happy 39th birthday...and good riddance!

 

Y'all know I love my birthdays, right?

They're like Christmas. But just for me. And also no snow, because, June.

During my single years, they were a chance to throw an epic party with local bands and yummy cake, and to surround myself with the much needed support of family and friends and pat myself on the back for getting through another year.

Since being married to Mr. Perfect, I can honestly say every day feels something like a birthday. Although last year, my birthday started with a trip to the social security office, then the DMV--totaling nearly six hours, ending with no new drivers license (my five forms of ID weren't enough), and where I was treated to standing in line behind the shoeless homeless man drinking ranch dressing straight from the bottle. The day ended with a surprise dinner at Disneyland, though, thanks to a friend who works at the Blue Bayou restaurant at Pirates of the Caribbean...so, totally happy ending :)

I'm hoping for a happy ending from this year, too. Because, let me tell you--this decade, this year, this month, this week, and especially this day are kicking my patootie. Mixed in with all that daily birthday-esque happiness is some tough, tough stuff.

This morning, I woke up with two huge zits on my chin, a continuous reminder of the mega-stress we've been under the last month with custody court and all that entails. Also, one of the kids left the interior light on in the car (our only car) despite our hundred reminders not to do so...which left us with a dead battery 30 minutes before (the not homeschooled) kids needed to be to school. Also, we were out of milk and bread and a lunch needed made.

Luckily, a neighbor was up and around at 6:30 am, we got the jump, got the food, got the kids to school on time, with lunch.

I then put in a load of laundry...and the washing machine leaked all over the floor. Torn seal. $400 to repair.

Then, the dentist called. Two of the boys have cavities that need filled and one needs sealants re-applied. The total cost, even with insurance? $1,205.60. And did I mention two also need orthodontic expanders?

So, while I am beating my head against the wall trying to figure out where I am going to come up with an extra $400 to replace the washer seal and $1,205.60 to keep my kids teeth from rotting out when I currently have $11 in my account,  I get a call from Chase Bank.

They just wanted to let me know, on this the day before my birthday, with the broken car and the broken washing machine and the broken teeth and the child yelling from the living room that his shoes are too small...that I owe them $46,000. You know--from the second mortgage attached to my dream home that the short sale fell through on last year due to liens my ex-husbands creditors put on it, and then ended up in foreclosure, and which I have been diligently trying to repair my credit from for the last year only to find out that it barely hit my credit last month and I still have 3-7 years in front of me before I can even THINK about owning a home again, let alone even renting something better than where we're at, or taking out a loan for a second non-broken car...

I explained to dear Chase Bank that I was told on multiple occasions by multiple people (including their own) that the second mortgage couldn't be separated from the first, which was why the home had to be short sold in the first place, and that I was told the second mortgage would be covered in the foreclosure. When they explained this was not so but that I could "reduce the amount I owed" I told them to reduce it to zero and then call me, because I was already financially wasted.


And then I went upstairs and hugged my Mr. Perfect whose brilliance helped create a children's TV show that generates $15-20 million a year--although we don't get a dime of it (thanks, LLC), and rather than be angry or discouraged, he still works long, creatively exhausting hours every day to provide for our family and his ex-wife, still smiles and laughs and loves us all with all his heart, and is still completely...perfect.

Following this, I cried and felt sorry for our stinky situation then ate six Nutella cookies and got a tummy ache.

As I look back on my 30's all peppered with death and declining health and confused kids and no sleep and broken hearts and broken bones and broken appliances and broken vehicles and financial burdens of an unparalleled nature despite our being very educated and responsible folks and wanting nothing else than to not have to ask any more people for help ever but to provide it, I can't help but say GOOD RIDDANCE!

Now, lest I sound ungrateful for all the amazing things that DID happen in my 30's--all those beautiful daily blessings centered around my faith, children, marriage, nature, and writing--I can only say the gratitude was and is hard won amidst a lot of struggle. It is a peace that comes despite the storms around us. The very most difficult thing being doing all we know is right, following the Spirit, allowing God to fight our battles, being the responsible ones, giving tirelessly in service to our family, church, and community, and still ending up being the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) punching bags. We have known rejection from those who should have no cause to reject us. Amassed unnecessary penalties and undue criticism to the point that even stupid chin zits feel a cursing from the Lord.

