TATTOOS!

I love Tattoos. I remember my first tattoo out here in Seattle. I went to Liberty Tattoo and was all by myself. This was before kids, and I was pretty nervous. Rob was engrossed in some kind of computer thing, and all my friends were busy, so I just went alone to the University District and got my bad ass "Shadow" tattoo. It took two hours, and it hurt, but I was hooked.



A year and a half later I went back to the same parlor with Rob and we both got new tattoos. I got the "Pearl Jame Guy" to mark my completion of a weight loss program, and Rob got a decepticon symbol (Transformers), because he's a nerd (and I love him). It was so fun to go together.



We had always talked about getting more together, and knew we would as soon as we were done having kids, because we wanted something to commemorate them. This past weekend the planets aligned and we got into the city to get this new ink while my dear cousin Ronnie and her husband Mark watched our three kids.

We went to Slave to the Needle in Wallingford and had our Tattoos done by Tomas. He's there until October if you're interested in seeing him. He's great! My tattoo is the Hindu Symbol for "Aum" with my kids initials (H,L, & MJ) under it. Rob got the kids full names in some ancient language with the eye of Horus in the middle. They both came out pretty bad ass. I got mine on my forearm, and Rob's is on his back.



I told my mom that this would be the last one, but I think we'll get more. Rob already has ideas for his next Tattoo as do I. Tomas' wife is a huge Pearl Jam fan (like me), and they've thought of moving to NC for a while, and if they did I would have her Tattoo the lyrics from Eddie Vedder's song Guaranteed: "I know all the rules, but the rules do not know me. Guaranteed." Sweet, right?

If you've always wanted a Tattoo, I say do it. Its a great experience, and I highly recommend Liberty Tattoo or Slave to the Needle. Luis Martinez did my first two Tattoos, but he moved to Olympia, so if you're in Olympia, look him up. He's great.

Time is Moving so Fast

I am excited to move. I am SOOO excited to see my family, but up until now, that excitement wasn't much different than the excitement I've gotten before any trip back East with my family. But in these last few days things have changed.

I am still excited, but knowing I won't be coming back after a week is making me sad. I am going to miss my friends so very much. Its so bitter sweet leaving a place you've grown to love to be close to family that you've always loved. Rob and I are giddy about our kids catching fire flies, and having regular vacations at various lakes, but we're also sad that they'll be saying good bye to their friends, and the free loving people out here. Where can I take them in NC to see naked bikers every year? UMMM, NO WHERE.

We keep saying how lucky we are to have made such wonderful friends. People that are honest, and fun, and like us just how we are. We've never played the keeping up with the jones' game, and it was nice to know we weren't the only ones. I never did join the juicy coture mafia before leaving, but I'm sure there's a chapter in Charlotte that is even more bitchy...We'll see if I can go in under cover. I'll have to lose half my body weight first of course.

Man, I already miss my friends, but I probably won't cry until the finality hits me. When I'm on the beach in Vermont and am hit by the reality that my return ticket no longer says "Sea-Tac Airport". I'm so lucky to have lived here for 9 years. Those of you that have come to visit know what I"m talking about and I am glad you were able to see where we called home. Its amazing.

In My Mind, I'm Goin' to Carolina

Well, after nine years, its not just in my mind.

After taking in the excitment of the new mini-van and the freshly painted bedroom, Rob told me there was a job in Charlotte that he was going to get more information about. I said that was cool and didn't think much of it. I know better than to get my hopes up about moving by now. Well, before we knew it, they had extended an offer and he took it. We'll be leaving the NW the 20th of August.

We are so excited to be going back East. Being close to our families will be so excellent. Just knowing I'll be at the Lake House for Labor Day for the first time...EVER is making me giddy. The move is going to be stressful as all get out, but we're working with some great realators and moving CLOSER to family rather than far away makes it easier for us. We'll have some good help.

The one catch about the whole thing...leaving my NW family. My friends have been my second family for nine years. They all knew this day would come eventually, but that didn't make telling them any easier. I'm scared about having to make new friends. I get a lot of laughing when I say that because (according to them), I'm so outgoing, and so fun. but it is still hard thinking of starting over in that regard. Of course, Jeannine says to me, "you know what to do, find a mom's group to join, go to moms night out, get drunk and see what sticks." hahaha. Love it.

This past weekend was our fourth of July celebration in the neighborhood and the weather was so nice. I soaked it all in, and thought back to when we used to live in our little house of Ridge Street and the family we've grown in this house off Fairway. I'll miss the mountains, the minimal bugs and humidity, and, most of all, my free lovin' hippies.

Actually, most of all I will miss our friends. These are people that I trust with my life and my kids lives. People that lift me up when I'm down and make me laugh everyday. People that love my kids as much as I do and love me more than I love myself. This is what I will miss the most. Please come to Carolina to visit me...and I'll come back to the NW to see you and get my "hardcore liberal" fix. I love you guys.

