Everything and Nothing

Dear It's a Work in Progress,

It has been awhile since we've last talked.  Everything and nothing has changed. The kids had colds, I had a cold, and then I got a cold again.  I've been moonlighting as an attorney (yes, like Cybill Shepard) with my former supervising attorney (no, he's not like Bruce Willis). It feels like I've been writing this brief for about 2 months...well, maybe I have been since I got that extension. Regardless, I love it but wish it was over.

And then my world changed.  A friend led me to a blog that is heartbreaking and uplifting.  I quickly realized that life is short, life is unexpected, and every single moment is a blessing. I was brought to tears multiple times and then I realized that I am pretty blessed and I didn't even realize it.

And then my good friend unexpectedly lost her father when God snapped his fingers. To say that seeing her go through this was terrible would be an enormous understatement.  Again, I realized life is short, life is unexpected, and every single freaking minute is a blessing.

What am I doing with my minutes?

God, Allah, Budda, or the Universe then decided to further spur me to action. Daycare gave notice of thier vacation week.  Preschool reminded me of their fall-break. Jeremy agreed to see if he could get some days off of work...

The "Li'l Bit of Craziness Family Tour of '10" was created.  Again, it's everything and nothing, but we have decided to pack up the family next week (minus the cat) and go on an 8.5 hour car ride to the middle of nowhere, also known as Leavenworth, KS, aka the Big House.  We will leave on Thursday and return on Sunday, and in the middle we will spend time with my dad, my step-mom (I either call her Pamcakes or Smommy), and my step-siblings.  I have only seen my dad twice in the past 1 1/2 years, and he's only seen Baby Boomer once since he's been born.

I've promised Jeremy that once we do this, it will be out of my system for at least 3-years (but maybe only 1 year..we'll see).  Again... Life is Short, Life is Unexpected, and Every Single Minute is a Blessing -- even if you are trapped in a car for 8.5 hours with 2 kids.  I just have to do this. I really, really do, so I am very happy that my husband is playing along.

I have many blessings and I didn't realize this until a couple of weeks ago.

Love,
Me

A True Businesswoman.

There was a rummage sale across the street this past weekend.

A 5 year-old girl lives in this house. My 4 year-old girl wants to be BFF with her.

We headed over to say "Hello" and exchange other neighbor pleasantries.  I told Brynn that we were just going over to say "Hi" -- we were NOT going to be buying anything, and therefore I was not going to be bringing any money along.  She agreed.

The girls are chatting and then the 5 year-old runs to her mom and then comes back with 2 cookies. She hands one to Brynn.  Brynn is so pleased. She says "Thank You!!" and takes a bite.

The five year-old replies, "That's for sale for a quarter."

Oh, NVRENUFCACHE!

It started the week of Memorial Day and it ended 2 days ago. It was wild. It was crazy. It made us travel at least 500 miles. (typed in a whisper: that's a lie!!) That's right, it was the first ever geocaching competition at work. (fun and games) 

Initially, my coworkers and I were not excited about this as it sounded lame and loser-ish.  We were not going to participate.  BUT then our frenemies made a team and signed up. It became our goal to beat them into submission.  This is how team NVRENUFCACHE was formed.  The rules: a new clue would be released every Friday.  At least 2 people from the team must take a picture of themselves at the location.  At the end of the million weeks, the top teams (the teams with the most correct locations found) were going to participate in THE AMAZING RACE!!.


I was hoping he'd be at the end...

 Each week could be a separate blog entry...but I'll quickly summarize what we had to go through to get to the finals.

1) The first week we didn't believe the GPS and we wouldn't listen to it.  We read the clue, became convinced of the location, and then were surprised, frustrated, and hungry when we still couldn't find it 2 hours later. It was a doozy of a lunch hour that day.

2) One week we ended up at a baseball diamond in Horace, ND.  Out of the cornfields came a grizzly man on a 4 wheeler (supplies loaded on the back included shovels, rakes, and duct tape) who shot straight for us and asked us if there was something wrong with the sign. Um, nope. A skiddish conversation regarding the rules of geocaching followed and we ran away.

3) The following week, we were led to the National Guard in North Fargo and were supposed to take a picture by the airplane. Anybody out there ever gotten close to that airplane??  We were approached by people with guns...one team member refused to get out of the car.  Another non-geocaching person was getting their car searched for bombs prior to entering the location.

4) The other 10,000 weeks were relatively calm,  but involved a lot of bitching about having to drive all over North America to get these missions accomplished. The Frenemies had already dropped out at this point...but a certain team-member had become obsessed with the challenge/fun/torture of this weekly activity and made us push on.  I have to admit, I was looking forward to meeting Phil at the end of the Amazing Race and having him give me a gnome and a round-trip journey to Fiji courtesy of Travelocity.

