After allowing the munchkin as much sleep as we could, we packed up the van and headed over to get our friends Zach and Pam. The gang was assembled! With an excited yelp and some help from the oldie’s station we set off to the Portland Zoo. Roughly 25 minutes and some shop talk later we arrived. I would like to say that the entrance was an impressive archway decorated with wildly swinging monkeys and giant condors ready to swoop down and collect your eyes, but alas it was merely some pretty greenery and a ticket person. Bah! Where’s the creativity these days?! But I digress. We entered after some one sided bantering with the ticket lady by Pam, apparently when asked how we arrived “by teleporter” is not an acceptable response… who knew? But we were inside and that was the important bit.

Immediately, we broke out the Zoo map and plotted our course…. oh dear god we have become parents.. *face palm*. We decided to check out the Pacific Northwest Exhibit first. Yes, we are in the Pacific Northwest… and yes there’s an exhibit to the local critters around us. Must be the “just in case you missed it, it’s new to you!” special. And you know what, it was pretty awesome. There were black bears, cougars, lynxes, and all kinds of other creatures I didn’t realize lived around us. There were even polar bears.. now I think that was a stretch, but I guess you can rope them in there with the Pacific part of the journey. We popped out after a fun journey though a log (see pictures) and ended up in the Primates Exhibit. By this time we’d reached a few areas where we could let Amelia run around outside the stroller and she was loving the freedom. Though I think all the different animals caught her off guard as while she was happy enough to point at them from a safe distance, shuffling closer was only an option when either myself or Dustin took her up to the glass. She did pretty well though all things considered. Dustin had her in his arms again and we made tracks to the African Wildlife Exhibit.

As we walked through a giant log into the vast Serengeti plains we were greeted by the mediocre drum playing of a sickly  tribesman. Ok turns out as we rounded the corner that it was some woman attempting to bang on de drums all day. But at least it was semi authentic. We started our expedition here and by this time  had started to encounter the random baby grumps that occurs when a certain little someone is tired. We put her in the stroller and hoped she’d take a short nap. Such naivety we have! Because of course there was too much to see and too much to point at! We toured the zebra’s, the elephants, the hippo’s, the rhino’s, the hyena’s, and so much more and as we came out from an enclosed exhibit we were greeted by drums that summoned the great rain gods themselves! But once again we were misled. In the drum hut stood not a great African tribal leader as we had thought, but no.. two hipsters one with a paper cup pressed between his lips and covering his mouth and nose, while leaving his hands free to create their musical melodies, banging out a pretty cool beat. With that as our background we headed over to the giraffes and out to the last exhibit, the Pacific Shores.

Honestly, by this time we had a cranky Amelia and all of our feet were killing us. The collective centipede was slowing down, resting on random benches and hanging out at exhibits longer than necessary. But we summoned up the last vestiges of energy and trolled on. I think there were tigers somewhere, but around this time practically all of the animals had the right idea. It was nap time. Whether sheltered under the precious shade of strategically placed rocks or tucked away into the zoo built sanctuaries the rest of the creatures were decidedly absent. And they had every right to be after all they are wild creatures despite their caged environment. They aren’t circus creatures here to perform for our every whim and fancy. Even though occasionally, I caught myself saying “look over here damn you!” What? Deal with it.

And thus concluded our romp through the Portland Zoo. It was fun and it was 3 hours of awesome sights and completed with great company. Thanks Zach and Pam for coming out and hanging with us. Certainly had quite a few fun pictures from the whole trip.

Til next time!

To update everyone, I’m now working at Netflix in customer service. I’ve passed the 2 week training period and am now currently in the midst of the 45 day trial run. I think I’m doing good, but who knows. One thing I can say for sure is that I friggen love talking to Netflix customers. 99% of the people that are calling in aren’t pissed off. Yes, there is always that remaining percentage but compared to the rest of the day, it’s a breeze. I do miss working from home though especially since the hours at work right now are tough to deal with. But that’s changing here soon as well.

Other than the new work thing, the family and I have been trying to find places to live in the Beaverton area. Close to my work and to most of our friends/family. So far we haven’t had much luck. Hardly any place has A/C out here. We’ve seen a few places we’ve liked, but haven’t been able to land one that’s a downstairs with a washer/dryer and a 3 bedroom. Everyone seems to have 2 bedrooms though. And we need the 3rd bedroom so Dustin has his own work space since he’s now working from home. But blarg enough about house searching.

For those of you that may have missed it, Amelia turned 1 on July 20th! Here’s the link to the photo gallery of that day: Amelia’s first birthday. She shared her party with her friend Jeffy who was born 4 days before her. They had an awesome time! Jeffy’s Grandma Kathy set the whole thing up and even made the train cakes herself. I can’t express how grateful I am for Kathy taking care of everything. There was much cake and hyperactive babies for all!

Amelia also has had some pretty awesome developments. She has about 10-12 teeth now, the backs ones have all started to come through. She’s beginning to repeat words. Dustin was telling me the other day how she repeated the word bumble bee back to him while he was reading to her, so super excited about that. She’s still running around like crazy and of course is still super cute. At her 1 year old check up we found out she’s still underweight at a measly 17.5lbs. Our new doctor is having us put her on more formula to try and beef her up, but I don’t know. She’s eating, she’s developing, she’s almost talking for goodness sakes, so I don’t know why we have to keep her on the formula still. Our previous doctor was telling us that this is about the time you start to ween your kid off of milk. So ugh, I don’t know who to believe. We’ve increased her milk intake, but I honestly doubt it’ll have any effect with as much as she runs around and burns off calories. We go back in a few weeks though, so we’ll see if she’s packed on any pounds.

Man, it’s 2:24am already. Guess it’s time to shut down the ole compy and head to bed. Hopefully, this time I can get some uninterrupted sleep lol.