FYI, regardless of whether they get an MLB team in Charlotte, I will be a Mariner's fan for life and will only hope they are part of the American League so I can see them play!

KIRBY!

So, a few weeks ago I am at home in the afternoon with the kids when the door bell rings. I answer the door thinking it is probably my friends picking her son up, but no, its a solicitor (so much for that ROA guideline!). He says to me, "we're promoted our business, and want to know if we could clean the rug in one room for you for free?" I'm thinking, "man, the playroom could use a good cleaning and if they do a good job, I'll probably hire them for the rest of the house", so I said "sure!"

well, wouldn't you know it...this douche bag was a vacuum salesman. Have you heard of the Kirby? I have, but I've never seen one in action. You can't buy it in stores, they only sell it door to door. I'll admit, its a cool vacuum, but it killed me to sit through the sales pitch (and I did because I am to damn nice ). This poor guy vacuumed everything to show me all the dirt in my house, which wasn't much because the cleaning people had just come. The kids really enjoyed watching him, so that was a good for me, but this guy was NEW and his pitch took forever. I swear, he was in my house for almost three hours.

Whats more, I was going to Seattle for a concert that evening, and I needed to leave my house at 6:00. Thank goodness I had showered already, but I had planned on doing my hair! No dice. No matter how many times I told this guy I was leaving soon, he just kept on with his pitch telling me, "we're almost done". No kidding, I made dinner for the kids while he continued cleaning the floor. FINALLY he got to the carpet cleaning and that is when Rob came home.

He asked what was going on, I told him "this nice mane is cleaning the carpet in one of our rooms for free." then I went and changed my clothes, threw on minimal make-up and left the house. YES, left the house with the guy still there cleaning the rug after being in my house for THREE HOURS! After telling me to never let sales people in the house (DUH...I'm nuts), he told me the guy finished and Rob said "great, thank, goodbye." He also wrote down their license plate numbers for extra precaution.

ANYWAY, the point really is this. When the pitch was finally coming to the close, he asked me how much i thought the vacuum cost and I said I had no idea...he gave me a price sheet and I about crapped my pants. This vacuum was $2500 dollars. No, that is not a typo...two thousand, five hundred dollars! ummm, yeah I'll stick with my Dyson.

Respect the Van

I'll admit it, I used to be a hater. I thought Mini-Vans were only for those moms that didn't listen to anything but Barney and fed their kids the apples instead of fries at McDonalds. In other words, not for me.

Then I had three kids and tried to squeeze them all into my very "cool" Honda Pilot. It worked, but I can't say I wasn't wishing I had picked the van five years ago when we got a "family car". The pilot is paid for, and with the economy the way it is, I never asked for a van. The pilot had the room, so what if Eldest had to crawl over the seat to get to the 3rd row or climb in through the back. It worked.

Well, I guess not complaining about it worked, because my husband did something VERY amazing while I was away on my trip to Vermont. I had a feeling he was going to do something and I figured it was paint our bedroom because he kept asking me about colors before I left. Well, Youngest and I get to the airport after a LONG day of traveling and pick up our things. I called Rob to tell him I was ready to be picked up and he tells me to walk towards an unfamiliar airline. I walk the wrong way and am getting annoyed because I have my hands full and in my mind I feel he should just find me instead of me finding him. I call again and ask him where he is and why he couldn't just pick me up where I came out and he gets frustrated and starts telling me to turn around, he's waving and I see him finally and Eldest comes running up. I was so happy to see him that I didn't notice the Van at first, but when I did, my first instinct wasn't "hey a new van", it was "why did Rob rent a van?", then Eldest says, "Mommy, this is your new car!"

FOR REAL??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I leave for four days and Rob buys a van, and let me tell you, this van is pimpin. Auto doors, nav system, sun roof, 6 disc changer, built in sun shades, DVD player with wireless headsets...THE BOMB! All these upgrades were SWEET! However, I was even more excited about the detail that Rob remembered on his own...he gave me a brand new Pearl Jam sticker that he had specially made for the car. OH MAN was I excited.

My cousin Ronnie came up with the nick name: Fambulance, and now I am a VERY proud owner/driver of a "van" and all you haters out there can kiss my butt.

The Fambulance


My car and I have the same Tattoo :)


P.S. Rob also painted the bedroom...he rocks.

So much to Blog about, So Little Time.

There are SO many stories to tell! So much has happened since my trip to Vermont for my cousin Chuck's funeral. I don't know where to begin. I'm just checkin' in to let you know that the family is making it through. The funeral was the saddest thing I have ever experienced in my life, but I am so glad that I got to go, and that I brought our little baby with me. She was a true blessing to everyone that attended.

More on everything else tomorrow. I have to write down all the things I want to write about, and I'll try my best not to put it all in one long boring post!