the tree, but that's it.
Unfortunately, I have been sick since Thanksgiving and this is what my tree looks like at the present. Only not as pretty.

I took my wonderful 400 dollar tree out of the box and discovered there was water damage to the lights at the storage unit. Out of 2000 lights, only about 100 of them worked. This was a dilemma.
I did not want to go out and purchase another tree when mine was perfectly fine! No! Don't want to spend 300 bucks on one half off!
I know!!!
I will cut off the lights and then buy new lights! yes?
No. Said my son Mitch. "waaaay too much work Mom".
" Oh come on Mitch, it's worth it!"
Fast forward FOUR hours later when my back was on fire from searching and cutting and separating and extracting lights and wiring. All the while , I kept thinking Mike was going to be so happy I was being thrifty and saving us some money!
He came home from work and saw me with the carcass of a tree plopped onto the dinning room table and me performing intricate surgery on the thing. I explained my dilemma and my decision to be frugal.
" I would have bought a new tree" he says.
Seriously?
Well, you know what? It took me four hours but I was glad I did it.
I went to Big Lots and found some C-9 bulbs like we used to have when I was a kid ( I love anything vintage!)  but, SCORE! They were LED's!!!! In the cart they went!!!
So now I have to put the lights on the tree.
 Even tho my Doctor told me today to "STAY DOWN AND REST"
Hahhahahhha, that's funny Dr.
Like that's gonna happen. This is Christmas time and I have things to DO!!!
Stay tuned for the final product.

Come fly with me.....

Yes, it is THAT time of year.

When flights are overbooked and passengers are irate and cranky and an all around  embarrassment to human kind. 

I made my travels plans a couple of months ago....booked it and choose my seats. 

I guess that doesn't matter to some airlines. On my return flight home yesterday, I discovered they moved me from my chosen window seat to a MIDDLE seat.

Let me repeat that. A MIDDLE SEAT.

My girls don't DO middle seats.

So I approach the travel desk to discuss exactly this.

To which I got " we're sorry, we are overbooked and cannot make any adjustments."

"Why did my seat get reassigned anyway , when I had already checked in online?"

" we're sorry, we are overbooked and cannot make any adjustments"

Did I want to miss this flight and wait for a certain flight out at 9:55 pm with a 400 dollar voucher?

Did I want to hang out in the Atlanta airport for 8 more hours? Uh, no. I just want to go home in a window seat.

Not gonna happen.

Wonderful. Now my mindset is panicky. I had already taken a Xanax ( those of you who know I hate to travel and fly alone KNOW this is necessary) and was starting to feel as though it wasn't going to be effective.

Make the best of it Colleen. Maybe your seatmates will make up for it.

One word. 

Nope.

I boarded and got all situated. Waited in the window seat, on the edge of it. Not buckled in or anything or even reclining. Just patiently waiting for the person to get there so I could buckle in my own seat. And make the best of it.

When I see this older women with a scowl on her face coming down the aisle. She locks eyes with me and then immediately turns around and calls for an attendant, 

?????

They ask me what seat I have. I tell them 29B and that I am waiting before I buckle in to let the window seat person thru, when they get here. 

"it's MY seat and YOU'RE in it!"

Well exccccuuuuuse me for living.  This is gonna be fun, I can just tell.

She barrels thru and seats herself. The other woman and I buckle ourselves in and settle down.

No words are exchanged. 

The plane departs. Ms. Window seat immediately takes out her laptop to watch a movie. Her window cover is broken.

What a shame.

Can you feel my sympathy for her? No? good. Because there was none.

She proceeds to jam her coat into the window and it proceeds to fall off about 15 times. At that point, I decide to hand her a menu card and tell her that maybe is she slides this into the window trim, it may stay there and block the light.

" I don't need your help, I am doing fine"

Okaaaay then.

Fast forward to when the attendants come down the aisle to ask if we would like something to drink. She gets to our row. Ms Aisle seat responds and so do I . Nothing from Ms. Window seat. The attendant asks again.

Nothing.

So I quietly ask her if she would like something to drink.

When will I learn?

" yes, I want two vodkas and tonic" to the attendant and to me she says: " DO NOT KEEP BOTHERING ME"

Excuse me? When did I "KEEP" bothering you? Whaaaa?

I looked at her and bust out laughing. 

Mind you, MANY other responses came to mind. Many! But I decided not to be like her and just laughed.

At that point, I could have cared less if her window broke open and sucked her straight out.

I would have welcomed it.

This is the point where I decided t go ahead and sleep. And I don't care if I snore. Good. I hope I do. 

Our flight finally landed and she immediately popped up as if to escape.

No Ma'am, not gonna happen. If she tried to cross over me to get out before me, I am pretty sure at this time world war three would have erupted. You don't get to treat me like crap when I do something nice for you. Nope.

