Yesterday was a super special day at my house.
There was no big party or crazy celebration. In fact, we got up as normal and the little man got ready for school and the big man left early for the gym and work. I meet the big man for lunch and coffee. Once we were all back home we did a bit of cleaning out and organizing to ready ourselves for the next move. We ate dinner and watched TV. Just like normal. It was pretty perfect.
The perfect kind of celebration that the big man likes. No fanfare. No crowds to mess with. Just us.
Occasionally we would look at each other and say, “19!” Then we would give each other a “high five” and move on.
I’ve made some seriously awesome memories with this guy over the years. We’ve also been on some seriously awesome adventures together.
I’ll say it again, We would make a seriously awesome reality show…or book.
Seriously, Seriously Awesome!
And KDP I know that you are reading this and I really think you are seriously awesome.
First you need a little back story.
I have this crazy, irrational fear/phobia of getting shot. Shot with a gun and bullets, not a camera. It makes no sense, and I have no interesting story of where this came from or why I even have it. It’s just that loud gunshot type noises, cause me to “duck and cover.” Yes, I’m serious. For example, in the middle of the night a large framed photo fell off the wall and hit a pot plant making a very loud noise. Before my husband could even register that something had happened, I was up, out of bed, and face down on the floor. Example number two: We have a projector downstairs in our home theater room. When a bulb burns out in a projector, it usually explodes. Just so happens we were watching a movie when one of the bulbs exploded. Once again, when the lights come on, I am face down on the floor because I thought someone was shooting at me. These are just two of the examples that I’m willing to share. There are more.
A few months ago, I told my Mom that I wanted some new bedding in the master bedroom. I sent her a picture from a catalog, and asked her to make it. (She’s good like that! She can make anything!) For Valentines Day, I received my new awesome bedding, complete with pillows! Chenille pillows with little squares of chenille in the bedding! It’s totally fantastically amazing.
So yesterday I’m making up the bed and that little pillow in the middle had fallen to the floor. I picked it up and thought I would just “fluff” it really quick. So I grab the corner of the pillow, pop my knee out, raise the pillow up to my head, bring it down to my knee, and WHAM!
The most intense pain, seriously. So much so that it knocks me to the floor and I’m pretty sure I blacked out.
As I’m laying on the floor this is my thought, “Well, it finally happened. I’ve been SHOT in the knee!”
Really, why wouldn’t I think that. I mean WHAT ON EARTH could be in a PILLOW that wasn’t all nice and fluffy soft??!!
I laid on the floor for a good five minutes just trying to figure out what the HECK had just happened!
When I realized it was “safe” to move again, I felt the pillow and it dawned on me: THE ELF!
The story of the Elf.
Many moons ago, I was out shopping with my Mom. She is “Christmas Crazy” and it was the middle of summer, but we were in a Christmas store. I was looking at a cute little stocking, and when I touched it, the crazy little elf stocking holder came crashing to the floor. It broke into several pieces and those pieces scattered to every corner. It took a good ten minutes to crawl under all the displays to find them! And after all of that, the little sales lady made me buy the stinking, broken, ugly elf.
Once we were back home, my Mom lovingly glued him back together claiming that “he’s not that bad, almost kind of cute!” I was pretty much just sore about the whole deal, and never wanted to see that little thing again! I told her if she liked it so much then she should keep it! So I put “Twinkle Toes” in her kitchen window, and there it stayed the whole trip.
After I arrived to my own home, I was unpacking my suitcase and what do I see?!! That ugly stinking elf! Twinkle Toes had been put in my suitcase…I think another part of him had been broken off in trip. UGGG!!! So I wrapped him up with a little note, and mailed him back to my Mom.
So began the travels of Twinkle Toes. Back and forth with different packages. Back and forth on trips and in suitcases. Once I hid it in her house so well that she didn’t find it for almost two years! When I was home this past summer, I made the mistake of letting the little man in on the secret hiding place, and I think he told Mom. She tried to sneak it out in a “special box”, but I found it and left it with my Grandmother. This time my sneaky little Mom had sewn Twinkle Toes into the pillow. Touché, Mom, touché!
Over his travels he’s been broken again and again, and we just keep gluing him back together.
I have to admit, this was a good one Mom! I might not have ever found it, had you not tried to shot me. Lesson learned: Always be on the look out. You never know when “Twinkle Toes” might show up! (or someone could be shooting at you!)
I don’t think there is anyone or anything that can describe the feelings you have as a parent until you are one. “Love” doesn’t come anywhere close honestly. I could list additives here all day and fill pages and pages until I ran out, and still NOT describe to you that feeling.
Most of you have heard me say the following: “When my little man was 1 year old, I thought it was the best age ever and I just wanted to stop time! Then he turned 2 and I said I was wrong, because 2 is the best age ever! Then it was 3! And every year I think this is the best year ever! It just really gets better and better!”
I still mean every word of that. The challenges are different and sometimes being a parent breaks my heart for my little man. But there is still nothing in the world better than being his mom and knowing that I was given the gift of him!
Everyday, one of the things that I look forward to the most is seeing this kid-o jump off the bus and greet me with a “Hi Mom! How was your day?”
I know that you are reading this KDP and I want you to know that yesterday’s “living room battle” melted my heart and I will forever remember the laughter that rang through our home.
