Hershey Highway

We are frantically getting closer to Hershey Park. We leave this Thursday!

Of course I made a packing list for all three of us. Anal? Sure.

Of course, Pro is sick. So is Girl. She started sniffling last night. She has that sick, rosy cheek face that she always gets and her nose is all stuffed up.

Now she really sounds like The Nanny...

Great.

Of course, I'm going to Hershey with or with out without them, s'all I'm saying!

Girl is still trying to stay dry at night, but her days are rockin!

Her teacher came over yesterday to meet with her, one on one before school starts. She was so excited. She chatted that poor lady's ear off...Pro offered her a stiff drink when she was done.

The teacher was impressed that Girl new a lot about a lot of different things...Made us proud!

And Girl is really excited for school to start. What a milestone!!!

Smart chicken!

Hopefully, our trip will be as uneventful as I hope, and our amusement park adventure will be exciting and fun!!!

If not, I'll have so much to blog about!

Update!

So much to report.

Girl woke up this morning with a dry pull up! For the first time ever...She's been trained during the day for a month now and this very morning was her first dry one ever!!!

Go Girl.

The countdown to school has begun. September 17th is her first day. Alone.

Prepare for the sobby posts.

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I officially have a polyp in my endometrial lining. It was discovered by a pelvic sonogram and confirmed with a sonohysterogram. Damn catheter.

I have to get it removed soon. Fun times people.

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Seems I also need to go for a fourth breast mammo/sonogram for a "finding". They say it's nothing, but I have to go back in six months for an update. My Gyno may want me to see a breast surgeon too...just to be safe...what with my history and all.

I went for my yearly screening which turned diagnostic last month, so from now on, they will be extra cautious. Just the way I like it. No mistakes here, thankyouverymuch.

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I'm healthy, I swear. Just need a little tuning up since I turned 35 and all. I seem to have rolled down the other side of the hill a little faster than I originally expected.

So that's the news that's fit to print.

Nothing else really.

Girl is amazing and doing so well. She's growing and learning and reading and even writing...At 3 and a half. Whatta kid.

Dry for two weeks...

I know she's gonna kill me when she gets older...But The Girl has been dry for two weeks.

All poop and pee all the time in the pot. Yay her.

Summer school ended for her this week and she is looking very forward to school in September. And that's right...Dancing School.

We signed her up for that too..She is ecstatic.

I hope she enjoys it as much as I did when I was a kid...

She is growing and blossoming into this little girl right before my eyes and I am finding that her independence is stronger than ever.

I am so proud of her.

I am so happy that she has learned to find joy in the things that kids do.

I am so in awe of the way she has lost most of her fears and inhibitions and just...goes for it. With strength and excitement.

I am so proud of my girl.

We Have Poopie! (2007)

Yes indeedie doodie.

Little girl is going!

In the POT!!!!

Both Number one and number two...My little potty pro!

So after one full year and 31 doodie posts later...This is the first positive doodie post out there...Yay Girl!

She has been dry for a week and is a proud pooper.

I am a proud Mamma and I have been so much calmer since the big event.

She even pooped for Papa...How appropriate really.

Her first poop ever was in his presence and her first words after she did it was: "Can I show Papa?"...She's definitely his grandbaby.

So now, our next hurdle...leaving the house. You see, she's afraid of public bathrooms. Especially the unexpected flush from a neighboring stall. And the hand drier/blower thing. Too loud.

Any suggestions on traveling and public pots...throw 'em at me.

I'm all (r)ears!

It's So Easy

I can always tell when I need to re-evaluate my space in this world.

When I need to take inventory of my head and heart and do some spring cleaning.

It's been this way for years.

And the cues have returned.

When I was 18, I listened to three particular albums back to back every single day. Yes, albums. Vinyl. CD's were too expensive for me back then. I listened to all the tracks on these albums repeatedly. I can't even really tell you why it was these three albums in particular. But it was.

Appetite for Destruction had been out for three years already and I knew every word and tune by heart. And I connected to the overall theme of 'destruction' well back then. I felt like the world was 'Out ta Get Me'

(Believe it? I was at that show! The Ritz 1988)

...and I knew the sarcasm of 'It's So Easy' was geared towards me.


And I totally felt "So Crazy' that there was no hope in sight...


Yup, G'NR ruled my days...and nights.

Then there was Bat out of Hell...(I know) It came out when I was five years old and I wanted it so badly, I begged for my Mom to buy it for me at Camelot Music Stores in the mall. God, I begged to go to that store every day! When I got older, it was like a staple in my music collection and I started listening to it again when I was struggling in High School.

