Tonight's the night!

Don't forget that tonight Mr. Brit finally selects his forever Mrs. Brit (yea right. whatever.) on The Bachelor. The final night is always good T.V. Right? Although, it does always bother me when the "loser" (I'd probably say she's a winner 'cause these relationships never last!) leaves in the limo. EVERY time the girl is bawling to the point of losing her breath. That's so sad. I wish they'd just skip that part, but that will never happen. They really get wrapped up in this experience...all 30 something days of it. I still think Shayne will be his choice. Tan, blond, LA actress. That's all a Brit wants right?

Ok, got to continue searching for my cell phone. I lost it Saturday. With MIL coming home from the hospital, I went to the grocery store, pharmacy and then to Linen's N Things and Target later in the day with some relatives that stopped by. I'm retracing my steps. This is a real pain in the a$$. I have a feeling I may be getting a late Mother's Day present...a new phone! I feel lost without it!

Have a nice Monday! Or is that an oxymoron?

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's to all the mothers that "make it happen" day after day. I hope everyone has a special Mother's Day. This afternoon I get to have a little "me" time. And what do you think I'll be doing? Shopping without the minis. See, one of my Friday wishes is already coming true. Too bad it's not the tropical island wish, but I'll settle for a little retail therapy right now. It always makes me happy! And when mom's happy, everyone's happy!

Today I wish I was...

relaxing on a beach (alone. Is that terrible?)...

shopping (without the minis!)...

strolling down the streets of Paris...

or going to a John Mayer concert (awesome in concert!).

Instead, I will be......

...cleaning my house and doing laundry on this rainy southern morning. Yuck! What are your "wishes"?

I'm smart this way...

So I think I mentioned that I have been reading Judy Blume's Superfudge to mini#1. We try to read a chapter a night after he's read something else to me. Well sometimes it's too late to read and sometimes he doesn't follow instructions and I take away my reading to him as punishment. That crushes him. He's so into this book and, apparently, I do a good impression of the little brother, Fudge. I've really enjoyed reading this to him because, one of the few things I remember and liked about fourth grade, was my hippie, ex-smoker, chalk-chewing teacher (because he quit smoking), Mr. Boling, reading these books to us after lunch. I stumbled across this book at Target a few weeks ago and got it for mini#1 for his birthday.



Now what I didn't remember was the exact story line. So last night as we finished a chapter I happened to note the title of the next chapter: "Santa Who?" Now that caused my mommy senses to perk up to "high alert". Thank goodness for the mommy senses. I went downstairs, book in hand, and decided that I ought to get a preview of this next chapter. Ah Ha! Just as I suspected! Ms. Blume was about to get ME to tell my child there is no Santa Claus. Oh no. Santa Claus needs to stick around a bit longer at the White house. It's one of the best parts of being a parent in my opinion. It's one of the best parts of being a child! It's magical! Mini#1 just turned 7. I don't know how much longer I have anyway, but Santa will not disintegrate into a puff of smoke on Wednesday, May 7 as I read aloud to my mini. You may be asking yourself, what will Mrs. Pink do? Do not fear. Mrs. Pink has made careful, inconspicuous marks in the book to divert her to a new paragraph or sentences throughout this rocky chapter. An entire section will be omitted. Heavy editing to say the least. I couldn't just skip the chapter because mini#1 saw the title, too and thinks Ms. Blume is covering all of the holidays. So wish me luck and make a mental note about this if you, too want to read this book to your minis. Spread the word to your friends and fellow bloggers. Keep good ole Saint Nick alive as long as you can!

An explanation...

I feel like I quickly brushed over my mother-in-law's illness in the last post. Mainly, because I was tired. Not a super excuse though! I really appreciate the kind comments and emails I've received wishing us well. I wanted to explain just a little further. She was diagnosed (early it appears) on Halloween day last year. What started out as suspected gall bladder issues became a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. This is scary because her father died of pancreatic cancer in the early 90's. Now, it could be genetic so we are looking for Mr. Pink to be tested for this strain of cancer...a lot to swallow at once. We are taking red meat out of our diets (hard for Mr. Pink), I've bought him men's vitamins to take, and just praying it won't happen to him. However, I can't live worrying. That's NO way to live, but it's hard not to think about. Anyway, MIL moved in with us mid November through the end of January to undergo chemotherapy and radiation! She made it through it all, but it was tough. Dehydration, tiredness (the REAL kind), etc. She moved back to her home, 2 hours away, in early February and hasn't been here except for a couple of doctor visits (she's getting treatment at DUKE Hospital, close to our home). Now this surgery finally occurred last week and she'll recover and live with us again. Once she is able, chemo will start again. All of this happening while living with her only grandchildren. So you can imagine how difficult this is for her and will be for our kids. We have not used the C word with the kids at all. They just know she's sick. If you remember the play set post, she gave that to the minis for their birthdays, most likely, because she realizes her time is limited with us all. We are so thankful for the time we have with her because our kids need memories, as well as, my husband, her only child.

