Finding the Learning in Everything & Surviving Motherhood Using 2 Hands & 2 Feet

I was invited to see a special preview of this movie in Denver this week, thanks to my wonderful friend Barb at Elementary Spirits.

I have an 8-year-old daughter and 8-year-old niece. We’ve read the books. I read the books when I was a kid too. So I was excited to see this movie. We are also huge Selena Gomez fans in our house too. John Corbett and Josh Duhamel are easy on the eyes too.

I won’t spoil anything, but the movie was great and heartwarming. My favorite part – no huge special effects, loud music or crazy animated characters. Sure all of that is fun, but it’s nice to watch a quiet movie that’s more about the story and characters than the hugeness of it all.

Although I don’t remember specifics from the books, I do remember some of the parts from the books. They showed up in the film. The one disappointing thing, if you can call it that, was that I thought the girls were younger in the books. In the movie, Beezus is somewhere around 15 and Ramona is 9 1/2. I also thought the books told the story from Beezus’ perspective about her younger, rambuncious sister Ramona. The movie is told from Ramona’s perspective and it has more to do with their entire family dynamics vs just focusing on the sisters’ relationship.

Apart from that, the movie is a sweet, warm story about the difficulties, bumps and love a family goes through while the kids are growing up. My own family has had some pretty big bumps recently and the movie made me stop and think about everything from the kids’ point of view versus my own.

So enjoy a cool, quiet afternoon in the AC and take your kids and go watch “Ramona and Beezus” this summer.

I have ignored my blog for the past few months. I actually haven’t ignored it more than just been pulled away from it. As you know, my dad was diagnosed with kidney cancer on April 1. He passed away on May 2nd. It was a nightmare of a month full of 9-1-1 calls, hospital stays, bad news, more bad news and fast declining health.

Two of the weeks were spent in the hospital. One week in palliative care spent hoping there would be a cure. A stall. Something. Then a final week with hospice. I can’t say enough about The Denver Hospice. Amazing, caring, unbelievable people. I don’t know what we would have done without all of the support 24 hours a day.

Then a fast decline and suddenly we were sitting in a mortuary making final arrangements. More on this later.

I really had no idea what had happened and didn’t have time to process. After making calls and settling his affairs things began to slow down. For about a day. Then my mom landed in the hospital with a herniated disc. She has been living and healing at my house the past three weeks.

A vacation and another loss. The loss of a person whom I’ve known for two years. A fighter. A bright spirit. Someone taken too too soon. Her children left behind to grow up without her. Makes me wonder how such a strong, courageous, caring human being could be taken when the person who flips me off while passing and cutting me off on the highway is still here.

For those of you keeping score, that’s three losses in six months.

My chin is up, I’m enjoying the warmth and freedom that summer brings and trying to pull my life together. I’m changing my perspective and feelings on a lot of things. I’m looking at things differently. I’m concentrating on the silver linings. On the happiness and being thankful for everything and everyone I have in my life.

Hug those who you care about. Be thankful and love the life you have.

Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family for your support and messages. I haven’t been so good about getting back to everyone, but I appreciate and love all of the notes of love and encouragement.

Here’s an update on my dad…

His jaundice had gotten much worse on Thursday and his legs were swelling. He had finally gotten an appointment to get the biopsy a week from Thursday. It felt so far away, especially as I watched him look and feel worse. I made an appointment for him on Friday morning. During that appointment, the doctor decided he needed to go into the hospital for additional care. The doctor said if he continued the way he was, he wouldn’t be able to handle the biopsy by Thursday. All I could think was “DUH People! He needs medical attention and you aren’t moving.”

At the same time, I felt like I was living a nightmare. I never thought I’d ever see my dad so helpless and so sick. This is a guy who has seen a doctor about six times in the past 30 years. He’s tough. He’s invincible. He’s my dad.

We took him to the hospital on Friday and a whirlwind of tests and doctors started flying. He had three MRI’s, a bone scan and the biopsy. He was really exhausted from all the tests but at least he was getting attention and they were looking at all angles.

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I had planned last week to write a few posts about a dear friend whom I lost in January. Then my life turned upside down on Wednesday.

My dad has been complaining about injuring his shoulder and then his back since early March. He didn’t know what he had done to hurt himself, but the pain was immense. He reached a point two weeks ago that the pain was more than he could tolerate anymore and went to Urgent Care. They x-rayed him, told him he has the joints of a 45-year-old and told him to rest. A few days later on a Saturday, he was back, because the pain was not lessening.

They gave him some Vicadin, said he had back strain and sent him home. On Monday, he returned, explaining that he had run through his prescription. At this point, an alert trauma nurse practioner noticed he was also yellow. Back strain doesn’t make you yellow. The doctor thought he may have hepatitis. I quickly did research. Two bad kinds, one kind that is fully recoverable. Scary but I’d go with Hep A. If he had that, the description said it takes about three months to recover. I thought, three months…that’s a long time to have him not feeling good. It would take him into the summer until he was up and running again.

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The year 2010 is showing itself to be a rough year. A stressful year and a year full of changes and realizations, but also a year that’s keeping me in mourning. I’m mourning the loss of a friend and a friendship. I’ll save the friendship loss for another post.

