Friday, September 29, 2006

Margarita Badonkadonk

The time has come to tell my side of the story...
For weeks and weeks Kim and Justin and I have planned our meeting, our get together, our PJ/Margarita party.  The day finally came, and unforunately, left again....  it was all too fleeting, too fast and tons of fun!
Kim & Justin
Both Justin and Kim have already blogged about our meeting and now it's my turn. What can I possibly add to it?  I guess I'll just have to dig up some stuff that they neglected to mention and share the sordid details...If I can think of any!!
Justin mentioned preparing dinner for me... a lovely meal of steak, rice, and asparagus. He told me the next morning that he forgot to serve dessert... an incredible looking delicacy from a local market.  And by blog, I later learned that he also neglected to serve the mozzarella/tomato/balsamic vinegar dish... why do I mention this?  Because I LOVE tomatos and balsamic vinegar and..... despite eating about 6 or 7 spears, I HATE asparagus. Sorry Justin....
Mapquest directions to Justin's house SUCK!  I am not sure where Kim's directions came from but they seemed even worse than mine.  At least mine, when I was on the wrong road, could be re-deciphered to get me there anyway.  Kim's directions told her to take turns off the road the house was on to get to lord only knows where. Thank goodness I answered my phone and got her to Justin's house or she'd still be wandering around Renton and Justin and I would be staring at each other silently daring the other one to speak.
Kim did come prepared with her 10 rules for partying with my Mom... We required Gary to sign two copies... one for each of our daughters...
Gary reading the rules of the party....
The stun gun was not an urban myth....
Kelly is the most incredibly golden retriever ever. He is soft and silky and super sweet, except when defending his peanut butter bone.  Justin never EVER lets him eat people food and Kim fed him plenty of tostito chips... bad Kim!!!  Okay, I admit that I fed him some, too.... it may actually have been my idea to feed him corn chips... Nevertheless, he will chase his ball and other toys tirelessly.  Justin has some cruel ideas of doggy fun, however, tossing the toys over the side of the deck and making Kelly run down the stairs, root around for the toy, and then climb all the way back up the stairs. 
Tostitos, YUM!
Eat a few Tostitos and pay for it on the "Stair Master"....
My party treat bags did include socks for all.  Simply because, prior to the big event, my youngest daughter advised me that the definition of an orgy is "any three people in one room not wearing socks."  Therefore, to appease my daughter I made sure we all had socks to wear.  Never mind if we were not wearing a single other stitch of clothing, we did haved socks on our feets!!
If you've read Justin's "Kelly" blogs, you'll understand "Kelly's G"
Many photographs framed on Justin's walls are his own pieces. He is an incredible photographer.  My favorite photo, however, was not one of his own taking, but rather one of him as the subject matter.  It was in Kelly's bathroom and was a simple photo of Justin in a bathtub... very Johnny Depp. Hubba hubba!!
Kim is an absolutely delightful woman and like she mentioned, I felt like I had known her for a long long time the moment I met her.  She's easy to talk to and has a great sense of humor.  Both Justin and Kim mentioned in their blogs that smoke breaks on the deck were frequent but smoking not mandatory.  Being a non-smoker of many many years I decided I definitely wanted to partake in a smoke. I "borrowed" one from Kim since her brand was menthol and Justin's was not.  Neither one of them smoke "lights" which I would have preferred. Now, being a smoker in the past, just puffing on the silly thing wasn't an option, no... it's quite ingrained, even after all these years, to inhale... so inhale I did. Bad mistake.  I don't think we'd had too many margarita's by that time, but dang if I didn't get all dizzy!!  I had to sit on the steps with my head between my knees!!  I don't think there is a lot of danger that I will ever take up smoking again.
There is one last thing I am curious about... Justin made the first pitcher of margaritas and they were quite good.  However, they were mixed to be served on the rocks.  That is exactly how Kim like her margaritas and I was quite happy with them that way (Justin had some incredible "special" margarita salt.... yummy!) but I can't for the life of me figure out just why Justin bought a blender... 
Despite Justin's erogenous zone blog, Kim and I were quite safe the entire visit.....
I suppose there are other mysteries yet to come to surface... Kim, Justin, thank you both for so much fun!!
Next party is in Utah.... Spring 2007?
 

Monday, September 18, 2006

Baby, you are the world

My mom drives me nuts. There, I said it. Contrary to popular belief, I am not the perfect daughter who took her elderly mother into her home and lovingly cares for her. No.  Sometimes I can barely talk to her.
I am going to refer to a song by Brad Paisley, The World. The chorus of the song goes like this:
 
To the world
You may be just another girl
But to me
Baby, you are the world
 
It's very sweet in the context of the song. But in real life it sucks. I am the third and last child my parents had. The first two are boys and Mom really wanted a girl. I am that girl. From the moment I was born I began being "everything." What made it bad, however, was my dad dying at a young age and my mother never remarrying. All through growing up I felt it was my responsibility to make her happy, especially at holidays and gift giving times. I let her down once when I was very young and never let that happen again. I learned that lesson quickly. Even as an adult, I go out of my way to make sure she had enough presents under the tree, etc. (quantity, not quality). My husband disagrees with me doing this, but he understands it's something I feel I have to do. And the holidays are always a bit embarrassing because she lavishes everything (junk) on me and basically ignores her grandkids, my daughters!
 
Fast forward to the present. Harriett takes on the majority of Mom's daily care. They sort of maintain a love/hate relationship. Harriett teases me about Mom's adoring stares and her need to ask me, no one else, for anything she needs. I am her "everything." Now she has begun whining about my trip. "You can't go to Seattle for a week! Who will take care of me?" Gah!!  The same person who takes care of you every single day!!  She makes this and similar comments often throughout the day. I get so close to losing my temper with her, but it would be awful to do that. However, I do get very short with her and tend to avoid her when possible (hence No. 2 on my Life List).
 
This got me to thinking about being 'everything' to someone. It's a HUGE job and not really very much fun!  I think it's something that young girls sometimes fall into when they experience their "first love." Boys too, occasionally, but I think it's more common for girls. The 'need' to be with their boyfriend that, in their minds, should supersede all other activities that their boyfriend may want to participate in... like shooting baskets with his friends, going to the races, going camping, working on cars, basically everything. And if the boyfriend does give up some or all of those activities, it's not enough. He needs to fall all over the girl, make her feel special, keep her entertained, and be everything that all the other people in her life used to be for her. One person replacing many many many people. Hm....sounds a little obsessive and sick, doesn't it? 
 
There is another word for this, usually reserved for older more mature (?)people... it's called stalking. Yep, someone decides that another person is the perfect person who can fulfil their every need. The person, who by virtue of being with them, will cancel out all need for other people to exist. And if that person disagrees, then they need to be followed, harassed, "data inventoried" and possibly even hurt. 
 
I am glad it's only my mom and even happier that she is basically disabled!