I have become a celebrity

I have become a celebrity. Because of my children. This isn't a new thing for me, I've always been a very proud mom to all three of my kids. I hear things like "Chris is so smart, Katie is so beautiful, and Kolbie is so cute". Or I'll hear: "your kids are all so well mannered" (which makes me laugh, by the way). But now I have become a celebrity a real celebrity; but hopefully not in the same class as Lindsey Lohans parents, or like Jon and Kate.

And it all started with: Aladdin Jr.!!!

This year the Jr. High is putting on a production of Aladdin Jr. I wasn't suprised when Chris told me he wanted to try-out but I was down right shocked when Kate told me that she wanted to try out as well. Well, Kate is on the chorus in one cast and on the stage crew for the other, and Chris...well, Chris is the Genie. I think that Mrs. Johnson was type-casting a little bit when she cast him as Genie. He's tall, goofy, likes to tell stupid jokes, and loves to be the center of attention.

Auditions were 2 weeks before Christmas, and I will never forget the phone call we got from Chris telling us he got the part. We were off celebrating our anniversary doing what we always do...our christmas shopping (oh joy). I was so excited and happy for him I cried, it was definatley what you'd call a proud mom moment.

Well, rehersals started in Janurary and both of the kids have been going faithfully to all of their rehersals for three solid months. Sometimes they would leave for school at 5 or 6am and not get home until 5 or 6pm. Honestley, both of them have put their hearts and souls into this production.

Well, Monday was the big day. Their first performance. One of the local elementary schools walked over to see the play. I was amazed at how well the play was. It was obvious that all the hard work of all the teachers, and kids had paid off. Both of the kids were amazing. Katie hit her que right on time and opened the floor where Jafar falls into when he gets made a Genie. And Chris got the loudest cheer on the whole cast.

Tuesday Hunter Elementary came for a performance. Katie got to perform she's a harem girl (I don't really like the sound of that, but what do I know?) and she was amazing. She got loud cheers from her friends and former teachers and several told me that "she did such a great job. Tell her that I'm so proud of her." And Chris was a hit (as usual), the only difference was, this time we new so many of the audience. Greg and I got up to leave and we were swarmed by students and teachers saying? "Katie and Chris were amazing!!! Katie looked so pretty in her yellow costume and Chris was soooooooo funny."

The real fun started when some of the kids we didn't know figured out our son was "The Genie". I heard all kinds of things from those kids:

His jokes are sooooo funny!!!

Did he really shave his head?

How did you turn him blue?

Does it take a long time to put on all that make-up?

How long does it take to take it off?

I have to say that being a bit of a "celebrity" is sort of fun. It's pretty cool to hear things like: "Look, it's the Genies mom." I'm sure they were all thinking about how young and attractive I am. ;)

There is a downside to the life of a celebrity like:

I've had to listen to more than the usual amount of goofy jokes.

I know that play by heart.

I hear the music in my dreams.

All we've heart from Katie for the last week is how she "HAS TO HAVE" a flesh colored t-shirt, & tights.

And there was a HUGE contreversy yesterday morning that had something to do with blue eyeshadow.

My bathtub is tinted blue, (and so is my son) and I don't know if it will ever go away.

And today, it's been almost 20 hours since I've slept, but I had to come home from working an all night inventory shift and paint my son blue.

All that being said, I am having a week full of Proud Mom moments. I am so proud of Chris, Kate, and the cast because they've all worked so hard. I'm proud of the commitment that Chris and Kate have made, but I'm the most proud because they've done this together. They've made friends together, and most important, they've made some great memories. A couple of months ago Katie told me that she loves Chris because he's her best friend. There are sure benefits to being a celebrity Mom.

WE'D LOVE TO SEE YOU ALL AT THE PLAY THIS WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND FRIDAY. SHOWTIME IS AT 7PM!!!!!

I'm giving the production 2 BIG THUMBS UP!!!!!!

I'D LIKE AN EXPLAINATION PLEASE!!!!!!!

