Ahh....going home.

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I've decided to make a quick trip up to Wisco this weekend to spend some time with my sisters (that's us above in birth order) and my brother-in-law and nephew and maybe, hopefully, my parents too!!! That's really all I have to say today. Making the decision has put me in a good place for a Monday. Something great to look forward to is my favorite feeling ever.

Self Perception.....

234;=36;=5;6=XROQDF>2323944;5:;59ot1lsi.jpg"> This is a picture I drew in....oh let's guess.....1st grade? I remember it kind of well for two reasons....one, my Mom & Dad praised my art so much that I really thought I had some drawing talent. I mean....all kids are good artists, which was my Daddy's point, but I would say I was on the path to the more absurdist side of the craft as opposed to realism. (Case in point...that Christmas tree looks like a b.m. sporting a green faux fur coat, ready for the red carpet at the Poopy Awards or something. Looks like her date underdressed)

The second thing I remember about this piece is that multicolored smudge at the bottom underneath the cat and the...snake/sock puppet (I can't tell which). The smudge was made with a bunch of fluorescent oil paint my parents bought for me. It ruled. And smelled all arty and good. Like oats and far away gasoline fumes.

I had a terrifying, but empowering dream this morning between my alarms going off. I was living in this huge house that was known to be haunted by really bad vibe ghosts. I wanted to live there because it was nice and big and although super DUPER creeptastic, also beautiful. I watched the other people living in the house encounter the ghosts in really scary, dark ways but I kept my distance. Towards the end of the dream I got fed up and started really gently walking around the house and patting the walls and floors and saying, "I would never hurt you and you need to know that because if you let anyone else live here they will hurt you. So stop scaring me and my friends. We just want to clean you up and make you happy while we live here." Then I looked out a dark window (the house was dark through out the dream) and looked right into two yellow eyes. I knew it was a test and not to back down but I was so scared in the dream that my hair was standing on end and my eyes were pouring water. Then in real life my alarm started playing the theme to Benny Hill (Yakety Sax) full blast and woke me up. I woke up with a small yelp and tons of goosebumps, but instantly understood what that dream had to say.

When I told Jason about it he said..."Yipes, hon. (brief pause) I wonder if you had managed to stay asleep though the Benny Hill alarm if you would've all started running around in fast motion in your underwear?"

"Most likely" I said.

V Day

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My mom and dad, (pictured) are the best couple I've ever known. (a couple of whats? hahaha...I love that joke). They both have always gone all out on Valentine's Day for each other and for me and my sisters. One of my last years living at home, I think I was a freshman in college, my dad managed to sneak a huge, sweet card and a box of chococherries (my favorite candy ever) under my pillow while I was asleep. I loved that. First of all the fact that he was able to do that without waking me up was amazing...I'm a SUPER light sleeper, but mostly the fact that he went to that trouble to make it a surprise and special even though I was 19.

Last night my husband and I were sitting around eating cheese and he said, "I wonder if there are any presents in the apartment for you right now?" I started tearing up the joint like a DEA officer but then stopped and told him I might want it to be a surprise and asked him if he could try and slip it under my pillow like my dad did that one time. He said..."well I don't think I could without you waking up...". Turns out it was a huge jar of sugar scrub and another big jar of bath salts (both of which I love and wanted badly and would NEVER buy for myself these days). So when I got up this morning he said...."Maybe you should check over the microwave before you take a shower."

Point being....Valentine's Day is one of my favorites.

Hey ladies...

I'm making an official rule right now. Put it in the books. My two best girlfriends (pictured above) are NOT allowed......I repeat NOT allowed to both be out of town at the same time ever again. I miss them individually enough as it is....but to miss them collectively????? Frankly...it stinks. They both get back tomorrow so I suppose I'll live but JEEZE!!! That was pretty selfish of them. I mean...I might have the gout in my thumb and they aren't available? Jerks. With friends like that......and so forth.....

The Homesicks

234;=36;=5;6=XROQDF>2323944;5:;;3ot1lsi.jpg"> My oldest sister (the one in solid black) called me this morning and made my day. Both my sisters, (I'm the pigmentationally challenged one in the middle) live in the same town so there are times I vacillate between envy and guilt about not getting to be close to them every day. Lately it's just been good old fashioned home sickness for them which stings, but in that..."how lucky am I to love and be loved so much that at 31 I still get homesick at all" way.
It was so funny she called because in real life the three of us have been planning a trip to Mexico (we went one other time a few years ago....see picture again). Anyway, last night I had a dream that we were there, but that my sisters were doing everything without me, which would never happen in the real world. I was just missing them and missing myself with them. I told her that when she called today and she understood probably more than I did, as usual. It was a well timed reminder that they both are have never failed to be there right when I needed them. It made me feel super happy and relieved for some reason.

On an unrelated tangent, I remember making a joke when I saw this picture for the first time that I was so pale that I looked like a ghost and making "whoooo....sppooooky" noises. Then noticed that I'm freakishly pale in a lot of our family pictures. A friend of mine asked me if I drank vinegar when I was a child.....when I told him that I did...quite a lot actually...because I truly liked the taste....he said..."That's why then."