Nothin' but pictures

More party highlights

If it's Monday this must be reality...

Today's reality is:

 the dog lying at my feet - paws in the air, head hanging to the side while I rub her belly with my foot. 

changing the title of an older blog post because I have noticed that people find this page by doing a search of the term "girls gone wild" (which was the title of a post - but a perfectly innocent post about little girls having dance party fun).  I hate to sound like a snob but I don't think these are the kind of people I want finding my blog.  Not now - not ever.  So the title has been changed to something much less likely to lure bad people to my pages.   

9 eight year old girls attending a Rock Star birthday party in your own home.  Seriously if you need a dose or real-life drama spend time with a group (two or three just can't do justice to the experience) pre-adolescent girls.  There's laughing and crying and screaming and jumping and boy talk and competition.  Really it is all-emcompassing and must be personally experienced.  WARNING - may lead to extreme crabiness during the aftermath and clean-up.



getting a little nervous about not having a job even though this has been an ongoing issue of choice and nothing new and yet the motivation to look for said job is severly lacking. 

Yep, that's reality...

Ebb and flow...

Life is full of ebb and flow, ups and downs, give and take, you now, all that stuff given as sage advice by those bestowing wisdom.  My life is constantly being influenced by these factors which make or break a week, day, hour or even a minute.  That's life!  Being the parent of a disabled child I can sometimes really feel that ebb and flow thing.  I don't speak too often of what it is like being Alex's mother.  I don't know if this sounds bad but I just really don't give it much thought - it is what it is (another one of  today's oh so enlightening phrases) but in it's truest form it really is what it is.  I love my son and there is nothing I can do that would change the fact that he was born with Down Syndrome.  That doesn't mean I don't have feelings and emotions about the situation it just means that I usually just take it all with a grain of salt and move on.  I'm not sure I do that in all areas of my life, but in this one I do, right or wrong.  So, I have been somewhat taken by surprise lately with the overwhelmingly sad emotions I have felt when reflecting on Alex's upcoming graduation date.  It has nothing to do with the sadness I feel about my baby growing up and becoming more independent it has more to do with what he (and truthfully me) will not be fully experiencing during this journey of his life.  I was caught very off guard after receiving the first graduation party invitation of the year (and each one thereafter).  Tears began pouring down my face.  I actually had to sit there for a minute and think "what the heck - what is this about - why am I crying" and then it hit me.  All this joy and anticipation about the graduation festivities, the summer parties, the college preparations, they aren't really a part of Alex's life, our life.  I mean we'll have the graduation and eventually we'll have the party (there seems to be a bit of procrastination going on by the main party planner in the house but what can I say, it happens) but the meaning and significance isn't quite to same. Although I have a soon to be graduating high school senior in words it is a surreal experience for me as in many ways Alex is still a child and will always remain that way.  I feel a bit shameful saying those words because other than the day Alex was born I have not given much thought to the things I might miss in life because of Down Syndrome.  The things I have experienced and the pure, unconditional relationship I have with my son is something few have the privilege to feel - it is a gift (really, can you believe how sappy this is - but it is how I feel - even if I do sound like a writer for Hallmark).  When I feel sad about things with Alex it is because of how they affect him, but this, this graduation thing, is hitting my own feelings of loss.  It's making me sad.  I am missing the journey that most parents with a graduating senior are making.  So there you go, my selfish feelings.  I know this too will pass with the ebb and flow of everyday life, but it was just so unexpected.  It was a low I didn't anticipate.  So there you go, I've talked, I probably won't mention it again but for today, I talked...

TTFN...

Last night I didn't get to sleep at all...

I have a new idea for my Glitter Me! Etsy shop.  I saw something that inspired me and I was so busy thinking about how to execute the idea that I couldn't fall asleep.  Does that happen to you - you get so caught up in a creative thought process and you are so anxious to get started you just can't sleep? I won't even mention how many blog entries I have written in my head late at night (of course, by the time morning light is peeking through the windows, I have forgotten most of what I had thought was so witty at midnight :-))  but regardless - that kind of stuff can keep me awake at night.

In anticipation of starting a new project I have been cleaning my room/studio/office MESS (and yes that word deserves all caps, it is that bad).  So tonight I finish cleaning, tomorrow a little supply shopping and then it is onto something new - not that the original Glitter Me! signs and banners are going away, I'm just expanding my options. 

TTFN and stay tuned... 

Oh and do you know who sings that Last Night ... song (no googling allowed)?

If you give a Syd a twenty...

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups it may take her awhile and bring a surprise.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will pick out the cups and show them to you through the store window

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups you will wonder what is taking so long even though you can see her standing in line.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will purchase the cups and have change left over.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups and you see her standing in line and then you see her purchase the cups and then you see her standing in line again you will wonder what is going on .

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will finally come out to the van triumphantly holding her shopping bag and exclaiming success.

If you give a Syd a twenty and send her into the party store to buy cups she will come out with a story to tell:  She will tell you she found the cups and paid for the cups and had $16.78 left over so she decided to look at the party balloons.  It is her first communion today and her birthday is coming up after all.  She will tell you she decided that a cross balloon is probably a little bit too "partyish for the day so she decided to buy the big $9.99 birthday balloon which was $10.75 after tax.  Then she will tell you she stood in line behind some guy with a MILLION balloons and it was taking FOREVER so she decided it didn't need to be inflated and moved to another line and bought the balloon so now she has the party balloon for the birthday party she and her sister are planning.  And she will be so proud of herself that there is no way you can be mad even though when you gave a Syd a twenty all she was supposed to buy was party cups...

We're on our way...

May and June are such busy months for us.  We have First Communion and Birthdays and Graduation and something else but I can't think of what it is right now.  But it's floating out there - it'll come to me.

Today was First Communion.  The house was clean.  The weather was good and the girls looked beautiful.  I think that qualifies as success.