I am a grateful soul through and through but I am also tired and burdened and clueless how to get myself or my family out of this mess...

Though, my gift to myself, on this eve of my 39th birthday, is to know that I don't have to know how to.  Not right now. For now, my trust is what God is requiring. It doesn't make sense to me because I can't see the whole picture the way He can--how all these trials can be consecrated not only for my benefit but for the benefit of our children, and even their children. That continued, sweet peace I feel when I'm not in the midst of crying cookie binges, is all I need to be assured we ARE doing the right things.

If everything needs cleared away to lead us to where we need to be, who are we to stand in the way? If we can only be truly Christ-like by passing below it all in a way that is meager compared to His sacrifice--why would we not pass? If all we have is one answer to our volumes of questions, how can it not be enough to know it must be the only answer we need right now?

Tomorrow I will wake and start to live the last year of this unparalleled decade in my life and I can choose to live it in a state of bitter surrender...or I can keep rising up and fighting the battle. I can sit it out or I can march in the ranks of some of the best people I know who choose to believe in ultimate victory, even when the enemy is raging. I can close off my understanding and feel I am being punished, or I can look at this as a time to learn, to continue in obedience, and be refined.

As long as I get in a long run and a big piece of cake, I think I can hang in another year. And I'll still love my birthdays, y'all.        I will.

37 things to be thankful for

Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.

That has been one of my life mantras for years now. And, in honor of having been 37 for a whole three days now, here's a list of those somethings good I've found:

1. My 6 day vacation from work started today. I love my job and I'm a little scared the plants are going to die without me there, and that no one will stream show tunes from their computer very loudly to cheer the place up, but, yeah...I'm pretty excited to work on some other stuff that's not work.

2. Clean sheet night. With blackberry linen spray. And freshly shaved legs.

3. The smell of lavender, sage, and rosemary on my hands from a night of working in my yard.

4. The sound of Chet Baker's voice singing about 11 pm when I'm still not sleepy and the whole house is quiet and clean, usually.

5. Red chili-spiced pistachios enrobed in dark chocolate.

6. That dance I do with my mop. The one that makes the broom jealous.

7. Friends who can discuss Russian and French existentialist literature with me.

8. That chalky sea blue color of old maps and globes.

9. The way my kids still wear mismatched socks. And sometimes even put their pants on backwards without even realizing it.

10. Close proximity, or the promise of.

11. Local music.

12. That warm, glow-y feeling I get when I can feel God telling me, "Good job, girl."

13. Conversations had in 15 second intervals via Facetime stalling and unstalling. Especially when bad British accents are involved.

14. Having my mom's grave so near my house where I can make sure it's taken care of and sometimes just go to hang out and have a chat with her.

15. The occasional pedicure.

16. Red wing blackbirds trilling.

17. The view from the top of my favorite hiking hill.

18. My iphone. Seriously. Instagram, iTunes, Siri telling me where I can hide a dead body. I don't know how I ever lived without this piece of Star Trek-like equipment.

19. Top Gear on Netflix. And the metallic growl of a luxury sportscar engine in stereo.

20. Making mustache cookies. With help.

21. My personal box of Hello Kitty! bandaids that none of the boys want to use. Ever.

22. Sugar lip tint from Sephora. Their birthday freebie to me.

23. The fact that my cat is usually on my roof. Makes me feel very French.

24. My radio show and all the amazing writers I've had the privilege to meet as a result.

25. The fact that my older boys have inherited my sense of humor. And I think the younger ones will have it, too, once they get beyond all the fart jokes.

26. Hymns at church. Lead Kindly Light, especially.

27. The callous from the lawnmower on my left hand. And the bruise from boxing on my right. And all my nails worn down. They all say, 'These are hard working hands.'

