St. Patty's

Let me start by saying that I have a lot of baggage, but I totally know that I do and I have a strong back to carry it all.  I know that I grew up differently than most of my peers, however I believe that those differences have made me a better person today.  So let me rewind to last Friday night when the girls refused to fall asleep and were getting up and out of their beds for hours.  On the last trip of manipulation, Austin stated while crying that she must remember to wear green on Monday or the teacher said she would be pinched.  Now the lucid part of my brain knows that the story it's self is too close to reality to not have some basis, however I doubt highly that the "teacher" stated this but rather one of the students.  On that particular Friday this conversation with my four year old spun me up, to her I laid her back down and told her that Monday was a long ways away and that we would talk about it again later.  But to anyone else that would listen I was upset for a multitude of reasons.  It brought back a memories of being escorted to the library during every holiday party as a kid, giving back gifts and never wearing green.  We were the odd kids, everyone knew it....and while I believe it was this fact that later enabled us to become the bullies I am sure we were, we also don't give in to peer pressure and are fine fighting the entire world if need be.  The thought of a child (much less my child) being treated differently due to what they wore that day when clearly a four year doesn't buy their clothing or even pick out what to wear on Monday's made my heart hurt.  I knew at this very moment that I was being some what irrational but as everyone continued to look at me like I was the crazy person I took the fight option of my fight or flight reactions and was reminded why my baggage was so important to me.  While I dealt with those dreadful bulling years in high school, I wouldn't have changed what those experiences turned me into.  I wanted with every bit of my soul to put Austin in pink and tell her to fight em' all...stand up for the kids that weren't wearing green and tell the kids that were that they were nothing more than followers, but alas I do not get to raise kids by myself and Joe won this battle.  Long story short here are the *new* (because they didn't have any current ones) green shirts that I had to pick up for the girls.  At least they looked super cute and apparently didn't get terrorized at preschool.

Scoot over...

I always go in to check on the girls one last time before I go to bed (well and I walk in there to check on them every time I get up throughout the night too...I may be a little bit neurotic).  When I walked in there the other night this is what I saw.  I can't count the nights that Tadd and I used to make the other one scoot over and even though the girls share a room apparently sometimes life is just a bit better sharing a bed too.

 

And here's Dad's big boy...he adores Joe and has to snuggle with him or lay next to him all the time.  Here Kuma is getting his chest scratched, I just loved the amount of trust shown here...that dog would walk through fire for him.

Fun fact for the day, I can't eat cottage cheese with a spoon.  I would rather go without than use a spoon, it has to be a fork.  Put that one on the therapy list.

Face to face.

Remember back in the good ol' days where most communication took place face to face?  Trust me when I tell you, I am not one that would ever bash on technology (while you are reading the words I am typing from Black Forest while working on another computer) BUT...there was a time when you had to say something to someone's face and bottom line you just simply knew better.  I met one of my brother's friends this weekend for the first time at his BBQ - no matter what that man would have said, I would not have just called him a moron.  Even if he was one.  I was reading a recent news story about a woman who got a pedicure and a bonus infection that caused major surgery.  I read the article...took it into advisement...and honestly looked at my toes and thought to myself OMG do I need a pedicure.  However when I read the comments on the article written by Trolls (as we call them in the industry) I was amazed to hear how many people said no kind words, not even Wow that stinks.  But instead they were all circulated around well that's what you get for going to a cheap place...did you watch them clean out the basin before you stuck your feet in? -no, well then it's your fault.  Hmmmm.  Interesting.  I like to sum up this watched encounter by using the comedian Louis CK as a reference.  Below is a video of him on Conan O'Brian that I think sums up what's different between face to face and through the digital world.  If you don't have time to watch it...this is my favorite set of lines talking about why his kids aren't allowed to have smart phones.

