Thursday, November 10, 2011

Brightest Star of them All

Today Isaiah has his first school concert. I won’t be there.

I’m not exactly sure if the concert was supposed to be open to the parents, but somehow I missed the paper sent home telling me about it. I’ve heard, after doing a little research, that the concert is geared towards the veterans who will be there to watch, but parents are invited too.  As we were driving home in the car last night, a hopeful voice asked “Momma, will you come see me sing at school tomorrow?” After I asked what he was talking about, my mind flashed to a Veteran’s Day Celebration on his calendar that I figured was an assembly. Both Ty and I were soo bummed that neither of us could make it.

If I would have known about this a day earlier, I would have been able to go. I had just reassured my place of employment that I’d be able to fill in for a full day-shift due to short staff. Ty realized that he had meetings all day he couldn’t get out of.

BUT, my little man being as smart as he is, offered to serenade us for the remainder of the car trip. I got to hear all 5 songs by our star of the show, and I have to admit…it was better than having to hear everyone else’s stars at the same time.

…And yes, I even cried a little.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Mud Princess: Designated Lush

 I've lived in Walla Walla all my life. While almost reaching my 25th year in this town, I've found that it’s about damn time I start to learn about wine.

I’d be the first to raise my hand and jump up and down if someone asked, “Who here doesn’t like wine?” Despite my efforts to boycott this bitter (poison to my taste buds) drink, my lack of knowledge has been holding me back in the wonderland of Walla Walla, and if I’m going to stay put and raise a family, I might as well become accustomed to what this town has turned into over the past 20 years.

I tried for as long as possible to not be a part of the wine world of Walla Walla, but spending the past couple of months venturing out into the job market has opened my eyes to the fact that you can’t go anywhere in  life without the knowledge of wine—at least while living in Walla Walla. With my newfound label of concierge at a local hotel, I’m getting questions daily about this magical vine juice in a bottle.

With this, I’m determined to learn. I’m going to start reading Wine Trails of Walla Walla  By Steve Roberts. I’ve opened up the first page and read the introduction, and have to admit, I’m intrigued.

It will be an interesting read, and of course, I wouldn’t go on this journey without including all ya’ll fine folk! Oh, wait. That’s not proper English. ‘All of you wonderfully elegant gentlepersons’ That’s better. I wonder if I’ll obtain an English accent in the process. Ok, I know it’s naïve of me to think that….but I’m pretty sure that would be awesome. 

Come along. Bathe in the knowledge that I share with you. Enjoy my humor. And possibly learn something you didn’t know before.  Further posts to come…

Monday, October 10, 2011

Water, Earth, Wind, and Fire

It’s raining today.
Fall is here.
Orange.
Yellow.
Brown.
Red.
Rainy days.
Cold Winds.
Free Spirits.
Laughter. Fun.

Today is the type of day that makes me listen to 97.1 Rock. The badabadabadabam of the base drum is intoxicating. I imagine the stomps of the base pedal. Lifting my soul to become one with the earth; to celebrate its beauties.

Come with me to a worriless world of solace living.  

Take a drive out to the woods. Embrace the colors of the earth. Feel the wind against your skin.  A blazing fire in the distance. The warmth calling your name.  Hear the beat of the drum in your head. And DANCE. Let your heart breath. Clear your mind. Let the rain saturate your soul. Become one with the earth.

…and celebrate fall.  

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Woman's Battle

When I grow up I want to be a writer….or a teacher. I want to be skinny. And I want to be a good parent.

These are the current things on my wish list right now.

If I want to become a better writer, I need to keep on writing. If I want to become a teacher, I need to finish school. If I want to get skinny, I need to stay active. And If I want to become a better parent, I need to give my children the attention they deserve while they still consider me their best friend.

It’s that simple, right? It should be that simple. I shouldn’t be lazy with life. I should punch myself in the face for getting to this point. But, I must stay positive.  I’m in control of my own life. I’m a grown woman and I know what I must do to accomplish the things I want. And honestly, the steps aren’t that hard. It’s just taking the steps to DO THEM to get me where I want to be.

As I’m writing this, I still don’t know if I’m all talk. One part of me, the weak part, knows that these are just words and I won’t follow though. The other part, the stubborn as hell part, will not accept failure and will fight for the life that I, and my family, deserve to live. I’m torn. I’m insecure. I’m selfish. I’m loving. I’m amazing. I’m brilliant. This is me. My true colors.

I’m human. I’m woman.

 Hear me roar.

PS. Writing this has given me the strength to win the battle for today. This morning was a lazy one, but this afternoon is going to be full of excitement, and life….and love towards my children.

One day at a time…

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Diamonds

I was looking for something in the bathroom today and in the back of the cupboard I found a ring that my grandma gave me for my birthday this last year. Whenever at her house, I’d use the bathroom and stay in there extra long, just to admire the collection of rings she had on her bathroom shelf. I always thought about taking one, but didn’t have the guts to do it because I knew that it was wrong. The ring she gave me this last birthday reminded me of something I would see with her collection many years ago as a young girl. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The 17 little jewels aren’t real but they resemble diamonds, our shared birth stone. I was my grandma’s birthday present, born on the same day. I always felt special because of that.

As I’m writing this post, my grandma is sitting in a rehabilitation center hooked up to a machine to help her do what most of us take for granted, breath. I have a feeling that my birthday was the last one I will be able to share with her on this earth. I pray to God to at least let me share one more. If I would have known what this year was going to bring, I would have hugged her extra hard, and told her how much I loved her.