Basement Living Room

So there’s been a lot going on lately and I know the blog has suffered the consequence. But I find myself with a little bit of free time so I can fill everyone in with the awesome news. For a while now, Dustin and I have decided to set our sights on the city of Portland. The salary level is better up there and the proximity to family and friends is a big draw. Dustin had been trying to get into a graphic designer position up there, but we kept getting met with the same answer, “you aren’t local so we don’t want to risk it.” It was a huge drag and finally I decided to dust off my customer service resume and apply for some Netflix positions that had popped up all over the internet. Much to my surprise they contacted me the very next day and scheduled a phone interview. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was asked to come to Hillsboro to interview in person. We put some dates together and were able to make it up to Portland during Memorial Day weekend. I had my interview and personally thought I tanked it. But as soon as we got back to Medford, I received another call stating they were ready to move on to the next step and hire me. It all happened super fast.

From that point on, we put in our two weeks notice and started packing to move to Portland. In a matter of weeks we made the move and we’re now staying with Dustin’s mother until we can find our own place. We didn’t want to rush into a lease without thoroughly checking out the neighborhood and accessing our situation. Now keep in mind, Dustin is still working as well, he was able to remain on with our previous employer as a contractor/vendor so neither one of us will be out of a job. It’s a nice role reversal as I’ll be the one going into work everyday while he stays home with Amelia. Once again we save on child care which is also a huge plus. So yeah WOW! A lot has happened and the month of June isn’t even over yet! To top it off, we still aren’t done with our craziness. You’d think after moving from the bottom of the state to the top, we’d be ready to relax for a bit. Nope, not us. We have a family reunion we’re going to tomorrow in Boise, Idaho. Yeah, go go go!

I’m tired, I have bruises on my arms from turning into an Amazon woman and battling heavy couches and giant boxes of doom, but it’s all worth it. We are here in Portland now and there’s no limit to what we can do. Dustin has time to work on his comics  and is in a perfect city to connect with other aspiring comic artists. Dark Horse is here for Gooses sake! And Stumptown Comics Fest. Plenty of opportunities to get recognized. Not only does he have the perfect launching pad for his work, but this is also the town where we get to start serious planning for our wedding. We’ve moved the date up to around either May or June of 2012, so starting to research nearby wedding sites is definitely on our to do list. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to have a man that’s just as excited to marry me as I am to marry him. Mushy I know, but get over it. =p

I want to take a moment to thank our friends in Medford that came to help us pack up the Uhaul and say goodbye. I miss you guys already. I honestly don’t know how we would have loaded up everything by ourselves and I want to thank you so much for your help and support. You guys have been awesome and I know that I’ll keep in contact with at least a few of ya lol. Ryan and Carly, you guys have been our hanging out buddies since before we started dating. You’ve probably been our closest friends. I miss our crazy nights out at the dance clubs and the relaxing hot tub trips. Our girls nights were awesome and always full of surprisingly easy to make recipes. Our bad movie and pizza nights which later evolved into fantastic dinner and silly movie nights were always a hit. I’m going to miss that quite a bit. Cat, you were always there when I needed to vent and my Gooses are you a barrel of fun! Thank you so much for all your birthday presents and our movie nights. Avatar was still a blast to see with you. I’m sad we never got to have our True Blood Season 2 marathon but when I do watch it, you better be damn sure I’m going to message you about it lol. Julie and Nick, I don’t remember the last time I’ve had soooo much fun at a gamer night than with you guys. 3 am in the morning every single time and I don’t regret an hour of it. I can’t wait to hook up the Xbox live and hear Julie’s frantic screams as we all hunt her down in Zombie Halo. That was just ridiculously fun and even though we won’t be in the same room, I bet it’s still going to be a blast. Maybe more so since we won’t be able to cheat and look at each others screens lol. Bruce and JJ, thank you guys for stopping by and I know we weren’t able to make our schedules line up most of the time, but you guys were still there to share our big news on New Year’s Eve, and even before that back in the day of super late poker nights. It was always fun and never without some great memories to take away. Especially, when Bruce decided to pretend to be super mad at the pizza guy and storm back into the house after chasing him down to get the right change back saying that Dustin had to hold him off. Yeah you had us all going there buddy lol. To those that couldn’t make it here’s a shout out to you guys too, Jake and Kay, Michael, Josh and Angela. Good friends, just the timing was too short to get it to all work out.

Medford was fun while it lasted, but unfortunately was not big enough to house the dreams that Dustin and I both share. We need a bigger family base for Amelia. We need more to do and Portland’s where it’s at. Not too long after we move into our own place, we’ll be looking at all the wedding planning, after that we’ll be looking for a house. Big plans on the horizon and being here is just the start of it. I’m excited, nervous, scared, and exhilarated. I know this time I won’t just be a corporate drone in the customer service world, but someone with a plan to make it up the ladder. I have a few side projects that I need to revisit and having a new bout of creative energy is just want I needed. The intro a few blogs back regarding the Agent Z outbreak is one of them, plus a newer idea of a few short stories. A different spin on fairy tales and how they should be done in today’s world. Cause seriously there aren’t any princess’s around anymore and the ones that claim to be, you sure as fuck don’t want to save.  We’ll see how that turns out.

Well til next time.

So off we went with an unsuspecting baby in the back, unaware of our 2 hour trip intentions. She actually handled it quite well and only got cranky once we arrived in town. But soon we were settled in for the night at the Quality Inn and I even upgraded our room from a Queen size to a King size room with a jacuzzi! By the time we were ready to get Amelia to go to sleep it was at least 2 hours past her normal bedtime so she was cranky! It took us a while to get her to go to sleep especially in a travel crib that wasn’t her own, but she eventually cried herself to sleep. We were fairly exhausted ourselves and instead of staying up and watching TV or reading or even playing on the lappy we passed out. Good thing too as bright and early Amelia was awake at 6:30am.