Hello again. I had an interesting experience today at work. The Loss Prevention agent (his name is A.J. and he cusses like a sailor) got a "stop" today. He caught a woman who was with her teenage daughter and her baby trying to steal $327.00 dollars worth of swimsuits (that she should NEVER wear, just trust me on that). This was his 3rd stop for the month and this is the first week of our fiscal year, so he started the year ON FIRE! To be honest, I really like working with AJ, he makes me laugh and his attitude about work and life has changed my view about things. He's always smiling and he always makes me laugh.

Anyway, he stopped this woman from shoplifting. 327 dollars worth of merchandise!! I've worked in retail a long time, and I've seen a lot of shoplifters, but I just don't understand it. I love to get free stuff! Who doesn't? But I can't just take something that's not mine.

Well anyway, AJ brought the woman back to the office along with a Jordan Landing security guard and sat her down. At that point I got out of that office FAST! I felt very uncomfortable. Amanda was the lucky one to stay back there with them. I did hear a few things that AJ said to her. He told her to have a seat, and then just said simply: "...ok, talk to me." This surprised me, I don't know why, what do you say when you catch a thief? How about: "Hey stupid, what were you thinking?" He was very professional about the entire thing.

I've watched alot of LP agents over my "career" (if that's what you call it). And I've come to one conclusion: I COULD NEVER WORK IN LOSS PREVENTION!!!! I'm just way too trusting of people. I don't understand how or why people would take advantage of someone else. I admit I'm very naive.

I guess the thing that shocked me the most today was this woman was as cool as a cucumber. If I was every stupid enough to do something like that (I think the only way I could would be to feed my children) and got caught, I would have a major meltdown!!! I would cry, and cry, and cry. I would be so embarrassed!!! Dealing with the LP agent and the security guard would be bad enough, but then when the Cops show up I think I'd faint. They'd probably have to call the paramedics and have me sedated.

All joking aside, I really don't understand stuff like this. These are the same people that complain about prices being so high and the economy being bad. The people who complain about insurance premiums being so high are the ones who just pocket the insurance check and don't get their car fixed. Why do people think they deserve something for nothing? I JUST DON'T GET IT!!!

Wouldn't life be much more simply for everyone if we could all try to be honest all the time. I'm not perfect, but I try.

What do you think?

That's all for today.

"...SHUT-UP!!! I WAS TRYING TO HIT YOU STUPID!!!!"

Sometimes the things that happen in my home make me laugh, and sometimes make me cry. Then there are things that happen that make me cry because I'm laughing. Luckily we had one of those experiences.

Chris and Katie are having some friends over tomorrow night to watch movies, eat, and "hang out" (whatever that means). I have SERIOUS ANXIETY when I have people over to my house. The house is never clean enough, the walls all need fresh paint, we need new carpet, I don't cook the way I should, my dishes don't match (when they are clean), and on and on and on. One of the biggest problems I have when it comes to my home is that I HATE to clean. I HATE IT!!!! I look for any excuse to not clean (which is kind of weird considering my biggest excuse to not have people over is because my house isn't clean enough). Here are some of my best excuses:

- I just don't want to.
- I sneezed a couple of hours ago and that means I must be coming down with
something therefore, I must rest.
- We don't have the right kind of cleaning supplies.
- I can't handle the fumes from the cleaning supplies, they always give me headaches.

AND MY FAVORITE:

- The house is just too dirty to clean.

Writing this down makes me realize how stupid it sounds. If I had a dollar for every time there was a fight around here about cleaning or doing the laundry, I'd be able to...hire a housekeeper.