So... on Tuesday... the top 4 teams had to meet at 1 o'clock.  It was at this time that the first clue was going to be revealed and the Amazing Race would be ON.  I started to overdose on jalapeno chex mix at 11:45am and rock back and forth.  I started to realize that this game might not be for me. I soldiered on, thinking of the gnome.

At the meeting, we were simply given a sheet of paper with 4 sets of lat/long coordinates on them and told to GO!! (this really was not a legally sound thing to do...).  We had to race around town to 4 different bison statues.  Everybody raced out of the building -- I had 2 team members in high heels, one with ill fitting pants -- squeals and butt cheeks soon followed.

The first location turned out to be at the mall. We seriously ran to the bison. Yes, this was embarassing.


I'm trying to route out the next coordinates!




While we were running in to the mall, one patron yelled "Where's the fire?" After we took a picture with the bison.. another team came running in.  NVRENUFCACHE may or may not have punched somebody in the stomach. Just sayin'

I had to then open my car windows as the adrenaline and chex mix were not mingling well...




The next location brought us to downtown Fargo.  We pulled something similar to a chinese fire drill on the corner and snapped this beauty.

Too much chex mix?

I was told that it definitely looks like I was "squatting" in this picture.  The truth is that I was simply trying to ensure that my head wouldn't be cut out of the picture... which is quite logical given my stature. mmmhmmm.






Almost done...




The third and almost final location brought us to the Moorhead Center Mall.  We were very tired of running at this point and had not encountered another team since the alleged stomach-punching at the first location.  Part of me started to get excited. I'm coming home Phil!! I'm coming home!!

The final location was in an office building on 13th avenue.  All you Fargoans -- how would you get to a building by the Ground Round from the Moorhead Center Mall?? Should we listen to our GPS, should we rely upon our collective 110+ years of Fargo experience??? Oh the drama, and the bickering that soon followed this picture... (sidenote: those poor taxi drivers filled with cars of former spouses and childhood best friends!)

The END!!!!

Okay, so then we got here. To the END. Nobody was there with a prize.. but rather we now had to race back to work and email all of our pictures to the "geocache administrator" (aka "a freakin' awesome job").

We raced back to work.  We made the driver hop out in the middle of the parking lot as all the pictures were emailed to her desktop.  Kudos to her as she ran like Forrest Gump to get back into the building.

Whew, it was over.  And then we had to wait.  We saw other teams come in after us, but did not see anybody before us!!! Could it be?? Could it be??  And...nope.  We lost. BY. ONE. MINUTE. yes, 1 minute.  UNO MOMENTO. (sigh)  And then we learned our final fate: The prize is a trip to the ice cream store... and a company t-shirt.  Really?? we participated for 500 years and travelled to Mexico to get an ice cream cone?? REALLY?? 

oh gawd. we're out next year. Team NVRENUFCACHE is retired.

Mashed Potato Fun

I really don't remember how it all started, or why I originally thought that this would be fun -- but several years ago, my mother, sister-in-law, and I started going to Potato Days in Barnesville, MN. (mmmm...potatoes )We've become obsessed with it... or maybe it's just me.  Last year was bittersweet, however, as I felt the maternal pull to stay home with my 7 day old baby rather than feast on rommegrot and lefse.  (No worries though,  because my mother and sister-in-law still went and brought me back a buffet of food.)

This year, I was bound and determined for the entire family to go. I told Brynn that there was going to be "mashed potato wrestling" and explained the concept to her.  Once we arrived and saw the wrestling underway, my prissy princess suddenly transformed into a testosterone-filled adventurer and immediately declared that she wanted to do this also. Um.. what?  I didn't want to be a kill-joy, but I didn't think that wet-wipes would clean up vats of mashed potatoes on her dress, face, and hair.  I told her that she would be allowed to STAND in it...and I held her hand to avoid slippery footings.

Stepping in to the mashed potatoes...

Squishy on the toes

Having a Spud-Tastic Time

After the wrestling concluded, it was time to go and EAT!! Brynn and Brandon had mashed potatoes with gravy and meatballs. Jeremy had potato sausage and lefse. I had rommegrot (MMM), pierogies and gravy, and a dumpling. (I did share some of the pierogies).  Brandon was not loving the potato party.  Here's a picture of my bubby:

"Potatoes are NOT for babies!! I want to go home!!"

I was glad that the family went, and was only slightly sad that we didn't have the patience to stand in line to get our free french fries -- but we shall try again next year!!! Or maybe not -- here's a transcript of the conversation had on the way home:

Jeremy: Kim, I think you need to take me to the hospital.

Kim: Um... why?

Jeremy: I need to have surgery, I think.

Kim: Um... why?

Jeremy: I can't handle any more kids. I'm ready to volunteer for the optional surgery.

Kim: Um... as long as it's not done over PotatoDays next year...

I'm Trying...