With our little darling forcing us out of bed early we took the opportunity to head to the free breakfast buffet that came with our room. There were a few people up as well and soon Amelia found herself fascinated by one of the other guests children. Their girl was about 18 months old and I was surprised to see that Amelia had more teeth then she did. There was some cute interaction and an alright breakfast. Not what I was hoping for, but they still had a nice selection of food. What was important to me was that they had tea.

We headed back to the hotel room and attempted to get Amelia to take her morning nap. It didn’t go so well. She was really fussy about being put down in the travel crib. Even after we’d gotten her to sleep she’d immediately wake up when we put her in it. So knowing she needed her nap and we needed to get the day going, we left her to complain in the crib;  we retreated to the bathroom to check out the jacuzzi. It was huge, it had jets, and it was relaxing! But still the munchkin could be heard through the walls, so while we did get some time to relax it wasn’t as serene as we’d have liked. So out we hopped to attend to Miss Grumpy Pants.

In light of her refusal to sleep, we opted to get the day going. It was still kinda chilly out so we put the Munchkin in some warm clothes and headed out. Luckily it was a beautiful day out and with our ingenious brains we decided to go for a long drive along the coast. The combined motion of the car as well as the warmth from the sun proceeded to knock our daughter out for a while.  She got her nap and we got to check out the awesome scenery. Redwoods on one side and the ocean on the other. I couldn’t ask for a better morning.

We headed back and by this time it was around noon, time for some good old local food! We ended up at the Fisherman’s Restaurant and both ordered their clam chowder and fish and chip platter. The fish and chips were pretty tasty, but served in such a large portion I couldn’t finish mine. The clam chowder was alright but just a bit too thick for me. Amelia was awake at this time and enjoyed some crackers with us. After lunch it was time to hit the beach! It took us a bit to find the right kinda of beach. The first part we past looked to be filled with surfers and I wasn’t sure if it would be the best place for a baby. So we traveled down the road a bit and saw a promising part of beach front right next to a giant play structure. We stopped in there first and let Amelia have fun on one of the swings. She loves swings sooo much!

Now it was time for the beach! We headed towards what we thought was a nice looking part of sand only to find out it wasn’t a good place at all. What looked pretty from the road turned out to be a muddy trail of rocks. So somewhat disheartened we decided to go back to the surfer beach. That turned out to be so much better. We let Amelia down onto the sand and suddenly she had miles of flat expanse to roam free in. She was in Heaven. She squealed, she crawled super fast, and she ate sand… lots and lots of sand. I chased her all over the place and loved the little Amelia trail she’d made in the sand. It was so much fun. We’d even brought a bucket and spade for her to play with and ended up trying to build a sand castle. Amelia helped of course by showing us how unstable our creation was and that it wouldn’t hold up to an attack at all. She did this by repeatedly grabbing chunks of sand from the “turrets” eating them, and then eventually just plowing headfirst into the wall and climbing over it. It was awesome.

Eventually we had to go an clean up a baby full of sand as well as our own sand covered selves. We headed to the hotel room and cleaned off, taking this opportunity to relax a little and get the little one to take her afternoon nap. I took this opportunity to go to the main office and grab some more stuff for tea. At the front desk I asked the guy if he had any suggestions for things to do or recomendations for a good place to eat. He recommended the Beachcombers right on the ocean where we could have a nice dinner and watch the sunset. That sounded great to me. So after we all took an afternoon nap we headed down to dinner.

Inside Beachcombers was really nice, the staff was awesome and the food tasted wonderful. We had a coupon from the front desk guy for free appetisers so we decided to try the shark bites, neither of us had had them before. Omgooses they were delicious! I don’t know if it was just what they were fried in or if it was the meat itself, but it was awesome! Plus it was from a Mako shark, you know, those ones from Deep Blue Sea. I have to admit that I felt a little smug about eating something that would eat me if given the chance. Ha! Ate you first! The main course came around and I had clam chowder and Parmesan Halibut. It was fantastic! Their clam chowder was much better than the one I had earlier as well, but I didn’t get to eat as much of it as I’d have liked due to Amelia liking it way more and protesting every time I stopped giving her some. Dustin had some seafood medley pasta but since both of us were still pretty full from lunch we both ended up getting our stuff boxed up to go.

Back at the hotel we put the little one down for the night and tried to watch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Dustin was so awesome he heard I’d wanted to watch that with him and had purposely pushed it up in our Netflix que so we could watch it. Unfortunatly, I had so much fun during the day I didn’t drink enough water and was taken down by a mega dehydration headache. Being the wonderful man that he is, Dustin ran to the store for me and got me IBprofen, a Yoohoo, and a Mountain Dew. I was drinking a lot of water in the meantime as well, and even with Dustin massaging my neck and shoulders I still couldn’t get rid of it. The night ended sadly with me falling asleep and not finishing the movie. But by morning it was completely gone.

With day 2 ahead of us, we started it off by going to Denny’s. That’s a treat for us since the closest Denny’s is a half hour away back home. I was excited and got a gianormous omelet while Dustin got to make his own American Slam breakfast. Amelia chomped on a variety of foods including mushrooms, eggs, and toast. With breakfast done it was time to head back to the motel and get the munchkin to take her nap. This went far better than the previous day and with the hotel having enough hot water for both of us, one of us took a shower while the other held Amelia during her nap. It seemed better than her getting no sleep again. She only slept for an hour, but it was about all we were going to get at this point. So we packed up the hotel and checked out for the day. We still had places to see though so we packed up the van again and headed to the Redwoods Trees of Mystery.

