Is anyone having FUN??

I had one of those evenings. You know the kind. At least I think you do. Let's just say I hope you do. I don't want to be all alone out here in one of "those" kind of evenings. I mean, that's the point of this whole friggin' venture - not to be alone feeling, you see?

I mean, why, when I think I'm being a cool mom, do I get slammed by my insane children?  

An early evening walk to buy some fun workbooks, a pack of brand-new crayons, a fresh pad of drawing paper and then a spontaneous idea to eat an impromptu Golden Arches dinner turned into screaming, crying and general nerve-grating behavior.   

Why? WHY?

It's pointless to try and analyze exactly went down to try and reach a rational explanation as to why the magic went "Poof!" into the early evening air...

...it just did.

'Cause that's what happens with the three young kids that rule my life.  Sometimes the magical moments evaporate faster than I can say "Happy Meal." 

After the last whiny one finally fell asleep, I laid back on the couch with my arm over my eyes and I thought "I feel crappy. My life is soooo damn good and I still feel crappy."

I had one of those moments when the to-do list floods my brain and drowns any chance of my mood breaking through to the surface. And I wondered when I will ever ever ever feel "on top of it all" again.  

So - to combat this evening of crushing blows to my mommy self-esteem where my voice ended up sounding way harsher than I ever really want it to sound, I decided to pat myself on the back.

Hell yeah.

I dug deep and decided to pull out a lil' award that my bloggy friend, Em, bestowed on me a little over a week ago.  

Here it is:

Yeah, that crying whiny face is pretty much what my kids ended up looking like tonight so it's all just perfectly appropriate.  

The details of this award dictate that I list ONE thing I do NOT like about myself as a mom and SEVEN things I DO like about myself as a mom.  Or something like that.

1) I don't like that I yell and that my voice sounds mean sometimes when I do. I think if I were on that show "Supernanny," I would watch myself on that little DVD player and I would hear my voice and I would melt into a pile of embarrassment.

Moving on.....seven good things?

1) I like to dance with my kids to fun music.  We were just shimmying, funking and groovin' it up to Chris Cornell's new album yesterday.  It was awesome.

2) I like to kiss and hug on them endlessly.  And they like it too.

3) I like to make them breakfast.  I like the idea of giving them eggs and bacon and jelly toast to fill their bellies and kick-start their day.

4) I like to tuck them in at night.  I like knowing they are safe and sound in a clean cozy bed. 

5) I like to hang outside with them in the yard. I like to push them on the swings, watch them jump on the trampoline and generally just applaud them when they say "Look at me mama!!"

6) I like to listen to them. I love any story from any part of their day or night. A dream, a nightmare, a school moment - anything.  If they want to chat, I'm there to listen.

7) I like to do spontaneous fun things with them even when it backfires on me. A trip to the pier, an outing to the pony rides, a last-minute backyard playdate with a group of friends, a Sunday afternoon at the park - I like to get out and have fun. With them.

That was marginally difficult. 

And now I am supposed to hand it out to other mamas. Well, come on now - if 

you're reading this post, you deserve this award. Plain and simple. If you're a 

mama making it through the day and loving your kids inside out, then take this, 

it's yours too.

Don't you know that's the point by now?

That you are ALL "Moms of the Year!?"

I certainly hope you know that. But in case you need a little reminding, I'm 

reminding you.

But just for kicks, I'll call out a couple chicks who I've been thinking about as 

Moms of the Year recently -

Kath - my dearest friend who is dealing with life stuff with the strength that a good

daughter does. You are SOOO Mom of the Year. Do you know that??

Heather from The Extraordinary Ordinary - every time I go over there, I'm all 

blown away by her strength of expression as a mother and as a woman. Incredible.

Sticky from Not Too Sticky - she just jumps off the page with her sincerity and her

love for her family. She is honest and real and I love reading her.

And finally - Nature Lovin' Super Mama. She is another chick who inspires me with

her honesty and her enthusiasm for life and her surroundings. I think I'm living 

vicariously through her. Check out her scene if you need a change of pace and a

shift in scenery.

Okay all you mamas - happy Mom Of the Year Award Day.

Thanks for helping me pull myself out of this lil' ol' funk.

It's a "tagamemephotoawardthingalingy" kinda post.

Or the post could also be called "Asking for Blog Redemption Sunday."

Now I don't claim to be all that popular with this statement but...I am way behind, actually buried, under a variety of blog-type obligations of which I knew nothing about before taking on the job of curator of this online lovefest.

Tagging, meme-ing, awarding, gaming, finding numbered photos in numbered folders, snapping in-the-moment photos, revealing what you're wearing, answering wacky questions, picking more cool people to bestow all of the above to....I just can't keep up.  

