I Heart Chris Isaak

Seriously, I have a thing for Chris Isaak. It's been about 15 years or so which is basically the length of time that I've been old enough to have a thing for anyone. He's hot. Like super hot. He can sing, he can write, he's funny. Oh and did I mention that he's hot? And 51, which seems impossible. But age doesn't matter to me.

He hadn't been to KC in about 4 years. He was here last Saturday. The show was awesome. It was at the Voodoo Lounge at Harrah's which seemed a little weird, but it was a great venue. We had 9th row tickets. We got there in time to buy a shirt and pic since we knew that he signs autographs after the show (and designs the shirts, btw.)

And a man kept looking at me funny. I noticed him a couple of times. Then he stops us and asks if we'd been to a show before. We say yes. He then asks if I'd be willing to go up on stage during a certain song with some other ladies from the audience and dance. Uh, HELL YEAH! And I don't even dance. But I didn't care. It's CHRIS FREAKING ISAAK!

So I proceeded to get up my liquid courage and went up and danced. It was awesome and a little mortifying. I didn't have a low cut dress on so I didn't get a chance to talk to him onstage. But whatever. He still loves me. And I'm the brunette on the left. You can see my arm. I'm glad you can't see my face or you'd all get a look at my stalker face, I'm sure.

Did I mention that I love Chris Isaak?

Tee hee hee

I found these funny...

Sloan

Beckett

Harper


Now let's see if these work.

Opposites attract?

I believe that opposites attract, but can they sustain? When you are first meeting someone, having things in common is nice, but sometimes it is the differences that are so intriguing. Sure it's nice to talk about hobbies you are both into, but maybe you are a techie-geek and she's an outgoing artist. That's exciting and fun and new.

But can two totally different people get married, have kids, lives, happiness?

I don't know.

My hubby and I are a lot alike in some ways and totally different in others. Lately, I've been feeling the differences a lot more. He's all of a sudden into motorcycles. I am not. I have no desire to ride one, own one, let my kids on one... None of that. He wants one. A lot. And I come off as the bitch for saying no. Uh, he already has a dangerous enough job, we don't have the money for it, and it just isn't practical right now. And yet, I am the bitch. I hate that. I did get him a training course for Father's Day which was a double gift. Not only did he get to learn to ride a bike, but he also got a whole weekend away from any chores and responsibilities.

And boats. I don't want a boat. I don't hate boats, but I don't love them either. I can sit in one and have just as good a time as the next guy, but I don't want to do it every weekend. Or even every month. Hubby does.

And that of course ties in with going to the lake, fishing, lake houses, camping. I am not that person. That is not my thing. And yet I am made to feel badly. Like I am crushing his hopes and dreams.

Well it isn't like I used to be outdoorsy, conned him into marrying me and then stopped being outdoorsy. I am not that kind of gal. Outdoorsy fun for me involves saltwater and sand and is about 2000 miles away.

I'd rather live on the West Coast where I used to. I bring it up every once in a while and it gets a chuckle.

I dream of writing a novel one day. That can be done while he is at the lake with other people that like it. But does that drive us apart? Can you have hobbies that are totally distinct and separate? When does it just become separate lives?

If my dreams and his dreams are mutually exclusive, what does that mean?

Parents

I don't understand parents. I am one, and I understand me as much as I can. I don't understand MY parents. They are nuts.

My mom and I talk almost every day. She calls and then I call her back on my mobile with free long distance so she doesn't have a giant phone bill. But when we are in the same room, we are on edge. But I touched on that in a previous post.

My dad... Where to start? He was a complete workaholic when I was growing up. Rarely saw him. It was an every-other-weekend divorced dad thing. But he worked all day on Saturdays. Keep in mind, he was a white collar worker, no set hours, and he was pretty high up, so it wasn't like he was trying to impress. That was just how he was. He made very good money, but was tight with it. He never took us on trips or family vacations. His idea of vacation was taking us to Oklahoma to stay at our grandparents' house for a month in the summer. (His month per the divorce settlement.) Anyway, when I was in high school, he remarried and retired. At this point, I lived with him. So I went to school all day, worked from 3-11ish, then came home and did homework. I was 17 and the only person actually working.

Well, not sure how she did it, but his wife has been able to get him to loosen his grip on the almighty dollar. They take cruises, and travel internationally, and buy new cars all the time, and new furniture, and take little weekend trips to cute towns, and basically buy whatever they want.

And part of me is pissed. Why didn't he want to spend any of that on me? Or my brother? And now, my kids? We go visit once a year or so. He pays for meals and slips me some "travel" money, but it doesn't' feel the same.

