No mas.

I was feeling a little old last week. 

I recently went on a trip with two friends who have small children.  Lots of the talk centered around babies, breastfeeding, potty training, and more breastfeeding.  For the first time, it was very obvious to me how far removed I am from that stage of life. Instead of feeling nostalgic, it all felt very foreign-- almost like that time in my life happened to someone else.  It was very weird to think that my life once revolved around my daughters' very basic needs: when she would eat, how much she ate, when she would sleep, what ended up in the diaper, and when would I have a chance to take a freaking nap and shower, for the love of God?!  It was kind of fun to listen to their talk and know that my "baby" can drive herself to school and lets me sleep through the night.  I have loved every stage that they have gone through...okay, that's a lie--a few of them kind of sucked at times.  I guess I can say that I "appreciate" every stage they have gone through because these are some awesome kids living in our house.  They are kind, they are funny as hell, and I like spending time with them.  I think they will go on to be pleasant adults who will raise more good people and that's important.  Now that the oldest is nearly 20, and the youngest is chomping at the bit to start drivers ed, I am becoming more aware that my future baby experiences are going to be as "Grandma". 

That's weird. 

Girls trip

I'm not very social.  I usually joke that "I don't like people."  While that's got a hint of truth to it, I think it's probably more fair to say that I am very choosy about the time I spend with people I didn't marry or give birth to.  I figure, I am away from my family for at least 40 hours a week.  Toss in the fact that two of my kids spend about half of their time with their dad, and my waking hours just got that much more precious.  Hubby and I need time--I learned a long time ago how important that is, so this means I am very reluctant to use the rest of my time with other people--no matter how much I like them.

Today was an exception.  My husband is one of five kids--he has three brothers and one sister.  His older brother (one of my high school best friends whom I met at age 8) married a girl from our high school who I really like, and his youngest brother just got married a little over a year ago to a sweet girl we all enjoy.  His sister was a year behind me in school, and she is one of the most loyal, good-hearted people I have ever known.  Years ago, we started a tradition of a girls day in Seattle to do some Christmas shopping.  We did it for a few years, but for one reason or another, we didn't go for the last five years or so.  We decided that it would be a good idea to go this year and today was the day.  We talked non-stop all the way to the mall--the trip felt like it took about 20 minutes.  We had a great time looking in all the shops, and laughed and shared all through our lunch.  It was a really good reminder to me of something I hadn't necessarily forgotten, but had lost track of, and it is this:  I love these women.  They are my family, they love all the same people that I do, and they mean the world to me.  We vowed to make this more of a priority and are going to try to work something in our schedule for spring.  It was a good day.

Okay, mushy stuff over--now let's talk about running.  I have made a decision:  I am going to do a half-marathon this summer.  I found a 12-week training program, and decided I would give it a try.  But since I'm kind of a weenie, I'm going to stretch it over 24 - 30 weeks instead.  I put a lot of effort into being a beast, but even after more than a year at this, I usually want to die about 2 1/2 miles in.  So wish me luck because now that I have said it out loud and put it in print, it's going to happen.  I'll keep you posted.

Dual Citizenship?

My husband and I ran away to Vancouver this weekend.  It was only a day, and it rained most of the time, but something about that city just...I almost said "rejuvinates" me, but that word has been ruined by a certain surgery and no longer applies in my vocabulary.  We had fun.  How's that?  I know it seems like we have been travelling a lot lately, and well...we have.  But we don't have a boat, we don't ski, we don't do much but watch football, Real Housewives, and do laundry so when the planets align and we get some time away without kid responsibilities, we go for it.  Plus, there is something very appealing about a weekend away without cell service.  We make eye contact.  We complete sentences!

I had a meeting on Saturday afternoon (I know--that's just WRONG on so many levels) so BR picked me up when it was done and we scooted on up across the border.  After the horrific shooting last week, we weren't sure what kind of delay we would have, but we only sat there for 5 minutes while I praised these men and women for coming to work when I would just want to pull the covers over my head and never go to work again.

We have a few rituals.  They are silly, but we ooze silly.  When we get to Surrey, we always say "Surrey" 3 or 4 times like we are apologizing with a Canadian "accent".  When we get to Granville St., BR likes to drive in the right lane as close to the lamp posts as possible which freaks me the F out.  When we get into town and start driving through the shops, I like to press my face against the window and lick the glass in anticipation of shopping.  Okay, that last one is a lie--I just do that in my head.

