Adventures In Wonderland: October 2009

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Texas Trip Part 3 - Bappy Hirthday! More Mardagritas!

Day 3 of our Texas trip began with some birthday wishes for the Queen of Hearts.

Then she, G, and I went shopping.

G is R's mom and is my second mother.

Her hugs will lift the dark clouds above your head and her smile will shine light into the darkness.

After shopping I took a few photos around the M Spot.

Then we all got cleaned up and ready for the evening. We started our celebrations with R's famous margaritas on the porch.

The evening was filled with conversation.

Back rubs.

And wondering where the time has gone.

Then we gathered ourselves together. (And by gathered together I mean that I tried to see straight after realizing that R had been refilling my drinks all night without my knowledge.) Then we headed out for a wonderful birthday gathering full of friends and Mexican food.

After dinner I dropped the Q of H off at the M Spot and headed over to Mel's house to wish her a happy birthday and to meet her girlfriend S.

I neglected to take photos because it was 2 am and I left my brain at the restaurant.

It was wonderful though, trust me.

Then I headed back the the M Spot to join everyone in catching some Zs before our last day with them before heading to the wedding.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Four Years Ago Wednesday

I lost my Nanny.

My Mother's Mother was a force to be reckoned with. She was the Mother of four, one of whom passed before her.

She was the Grandmother of eight.

She was the Great-Grandmother of two.

She touched more lives than we will ever know.

She knew tragedy and pain.

She knew love and laughter.

She accidentally put green eyeliner on her eyebrows and when someone pointed it out she laughed harder than anyone.

When I was born she wrote this:

First Granddaughter

Over 900 miles away from me

there is a child in Texas

a brand-new child

And here in my solar plexus

there is this new joy

that is like an old pain

I recognize.

The vulnerability

of loving so much,

of caring so much,

of worrying about another person now

for the rest of my life.

My daughter

has a daughter

and we are inextricably bound forever,

my new granddaughter and I.

H.L.P.

We could all learn from her that loving so much, caring so much, worrying so much...it's all so worth it.

I wouldn't be here without you Nanny, even if you used to pat my tush in the store and embarrass me.

xoxo

Meggie

Texas Trip Part 2 - A Journey Of A Thousand Miles

Day two of our time in San Antonio started with a traditional breakfast - tacos from Taco Taco which is just around the corner from the M Spot.

Once we had all recovered from that, we set off to explore some places from our past.

First we went to the place of my birth. The house I spent the first 17 years of my life in.

It was great to see that the house I loved so much was being so well cared for. Those windows that you see are in what used to be my bedroom. I loved that room. There are 3 windows just like these on the other wall as well. It was painted red with white trim and the sunlight streaming in them in the morning was gorgeous. When I was about 10 I helped my dad re-shingle the roof. Well, actually, I sat with him on the roof while he worked. My parents planted the trees you see in the foreground before I was born. It is a place of many wonderful and painful memories. A place of joy and sorrow. A place that is not home, but will always be home.

After that, we drove over to my pre-school. I was surprised to see it still up and running. I knocked on the door and was delighted when they allowed me to take photos around the school.

This school was the epitome of nurturing. It was a school that served the entire child. I was allowed to learn by doing. It was wonderful. Now, 22 years later, there is a whole new generation of children being given the gift of a wonderful education here.

We moved on to the the place I went to school from the time I was six until I was 14. This school was not quite as touchy-feely, but it gave me a priceless education. It prepared me for college before I started high school. I am lucky to have gone here.

It started to rain so we decided to head back to the M Spot.

My friend Mel was getting off work soon and was going to head over for dinner. It was just so perfect. Mel and I met at the school you see above. We were just starting the first grade and we have been inseparable ever since.

When she came over there was much hugging and squealing.

Then we did a little catching up, some reminiscing, and a whole lot of laughing.

And before we knew it, it was 11pm and we decided to turn in. We weren't too sad though, because we knew we would be seeing each other again the next day. The next day was a very special day. It was The Queen of Heart's birthday and Mel's birthday.

And boy was it fun.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Something A Little Different

Yesterday I herniated a disc in my lower back.

Yeah, yuck.

It happened at work while lifting one of the kiddos.

Since I am not feeling very well I decided to do a simple blog MeMe.

Yep, It's all about Me!

Here's one MeMe that is going around like the Herpely-Erpelies.

A - Age: 25

B - Bed Size: Queen

C - Chore You Hate: Unloading the dishwasher

D - Dog's Name: Arrow

E - Essential Start Your Day Item: A shower

F - Favorite Color: Pink

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'9"

I - I Am: On Vicodin right now

J - Job: Early Intervention

K - Kids: They fucked up my back

L - Living Arrangements: Currently all my living is done in a horizontal position thanks to my back

M - Mother's Name: The Queen of Hearts

N - Nicknames: Meg, Meggie, Meggers, Megonski, Nutmeg, Booger, Auntie Meg, the list goes on

O - Overnight Hospital Stays: Appendix surgery, Pancreatitis, many other overnights in the ER

P - Pet Peeve: Martha Stewart. Everything Martha Stewart

Q - Quote From A Movie: "Surely you can't be serious" "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley" - Airplane

R - Right Or Left Handed: Right

S - Siblings: None

T - Time You Wake Up: 5:45 am on weekdays.

U - Underwear: Own them and wear them.

V - Vegetable You Dislike: None. I love all veggies.

W - Ways You Run Late: Getting stuck in traffic.

X - X Rays You've Had: both feet, left knee (also CT), tailbone, spine (also CT), head (also CT), both feet, right hand.

Y - Yummy Food You Make: Texas sheet cake, homemade pizza, eggplant parmesan.

Z - Zoo Favorite: Polar Bear.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ladies And Gentlemen - My Grandma

During our trip to Texas my Grandma busted out with the best quote of all time. We were sitting in group eating breakfast and she says this:

"Tom, you know guns right? Because my semi-automatic keeps jamming."

God I love her.

EDITED TO ADD:

My cousin reminded me (in comment #1 on this post) that this was not the end of the story. When my grandma said this I shot pieces of the banana nut muffin I was eating about 6 feet and then said "...and it goes on the blog". And so it did.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Texas Trip Part 1 - Back In The Mothership

Okay, here we go....the low down on the Texas trip has arrived.

Our flight landed around 7pm Texas time and we immediately headed over to the rental car agency to pick up our awful car. I mean, it was just horrible. No one should be forced to drive a car like this.

Okay, actually it was a cherry red Volvo hard top convertible. And it was awesome. Just try to not have fun while driving around in this baby. I dare you.

The next stop was our home base for the next 4 days. It is the home of our dear friends who lived next door to us for 9 years. Their son (R) is 7 months older than me and we grew up together. When we were 9 they moved. It was very sad. It was about a mile and a half away.

I love their house. It's my second home. It's the mothership in San Antonio. I'll call it the M Spot.

It was wonderful to set down our luggage and dive into some amazing drinks and food. In that order. There were old friends to see.

A remodeled kitchen to explore.

Gossip to be shared.

(The Queen of Hearts is going to bitch at me for putting this photo up because she hates how she looks in it. Too bad.)

And R to bother with my camera.

Of course, we can't forget the dog. We got to meet the M's new dog, Schitzi Mitzi.

She's very cute and very sweet and very much not right in the head.

After a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken, garlic potatoes, salad, bread, wine and conversation. We settled in for the night. Thankful that we were with these people in this place. Grateful to have friends that are like family. And with those thoughts dancing around in my brain I slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Until the Queen Of Hearts started snoring.