28. Whole Foods being built just down the street from my office.

29. The smell of almond extract.

30. Thrift store scores. Like the vintage copper beaded, fringe-bottomed flapper dress I found and talked down to $30.

31. Friends getting their books published left and right and winning all kinds of awards. I can't clap hard enough.

32. Stars. Gobs of them. And summer nights warm enough to lay out on the trampoline and look at them.

33. Stuff that comes in the mail. Non bill stuff.

34. The way the light comes in through the slats of my blinds in the morning, all soft and filtered through the leaves of the big Curly Willow tree.

35. Talks with Mom Peterson and with my sister-in-law. Grateful they still love me and claim me.

36. Faith. And more faith. That eventually become sure knowledge.

37. This blog. And the 704 posts of recorded life, therapy, and lessons learned it has provided. And of  course the friendships I've forged through it. Thank you. And you. And you.

It is enough. My heart is full.

happy 37th birthday, me

Sitting on the driveway in folding camping chairs the other evening with my neighbor/close friend, watching our children make up some game with a hula hoop, a Barbie bike, and the half-blind cat, she said something that got me thinking:

"You're everything you were six years ago when I met you, but better. You're the same. But you're something completely different."

Hmmm...

I know she meant it as a compliment. And I took it as one. I've even blogged about how frequently I feel the same but different. Even look like someone different. But it was weird, to hear it that way. From someone not me. Made even weirder when I happened to pull up one of my random first blog posts circa 2007 to read. Back when I was using the blog as more of a personal daily journal. I read the words and thought, Who is that woman? The one worried about the decorating particulars of her house? The one who spoke in terms of "we" and didn't mean her and her children? The one who sounded fairly sheltered, reserved? (though, I guarantee I've never been that way--just more guarded about revealing my kookiness and vulnerabilities than I am now.)

There are still lines I walk regularly:

*Feeling blessed to feel so comfortable in my single-ness / Feeling scared to feel so comfortable in my single-ness.

*Happy to be so content alone / Worried that, were my kids gone, no one would find me if I died until I started to stink. And that my cat would probably eat me.

*Humbly proud of the recognition my accomplishments, writing, and ideas receive / Worried that I'm getting too busy accomplishing and  losing myself in what I do and not in who I am. Worried that I am alienating myself from others with my ambitions.

I suppose the jumping back and forth between those various emotions is what has created this 'something completely different' of a me, that really isn't something different at all--but just me, being me in a different situation than I ever have before. Not really changed, simply more tolerant and expressive of the woman I've been all along. Even from girlhood. It's been the same voice in my head. The (mostly) same things I'm drawn to. The same way of approaching life and problems. Of loving people, without question. The same spirit inhabiting my body. Just getting wiser, more perfected, is all. I think this is what it is, to grow old.

So, this is me--teetering just days before my 37th birthday. I'm still the same person I was at 36, 35, 30, 28, 17, 12, 7. All the years just compound on top of each other. And the cakes become increasingly more flame than frosting.

I am throwing myself a big, cheap, but spectacular party. Again. I look forward to it every year. It feels good to see and involve friends, to celebrate myself in a way I can share with them. So it's more like a giant party for all of us, not just me. 

I'm also going back to California, where I've managed to go about this time every year for the last 4 years. Like a birthday sabbatical. It's a good place, a peaceful and reflective place. With food. And salt air. And sand to stick my feet in. And a hug waiting.

Happy Birthday, Me. I'm glad you're still you. And something completely different, too.

things every woman should experience ...

I am the mother of 4 males. I was the girl in her cheerleading outfit skateboarding with the boys during lunch break in junior high. I have always been more comfortable around men than women. Not that I don't have some wonderful girlfriends, it's just that males are generally easier for me to understand. And yet, I've never forgotten that I'm a woman. And, as a woman, I offer you my list of THINGS (I THINK) EVERY WOMAN SHOULD EXPERIENCE:

1. Having a fabulous picture of herself taken. One that she's proud to show off. Not so photoshopped that she doesn't look like herself, but taken by someone who managed to capture how beautiful she really is in the first place. One where her personality comes through her eyes. My blog avatar is that picture for me.

