Sled Dogs come to Princesses' Ball

My children have been amazing over the last couple of weeks, while I've been focusing on getting my Massage Practice for Women off the ground. Things are going very well. I did secure a part-time space in a lovely massage office, and I've started to do some house calls as well. But, I've been less available to them, and I hate that. It is temporary, but difficult to explain to a 4 and a 5 year old.

We went to the police station a couple of weeks ago, so that I could get the application for the live finger print scan, all part of applying for a business license. BOY & GIRL wanted to see the jail. That option was not available. I am trying, as best I can, to take them on my latest adventure into creating my own business and going back to work. I showed them the building where I will be working, and they are intrigued that mommy will be doing work away from them.

This is the first summer in a while that BOY & GIRL haven't been in any structured summer school. It has been an adjustment, especially for BOY who really thrives on a steady diet of BUSY. Less challenging for GIRL who loves to have time for herself to play at home. However, we've been keeping busy with a variety of activities. There is the local library reading club, in which we go to the library once a week, and keep a running record of how many books we've read together. BOY & GIRL each have their own card, which gets stamped each week by the librarian, and she gives them a prize. Next week is the last week...the summer is more than half over.

We are spending a great many hours in water- whether the Y for swimming lessons, the neighborhood pool, or a pool swim date at a friend's house. We've also been going to the beach more this year with friends, which has been a blast. Nothing like being at the ocean, inhaling the salt scent, and hearing the sound of the rolling waves as they ease or crash their way forward to the beach. I believe in the healing power of the ocean, and I remember to breathe while I am there.

There have been days when I've felt pretty crazy. There is never enough time in the day, despite getting up at 5am many mornings to get ahead of where I was the day before. Yet, I never quite get there, and am beginning to believe that I need to lower my expectations of myself. My idea of heaven right now would be to settle in with my lap top, a glass of my sweet mint tea, and dive into all the blogs I'm behind on reading. But, I need to keep my focus on the new business, work hard, and know that I will have more time soon. Yeah...

I am so blessed with how well BOY & GIRL play together, and can entertain themselves. But, like all children, there is the SQUABBLING, and the FIGHTING. Usually over GIRL wanting to play with her dollhouse, which is sacrosanct, and BOY wanting to join in by initiating a game of things launching into the dollhouse, which is not well received. GIRL has a big 'ol SCREECH on her. And I swear to GOD, it ricochets off the walls. The WHINING...oh, GOD, the WHINING...

Yesterday was a good day. In the morning, I worked in the home office, while BOY & GIRL played together quietly in the living room. At one point, I peeked out to talk to them about our schedule for the day. They were completely absorbed in their own invention. BOY had built dogs out of Legos, and GIRL had her collection of small plastic Princesses. The Lego Dogs and Princesses were interacting in and around the doll house. It was a precious sight.

Later, as we drove to the Y, I told them how proud I was of them - how I knew that I hadn't been spending as much time with them over the last week, and how beautifully they had been playing together that morning.

We were playing "Sled Dogs come to Princesses' Ball", said GIRL.

Sled dogs come to Princesses' Ball?, I repeated.

Yes, BOY made dogs out of Legos and we played with my Princesses who were having a fancy Ball, said GIRL.

You are both amazing! I am so lucky and blessed to have you as my children. Your imaginations ARE A GIFT! And it is such a valuable gift, because you will be able to take your imaginations anywhere, I said.

Mommy, you are MY gift, said BOY.

And, that was the best part of my day.

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I will not break eye contact, because you are CLEARLY up to no good

Apparently, we have vastly different attitudes toward strangers here at Casa de Motherscribe. BOY will throw open the door to any pedestrian who chances to walk by, most especially ones with dogs, and boldly initiates dialogue.

Can I pet your dog?

What's his name?

I'm BOY! Your dog reminds me of my Soul Man. He's dead. He was an old doggie.

What are you doing here?

Where do you live?

Etc., etc.

