Fly Me to the Moon, or International Space Station...

On Tuesday Colin and I went to our local library to see an actual ASTRONAUT!  How cool is that!  His name is Mike Foreman and he has been on two shuttle missions and walked in space.  He was stationed with the Cleveland branch of NASA and was on an outreach mission in our area.  We were his 99th presentation since he started his tour. 

He started his speech by telling us what it took to become an astronaut.  He first decided that was what he wanted to be when he was eight years old.  His dad told him to do some research to find out how to become one so he went to the logical source before the Internet, The World Book Encyclopedia.  He got appointed to the Naval Academy and then applied to become a test pilot.  He got selected as an alternate on his first try but was not called to attend.  They only start these classes every 6 months so he applied again and waited.  He did this seven times before he was selected and attended.  In the meantime he applied to NASA to join the Astronaut Training Program.  You can only apply every two years for that program and it took him eight tries until he was accepted.  He was 42 years old before he finally got his dream job of being an astronaut. 

There were a ton of school age kids there.  He did a fantastic job of showing them that if you persevere you can attain your goals and realize your dreams.  He could have given up at any time and stayed in any of the jobs that the Navy sent him to and led a wonderful life, but that is not what he wanted and he never settled.  I was so pumped up that I almost thought of going back to school to get a creative writing degree.  I then came to my senses and realized that I would lose my ever loving mind if I had to go back to school and be graded again.  I am loving to write for fun, but I don't want to do it under pressure. 

Mike was a really nice man.  I was amazed that he was so accessible and easy to talk to.     When I walked into the room, there he was.  He looked a little shy and was just standing there in his flight suit.  I walked up and introduced myself and we talked for a few minutes.  If he was not in his flight suit I would never have known that he was an astronaut.  Last summer when we were at the Kennedy Space Center we saw him on one of the displays.  They had his bio up and we were all excited that he grew up about 30 minutes from here. Who knew that a year later he would be at our library and I would get to share such a unique experience with Colin.  It was a very good night to be a mom.

The End of an Era

I just watched the final Oprah show and can hardly see through my tears to write this.  I was 15 when her show started and I remember thinking it was her fault that Phil Donahue had been forced off the air.  She has come to feel like a friend that always knew just the right thing to say to speak directly through the TV screen and right to my heart. 

I took for granted that she would always be on there for me at 4:00 in the afternoon.  In fact, I have 20 episodes on my DVR that I need to watch.  I didn't like her book selections, but I loved that she loved to read.  I dreamed of being in the audience when she had her Favorite Things episodes, or even there at all. 

What I learned from her is that I have a light that is supposed to shine bright.  I matter, and being me is good enough.  With three older sisters I had a hard time finding my place in this world.  One of my sisters is beautiful, one is brilliant and driven, one would do anything for anyone at any time, and then there was me.  They are three really hard acts to follow, and it took me a long time to figure out  my place in this world, and I found it by realizing that by being the best me that I could was what I was supposed to do.  I opened myself up to being seen, heard and loved and have had an incredible life. 

So, my wish is to tell my family thank you for making me feel worthy and loved.  My wish is that I can pass that on to my boys, all three of them; Dave, Colin and Ryan.  I see you, I hear you, and you matter to me.  You are worthy of my love, respect and devotion, and I thank God every day that you are in my life.  You do not complete me, but you make my life better in every way. 

I wish to thank Oprah for opening my eyes so I could see what the world had to offer and to be grateful every day.  I wish she could know that by watching her show I am a better person.  I wish she could know that I saw her, heard her, and she matters to me.

State of the Blog Address

This is a big thank you to everyone that is reading my blog.  Yesterday we hit 2000 page views.  Admittedly, most of these are from my facebook friends, but I do have a new following in Germany.  (Hi Germany!)  I did think that I was having some international views in Spain but later realized that it was my friend Lynn on a business trip. 

All in all, it is going better than I expected.  I am having a lot of fun with it and it is already proving to serve as a reminder for things that have happened that I would have forgotten.  It has also let me express how I feel for those close to me.  I have made a deliberate decision not to show pictures of my kids.  You will just have to take my word for it that they are the cutest boys you will ever see besides your own.  (I know mine are cuter, but I would hate to put you in an awkward position of having to say it out loud.)

I have a few things coming up that I hope will be blog-worthy.  The Relay For Life is two weeks away and next Saturday is our Saturday Night Dinner Club.  Last time we did it was with a professional chef. (His name is Chef Bill and that is how he referred to himself.  It was hard for me not to giggle.)   I am kind of worried about it being at my house this time since I saw our collective skills, but how far wrong can you go with Mexican?  Besides, I have two fire extinguishers. 

After Relay I am going on a girls weekend with a couple of my friends to celebrate our turning 40.  That will surly have content.  What happens in Pennsylvania will not stay there.  I am happy that it will end with a mani-pedi, but there is talk of a paint-ball war. 