I love this place. It’s only $14 a person and it’s breathtaking to see these old trees in all their majesty. The first tree we saw was so large it was able to hold other trees on it’s branches. There were literally a family of trees nestled in the branches of this beast. Amazing! This was also Dustin and Amelia’s first time here. I’d been here several times before, but it was nice to go with my family and see the awe on their faces as well. Well ok no so much on Amelia who was getting grumpy with being strapped into a car seat and then a stroller. But it was still a great way to spend the afternoon. After we checked out the trees the tour deposits us into the gift shop which also has a Native American museum attached. We wandered around checking out the gifts and commenting on the absurdity of the “If you break something you’ll pay 50% of the cost” signs posted around the store. That’s what insurance is for. Eventually we ended up by the Redwood Burl plants. Everytime I’ve come here I’ve always wanted one and I decided that I was going to finally buy it. It’s sitting in my kitchen now and I can’t wait for it to sprout! If you do it right, it’ll actually begin growing into a tree! We’ll see how well I’ll do there though.

After the fun times at the forest we decided it was time to head back into town and see if we couldn’t grab some food and then check out any last places. The actual town of Crescent City isn’t that fun to be honest. It’s got some nice scenic spots but overall a boring town. Not very touristy. I still had a wonderful time though and it’s family that counts more than anything. So when we headed back I got some last few pictures of the Battery Point Lighthouse and the fingers of land that extend out over the ocean. There was also an interesting island just off the shore that seriously looked like it would be awesome from some extreme Frisbee Golf. That wrapped up our weekend at Crescent City, so then it was time for the long haul back.

The drive back was fun though seemed much longer then going to the beach. We made a few stops on the way to get food and gas and to give Amelia a break from the van. She did very well and sometimes all she needed was for me to hop back there so she could have some human interaction. The first time I did that she played peek a boo with me with her snuggie for about 10 minutes and then promptly fell asleep. Too cute! When we finally got back into town we had enough time to unload the van and relax for a few minutes before our friends from Portland stopped by. Jack and Mary Hall were coming up from visiting their Mum in California so it was great to see them and catch up. They are the first people from Dustin’s home town to see Amelia full blown walking in person. I can’t wait til Dustin’s Mum, sister, and brother can see it as well as all the rest of our friends up there.

Overall the weekend was a huge success! I felt enormously loved and appreciated. As well as the weekend trip Dustin got me the Breaking Benjamins CD I wanted, the next book in the Sandman series, and the Christopher Moore book Bloodsucking Fiends. My Florida Mum is sending a care package as well and one of Medford friends dropped off a gift basket as well as the numerous happy Mother’s Day wishes on Facebook. Thank you everyone! First Mother’s Day = Epic Win!

First Mother’s Day Weekend

As of the 20th our little one is now 6 months old. Throughout these few months she’s undergone some tremendous changes. First up on the list is her vocabulary. At first it was strewn with random “mmm’s” which then moved on to “mom’s” much to my smug delight. But it was like a waterfall had been unleashed. Soon we were barraged with strange pterodactyl like screeches, bababa’s and just recently the dada’s. She’s pretty much gone through a good chunk of the alphabet and I’m sure that was helped by our daily singing of the ABC’s to her. Now with the onslaught of words has come a few responses. Or at least we assume that’s what they are. There have been a couple of instances where I’ve asked Amelia to say hi to someone either on the phone or in person and have actually gotten something that sounded remarkably like a “hi”. Even just tonight while Dustin was given her a bath I heard him say something about her duck and quite distinctly heard a “duck” back from Amelia. It’s friggen awesome! I’m pretty giddy at the thought of being able to communicate with her soon, even though I know it’s still a ways off.

The next item on our update list is the emergence of two very white, very sharp teeth. After months of letting her chew on our fingers and hands it was instantly brought to a halt with the introduction of pain as she chomped merrily on flesh. I think not little girl! Boy am I glad I’m not breast feeding anymore. The mere thought makes my eyes widen with fear.

But of course, with the development of these two bottom lurkers comes the cranky times. She’s been pretty amazing with dealing with it, but when no amount of food, sleep, or chomping toys can albeit her crankiness we pull out the Tylenol. I’m not really a big fan of pulling out the drugs to deal with things, but if we’ve tried all other methods and she’s still not getting any relief and I know I have a remedy just sitting in the reserves, damn straight I’m gonna use it. Once she’s had a dose everything goes back to normal.

So now that we have teeth of course we need to introduce food! This I am really excited about. Milk’s all well and good, but there’s a world of culinary delights out there just waiting for eager taste buds to try. And I want to present as many as I can to her. Her first food was a baby carrot. It was not mushed up but just straight from the packet. Our reasoning? Clearly it helps with her gums and teething. From there I moved on to mushed carrots in a store bought jar. With her first spoon full she quickly thrust it out with her tongue and made the sourest of expressions. I laughed and thought oh how cute! Until I tried the mixture myself… YUCK!

After having sweet baby carrots and then trying this muck I could understand why she thrust it out of her mouth so quickly. It was then that I decided to make my own baby food for her. I got some carrots and used my nice new blender and attempted to mush it up. Large chunks whizzed around the glass, clearly not the mushy texture I was hoping for. You’d think that making your own food wouldn’t be that bad, but alas I had no real experience with making smoothie type stuff. I eventually figured it out with adding some water. The blender whizzed happily to life and then I had the orangey mush I had hoped for. Except the taste was very watered down much like the store bought variety. I had a plan! Sugar! I added a small amount and brought it back up to a carroty taste.

Round 2 with the carrots. My homemade concoction worked better. She still pulled faces and got most of it on her face, hands and bib, but she did eat it as well. From here we’ve tried peas though not as successful yet and applesauce. The applesauce is store bought, but it’s a lot better than the carrots. We just had that today and managed to devour half the jar. She’s still a bit rusty with the swallowing, though I know that will come in time and with a lot more practice. It’s still pretty impressive to me.

