ME Day!

Thank you again everyone for getting me up to 200 Followers for my birthday this last Sunday! I appreciate and love to visit each and everyone of you. I have some fun pics of my 56th birthday of Feb 13th. I did what wise women have been doing for centuries; I set it up myself!

Sassy Bride (Left) and Girlfriend are so cute, I love them both so much!

When Hubs asked what I'd like to do for my special day, I told him I love going out to eat with both my sons and their ladies but we end up paying for it and they all go home once the meal is done. As we talked I got the best idea ever. I asked them all to come to our house and cook me a birthday dinner! My new DIL and Rocker Son's girlfriend both love to cook and they jumped on the plan with great enthusiasm. That made me feel good!

They worked together really well and enjoyed putting my Birthday meal together.

I am yakking away as usual. Rocker Son's Girlfriend (left) Writer Son (right).

Action shot!

I love, love, love having them all here together!

Amazing Dark Choc cake with choc cream cheese frosting.
Made from SCRATCH by Sassy Bride!

YAY! My Birthday Wish Was Granted!

Thank one and all for giving me my only 

Birthday Wish!

This morning I woke up to find my

200th Follower!

So

SUE at Stay At Home Mom

  YAY! Thanks for getting me to 200 Followers!

 I ought to have a prize for you huh?

 I guess that your amazing sense of fulfillment at granting my birthday wish

 will be gift enough right? Ha!

Actually I'd also like to thank the ACADEMY, my Mom and Dad,

my fourth grade teacher, my cat Tony

and especially

all 11 of you who 

put me over the top.

thank you!

I will tell you more about my Birthday Dinner later.

I know, you will be staring at your screen until I

come back.

The Wings Are Getting Stronger

Hey Gang, thanks for all the help getting me up to 200 Followers by my birthday tomorrow! It's been so fun to come here and meet my new friends.

I am so excited and hopeful about tomorrow! I did what women have been doing for years in order to have a fun birthday party. I set it up myself. I asked my two clueless sons and their talented ladies to come cook me a nice dinner at our home. 

Today I got a call from Sassy Bride asking  about my favorite cake and then when I hung up and left the room I heard Hubs get a call from her. Rocker Son's girlfriend messaged me on Facebook that she is so excited to cook for me and has tons of ideas! So my plan is working! Yay!

Today Hubs wondered aloud how the day will be with two strong young women working in our kitchen together. Writer Son's Bride and Rocker Son's Girlfriend have only met once, when we all had New Year's Eve dinner together. It was fun and easy, they all seemed to hit it off wonderfully, we left the two young couples talking in the restaurant parking lot as we drove home. So even though they are both strong young ladies I have no doubt they will have fun doing our special dinner in my kitchen. 

As Hubs and I chatted about the girls he continued on the same theme. He reminded me that there is a very popular belief that many young people marry someone who is like their parent of that sex. We were walking into a food store while we had this conversation and I stopped and said, "But I am not a strong woman!". He literally laughed at me as we continued into the store. 

It is a beautiful thing to be loved by someone who sees you in a much better light than you see yourself.

2/13/11 UPDATE

Oh man, going to bed at 11pm on my birthday

with 199 Followers!

So close to 200!

Maybe the Follow fairies will visit

my blog while I sleep!!

Thanx and welcome to my new followers!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY (Almost!)

Java is hosting Wordless Wednesday!

 Writer Son turns 28 today and has been married

for 17 days!

Where did the time go?

Hubby Calls It Sweeps Week at Our House!

February is MY MONTH! Feb 13 is my birthday, of course February 14 is Valentine's Day which you all get to celebrate along with me & February 18 is our Wedding Anniversary!

So, for poor Hubs it can be a pressure filled month, but for me it is mostly just fun! Me, me, it's all about me! This year he did really well, we've had some years where I have felt very unappreciated & forgotten. It is easy for that to happen when you are a young mom & life is so full of busy-ness that the days slip by without notice. (Hubs hates greeting cards, thinks they are a waste of paper & money...I LOVE CARDS! So that tiny difference between us can lead to huge bad stuff in the air, if you know what I mean!)

