Not really a sunshine day

And that’s literal – the famous (infamous) Seattle weather has reared its ugly head today – gray, dark, with a constant misting of rain, which honestly, is more annoying than straight up rain. Do I need the wipers on? Do I need a raincoat? And speaking of which, what is up with people who put their intermittent wipers on the fastest setting? Why not just turn the regular wipers on?

Ugh. As you can see, my mood today matches this gray foul weather.

It started yesterday when I reconnected with my sister in law on Facebook. Yes, I have a Facebook. I’m not ashamed! I found out through her that my brother in law is deploying to Iraq in a couple of weeks. The last time I saw my brother in law, he was six and didn’t want me to give him a kiss. Now he is 20, and going to IRAQ. Scary stuff. Up ‘til now, I didn’t know anyone in Iraq. Sure, the occasional cousin of a friend’s boyfriend or something, but no one in my actual extended family.

Then I find out that my dad, who is visiting my brother in Maryland, has had another “episode.” “Episode” is code for “Bob passes out for no explicable reason, necessitating a trip to the ER for a myriad of tests.” It may or may not be followed by a stay in said hospital. Luckily, last night, it did not include a stay in the hospital and the battery of tests found nothing super serious. My beloved father just does not drink enough water, a trait he has unfortunately passed down to me, but I digress. I don’t know why this bothered me so much yesterday – was it because he was so far away? Because I found out through my aunt’s blog? I don’t know. I got upset at my mom, which I feel really horrible about now, and made my brother promise me not to allow my parents to get back in the car and drive home to California today. There was a lot of crying and well, that just doesn’t help. Or does it? Jury’s out.

To top it all off, I get home to see that my son, who is being homeschooled this year, wasn’t feeling well enough to do schoolwork and go to drama auditions, but did somehow find the inner strength and fortitude to play computer games and check his Myspace page.

When it rains, it pours. And I’m not just saying that because I live in Seattle.

I guess my point is, as much as I would like to have a Brady Bunch life, it’s just not possible. The Bradys never had to deal with crap like this. Mrs. Brady never had more on her plate than kids fighting over who got to live in the attic or where to go on vacation. If things were really serious, it involved a swollen nose or Jan wearing a wig. Come on!

When it comes down to it, I’m not Carol Brady at all. I use swear words sometimes (OK, most times), I don’t have an Alice making my dinners, I work outside the home, I still haven’t lost my baby weight so there is really no hope in wearing a kicky pantsuit (at least not in the near future), the list goes on and on.

This test of faith - in a higher power, in my parenting skills, in my coping skills as a whole, has shaken me today. What to do? I don’t know. This one won’t be wrapped up neatly in 30 minutes, I guess.

But at least Bobby is feeling better and is out of the hospital. For that I am grateful. To my mom and brother, I’m sorry for my "episode" yesterday.

A very lovely lady indeed!

OK, post #2. Now I'll just say - writing this is weird. Partly because I know Jesse is reading it (hi Jesse!) and Wendie is reading it (hi Wendie!) but partly because I'm not entirely comfortable doing it yet. Maybe I can't really write that well, or maybe I'm not very entertaining. ??

Today I got my hair cut. It actually looks a little tiny bit like an updated Carol Brady flip. If only I had a sassy pantsuit to go with.....

Anyway...a trip to get my hair cut is not the easy task it sounds like it should be. It involves a lunchtime trek up to Seattle, then a swing by Dick's Drive in for lunch. Usually it's just my gay work husband George (who will likely become a fixture on this blog) and the aforementioned Wendie. Today we were joined by the fourth person in our group- Lori.

The trip is never boring. Inevitably we are running late, which means George drives like a bat outta hell to get us there. Wendie sits in the back seat with her hands over her face and every once in awhile reminds George to slow down. We weave in and out of traffic and then get to Seattle, which is an adventure as we careen down city streets, avoiding pedestrians, cars backing up and various construction workers. Finally we arrive, they kick me out of the car and go find a parking space.

Luckily, it only takes the lovely Liana about 10 minutes to cut my hair. It's truly amazing but I love it because I hate to get my hair cut. This time I got lucky because I avoided a lecture about the highlights my tipsy cousin gave me back in June. :) All in all, the haircut is good, although she cut my bangs a little short and the first pass at blowdrying made me look like an Emo kid gone wrong. All in all, it's good.

From there we headed to Dick's - an icon in Seattle. To me, it's just okay. I can take or leave it. But what's most entertaining is watching Wendie go to Dick's. It's like watching a person stranded in the desert finally get water. Or a dog get a bone. It's like her mother ship. Today she splurged on TWO Dick's Delites (I think that's what they are called - don't hurt me Wendie for not knowing for sure).

After Dick's we added a special stop to the trip - Trophy Cupcakes. This is what happens when no one's boss is at work. :) Trophy is a super cute little cupcake shop in Wallingford. George and I first went back in the spring and I've been dying to go back since. I hate to say it though - this time I wasn't floored like I was before. They were good, don't get me wrong, but I think mine might be better!

Arriving home after haircut day is always interesting. Half the time no one notices. Today I got a "Mom, your hair looks weird" from Hayley. I'm going to say she thinks it looks weird good and not weird weird. Yeah, let's go with that.

Tomorrow I'm doing the AIDS walk. Wish me luck!

PS - Hayley is mad that Hannah has a hurricane named after her. Damn that NOAA anyway! I had to promise her that before she's 10 there will be a hurricane named Hayley.

Who was busy with three kids of her own....

And away we go.....

I promise that I won't have a Brady Bunch reference in each post. Well, maybe I will - because you can pretty much relate everything in life back to the greatest show that ever was - The Brady Bunch.

This is my first blog post. I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. It might be funny, it might not. It's a little late, so it might just be a rambling mess. Who knows?!

I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons:

1. My work friend Wendie tells me that I should be keeping a journal. She actually gave me a journal but I've only written in it once. (Sorry Wendie!) She tells me on a regular basis that I should be writing for Saturday Night Live, that I'm wasting my time at my job, etc. All good ego boosts - so in part, this blog is for Wendie. :)
2. If I don't start writing stuff down, I will forget it. I'm hurtling towards 40 and as loathe as I am to admit it, I'm getting old. I have to hold things out a little ways to see them. I have to write things down or I will forget to do them. I creak a little when I stand up.
3. I seem to run into an abnormal amount of weird people and weird situations. I guess I figure that someone somewhere might get a kick out of reading about them.
4. My auntie Judy just started a blog. If she can do it, I can do it.

So there you have it.

Tomorrow, my twins start 2nd grade. Marcia and Jan (not their real names - my husband said no) are heading back to class. They got these nicknames because last year Marcia (Hayley) got a "Terrific Kid" award. This upset Jan (Hannah) because she didn't get one at the same time. "Well, all day long at school I hear how great Marcia is at this or how wonderful Marcia did that! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" OK, so that's from the real Marcia and Jan and not my Marcia and Jan, but it still applies in this case. But seriously, 2nd grade. It seems like yesterday I was keeping them from cutting each others' hair and painting on the wall with Desitin, and now they are full fledged readers/writers and arithmeticers. (Yeah, it's not a word.)

If that weren't bad enough, in exactly 8 days my little boy turns THIRTEEN! An official teenager. How in the world am I old enough to have a teenager, when in my head I'm still 17 myself? He's taller than I am now....texts his friends on the cell phone, has a Facebook page and spends more time in the shower than I do.

Welcome to my mid-life crisis!