Have never been friends of mine. In fact the three times I have been involved in a car accident I was sitting at a red light minding my own business. I rarely mind the business of other people while at a stop light. Thursday the damn red light got me again. The girls and I were waiting patiently at a light on Forest Drive in Annapolis when we were hit again. This time it was really hard. Like blow out my rear window and pop my back tires hard. I immediately checked to see if the girls were alright and aside from screaming very loudly, they were. Thank God and lawmakers for car seats. The man who hit me along with the woman he pushed me into seemed to be fine. It took five minutes for the police to get there. Which was great. They took over the whole situation, for that I am grateful. I was so stunned that this happened that I wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. In fact calling Keith and then yelling into the phone that I was in an accident and get here now, probably wasn’t the most helpful. Especially since I hung up on him after I yelled that little bit of information.It’s also important to let your cousin know where your son needs to be picked up. I might have told Ryan the wrong house to go to. He may have walked into the wrong house after knocking on the door. To be fair, the woman of the house was on crutches so all she could so was holler to come in. Unfortunately, she had no idea who Aiden was. It’s also important to not become embarrassed when your older daughter has some serious gas in the examining room of the hospital. It was such an incredibly strong odor, there was no way I was going to take responsibility for that. No way. When the discharge nurse came in I made sure to tell her that it was all Madeleine. I left the house that afternoon at 2:30. When we got home that night it was after 7:00 pm. We are fortunate that all that was damaged was a car. But damn if having your car hit isn’t completely suckish. Completely and totally.
Thirty some years ago. Which is awesome because then they created a family. And who doesn’t like a family? They made some pretty awesome daughters. On the awesome scale my sister and I rate a solid ten. Here, look at how awesome we are:
Awesome sisters
See? Awesome. And guess what? The awesomeness does not end with us. With a little help from this guy I married I created some awesome children:
2005
2004
July 2008
My sister has also added to the awesomeness by giving my parents their most with their favorite cat:
My parents favorite daughter
Its hard to explain the level of love my mom has for her cat.
Awesomeness aside, its pretty great when you think how the marriage of two kids from Ludington Michigan is still going strong after all these years.
VID00169That would be the overall mood in my household. The kids and I are ready for reality or whatever version we can get. Aiden, Madeleine, and I are social creatures. We enjoy being with our people participating in our activities. I enjoy time at home as much as the next person. Our time at home has now turned into a week removed from society. The snow has by no means been a negative experience. Aiden has had a chance to really bond with the kids in our neighborhood. Something that hasn’t happened before this year. We are a private community. By this I mean, we all do our own thing. Not a lot of interaction. Kids being in school together changed this. We are now “forced” to build a relationship. Please don’t tell anyone but I like it. It reminds me of growing up on Walker Street in my small hometown. Any given moment my friends and I were running wild in the neighborhood. I recently asked my dad if he kept track of me. He seemed to think I didn’t need it. He was under the impression that no one would kidnap a kid like me. Yeah, that’s right. No one can kidnap awesomeness. By the time Keith came home on Monday, I was running out of ways to be an awesome mom. Over the course of three days we:
1. Built a snow fort.
2.Built a snow tunnel.
3. Made cookies.
4.Made brownies.
5. Ate two batches of homemade maccaroni and cheese.
6. Watched seven episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
7. Helped my neighbor dig us out.
8.Popped the tent in my living room.
9. Sent Aiden to his friend Piet’s house.Where it was discovered that Piet had a better snow fort and a more interesting lego collection.
10. Sent Aiden down to his friend Henry’s. Henry’s dad took some of the boys in the ‘hood on a mile long walk to the beach. I don’t believe they went swimming but they are boys so…
11. Shoveled some more.
12. Had some more friends over.
13. Made some more cookies.
14. Watched some T.V.
15. Keith came home and we did the previous activities all over again.
Wednesday our area experienced a blizzard. It was at this point I shaved my head and ran up and down the streets naked. I’m feeling better now and really love my room at the “clinic”. Now, if you will excuse me it’s time for my nap and my meds.