His sense of boundaries is very...wavy. He is open, sometimes to a fault. He is known to throw his arm around a stranger's leg, lift up the shirt on a pregnant belly, and investigate the neighbor's trunk they had forgotten about in the back of their closet.

GIRL is wary of strangers. She is known far and wide for her deliberate, wide eyed, "I will not break eye contact, because you are CLEARLY up to no good" stare. In fact, we called it The 200 yard Glare when she was a baby. Indeed. It was disconcerting to other people, but provided much amusement for us.

There was the restaurant incident when GIRL was under 1. We were vacationing on Edisto Island, South Carolina. The waitress, determined to engage GIRL and make her laugh, did her best. She wasn't good enough. Not for GIRL. And, she took it as a personal failure.

I've NEVAH had a child not smile at ME.

Obviously, GIRL, at less than a year old, was responsible for the waitress and her feelings. While I was finishing up lunch with BOY & GIRL in the restaurant, E went to a toy store next door to purchase a ball. As he was leaving the store, he ran into the waitress.

Is that ball for the baby who smiles OR THE ONE WHO DOESN'T?

Yes, she took it as a personal failure. Perhaps it ruined her life. Heh.

GIRL is not prone to easy laughter. But, when you hear her belly laugh or giggle, you're captured forever. A smile and her trust have to be earned. She is incredibly loyal, and keeps an eye out for BOY. As he does her. They have a pretty good system between them.

Recently, a group of harmless, elderly, Born Again ladies came calling. GIRL happened to catch sight of them just about to walk up our driveway. She ran out into the yard screaming:

STRANGERS!

STRANGERS ARE COMING!

Get INSIDE!!!!

Lock the doors!

STRANGERS! STRANGERS!

She then proceeded to run into the house with BOY, slam the door, and collapse on the floor. Breathless...and giggling.

GIRL. She is cautious, loud, and a big ol' ham. Yes, GIRL is mischievous. Needless to say, the elderly ladies moved right on down the road....



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Painting by Chuck Gumpert. Titled: Mischievous

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The word marriage is an important one...to each and every one of us.

Despite flying high over the Obama win last week, my heart was heavy watching the votes come in for Proposition 8. I have a hard time understanding how people can take away rights from others. Especially when quoting scripture. I consider myself a Christian and this doesn't jibe with my beliefs.

There's a wonderful essay on this called: Proposition 8: "It is written, but I say unto you" by John Seery. He says:

The offended religiosity claims to be based on Scripture. It all boils down to a couple of passages in Leviticus, and maybe a few scattered comments in Paul's letters. To take those passages seriously, however, one today must read them selectively and tendentiously while ignoring their clearly antiquated aspects. I don't see any way around it. If a man lies with a male as with a woman (Lev. 21:13), then that "abomination" requires that they both be put to death--along with the death penalty for adultery and other offenses. If the "Yes on Prop. 8" folks are sincerely convinced that Leviticus requires them to oppose same-sex marriage today, then why aren't they following Scripture more rigorously and calling for the death penalty--not only for homosexuality but also for heterosexual adultery? I just don't get how one can be actively incensed by one line of Scripture but then be completely oblivious to the very next line. If you're a literalist and you believe every word in the Bible is God's revealed word, then you have no exegetical right to pick and choose which passages in Leviticus matter to you today and which don't.

The word marriage is an important one ...to each and every one of us. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans had to drink out of their own, separate water fountain. They were considered "beneath or less than" their fellow Caucasian Americans. Here, you can have water! But, you are not clean or pure enough to drink from our fountain.

Is this not the same in considering Proposition 8? Here, you can have a commitment ceremony and some legal rights, but NO you can not have OUR marriage. You are not pure or worthy enough to take our word marriage.

And...you might be contagious. Yes, there are many people out there who still think that homosexuality is a choice. Oh, YES. Who in their right mind would choose to be gay in America? No one would choose to be gay in our society today. Being gay means discrimination at the very least, and at worst... It's been 10 years, but doesn't anyone remember Matthew Shepard?

