OH MY GOSH A WII!!!

Last week, I took all the girls and Michael to the live broadcast of "stories of light," a local make-a-wish fundraiser. The stories were from wish kids who went on air with FM100 and told about their make-a-wish, of course, in hopes to motivate people to call in and donate toward next year's wish kids' fulfillment. Rachael was scheduled to go on air around 9:30 or so. To be perfectly honest, they solicited us to do this, and we did it ONLY BECAUSE THE WISH KIDS WERE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING TO WIN A WII SYSTEM. I might as well admit my (our) selfishness. Okay, once we got there, of course it was great, and we saw all our make-a-wish coordiators and friends from 2 yrs. ago. It was great! They spoil and pamper the kids and parents totally, and just gush love on you. Going there is like getting hugged, but you don't know why you're getting hugged, you just sorta enjoy it till it's all over. Anyway, I choked at the end of the interview, with a rush of emotion that comes up and visits me frequently when I access those memories. Well, the D.J.s cried, the volunteers choked up and teared up, and I just couldn't get any more words out. I'm sure it generated thousands of dollars in donations..... :-) Once I got my voice back I apologized for my loss of control, and Rachael goes, "Mommy, you always cry when you talk about my cancer." Too true. Okay, well, yesterday afternoon they called us to tell us that RACHAEL WON THE WII!!! What a thrill for her and ALL my kids! It came with guitar hero, (the new one) and "wii play." I'm not sure what that one is, but the kids are psyched!!!! Bret said he thinks God let us win it so we could have lots of fun times with all of our family that's coming to town next week. :-) I guess God knows! Update on Gramp: all is well, he seems to be staying up later at night, no more fainting spells, and eating like a big piggy! I know he's been snacking because I can follow the trail of raisin bran crumbs (he eats them dry like a snack) through the house...hey, it helps me find him!

Fiber

Michael is into lots of things. Totally orally fixated, which is normal, I know. This was him as we were putting up our tree. Surely can't hurt him if he doesn't actually get any bark down, right? Then there's Gramp's oral fixation...let me define. Pipe smoking, (but only once since he's been here, cause he can't get outside without a little help) and denture cleaning. The girls stare at him fixated whenever he pops his dentures out to lick 'em clean of any food debris. They're horrified, but can't look away. I can't help but laugh...Emily turned and slowly put her yogurt back in the fridge after one such episode...I was dying. She said, "I just don't think I can eat right now.." Too funny. Well, Christmas is getting closer and closer! I haven't sent cards yet; heck I haven't even begun to get the pic processed yet! I'm tempted to do the whole ecard option. It's probably a greener option anyway... The days are SO busy lately, it's like the energy level is ramping up, and then Chrismas week it all settles down, thank God! Maybe I'll be able to drag my kids over to my poxxy friend Kim's by then, if they're all "pox free." We've all had it, but not Michael, and I'm selfishly trying to avoid poxxy baby at Christmas. Plus, I'm pretty sure it would be bad for Gramp...although, he is ONE TOUGH COOKIE. He fell over into the bathtub the other night. Yes, from standing upright to falling over; right into the bathtub. The leaning tower of Gramp. Broken bones? Bruises? No. Nothing. Like he's made out of petrified rock or something. What is it that makes him so well-preserved??? Milk? (always drinks it) Sardines (either he really loves them, or he just ate them to gross out my Gram) Smoking a pipe for 50+ years??? Who knows! It's amazing. Although, he is losing some of his sharpness, and maybe it's from those "fainting spells" he was having at my house a couple of weeks ago...can't remember which siblings are still alive or not (none), where his money is (my dad's running that ship), or how he ended up in Memphis of all places! He's given me the address of the funeral home back home several times, in case I should forget. "One of these days you'll have to put a tag on my toe and ship me home to CT!" Grim. Yes, but he says it to make me laugh, so I do. "Which toe Gramp?" lol.

Who needs amusment parks?

Not me! This is one of those blog entries that you'll probably figure I'm drunk or hormonal when I write it. I just want to ooze my gratitude for my friends here. Who needs a thrilling roller coaster ride when I can just go out to our fav. corner hang-out and spend a "mom's night out" with the girls and run the full gammit of conversation?? Or in someone's living room, dining room, or kitchen? We can go from one end of the spectrum to another within 2 seconds. And everyone hangs on and can ride with it...we can be splurting out our drinks with laughter in one breath, and delving into depths of consciousness and faith in another. My SIL once said that we spend so much time "finding our people" during life, well, I've found mine. All the filters are off with them. So many of our criterion are the same.. and the raw experience of life is exposed. We don't need to spend time figuring out how each other feels about this or that. We already know. So then we can jump into the nuances of our daily struggles with zeal and understanding, and curiosity, and appreciation like I've found with no other groups of people. Maybe a handful of people in life can get that moment of commonality, but here, we're all onboard. It's times like this that I'm so grateful for these friends. After laughing till my cheeks hurt, and contemplating life in new ways, I leave SO fulfilled and grateful!!! AND, I'm sure we'll all be financially stable from the proceeds of our BOOK once it's published. Thanks to each of you who I treasure! I LOVE this roller coaster ride!!