But this year he bought out the Bath & Body Store because he knows I love bubble baths & smelly stuff. Thankfully, he also knows my favorite scent, Japanese Cherry Blossom. He also found a new scent for me to try & I like it too, yay! (We recently regained our single bathtub for my use after Rocker Son moved out. It required some major sandblasting to get it clean but it is now sparkly & ready for me!)

The fun little rose cake & the heart full of chocolates were gifts from students & the gorgeous scarfs are from my good friend Barb. I feel extremely loved & pampered as I enter my 55th year.

Aaaaand the fun's not over yet! Hubs reserved a night at our favorite B&B in Mendocino for our Anniversary! Guess I better find a gift for him now huh?

6 Word Saturday.....

Six Word Saturday!

It's my Birthday, I am loved!!

The 55er Club

Once upon a time, fifty-five years ago next year to be exact, five cousins were born in the same year. When the great & momentous occasion of their 5th birthday & going to Kindergarten arrived, the mommies & daddies decided to celebrate with a week end camp out at the end of the summer just before school would begin. The camp out became an enduring family tradition up until the 55er club reach into their teen years & the families got too busy with other things.

The other day I was pondering the arrival of my 55th birthday in 2010 & realized that this is again a very momentous occasion! So I contacted the one cousin I am in contact with on FB & one thing led to another & now there are 3 of us chatting away on FB about getting together next year to celebrate our joint wonderfulness! We are trying to get cousin number 4 to get with it & come to the dark side of Facebook, he is not doing well physically so other things may be much more important for him at this time. Cousin number 5 sadly did not survive our 12 year due to an awful accident that took her short life.

Who knows where this all will lead. My cousins & I are very thankful for our fun childhood & shared stories of those camp outs each year. We are also very different people now & the emotion of getting to know one another all over again has been really interesting & sometimes just too much for me. I am not the quiet, reserved, easy-to-boss-around cuz anymore & I am needing to very intentionally assert myself as this new free person to my cousins even just through chats on FB. It's crazy! The old feelings of being mowed over by stronger personalities is so tempting to just go along with. But, that will not happen now, because I am different.

Let's see where this will go in the coming weeks. I am seriously thinking about writing about our camp outs & this process for a magazine article. Who knows, it could be my big breakthrough into freelance writing.

Happy 88 Years!

I am waiting anxiously for the tattoo shop to return my call asking if there is an opening today. They are open from Noon to 9pm & it is now 4:40pm and no call! Making me crazy, because I got myself all revved up to do it today if they would. Guess they are kinda laid back & I had better just relax about it.

In the meantime I am going to let you in on the fun we had on Nana's 88th birthday at Chevy's Restaurant yesterday.. Nana is my best friend's mom & she is a lovely, always smiling lady! This year she is not always aware of what is going on exactly. Last year she was much sharper so it is sad to see the change in only one year. I would love to have her smiling attitude when I am that age.

Mother's Day Barbie!

I am pretty much out of the loop when it comes to the latest Barbie dolls on the market. I have two grown sons, so every Christmas I usually choose a girls’ name from a charity Christmas tree that gives me an excuse to buy a Barbie & some fun accessories for a deserving little girl in our community! That is my only link to Barbie, until I become a grandmother anyway!

But, in honor of Mother’s Day I am wondering if these ideas have been used in the last 50 years of Barbie-dom. Has there ever been an edition of Pregnant Barbie? She could waddle her way into her dream home & there would be a whole new array of maternity clothes for her. They could sell that special cream you put on your belly to prevent stretch marks & her feet could slowly swell until she had to always wear slippers every where she went. You could buy pickle flavored ice cream & Skipper & her friends could give her a baby shower! Little girls could learn how the body changes shape & hear the first heartbeat with a tiny little sonogram machine. She may have a hidden button you push that makes her water break all over her maternity jeans with the stretchy panel in the front.
The next purchase would have to be Mommy Barbie, who comes with a perfect baby & a car-seat for the pink convertible! For a little extra you could buy the super deluxe stroller that turns into a playpen or baby pool. Since the stretch mark cream never really works, she would definitely have them all over the place. Some extra accessories may be a breast pump & one of those cool baby wraps that keep the baby close to mommies’ heart all the time. A baby monitor is a must, along with baby clothes & all new transition clothes for Mommy Barbie while she slowly loses the baby weight over the next 5 years.