This is what it comes down to for me. Proposition 8 is a violation of our human rights. We may have elected an African American President last week, but our fight for equality in this country is far from over.


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For further reading, please check out Cheri from Blog this Mom. Her posts on gay marriage and Christianity here, and what we can do here.

Also, Tootsie from Vintage Thirty did a post on Proposition 8 here.

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Forget eye candy, this is whole body candy.

I was so exhilarated, but then... I looked over and he was gone. And I was left with this memory... Him. Emerging from the sea, shirtless. Water dripping down his long torso, hair flung back, azure blue eyes crinkling up from the sun. And that smile...or was it a smirk? I still don't know. I will have to wait 6 long months before seeing him again. A bloody difficult thing to do when you're a stay-at-home mom, and don't get out much. Halloween comes once a year, but that kind of candy...well, it was weekly and it was good. 13 weeks of candy for this Mamacita. 13 weeks of Lost. Of. Delish. Worth waiting for. He was.









Until 4 weeks ago...

When Candy for the Mamacita became Candy for Big Girls. Ahhh HonUH.. You got it! Candy for Big Girls. A new man is in town and I will never be the same. His name is Sam.... *SIGH*









SAM, I AM!!! He looks good in leather.

And he's Irish...in real life. He shows up late, after the kids have gone to bed. He's not particular about what I'm wearing, just that I am there. And I am...baby, oh yeah. If this is Life on Mars...where's the launch pad?

Forget eye candy, this is whole body candy.

And this is why, fickle woman that I am, I have thrown Sawyer under the bus. Well, at least until "early next year." It's good to have a variety of delights, no?


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Thanks to Happy Geek who wanted me to write a post completing the sentence: I was so exhilarated, but then...

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Note: It's NaBloPoMo, what would you like me to write about?

*** Eye candy photos courtesy of Google Images & ABC Television.

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Questions for Motherscribe

I've been getting quite a few questions in my comments lately and I thought this would be a good time to answer them.

Janet from Adventures in the 32-Aker Wood asks: Did you order that book yet? You know I wrote that post just for you. Janet, I KNEW IT! And from the moment I read your post I saw that you were dangling luscious VIGGO just out of range. You tease! SKOVBO, a collection of photographs and poems, by VIGGO MORTENSEN looks intriguing. Although I saw that it didn't come with a life size poster of Viggo, which is an impediment. I may just have to put it on my Christmas wish list and cling to the memories of our time together.

Barbra from Not Just Barbra asks: So, we're carpooling next Wednesday night right? You betcha, Girlfriend! We're off to tackle the wilds of Calabasas or the Steaminess of Hollywood. The meeting place for our assignation with BOSSY hasn't been fully decided yet. Just throw a bunch of LA people together and you have a perfect situation of indecisionitis. Can't wait!

Flutter asks in response to my Thank You Note Shame post: I almost always do, wanna hire me to do yours? Well, Flutter, it sounds a bit kinky, but YES would be delighted for you to do mine.

Questions from my poem Chocolate Orgasm:

Jennifer, from Thursday Drive asks: Is this how you got E's attention? Actually no... when E first laid eyes on me I was wearing a very conservative suit and using someone else's words in a training film for a corporation. Perhaps he saw through the attire?

Angie, from Keep Believing, asks: Need a cigarette? Honey, never smoke while nibbling on chocolate delicacies. Kills the afterglow.

Manic Mommy asks: So...what exactly were you doing sometime between 1992 and 1993? Let's see... I was single. I left LA a struggling actress in the summer of 1992 to move back to Atlanta and turned in my waitress apron for paying acting jobs for a while. And I met my husband in the spring of 1993. We both seemed to like chocolate and... Oh, Oh, OH!!!