It's a sad situation, but one we are facing head on and know that God is in control and we continue to have faith in him. This BLOG started at the end of January when MIL was finishing treatments and going back to her home. I had stumbled on other blogs and knew this is what I needed to get out of the blahs I was feeling. It has certainly helped! I've met great people along the way. I still want this to be a source of mental therapy for me so, going forward, I don't want my posts to be as serious as this one is. That's for sure. So I'll try to keep this blog upbeat, but with a touch of the usual cranky, frazzled mom self that you already know I am.

Fridge post will come. I promise. Dare I admit that I still get a little confused downloading pics from our camera (Web pics. I've got those under control. Just not the digitals.)...and Mr. Pink has not been here for any decent amount of time for a week. I kind of hate to say "Um. Honey. Can you please help me download pics for my blog" when he's been sleeping every other night in a hospital chair and then going to work to provide for his family... You think? Ok, sorry this was so long. It's been a long time coming I guess.

The moment before the pain...

I've got nothing today. I'm tired. I was at the hospital for 4 hours with my mother-in-law today. I haven't posted about it because it's just too heavy a subject right now, but she has pancreatic cancer and was fortunate to be able to have this surgery (10% diagnosed are eligible). My husband has been at the hospital A LOT since last Wednesday and he's exhausted. She'll recover at our house. Say prayers for her. This is difficult on all of us. My neighbor, thankfully, watched mini#2 for 5 hours and lived to hand him back over to me when I got home. I have great neighbors/friends! So willing to offer time/ help/ meals. Anyway...this was a funny email I received. The moment before the pain. These are my favorites:

Ummm, where is his helmet and "bones" as mini#2 calls pads? He's too cool for those I guess.

That's going to leave a mark...and hurt like hell!

This is the funniest one to me. Look how the woman behind the man getting the bat in the jaw.
She's holding up her pizza box as a shield. Like that helps? This man hurt...for a while! Ouch!

Ok, I've been tagged to show the contents of my fridge. I'll try to get this done is the next day or two. It might be a little scary. Thanks Belle in Bloom. I saw this on One Fabulous Mom and I hoped I wouldn't get tagged for this, but hey, if others can do it, so can I.

Five on Friday

So I was tagged a couple of weeks ago by Southern Fried Mom , but I had just done a tag. A lot of chasing around that week! So here goes and sorry so late Southern Mom...

5 things on my to-do list:

1- Go to the grocery store.

2- Finish researching about life insurance so I can get moving on a new policy. Once I stopped working outside the home I lost my life insurance coverage.

3- Keep the minis happy since mini#1 is out of school today for teacher work day. We're going to Build-A-Bear. Mini#1 got a gift card for his birthday. He's been begging to go!

4- Stop by post office for stamps.

5- Buy Mother's Day presents. Do you ladies also end up buying for your mother-in-laws? I do.

5 snacks I enjoy:

1- Brie cheese and reduced fat Triskits.

2- Any form of chocolate. Well except white.

3- Olives

4- Popcorn- movie popcorn is my favorite, but it's usually a bag of 53,000 light butter BOY SCOUT popcorn Mr. Pink suckered us into.

5- Hummus and pita chips.

5 things I'd do if I were a billionaire:

1- Pay off this house.

2- Travel.

3- Buy a beach house.

4- Go Shopping for days....in Paris.

5- Travel some more.

Note: I'd also give to charities, resolve world hunger and demand world peace, but I'm not in a pageant so the first 5 answers will work for now.

5 bad habits:

1- My purse is a disaster. Can't seem to have a "clean" purse.

2- My closet (my side anyway) is much like my purse.

3- Worry too much about things I can't control.

4- Bit of a control freak. Funny I listed this after #3.

5- I used to always be on time, but lately, this seems harder to achieve...usually when it involves the minis going with me. Is it just me or do others seem to get in the car and have to run back in the house a million times before you actually leave your driveway?

5 places I've lived:

1- Charlotte, NC

2- Raleigh, NC

3- Smyrna, GA

4- Close to Raleigh, NC

5- no other places.

5 jobs I've had:

1- Gift wrapper at Belk's department store while in high school.

2- Customer Service Agent at an insurance company one summer while in college.

3- Receptionist at a women's breast health center. It was a temp job while in college. Sad and rewarding to see all the women fighting breast cancer.

4-Manager for ocean transportation, mainly imports to US.

5- Stay at home mom.

Adding this one. 5 favorite places I've visited:

1- San Francisco, CA

2- New York City, NY

3- Paris, France (Duh! My most favorite!)

4- New Orleans, LA (Just don't go in July. BOILING HOT!)

5- London, England (and Bath, England, quaint!)

Happy Friday! I tag anyone who wants to play along.