Happy Mothers Day!

It's funny 'cause it's true...


Mothers Day is one of those huge, I-really-should-post-something-truly-deep-and-wonderful days. But I have a couple of problems with that.

A) My Mom is one of those that really hates all of the fuss and hoopla of Mothers Day. And I can never tell if it's because she feels more keenly her shortcomings as a mother (and believe me they are extremely few and far-between - but I sometimes think we Mormons could rival those of the Jewish tradition in the guilt arena...) or because we as her children can't quite get the day right. Probably a bit of both. Though, I think us kids are making strides in the right direction - hopefully.

And 2) I'm not a mother yet and desperately want to be one. My whole life all I've wanted to be was a mother. I'm fast approaching my 32nd birthday and it doesn't look like that dream is going to be happening anytime soon. Most of my friends are married and have children - in the plural. And I do enjoy being an "Honorary Aunt" to whoever will let me be. But that isn't the same as having your own.

Today in Church, one of the speakers gave a beautiful talk on motherhood. And in the middle she talked about women who don't have children of their own yet and how much she appreciates them and the influence they have on her children. I was really touched and got emotional (I know, shocker) and then felt dumb, especially since I was supposed to go up and accompany a musical number as soon as she was done. And I really wished that I wasn't there hearing that talk. Today I finally got a bit of a glimpse into that feeling of "I dread going to Church on Mothers Day." It was totally different than I thought it would be. I always got a bit frustrated when women would say that to me. I mean, come on! Just take the praise, will you? You really do deserve it and you get little enough thanks in the day-to-day job! Also, be grateful that you are a mother to enjoy that praise. Be grateful for the miracle that is motherhood! So many women want that desperately and can't have it. So honor it! But that's not what I felt. It was more of a "I'm uncomfortable with my emotions and would rather not deal with them, especially in public!" feeling. So, I'm sorry to the Moms I've sent frustration vibes at when they've made these comments. Maybe I understand a bit (just a tiny bit) more now.

What all of this rambling boils down to is: cherish the blessing of motherhood if you are lucky enough to be a mother. And if you're not lucky enough to have that blessing yet: Hang in there. There really are amazing perks to being an "Honorary Aunt" - sleeping through the night, being able to spoil adorable children, handing them off when they get cranky, etc. (all of which I would trade in a heart beat - but I'm looking for the joy in my right now).

And to my Mom: thank you. I can't say it enough, and I'm not even going to try to go into details, but thank you. I love you.

Let Me Entertain You

I am so incredibly behind on my blogging! Oops! Not only have I been uber busy - but I've been uber busy with things to blog about too! Needless to say I have another birthday, a few graduations, a play, a funeral, my trip (still), precious babies, recitals, and a star student to catch up on. And I still don't have the time to do so - so, for now I'll give you a couple of great videos of my deliciously neurotic siblings' trip to Europe (the siblings being neurotic, not the trip!)



Yes, my brother and sister actually did take a video on top of the Eiffel Tower after using the facilities. This is the family I proudly claim!


This is LSOC's impression of over-exuberant tourists. Apparently the sleep deprivation was kicking in big time. (Also, sorry that it's tilted side-ways. They forgot that the camera only records one direction!)



This is, obviously, after the sleep-deprivation completely took over. My apologies to Celine Dion and the entire deaf community (although, with Tergaso's belting, a case could be made for the need to apologize to the entire hearing community as well - JK!! I love you Tergaso!!!).

My Crazy Family

I love hanging out with my family. We are crazy! But we do have a lot of fun. Easter Sunday was no exception. I cooked up a crazy plan with The Easter Bunny (aka: The Countess) that my brother, LSOC, would be given the movie "Enchanted" in his Easter basket. AngelFish, LadyBug, Gorgeous and I had dragged him to see it in December (against very vocal protestations - he was pretty much guilted into it...) and was just as disgusted as he thought he would be. We of course all loved it and have teased him about it mercilessly ever since that it is his favorite movie. So, it's time to open Easter baskets and the Easter Bunny and I insist that we need to get the camera out first. That turns into a big problem. Tergaso has Mom's camera in Provo. She took it on her trip to Claremont last weekend and forgot to bring it back with her. (Apparently her own camera is broken. Keep in mind this is the second camera she's had from her mission - she broke the first one, too.) No problem, we'll use LSOC's camera. Except that Tergaso has his camera in Provo, too. She keeps forgetting to bring that back as well. Well, Tergaso has brought a former mission companion home with her for Easter and all the sudden she pipes up with, "I think you still have my camera, too!" Apparently Tergaso is a camera magnet! Of course, I can't talk much, because the next idea was to use my camera and Tergaso and I spent a good 10 minutes in my room looking for it and trying not to get lost in the bottomless pit that is my bedroom. So, our Easter pictures are from cell-phone cameras!

Anyway. Back to Easter baskets. LSOC opens his present first (youngest to oldest) and when he saw it was "Enchanted" he got extremely disgusted, burst out with "Are you serious?" and threw it at AngelFish. It was awesome. The only problem was that when AngelFish opened her present - it was also "Enchanted." It was finally my turn to open my present and that silly Easter Bunny gave me "I Am Legend" which AngelFish and I both refuse to watch. (LSOC will probably end up talking me into it - but I know there was no way I could stand to watch it in the theaters!) So LSOC and I switched. But his reaction was priceless.

After dinner we were sitting around talking and things got, well, crazy. I'm not exactly sure how things got started - I was snoozing on Mom's shoulder - of course, I'm not sure anyone else knew how things got started anyway. But they were listening to Russian disco/tech music. (I told you we are crazy.) I'm pretty sure the Russian disco/tech music got started sometime after they all took a walk around the block wearing crazy hats (they had to have their own "Easter Parade" complete with Easter Bonnets! I didn't go with - remember the whole snoozing on Mom's shoulder - but I wouldn't be surprised if they were belting "Easter Parade" as they went. Anyway, we were listening to Russian disco/tech music and Tergaso started dancing. First it was while she was sitting on the couch but then she stood up and pulled my Grandma, Gorgeous, up and they were dancing together. Gorgeous really got down and boogied! (Which she pronounces boo (as in, "Boo!" not "book") - gie) It was hilarious.



A little bit later, AngelFish had her feet propped up on Gorgeous's lap and Gorgeous decided to do "This Little Piggy." Well, Angelfish only has 4 toes on one foot. All the sudden, Gorgeous stops and says, "I can't wee-wee on this foot!" (She'd run out of toes...) We all almost wee-weed right there in the living room we were laughing so hard.

I love my family!