Jeremy and I are going to Las Vegas on Friday night... and I'm incredibly nervous. I'm so anxious that I am not excited.  The kids are staying with the in-laws from Friday night through Monday night.  I keep telling myself that they are very capable people -- they've already raised two entire kids for cripes sake -- but I can't help but imagine every terrible scenario. What if this or what if that?

I am just hoping that once the day comes, and we get on the plane, that the excitement can start.

Do You Remember....

Last week I was shopping for backpacks with my baby, er, 4 year-old for preschool.  She quickly zeroed in on one plastered with princesses and began perusing the aisles.  She found a Barbie folder and thought she might need it. I questioned her thought process --"Do you think that you're going to have lots of important papers to put in there? Do you really think you need this??"  Her reply, "Yes Mommy. I'm going to have lots of 'portant papers."  So, as my eyes got teary at my not-a-baby-anymore, we agreed to purchase the folder.

The next item she requested, however, had me baffled and I couldn't agree to it...mostly because I had no idea what it was. She wanted it because it was Strawberry Shortcake, but she also had no clue what it was. Here is an example:

We agreed that a slushee would be better than the $4.00 package of confusing bands that lacked any directions or indication of what their purpose might be. (I now see these things everywhere, EVERYWHERE.)  I inquired with a coworker and she quickly informed me that these are all the current rage and the kids wear them as bracelets. There are usually multiple bands per fashionable child's arm.  (For the financially impaired fashion-forward child, a person could buy a value-pack of "Bandz" at a large retail chain.)

This got me thinking of all the cool things that I just HAD to have when I was a tween/teenager.

1) The ESPRIT jean loafer. This was huge when I was in second grade. All the cool-kids had them -- so naturally, I didn't.  I remember that I finally got a pair around Winter time (when they were getting clearanced out, I'm sure) and they weren't so cool anymore.  I searched and searched and could not find the elusive loafer, but here is a picture of a similar style:

2) The Slap-Bracelet. Oh the fun!! 

3) Zubaz baby!! (The company is still in operation and you can order your very own pair for the bargain price of $30.00)  (Sidenote: the Zubaz company is out of its mind)

4) Envelope pants. I searched and searched for a picture, but to no avail.  They folded in the front (like an envelope) and were fashionably wild, much like the Zubaz. 

5)The french-roll. Or the tight-roll. Or the peg-roll. 

This is a very "not-fashionable" photo. The person is most likely mocking the seriousness and the dedication required to properly french-roll your jeans.  I also remember that the trend started to involve requiring the person to wear lacy leggings underneath the jeans so that the lace would show when the pants were rolled.... and then a person had to spend the rest of the day re-rolling the jeans because they would slip down and cover the lace.

6) The Hypercolor shirts ... that let everybody know when you were sweating...

And the one trend, that never began but that I desperately wanted to lead -- the red boot brigade. I begged my mom to find me red boots -- nada. I never got the red boots.  I wonder why I wanted those...

I know I missed a ton, but this is what I remember from my days.  What do you remember from your fashion-frenzy-bandwagon days?  And, what is your plan for when your child begs you for the $5 bag of rubber bands that he/she just HAS to have??

Cursing Oprah.

I finished this book last night, or more correctly, this morning.  It was approximately 1 a.m. when I read the last of the 624 pages. I felt disgusted and sick and terrible.  I soon remembered another of Oprah's books that made me feel this way. The House of Sand and Fog also left me feeling so pukey that I refused to watch the movie when it was made.  (I think I actually threw that book out, rather than try to sell it on a rummage sale.)

So, A Fine Balance, was difficult to get into, and then I got hooked (just like I assumed that I would).  I started to like Dina, Om, Ishvar, Manek, and heck, I even liked Shankar the Beggar even though there was brief talk of his exposed testicles. And then, when we found out that Beggarmaster was Shankar's long lost half brother!! Oh the drama!!

And then all hell broke loose. The tailors went back to their village to get married and disgusting things happened.  Maneck went to Dubai basically never to return again. Dina got evicted after Shankar and Beggarmaster were killed.

YUCK.

And then the book fast-forwarded 8 years (a la Will & Grace finale style, which I HATED) and we get to learn that everything is terrible. Everybody is unhappy and poor and deflated.

So, conclusion, I hate this book.

My caveat is this: I know nothing of Indian history.  This book took place during a time period in India known as "The Emergency" -- where there was much corruptness in the government, and intense differences existed amongst the different castes.  So, in that regard, I definitely learned about a period in history that was never taught to me in school, and I'm quite sure that all the events that occurred in the book did indeed happen to actual people trying to survive during this period -- which only leads to me feeling even sicker.  I keep comparing it to the Holocaust -- and I woudn't caution anybody against learning about that.... I just wasn't prepared for this book, or the ending.

So, if you read this book -- let's talk afterwards so we can process it together, eh?