And on my post on wanting to be a good mother Manic Mommy asks: Montessori kept popping into my head as I read this post. Have you looked into it as an option? I actually did look into Montessori, but since BOY has been in a play based program for 2 years and Montessori programs have a different way of doing things, I decided that my other options or possibilities would also be play based schools. (With the idea being if there is a move, to keep things as consistent as possible. Hopefully it will be a moot point, and we'll be able to create a new plan for BOY in his current school.) Thanks for the suggestion, MM! She asks a lot of questions, this Manic Mommy.


Questions from my Where I want to be 10 years from now...written in 1993 post:

Kalynne from The Philosopher Mom asks: But...where in this scenario are your kids? My lovely Kalynne, although you yourself have a life resembling Cheaper by the Dozen , [one of my all time FAVORITE childhood books-by the way], back in 1993 I was not exactly thinking about children. No, I was single and thinking of ME and a possible dream career path. (Personal note to Kalynne: please don't correct me in the comments by saying that you ONLY have 9 children. You get what I mean. Let's not be PICKY about the math.)

Suzanne from A Golden Journal asks: how does this post compare with where you are today? Are you surprised by how far you've come? Do you recognize your progress as a writer? Suz, I feel pretty good about where I am today with my writing. I'm trying to focus more on the production of it, the almost daily writing, rather than it being "my best ever." Just the fact that I am writing regularly after years of just "talking about doing it" is empowering. I don't feel surprised with how far I've come, because I don't really think I've gone that far. That said, I'm hoping to go further in my risk taking as a writer and to really stretch myself. I do see the progress. Some of the writing pieces that I've been digging up from the boxes in the garage are really bad. I like the Chocolate Orgasm poem because it is different, but I also want to work on it a bit more. It doesn't feel quite right yet. This blog is a great space for practice.

Questions from the Evidently wrinkle cream should not be mixed with hemmoroid cream post:

Purple Teacup asks: WHERE did you get the top illustration? Charles Reid did my header. He designed it for me. It is actually a pen & ink painting with watercolor, and then he digitized the painting. I have the original painting and a couple of sketches! And she adds: I just can't put something that goes down there on my face..... Purple Teacup, you will be greatly relieved to know that the hemmoroid cream had not been used in those DOWN THERE areas.

Jen from Rants & Raves asks:
1. What wrinkle cream do you use, and does it work? (I need to invest in some) Jen, I have been random in my selections, but just yesterday I heard about an amazing night cream from THE SOURCE, our own Ms. Tootsie Farklepants.
2. Did you ever try the hemmoroid cream on its own, just out of curiosity? Jen, don't you think this question is A LITTLE PERSONAL!? My GOD woman, have you NO restraint!?
3. Did you tell your friend that story? I did not. She reads my blog sporadically, and has not mentioned that I seemed a little off the day of the her son's baptism. Although...her nose was a bit twitchy on that day. I believe there appeared to be an odor coming from my undereye region.

MamaGeek asks: Make that a double OUCH. And obviously things did turn out FINE. Right? Right? Well, MamaGeek, I guess it is all in your perspective. I usually wear a large hat and oversized sunglasses in public.


Questions from The Product of a Good Mother post:
Happy Geek asks: Sooo, how does one get glue out of the comforter? (I will need to know this someday!) HG, do you really consider me a Domestic Goddess? I am extremely flattered. I am happy to report that the white glue stuff comes out in the washing machine.


Questions from the Pink Trees are a Catastrophe! post:

Domestically Challenged asks: Maybe cranky ladies have pink trees? Well... I guess that depends on what you mean by "have pink trees." And where those pink trees are located. I'm suspecting stuffed up the gluteal region, below the cleft. Is that what you meant? Umm..perhaps not.


On my post about BOY mainlining jelly beans and another parent's comment on this:

Jenn from Juggling Life asks: So you're damned if you do, damned if you don't? Yes, Jenn, I do believe that could be my Sad Sack Mommy's Motto.