I stayed put. Right up to the very moment when Ms Aisle seat got up and I waited until she got  all her belongings together before I stood. up. Ms Window seat was pissed. Did I care?

Hhahhahahhahhahaha..uh no.

I took my sweet time standing up and then retrieving my carry on. Straightened my outfit, fluffed my hair and then proceeded to walk down the aisle. She was RIGHT UP against me. I could practically hear her breathing.

So I walked slow.

Right up to the point where she could overtake me and pass me when we got to the terminal.

Goodbye Ms window seat.

Have a lovely day.

Hey, at that point, all I cared about was that I didn't become so overcome with anxiety from crossing my arms together the whole 5

hours in flight and forming one giant boob. Yeah, imagine how good THAT feels.

She escaped scott free if you ask me.

Life is what happens when you make plans.....

"Life is what happens when you make plans"~ a quote from John Lennon, I believe.
Regardless, this much I know is true,
I have been looking forward to this Thanksgiving/Belle's first birthday trip since August.
And what happens the second day I am here?
I get sick.
Coughing, every 2-3 minutes sick. I have never really gotten a cold, it always goes past Go and straight to bronchitis. Which I haven't had for 3 years now. Guess the chain had to break sometime.
And when I get sick, I see images I can't even begin to describe to you. Aka~ hallucinations. I KNOW I am sick when I see these things. And for the last two nights, I have been inundated with them. But the strangest part is not the hallucinations but my brains ability to send me a message through them.
Last night, I kept seeing an image ( I could not begin to describe it to you in a way that would not make you look at me funny) that my brain was able to unravel and I got up in the middle of the night and put a pain patch on my hip, that was hurting. As soon as the pain went away, I was able to sleep a little. Which was huge for me, since I have been coughing non stop for about every 3 minutes. I know, that makes so sense,
But apparently, my brain knew what I needed even if I couldn't figure it  out myself.

I am beginning to think that booking family photos is a curse. When we booked them in July, we all got food poisoning. We booked them again for tomorrow and THIS happens to me. Hmmm, family photos seem to be the common denominator.
So today is Thanksgiving and I missed good company and even better food all prepared by my daughter, Breanne.
I barely have an appetite and picked at a few things that Michael brought me. But I am sitting upright and hopefully that is a sign?
The bad thing is Breanne is coughing now and it is looking like our black friday shopping will not happen.
The rest of the world is already in full bore shopping out there and it would appear we will not be joining them.
Ah, life is what happens when you make plans.......

Sticks and Stones......

You all remember that rhyme in grade school, right? "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!" ? Right?
Totally a fallacy.
Words are hurtful.
Which leads me tell you that I am going to write a book. And call it "Sticks and Stones".
This book will be filled with ALL the mean things my adult children have said to me.
What's that? What do I mean, you say?
Here's an example:  ( I can't give too much away, I want you to buy the book)

"Geez Mom, you're a hot mess today" -B

( on making dinner for guests coming over)
"what can YOU make that's actually GOOD?" -M

"You're pop tarts are the gross kind,,,,way to go" -M

"you're sooooo stupid" -B and M



Oh, just a little taste of my world.
I suppose this is all my own wrongdoing..something went horrible amiss in the raising process of these two children, now adults.
Was I too nice? Was I not nice enough? Was the sarcastic tone in my voice used a little too much?
Did my evil eye scar them for life, thus redeeming them for every opportunity to push me down mentally?
Well, I say , dear children...BRING IT!
Cause I am gonna write a book ALLLLLL about you two!
And it's going to be a best seller because all the other mom's will be able to relate !
And feel sorry for me! Yeah!! That's it!
To which Mitch tells me.......
"Go ahead, Breanne and I will sue you for defamation of character and use the proceeds from the book to put you in a home."
That's going in the book as well.

I Want To Fly First Class....please

As many of you know, I fly quite a bit. So much in fact, that the last time I did in December, the security guy drew a circle with a slash thru it and told me to make sure the TSA agents saw this. What? What did that mean? I step up to the belt and show the TSA agent. I  start to remove my boots and the TSA agent  told me I don't have to do that. " I don't? Why not?' "Because you have been cleared. You do not have to take out your electronic devices as well.". Okaaaaay....why have I been cleared? This is the conversation I am having with myself as I am breezing thru security, meanwhile looking over at the TSA clearance line thinking those people had to pay for that privilege. The only thing I can think of is that I fly frequently? They must assume I pose no threat? ( What, like a weeble instills security in people?) I finally asked someone as it was driving me nuts and that's exactly what they told me. I fly so frequently , the agent figured I was no threat. So,  rest assured America.
Which leads me to this blog. I hate flying. Wait a minute, let me clarify this. I hate flying alone. Which is what I do. I travel to be with my daughter and I travel alone. Which opens me up to a world of possibilities as to whom will be sitting next to me.
My last flight home could have been the turning point as to whether I had to be committed to an insane asylum. I fly Southwest Air so I can pick my seat. And I pay the extra 20 dollars so I can be one of the first 25 to do so. Money well spent.
I enter the plane and pick my window seat. Lets be real, and think about this now. I am a larger woman with even larger breasts. Realizing this, I pick the window so I can turn/angle my body to the side to give my seat companion their space. The "girls" tend to want a little more space than the airline wants to give them. So I do this. My carry on bag is tucked nicely under my seat, my tablet already put into the back seat pocket for me to use when I want.
I wait.