It’s Saturday and I am still alive. Barely. It’s been snowing for two days! Two. DAYS. We currently have over 22 inches of snow. 22. Inches. of. SNOW. SNOW. Guess what the best part is…Keith is in Michigan where they don’t have any snow. So here I sit with my three babies stuck in the snow and all alone. Except I’m not. My awesome neighbor helped me shovel my driveway. We still have power which is more than I can say for my friend Stephanie. Chances are she will take out someone before the weekend is done. Maryland does not handle snow like this well. Marylanders tend to go wild buying; milk, toilet paper, bread, and pasta. God knows that when it snows you drink lots of milk with your bread and pasta meals. The last time this happened, I was pregnant with Aiden. Seven years ago. I spent the day napping and eating cookies. Things are a bit different three kids later. Not the cookie part. Now I just have someones to help me eat
My tree was a casuality.
Peace out, I got my hat and my lunch.
It's good to have a man around, to dig out his swing set.
I have a small mouth. It’ s a proven medical fact. When I was being fitted for braces they had to order mine extra small, true story. This is why when I eat things, I look goofy when I shove large amounts of food in my mouth. It has taken me a long time to realize this is how I look when I commit myself to too many activities. I look goofy when I bite off more than I can chew. Apparently managing my kiddos and my house is about all I can handle. I’ve decided to cut out gymnastics and working in order to stop myself from running around like a chicken with his, well you know… I had no idea I would soon transition from managing my own activities to becoming a social secretary for my children. Everytime I look around my house there is an extra kid here. I may not be able to keep myself in a steady supply of juice boxes. Oh and activites. Aiden is getting excited for t-ball. I think it’s contagious because Madeleine has decided that she joining too. Yeah, she even picked out a pink helmet. I’m concerned I will cease to feel like a real person and more like personal assistent. I think that’s why I enjoyed coaching and tutoring so much. It made me remember I was a real person. Well a real person with a small mouth.
As a parent I have explained to Aiden and Madeleine countless times that Charlotte is a ball of destruction. Nothing in her path is safe from her need to test the durability of whatever object she has her sights set on. Of course when I explain this I am met with crickets chirping and blank stares. Of course Aiden leaves his foam glider on the coffee table and of course Charlotte dissects it. The circle of siblings. Tempers flair, accusations are thrown and Aiden was not speaking to Charlotte for awhile. Like five minutes. Until I explained to him that he had it coming. Harsh. I began to list all the things of Charlottes that he has “taken apart” and this includes her baby swing. Yeah and it didn’t go back together. Suddenly a five cent foam glider doesn’t seem so important. I also offered up a story from my childhood. My sad sad childhood. A story about my dad letting my sister put our bird in my Barbie van. When I came home to play with my beloved toy, it was defiled with bird excrement. Things like that just don’t leave you. It hits you to the core. Now if you will excuse me I have to add that to my memoirs.
Holiday 101. We went to Michigan which was awesome.
2. We were a day late because Maryland got 24 inches of snow which caused everyone to freak out. On the day we actually left, we had to leave the city of Annapolis before we could actually find a gas station that had gas.Oh how I love a good snow storm in Maryland.
3. Michigan was great for the kids! Sledding, burning things with my dad, and pond skating. The day after Christmas my dad usually burns the boxes and gift wrap. Every family needs a tradition. We burn things.
4. After Christmas the flu swept through the house taking out everyone except myself and Charlotte.
5. Aiden learned how to use a snow blower. A useful skill for a young boy of six.
6. Some serious sledding and skating took place. I believe at one point Keith was begging the kids to keep skating with him.
7. Dogs do not enjoy sledding. I thought Tucker might. He did not.
8. The flu caused us to cancel the Amsterburg family Christmas. I swear something like this happens every year. I might draw stick figures of what it would look like if we were together.
9. Charlotte became a fan of staying up all night.
10. Aiden has appointed himself the goodwill ambassador of Michigan. He tells everyone he can about his love of Michigan.
I’ve been a little bit swapped this holiday season. I sort of missed Thanksgiving. I know there were people at my house. I know I made a turkey. But the days leading up are a little bit blurry and come to think of it the days after are a bit blurry too. I do know that the whole week of Thanksgiving break was rainy. Really rainy. So rainy that by Thanksgiving day my children were nuts. After we ate I took them to the beach to run off some steam. Instead they ran through all the puddles and ended up soaking wet. Then, when I was enjoying the view of the bay, Charlotte ran right into it and sat down. It was a long walk home.