Mrs. G asks: Aren't most of us just doing the best that we can? My dear Mrs. G, how kind of you to think that I am doing the best that I can. I would like to think that this is true, however... on this particular day in question I FAILED TO MENTION another dramatic development, which was that I had to jump fully clothed into a swimming pool to rescue BOY who was lit on SUGAR from jelly beans and thought he could swim. BOY was fine. As for his mother, what could have been a sexy, wet and wild look 10 years ago just looked soggy. But, soggy was doing the best that I could. I'm sure you concur.

Sober Briquette asks: Doling out the sweets is my territory - gotta win them back over by the end of the day, right? Yes, Ms. Briquette, I used this age old candied method in encouraging pooping in the potty. E obliged. He'll do anything for candy.

On my 6 word memoir meme post It's now JackO'Clock, and all's well:

HRH from June Cleaver Nirvana asks: Did you find yourself then thinking in 6 word segments for the rest of the day?? Yes. I. Did. You. Little. Wench.

An interesting question from the post Just your ordinary day...

Painted Maypole asks: but do you have your own puzzle? PM, I am a BIT unclear as to your question. Are you saying that I am SO popular in my own mind that I have my own photo puzzle? Or were you calling me a dinosaur? If so, it SMITES. You, YOU ingenue, YOU!

Thanks for the questions! I hope I have answered them to your satisfaction.

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Aaah...well, my life as a romance novelist was not to be

It was one of those long, lazy afternoons. The sun beat down on us and little beads of sweat trickled across his bare chest. I sat on the blanket, with my toes digging in the warm sand, a bunch of grapes dangling from my fingertips -taunting him as they brushed across his lips...teasing, teasing. Suddenly he pulled me down, rolling me under him and kissing me, searing me with his hot mouth. Then, he stopped. He reached out, lightly brushing the hair out of my face and said...

You know, years ago, I used to dream of being a romance novelist. I imagined myself conjuring up episodes of bold, breathless, love between Brianna and ...can't remember now...was it Mustang? No, that can't be right. I have pages of scribbled notes somewhere. Aaah...well, my life as a romance novelist was not to be. And you can see why....

However, I will always be a sucker for romance, whether it be by novel, film or in my life. You just have to find it, make it or act as if you've got it and when you do that...it usually .....oh MY GOD, it is time for LOST!!! Sawyer, I'm coming, baby.... the time slot is all YOURS!

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What a night! Oscar Night 2008. And did you see Tootsie & Mrs. G?

What a night! Oscar Night 2008. Let me tell you...incredible. I'm a little groggy, but it was worth it. You know it is just exhausting to attend these things. Viggo told me ahead of time that it would be a looong ass night. He was right. Especially when the camera kept going in for a close-up on us and I had to smile, desperately hoping that they were shooting me on my good side. You may have noticed how young I looked? People kept telling me I looked 12! Flatterers, flatterers. I'm sure you saw us right up front with Johnny and Mrs. G. Unfortunately, every time Johnny was on camera, Mrs. G was winking and blinking at Jon. [Notice how Johnny looks peeved and Jon looks like he is exchanging something untoward with Mrs. G.] I thought that was a little much myself, but you know Mrs. G...she always likes to keep another one on the back burner. Of course, it was great to see Tootsie Farklepants sashay around. Oh, you didn't see her? That's right! She kept running off to the loo to adjust her hot pants. I forgot about that. That is why you didn't see Tootsie. You'll have to take my word for it. She really looked fabulous, a little tipsy, but fabulous. George was quite taken. Well, when she was with him. I think she just got really caught up in chatting it up with all the paparazzi. It was her first time, after all. Mrs. G and I, well, we're old hands at this. And before you start worrying, E was completely O.K. with this. He has known about Viggo for YEARS. He met me afterwards for the parties, which is really all the fun anyway. If I look a bit stiff, it is only because E feels that he's been incredibly tolerant of Viggo. I agree. But, I can't help it if Colin was ogling me. I mean ...he's an animal.
Of course, it is a total secret that Mrs. G and Tootsie Farklepants were at the Oscars. Oh sure...they are playing it down on their blogs. Pretending they were belly up to the couch and with their husbands. They are lying. Both of them.

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