We stayed at a new place this time.  It was close to the stadium and not as deluxe as we usually score for cheap on Hotwire/Priceline, but safely out of the hobo/rent by the hour range and the soap was hermetically sealed so we were good.  We like to hit our favorite haunts, but we were in a different neighborhood than usual so we went someplace new for our first stop.  The following is a list of our favorite Vancouver spots.  This list is in no particular order, and I would like to stress that it took us 3 years to find these places, this is in NO WAY a representation of one night's crawl or I would be
D-E-D.  (spelling intentional)

Joey's on Burrard : (not to be confused with Joey's Bentall One which is kind of lame) Friday night is full of desperate 20 year olds and techno--Saturday night is cool.  Their Panang Curry, Rainbow Roll, and Sliders are favorites. 

Steamworks Brew Pub : Do yourself a favor and follow the link.  There is also a Steamworks Men's Bathhouse and you DO NOT want to open that website on accident.  This place has a great atmosphere, and their Dry Ribs, Fish Tacos and Nirvana Nut Brown Ale are pretty dang good.  Sit in the bar if you can.

Chill Winston : I'm pretty sure we aren't cool enough to go here, but they keep letting us in.  Have a glass of Blanche du Chambly, and the meat and cheese plate is always interesting (home of the musk ox).  Plus, check out the co-ed bathrooms.  Seriously.

Guilt and Co. : Located in the basement (read: cave) below Chill Winston, this place isn't big on food, but has a great bar, live music, and largest running Jenga game I've ever seen.  Plus, again--
co-ed bathrooms.

The Alibi Room : I almost didn't put this one because the night we were there, we didn't love it.  However, it get's rave reviews, featured on Zane Lamprey's show (and we luuuuurve him) and every time we ask our waiter for a recommendation, this is where they tell us to go.  We will try it again next time.

The Revel Room : Again, almost didn't list it due to the horrific service.  We showed up at 6:30 and after being ignored, the waitress finally agreed to seat us even though they had a party coming in at 8:00.  That being said, they had a really girlie drink called the Southern Belle that was more food than drink and quite yummy.

The Beaver and Mullet : Because you HAVE to go to a place with this name.  We stumbled across them for brunch one weekend.  We got inside and ordered their breakfast poutine and my life has not been the same since.  Plus, Ceasars.  That is all.

The Donnelly Group : I have to give a little shout out to this group.  They have multiple locations in Vancouver and seem to know how to tap into the neighborhood and create a place that reflects the vibe outside.  They are clean, the staff is always polite, and they have great appetizers.  We have never been to their nightclubs or "cocktail rooms" but the Public Houses are great.  Heck, they even have a cool barber shop.

We also like to shop.  No list necessary here.  Just hit Robson Street...and Granville St...and Granville Island...Just Go.  You can't really go wrong.

Around 3:30 on Sunday, we gave a deep sigh and realized we should probably go home to start preparing for the week.  We made it about 10 miles before we had our calendars out and were planning our next trip up there.  Vancouver rocks, eh?

Me-Hi-Co

Hubby and I just returned from a week in Mexico.  Everybody close your eyes, take a deep breath, and RELAAAAAAAAXXXX.  Yep.  That's how it felt for an entire week.  It was dee-lightful and I highly recommend it.  We stayed at the Riu Palace in Cabo and while they aren't paying me for this endorsement, they probably should because I am gonna lay it on THICK.  I should start at the beginning though...the airport.  SCARY.  I am really thankful that my husband and I had both done some research so we were prepared.  We did the whole line for customs thing, and it was really harmless, the lady smiled at us, asked us something super easy like "What did you have for lunch?" and stamped our passports.  Our bags were lined up and waiting for us, we went through a metal detector, and then we turned the corner of no return.  Literally, 25 people approached us in the course of a 50 foot walk to the door in an attempt to sell us time shares.  They didn't say, "Would you like a time share?"...no.  They pretended to be our ride to the resort, they told my husband he was going the wrong way, they tried to grab my paperwork out of my hands, they said they needed signatures...it was crazy.  If they had cameras, it would have been like what I imagine a trip to Spago is for Jennifer Aniston on a date. (does anyone go to Spago anymore, or just tourists in Ceasars Palace?).  We were cool (hubby wants to mess with them next trip--I say no), we made it to the doors where our airport transfer driver was waiting next to not one, but TWO bars with beer and margaritas.  I love Mexico.