So here is to you, my readers, most of whom I know, and some who are lurking. If you are a lurker, that is fine, but drop me a note so I know you are out there.  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Thanks for staying with me and I hope you will stick around for more of the ride.

Busy Day

Today I was busy from the second I got up until right now.  I know you are all interested in my fascinating life, so I will give you a rundown.

We started the day by going to my nephew Parker's 7th birthday party at a bowling alley.  First, why does seven sound so much older than six?  Anyway, there were nine boys and two girls.  Two lanes over there was a party of girls.  Our party involved wrestling and yelling and lots of pizza.  Their party was polite and relatively quiet, and did not involved chanting for cake.  In case anyone is wondering, this is why I do not have parties for my kids.  It is so far beyond my nerve capacity that there is no way on this green earth that it is going to happen.  Let this serve as notice that I give permission for my sisters to slap me if I should lose my mind enough to consider doing this.  Julie, on the other hand, who is a teacher of small children, does a wonderful job.  When my kids are older they will understand. 

From there I went to see Lauren get ready for prom.  She was stunning.  I am so proud of the woman that she is becoming, and her date is such a nice, hmm, what to call him.  He is too old to be called a boy, but not yet a man.  Lets call him a guy.  Sounds better than dude.  We went to one of her friend's houses to see about 12 to 15 couples (I lost count and they kept moving) get their pictures taken and for them to get into the limos.  She had the prettiest dress and was the most beautiful girl there, even if I am her aunt and a bit biased. 

From there we went to dinner with Ann and Bob and then to a movie.  I am not sure I can tell you the last movie that I saw that was not from Disney or Pixar.  It was so much fun to go out on a date and not even really talk about the kids.  We went to see Bridesmaids which was so funny my stomach hurts from laughing. 

This is really the first time that I have sat down to relax all day.  I am so glad that Judgement Day has come and gone and I am still here living my boring little life in Ohio.  It is a pretty good thing and I would hate to miss even a day of it. 

A Post About Nothing

Last night Dave was watching an old episode of Seinfeld (wait, aren't all of them old?) that was the one where they were pitching their show about nothing.  It was then that I realized that I should do that since I currently have nothing to write about.  We have hit that weird time of the year when we are so busy that it is killing me, but doing nothing noteworthy to post.  Here are some random things that are not worthy of a whole post but when put together might work.

1.  This morning while driving Ryan to school he asked me what was in the building at the end of my street.  I told him it was a nursing home so he asked me why all the nurses had to live together.  Kids say the funniest things in the car.  Once when Lauren was very little and Titanic was a huge hit, Lauren told Ann that she loved Vaseline Dion. 

2.  I took the kids to the dentist and they were both cavity free.  It would appear that Ryan will have to have orthodontic intervention before Colin.  They are 5.5 years apart.  

3.  If it does not stop raining I will have to start building an ark.  I'm not really kidding here. Luckily it looks like today might just be sunny.

4.  Last weekend we had a garage sale to raise money to fund our Relay For Life team.  It was the first garage sale I have participated in since before I was married.  Our 15th wedding anniversary is coming up in July.  Now I remember why.  Rude people were making rude comments about my memories.  We made $100.00 but there has to be a better way to make money and get rid of our stuff anonymously without having to use Craigslist which just might get me killed.  Thankfully our dear neighbors let us combine ours with theirs so I didn't have to endure it alone. 

5.   School is coming to a close and I am both looking forward to it and dreading it.  We have a pool pass this summer so at least I have something for the kids to do, but that is a really long three months. 

6.  The Indians have the best record in Baseball.  It is reminiscent of how they played in the strike shortened season which was the year they had the best chance to win the World Series.  It is a Cleveland team, so if something weird can screw it up, we will find a way. 

7.  I quit my yoga lessons.  I decided that Yoga is not for me.  I am still looking for an outlet for my anxiety so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to enlighten me.  The funny thing was that I could never do the tree pose where you stand on one foot.  My instructor told me it was because I do not have a balanced life. Ironically, last night Colin had a project where he had to see how long each member of our family could stand on one leg.  I assumed the tree pose and held it for 2 full minutes.  If my ankle wasn't killing me I could have done it longer.  Guess I am balanced now that I gave up Yoga. 

8.  Finally, we endured the final band concert of the year.  Certainly, 5th grade band concerts must qualify as one of the circles of Hell.  Not necessarily because of he music because they really have come so far, but because we are required to sit on the hard wooden bleachers in a HOT, smelly, stuffy gym.  I also had Ryan whining the whole time that he was bored, had to go to the bathroom, and laying across me adding at least 10 degrees to the temperature.   I texted Tricia and told her that I would beg her to take him the next time.  I wouldn't have to beg her, she would take him any time, but I was desperate for relief.  Also, the fifth graders played first, then they had the 8th grade jazz band preform.  Did I mention that while I can appreciate that Jazz music is a wonderful music genre, I really hate it.  It makes me want to crawl out of my skin.  After that, the 6th graders went.  It lasted FOREVER.  The band boosters all across American could really clean up if they could secure a liquor license for these events. 

