Home Sweet Home

Did you ever have that one place as a kid or even as an adult that you knew you could always go to no matter what? Home right? Where you grew up, or maybe a special fort in the back yard or maybe you could just close your eyes and imagine it.

I grew up in different apartments, I never thought anything wrong with it but I was always a little jealous of my friends who had houses. That's why I loved going to Grandma's house so much. As a little girl I spent a lot of time there. Walking back and forth to school, playing on the swing set she kept for us, riding bikes up and down the street. Even after I got older and started driving and hanging out most of the time with my friends, I still went to Grandma's at least once a week. She was my best shopping buddy, the best cook and I just liked sitting and talking or watching TV together.

I've lived with Grandma quite a bit throughout my life, and turning down her street I always knew I was almost home. I've had just about every birthday, Christmas whatever occasion you can think of there, the same with my kids.

Grandma has been living in an assisted living facility for over a year now, and it is a wonderful place and I am glad she is being looked after and being taken care of. However this means that Grandma's house needs to be sold.

I was there while they were packing it up and readying it for sale. I've been down there while it's been staged for open houses, and even when it's been empty. I spent a couple hours down there on Christmas just because it seemed right.

The house is closing today. I can't be in denial anymore. I have to face up to the facts it's not my home anymore. And you know, I don't think it's the house I am afraid of losing. I have realized through all of this that I grew up extremely lucky. You see my family was always together, aunts, uncles, cousins. Birthdays, holidays, Tuesdays we were always at Grandma's together. I am scared about what is going to happen without the house to be our meeting point. I am afraid that I am going to lose the closeness of my family. In small ways I can already see it happening. I am also terrified that I will never be able to give my kids that awesome feeling of always knowing where you could turn to.

And more than anything I am scared of losing Grandma. I know it sounds ridiculous but the house being sold makes it all real. Grandma is never going to go home again, at least not to her house. I need to visit her more and I know its selfish and not fair to her, but I always want to remember her at home sitting in her chair amongst all of her magazines and publishers clearing house finds drinking her coffee eating her coffee cake and talking so much that you can't really pay attention any more. I want her to be able to go shopping with me again, go out to lunch. I miss that so very much.

I guess that's it, just needed to get it all off my chest. I can't be in denial anymore. My heart will always be there, that will always be home to me. Even if some strange new family is living there. I will always remember it exactly as it was, with the red and white siding, the shrubs along the walkway, the giant pine trees that were our secret hideout and the furniture that hasn't been moved since sometime in the 80's. Good thing I have a lifetime of memories and the pictures to match to refresh once in a while.

A Survey from "Aunt Becky"

I'm doin a survey today folks thanks to Becky over at Mommy Wants Vodka. Check it out. Check her out, its good times!

"1) Dave and I have a long-standing feud over cheese in a can. He thinks it’s food of The Gods while I think it’s probably Of The Devil. Your take?
I really don't know about cheese in a can..I guess its ok. I don't regularly buy it but Ill eat it if it is offered.

2) Is there any way you can think of to make the elder Gosselins go away? I AM ALL EARS.
Hmmmm...I really don't watch them or read anything about them so in my little corner of the world they're already gone. :)

3) Who is your ridiculous “I can’t admit this to anyone in polite company lest I be banned from life” crush?
ummm,, Joey Mcintyre of New Kids on the Block

4) If you could fuck it all and pursue your dream (assuming, of course, you were going to be GOOD at it), what would that dream be?
To be an amazingly awesome photographer who also is a world famous singing sensation!

5) They say “living well is the best revenge.” I think they are wrong. Do you?
Maybe, but once in awhile id like to kick someone. :)

6) What is the most humiliation you’ve experienced in public that you’d be willing to admit to The Internet?
I fell flat on my ass in the walmart parking lot, my flipflop slipped on the wet concrete and me and my bag of groceries took a good spill. About 5 'cartpushers' rushed over to help me out.

7) Are you honest with The Internet? Like, if I came over to your house tonight (heh)(I’m coming over, yo)(heh) would I be surprised at who I found?
I think so, considering I am pretty boring both in real life and on the internet

8 ) If you could have one talent that you don’t currently possess, what would it be?
I would love to be able to draw.

9) There’s not always room for Jello. Is there?
of course!

10) What’s your guiltiest of the guilty pleasures?"
internet tv

Stairs of Doom

2 summers ago I decided to fly myself and my 2 kids to Houston to see my dad. The flight had a 2 hour layover in Detroit. Not fun! So I decided to get the oh so lovely kid leashes. I don't like them, but thought what the hey, 2 kids, busy airport, I'll suck it up.
We left from Midway in Chicago. My friend was kind enough to stuff all of us and all of our crap into her car and drive the 3 hours to the airport.
We get into the airport, check our luggage outside at the handy dandy luggage check. We enter the airport, with the carseat, 5 carryons and of course the kid leashes wrapped around my wrist. My son decides he wants to ride the escalator. Usually this is not a problem. He steps on, starts going down, my 3 year old freaks out and refuses to get on, I can't pick her up because of our ridiculous amount of crap I was carrying, my boy is still going down, down, down...until that is he reaches the end of his leash and falls backwards. I can't get it off my wrist cause it is pulling and I have too much crap. His pants get pulled down and he is laying practically naked on the stairs. Finally after a huge crowd gathers, mostly i think upset cause they need to use the escalator my son is so rudely hogging, I throw all of our stuff down the escalator including the end of the leash. While trying to convince my daughter that she really does want to go down the stairs of doom some kind stranger jumps in front of my and carries my boy to the awaiting airport security. We held some of the confiscated water bottles on his scrapes until the police officer comes by on his segway so that we can file a report. Not the way I wanted to start the vacation but we made it.
We get to Detroit. Karate Kid refuses to even look at an escalator and I keep yelling at them to hold my hand, since shortly after 'the incident' I threw the leashes in the trash. I am holding hands, carryons, a stroller and a carseat for about an hour when I beg the lady at the gate to let me set it down for a few minutes. She refused, thankfully another gate attendant took mercy on my and I stashed the carseat behind the desk for a awhile. When it is time to board the plane I get told, "I don't think we have room for that carseat" I said, "HUH?" The flight attendant then said, "well we don't have an extra seat" I replied " she can't sit in it?" She said " does she have her own ticket?" I said " umm yeah...she's 3." She says "oh, ok then your fine" I walk down the aisle, banging just about everyone in the head or arm or leg on the way down and finally we get seated and make our way to Houston.
When we got there however Karate Kid wanted to swim in the Gulf, I told him that would hurt like hell since he was scraped literally neck to knee caps. He agreed and was happy to play in the sand and look for sea shells. :)
The return trip home was not quite as eventful but not without its problems. When checking in the night before our flight I noticed that they have my and my 2 children seperated by about 3 rows, and the 2 of them are seperated by the same. Not cool! So I said something and the best they could do was put us in first class seperated by just 1 row for the first half of the flight. Some kind strangers let us all sit together and we all had a nice comfy ride to Minnesota, from there to Midway we were seperated by an aisle in coach but we made it. We came out of it alive. However I will NEVER fly alone with my kids again, especially since there are 3 now. I would much rather drive. And I decided to check everything except for 1 bag on the way home, Much easier!

Oh By the way. I am pretty sure there is now a label on kid leashes that say " DO NOT USE ON ESCALATORS" and it is all because of me, I was that idiot. ;)

How about you? any crazy vacation stories?