Well, back to my story. Chris and Katie and I were in the kitchen making a shopping list and a to-do list so they could be prepared for their party. Kolbie came home from school and was making herself a snack. I don't remember exactly what Katie said to Kolbie, but I do remember it was snotty. I turned my head to see how Kolbie reacted to see her try to hit Kate with a dishtowel, she missed and hit me right in the face. Everything suddenly went very, very, quiet. Kolbie had a look of pure terror on her face. Chris and Kate we both holding their breath wondering if I was going to have a huge meltdown. The next thing I know I glance at Chris and HE'S CRYING!!! And then I look at Katie, and SHE'S CRYING. When I looked at Kolbie she was terrified!!! I looked at my children again, and there was an explosion of laughter from the older two. The next thing I know, Chris and Katie are literally on the floor in the dining room, laughing so hard they are crying. And this only mad Kolbie mad...no...this only made Kolbie REALLY, REALLY MAD!!

Kolbie has a flare for the dramatic (a trait she gets completely from her father, not from me), so the next thing I know she's screaming at Chris and Katie to "...SHUT-UP!!! I WAS TRYING TO HIT YOU STUPID!!!!!!!"

This was one of those wonderful situations in parenthood that you bite your lip so hard your bleeding so you won't laugh at your children. I honestly was not mad at Kolbie, I was irritated that she was trying to hit her sister, but I wasn't mad. But seeing the look on her face when she realized what she'd done was just hilarious.

The funniest thing about this story is that not 3 minutes before all this occurred I was instant messaging a friend of mine and asked her if she had an idea of something I could blog about. Her response was "No. If I had an idea, I would have blogged about it." I told her what was happening with the kids, and her response was "...see, at your house if you stand still for a minute something will always happen that you can blog about." She was, of course, right. If you just stand back and watch, you'll ALWAYS find something to write about, and you'll ALWAYS be entertained.

We have our ups and downs. And a lot of the time it feels like we have more downs than ups, but these 4 people (mainly the kids) are always entertaining. My kids give me more to think about, laugh about and cry about than anyone else on the planet.

Nights With No Sleep

Hello to both of you who read this, it's been a while.

For those of you who know me I have trouble sleeping. Infact, right now it's almost midnight on a Monday night and I think its going to be a long night. I was thinking about why I have such a hard time sleeping last night while I was laying in bed trying to sleep. Smart, huh?

As I sit here at my computer blogging at all hours of the night I'm also sitting here listening to my ipod and wondering if any of my friends are awake so we could chat. The nights get that long and boring. If your awake, text me if I happen to be awake, I'll respond, or if by some miracle I'm asleep we can talk in the morning. My brother and I text and talk all night. I guess we're the lucky ones with the insomnia genes.

I have so much time being awake all night I've read countless books, taken more hot baths trying to relax, but finally I've given up.

Now I watch movies (or favorite TV shows on Netflix -- how did people survive without the internet?). Greg laughs and says that he's memorized Bridgette Jones Diary in his sleep literally. He also says that about: Pride and Predjudice, Bull Durham, You've Got Mail, Elizabeth, Sense and Sensibility, She's Having a Baby (one of my favorite movies of my youth), Love Actually (which I might watch tonight), West Side Story, Rent, and dozens of others. I feel that this should make Greg more well-rounded and happy individual being exposed to so many things and ideas than he normally wouldn't be. He doesn't really feel that way. We've had more than one heated conversation about watching movies at 3am. So what do I do?

I decided to start reading. And what happens? Greg kicks me out of our room! Why? Because I have been known to read some FUNNY books and they make me laugh. Recentley I've been really sad books. Books about King Henry VIII (that man was a dog) and he's always lying, cheating, or chopping the heads off of someone important. And reading Nicholas Sparks books. TOTAL DOWNERS!!! After the last 2 books I thought I might decide to go jump off a building. So I decided to read some of the funnies books I've ever read. They are the Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot. I know this is teen fiction, but hey? Who cares? Well...after being told that my movies are pretty much a pain in the ass, I start reading. And these books MAKE ME LAUGH!!!! And that's more annoying than listening to movies in your sleep.

Please help me understand this!!! A laughing wife is more difficult than a wife that's about ready to jump off a building because she's so depressed?

Maybe I should start reading the old testament to help me fall asleep.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm going to buy some chocolate milk.