Are You Kiddin'?

Today is our one year “Blogiversary!” TLC realized it this morning—on her way to work.

TLC: What’s the date?

ELC: I don’t know. The 8^th? 9^th? 10^th? Don’t ask me. I can tell you the time and temperature. Because I’m looking at them on TV. But they don’t have the date. They really should. That would be tres helpful.

TLC: If it's the 9th, it's our Blogiversary!

We had talked about this milestone last week. Shocking that ELC had already forgotten, right? (And TLC thinks she has “pregnant” brain—an inability to remember anything even remotely important, of course. She’s clearly doing better than her Senior Citizen Mama. Yep. Very scary.)

We don’t know where this is going—but we plan to keep on keeping on. Until we’ve run out of thoughts. Or steam. Whichever comes first.

Truly, we thank each of y’all, again, for reading our silliness and joining in on our musings. We hope you see yourselves and your own experiences in our journeys. We're bettin' you do.

Cupcakes and Diet Dews all around!

And A Toast! To Mothers and Daughters. Husbands and Wives. Family and Friends. Silly dogs and cRaZy cats. To All The Sweet People that make our lives fun, happy and meaningful. Grazie!”

and smooches…

M is for...

Mom! And M.I.A.

ELC has been pulling double-blog-duty recently, as I literally cannot keep my eyes open after 8:00 every evening. Who knew growing a sweet, cute, tiny little baby would be this exhausting? I did make it until 9:15 on New Year's Eve. I deemed that a very successful way to ring in 2012.

My Dear Hubby has been tres helpful and kind during this first trimester. It's hard to imagine that in six-ish short months, it will no longer be just us and Henry. WOW.

Speaking of my little Hurricane, we’ve broken the news to him about Baby C. He seems to be taking it well. Although I have noticed him chasing his tail and acting out a bit more frequently. I'm hoping it's unrelated to our upcoming arrival and is simply general puppiness.

Hubby and I will be finding out if Baby C is a boy or girl. (My bet is on BLUE.) ELC wishes we would wait until the delivery. She feels there are very few surprises in life. Everyone who knows me well can attest to the fact I'm entirely too much of a planner to ever do that.

We've already started working on the nursery! ELC drove over yesterday to help me clean out the closet . I sure have accumulated a lot of stuff in the two and a half years we've lived in our home. Sheesh. I also have four paint samples on the wall. I'm having a hard time picking the color. The names are: Thundercloud Grey, Silver Chain, Shaker Tan and Elephant Grey . Hubby describes them as: blue, white, yellow and purple. Men/Dads. (I confess: When trying to finalize a color for our dining room, I tested out 14 different possibilities. Yes. Fourteen. Hubby and ELC thought twelve of them were the same. I’m definitely seeing a couple more trips to Home Depot in my future.)

I truly feel incredibly blessed. I've always wanted to be a Mom. It's still a bit hard to grasp that that dream is coming true! I welcome any advice you may have about motherhood. And baby gear. I’m slightly intimidated by Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby. LOL. Thank y’all for your patience during my mini-hiatus.

The biggest GRAZIE of all to ELC, the World's Most Amazing Mom AND Grammy!

E is for...

In addition to our Yeehaws, Yummies, and Yumhaws, I would like to introduce (drum roll, please):

ELC’s Examples

Beginning at about age 5, we start hearing “older” peeps complain that there are too many wrong things happening. They say (a lot):

“This is an example of what’s wrong with Our World.”

I was realizing I’d forgotten to follow-up on what I was going to call my “Soapbox” post. After our Newport Rhode Trip. (Never fear—that’s a comin’!) But, as TLC and I were tooling around her Neck-O'-the-Woods this past Monday, I found myself telling her, several times: “See? This is what’s wrong with Our World.”

Example #1: We were in a big, nice, crowded Mall for a few hours. As we went from store to store (looking for—you guessed it—baby “stuff”), I told her I truly despised being “tailgated” by other shoppers.

TLC: What do you mean?

ELC: I mean, those people who get right on your “tail” and think they’re going to make you walk faster because they’re in a hurry.

TLC: Hmmm. I’ve never had this happen to me.

ELC: Seriously? Yes, yes you have. UNLESS, YOU are one of those Mall/Wally World/Grocery Store Tailgaters. When it happens to me, it only makes me more determined to walk even SLOWER.

TLC: No. I don’t think I’m “one of those tailgaters,” ELC. But I’ll try to be aware of this clearly frustrating situation. Now stop acting like a Geezette.

People need to slow down, I say. Nothing good ever comes from going fast. NOTHING. Trust me on this. I can give you at least thirty major times I should have SLOWED DOWN in the past 34 years. I’m not just talkin’ driving, either. Walking. Cleaning. Talking. Etc.