Lastly, we have movement. This girl can move like there’s no tomorrow. Take your eyes off her for a second and she’s half way across the room. She still hasn’t quite got the concept of crawling, but that doesn’t stop her in the least. She’s moved on from her caterpillar crawl and has learned to prop herself up on both hands and knees. She’s almost got the mechanism down for moving one knee then a hand then the other knee. What usually happens though is that she’ll elevate off her knees and try to move forward with her feet. It works fairly well too. Currently, we have to watch her as she’s trying to pull herself up on everything and walk. That would be our fault too. For a while now, our munchkin has been wanting to stand so we’ve put her on the ground and supported her with nothing but our fingers for balance. Amelia’s learned how to mimic us and put one foot in front of the other and walk. So much so that when she’s excited she’ll run to whomever she wants to see, giving the person supporting her a nice little burst of hunched over walking.

So that’s what’s been going on in baby world in a nutshell. Enjoy the little photo album of cuteness.

[cincopa 10544865]

Til next week!

DieDie's Engagement Ring

My New Year’s Eve was slightly different from previous years. I did have it in my mind to describe the awesome party, the toasts, or whatever random acts our friends got in to. Instead I ended up experiencing one of those once in a lifetime events that made the whole world shine just that much brighter.

On New Year’s Eve, we had Amelia dropped off at our friends house so we could have a couple of hours to ourselves. Our plans were to have dinner and then to head back to get Amelia. Dustin had also just gotten a package in the mail which was my final Christmas present so I would receive it at dinner. After we had dropped Amelia off we went on our way and Dustin said he needed to make a stop first. While driving he handed me a book to read as the first part of my present. It was a custom made book he had created of our memories together throughout the last year. I started to tear up the moment I began reading it.

I read through almost half the book when we arrived at our location. It wasn’t the sushi restaurant though, it was a spot on the mountain behind our house that overlooks the city. It looked amazing at night with all the twinkling lights. Dustin paused my reading and said he wanted to give me a hug. So we hopped out of the car and hugged each other. I had completely forgotten that he’d said this was the “first” part of my present. He took the book from me and flipped to the last page to read aloud a speech written on it. Dropping to one knee and pulling out the ring, this is what he said:

“The event that will go down in our life on this day is when I got down on one knee to spill my heart to you. I couldn’t help but fall in love with you when I finish my speech I asked if you would honor me and become my wife. Diane will you marry me?”

With tears in my eyes I said yes, I will.

It was truly a perfect moment in my life. I dare say The perfect moment. So I welcomed 2010 in with teary eyes, the love of my life, and a huge rock on my finger. 2010, you friggen rock!

Our morning started out fairly well. I made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for both myself and Dustin. Very tasty but unfortunately we had ham almost everyday so it was beginning to get a bit repetitive. My family had somehow ended up with 4 hams so clearly we had to pitch in and try to eat as much as we possibly could. Good thing we don’t eat ham often.

Amelia spent some quality time with my Mum and Dad. She was being completely adorable with them. Talking, walking, jumping around like crazy it was awesome! They seemed to be enjoying her as well. My Dad constantly had this smile on his face when he was holding her which in turn made me smile. My mother even had some memorable moments with her too, making her laugh and run to her. About the only person in the house that didn’t take to Amelia was my sister. Every time my daughter made a noise even if she was happy my sister would instantly grab her head in frustration. Or if Amelia would drool my sister would immediately tell us in a worried tone so that we could avoid getting it on us. But she’s a baby… that’s what babies do. We had to constantly tell Jackie this but it didn’t help. Anything my daughter did would either frustrate or annoy the crap out of Jackie. I guess that’s 14 year old’s for ya.

Eventually it rolled around to the time that Ellen would be coming to get us. So we bundled up Amelia and ourselves and headed out. She took us to a restaurant called Fuddruckers. I hadn’t been there before but Dustin and Ellen had so they were excited to go. We arrived and partook of the awesome food they served. Huge burgers, potato wedges smothered in cheese, and of course a strawberry shake. I was in Heaven! After that we headed over to the closest mall and had a blast.

Let me back track to the week before we came out to Milwaukee. I was at our Medford mall checking out sweaters and figured I’d stop in Victoria’s Secret to scope out some new bras. It was there that I was introduced to what they called the Miraculous Bra. It was a monstrosity. I’m fairly big chested and that thing made me look like Dolly Parton. I didn’t even bother hooking it up in the back. So now fast forward to the mall in Milwaukee. Both Ellen and Dustin insisted that I show them what it looked like with it on. Thank god no one got a picture though. I put it on and showed them with my shirt back on of course. Instantly we were all laughing at how ridiculous it was. My boobs were seriously a good foot out from my chest. Of course the sales lady had to tell me how she could see a visible change to my posture… well yeah, you’re too distracted by boobs to notice anyone slouching.

After our trounce in the ladies store we took a seat in the food court and decided our next move. It was roughly 4pm and the idea of Candy Cane Lane again came to mind. Wouldn’t you know Ellen was all for it! We looked it up and realized that it started at 6pm, but as we walked the drizzling parking lot to her car we noticed it was already getting dark. So I proposed we go there anyway since obviously you can’t shut down streets where people actually live. It turned out to be a good idea. The houses were already lit up and we got to see many houses decked out in their Christmas attire. Dustin was wowed and I was having a blast hanging out with my friend. Amelia was passed out, which was a huge blessing. Since not being at home meant she wasn’t getting as much sleep as normal.

After a good hour of pretty lights we headed over to Ellen’s house for a brief visit with her Mum and brother. Then it was back on the road and back to my parents house. We got there said our goodbyes and checked out what the family was up to. They were fixing dinner and asked if we wanted anything, to which I was still pretty full from lunch so told them to go ahead without us. This time though they stayed within sight. It was already getting into the late evening so Jackie had decided she’d go to bed early. She wanted to be up early for Christmas and who could blame her! Tomorrow would be an exciting day. The rest of us, however, had other plans. My mother, father, Dustin, Amelia and I all stayed up to watch a British comedy series about some priests. It was hilarious! 3 of us decided to start drinking while Dustin watched Amelia. Eventually, she went to sleep and we finished the DVD. Next my parents put in McClintock. And before we knew it, it was 1am in the morning.