My brain just don't work that way, peeps, but my heart is in the right place about it all.  Believe me.

So if you never want to name me in any of these esteemed bloggy games again, I will totally utterly understand.  I mean it's all about reciprocation right?  So if I drop my end of the bargain, which I will, why should you honor me?

Well, whatever.  

Tonight I am throwing together a little hodge-podge of thingys that have been sitting in MWOB's inbox and now they are heading on over to the outbox.  

I'm sure I'm forgetting someone but here are some of those cool folks who had faith that I would do something with their thingys.  I know, I know.  

Julia at Sometimes Lucid

EM at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit

Dore at Dore's Diaries

Vodka Mom at I Need A Martini Mom

Amy at Bitchin' Wives Club

Deb at Dirty Socks and Pizza - maybe

Probably Kim at Under the Influence

And maybe I've named you and I shouldn't have or I should have named you and I didn't.

Sorry.  Sue me.

I'm trying here.

Well the rules have become one big jumbled mess in my mind never to untangle until I spew what I understand of this mess onto this page right here and now.

Then I will be free.  I can start over.

Thank God.

So I'm going to list some honest and random stuff about me while showing some random and honest photos from a variety of folders and each photo and fact will start with a different letter and at the end I may just pass some sort of award on to a blogger or two.

Here we go:

G is for "Glaria" - My dude and I like to puzzle together.  And we came up with a condition you can get while puzzling called "glaria." "Glaria" is when the light over the table you are working at casts a glare on the puzzle pieces making it difficult for you to choose the correct piece.

M is for Mama or "Becoming a mama." - Yep, this is it.  The day it all changed. The day I crossed over and became altogether different.  Same but different.  The point of crossing over to motherhood is fascinating to me.  I was the old me during hours and hours of intense labor but the moment she slipped into the world, I was made new. 

R is for "Rebuild" - We survived a total rebuild of the one and only home we have ever owned.  We moved out of our home while I was 8 months pregnant with El Destructo and we moved back in a year later.  Watching them demolish our home while I was pregnant was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through.  The panic and fear I felt was unlike anything I had ever felt.  Now that we are back in our home, I thank God everyday we were brave enough to go through with it all. 

P.S. My brother and sister-in-law, both architects, designed our home and yes, you can see that tree through that upper window.

C is for "Coffee House" - Amsterdam style.  This is me and my dude in Amsterdam in May 2006.  My parents watched our girls at the time and we got to do one of the things we love most - wander around unknown streets together adventuring and discovering with no specific plans in mind.  And that little green awning behind us across the canal?  The coffee shop that became our little favorite during the trip.

F is for "Fight On!" - I love watching college football.  And specifically USC football.  My dude is so psyched I like football 'cause he lives for September to roll around.  I make some mean buffalo wings (yes, I CAN make them!) and when I really want to butter my baby up, I serve him up my yummy wings during a football game.  That combo can get me anything I want.... :-) 

MFiD is for "Music Festival in the Desert" - This pic was taken from the ferris wheel at the Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas 2005. This was the last great music festival we went to and harkens back to our early days of dating.  My soul is utterly at home on warm desert nights and then mix in groovin' to some good tunes with my man - well, it's pure heaven.  Nothing like it.

Wow.

I had no idea this would be all about me and my dude.  I must be loving him extra hardcore right now.  And there's plenty of reasons for that.

So....does that satisfy any requirements?  Hell no!! 

But that did it for me.

Last but not least - the award portion to do whatever the hell you want with it.  I have no specific award to give because again it's all jumbled in my brain so I'm making up my own.

It's called the "Simply Rules" award.  Because some blogs out there simply rule.

The "Simply Rules" award is being given to:

Sassy at Well, Okay Sassy Britches because she is someone who genuinely seems like such a cool person and I know she has many great adventures ahead in her life.

Sass at Are you Sassified? because she is one of the first blogs I ever happened across that I could relate to.  She's real and real funny and original and she rules.

Sandy at Momisodes - I know everyone knows how great she is already but I'm totally digging her.  Every time I cruise over there she's got something cool going on especially her new design.  

Catherine at Evolving Mommy - Talk about a nice person.  Her blog and her comments just ooze nice.  She's such a great bloggy presence.  

I think that's it for now because I'm way too exhausted to continue this.  Suffice it to say that you all rule in your own beautiful way especially all you moms without blogs who have no place to even display any awards.  I'll have to do a ceremony just for you.

So some of you astute folks out there may have noticed my "Orange Simply Rules" pic over there in my sidebar - yeah, over there.  --------------- >

So that's it.  Your award.  Take it.  If you want it.  Or just look at it and feel all joyful inside. 

Whew - I feel so better to have all of that off my chest.

Happy Sunday.