Sunday, September 14, 2008

"Are ya hOn-gry?"

Those might be the most saintly words ever spoken.


Two Saturday evenings ago, we had dinner with the H's...where have you both been my whole Lubbock Life?!


Bro. H is a surfer (no kiddin') from Southern California. Sis. H is from El Salvador. When they married, he already had 6 children from a previous marriage. While single, a friend of his told him, "Bro. H, you're a pretty good looking guy. But with six kids, you're not that good lookin."


Lucky for him, Sis. H fell in love with his kids first. She would take them to the Latino swapmeets. She said she was the black mama duck with six white baby ducks following behind.


Our evening went a little like this:

Bubba 1 followed her to the grill. He followed her to the dumpster out back. He followed her to the freezer for ice cream. He had a banana split. Bubba 1 was happy.




But not happy enough to give up Bubba 2.


With El Salvadorian accent, holding 5 month old Bubba 2,
Sis. H: "Ooooh, my baby! You can stay here tonight. Your new name is Bubba H."
Then resting her hand on her chest, "Mama H."

Bubba 1: No, he's my baby.

Sis. H: My Baby!

Bubba 1: Mine.




Later...


Reluctantly putting Bubba #2 in his carseat to go home, I said, (tearing up, which I'm prone to do--oh brother) "I really loved being here." And Sister H leaned over, put her arm around my shoulder and said, "This is your home." It was like I had my grandmother back from the abyss of Alzheimer's. Thank you, Mama H.




jamerivergirl and Grandma P.











Friday, September 12, 2008

Inspired by Nie

In honor of and inspired by NieNie
Five reasons I choose to be HAPPY today:
rain.
more than 6 inches in one day.
wonderful wet miracle.
the mayor declared a state of emergency...it's pretty dry this morning.
laughter
see above.
fat blonde babies
2 teeth
he's handling it so well.
and because I choose and I finally remembered that this morning.
Why do you choose?

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Musing on a name.

Who am I, really?

I decided to go by jamesrivergirl. BUT, I'm not. I don't live there. I don't even SWIM. I'm a poser!


Crap.


So, who am I really?


Girl. Woman. Wife. The boys' mommy.

I'm good at storytime. I'm bad at playing. I'm good at tickling. I'm good at verbal and physical affection. I'm also good at flipping on PBS and at raising my voice. So I'm a great or lazy mother depending on the time of...day. But my boys love me. Like, they are in love with me.

Which leads me to the next piece of my identity. I am LUCKY. See, I was stupid and didn't realize I'd hit the jackpot when I married Mr. Right.

Then I was on the pill and I forgot or something...and the fertility goddess smiled on me. Voila: the best mistake we ever made--Bubba 1. Which led (eventually) to the best decision we ever made: Bubba 2. And now, I'm a stay-at-home-mom who, ahem, likes it.



So, here are the nuts and bolts:

wife, mother, currently residing in Lubbock, West Texas (yes, that should be a state of the Union), yoga novice, getting my cable-fix elyptical training, Latter-day Saint, but not always Christian, socially inept yet sometimes friendly, alien-feeling, 29 year old who wishes and waits for her permanent residence in Virginia or near the Oregon coast or some other beautiful locale yet to be discovered, but would like to transplant a couple hundred-thousand West Texans amongst the trees.


Plus, I love to read. I neglect housekeeping and my children to do so.


Once upon a time, I was a teacher with a (tiny) paycheck (but worth my weight in gold.) I was somewhat of an Early Childhood officianado...until I actually had to live with young children.


And I love the ferry. And I love seafood. And lately, I LOVE brownies. And I like to cook. And I like my house to be clean. (hah, hah, hah, hah, hah...you don't think that's funny?) And I love to have friends over. And I love to not feel the need to rehearse every conversation I have with you, but that's usually not to be.


And I love seeing new places with my fellow-explorer/bungler/spouse. And I love watching movies with said spouse. And we love dark, cozy restaurants.

And I love early morning light and hate getting out of bed. And I like co-sleeping and sleeping with my spouse who hates co-sleeping.

So, can you name me, please?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Ta-dum!

Preemptive, considering I haven't learned how to upload photos.