A friend of mine, one of the mom’s from my daughter’s school, passed away in January. She and I weren’t terribly close but I did love her and miss her every day.

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In my 18th year, I found a grey hair. I was baffled and confused. I was 18 and I had a grey hair. Was this really how the aging process worked? Turn 18, things start to change.

Not long after that, I found another. And another. Every time I looked, I had twice as many as I had had the last time. I decided this was the time to start experimenting with hair color. I went dark brown. I tried light brown. Red. Dark Purple. Nothing too crazy but it was all experimental and fun.

Then I lost interest and let it grow out. The greys started showing up with a vengeance. I realized if I was going to look my age (mid-twenties) I was going to have to make hair coloring a regular thing. By the time I reached 30 and had my first daughter, I could tell by my roots that the beautiful auburn was gone. Completely replaced with grey. If I laxed, I would get a skunk stripe along my part. Not attractive. With a new baby, job and more I didn’t have time to keep up with it. I tried to part it differently, tilt my head backward when talking to people, and more until I had a chance to cover it up. I didn’t like it, but it was a part of life for me. If it grew out a little too much, life didn’t end. I’d get to it when I could get to it.

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I’m not someone to shy away from admitting I’m wrong or that I made a mistake. They say when you are going to make a mistake, make it big. So that’s what I did.

I’m the city editor for Denver Savvy Source. I held a contest to give away tickets to Disney on Ice this week in Denver. I put the wrong venue on my article. Ugh. Not only that, but my winner went to that wrong venue to claim her winning tickets. She was devastated, her kids were devastated and they missed the show.

She contacted me the next morning and my heart ripped out. I felt horrible. Awful. I wished I could turn back the clock and make it right for them. As a mom, I know what it’s like to handle that kind of disappointment with your children. It’s heart wrenching. Did I mention I felt awful?

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Today on The View, the ladies talked about young teachers not being trained in how to keep control of their classroom. They learn how to teach the subjects, but not how to gain control over their class. Joy felt class size is a huge factor in teachers keeping control. Elizabeth felt it begins at home and a lot of children are not getting the discipline they need at home.

I agree with both of them. Class sizes are getting out of control. If a teacher must handle a lot of children during the day, they spend more time chasing and less time teaching. I’m not a teacher but I’m the product of two teachers. My mom still teaches preschool today. I’ve volunteered in my daughter’s classroom. This doesn’t make me an expert, but it has opened my eyes to the difficulties teachers face.

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I love Valerie Bertinelli. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s her likeable and down to earth personality. Maybe it’s because I’m fascinated with her Hollywood lifestyle and marriage to a rock star. Maybe it’s because she starred in One Day at a Time and I identified with her character. Either way, I’ve always been a fan of Valerie’s. (Yes, we are on a first name basis now).

I had to watch her guest co-host on The View today.

The ladies were discussing Barbara Walter’s final pre-Oscar celebrity special. On it she interviews Mo’Nique and Sandra Bullock. Both said their husbands were very important forces in their lives. Mo’Nique said she believed in open marriage. I can strongly state that I don’t believe in open marriage for myself. I can’t see how allowing others into your bond, your partnership, your family could possibly strengthen it over weaken it. But hey, if it works for Mo’Nique, I’m not judging.

As for having a supportive, life changing husband, I agree with. Mine is my rock. He is my best friend, my shoulder to cry on, a partner to laugh with. He above all, supports me in everything I do, even if he doesn’t agree with it. He will tell me the pants I have on make me look fat or if I have a booger. This is all good. I’d rather look ridiculous in front of him, because I know he loves me, even with a booger in my nose, instead of in front of the harsh public. I definitely don’t need people laughing at my atomic wedgie behind me in the mall.

I only hope I come close to being as strong for him as he is for me. I’m not sure I will ever attain that status. I will, however, always let him know he has a booger. Snickering included.

Thanks D for being my wonderful, dear husband. You have brightened my life in countless ways since we met and I don’t know what I would do without you.

If you missed my BFF Valerie on The View, you can watch the episode on ABC.Go.com.

I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other The View branded items to facilitate my review.

I am so excited to announce that I was chosen by Mom Central to be a Brand Ambassador for The View. I love The View and try to sneak it in when I can. I don’t get to see every episode due to my work schedule and children, but I watch snippets when I can and keep it recording on my DVR.

I have always enjoyed Joy Behar and her insightful comments. I haven’t had a chance to check out her new show, maybe I should put that on my DVR too.

The View made it’s best decision by bringing on Whoopi Goldberg. I have always been a fan of Whoopi, but find her voice of reason on The View so refreshing, positive and most importantly true. Whoopi speaks not to politics, politicians or what’s polite. She says it as it is, doesn’t hold punches and puts it out there. Maybe Whoopi should run for public office.

Joy and Whoopi are my favorites, but I love all the girls, their Hot Topics and guests. I can’t wait to hear what will be discussed each day on The View.

Now you can win a trip to New York City with a friend to watch a taping of The View. Fill out the Mom Central survey by February 28th for a chance to win.

For a schedule or more on The View, check out their website.

I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for ABC Daytime and will receive a tote bag or other The View branded items to facilitate my review.