It's Big

I've been absent again.

My brother-in-law David noticed. As a matter of fact he sent me this message on Facebook:

February 20 at 10:22pm

Hey Trish,


Do you have blog writer's block. Haven't seen anything new lately. Just making sure you are keeping your time between FB and your Blog world even!!


David

I haven't replied yet so here it goes:

Hey David,


Yep, I've had writers block. Actually there is lots to blog about as you know, it's just that the things that I have to blog about aren't quite ready to be told to the whole entire world yet. You know what I mean? Soon though, very soon. God is opening doors as we speak. He has a plan and while it seems kind of wild and crazy to us, Dave and I know that it will be God's perfect plan. So as soon as we are ready to reveal, I'll have more to blog about. Until then, I'll just blog about you. Oh and by the way David, this girl loves comments on her blog more than she loves messages on her facebook, so since you read it you might as well comment on it.

Love,


Trish

Here's David.

He's a great guy. He married my sister about 9 years ago. She had two little girls from a previous marriage that he took in and has loved and provided for as if they were his own. He whole-heartily stepped in to raise those girls. He and my sister have since had another little girl so he is now daddy to three girls!

Now, you may have caught on that there is something big going on here and let me just say that it is BIG. I can't quite tell you what yet, but if you happen to have my phone number or e-mail and want to inquire that way, I will be more than happy to tell you what is going on. We are excited and scared but we know that God is in control. More to come soon!

The Face of Nine

My sweet valentine is 9 today!


Dear Ben,

Nine? You are growing up to quickly. I cannot believe that nine years have passed since you made your appearance into this world two weeks early. You were not due until February 29, which means that had you been born on your due date you would only be TWO!


Nine is big. It means that you are almost into double digits! It means that you aren't really a little boy anymore, but not really a big boy either. It means that some days you will still hug and kiss your mom and some days you'll have none of that.


I have really enjoyed watching you grow this year. You are trying new things and are making great choices. You are a fantastic student and do a great job in school.
You are a good friend to everyone, but have also done a fantastic job in choosing your closest friends. I love the boys you hang out with!


You are funny and witty and always quick to smile.


You are compassionate and forgiving.


You love Jesus with all your heart and this year you were the one who prayed with Cooper to ask Jesus into his heart. That is something I will never forget!


You are a fabulous big brother, even though your brother gets on your nerves and into your stuff sometimes. When I make you two hold hands and look into each others eyes and say "I love you and you are my best friend" after a fight, you say it so easily.

Ben, this year I pray that you will continue to grow into the wonderful boy that God has planned for you.

I also pray that you will not grow to big to sit on my lap sometimes!


Happy Birthday Buddy! You have brought us so much joy these last nine years.



We love you bunches!

Mom, Dad & Coop

Never trust a five year old with a secret

Alternately titled: Hit em where it hurts

Alternately alternately titled: I'm gonna get real here

Not that I'm not always "real" with ya'all, it's just that I recently had a conversation with my friend (in real life) Meredith about blogging and how hard it is for me to share my life here and then my other friend (in blog life) Meredith went and posted this. I mean, I tell you all the funny stuff and every once in a while I tell you the junk (yep, I have junk), but I rarely go to deep here. It's because I have a wall. I have a wall in real life and I have a wall in blog life. And this wall keeps me from allowing people to get to close. I hate this wall. I want to be more transparent to everyone not just my few close friends. I'm working on breaking my wall down, but it's thick and tall and strong.................
and what is it with TWO different Meredith's bringing up the same subject within 24 hours of each other?

So my real confession:

I fed my five year old McDonald's today.
TWICE!
The first was an arranged hookup at lunch time, we met some friends there.
The second? Well perhaps it could be called poor planning?
Whatever it is, it happened.
Ben's birthday is on Saturday and I left the gift buying to the last couple of days because that is just how I operate. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather and by later this afternoon it was apparent that I was not getting better, but am likely going to end up with the crud, so it became necessary to get my tail in gear and get the birthday stuff done while Ben was at his theatre classes tonight. So off Cooper and I went to the only mall in our area that has Lego store for one particular requested gift. A Lego key chain.
(Yes, I drove 30 minutes to go to the Lego store for a $5 Lego key chain).
After that Cooper and I ventured over to Toys R Us to pick up one more gift. I figured our timing was good in that spending a few more minutes shopping would enable us to miss the rush hour traffic getting home. Ummm, yeah, WRONG. We got back on the freeway headed North and pretty soon we were sitting. At a complete standstill. Oh and did I mention my gas light was on and had been on for about 10 miles? So as we approached another freeway that would take us by a Costco on the way home, I decided to jump on it so I could stop and get gas. Well, that freeway was backed up too. So there I sat at 7:15 pm on a backed up freeway with a very hungry five year old and an empty gas tank, oh and I'm getting sicker by the minute. So off the free way we go where I find the first drive thru and gas station that I can.
And that my friends is how I came to feed my five year old McD's TWICE in the same day.