So needless to say we didn’t quite wake up as early as we had intended on Christmas. We did get up at 8am though before my parents. Jackie was already waiting for us down in the living room having been up since 6:30am. We asked her when she wanted to wake up my parents and she was generous enough to give them til 9am. They actually ended up waking by themselves. I was excited as not only was it Christmas but it was also time for breakfast which consisted of Herbie Sausage Rolls. Delicious! After we had everyone awake and primed for presents, Jackie and I set about dividing up the stash under the tree. A good chunk of it was hers, no surprise there. We had to hurry up and get through as many of the presents as we could. We had a webcam appointment at 10:30am with my family in England. Present upon present was opened and we all scored some really nice gifts. Even Dustin got a fancy new watch from my family, much to my surprise. It was, however, fast approaching 10:30 and we still had a lot of English presents to go through. So we skipped over the domestic ones and just focused solely on them. Piles full of chocolate and clothes later we had succeeded!

The webcam was an awesome way for everyone to see each other. My Uncle, Aunt, and Grandmother were all introduced to Dustin and Amelia. And of course he to them. We all had a turn talking to them and seeing them in real time while trying to dart around and get everyone in the picture. Though my grandmother needed a little help with the phone as she was at first talking into the wrong end.

We usually have our Christmas dinner in the afternoon so my mother set about getting everything ready. Before we knew it we had an awesome table of turkey, ham, roast potatoes, peas and carrots, and stuffing ready to devour! It was awesome! My mother had cooked the turkey in a slow cooker and it had come out perfect! Next to our plates we had an English tradition of crackers. Amelia was being passed back and forth between Dustin and I so we could eat food at the table. Amelia had taken a liking to the shiny paper the crackers were wrapped in and proceeded to attempt to eat one side. We interrupted her and gave her a piece of carrot to munch on. She loved it! But unfortunately if disgusted my sister so much that she refused to eat her own carrots. Teenagers I swear! So after we had eaten our food we pulled our crackers and played with the toys. A pretty good Christmas dinner if I do say so myself.

We wrapped that up in time for one of my Dad’s friends to come over. He got to meet Amelia and Dustin and catch up on events with my family. He was also kind enough to give us a ride over to my best friends house. After a good 20 minutes of getting lost, apparently I had forgotten how to get there, we found where we were supposed to go and arrived at Joe’s house. Now Joe and Dustin’s friend Matt have the same timber voice and both also have bushy chin beards. Amelia is afraid of Matt and wouldn’t ya know she was afraid of Joe as well. It took her a bit to warm up to him and as we sat on the couch she kept casting curious yet pouty looks at him. It was pretty cute. Eventually she warmed up to him. We had a good time together. Went out to eat played a game called Munckin. It was almost like old times. We had to leave though as it started snowing and I didn’t want to have my Mum come out to get us in a storm. Luckily, the snow wasn’t too bad and she didn’t have any trouble getting to us and then heading home.

Once home, Dad was watching one of the DVD’s I’d gotten him for Christmas and Jackie was playing on her laptop. Once we settled in from being out and about I suggested we set up the Wii and show them how to play. My suggestion went ignored. Ah well, I thought. I still have tomorrow before we head out to the airport. So I decided to start taking things up to our room to pack. We had a lot of presents to try and squeeze into our suitcases. Unfortunately, it turned out that we didn’t have enough room for everything. So my Mum and Dad were awesome enough to suggest that they could ship it to us. That worked out rather well considering the two presents I had shipped to their house for Dustin hadn’t arrived yet. The night wound down and we retired to bed.

The last day of our trip came about and after breakfast I decided to ask again if they wanted to hook up the Wii. My mother responded with a no and stated that they would be able to figure it out. Wow… really? This is the last day here and some good ole family fun might have been a nice way to end it. Or even show that getting something they wanted was actually appreciated in anyway. Instead I’m barraged with how much better her gift was for Dad. I didn’t know that Christmas was a competition. I thought it was about the awesome family time and the look on people’s faces when they open their gifts. Not so much about the constant bragging. Not to mention Dustin told me later on about something Jackie had said to Jerry, Dad’s friend that stopped over. I had asked my Mum what she wanted for Christmas a month back and she’d stated she needed a new eco watch. Apparently she had told the same thing to my Dad and Jackie so we both ended up getting her an eco watch for Christmas. They looked completely different though so at least she has options for different occasions if she wanted. So, Mum had been telling Jerry that she had gotten two, and Jackie piped up saying that of course they knew which one she’d wear in a matter of fact tone. To me that sounds like she was saying hers was better. Again with the competition? I don’t know about you, but that stuff really really pisses me off. It’s not a damn competition. And how friggen rude is that? Ugh!

So after being rejected again for the umptenth time to do anything with my family barring watching TV and playing cards, I headed up to make sure we had everything packed and ready to go. The ride to the airport was pretty much quiet. We said our goodbyes and headed out to catch our flight.

When we got back to Portland we ended up having breakfast over at the Halls the next morning. Dustin began to relay some of the things that had happened from his point of view. So pretty much the same version as you see here. I looked on over his family and extended family and felt a surge of emotion. Having experienced the disjointed life that is now my parents world, it hurts to know that it’s not what I want in a family. I used to remember when I was little that we’d go over to other people’s houses, we’d do things, and have fun. I’m not sure when that all changed. When they became so reclusive. I do know that I like having a big family. I like having get togethers. I like constantly doing something or having something going on in my life. And to watch the people around me doing just that and smiling and joking and not being so self absorbed I had to choke back a few tears. That’s what I wanted to experience with my family.