Who will sit next to me? Will it be a"the sick guy"...the one who wants to share his coughs and sneezes with me? Or will it be the "overly friendly talker", who wants to tell me how great the last episode of "Ugly Betty" was?

Or could it be a first time flyer? You know, the one who will break out in a sweat and hyperventilate while trying to grab my hands?

Nope. None of the above. It is a woman who is the same size as me. With "girl's equally as large. Who, by the way , is not as considerate as me. This means she sat flat back forward and folded her arms across her girls. Which then, made her elbows stick into MY girls. Really? Which made her shoulders and arms hog the arm rest. That just happened. The whole time, I am looking directly at her...hoping beyond hope that she notices that because I was considerate, she would readjust herself, Nope. And that's when it happened. Her legs were larger than mine so that meant they had nowhere to go.....but in my personal space. One of her legs was totally against mine and her foot was under the front of my seat. 

So there I sit, angled to the side, back against the window, legs crammed together and pushed to the left.

Annd we haven't even taken off yet. This whole time I am thinking " I need to take a pain pill, maybe a xanax". But I can't reach it because I am crammed into hell and cannot move! She falls asleep.

The plane is now in the air and the man in front of me throws his seat back. I mean, THROWS.

Oh wonderful, I am soooo much more comfortable than I was 5 minutes ago. Now I have no room to even put my tray down so I can put my tablet there to divert myself of the fact that I am in hell!!!! The entire time I am feeling like I could literally crawl out of my own skin. If given that option, I would have taken it.

When I arrive in Seattle four and a half hours later, I find I have one giantic boob. They have totally melded together. This does not make for a good look. 

My seat partner wakes up , looks at me and says " wow , that was a quick flight!!"

I might have accidentally stepped on her foot.

I had no idea this is what it's like~!

So I get this phone call at 10 o'clock at night on Nov. 30th. Which always makes me panic a little because, well....no good news ever comes that late at night, right? Breanne's water broke and they were going to the hospital!!! But wait, she was not supposed to have the baby until December 25th! Oh now, this became a very stressful but of information! What? How? Why? So off they go to the Army hospital and there I lay in bed....staring at the ceiling and waiting. And praying. Needless to say, being across the United States and not being able to BE there was torture! I was flying in on Dec. 14th so I could make it in time for the birth! How could this be happening? I wasn't THERE!!! So we wait. And wait. And then the news came the next day.

The day I have been waiting for has finally arrived! I am now in the ranks of those privileged enough to be called a grandparent.Born to my (daughter) Breanne  and Danny on December 1st, 2013 was our beautiful little Belle Cadeau LeBlanc. Born 12:26 pm and weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces~
I have always been told, time and time again, that this is a life changer. I had no idea it would be this way. I mean, I gave birth to her Momma and uncle....how can anything be any more changing than that? How can I love anyone more than that?  So I change my flight plans so I can get there earlier. Of course!
I will admit, I was afraid to hold her when I saw her at the airport. She was so tiny! 5 pounds of tiny! Even preemie clothes were too small for her. Because she was after all, born 4 weeks too early. But everything was alright. She was healthy, with just a touch of jaundice. She got to come home a few days after she was born. All was good.
Settling in with her was wonderful. I had no idea it would feel this way. I could stare at her forever and not get tired. My hardest obstacle was trying not to hold her all the time. I mean, she DID have a mom and dad who wanted to hold her too. Sheesh.
I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a whole month there. Through the Christmas holidays and New year. And now I am home and missing her. All of my friends who have their grandchildren with them and around them, do you realize how lucky you are to be able to see them when you want, within hours? You need to be.
Because now I know what you all were talking about when you tried to tell me what it is like. And it is beyond wonderful.  The next time I get to be with her, she will be 6 months old. And we will experience new milestones and more snuggles and I cannot wait. Yes, I have only been home 24 hours. But I already wait for the moment I get to hold her in my arms again.

Where have I been all my life?

Have any of you ever been to a Dim Sum restaurant? I know that may sound odd but I had never been to one in all my (dang) 55 years of age. Until a few days ago.

My son, Mitch, did some research and found this place in Chinatown, Seattle.