2. Owning a pair of expensive shoes. Maybe that's $40 for you, or  $400---but to buy one pair of shoes (preferably a bold color and dangerously high) that make you own a room when you walk into it.

3. Wearing false eyelashes. You might love them and feel like a vixon. or you might hate them and feel like you have some insect perched just above your eye all day. But every woman should for sure have the false eyelash experience.

4. A kiss that, even for just a few moments, makes you forget your name.

5. Finally, (and I've been advocating this one for a while!) every woman should throw herself at least one splendid, over-the-top party.

I started throwing myself a birthday party the first year after my divorce was final. I needed a reason to celebrate my victory of transitioning into single life. It was such a hit, I repeated it again last year (a grown up carnival!). Then, this year I ran off to California for my birthday instead. I was fine with that, but had several friends request   demand that I put on my usual spectacle of a party when I got back. So... I did! And here's just to prove that, if you call in some of your talented friends and make a few initial investments, you can do something spectacular for under a hundred bucks...

3 years ago, I invested about $60 in paper lanterns and fleece material for blankets. The blankets make for cheap, plentiful seating; and, with some care, I've been able to pull the lanterns out each year and have them still be in partying shape. Here's my backyard ready for this year's shindig...

Froofy flavored pop in froofy glass bottles was probably my largest financial investment, but I find that when you're throwing a party with no alcohol--people still want something fancy to drink :)

I'm sure you have a friend who does fabulous things with cakes, right? Well, call her and place an order. You're supporting a friend and getting something unforgettable out of the deal. This cake just said "me". AND it was lemon with raspberry frosting--as yummy on the inside as on the out.

People appreciate silly party favors, like stick-on moustaches. Looking goofy immediately puts a smile on guest's faces. Worth the $15 I spent on them (with leftovers for my boys to play with!)

Now, think of your talented friends and see if they would want to come do some performing. Do they dance? Put on a magic show? Sing? I'm blessed to be surrounded by musicians and got 4 of them to agree to come perform. One of them graciously provided all the sound equipment for the others to use.

In lieu of birthday gifts, I asked that my guests please donate to the "band fund." I then passed the money on to two of the bands who spend a lot of money traveling around. It felt good to hand over money to people for doing something they love. Below is Lisa of Finn Riggins fame. I wrote an article about them for my magazine job. They're pretty much the awesomest.

Another friend's band came in from Utah to perform. So, so grateful. They were fabulous!

As the sun went down and the temperatures dipped, I handed out giant sparklers. My insanely attractive single friends had a blast with these. I love the joy in their faces at something so simple.

And here is me...portrait of a birthday girl who knows she is loved and greatly blessed to love back. Who has crossed off all those things on my opening list, and who is anxiously anticipating adding a few more things to it...

So, WHAT SHOULD I ADD? What do YOU think every woman should experience?

friday fotos: i do stuff

I do! I do! I do do stuff....beyond writing! I know it's been forever since I've done a Friday Fotos. I've been a bit camera lazy. Still, thought you might like to see what we've been up to lately....

Have I mentioned how I end up staying friends with all my ex-boyfriends? A blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing. Green Eyes is recording his first album, due out in about a month. I'll make sure I let y'all know about it because it's reallllly good, like Johnny Cash-come-back-from-the-dead good. I spent a day in the studio with him. It was nifty.

Here was an attempt at a Mothers Day photo. I love how only half of L's mouth works for smiling :)

I asked J what kind of cake he wanted me to make him for his birthday, and he said, "Krispy Kreme donuts." OK--done :) Can't believe my baby is FIVE!

This picture makes me happy. This is L and J having 'Webkinz School.' J is the special guest speaker--talking to all the animals about being a security guard. We have a lot of fun, simple moments like this around here. I'm just glad I remember to record them from time to time.

This is how I unwind after work. Also, my hair is really, really red now.

I must have taken 20 pictures of Jacaranda trees in bloom while in California. They're like inspiration on a trunk.