Many fond memories that I have as a little girl were spent in the presence of my grandparents. When I stayed the night at their house I felt like their one and only granddaughter, and that meant a lot to me considering I was the youngest of three. We would spend the night playing card games like Uno or Skip-Bo, or watching game shows like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy. I would sleep in my very own king size bed, in my very own bedroom. I felt like a queen. In the morning my grandparents would wake me up and we would have breakfast around the table, something that was seldom at my house. We would hold hands and my grandma would pray. Afterwards, she would kiss my grandpa and I would cringe at the sight of my grandparents kissing. The sound of country music from the 1950’s would be playing in the background. The toast always had the perfect amount of butter, and the oatmeal was never too hot.

After breakfast we would get dressed and I would run off to play in their garage. Sometimes I’d get in trouble for getting into things but I couldn’t resist, there were so many treasures. Later we would venture out to go yardsale-ing. I always loved riding in their van because it had seats that would swing back and forth and a TV. I also used to gawk at the collection of stuffed animals they had suction cupped to the car window, Garfield was my favorite. For lunch they would always take me to their favorite Chinese restaurant, Asian Gardens. For true Walla Wallians you should know what I’m talking about. I would never order actual Chinese food though, just a cheese burger and fries.

My Grandma Arvilla, in the middle with
my mom on the left and my aunts on the right.
As I got older I stopped going to my grandparents house, except for family gatherings. I would still admire those rings as a young teenager, but just for a second. Everything else was a thought of the past. I even asked my mom this last year if my grandma was religious at all because I was thinking about giving her a book of devotionals, it wasn’t until just now that I realized their house being the only place I prayed as a young girl besides Sunday school.


My grandparents have over 20 grandchildren and they made me feel like I was their only one. It never crossed my mind the amount of people they touched with similar memories, I’m sure. I wish I could have shared many more…

Friday, September 16, 2011

Razor Burn

Hello, my name is Heather. I suffer from a rarely talked about but common disorder and I’m hoping to shed some light on the subject to inform women and men everywhere that it is ok to speak.This disorder has taken over my life and I have just learned how to get it back. I have Hairy Leg Disorder. 

It all started when I was a chubby, insecure, awkward tween, who so desperately wanted to become a woman, who gawked at all the lotions and perfumes and grown-up things that my mom used, to make herself a “woman”. Amongst those things were a razor and shaving gel. My mother instructed me to stay away from those murderous blades like it was the plague because I might cut myself and get hurt. This is when I chose to take a different, safer, route. Scissors.Those blades wouldn’t come in contact with my skin, just the hair on my legs. It was a perfect idea that no woman has ever thought of. I was certain I would become a millionaire by the time I was 13 with this discovery. That is, until my mom realized what I was doing and immediately instructed me to stop. She always ruined my genius ideas. With these instructions though, she gave me the permission to shave my legs. I was now able to become a woman.

The first time I had attempted to shave, my mother’s warnings proved to be true. It looked like a battle field. Blood everywhere. My legs were so infested with hair that I had to push down with much force in order to get the job done. Now, looking back, I probably had a cheap razor. With this first attempt to womanize myself, I automatically assumed that I knew exactly what I was doing, so I continued to shave my legs with the strength that I had used before. Eventually, my mom changed out that dull razor and shaving growingly became a much undesirable task. Each session became further and further apart. This is also the time that I banished shorts from my wardrobe. By the time I was sixteen, I had many concerning talks with my family about the fact that I always had hairy legs. I blamed it on the shaving gel not working well enough to prevent razor burn. My brother and his girlfriend even went far enough to buy me a razor with soap attached to it for Christmas to ensure that I had enough, lubrication, if you will.

Years went by and with great effort to find shaving gel suitable enough to get the job done without any pain, I convinced myself that the pores on my legs were abnormally large, and simply could not be freshly shaved every day. Soon, I had met the love of my life. He quickly became my best friend and someone I could freely talk to about anything. Of course, the subject of my hairy legs would come up and I would give him the same excuse I gave everybody else, but deep down I knew that he deserved a woman with silky smooth legs on a daily basis, so once again I gave it another attempt.

While I was getting ready to attack my legs like a ninja, I had an epiphany.  A flashback of a razor commercial with a beautiful woman in a spotless bathroom, bubble bath drawn, and a vision of her caressing her legs with the razor. Ever so slightly, she glided that razor across her legs. I had always thought that those actresses were instructed to use the razor like that to show the elegance and beauty of shaving. I would spit at the TV in my mind. But just then, I decided to pick up the razor like it was a delicate flower, and with very little force, glide it across my skin.  To my amazement, I didn’t have any razor burn afterwards.

Hello, my name is Heather. I am 24 years old and have just recently learned how to shave my legs. I had suffered from Hairy Leg Disorder for many years. I have been free'd of this disorder for over a month now...and yes, my significant other is a very happy man. For all of those mothers out there with tweens, please, for the sake of all socially guided man-kind, take a moment to go over the proper ways to shave your legs. You don’t want your child to end up like me.  On the other hand, I might be the only person in this world who stubbornly went on for 10+ years thinking that all hope was lost because she didn’t have enough common sense to know how to shave her legs. Gosh, I hope that’s not the case….

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Mud-Princess....And Warrior

Yesterday I went and got my hair done. I left the salon with four different colors in my hair, partly because I am a very indecisive person, and partly because I was subconsciously preparing for war. With red, blonde, dirty blonde, and brown, I am a warrior who is ready to claim my land. Or…Shower.

You see, I am a lover. Not a fighter. I am a woman. I care about things. I can adjust to better accommodate others. And by others, I mean spiders. They can live freely in my house as long as they follow the guide lines. There are only a couple. It’s not hard.

First Rule. Don’t inhabit in my room. That’s my space. I sleep there. You don’t. You crawl during the night. I sleep. You crawl. On me. While I’m sleeping. No. Not going to ha