Example #2: Every time I venture over to TLC’s casa, I am treated rudely by many drivers. In fact, if I’m not shot The Bird at least three times during a round trip, I feel I haven’t done my job as a Senior Citizen. But this is an example of what truly gets me:

Two trips back, I was heading home after a lovely day with TLC and Her Sweet Hubby. It was dusk-ish. I was on the George Bush Tollway (see TLC’s post Hail to the Chief on February 20th). The speed limit is currently 70 on that cRaZy highway. I was actually doing 74. I was in the left hand lane (of three lanes), because I could see several cars in the middle lane going slower than me. I wanted to pass them. As I approached the first car on my right, a car behind me, a new Mustang driven by a guy, 25 to 33ish in age, was right on my bumper. DANGEROUSLY close. He got so frustrated with me for not going 80mph, he veered into the middle lane and drove between me and the car I was trying to pass. He could have killed all of us if I hadn’t taken my foot off my accelerator. As he turned back in front of me, he held up his right arm—middle finger arrogantly aimed at me. He kept this display up for several seconds. He even turned around to make sure I could see how angry he was. What a fabulous idea. To take your eyes off the road in front of you. As you’re driving 80mph down a crowded highway. To make sure you’re obscene gesture is fully appreciated by the Poor Little Senior Citizen Lady.

I wasn’t going 60. 65. Even 70. I was going 74mph. RUDE, I tell you. Unnecessarily rude. And THIS is a perfect example of what is wrong with Our World. Period. End of story.

(Now I’m sure y’all will be anxiously awaiting more “examples” of my frustrations. I'm also confident you'll each be determined to do your part to make Our World a better, safer, fairer, SLOWER-paced and tres happier place. Okay? PLEASE.)

ttfn…

Twenty Years From Now...

Twenty years from now

you will be more disappointed

by the things that you didn’t do

than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade wind in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

                                             --Mark Twain

There are hundreds—thousands—of wonderful “New Year” quotes. I loved this one. Which is kind of strange, since I’m very afraid of water. Well, being in water. Not showers, baths or swimming pools, Sillies. I’m talkin’ lakes, big bays. Oceans? YIKES. The whole shark thing, you know. Actually, I need to be able to see where I am. Guess it’s become a control issue. But I love Mark Twain. (Who doesn’t?) His inspiring words seemed to speak to me today.

January 1, 2012.

Rather than bore y’all with resolutions I probably won’t keep—very long, or at all—I thought I’d tell you what I think/hope/believe/feel/suggest 2012 will be. For TLC. For moi. Maybe for you, too.

2012 will be The Year of Baby C! TLC’s first child. The thought of this makes me get weepy. It also causes me to giggle and smile. Not just with my mouth and lips—but with my heart. And soul. It makes me giddy—yep, giddy—with excitement! I believe she’ll cherish every moment of anticipation with awe, humor and wonder. (At some point, she might quit saying: I look fat, don’t I? You think I’m fat, don’t you? No, TLC. I don’t think you look fat. I think you look cute. Happy. Darling. Precious. I promise.)

2012 will be the year TLC’s life changes. Forever. In the most touching, sweet, scary, tiring, cRaZy, silly, challenging, tiring, confusing, incredible, delightful, tiring, funny, special, marvelous, tiring, and glorious way! I’ll be there with her. For every fabulous moment. For those not-so-fabulous moments, too. Understanding, encouraging and helping her with the difficult stuff. It’ll all be okay, TLC. Trust me.  

2012 will be a year of continued challenges for me. Aging is a weird process. You look in the mirror and you can’t quite believe the way your face, hair, teeth, neck and body are all doing things you wish they wouldn’t do. And yet, as you peer at the picture of yourself—through your often droopy, puffy and crinkly eyes—you realize you are actually looking at unconditional gratitude. For every line you see, there was laughter. Joy. Heartache you overcame—eventually. Fear you faced. Pain through which you trudged with determination and perseverance. Okay, yes, and maybe a few cuss words. Cancer? Been there. Sudden, unexplained and permanent deafness? Been there, too. Sheesh. First broken bone at age 55? Yep. Done that. Necessary—and unnecessary—losses? Of course. Survived.

In my mirror, I see me. Younger. Middle-aged. Older. Chubby. Wrinkly. Saggy. Achy. Forgetful. Cranky. Alive and, mostly, well. I see my past. I see me here—in the present. I see the probability I won’t look any better or younger when I get up tomorrow, but I’m trusting there will be a tomorrow. I catch a glimpse of the Grateful Me. The person that, for now, at least, can see several things clearly. The most important thing I've learned? That all that ever really matters, at the end of the day, is I’m lucky to get continued chances to try harder and do better.

My Faith may occasionally waver, but it never completely abandons me. There have been hundreds of worries that were unfounded. Unfortunately, there have been a few worries that were founded. After sleepness nights and endless days, they dissolved into inevitable acceptance. As long as I’m breathing, there will be more worries. Darnitall.

I pray to my Lord God Above that as 2012 progresses each minute, hour, day, week, and month, He helps and guides Our Country. Our World. The Leaders of Our World. He gives us all strength. Peace. Hope. Love. Forgiveness. Amen.

TLC and I wish each of you a breathtakingly exquisite 2012!

Happy New Year! Happy Ever After, Dear Friends… Everywhere!