I think these things are toxic, especially for kids...they don't look at people when they talk to them and they don't build empathy. You know, kids are mean, and it's 'cause they're trying it out. They look at a kid and they go, 'you're fat,' and then they see the kid's face scrunch up and they go, 'oh, that doesn't feel good to make a person do that.' But they got to start with doing the mean thing. But when they write 'you're fat,' then they just go, 'mmm, that was fun, I like that.'  

The whole video is here - Louis CK on Conan O'Brian

Simmer down Crystal

Well the tyrant was in full effect this weekend.  Tadd hosted a BBQ at his house in honor of his birthday, so my job was appetizers.  The girls and I loaded up and went to the store Sunday morning to get the supplies we needed.  Of course they picked out the cart with the car attachment that makes it impossible to maneuver, I start in with my usual keep hands feet and heads in the cart and to yourself speech and then head on over to the produce section.  Park the cart against the cooler and begin to pick out jalapenos.  I caught a glimpse of something and heard some rustling, so of course I assume it was one of the girls riffling through the veggies.  Without skipping a beat the feared King snapped under her breath something about knocking it off and keeping your hands to yourself.  Just then I actually turned my head and some poor old woman dropped her bags of produce.  Now I am apologizing and helping her regain her sense of going to the grocery store without being verbally attacked.  Perfect Crystal.

Juggling

Juggling....

See that slightly pudgy clown standing in the corner with the sad face because her balls dropped?!?!  Yeah that's me.  I had a mandatory meeting this afternoon at the same time as I needed to get Austin to school.  So in my infinite reason I thought I could just be a little early to the conference call and a little late to Austin's school.  Took the call on the road and as I was getting out of my car to drop Austin off, I hung up the phone accidentally.  Guess who has two thumbs and didn't bring the call info with me?  At least it was only required by the legal department, not like it was important or anything.  I am still shaking my head.  I know most days I juggle too much but most days I manage to pull it off which I guess makes days like today a little harder to pick up from.

More meetings this afternoon, followed by trying to get the girls to Joe in time for me to make it to darts.  Mama's gonna need a beer.  Oh yeah and did I mention that I am attempting to not drink every single night.  I know give me a effin medal, but it is extremely hard for me in our lifestyle not to have a drink a night.  But I am sure somewhere it is bad for me, at least in my waist line it is.  Shoot this week alone I have made it two full days without drinking, of course not consecutively - let's not be crazy or anything. *Cheers*

The nurse, a pit bull and death row.

Sounds like the start to a bad joke huh?

Nope more like what swirls around in my head on a daily basis.

The nurse - I jinxed myself the other day by saying that the girls have been remarkably well behaved as of late, they play nicely together and listen well.  And then...they got sick.  Currently they are on the downward side of being sick and finally starting to feel good enough for Austin to go back to school, but there for a week or so they were miserable, chewing each other's faces off.  And I suppose as the adult I had several options, I could have stepped in more but instead I just allowed them to turn the playroom into a MMA fighting ring and hope that I have one surviving heir.  Why you may ask...because I have less sympathy in my body than the water bottle I am staring at.  Sometimes I can squeak out some empathy but sympathy runs dry in these parts.  So when you are sick in my house you get 6 hours.  That's a good part of a day to lay around, moan and groan, talk snippy and overall be a pain.  But then you have to muster, you have to get up and take care of your life and all that it entails.  ***Sorry I just actually laughed out loud - because*** Joe keeps talking about getting his knee worked on and I remind him that he's got 6 hours when he gets home to work through it.  I think this frightens him enough to stall the surgery.  I find myself gazing out at our children with the snot running down their faces and just shaking my head, please for the love of all that is holy can you find a tissue and an attitude adjustment.  Therefore I think I would make a terrible nurse.