A couple of days ago, I posted a picture to my personal Facebook account. I’ve gotten a few questions about it, so I thought I would share the story here.
Several years ago, my little family took a trip to Rome. As we were touring the streets, we came across a fence lined with locks and on these locks were names and dates. I was totally intrigued so asked our tour guide what the deal was. He said that people get married at the church around the corner and then come and put a lock with the date on the fence just outside the church. He waived his hand as if to dismiss the whole idea as a little childish, but I was thrilled! HOW NEAT!
Over the years, I’ve been on a search for more of these “locks” and I’ve seen a few scattered at various places. Mostly just a couple here and there and even some being cut off of a famous tower in Florence. We were going to search out the “lock bridge” while in Prague, but never got around to it.
Earlier this month, my family took a little trip to Cologne to visit the Christmas Market. As we are getting ready to leave the next day, my hubby says that he wanted to stop by the “lock bridge” on the way out.
WHAT?!! There is a lock bridge?! Oh, how awesome!
Off we go, and find parking pretty easily. This my friends, is the ULTIMATE lock bridge. And by Ultimate, I mean most awesome, fantastic, biggest, longest, billions of locks, I’ve EVER seen. It seriously took my breath.
So I’m going a little “snap happy” taking tons of shots of the different locks that I think are pretty neat. Old ones, new ones, fancy ones, plain ones.
My hubby taps me on the shoulder and says, “Hey Staci, look at this one.” I turn and in his hands is a lock with two keys.
I can tell you for a fact that right at that moment, my heart melted and rolled right out onto that bridge.
So not only did I get to see the best “lock bridge” in the world, but my love is locked on there as well.
He is the most amazing man, and totally “gets” me. I have been blessed.
And if you decide to visit the bridge in Cologne, please don’t step in my heart. I was so happy, I didn’t even reach down and scoop it up.
Every year on my birthday I make a list. I know you are shocked! Me?! Make a list?! Why yes! A list!
It’s a list of all the things I want to accomplish that year. It’s really a no pressure kind of thing, just a few goals and what-nots. It sits on my desk so that I can look at it daily. Sometimes I want to throw that thing cause it’s all staring me in the face and mocking me! Other times I read a few things off and laugh or grab my date stamp and happily cross one off the list.
There are personal goals on my list this year like #2. LET IT GO!
There are silly goals on the list like #18: THIS IS THE YEAR I RIDE AN ELEPHANT!
There are crafty goals like #35: FIND CHALKBOARD CONTACT PAPER or INVENT IT! and #28: MAKE A QUILT!
And There are practical goals like #14: START CLEANING FOR THE MOVE! and #31: LIST EVERYTHING FOR SALE ON RYS.
One thing that was NOT on the list, and has NEVER been on the list was JUMP OUT OF A PERFECTLY GOOD AIRPLANE and plummet to the earth at terminal velocity with a little German strapped to your back, praying that he isn’t as crazy has he seems and will pull that shoot at the appropriate time.
Nope! Never been on the list!
It has been on my hubby’s list and if you hear him tell it, it’s been on his list from birth.
If anything I’m a supportive wife, so the little man and I head out one Saturday morning to watch Dad Skydive.
Everything is fine, I snap a few pictures of the training lesson. Watch as the first group comes down.
Then start counting. They are going up in groups of two and the group we are with is one person down. My hubby is the odd man out.
Watch as the second group comes down. Then it happened, the question.
“Will you please jump with me? I need a partner and I can’t think of a more perfect person to do this with.” (or something like that! at least that’s how it replays in my mind!)
Seriously people I didn’t even think! I just said OK and signed the paper and put on the suit and jumped in a plane. I had to borrow shoes cause I was wearing my flip flops! I passed my camera over to the little man and kissed him and told him to take some pictures!
I didn’t even think that my child was down on the ground watching BOTH his parents jump out of a plane, until I was at about 8,000 feet. That’s when I asked if we were high enough. I think crazy German man laughed at me as he said NO. That’s when I started praying. ALOT.
At 11,000 feet the door opened, and I’m pretty sure I had a heart attack. I just looked at crazy German man with huge eyes and said, “BUT I WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION! I WASN’T GONNA JUMP! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!” and do you know what crazy German man says? I’ll tell you what he says. In this hour of pure terror, so scared I couldn’t even say any bad words, basically handing my life over to this crazy German, his words of wisdom are: ”It doesn’t matter.” IT DOESN’T MATTER! Then I’m pretty sure that he pushed us out of the plane.
The free fall lasted about 45 seconds. There is video of this. It’s pretty much the most awful thing you have ever seen. First I couldn’t breath, and the wind was shooting up my nose making it look 5 times bigger than normal. Second, I really didn’t know I had THAT many chins. Third, I didn’t know that neck skin could travel all the way up to your cheeks, but turns out at 120 MPH it can! At one point my tongue starts hanging out my mouth as it finally saw an opportunity to meet my neck up there with my cheek. That is 45 seconds of terror that no one needs to ever see. Ever.
My child! He stood on the ground and shot the greatest pictures ever!
So I scratched off #33: WORK HARDER! and replaced it with #33: GO SKYDIVING WITH MY MAN!
Work harder?! Seriously, how was that even a thought!
