Super Heros have Birthdays Too!

Dear HeMan Hubby,
Today is 2 months and 9 days since you left.
Today is your birthday... the 1st one without you here to tease me about still being older than you even though today makes , or made, us the same age...
A lot has changed. A lot is changing.
When I think of how we spent Valentine's day this year talking about our plans to move to Florida when you were well...and how a week later everything started to unravel...
You you went from having 15 to 20 years to maybe 5 years to 6 maybe 9 months... and then you were gone... just 3 months and 8 days after we made those plans to move... when you were well.
You are well now. Not here with me like we planned... but you are well and whole and no longer in pain... which is what I prayed for every day since your diagnosis.
It just came in the one way I didn't want it to come.
But my birthday wish for you came true... you are well.
I know you are with me.
I feel you in my heart and see your smile in our children's smiles, and when I am alone in our room I feel you beside me, holding me and hear you telling me it will all be okay... I miss you more then I thought could be possible but I am okay, because you are with me.
I love you.
HAPPY 52nd Birthday to the love of my life, the one who made me whole and made me feel loved every minute of every day.
I miss you John LeeRoye Bassford and dream of the day when we will be together again...
You are...
And will always be...
My Super Hero

Link to BratChild's facebook tribute to her SuperHero Dad! 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1977397842305132&id=100001048060376

The Importance of being...Present?

I am going to be a Grandma.
Well, technically I am already a grandma...
so actually I should say I am going to be a grandma... again.


GoodMom, my oldest child, is expecting a bouncing baby boy in August.


We are so happy.
We are so excited.
We are so not looking forward to it.


Not that we aren't anxiously awaiting the new baby's arrival.
We are.
But I am not.

My mother in law planned a special surprise trip for HeMan Hubby's birthday.
In July.
Except that the trip will over lap into August...


There is a very real possibility that we will be away when the new baby comes.

Ok, not the end of the world... except...

I was away when FancyPants was born.
Yes, it again was a family trip with HeMan Hubby's family.
And it was planned so that we were away 2 weeks before FancyPants was due...


However no one told FancyPants she had to wait for her due date and she was born while I was on the Alabama coast... 18 hours away.


I am hoping that the new baby, despite being a boy as we all know they do not tend to listen well, will pay attention to his Grammy and wait until his due date to arrive.


When I will be in the same state.

When I will be able to hop in the car and dash to GoodMom's side.


When I will be able to see my lovely daughter hold her new baby for the first time.




But then, he is a boy ...
so I won't be getting my hopes up...


Much.

Happy Birthday... Again!

The month of May is a busy one in TheBusyFamily house.

Birthdays abound.
Graduations commence.
Final exams are suffered.

Today BratChild was born.
14 years ago.
It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning when she exploded in this world.
And I do mean exploded.
If not for the quick reflexes of HeMan Hubby she may have ended up on the hospital room floor.

Lucky for us he was paying attention.
Lucky for her he knows how to catch... without a mitt!

Julalapoo- Manboy's girlfriend of 5 years- had a birthday 14 days ago.
ManBoy had a birthday 13 days ago.
My niece had birthday 10 days ago.
My mother had a birthday 9 days ago.
My son from another mother has his birthday tomorrow.
My niece graduates from high school in 3 days.
TeenBoy has been taking high school requirement exams all week...
with more than passing grades...
such a rare occurence for him... to do the work I mean... not the being smart enough to pass part

Mother's Day was thrown in there amid the birthdays.
Memorial Day is thrown in amid the exams and the graduations.

Yes, May is a very busy month for TheBusyFamily...

Thank God it's nearly done...
Except...
June is even worse!

Just When You Think.... Ah-Ha! There's the Problem

Yes, life has been very hectic and very busy for TheBusyFamily.
It started back in January... and I thought it was getting better...
That's what I get for thinking!

Wednesday... so NOT my favorite day of the week anyway... they always seem to go horribly wrong at our house for some reason.

So, yesterday was Wednesday.
A good Wednesday.
Jul-la-la-poo's birthday in fact.
Oh, she's Manboy's girlfriend of  what, 6 years?

