The ABC's of Me

From Aynde:
A - Attached or single? Attached for (knock wood) life to my Cowboy.
B - Best friend? Cowboy, Aynde and Cara.
C - Cake or pie? Cake! Anything Oooey Gooey and Fudgey!
D - Drink of choice? 32 oz of ice cold water with 1 tblspn of apple juice mixed in.
E - Essential item? Treo755p
F - Favorite color? Deep rich red
G - Gummi bears or worms? Bears but too many make me yak.
H - Hometown? Laramie, Wy.
I - Indulgence? Miso Soup, Sashimi and Tempura Nuri (that's calamari or SQUID if you REALLY want to know)
J – Jail? Er... technically, I have been arrested twice. For my dogs(long story both times). I have never been actually put in a cell, just processed and then released when I paid the over due fine.
K - Kids? 5! MadManda. SuperShel, WondrousWill, PrecociousPat and CommandanteCheryl
L - Life is incomplete without? Projecting positive energy and learning everything you can.
M - Marriage date? June 4th, 1994
N - Number of siblings? 1: Alex.
O - Oranges or apples? Apples. Granny Smith
P - Phobia/fears? Water. Deep, dark water.
Q - Favorite quote? All it takes is faith and trust. And a little bit of Pixie Dust.
R - Reasons to smile? Everything!
S - Season? In Texas? Fall in the Rockies.
T - Tag three. Cara, Virushead, MadManda
U - Unknown fact about me? I am allergic to pineapple.
V - Vegetarian or oppressor of animals? If They didn't want us to eat meat, They should not have made animals out of Meat.
W - Worst habit? Worrying about things I cannot control
X - X-rays or ultrasounds?? Mostly ultrasounds. Five babies. Lots of Jelly on the belly, see your baby on the telly!
Y – Can you Yo-Yo? No, yo?
Z - Zodiac? Pisces and BOY, am I!

Eric At Random: It's Meez!!

Thanks Eric, for the link: Eric At Random: It's Meez!!

Ya know... sometimes these things don't get the fact that people come in different shapes. I'd rather be thinner, yeah, but this isn't a body type I'd ever choose for myself, not to mention that I'm not ashamed of how I am shaped right this second.

Also, it's more... er... Charmed than Bippity Boppity Boo and that's so not what I was going for and my kitchen has never EVER been this clean. That's what makes it a fantasy, I guess!

Meme-o-rama-apalooza-ganza

*note the sarcasm in the title? I thought you might*

I pulled a few different Memes from The Daily Meme and tried each on recommendation of VirusHead.

From Tina's Tuesday:

• Have you ever been on a diet? If so, when? Dozens! Starting from the time I was about eighteen, I believe.
• What was the most pounds you have ever lost? Seventy-some. Fen-Phen. I gained back more than I lost. A lot more.
• Are you currently on one now? If so, mention your stats (start, lbs lost, etc). I am not on a diet as there is no end to this journey. I'm changing my relationship with food and losing weight along the way. So far, I have lost 30 lbs since July, 2006 with help from WeightWatchers and Our Lady of Weight loss.

From That's My Answer

Can you name three albums you owned when you were younger than you’re embarrassed about now, but secretly enjoy?

• 1. "Annie." I brought it to music class 'show and play' every Friday of 4th grade when the cool girls brought in the soundtrack to Grease. All the way through H.S. the same girls never let me forget it. I still hate Grease.
• 2. A 45 of Madonna's "Material Girl". I didn't have the special adapter to play 45s on my record player so I had to weight the disc with pennies placed just right.
• 3. Every album Poison put out, on tape.

From Ten on Tuesday : Time to Brag: 10 Awesome Things About You

1. I'm a fabulous cook.
2. I'm stand-up comedy funny
3. I am the hottest (steadily slimming down) fat chick I know.
4. I have a natural, disgustingly sunny disposition.
5. (With apologies to YaNo..)I am a great hugger and collector of great hugs.
6. I have beautiful eyes.
7. I have sexy lips.
8. I give good phone.
9. I am naturally empathic.
10. I value diversity by nature, not popular trend.

By far the hardest one to do was the last.

We're taught from infant hood to wait for recognition from others; to avoid mentioning what we like about ourselves. It's rude, it's arrogant, boasting, we're told. Later, we're criticized for seeking the approval of others and not being content within ourselves.

Pretty hard to live up to, isn't it? People who love us and want the best for us unwittingly send us mixed signals.

There's a place in this world for healthy self esteem (key word: healthy) and step one is remembering to say nice stuff about yourself to yourself.

I'm taking a page from Jack Handy : I'm good enough. I'm smart enough and dog-gone it, people like me!

Must Be Our Lucky Day

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary. Cowboy and I celebrated w/ dinner at the Melting Pot. It's the third or fourth time we've gone to this particular locale; the restaurant was undergoing renovations on our previous visits but they were complete this time. The result was wonderful; the alcoved booths of the lower floors with have been duplicated throughout, creating an intimate and romantic atmosphere throughout. Soft lights, brick walls and velvet curtains wrap the diner in luxury and quiet. In addition, hand cast (therefore heatproof) tops adorn many of the tables; ours was glazed absolutely beautifully.