It got great reviews and so we decided to make it one of our stops for the day in Seattle. Good Move Mitch, good move.

We get there and the wait time is around 20 minutes. People were congregating outside and inside the waiting area. Me? I decided to go shopping. 

Down the street, down an alley and into some hole in the wall place that had great bargains.

 What? I can't shop while I wait? Hah! Watch me~ This guys' shop had $3 and $5 boxes outside filled with all kinds of cloth asian wind sox fish, satchels, totes, and, heck.....we had to go thru them all just to see what wonders awaited us! When I went inside, it was my kind of heaven. Mass knick knacks EVERYWHERE. There were more of the cloth fish I love in every color and size imaginable. Chinese dolls, flags, more satchels, tassels galore....I cannot even begin to tell you all it had. It was all crammed into a tiny shop that barely let two people stand side by side. Heaven. You all know me and my brain and color. Anyway...I am drifting. On the way out, I saw he has put a new box out.What?!? Filled with vintage wooden blocks! Oh man, I am soooo coming back after lunch. Wooden blocks go for 3-5 dollars apiece on etsy and his price was 25 cents each. Oh yeah. I WILL be back. So, back to Harbor City Dim Sum. 

We get back there and they call our name. A woman shows us to our table. Mike and Tomas decided to use the restroom. ( bear with me here, I am not getting personal for the heck of it). Within seconds of them getting up, a woman comes to the table with this cart FILLED with bowls of food . " you want this? or this? or this?" Excuse me, ...what? Mitch asks her what she has and she tells us "shrimp balls , hum Bao ( small buns of dough filled with barbeque pork) white rice with a beef mixture inside"...Uhm , yes please! She proceeds to set them all down on the table and walks away. Enter Mike and Tomas....to a table filled with food. What just happened here? Did we just sit down 15 seconds ago and now we have tons of food in front of us? Yes. Yes we did.. 

How cool is THAT?!?

And  it was so delicious, every bit of it. When one woman would leave our table, another would come by right behind her, with her cart of  more choices of dim sum. It was amazing. I felt like we were just coming off food stamps and had won the lottery. "yes please, ok, we'll take that, yes please" There were so many selections  to choose from and I was still in a whirlwind about the whole "sit down and food is on your table in 5 seconds or less" deal. Where has the place been all my life? Oh that's right, I don't get out much.

( I would be amiss if I did not tell you about their green beans. Fresh green beans sauteed in garlic. Not just garlic salt, or garlic bits but slices of garlic that tasted like they had been dipped in sugar and deep fried. THEN, sauteed with the green beans. Oh. My. Goodness. Nick and I may have dipped our hum bao into the residue of garlic slices when the green beans were done. Annnd I may have slapped the waiters hands who tried to take said plate away . It was an innocent mistake on his part, the green beans were gone, after all. )

The saddest part of this meal? The end. Because the women were still coming around and there was much more food to be had! More to be eaten! And I missed the dessert cart  while I was dipping my hum bao into the garlic deliciousness! Come back!!! I need whatever that layered orange and white dessert was!

 And of course, everyone was ready to get on with the day before she had a chance to come back." No, I do not want more shrimp balls ( pieces of shrimp mixed with a honey sauce and then deep fried, sighhh) or ginger pork dim sum....I want that orange and white dessert thingie!" I gave in to this groups demands of "let's go...we can get you something at Uwajimaya's"......Amateurs... how did they know if this Asian market would even HAVE what I wanted? 

Good thing for them I still anticipated going back to that hole in the wall shop to rummage thru the box of vintage blocks.

 Which I did. And got what I wanted. So I guess that makes up for lack of dessert.

I guess.

And if you ever come to visit me? Plan on going to Harbor City Dim Sum. Because the prices were so reasonable. the 5 of us ate a ton of food for 60 dollars, including tip. Amazing.

Day Four~ The meltdowns continue....this time they are Breanne's.

Day Four ends our time at Disney World. When I was told by Danny how big it actually was, I heard him, but I just didn't HEAR him. I can't begin to tell you the size of this place. I was also told that there is no way you can see it all in 5-7 days, much less 4. Now I know why. Danny kept track our our steps and we averaged around 12-15 thousand a day. A day! I swear I wanted to rip that watch off his arm at one point in time.

We began our day by sleeping in. Yessss. Then we packed and hit the road looking for souvenir shops for requests  friends had made. This took awhile Because everyone knows, no man wants to go souvenir shopping. Ever. 

Now, when we left FOR this trip, I drove. I have a hard time being a passenger in the back seat of any vehicle. I get antsy. And twitchy. And want to crawl out of my skin by the first hour. And grouchy. (See the first three reasons.)

 So, when I drive, I am totally comfortable and there is no reason for meds. Reason enough for me.