Yes I had some good times. I also had some bad times too. But it can’t be said that the effort was not made. At least once a day we’d ask if anything was going on or if we could all play a game. Anything to get them involved with us. And it would always be the same response prompting us to find friends to hang out with. It’s kinda funny in a sad way. I remember telling my mother I was pregnant and Dustin was the father which sparked her angry notion that she had no idea who Dustin was, even though I’d been talking about him for the past few months. Yet here they had the opportunity to get to know him better and only one person asked anything about him and that was Jerry. The one time that he was left alone with my mother he tried to tell her things about himself but they were just brushed aside with her story about her job. Ah well, least he tried right?

I don’t really know what I was expecting. I’m glad they got along so well with my daughter. I’m hoping that they can come out here next time. As I’m not a fan of Milwaukee and I really really don’t want to go back. They say it’s easier for us to get out to them what with them trying to juggle time off at their jobs. But honestly it isn’t. We both work in the same department and it was a miracle we could get the time off together. Plus a baby on airplanes is never really an easy thing to deal with. Oh Amelia was such a great kid and could have been a lot worse, but it’s not just her, it’s all the gear we have to carry along as well. I hope they come out so I can show them how beautiful it is out here. But I honestly don’t hold out much hope.

We arrived after two plane flights in the cold frigid city of Milwaukee at roughly 11pm. My family was waiting for us at the terminal and consisted of my mother, father and 14 year old sister. We hugged clearly happy to see each other and I introduced them to Dustin and Amelia. So far pretty straight forward. They had taken two cars to get us so that we’d have room enough for 2 large suitcases and a stroller. Dustin, Amelia and I also ended up being split between the cars. Dustin with my Dad, me and Amelia with my mother and sister. We all made it way out to their house in Racine, unloaded the car and proceeded to settle in for the night.

It was 12am central time. But being from Oregon we were still 2 hours behind and still wide awake. After we got Amelia settled I asked my mother for the password to her wireless network so I could hop online, check my email and get some entertainment while Dustin and I were up. My mothers response was that it was a secure network and we could wait til the morning to check our email. I wasn’t quite sure what the point of telling us it was a secure network was all about. Plus it was way that she said it that bothered me the most. It was spoken in a condescending sort of tone. What could we have possibly done to her “secure network” that would compromise it? This would be the first of many infuriating situations. We ended up just going to bed.

The next day was the official hang out with the family time. I had mentioned going to Candy Cane Lane which is an awesome set of about 5 streets that get together and put up amazing Christmas displays. It’s all done for charity so you can donate or not, your choice. I thought it would be a nice way for the family to do something together and also show Dustin a little of Milwaukee. My suggestion was greeted with groans and ho hums. No one wanted to leave the sanctuary of their home. I was disappointed but not deterred. I had some time set up with my friend Swampy to hang out with him. So he came by and we were able to get out of the house for a bit. He took us to George Webbs and I got to introduce Dustin to their good cheap food. Swampy was also nice enough to let us stop at the store to pick up the last Christmas gift I had for my family, a Wii. After that we took a tour of the city, ran by the lake front and explored the super rich houses around it.

We came back after being out for several hours and we were feeling pretty good. It was a productive day. Then dinner came around. My mother was cool enough to have some ham, potatoes and vegetables ready for us and set up on the dining room table. Now how Dustin and I usually do dinner situations is one of us eats first while the other hangs with Amelia. Then we switch. I went first this time. As I got into the dining room I notice that there are only 2 plates set. Everyone else has disappeared. This is our first official day here and my family couldn’t even be bothered to have dinner with us. I was hurt. Dustin came in and wondered where everyone had run off to just as my Dad came up from his den in the basement. He asked us why we were sitting in the dark eating dinner. It was how it had been left for us and granted wasn’t completely dark we had a decent lighting from the attached kitchen and I hadn’t thought much of turning on a light. I was more upset about eating alone. So I piped up to my Dad, “Apparently, no one wants to eat with us.” My Dad kindly explained that this is how it always is, Jackie disappears upstairs to watch her favorite tv show and my mother wanted to watch the news.

Ok fine, I get that people have routines. But I don’t think it would have killed them to have dinner with us on the first day. When you have people staying with you, you should give certain considerations to them as well as your own routines. Clearly you aren’t going to be able to do everything the same as you had before. So why not be a friggen family and eat dinner together. BAH!!

So after dinner we twiddled our thumbs and wondered what to do. I decided to go up to my sisters room and see if she wanted to play any games with us. Her response, “No, I can’t. I have to do dishes.” So of course I inquire as to what about afterwards? “Um, I have to check my email. We’ll do something tomorrow.” …Seriously? I haven’t been home in 2 years and you suddenly don’t have time to do anything? Dishes and checking your email is more important? Alright, I’ll take that we’ll do something tomorrow and leave it at that. I was disappointed again. So Dustin, Amelia and I ended up in our room on the internet and playing with stuffed toys. Ah yes, we had gotten permission to use the internet in the morning. Suddenly it was no longer an issue…thank goodness. I don’t know what we would have done without the sweet delicious web.

Day 3. We were stuck in the house ALL day. We couldn’t use my parents cars. So we desperately sort interaction of some kind. To no avail. Finally after failing to find anyone of my friends that could hang out with us, we went downstairs to see what the family was up to. After watching them disappear again in the morning I didn’t have much hope, but I was wrong. My mother and sister were playing a British card game called Black Jack. It’s kinda like Uno but with regular playing cards. So I sat down and joined in. It was pretty fun, Jackie was picking it up fairly quickly but she kept throwing out random phrases that I could only assume came from the tv show she loved to watch. “Ya’ll be breezy!” She’d said. Mum and I were both like.. “what?” So she’d repeat it again. I could only respond with what my generation would probably have translated that into, “You be cool too!” I think Samuel L. Jackson would have been proud though slightly disappointed with the lack of explicit language at the end.