Oh man, this just opens up a whole new world for her! There could be Soccer Mom Barbie, Carpool Barbie, Hire- A- Nanny Barbie, Single Mom Barbie, Mommy-Blog Barbie! There is no end of great ideas & opportunities out there! Of course, maybe there already is a Mommy Barbie, like I said; I am way out of the loop on this stuff. But I will bet you there is not a……

Menopause Barbie!! I mean, she IS fifty years old now folks! She would come with an assortment of tiny fans, both manual & electric. Her face would unexpectedly turn several shades of red & pink without warning & beads of sweat would roll down her face & back in the middle of important work meetings. She would come with several pairs of light weight pajamas to change into through the night as the night sweats hit her. She would also need an ID bracelet to help her remember her name & maybe a special beeper to help her find her convertible in the parking lot! Of course she must have a treadmill & stationary bike or at least a gym membership to get rid of that new tummy fat that just won’t budge! And a dermatologist friend who can help her with the unsightly facial hair that sneaks up on her, poor thing. At least now she doesn’t have to worry about contraception….um no, I’m not gonna go there!

Barbie is 50!

Could Barbie really be fifty years old? I keep seeing headlines & articles saying it is true but she certainly is holding up well! Maybe a bit of plastic surgery along the way, that's what I'm thinking. So I did some research & yes, she was invented in 1959 & changed the doll industry forever. Before her birth most dolls for little girls were baby dolls. She changed our way of playing & a few days ago I stepped back in time for a while in the privacy of my bedroom while my hubs watched men beating each other up on TV.

I'd like to introduce you to my Barbie, isn't she gorgeous? She was given to me in 1962 when I was 7 years old. I love her bubble hair cut & recently learned that it was designed to honor then presidential wife, Jackie Kennedy! Last week I retrieved her & her Barbie Case from the garage & sat down on the floor of my room & had her give me a little fashion show of the few pieces of clothing she still owns.

The wonderful memories of my afternoons with Barbie came flooding back as she patiently tried on her swimsuit & then her dressy coat for me. I remember riding my bike down to the opposite end of Arlington Drive to my friend, Ginger's house. I would carefully balance the black case & the handle bar in one hand & hanging onto her Dream House & handle bar in the other hand! OH, the dream house was amazing, I loved it so much! It was cardboard & folded out to a pretty good size house with separate rooms & little cardboard stand up furniture & stuff inside.

We would set up our houses so her Barbie & mine were best friends & neighbors, just like us! Of course we explained the absence of husbands by talking about how they were doing in Viet Nam. Wow, that tells you my era doesn't it?


Speaking of a husband for Barbie, I never wanted a Ken doll for her, he was not very good looking to me. Not much personality, at least not enough to be worthy of Barbie! She was, in my imagination anyway, a strong, sassy but gentle woman who was always laughing & humble about her beautiful looks. I mean just take a look here at Ken, he looks like he could be her little brother or a pesky neighbor or something. Compare him to G.I Joe who arrived on the scene in 1964. Which would you choose? Joe has some character & personality, where did that mysterious scar come from, for instance? And those heavy-lidded eyes!


Looking at these G.I Joe pictures reminds me of my own son's action figures of super heroes & Star Wars characters. They hated it when I called them "dolls" or compared them to my childhood Barbies. I was supposed to call them "action figures" or just "guys"! I never bought them the G.I Joe figures because I really hated the idea of giving my boys military stuff in those days (remember I grew up amidst the Vietnam controversy!).

Barbie created some controversy of her own in later years. People have blamed her for causing eating disorders by showing little girls such a beyond-perfect body shape that is not realistic or achievable. I don't recall feeling that way, but that would be pretty hard to detect in yourself wouldn't it? I was a late bloomer in getting any shape at all, so comparing myself to her could have been a problem I suppose. In fact, it may be what's bugging me now as I am trying so hard to get in shape. Her waistline is pretty amazing & I am still wearing the same size bra as a pre-teen so really the only thing Barbie & I have in common is our dark hair!

My fun afternoon of playing with Barbie came to an end as she let me know she'd had enough & waved me away, guess she was ready to be alone again in her shiny black case tucked away in the garage. Up there on the second shelf seems like a pretty dismal place for such a glamorous & important lady, but maybe she knows what an honor it is to be sharing the space with my husband's beautiful Shadow motorcycle!