So… How Have YOU Been?

I read once that if you’ve been away from your blog for a while, you should never, ever, ever apologize for it.  Actually, I’ve read that LOTS of times. “Experts” say you should just pick up where you left off, hit the ground running and act like the norm had never been infringed upon. Apparently that’s the norm.

So, I guess you know what’s coming. That’s right. An apology for having been away for so long!   Norm and I have never seen eye to eye, and I see no reason to start now.

Deep breath.

I’ve been absent from my beloved self help blog for a while now for one reason and one reason only. She stands about 5’2″ and goes by the name Stephany.  She is, of course, one of my ridiculously beautiful, intelligent, witty, and talented daughters.  In fact, she’s the “baby,” even though she has hated that word since she was 3 years old.  I always thought the youngest of the family would embrace being the “baby,” and ride it for all it’s worth. Not Steph.  When she was 4, she asked me, “Are you going to have any more babies?”  I thought she was worried about losing her spot as the youngest, but she had other ideas.  When I told her “No, we think 3 beautiful little girls is the perfect number,” she looked disappointed. I asked her, “Why, did you want me to have another baby?”

My adorable little munchkin said, “Yeah, I wanted to be the boss of them babies.”

She has never cared for the title “baby,” but clings to the title, “boss.”  Don’t tell her, but she’s both.

Steph recently married one of the coolest guys in the world, Rusty.  He’s been like a son for so long to me that I can’t remember life without his wonderful laugh.

At any rate, during the weeks (okay, months… have it your way) leading up to the beautiful outdoor wedding and reception in the park, the only thing this mother of the bride could think about was:

• What dress do I want to buy? Long… will that be too hot? Shoes? How will I wear my hair???
• What punch will I make?
• How many cakes should we have?
• What flavor should the cakes be?
• Are the bridesmaid dresses okay with each girl?
• Favors… holy moly, I think we need more favors!
• Let me just check Pinterest…
• What if it rains?
• Will my much loved uncle (who recently had open heart surgery) be able to come to the wedding?
• Long. I think I’ll wear a long dress…
• Does she have something blue to go with borrowed and new?
• Oh. I hate the napkins we have – lets get cuter napkins.Do we need sweet tea and unsweet tea – and why does anyone bother drinking unsweet tea anyway?
• Will a long dress be too hot?

My poor, overloaded little brain cells simply couldn’t think about anything else.  I’d actually log in to add something, then inevitably would get sidetracked, log back out and… well, see above.

I’m exhausted! The wedding and reception were even more beautiful than we hoped for, the long dress wasn’t too hot, and the napkins were too cute for their own good. As for the punch, the boss’s favorite flavor is Lemon, so I made a KILLER lemonade punch everyone loved.

Best of all, we all survived. Even her dad. It was touch and go with that one for a while there.

Ironically, another time I was mentally and emotionally pulled out of commission involved the wedding of another daughter, Emily.  I believe we’ve established that I cannot multitask when it comes to my three little girls. They will always, always, always get my undivided attention.

It’s a mommy thing.

I’m finishing up a few articles that were in the works – before the poor things were abandoned.  God willing one will be up today.

You have my word that I’m completely back in the game now, coach.  The good news is, there’s only one single daughter (Brittany) left and she equates the word “marriage” with the words “game over.”

Given her great love of the game, we’re good here.

Or is that hope speaking?

~ Joi (“Mom”)