We continued to play with my mother kicking our asses most of the time. But it was pretty fun. Dustin had disappeared downstairs to the den with my Dad and I believe they had a good time too. So Wednesday wasn’t a complete waste. Afterward Dustin, Amelia and I went downstairs to watch the Dark Knight with my Dad. He thought it was pretty good. And so we put in his bootlegged copy of Star Trek. Around this time I noticed Dustin’s wide eyed expression. The walls, you see, were closing in on him.  The movie helped a bit but as all bootlegs are want to do, this one had it’s flaws. It was almost like we were in the Lost show. We would be at a particularly crucial part of the movie and then a static bar would flick across the screen causing the dvd to skip right over the whole rather important story part. This happened from half way into the movie all the way to the very end. It was pretty frustrating to people who’ve seen the movie and know which big pieces were missing. And all the while an excited Dustin would yell, “Oh my gooses! We should just go out and get the real movie right now so you can see what your missing.” Clearly a plea to get out of the house. But it was a fruitless effort, my father was content with his bootleg and would get the movie later. We had at least successfully killed a good 5 hours though.

To wrap up this day that seemed to drag on forever we decided to bundle Amelia up and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Snow was lightly falling and it was chilly, but overall it was a decent night. So I figured I’d ask my sister if she wanted to tag along with us. No and No. Pissed off was I. But we went anyway, even if my family didn’t want to see Candy Cane Lane, we could at least see some of the decorations around the surrounding streets. Upon our journey we realized just how far away we were from anything. It was all suburban houses with a lonely gas station on the main street. Oh joy. Nothing really in walking distance. We did get to see some pretty lights though. And the fresh air was nice. Eventually though we had to make our way back to the house. Our evening ended with internet again.

So thrilling yes?! Yeah exactly. The next couple of days are bitter sweet. They had their ups and downs, but I’m going to leave that for a later post. For tonight I have just gotten home from our grand vacation and I need to get some sleep for work tomorrow. See you guys tomorrow where hopefully I can wrap up this exciting adventure.

I was 15 when I ran away from home and through sheer dumb luck I ended up being taken in by a woman named Connie. She had just recently lost a set of twins and was in a very emotional time in her life. I, needed a mother. The timing couldn’t have been any better for us to meet each other. Little did I know that this woman would change my life and become the emotional support I needed.

At first I had been skeptical. My previous hideouts had been less than satisfactory. I couldn’t stay with my boyfriend’s parents as his brother and girlfriend kept trying to turn me in to the cops. So I had to find other places to crash. I had stayed with three previous women all of which had their own issues. One was a spoiled brat who’s parents paid for everything she wanted including her drug habit. Man did she have a sweet ass thunderbird though and at the time was one of the coolest people I had met. Then there was the lady who had a cop boyfriend and had decided to grow a conscious regarding my situation. I barely escaped being caught with that one. And then my briefest stay was with a lady who had a random encounter with a man she barely knew in a bar restroom. It was like a bad educational film.

So obviously I had a few trust issues. I didn’t know Connie and she didn’t know me. How was I supposed to know if she’d turn me in or not? Or if I’d have to get smuggled out in the trunk of a car to another destination again?  It must have been scary for both of us, but above all that we needed each other. We just didn’t know it at the time.

One thing I didn’t know right away was that she had been a runaway too at my age. I think it was that connection that drove her to fight so hard for me. The first time I remember feeling safe was the night she fought with her boyfriend over me. He wanted to get rid of me as I could get them all in trouble for harboring a runaway. But Connie was furious that he even suggested it. I can still recall the way the beer can seemed to explode as it hit his head and fizzed against the couch. With that “final word” she told me to come with her and we went on a long drive so she could cool off. At that moment I think we bonded. She had stood up for me. She wanted me. She protected me.

I look back at all she did for me and I can’t help but think that I took it all for granted. I could of helped with the housework more. I could have looked out for her more. It sucks that maturity can be so slow at times. All it takes is a few years to go by before you realize what a jackass you were. Damn you hindsight!

She is what I acquaint to a mother figure in my life. Yes, I have my real Mum but unfortunately we never developed that mother daughter bond. We do get along with each other, but I honestly don’t get her and she doesn’t get me. Connie, on the other hand, does. I have a real connection with her and can tell her anything without fear of judgment. She supports me even when I fuck up. That’s pretty sweet.

Now to the part of the “Florida Mum” title. My runaway days were over. I had turned 18, reconciled with my parents, graduated from highschool, and gotten a job. Things were looking up in my life, but Connie wasn’t complete. Her boyfriend at the time was a pothead and had started to get involved with crack. She was on disability from having carpel tunnel surgery on both wrists and the pay was small. It was looking bleak until she met someone who would change her life.

His name was Bruce and she met him online. Their relationship blossomed and became one of those rare internet love stories that you hear so much about. I think my favorite part of their story was when she first went down to Florida to meet him. They had so much fun but he didn’t think he was ready for a relationship. So teary eyed she waited at the airport for the flight to take her home. He shows up, spins her around and tells her that he doesn’t want her to go. It was so romantic. I wish I could have been there to see it. They are married now and she lives down in Florida with him. Hence her name of Florida Mum.

I’m glad things worked out for her. Whenever I go down to visit I can tell she’s happy. The stress that used to cloud her eyes is no longer there. She’s doing things she’s wanted to do. Heck she’s even got a book coming out soon! It makes me happy knowing that she’s taken care of. And I’m super excited for her to meet Amelia. This will be my Florida Mums first grandchild and I know that she will fall in love the moment she sees her. I’m counting down the days.

See you soon Florida Mum I can’t wait for you to meet my family. =)