 Put one more man in the mix on the way home and you have two males that:

A. want to drive

B. Want to sit up front because the back seat is too crowded ( duh)

Neither of these equations was working for me. So I quietly took my husband aside and told him that if He didn't drive or I didn't drive, I would go apesh*t crazy. Now, one would think that would get the message across, right? Wrong.

"Why don't you drive Danny and we'll  take turns?"

NOOOOOOOOO! Was no one listening to me?  I anticipated going insane. And then was forced to take some meds. 

When we drove down, Breanne and I noticed some great produce farms/stands and an awesome plantation that sold antiques and fruit and veggies and I'll bet every wonderful thing under the sun! "We will stop THERE on the way home" we said.

Yeah, no. My husband had the bright idea of cutting off time on the trip home by rerouting us another way home. What? You want to do What? You want to get home at 10 pm versus 11 pm, why? What on earth could possibly make a difference on one hour?  And this is the reason traveling without men is so much easier.

Picture Breanne and I pouting in the back seat. Now picture Breanne and I and Zailey squished like sardines in the back seat. Welcome to my life for the next 7 hours. 

On our way, we notice a 7-11. Hallelujah!  Georgia  and Alabama have no 7-11's anywhere. Breanne is craving a coke slurpee. We stop. The coke slurpee machine is not working. Oh man, this trip already smells like doom.

We see one more 7-11 down the road. Do we stop? Nooooooooo. ( "we didn't think you were serious about wanting a coke slurpee!") Remember, this is a pregnant woman who cannot keep anything down and has lost 13 pounds. Humor her and give her a damn slurpee!

We see TWO more 7-11's. STOP already! Did they? NO!

I quote: " Wouldn't it be funny is these were the last two 7-11's we see on the way home?" I'll give you a hint~ they were.

So now we have a disgruntled pregnant woman, a 55 year old twitching woman  and a small child in the backseat. Good times.

Cue the rain. Yep. You knew it was coming. We saw a fruit stand that had Indian River fruit; a hybrid orange that is supposed to be super sweet, Let's stop!!! So we did and  we were disappointed in what they had to offer. Not that alligators heads are bad or anything....just not on my "want" list today. Or any day.

Back in the car. More sulking.

We had more torrential downpour for the rest of the journey home. When we got to the border of Florida and Georgia, to my right I saw....can it be......the plantation we wanted to go to?!!! Yes!!! it was!

Yes! 

We drove by.

 That does it. No more men on any more road trips. Period. We. Are. Done.

Like this vacation.

Day Three....Disney's Hollywood Studios

Day three....Hollywood Studios, Orlando.

Have you ever anticipated something so badly that you could barely sleep the night before? Yeah. That was not me. When they woke me up to get ready for day three....I wanted someone to give me some blue juice. Put me down.
 I don't wanna wallllllk anymorrrrre!
Don't make me goooooo!
 Oh fine.....So we get to Hollywood studios with a kajillion other people when it opened. That's right, pretty sure I counted every one of them. So we decide to go left when everyone else is going right...less crowded streets that way. The theme is a backlot studio....prop streets with prop houses. Only, this park did not thrill me in the design. Seemed a little, uhm, lacking. ( there's always a critic somewhere)
We get to the first thing we wanted to do, only to find it wasn't open yet. Whaaaat? is THAT all about?
Studio Backlot tour....a demo of how they make the movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc etc. So we move on. To wander the streets aimlessly
 Do we have a map? Well, yes of course we do.
 Can we find what we want? Of course not!
Finally~ We get to "honey I shrunk the kids set adventure", thinking we were going to have an adventure!!! No. Just a big playground that makes you feel like an ant. With screaming running children. Moving right along.
Cue the rain. AGAIN.  We bypass the Muppets...they don't really thrill us.  The rain comes down harder. We find refuge in an Italian Restaurant. Sweet. The wait if 45 minutes if you don't have a reservation. We don't. After much deliberation....we decide to sit it out and wait. (Transalation: Colleen is not going out there to wander aimlessly to find another eatery to discover we have to wait there, as well. Nu uh. No way. We wait here.) The rain becomes a monsoon complete with thunder and lightening. We eat, and then reluctantly head out into it. Complete with ponchos. The rain comes down harder. Now, let me explain something here. It's not like when it rains in Washington and the temperature goes down a little. Nope. It stays at a lovely 93 degrees and when you have that hood over your head, the clear poncho steams up and makes things even more enjoyable. If you love a sauna.
So picture thousands of people in their ponchos, looking for a ride that isn't closed . They close all the outdoor rides in inclement weather. Wussies.
Now picture you bumping into said people over and over again, while trying to navigate a park in the pouring down rain. You getting the picture?
We find Beauty and the beast and duck in. Yesss. Out of the rain and into the enclosure equipped with bleachers. For my broken tailbone. ( I broke it years ago but the ramifications are still with me.....why wouldn't they be?) So I sit in misery trying to look happy. I don't think I was fooling anyone.
It's over and we are trying to figure out which rides we can go on .......the one we wanted to do reeeeeeal bad was Toy Story. So we walk a thousand miles to that attraction. To find the wait is 2 hours and 30 minutes. And the fast pass is closed. Of course it is. Well crud, scratch that. We wander around, trying to find cast  members to trade our pins with.....( the one thing we enjoyed doing!) and wait out the weather. By the time it stopped, we decided we had enough. Time to call it a day. Please.
I really can't even tell you what time we got back or what we did for dinner because I think I blacked it all out!
I KNEW we should have gone to Epcot.
Stay tuned for day four......( hint....men backseat driving, only in the front seat)