We got to the resort:

 

and were greeted with some rum punch drinks, given our keys and some dinner reservations for the specialty restaurants.  I'm glad they did this at check-in because we were far too lazy to get up at the required 7:00am time to get reservations for the rest of the week.  Forget that noise--this is vacation! The first thing we noticed is how CLEAN this place is.  They have a huge staff and they are always cleaning something.  Everyone was very welcoming--not obnoxious and fake--genuinely nice and ready to help.  Our room down an open hallway and we were very pleased when we opened the door:  The woodwork was beautiful, our view was awesome, and then there was this little goodie:

Yes, our room had an alcohol dispenser.  I wish I could say we put it to good use, but neither of us drink hard alcohol.  It was neat, but sadly wasted on the two of us.  We had our swimsuits on in about 3 seconds and headed out to the pool. 

 

...where we stayed for the next week.  I kid you not.  The biggest decision we made all week was pool or beach, followed by sun or shade.  We laughed, we made eye contact and finished sentences, and I read 4 books that week.  We made friends with Cristobel--the waiter at the pool, and Miguel, the poor kid who worked in the lobby bar who was deported from an electrician job in North Carolina and can't see his daughter.  I only used my strightener once, and wore all my dresses and cute shoes.

 

We had massages on the beach, and ventured into Cabo a few times.  Checked out their mall (the restrooms are pretty impressive, I kid you not!) and ate at some of the restaurants in the marina.  We paid more than cover price for some paperbacks at the scariest drugstore I have ever been in.  Seriously, I wouldn't buy a pen from this place but we were desperate for reading material in English.  We took a water taxi from Leo, a cutie who gave a us a great tour around the arches and took my favorite picture of the whole trip:

 

 

Don't we look relaxed?! 

 

 

Greatest trip ever.  No contest.  Hands down.  If we could have flown our family down to be with us, we wouldn't have left.  Yes, that good.  Riu has resorts all over the world, and we were impressed enough to want to visit more of them.

 

So now my tan is fading, and I am back at work running numbers and starting to think about the budget for 2013.  But sometimes I close my eyes, and I can imagine myself back on the beach, watching the vendors try to sell their hats and sunglasses, and I can almost pretend I'm back there again. 



 

 

...and I will be.  That's a promise.

 

 

Call Lowes, Ask for Hal in Lighting...

The other day, I made a strange discovery.  I looked up the sale price of my first home on the assessor’s website because I couldn’t remember what we had sold it for.  (Don’t ask me why the sale price from 15 years ago was important information because I have no good reason other than I couldn’t remember and my brain cannot handle not knowing stuff…you can’t imagine how awful my life was pre-Google or “P.G.” as I refer to it.)  When I got to the site, it gave me the information I was looking for, but it also said that my home was bought and sold by not my first husband and I, but by my first husband and HIS CURRENT WIFE.  Um. No.  I then checked our next home…same thing.  Now, I don’t have a problem with his current wife—we actually get along pretty well—but I would have been irked if it was anybody’s name on the record other than my own.

I called a friend of mine who works for a title company.  I didn’t think she would be able to tell me what happened, but I knew she could point me in the right direction.  She agreed it was weird and advised me to call the Treasurer’s office.  I didn’t realize the can of worms I was opening.  Here is what followed:

 

1.        I called the Treasurer’s office and got K who informed me that they don’t handle that--I needed to talk to the auditor’s office—she transferred my call.

2.        The woman in the auditor’s office was CLUELESS and didn’t know how to even get on the assessors site to see the record (she literally told me she didn’t think she could access the site, so I offered to send her a link to this public site.)  Once she did, she kept spewing back information about the current owners.  CLUELESS I tell ya.  She told me to call the assessor’s office and hung up.   Apparently my amazement at her incompetency came through the phone and was not appreciated.

3.        I called the assessor’s office and got B.  B was funny—I liked him.  He felt bad that I had been shuffled but told me they don’t have any control over the data on their site (?!?) so I should call the recording department and maybe info services.  He gave me the direct line for info services and transferred my call to recording.

4.        S in recording sighed loudly and said no, they don’t do this--I needed the assessors department.  I told her I had already been there and what B had told me.  She told me B was wrong and good luck with Info Services.  Gee thanks.

5.        The lady at the Info services department didn’t have an answer either, but she took my name to ask her manager and said she would get back to me.  (3 days later, she has not.)  She also said she was pretty sure I needed the title company.

 

I would like to point out that I manage an office in a customer service industry.  Maybe this makes me hyper aware of the service I receive, but I can tell you that if any of my customers were ever shuffled around the bank the way I was shuffled around the county building, I would be appalled/furious.  Be helpful!  Take ownership!  FIX IT!  Sheesh! 