If I couldn't live in a mid-century modern ranch, I'd take a pure cottage with a rounded front door like this one. GO-RGE-OUS! It was only 3 million dollars. Did I mention it was on Balboa Island?

I'm the girl in the window reflection. Look for my white sunglasses on top of my head. I look guuuud in candy, no? :)

Remember those birthday cupcakes I said Ninja and M ordered for me? I'm drooling just looking at the picture again. So good. So painfully good.

And though I had no more room in my stomach to eat, I had to pay a visit to here, just to get the picture. This was how Haute Cakes got his name. It's a happy place full of happy memories still.

I almost put up the picture of Mr. Perfect and I at our rooftop lunch...but I'll let his identity remain forever a secret.  Here's what he doodled for me though. We tried to go to all these places but ran out of time ...



 
That's it for pictures! Next week I shall return you to your regularly scheduled ramblings. And you'll like it :)
 
~Happy Weekending!~

consecrated

I'm back from California! And a Happy Birthday to me it was....Took in the creepy, neat-o Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA with the most perfectly imperfect guy ever--the out of my league one-- followed by Dim Sum on Xino's rooftop on Santa Monica Blvd (a restaurant with a strange male/female-conjoined-by-a-mirror bathroom).  Toy shopping for my boy squad. Stuck in traffic for two hours getting back to Orange County...but surprisingly didn't mind a bit. Then a great birthday dinner out with California friends near and dear, including my old buddy The Roller Disco Pimp, with a follow-up stroll around the decadence of Fashion Island and some birthday gelato. Oh, and cupcakes the next day, ordered for me by Ninja and M. Lots and lots-o-cupcakes (!) which I took with me to share as I went from friends house to friends house, causing them all to love me [even more].It was all simply lovely :)

~~~

The day I flew out to California, my sweet friend, Heidi, showed up at my house first thing in the morning with a bag of chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday. In fact, she woke me up...but chocolate and a bestie are pretty great things to wake up to. Anyway, she sat on my bed and talked with me for almost an hour--and listened. She's a fabulous listener. I told her pretty much everything I said on the blog for the last two posts but in a more specific nature: about being scared by my blessings because of their generally fleeting nature. About wanting to fall apart yet being unable to. Her reply: "I know everyone in this life struggles with something. I just know some seem qualified or stronger to handle more, and you're one of those--one whose struggles are very evident. I know I couldn't do what you're doing. But somehow it's all going to work out for you."

I agree. I think. I mean, I don't know when it's "all going to work out" or even what that means, but one word did come to mind:

Consecrated.

I know the Lord has promised that all the struggles, trials, and even disappointments I have, am, and will pass through are consecrated for my good. Which means 'dedicated to a sacred purpose....at some point'. Like future kings and prophets of the Old Testament who had their heads anointed with oil and were set apart and promised great standings--some day. 

It feels so often to me that I am one who gets to hold such amazing POSSIBILITY of all kinds in my hands for a few moments. To see and feel how "just right" things could be. But doomed not to hold onto it. To be the one forever congratulating (and happily so, too...I promise) other people on getting the break, the acceptance, the book published, the raise, the new car, the new house, the love of their life. And I wonder, too, why God does that? Gives me peeks into how things could be, even going so far as to let me hold what I perceived as perfection for 13 years, before needing to take it? Is it just to get me to raise my goals a little higher each time? Work harder? Run faster? Stay humble? Stay closer to Him? Doesn't He know if I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor :) ?

For now, I will just trust in that concept of **consecration.** All things reaching their divine potential in time.

My Mr. Perfect has decided to ride off into the sunset with someone else. And as bittersweet, make-a-lump-in-my-throat as that is, I cannot help but cheer him on because it makes him happy--like trying to suppress an adorable, goofy grin when he says her name happy-- which makes me happy because it reminds me that such happiness exists and I love seeing people find it. And I made another great, talented, funny friend out of the deal. I wouldn't change a thing. Hardly.