Day Two....the meltdown continues....

Day two of Disneyworld!

You know, the park so dang HUGE you can take a ferry from the parking lot to get to Magic Kingdom! No kidding!! This is it ~

We decided that we would spend 9 am until around 2:30 at Magic Kingdom and go back to the resort to swim and rest. Then we would head back for the fireworks and electrical light parade. Sound like a good plan? yeah, we thought so too. So off we went. To walk another 10 thousand miles. Actually, Danny had a watch that counted his steps and it said we clocked in around 12 thousand steps. Which, in actuality, means 15 thousand for me and my small stubby legs. My feet were going to fall off. No lie. So we went on the Jungle cruise, the Pirates of the Caribbean, Zay met some of the fairies, and then topped it off with Splash Mountain. All in 90 degree , 90 percent humidity weather. Oh, the joy. Did I mention the children meltdowns?

 Because we were privy to more of those as well. I waited with Breanne while Mike, Danny and Zay went on Splash mountain. She was trying to get a good spot to catch them on camera as they came down the waterfall and I was trying to find a spot to discreetly die. I had Danny's military backpack with me and set it down beside me. Which, apparently, was a direct call to two children to come and hop over it over and over again. At the 4th hop, I very quietly said to the boy ~ " if you come anywhere near this again, I will push you down". I did. Do not doubt a very tired, hurting 55 year old woman. The look of horror on his face was my reward.

We get back to the hotel ( after we walk a thousand miles to get OUT of the park, to get ON the ferry, to get OFF the ferry , to walk back to our car in the parking lot, to drive back to the resort, which is next door, but took us almost 30 minutes to get there) and it starts to pour down rain. I mean POUR. Which left us no choice but to nap. So be it.

We wake up and head into Orlando to go to the Cheesecake Factory. Why, you ask? Because Breanne has not been to one in almost 3 years and is dying for some lettuce wraps and grilled artichoke. Ok, so am I. Those things are delicious. Annnnd one tends to cater to a pregnant woman who cannot keep any food down whatsoever. Poor girl.

After that delicious meal, I decide we should head back to Magic Kingdom for the fireworks. People are lining the streets getting themselves a choice spot for the light parade. I have to tell you, those fireworks were amazing. I have never seen a better show. Seriously. Have. Not.

 And then cue the rain. Yep. More rain. We try to wait it out by shopping in the gift stores, which my mind totally appreciates the layouts and graphics and colors and displays and.....well, you get the point. Then we hear the announcement. The parade has been cancelled.  Dang it!! This rain is getting on my last nerve! We walk back to the car , covered in ponchos. I looked like a drowned rat...second day in a row. Praying I wouldn't see anyone point at me and say " didn't we see that awful looking woman yesterday at Animal Kingdom mom?" 

And day three will not disappoint you either.

Not the Happiest Place on Earth....

Welcome to Disney World! Where you can fit three cities into~ or more. I have never been , so I was excited and a little apprehensive to go. For those of you who know me well, my fibromyalgia worried me. How was I going to be able to keep up with/not drag down anyone? The place is so huge I was very worried about this.
It took me 7 hours to drive there from Breanne's home and it was pretty cool to drive into, I have to admit. And I was told it was huge, I just had no idea. You can look at a pamphlet map all you want, it's never going to give you an accurate picture. We picked up Michael at the Orlando airport that evening and our vacation officially began!