I’m just bummed my name wasn’t missing from the records back when the house payment was due.  When the mortgage company called, I could have told them “I don’t handle this, call the assessor’s office.”  Click. 

I’m now too grouchy to deal with this anymore.   

On a better note, I am continuing to run.  I don’t have a schedule, I pretty much do it whenever I can fit it in, and for the most part I have moved from a morning runner to an evening runner.  Morning, outdoor runs are still my favorite, but it requires me to drag my sleepy butt out of bed and that’s just not happening lately.  I am using my treadmill in the garage way more often than I planned to during our beautiful August and I think I may regret that when it’s raining sideways in November and I no longer have the option of running outside without drowning.

 

I did something new this week with my iFit on the treadmill and it just has me tickled.  iFit holds weekly competitions where you can log on and join a 5k or 10k.  The competitions are all over the US, and this week it was in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  You sign up for the race and it loads into your schedule as the next map to run.  You have a week to run it and it shows you on the map where the leader and the average runner are at any given time.  (i.e.  10 minutes into the run, there is a green dot showing where the fastest runner was at 10 minutes, where the average runner was at 10 minutes, and where you are in relation to those two at 10 minutes—even if the others had run the day before—does that make sense?).  You also have the option of running with a “street view” but then you can’t see the other dots for comparison.  When you are done with the race, you can go to a results page which posts how many people have run the race so far, their times, and your stats compared to theirs.  This changes throughout the week as other runners compete and then at the end of the week, they have a final tally.  I love it, and look forward to running a new 5k each week to prepare for the live races I will be doing in the upcoming months!

Funny Stuff...

I have a funny family.  My husband has a dry, sarcastic, very smart humor that has made me laugh since the day I met him 22 years ago.  I can recognize funny, but I don't usually have funny stuff coming out of me...unless it's completely by accident.  The writing is on the wall--our kids are going to be funny too. Our annual vacation is the one time a year when we get to have all 6 of us hang out together 24/7, and after everyone gets into relaxed, vacation mode, we laugh the entire time.  I look forward to that all year.  This year, I put an app on my phone so I could note the "funnies" as they happened.  I have to share with you:

**Our first night in Fremont, there was a VERY intoxicated Santa with a nasty beard doing a funky dance on the "dance floor".  He was feeling pretty good, and my children were watching with varying stages of shock, disgust, and a little bit of pity on their faces.  My husband leaned over to me and said, "Everyone says you're not supposed to smoke, drink, or do drugs, but look at Santa--he looks pretty good for 80 years old."  "Yeah, too bad he's 40."  Ba-dum-bum.  That was my one good response all week.

**When waiting for two of our kids to arrive via zipline, my daughters and I were standing near the arrival spot which just happened to be near a photo-op booth containing 2 Chippendales-ish men doing their best to charm every woman walking by.  My boy-crazy16 year old contained herself longer than I imagined before busting out with, "A man in a bow-tie, no shirt, and cuffs...that's my type."  Lord.  We're in trouble.

**We kept walking along, running into spaces where the air just smelled NASTY for a few feet or so, then it would go right back to normal.  My daughter made a comment and then one second later, my husband commented on these little spots of stink.  He nicknamed them "Shitghosts" because it was literally like walking through a smelly, nasty being for 2 seconds that would immediately disappear.  I am sorry to report that Vegas is full of Shitghosts.  I still love it.
**Our first night in town, we went out to dinner after sweating to death for about 5 hours.  Someone made a comment about how low-maintenance my son was--how he didn't ask for anything or have any major needs.  Without missing a beat, he leaned forward, put his chin on his hands and said, "Tell me I'm pretty."  He is.  We did.
**We were talking at dinner one night about how cool it would be if we could afford to take all 6 of us to a big show like Celine Dion, Bette Midler, or Elton John.  My oldest made a comment about how much she loved Elton John and how she loved that he was so flamboyant.  Our 15 year old says, "Wait, Elton John is gay?"  We all (including her younger brother) stared at her. 

**One of the highlights of our trip was visiting a good friend of mine that I have known since we were in middle school.  He has been nothing but welcoming of us whenever we come to Vegas, and while I have always loved him, I have come to adore his partner as well--they are good people through and through.  While visiting one day, he commented that he had used my (mom's) tanning lamp in high school and gotten a sunburn from it. (Backstory:  When I found this little gem in the 80's, I cleared out my walk-in closet, hung the lamp from a dowel, and made a comfy spot that my friends could use to come tan--sometimes they fell asleep.)  In response to his question, without even thinking about it, I asked him "Oh, were you in the closet?"  Then I kind of wanted to die for a second until he said, "Uh, yeah" and we all bust out laughing.  My dear friend, I adore you and everything you bring into our lives.  Never change.