Now that I have my own kids, I can't imagine not giving them certain things. Like the memories that come from taking a vacation together. We are not a rich family, maybe our vacation this year is a night at the Great Wolf Lodge which is just on the other side of town. But it's an event. It's fun, it's family, it's life.

I dream of taking everyone to Disney World. That's the ultimate kid destination. But for now, we'll settle for Worlds of Fun.

At least we are together. And having a blast.

That's how I want my family to be... though I am sure when they are my age, they too will not understand their parents.

Holy crap!

I don't even know if anyone checks this anymore. It's been like 17 years since my last post. OK, not really, but might as well have been.

I had the baby... he's a boy. I think we are going to keep him. Though he did have surgery when he was 19 days old. That pissed me off. Well, scared me mostly. But he's fine now. Almost 3 months old. That's nuts.

I'm sure everyone that might actually read this already knows that info.

I love my kids. I get annoyed with them, don't get me wrong, but I love them. A lot. More than can even fit in my oddly shaped body. Sometimes it almost hurts, literally. And sometimes it makes me cry.

My oldest is an amazing little girl. And she's had to be on the back burner since her two brothers have been around. But she doesn't care generally. She helps me. All the time. She'll get a diaper or fix a snack. She'll keep her eyes on one while I tend to the other. She plays. With all her heart. She gets frustrated, don't we all? But 99 times out a hundred, there's no question that she's loving every minute of it. Yes, I get the eye roll or the "But I was just getting ready to...." But she comes through like a champ.

I love my kids.

It's a new year, and I am still lame

We had the ultrasound. We did not find out gender. It is written on a piece of paper and sealed in an envelope. It is driving various friends and relatives nuts. I don't quite understand why. It isn't their baby. They have nothing to do in preparation. We have one of each already. Who cares all that much? I think hubby wanted to find out, but basically since the first few days after the scan, we haven't really thought about it.

What have we been thinking about? Christmas, duh! This was the best Christmas ever. The kids were Rockwellian. They had matching jammies that the elves brought to them on Christmas Eve (like they do every year) and were just happy and grateful and adorable. My big gift was a new video camera so the whole thing is on tape. Which is awesome because I really think Harper's days of believing in Santa are numbered. I hope to get at least one more year out of her, but it seems pretty doubtful. Though as amazing as she is as a big sister, I think I can count on her to keep the secret for the little ones.

As for the new little one, it's trying to kill me with heartburn and various kicks and jabs at inopportune moments. Like right in the bladder when I am almost asleep. But I'll love it anyway, I'm sure.

We have come up with zero names. We suck.

And hubby recently announced that he has training the last week of March at a location three hours away. If you know me, that means I will of course go into labor as soon as he arrives at said destination and deliver before he has a chance to get home. I was 8 days early with Harper and about 15 days early with Beckett. And Beckett was a pretty fast delivery. My OB even laughed and said I needed to tell him to skip the training or else he'd miss the birth of his child. I'm going with the OB on this one.

And speaking of OBs, I love mine so much that as of now, I have referred two friends to him. The first one has already delivered and loved him as much as I do. The second one hasn't seen him yet, but will love him for sure. So if you are looking to get knocked up and want an amazing OB, let me know.

And my delivery was at Menorah last time and will be there this time. Seriously, it is like a resort or something. They have menus to order from and the food is very good. You get two meals per room, so spouse or in my case once, Ashley, can have dinner with you. You tell them what you want to order and when to deliver. And if you forget, they give a nice little reminder call. I love that place too. Maybe they will let me stay a week or so this time instead of the 48 hours that insurance insists on. Bastards!

I am lame

I was so good at the beginning to do regular posts. Now I'm just lazy.

But I think lots of folks get that way, right Ashley?

Our ultrasound is on December 6th. We still think we aren't going to find out gender. I just don't know if we will be able to stick with it when it's actually go time. I think I'll take an envelope and have the tech write it down then seal it. Though maybe that will make it even harder. Who knows. I just think it will be an amazing surprise to not know until it's born. Another plus, it will drive my mother-in-law insane. And we already have one of each so we aren't hoping for one or the other. Harper would like twin girls. I would not. I just want one and there seems to only be one heartbeat now so we should be good. When Harper refers to the baby, she calls it a he though. And Jim thinks it's a girl. What do they know? It isn't in their bodies. When asked if he wants a boy or a girl, Beckett's response is, "Gir!"

And the other complication to waiting is names. Names are so difficult. We like unusual, but not super weird. Though you all may think they are weird, we love the names we've picked. If we wait, we'll have to come up with a set for both genders. It's hard enough to agree on when you know. This may be impossible. With Harper, we had it picked out during the second trimester. With Beckett we finally agreed like a week before he was born. We are not good at agreeing on names.

So what are your ideas? Legit ones, not ha ha ones...