Our first day at Animal Kingdom: Our hotel bus took us there and told us where they would be on the hour, for our return back. Great. Onward. To the masses of people in 90 something degree temperature, felt like 100 percent humidity. Oh no. I was exhausted before we even got into the gate. We were able to catch an indoor show of "it's a bugs life" and that was enjoyable. But back out to the heat. Breanne was not able to go on a majority of rides due to jarring and bumping and liabilities so I kept her company. Meaning I  used that time to re-coup from the thousands of miles we walked to get to that ride. Yes, I said thousands. It felt like it. Roll in the horrible rainy, hot, thunder and lightening weather. Rides shut down. People get soaked and run into the shops to buy ponchos. Not me. By this time, I look like  a drowned rat and I figured, eh.....no one's going to see me again...what the h*ll. The thing is...you walk forever to get to your ride, then wait forever to ride your ride. And in the meantime, you witness the most spectacular melt downs you have ever seen! I am talking SCREAMING children (not just crying, but directed AT the parents) full fledged  out and out flailing of limbs and eyes closed meltdown~ Wow. Not a pretty sight. And I am talking about the parents taking this. What the heck? Every meltdown I saw...the parents did absolutely nothing. At. All.  THAT should have been a show there......
At the end of our day, we headed back to where the bus said it would be. No bus. For about 35 minutes. Still no bus. So I called the resort. And the lady told me we had to take the monorail back. Uhm, there is no monorail there, so....... She also told me it was not possible that the bus took us straight there and dropped us off. Okaaaaay. In the meantime, Michael made friends with a group of Argentinian cheerleaders. They wanted volunteers to cheer with them and, yeah, my husband went willingly. Why was I not surprised? By this time, I am totally soaked to the bone, weary and just wanted to lie down. And not on a bus bench. Waiting for a bus that never came. Cue the Taxi cab. Back to the resort to recoup. Stay tuned as we begin another day at the most magical place on earth tomorrow.

"Ain't we got no upbringin?"

 The internet can be a wonderful thing.
Can be.
It can enlighten you, educate you and amaze you with articles, photographs and knowledge.
And then, it can wipe ALL that clean with a few comments from people who post on links.
I happened to notice that a friend commented on a recent photo of Kim Kardashian in a dress that looks a lot like my moms curtains, back in the day. The comments? Here are a few:

"All u hoes talkin shit wish that you looked half as good as she does... wish yall was havn kanyes baby... and wish yall could pull wearing something like that. Fat? Where? That bitch is helllaaa fine. While yall talking shit about her waistin your time.. shes posted up in a big ass mansion... eating her pregnant ass off... Laughing at yall... cus at the end of the... she is THAT bitch !!!!!!!"

"All yall bitches who got babies were fat as phuck too... And all you niggas broker than these bitches... I ain't ridin Kim and Kanye... I just don't hate on people... Yall bitches did that same shit wit Beyonce when she was preggo and was the first hoes that bought her album and now yall trynna get yalls body like hers... That's why half yall broke as shit now... Facebook paparazzi bitches... And when I say "bitches", I mean you niggas too..."

 "i dnt mind her big besides being prego but damn kim every big or prego gal knows that was a Fail! turtle neck and gloves WHAT THE FUK????? REALLY????????? that niga is just too into himself he gotta be like . bitch aint gona lok better then me...."

 Seriously people? I have sooooo many issues with this, it's not even funny!
When I hear men refer to women as "bitches", I cringe. Since when did this become an acceptable slang for woman? Does no one see how this slang damages a woman in so many ways? How demeaning. And yet, I hear women say it all the time to each other in a "fond" way. I may have made some jokes about it as well in my past but lately, I apologize for ever having done so. Not acceptable. This will not elevate women. No.No.No.

And the N word? I cannot even bring myself to type it! It was THE racist word when I was growing up in the 60's and 70's and now it is used so flippantly today. At what point when this was first bandied around did someone hearing it , not look up and say "WHAT?" And pardon my ignorance, but why is it acceptable for one black man to say it about another black man? WHY?
If you ask me, (and I know you did not but this is my blog and you are along for the ride, sooo)
I feel this is in fact, enslaving ( for lack of a better word) them and keeping them in a place they are so struggling to get out of. Is it just lack of education? People want to be respected and treated fairly and yet, these words are handed out a million times a day. How can someone rise above when they are covered with this crap?
There will always be slang...and it usually con notates a fondness or love for someone in a comical and or humorous way.
 These words....they do not.

And last but not least...the spelling! The short abbreviations, the mis-spellings, the bingo-speak ( before=B4)
Are these people that much in a hurry that they have to shorten everything? Or speak in Bingo? Or Walmart-ese?  Half the time, I get exhausted trying to figure out what they are trying to say!
I , myself, am all about how I present myself.
Obviously, I am not in good company.

Answers...I want them

I, like the rest of the world,. have been immersed in the Boston Bombing. The loss of lives, the videos, the interviews. The horror for those people. The summaries of the lives lost...the photos, the interviews. Such a senseless loss.
Then the process of identifying the bombers blows thu the internet.
When their photos hit the facebook  posts, I knew it was a matter of time. This had to be the most publicized search ever. You just knew someone knew them.
And then late last night, I saw the killing of the MIT policeman and the hijacking of the Mercedes SUV. Something was coming, I thought to myself.