So, I'm going to just sit my consecrated, cupcake-filled bum down here on these dusty steps and wait for the next horse leaving for the sunset--the one meant just for me--questioning and a little teary, but content that everything works out just the way it should. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

things that make me feel old

I am two weeks away from being 36. Thirty. Six. Not that I'm ashamed of my age (and y'all know how much I loves my birthdays) but that 6 after that 3 means I've stepped over the middle line of my 30's. I'm pretty sure I was just turning 30 a few days ago, so I don't even know how this six extra years happened. I'm like Logan in Logan's run wanting my hand crystal to stop flashing because I'm not REALLY that old! (first thing to make me feel old: referencing Logan's Run and realizing some of you have no idea what I'm talking about. I won't even start with Thunderdome.)

ALSO.....

Do you know that kids who turn 18 this year were born in 1993? The year *I* turned 18? Yeah.

Sometimes I think about the bands Hanson and Ace of Base and still think of them as "new and fresh". Also, I still say the words "new and fresh"

I was at a Quasi-Stellar Radio/ Dear Hunter/ The Trophy Fire/ Dredg concert a few weeks ago--and it was amazing--with lots of loud guitars and pounding drums and tons of energy...and I still felt sleepy. Even considered kind of curling up in my chair and just grabbing a quick nap.

Sometimes I describe how I want my bangs to be cut by refering to Kelly from Beverly Hills 90210.

I find myself saying things I remember my mom saying...things that come from the deepest recesses of my mind that I didn't even know I remembered, like, "I can't is a word too lazy to try." Also, my hands are starting to look like my mom's...minus the pretty nails.

I miss rotary dials. And typewriters. And the high-pitched squeal and static of my computer logging onto America Online.

My hair is 50% gray (or at least my hairdresser tells me so I'll keep coming back to her for color every month)

I have been described using the words MUMBLE-Y and SHUFFLE-Y

I use Oil of Olay. I worry about my fiber. I drive the speed limit. I vote in every election. On occasion, nothing tastes so good as a Tums.

I've got my eye on a red Hoveround....ya know, for when I hit 40. (I also can't look at a Hoveround without singing "Round, round, get around, I get around....")

But, the part of me that understands age is just a number, must also proudly proclaim that:

*I attempted to use a corded phone at work today and actually had to ask for help because I couldn't find the "send" button (this could also mean I'm senile, but I'm going with the fact that I'm SO young and hip I only know how to operate a cell phone!)

*The kids at the skate park still think I'm the coolest mom there because I ride with my boys

*I can strut around in a pair of high, high heels like it was nothing. I can even run in them. I couldn't do THAT when I was young.

*the night of my graduation party, I got scolded by a waitress for dancing on a chair to Hava Nagila.

AND

*While listening to music, I've never, ever, ever told my kids to turn it down :)

Yup.

For as often as I don't recognize the woman staring back at me in the mirror--the experience in her eyes, the lines around her mouth, her high cheekbones void of baby fat-- she's not too bad looking either. She looks....wise. A look all the plastic surgeons in Hollywood couldn't re-create. As Charlie Parker (famous jazz musician) once said,  "If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn." So, I'm glad I've lived---lived good, lived hard, lived through triumph and tragedy, heartbreak and healing, lived till the living is evident on me--because when I play my horn (or my equivalent of writing) you can tell I know what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis.

What makes you feel old today?

buy me something!

In the next few months, I will be graduating from college AND having my 36th birthday. Doesn't that scream "gift worthy" to you? :)

I'm actually the type who appreciates time, kind words, and thoughtful acts of service more than gifts...but just in case any of you want to take the quicker, slightly more expensive route to telling me how much you love me, here are some ideas of things I'd really like....

1. A PIPE!   Not a crack pipe or a bubble pipe, but a good old-fashioned Grandpa pipe. I don't smoke, nor do I plan on taking up smoking --I just want this to hold clenched between my teeth and take it out to shake at someone when I'm making an important point. Plus, I think it would really set me apart as a writer. "Jennifer who?...oh, the one with the pipe? Yeah, we know her. Pay her a million dollars!" :)