Now about the secret. On the way home I had a very serious discussion with Cooper about not telling Ben what his gifts were. I told him that they were a surprise and that Ben would get to open them on Saturday, so he only needed to keep the secret for two days. Since Cooper only knows what the two gifts we picked up tonight are, I didn't think it would be that hard for him to keep them a secret for less than 48 hours. Wrong again. As soon as we walked in the door Cooper said "Dutter, me and mom got you a Lego key chain and I got one too."
I was fuming. I had just gone over with him in the car that we were going to tell Ben nothing!
I told him how sad I was that he told Ben, but he didn't seem at all remorseful. It then dawned on me that I needed to "hit em where it hurts" and that taking away his Lego key chain (I told him he couldn't have it until after Ben's b-day) would be the best punishment for his crime. When I told him that would be his punishment he started crying, sobbing actually. Very quietly, but huge, great big alligator tears.
I think he's remorseful now.

Overheard in the back seat of my car......

**girls name has been changed to protect the innocent

Cooper: "Dutter do you think Julia** is cute?"

Ben: "No, she has plaquey teeth."



Apparantly good dental hygiene is on the top of his list of important qualities.......

I love Jesus but I drink a little too

Weird

Sometimes life is just strange.

Not one thing in particular today, just a few random things that I'd like to comment about:

First of all, I just Instant Messaged with my mother on Facebook. That seems weird to me. Of course I had to walk her through it all, but she caught on very quick. She is a smart one.

Today after MOM's group (at church) my friend Andrea and I gave in to Cooper's pleas for lunch out. He wanted to go to the "place with star chicken". So Carls Junior it was. When we walked in, Andrea noticed a man sitting by himself near the door and he was muttering something. A few seconds later we are standing near the counter and this man has approached the counter and is still muttering, only much louder now, and it's obscenities coming out of his mouth. I had to look a few times to see if he was on a bluetooth talking to someone, but no, he was still talking to himself. Andrea and I then proceeded to find a seat as far away as we could so as to not subject our kids to the profanity. Just as we got our kids all situated, this man moved from his seat near the door to a table directly across from us. We both had our backs turned to him but we continued to hear his outbursts of randomness that sounded like conversations with his other self. After a few minutes we decided that we did not like having our backs to him, so we adjusted our seats to be able to see him a little better, all the while still trying to protect our kids from hearing him. As soon as we turned our seats it was evident that this man was in a heated battle with the "demons" inside and it was turning into a physical battle because once he reached out to slap something or someone across from him and a few minutes later he stod up to choke the invisible being. It was at that moment that Andrea and I both decided that it was time to move ourselves and our small children out to the enclosed play structure. Fortunately this man did not follow us out there, but I did stand next to the door just in case I had to block it shut to keep him from coming in. I never once felt like we were at risk of being injured, but I sure did want to protect my kids from seeing his outbursts. It was very sad to witness his very obvious mental health issues. I do wish people did not have to struggle with that.

Ummm, Michael Phelps.........can I just say: what the he!! were you thinking? Really. For me it's not so much that you were smoking pot, although I don't think that is right either, but why in the world would you take a hit from a bong in a place where any JOE SCHMOE could take a picture of you doing it? I mean, I really do not believe that you were in the presence of just your closest friends, who you could most likely trust not to take or sell such a picture. Buh-bye Kelloggs........

And my final oddness for the day............

The boys and I went to an open casting all today. Well, it was actaully the boys and I and about 1000 other 6 to 9 year old boys from the Portland surrounding area. Harrison Ford is producing a movie in the area (starring Brendan Fraser) and they need boys for some roles, specifically looking for a six year old and a nine year old. Well when Ben got wind of this he immediately declared himself just what they were looking for. So in a moment of insanity, I agreed to take him to the casting call. We got down there at 2:15, noticed the line wrapped around one block and halfway down the next, drove around for 15 minutes looking for s parking spot, then secured our spot in line and stood there. For 3.5 hours. Seriously. All for the very slim chance of being able to work with Indiana Jones.

It was a weird day today.

36

Today I'm celebrating.

Why?

Because I like to celebrate and I like me.

We shall start the day with cake.

Yep, we are eating cake for breakfast.

Why?

Because I like cake and I like celebrating and I like me.

After breakfast, I'll drop my sweet little urchins off at their respective schools and shall then go have chai tea with a good friend.

Why?

Because I like chai and I like my good friend and I like celebrating and I like me.

After tea, lunch it will be, again with more good friends.

I'll pick the place and together we'll sit.

We'll chat and we'll laugh and we'll laugh some more until the ring of the school bell draws near.

Why?

Because I like lunch and I like friends and I like laughter and I like celebrating and I like me.

So today, would you all please celebrate with me?

Why?

Because I like you and I like celebrating and I like me!