They changed the menu slightly; there's a new salad, also a new themed event, 'Fung Shui Fondue,' which has differing tiers going up with the quality of wine served. All this was sadly lost on the Cowboy and I as neither of us would know a good bottle of wine from Thunderbird, frankly. We enjoyed our Fondue Fusion cooked in the Coq au Vin without knowing what we were missing. We speared, dipped and flirted our way all the way through the chocolate-peanut butter dessert course, remembering along the way why it is that we work so well together, after all our ups and downs.

I feel bad that I forgot to wish Chris and Prudence a happy anniversary also, as Chris thoughtfully remembered Cowboy and me. Belated congratulations, you two!

Chris, as a kind of answer to your wedding post, a few tidbits about ours:

• We were married by my Uncle, a judge in Fairplay, Colorado. At the start of the ceremony he told the assembled that the occasion actually marked two firsts for him. It was time a member of his family attended a marriage he performed as well as being the first (and only) time he presided over the marriage of a family member.
• Our cake was baked in Laramie at Home Bakery, one of the oldest locally owned and operated businesses in town. I worked there around the same time I met Cowboy, when it was owned by a friend of the family. I only had the money for one layer, which I arranged for my parents to pick up and bring to Fairplay for the ceremony. They surprised me by purchasing a top layer for Cowboy and I to save for our first anniversary.
• I wore a gorgeous peach maternity dress because I was pregnant with Will. Shelley-Sue (nine months)had a bottle just before and therefore slept through the ceremony. MadManda(who was 2 and a half) was supposed to be our flower girl but came down with a bad case of the bashfuls and opted to be held by Grandma Raspberry during proceedings instead. In this way, though, all three of our oldest children were present for the event.
• I smiled (and cried) through the whole ceremony, while Cowboy frowned the whole time. I was worried that he was angry, but he later explained that he was just serious, because he felt that strongly about his vows. Oh and that he thought I looked like an angel when I walked out to meet him under the Aspen.
• Both my mother and Cowboy's helped me get dressed and my mother in law lent me her wedding ring to wear as my something borrowed.
• My aunt made us a lovely wedding picnic and my cousins Janet and Donna served as our wittnesses.
• The pictures taken of Cowboy's grandma are the last ones of her attending a family gathering before her Alzheimer's Syndrome became too great for her to socialize.
• My mother in law put together the flowers, which were breathtaking. Her only downfall is a slight tendency towards big arrangements. My bouquet could have served as a centerpeice in the dining room at Hearst Castle. But it was beautiful!
• Cowboy's parents took the girls and my parents paid for our dinner at the Chart House but our honeymoon was delayed a bit. Cowboy's parents later sent us for a weekend at a bed and breakfast in Aspen.
• We went to see a movie before picking up the girls the next day. I can't remember what movie but I clearly remember crying during the preview for Lion King. I'm such a sap!

Last year, my mother in law presented us with a wedding album she put together for us. Somehow, we never got around to it; our lives have been pretty hectic up to now. We look so YOUNG (and my hair is so BIG!), but so happy and so right. It's nice to know we still are.

*snick* THE FIZZ *ahhh*

WHW made me think of it with this post about the Pop Aisle: in-search-ofsoda.

Faygo. One the tastes of summer from my childhood.

We drove to Michigan nearly every summer. Bucka (that's Grandma to you nonfamily members) always had a dozen bottles chilling in the garage fridge when we got there. We invariably restocked at least twice during the visit and even brought a case or two home to Wyoming with us after. Faygo isn't available in Wyoming.

Sweet sticky strawberry fizz; no one can be depressed while holding an ice cold bottle of Redpop. There are lots of other flavors but it's the one I remember, the one I could still taste if I thought about it hard enough. It'd be polite to say that the best thing about Michigan was my grandmother, and she was a great part, true. It's also true that my relationship with her was always rocky at best. The two best parts were (in the mind of and in order of importance to an eight year old): the rope swing hung from the very tippy top of the rafters and Faygo.

Several years ago Alex and a friend were back in Michigan. They were helping my parents clear up Bucka's estate and made a trip to a grocery store. "All of the sudden," Says Aaron, "Alex yells 'FAYGO! It's FAYGO!' I thought he'd lost his mind." Crazy yes, but my brother kept his wits about him long enough to bring a case back home with him.

Bucka is gone, her house sold. The old barn with the fabulous rope swing belongs to someone else. I relegated Faygo to the past along with all these and many other things; one of many sweet memories locked away in a part of me that no longer exists.

The buzz about The Fizz started with my kids. There's a new juice joint in this town, owned and operated by the parents of their classmates. Several weeks they started asking if they could stop by after school. The first visit produced rave reviews. We drove by a couple times and finally stopped by my first weekend off.

I came in for root beer. I'm something of a connoisseur and the place happens to feature a few dozen (yes, that's right dozen) varieties. The space was formerly a convenience store and the new owners have made good use of the glass refrigerator cases. Row upon row of good old fashioned glass bottles offer instant refreshment and a delicious predicament to a first time visitor. I thought I'd never be able to make a choice in the face of such excess. There really was no choice at all.

Amongst a collection just as impressive as the kids promised, a shimmer of bright summer red. It couldn't be the same stuff, could it? Probably just that sad imitation, Strawberry Crush or an off brand masquerading. A closer look and confirmation: the real, honest to goodness Faygo Redpop. There really was no choice at all.

Cowboy obstinately refused to let me buy a six pack. It is as good as I remember. I savored every sip and fought off greedy and curious kiddoes. You can't go home (or to Bucka's Michigan) again, but sometimes a tiny bit of the past comes to you instead.