 2. THIS HELLO KITTY MUFFLER THINGY!... Because I bet it would make my mini-van look cooler. Or at least like a 12 year old Japanese girl was driving it.

3. A RESOELECTRIC GUITAR! Do I play? No. But I don't smoke either and I still want a pipe. Actually, I know a few chords and the solo part of The Cure's "Just Like Heaven." I'd probably even take lessons if I owned this. Green Eyes first turned me onto Resoelectrics and I've loved them ever since.

4.

4. THE NEW DESIGN FROM REF YOU SUCK(!) T-SHIRTS! (It's a hockey thing) I know the {very cool} owners of this company so I just might be able to talk them out of one for free...but paying them money is a good thing, too.

5. GWEN STEFANI "G" PERFUME! This is my favorite scent ever. Smells like coconut and fresh grass. And I'm almost out :)

6. A VINTAGE DRESS! They don't make them like this anymore. Our thrift stores are always picked over and every time I find a cute one online, it's generally already sold. So, maybe one of you has a pretty little number from the 20's-50's lying about that you want to gift me? :)

7. A UNION JACK SOMETHING OR OTHER! I  Love England. This would proclaim that loud and clear.

8. a MONT BLANC FOUNTAIN PEN! If any of you have a spare $500 lying around...this would be a wise investment (ha!). But seriously, aren't these gorgeous?! 

 9. BELLY DANCING CLOTHES! A friend of mine has been taking lessons for years and is ready to strike out teaching on her own. She offered to get me into her first class this July for 1/2 price. Which means I'd need something to wear. It's either that or RollerDerby tryouts this summer (don't laugh! I'm seriously considering it!) I love anything that involves a costume!

10. and finally, A MONOCLE! I had my eyes lasered 3 years ago the right eye is starting to slip. I don't need glasses, but a monocle...that's just TOO cool. I wouldn't wear it at the same time as the belly dancing clothes or while using the pipe though, because a belly-dancing, pipe smoking, girl with a monocle... that would just be overkill :)

I also gladly accept travelers checks, mutual funds, canned food donations, and first born children.

What have you got on your "want" list?

35th birthday party: "carnival of the absurd"

For my last birthday, I had my nephew's band and my friend's Polynesian dance troop come perform. Since then, I've thrown Festivus, an 80's party, and a blacklight birthday bash. But I think I will never be able to throw another party again because how on earth can I top my very own carnival/circus?!.....

The bounce house arrived a few hours early, so my kiddos had plenty of time to play in it before it was the adult's turn :) ....
Balloon hats and sculptures for everyone....

My ex-brother-in-law brought the ride he designed and tours around with. This thing creates some SERIOUS g-force! Do I not have the bravest friends *ever* to ride it again and again and again?! Here were homeschooling mom friends of mine taking their fifth ride of the evening....

And everyone agreed the bounce house was a killer workout! ....

Quite a few of us dressed up in our carnival/circus costumes, including Jenn "the bearded lady" :). I love this picture of her on the ride---Is she thrilled? Is she terrified? I'm guessing a bit of both!......

Since our birthdays are fairly close together, it was a duel party shared with my amazing friend. She made her circus outfit out of her old wedding dress, and I sewed my crazy skirt out of some faux fur! You have to admit we make cotton candy look very haute couture :) ....

A dream come true! My very own cotton candy machine! It was sugar heaven, I tell ya!.....

More costume shots....

Pixie sticks, cotton candy, snow cones, and cake. I think everyone was glad that one friend brought some fresh cherries to break up all the refined sugar :) .....

The magician/balloon man, a family friend, was kept busy 'filling orders' .....

My bestest friends.....

Ninja was the go-to guy of the evening!---going on ice runs, fixing the sound system, making snow cones and cotton candy. Love this picture of us :) ....

And yes...even *I* took my turn getting spun upside down. But only ONCE!....

Somehow my parties always end up in dancing! Joseph is a Latin dance instructor and is attempting to teach me some new Meringue moves....

Finally blowing out the candles on the sinfully delicious peanut butter cheesecake Melissa made....

Pretty sure all our wishes will come true!

*Now speak up and give me some comment lovin' on all the hard work! :) *