On a side note:  my second-born got her drivers license today.  This makes me both terrified and elated.  On one hand:  someone to buy creamer after my bra is off for the day.  On the other hand:  the rest of the humans who now share the road with another one of my precious babies.  My kids are good drivers--trust me, if they weren't, I wouldn't set them free out there.  There are a lot of questionable people on the road who are not as careful, who spend more time looking at the phone in their hand than out the windshield (adults as well as kids--Quit texting while driving!!).  That makes me feel pretty helpless and 3 years after the oldest got her license, I assure you I never completely exhale until I know they are safely where they are supposed to be.  I swear it was only yesterday that they were begging me for dress up clothes and magic wands made from my wooden spoons.  Hug your babies and enjoy every minute of the kid chaos because soon it will be your turn to stand in line at the hardware store buying your teen her own key for the car. 

May you all enjoy a week without Shitghosts.

Vegas Baby!

As I mentioned earlier, we took the kids to a new vacation spot this year.  We have gone to Whistler BC for six of the past eight years and after getting rained on for a week straight last summer, we were all ready for some guaranteed sunshine.  We threatened taking them to Dino Town, then threw 'em a curveball and said we were renting an RV and driving around the US to see "Americana" (World's Largest Ball of Twine, anyone?).  My kids know me very well and saw through that one immediately...Mama Doesn't Camp.  Ever.  My husband and I go to Vegas at least once a year for classes (his--I shop) and felt like we knew the places that would be kid-appropriate while enjoying some sunshine in the desert. 

The day we arrived, it was 108 degrees.  Yikes.  We were spending the first night in Fremont because the condos we rented wouldn't be available until the following day and we wanted to show the kids the old-timey part of Vegas too.  We did not anticipate that Fremont had become as "colorful" as it has.  Wow.  We stopped and listened to a few outdoor concerts--some were pretty good, but it was the crowd that was an eye-opener for our sheltered, suburban kids.  You could easily pick out the people who were living on the streets with their demons and addictions--it was pretty sad.  We never felt scared, but it wasn't a place where we would let the kids wander without a parent.  We had been to a brewery with friends down there a few years before and took the kids there for dinner.  The food was great, the ambiance was relaxed with lots of tv's so we could catch up on the Olympics, and we were able to feed all 6 of us for less than $100.00.  Not an easy feat anywhere but especially in Vegas, so we went there for lunch the next day too.  Two of the kids did the zip-line under the big "screen"/ceiling, and we had a picture drawn of the four of them by a very talented guy in a booth.  Fremont was fun, but we were all ready to head to the strip the next day.

Our next location was beautiful--my husband had found the place on VRBO and it was a total score!  We had 2 adjoining penthouse suites in a building near the MGM Grand with full access to all of their amenities.  The MGM pools are amazing, and that was the kicker for us because our kids will spend hours in the water if we let them.  The next few days were filled with eating, swimming, shopping, and seeing the sights...oh, and more eating.  Wow.  We literally ate our way down the strip.  The kids loved looking at the different casinos, the shops in the Forum made our teen girls giddy (3-story H&M, anyone?) and it was so nice to be able to wear our summer clothes without carrying a sweatshirt along "just in case".  There was no just in case--even on the 2 cloudy days, it was 90 degrees.  We would be outside just long enough to get hot, then pop inside until we were cold.  I can't remember the last time I went a week without sleeves.  It was awesome.  The kids loved the Bellagio fountains--we sat through 6 of their shows.  My husband took one afternoon to do a "man-day" with our son and I took the girls to get their hair cut by a good friend of mine who works at the Christophe Salon in the MGM.  It was so cool to finally introduce my friend to our kids, and we all got great haircuts and had a nice visit to boot.  If you ever get the chance, you need to go here and ask for Campbell.  Best haircut you will ever have in your life--worth every penny.

I remember a few years back when the powers that be in PR tried to push Vegas as a place for families.  I scoffed--there was no way I was taking my kids to a place that had people handing out porn on the street corners.  Well, my kids are older now and I'm going to take that back.  While I probably wouldn't rush to take younger kids, it was the perfect spot to take teenagers for a week of fun and sun.  We are already talking about going back in two years, but my oldest will be 21 then and something tells me that could make for a very different vacation experience.  We'll see.