My mind is reeling right now. I have a headache that I don't know if it's self imposed.
I have been watching the news since 6:30 this morning.
I have so many questions.
What happened to these young men who were/are the bombers in the Boston Marathon? And I don't mean in the physical sense. That much is obvious.
The information on who they are.. one a med student and the other a wanna be USA Olympic boxer, such aspirations......what happened? What would make them plant those bombs? Were they paid to?
And then to continue from the bombing to point blank shooting and killing an officer? And then to let the owner of the SUV go at a gas station...why? (Does he realize how lucky he is?)
Did someone "get " to them? Influence them? How they are being described by friends and coaches is not conducive to what they did. It just makes no sense.
So now we have one brother shot and killed and the other on the run.
The police are searching each home, door to door. Can you imagine being held in lockdown and having the police scan thru your home? I can't help but think that the 19 year old that is in hiding must be deciding whether he is going to die or come out alive. His adored brother is dead, he must feel he has nothing to live for. And that scares me for the safety of the Police and Agents  going door to door. So volatile. This WILL play out, and waiting for it is stressful.

And then the mother in me feels for the mother of these boys. What a horror for her to live through. Her husband left for Russia because he is dying of a brain tumor. So she has lost her husband, one son and another son soon. Whatever comes of this,  If he should come out alive, he is lost to her anyway.
The interview with their uncle was so moving to me. You could feel his anger and disgust. And his love for living here. He did a wonderful job, considering his life was turned upside down less than 24 hours before.
It just goes to prove to you that life can flip on you in a minute.
All the speculation on the news and the internet....did the russian mafia wrap themselves around these boys?
My mind just wants answers. To try to make some sense of all this horror.
And it's not done yet.

Will we ever be able to look at another again without wondering what lies within?

You Have To Take The Stairs.....

You have to take the stairs.

What in the heck am I talking about, you say? Look at this picture. Don't you want to see where it leads? Have you no interest in what could be waiting for you?

Well, I learned this week that we all SHOULD take the stairs. No matter what we think we want or don't want. 

I thought these last 9 days were going to be brutal. And they were. At the beginning , I was not looking for that top stair. I was looking at the bottom stair and dreading to take the first step. Not knowing how I was going to make it.

Sometimes, we know what's ahead. 

Yeah, it was bad. But I knew that going in. What I didn't know was if I was going to look back at it all and come out a better person.

I know a lot of you lifted me up with good thoughts and praise, but I really did not deserve them.

Imagine being there for someone for 24 hours a day.

 Feeding them. Medicating them. Entertaining them. Taking care of their needs. 

But, in all this, they could not remember you doing so.

 And so, there was no intelligent conversation. Ever.

The childlike misbehaving, the desire to eat things they shouldn't, the lack of sleep schedule, the arguing over the smallest thing.( I found myself getting upset a lot. Nothing I am proud of, I assure you.)

And now imagine this to be your Father.

But in a real sense, this was/is not my Father. 

My Dad was easy going and fun to tease. Fun to be with. (Saw him get angry ONCE in my entire lifetime. ONCE.)

So to see this man behaving as he did, I had no patience for it.  I was not someone who deserved any of your praise.

 I admit, I was the one lacking.

And now that my time  to live with him temporarily is over...I see that I am standing at the top stair, ready to move forward. Never even realizing I was climbing the whole time. Standing at the top, a different person from before. 

I know Alzheimers. We were introduced years ago when my mother in law had it. Then my father in law. 

I joined a support group. I KNOW this disease. I just didn't know how I was going to live with it.....again.

As you may know, last year when my Dad's wife came home from her yearly Hawaii trip, two months later she was admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery..which resulted in her being away from her home and my Dad for the next three months. Living with Dad off and on, balancing our lives with the help of my brother and sister in law.  So we know this thing. We just don't want any part of it. Sad, but true. I have no patience for anyone who offers their advice...if I haven't gotten it/understand it by now, I will never get it~ And everyone is different...every person has their own degree of this disease. So please, don't tell me it's like living with a two year old. It's not. You CAN TEACH a two year old something. You can't with an Alzheimer's patient. You just can't. They are not capable of remembering.

So when I knew I was going to have to leave my own home and husband, and  go live with Dad and all that it entailed.....The top of the stairs seemed eons away.

And yet here I am. I made it.

So what am I trying to convey here?

That every difficult journey will scare the hell out of us in the beginning. But we WILL make it through.

We WILL climb those stairs. And we WILL be ready to move ahead. And hopefully, we will be changed in the process. Hopefully, we will come away a better person than when we went in.

 I am not proud of my impatience, my sense of hopelessness and my depression. But I learned. 

How to let go , choose battles and not stress so much.

 I also know there's another set of stairs, still ahead of me. But maybe, just maybe, those will be a little easier to climb next time if I remember I made it ....once before.