That about covers it.  I will let you know if nothing else happens. 

As the World Turns

This post is dedicated to all new moms.  Your baby is amazing and beautiful.  All babies are worthy of stopping to try to get him to smile.  You are indeed a very lucky woman.  While you may think his every move is grounds for a break-in to primetime television to report on the wonderment that is your child, I assure you, only your world revolves around him.  Don't be embarrassed, all new mothers fall into this trap.  How can you not, your baby has changed every aspect of your life and is a fascinating bundle of joy.   

I say this because I encountered one of these moms while at the hotel when we were visiting my sister.  After we had dinner on Saturday night we all headed back to the hotel to let the kids work out some of their energy in the pool.  We had eight kids and there were three more from another family in a very small pool.  They were having a great time jumping in and out.  Dave and I were sitting there watching because Ryan was the youngest and is not a swimmer. 

After we were there for about 45 minutes a woman comes with a 6 month old baby and asks us if we can not splash the baby because she didn't want to scare him.  We did talk to our kids and asked them if they would please leave the baby alone and try not to get him wet.  They agreed and went about their business.  Instead of this woman staying in one area of the pool, she kept walking around, right by all the kids, and complaining when she got splashed. 

Ordinarily I am a people pleaser.  I am all about making sure that everyone is comfortable and making sure that nothing I am doing is adversely affecting others around me.  This, however, went over the line.  I ignored the nasty looks this woman was throwing to me.  I ignored her loud talking to her husband about how the splashing was scaring the baby.  I half-heartedly asked the kids to move away, which I am sure they could not hear over the caterwauling they were PLAYING IN THE WET WATER!

I am sure one day when this woman's baby is about 10 and she finds herself in the same position I am, she will look back on that day and realize how insane she was to think that I could get 11 kids to evacuate a pool so she could take her baby in a body of water, AND NOT GET WET. 

Then again, maybe not. 

Stories for the Ages

All families have stories that are repeated at family gatherings that cause everyone to break into a fit of laughter.  In our house it would be the man that hit our car when we were on vacation as we were all eating cereal.  Did I tell you that the entire lot was empty except for our car and the lot covered several acres?  With Dave's family it would be when he was in first grade and walked home from school by himself, across two of the busiest streets in Cleveland,  because he did not want to stay after school with the other kids in his class who were being punished for being too loud.  His dad had always told him that if he got into trouble at school he would get into double when he got home.  He caused that teacher to retire early. 

A few weeks ago we added a story to the group.  All of us had traveled to my sister's house for my niece's First Communion.  Saturday was the Kentucky Derby and my dad decided to give all the kids a number of a horse by pulling them out of a hat.  They each got one number except for Colin who got the slip that had the 12 horses least likely to win.  He tried to trade once he found out why his slip was different, but we do not raise suckers in our family so nobody would take the deal.

My nephew, Andrew, had drawn Mucho Macho Man and was strutting around like a preening peacock at having a favored horse with a name to match his personal attitude.  This would be the attitude that can only be held by an almost 14 year old boy that has the world by the tail and life is good.  He was giving everyone the business because there was no way that the rest of the horses could hold a candle to his superior steed. I should point out that Andrew calls me after every post to tell me that my work does not have enough excitement to hold his attention.  He was my first follower and has me on his Ipod Touch.  I am sure he is the only 14 year old boy that does. 

The race got under way and Elaine's horse, Shackleford, took the early lead and held on to it for quite a while.  The room was crazy with everyone cheering and it was impossible to hear the television.  Colin was just trying to figure out what horses were his and only knew them by number.  When we turned the volume up as far as it would go, the only name we kept hearing was Mucho Macho Man.  Not being seasoned horse racing watchers we thought he had won for a few seconds before we found out that Animal Kingdom had won.  Andrew started to jump up and down and run around the room in a way that was reminiscent of Brandi Chastain's reaction when the American Women won the 1999 World Cup championship, minus the ripping off of his shirt.  I was sure he was going to get his hand taken off by the ceiling fan. 

After we found out that Animal Kingdom was the true winner of the race, we were trying to figure out who had that horse.   Colin looked at his sheet and compared it several times to the number of the horse and found out that he was, indeed, the winner.  You can understand the confusion because this was the sheet with his numbers: 

Andrew was really cool about losing and us kidding him mercilessly for the rest of the day. While he can dish it out with the best of them, he can take it like a man.  I was so thrilled for Colin because the winner took all for the prize which was $20.00.    The winnings never made it home as we had to stop at Barnes & Noble to get the new Rick Riordan book for the ride home.  With that being said, Dave and I were the true winners because it was mercifully quite for the ride home.  As he was reading, Ryan was passed out cold for almost two hours.  By all accounts, It was a very good weekend