Which means that today is ManBoy's birthday.
Yikes.... gotta run to A STORE and get him something... soon...

Anyway, Wednesday is not a great day traditionally but I thought it was over and done with - scott-free, clean as a whistle, no worries...

Until ...

At work last night I opened my laptop and it took forever... like 40 minutes!
to boot up...
Only to have a big screen come up that said...

Internal Hard Drive undected...blah, blah,blah blah, blah and so on, and so on, and so on...

After the first 3 words I was done and so too was Wednesday as the clock silently flipped over to 12:00
and the computer screen went blank.

So... today is ManBoy's birthday. He's 22 now.
Maybe today will be better, it is afterall, Thursday.

And I promise NOT TO THINK about anything at all...

At least for a little while, that is.

A week until it's almost almost Christmas!

Yes. Today is the day that I start the count down to Christmas.

It goes something like this...
There are 18 days to Christmas which is really only 14 since after the 21st really, who wants to be anywhere near a store or mall?
And once the 14th gets here in a week there is really just that one week left until Christmas and only one weekend left to hit the mall like a madman, woman, er, person.

And with Christmas on a Saturday and only 2 more of those until it gets here, it really is almost almost Christmas.
A party on the 11th... HeMan Hubby's co-worker.
A party in the 18th... fellow DeMolay advisors
A party on the 19th... the Holiday Party for needy kids that our DeMolay chapter hosts every year... this is year 59!

Then Wham! It's the week of Christmas and baking and wrapping of presents and cleaning and packing of clothes for the holiday trip to visit relatives down south commences.

Yes.
Today marks the beginning of the end of the
Holiday Season.
The culmination of the weeks, months, days of anticipation created by Cable TV programming and the Retail Establishments and a Greeting Card company.

Happy 15th 

Oh, and today is TeenBoy's birthday.
He's 15.
He's lucky.
He almost didn't make it this far.
(ceiling, stitches... read back a few posts & you'll see why)

And...
Today is the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Just wanted to make you sure you don't  forget that very important fact on your way to the Christmas rush...

TeenBoy Trivia: He was named for a WWII vet and arrived nearly 3 weeks early to be born on this day ...

WOW, iPods and Growing UP?

Today is my youngest child's 11th birthday.

Now when did that happen? He was just a little guy with strawberry blonde hair, big blue eyes and the most adorable dimple in his chin... and now he is this tall, lanky, freckle-face young man, who still has the most awesome blue eyes and dimples to die for by the way.

I know the kids grow up. I mean we would all go insane if they didn't, but really, they are growing OLDER sooner than they used to.

My oldest child is now 29. I remember her playing with friends when she was 11... playing with dolls and playing "teacher".

Now 11 year olds play video games and hang out on the computer gaming and reading their email... well, not mine of course since I think kids that young should have more cerebral pursuits...

OKAY! You got me. I DO think they should have more mentally stimulating activities, but my kids do play World of Warcraft (or WOW as it is affectionately known in our home) and have PSPs, iPods, Playstation, X-Box and Nintendo gaming systems.
They also have a large selection of DVDs to watch should they tire of video games.
Oh, and yes they have books... thousands of books are in our home and YES! the kids have actually read them, not just used them to prop up broken desk legs or hold down science fair projects while they are drying.

The one thing that they DO NOT HAVE is a cell phone. No phone until they can pay for it themselves. And I mean go to the store and get their own account and pay the bills themselves.
My 3 older kids had to do it that way so the 3 younger ones are stuck with it.

So now that my baby is 11 and no longer thinks he is my baby, what do I do?

I throw a frickin' party that's what I do!
Only 7 more years and the last one will be of an age to fend for himself... not that he will since his 20 year old brother is still living at home and is not financially secure, but he will be old enough that he could be on his own.

The count-down has begun... I still miss the little boy that was, but I am looking forward to meeting the man he will become... and celebrating his achievements over the next few years on his way to being that man.

Oh, and the vacation I will be able to go on once he has left for college... well, if I can afford one...