I can't even tell you how many times I played 'Heaven Can Wait' over and over again.

And 'Two outta Three Ain't Bad'

You'd think I was dying.

I wasn't literally. But inside I did.

Then there was TNT. That whole album is still one of my favorites to this day. I am in awe of Tony Harnell's voice.

The music of these three albums makes the feeling I got in High School return to this day every time I hear them.

And I woke up this morning singing these songs in my head. Autopilot. Not thinking about it...just in my head. These songs.

This means, I need to clean out my mind. I need to get motivated to trash the anger and release the tension that is building inside of me. Or I will burst.

I need to reorganize my mind's bins again. They sure are a mess.

These songs reminded me of that this morning and I gotta get to work. Amazing how music can inspire you, lead you and help you feel again.

But. It Ain't So Easy. Axl, you're a smarty. Aren't you?

P.P.A

I have been dying to write this post since June third!

That's when Queen Heather wrote this post about her eldest boy.

Queen Heather at the infamous "Island of the Shake Shake" (what a cool place) has written about her sons (The Heir and The Spare) before. Each post makes you laugh, cry and sometimes even pee a little...She is hysterical. So are they! (And wanna talk convincing....she got me to actually purchase this...) I know, I know....she deserves an award for THAT!

Once in a while, she'll write about the stuff her and her son (The Heir) are going through when he is "out of his element"...Some days it is a very difficult path they are walking along together but the love she feels for that little boy is insurmountable. I feel it in her writing. And she helps me understand.

She helps me understand the nuances of a child who is over-stimulated and dealing with sensory overload and anxiousness. She helps me to see that these things are all a part of the way some children are...She helps me to realize that we are never 'normal' and who really is anyway? Sometimes I need to hear it from someone else. And sometimes I need to see how others handle it...Because my daughter can be that way too.

In this post, I felt her love, anxiety and concern for her baby because I have felt it too, just as intense, when my daughter has gotten over-anxious and for lack of a better word - difficult - in certain situations. I have been in The Queen's shoes and I want her to know she is not alone. I feel her. And I also want her to know how proud I am of her. For the way she handled this particular situation. I couldn't have done it better...I don't think anybody could have...She is a wonderful mother and a stellar example of motherhood!

And Queen Heather expresses her thoughts so deeply and so openly that I think she deserves a Perfect Post Award..Don't you?



All my love Queen Heather! You rock and rule!

Thank you also to Lindsay and MommaK for so eloquently coordinating this award...you can see the entire list of nominees here.

Do's and Don'ts of Spray on Tanning

Ok. Don't laugh. I had a wedding this weekend and I wanted to look hawt. (tee hee)

So even though I've been getting some color in the front yard, I thought I'd even it out and get just a little darker for the summer's biggest extravaganza!

Sooo, I went for a spray-on tan.
Here are some things to remember if you do get this done...

Do:

• Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate
• Expect to feel sticky after the application and expect to stay that way until you shower
• Expect to get it on your clothing (and your kid if you're not careful)
  
• Wear dark, loose fitting clothes for after the application (think mu mu)
  
• Expect to feel like a fat tub-o-lard standing there nekkid with just your paper panties on
• Expect to question every decision you have ever made that led you to this procedure
• Especially when your boobahs are white as ghosts and sorta saggin' (at least in your eyes)
  
• Be careful that stuff gets everywhere
• Exfoliate
  
• Understand that you will look like an orange until you shower
• Expect to get what you pay for...you will be $60.00 lighter in the wallet, but you won't get melanoma (a small price for health I say)
• Plan the application at least two days before an event
• Plan on blowing away the little black dress you plan to wear
• Do it for any event but make sure you exfoliate
  

Don't:

• Go in a driving thunderstorm (think Jackson Pollack)
• Wear flip flops in said rainstorm or step in gigantic puddles
  
• Expect brain surgeons to be working at the salon
• Go in a hawty-tawty neighborhood, they sneer
• Expect the salon workers to giggle at you (at least not to your face)
• Shower for eight hours after the application
  
• Let one ounce of water touch your skin for eight hours after the application
• Sweat...ever
• Forget to exfoliate
  
• Wear a mu mu in a driving rainstorm with your flip flops although on a sunny day it would be perfecto
• Pay more than $60.00 for the treatment...it may not be worth it
• Go the night before a big event
• Be surprised by the compliments you will receive for looking like you just got back from St. Tropez
• Expect your husband to keep his hands to himself...(rowr)
  
• PANIC...it's not THAT bad
• Be surprised if you don't exfoliate