The Countdown Begins!!

I've gots lots still to do, tours to book, travel attire to purchase, but the countdown has begun....ONE MONTH TILL ITALIA AND GREECE!!

i am my mother. my mother is me. lindsey is a third wheel.

So last night, Emily and I decided to have a girls' night at my sister's house since my brother-in-law was out of town. Usually he shuns the presence of any additional Clark genes in his home, so it was a great opportunity for us to hang out. In his defense, my mother has this uncanny ability to sniff out her two daughters together in the same room. So anytime I go over, she finds her way as well. But without a husband to deny the magnetism the Clark woman hold over each other, me and emily, and of course my mother, all found ourselves cuddling together on lin's couch.

I have to say first and foremost: I LOVE MY MOTHER. She may be a bit crazy (aren't we all?) but she is the most generous, wonderful creature in the world. She shows up last night with a "little sumthin" she got us on her recent trip to Mexico City. It seems, however, that Emily---much to my sister's dismay---has taken over as the gift recipient of Mother. Lin and I both got little salsa bowls, very cute, don't get my wrong, but Em made out like a bandit! She came in carrying a moving box full of stuff. Lindsey swore she's not having children so she doesn't have to compete in the gift department. She also brought over enough Baja Fresh for the next week. It makes me wonder if this is something that kicks in once you're a mom, or is it just in Nancy's nature? I mean, I pick up postcards for people, but this woman is CONSTANTLY thinking of other people. Everytime we go over to her house she has a bag full of goodies for us and the dogs. And usually some random Costco item they have no room for, like 30 oranges.

Anyway, after a yummy meal courtesy of BF and Nancy, we all snuggled on the couch and watched Chicken Run with the three dogs. While Ick is normally well behaved, when he is around his nanny and Lincoln, he turns into quite the turd. But not so much as snaggle tooth shark mouth Hurley. He is constant. We must have laughed for 3 hours straight at his determination to make Lincoln his girlfriend. Poor thing. Maybe it's a good thing that the Clark genes are separated most of the time. I can see how it can be a little overwhelming. Even Lincoln seemed in shell shock most of the evening.

But it does make me realize how blessed I am. I am starting to get a little bluesy about Emily and Jacob leaving next week. I am using my summer flex day next Thursday to take them to a local waterpark for one last hoorah though, so that's something looking forward to that. Thank goodness for the dogs though. I'd go crazy without someone to constantly kiss on. Wonder where I got that from?

He's Right There!

One of the cool things about being a quasi-mom is that you are forced to be recreational every single day. Where as my typical after work evening may consist of Deal or No Deal and if I'm lucky, my weekly issue of In Touch, having two kids changes that a bit. Although the occasional video game will keep their attention long enough for me to get to the "Who Wore it Best" section, most of the time, my complete attention is needed at every minute.

So, James and I have had to be a bit creative with our afterschool activities. Which has led me to the discovery of Where's Waldo. Now, while Waldo is not technically "new" to me, he is new in the sense that I never rushed home from work on a regular basis to find him. Initially we all tried to find him at once, but that got a bit crammed as Emily crawled over James's head screaming "I can't see!" so now we use the Outburst timer to give everyone 2 minutes of Waldo searching before passing it on. Whoever finds him the quickest gets to go first on the next round. That sucker can be pretty well hidden sometimes. And then usually once a book, there is a page that is SUPER hard, like a page FULL of Waldos and you have to find the one with the missing shoe. I mean come on. Eventually, we had to use the Internets for that one.

Another thing I've become rather adept at, besides finding Waldo of course, is making fajitas. Apparently the kids think this is all I can make, as when I asked Jacob yesterday "Guess what's for dinner?," his response was," Are you cooking? Then fajitas." Honestly! Am I that obvious?

A month of Waldo and fajitas? In June I wouldn't have thought that sounded like a whole lot of fun. Actually, I would say it sounds like no fun at all. July, however. Now, that's a different story. And lucky for me, it's a slightly less embarassing hobby to continue in August once the kiddoes are gone. Last year, I had to sneak in episodes of Hannah Montana and the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Hey, they have some really great story lines!

to my dear dear katherine

my bestest friend katy lost her dog niki (princess snickerdoodle the 14th actually) this week. she was 18 years old. can you imagine? having a companion for 18 years? i've been feeling just heartsick for her all week. niki was one of the sweetest, most well-traveled (she has been to more places than I have!), lovable dogs i'd ever known.

i remember when my family lost our dog, gremlin, when he was 11. lindsey and i found him at home after school one day when we were teenagers. i remember we couldn't tell my mom about it because she was driving across the causeway on the way home and we didn't want her to wreck the car. lin had the debut of a school play, "Godspell," that night and we were determined not to let her down, so we all (including lindsey who nursed that dog day and night before he finally died) put on our brave faces and went. we cried the entire play and people kept approaching us saying, wasn't it so sad? (talking about the play.) i'll never forget. even now, i often drift into chidhood memories when i see his picture on my mom's refridgerator.

dogs are such incredible creatures. their loyalty. their love. i've only had ick for 3 years this october but i can't even begin to imagine him not being there. he's honestly the love of my life! james is convinced i love the dog more than him. (no comment!)

anyway, katy, i'm thinking of you and i'm here for you. niki will be sorely missed by anyone that was lucky enough to meet her!

quasi-mom

Every July, James and I have the great blessing of spending the month with his daughter Emily (8) and a rotating nephew/niece. Last year we had Michael; this year we have Jacob (13). Although our month has just begun, it's really such an incredible experience to have, being the "adult-in-charge" of 2 growing kids. Whereas if J and I have are tight on the funds and decide our nightly meals will consist of chips & cheese and a 6 pack, you obviously can't do that with kids. You realize that maybe Family Guy is not really appropriate, even though it's cartoon, and that getting someone to brush their teeth can actually be a 30 minute ordeal.

But overall, it's a wonderful thing to experience. I learn so much. You must carry something to drink with you and a snack at all times, no matter how old they get (case in point, Mom still carries slim fast snack bars for Lin and I!). You must have crayons, coloring books (and Emily's particular obsession) rocks in your bag in case of instantaneous boredom.

I especially love the month of July because I get to see James as "daddy," and it makes me love him that much more. He talks about/to Emily all the time, and we see her as much as we can, but seeing him get to be a full-time dad for the entire month is pretty awesome.

Being a quasi-mom also makes me appreciate my parents SO much more, especially since 30 years hasn't gotten me much further from the nest than I was in say, the 7th grade. Well, maybe a little bit. About 12 miles. And I think about my dear friend Meredith, who just became a Mom for the second time, and how spectacular the whole process is. I mean you made somebody. How cool is that? How weird would be to have somebody walking around the planet with my penchant for smoking cigarettes WHILE chewing gum AND while drinking beer? I mean later on, of course. And I don't really do that any more. And I don't want my child to smoke. But I learned a couple of years ago my mom did that when she was younger and she saw me doing it and was like, 'How can THAT be genetic?' Or having a kid that had James's almost-scary ability to figure out how to fix absolutely ANYTHING? I think that's got to be such a cool thing. I'm in awe because I swear Ick has my personality, and he's a dog (shhhh! he doesn't know that!)

Then I remember what an absolute terror I was to my parents in high school (it was Sally's fault I swear!) or how Lin and I use to fight (she bloodied my nose on more than one occasion) and how scary the world can be, and how I like spending the night at my sister's when we drink too much, and even using the microwave can be a challenge for me sometimes, and I think, well....I could wait a little bit longer.....

But not much. Otherwise, I'll end up adopting another 3 dogs to fill that baby hole and Mom will take herself off my trusted dog-sitters list.