Pit bulls are a very heated topic nowadays.  There was a 1 year child bit yesterday here in Colorado by a pit bull type breed and the story on Facebook has prompted over 1,500 comments.  I can't remember anything else causing that kind of stir on my news-feed.  Both sides believe so wholeheartedly that they are correct that it is as if we were arguing religion or politics.  It's amazing to watch.  Although I must admit that I stay completely out of it, only because I know I own a breed of dog that can and I am sure has killed someone...I don't say that it's the owner not the breed or that if raised right no dog would ever do that.  I try and live with my eyes wide open and my jaws clenched.   Both Hiro and Kuma have growled once at one of the kids, my answer to this behavior (though I am sure Caesar Milan would argue), I beat um' all.  The kids, the offending dog, the dog sitting there minding it's own damn business.  Basically in my perfect world Mom is the scary one.  Is it better for a King to be feared or loved?  In the case of animals that someday can eat me, I would like to think that fear has a great deal to do with respect.

Death row - We had our first prisoner come up for execution here in Colorado since 1997, so the debate has been getting more press.  While I can argue it many different ways both for and against, I am not a supporter of the death penalty.  Currently we have a democratic Governor in Colorado so it never really came to having to execute this man, Hickenlooper pardoned him just as we all thought he would.  I suppose on some level it comes down to the morality of the crime in your mind.  Most people that I talk to have a personal algorithm as to what would qualify for the death penalty versus life in prison, and from what I have gathered none of these have ever matched.  Yet the judicial system in each state draft rules for what they would see fit, it's an odd way in my mind of taking something that very few people agree on and passing it down to the masses oh yeah and resulting in the death of a person at the end of it all.

Bunch of random nothings...

I have been drafting a blog in my mind for days, if not weeks now and can't seem to put enough together to make it "real" so instead of continuing to wait I have opted for the blurb like style.

We took 52 friends with us to Wolf Creek for Valentine's Day weekend, 4 days, 5 houses and gallons (literally gallons of Fireball whiskey).  What a fantastic trip?!?!?!  Hoss and his brother flew in, Helen flew in and her and I were able to gossip the whole way to the resort (a 4 hour drive) and the whole way home.  Not to mention my parents, and my brothers all came.  It was fantastic and if you ask my Mom I just got smarter with each sip of whiskey throughout the weekend. :-)  We even rented skis for the girls, Tyler will need therapy and managed to scream profusely through it but Austin LOVED it.

Getting all ready to take off down the slope.

This is what it looks like when you pack for that many people for four days.

Just look at those smiles...how could you not have fun with those ladies?

Meowser managed to catch a mouse the other day, to which I placed a heavy glass bowl over so the girls could watch it.  I had to walk off to check on work, told them both to not touch the glass bowl...minutes later I hear "Goose let the mouse go".  Whelp I guess that was his freedom pass.

I am not a very sentimental person, I try to be don't get me wrong.  But at the end of the day when we were evacuated from our house I was more concerned about taking the camera than the photos.  Obviously most everyone I talk to has issue with this, making sure to point out that I should keep Austin school work and such.  Again, I try...but it ends up in a pile of dust and then I throw it away.  The other day while in my "trying to sentimental attempts", I walked into my office to find Austin cutting up the very same Valentine's Day heart that she made me - complete with the little paint hand prints and everything...this one I was really going to try and keep I swear.  She looked up excitedly and exclaimed that she was making me a Kitty Meow Meow...problem solved, she whacked it up which now means that it is for sure trash.  Perfect.

Work has been keeping me busy, but not with actual work but rather with conference calls.  I spend a crazy amount of time on the phone, threatening the girls to be quiet.  Some days I will have three calls...which means at least a total of 3 hours where the house needs to be near silent.  In a corporate world I see families and especially children as a hindrance and a liability which is why my team doesn't know I have kids or am married...none of their business.  Let's face it, if my daughters need something at the same time as my boss needs something you know who wins...but you also know in this scenario that I can't let one another know who won.  So I run around like a crazy person with my finger to my mouth in an effort to keep everyone on their best behavior.  I only have to say the occasional "oh sorry I was talking into mute...meanwhile spanking my kids and running to the garage where I know it will be quiet....what were you saying?".

Hiro and Kuma are best friends which is super cute to watch.  I can't decide if Hiro needs to be by Kuma for safety and comfort or because he thinks he's the boss.