Mocha Chocalata Ya Ya

Three years ago today my dad died. Quite suddenly in fact. Or maybe it seemed more sudden to me since we hadn’t spoken in almost five years. I knew he had cancer, was going through chemo, that it had spread, etc. But I didn’t think he would die. I thought he would outlive us all. Because that’s what he always told us. That he was bulletproof. I guess you can be both — bulletproof but not cancer-proof. So since today is the anniversary of the death of someone who was quite a big presence in my life (even if he wasn’t always present) I thought it was worth a mention. Someone should grab a bud and drink it in his honor. Maybe I’ll have a glass of wine instead, but drink it out of a can.

In other news, my Mima has been going through some health stuff. She had a nosebleed that didn’t quit for four days. Now they tell her she has a hole in her nose. Not the two you are thinking of either. One in the middle where there’s supposed to be a divider. I don’t know what that means, but it sounds freaky. She seems unbothered. But now she can’t say, “I need that like I need a hole in my head.” Brother Brownnose said, “Maybe you should lay off the cocaine.” I was thinking she could do that cool nail-up-the-nose trick I saw a guy at the Florence County fair do once (yes, I paid to see it). But besides all of our sarcastic means of dealing with things we don’t understand or that make us scared, I wanted my main reader to know how much I love her and how much she is in my thoughts. Always. Today will always be a hard one for her, even without the extra nose hole.

Whew. Family drama now aside, the hubby has returned from NYC. On the way there, he had a surprise pit stop in Chicago because the fuel gauge on the plane ceased to function in mid-air. Not good. But he’s back for a few days before he’s gone again. We have this joke that if you call during one of the two times of utter chaos in the house (pre-school a.m.s or pre-dinner p.m.s) then we answer with, “What? What?! WHAT?!” And that’s if both of us are in town, but one has just run out for a bit. I think I need something a little more heavy-handed for this next trip. Something along the lines of, “What the **** do you want you >bleeping< LEAVER?” Single parenthood, even when it’s temporary, is just not good. Doable and all that. But truly no fun.

Last night I escaped dinner and dishes and went to the mall. Both girls, me and the mall. Ha. We headed to Gordon Biersch for dinner, where the Bean proceeded to redecorate the floor with chicken garlic pizza and then grabbed and ripped Miss 6’s picture. “It was my favorite picture EVER!” She yelled as she burst into tears. I thought, “Wow. I am that mom. With the unruly kids, trashing the place while I sit here sipping wine.” From this day forward, I will no longer judge. I’m now in that club. I made sure I left a big tip and was friendly before I got the hell out of there.

So in the car on the ride home, Bean is yelping, yelling, making all sorts of baby racket. When we pull into the garage, I look back and Miss 6 is sound asleep with Bean beside her, grinning from ear-to-ear. A totally backwards scenario. And it’s barely 6:45 pm. I almost laughed out loud. But I had them transitioned from car to PJs to bed by 7 o’clock flat — with the whole night stretched out ahead. And no dishes. Whew.

This morning I got to see Bubble Girl. We had coffee and she got to see crazy Bean in action. It had been a while since we’d seen each other in person (she lives in Boston!), so imagine her surprise when she sees this wiggly, squirmy, mouthy little thing trying in vain to extract herself from the stroller. (But darn, she’s cute!) Needless to say, it wasn’t the most relaxing coffee outing we’ve had, but it was nice to see her face and know she survived the hotter-than-hell Chicago Marathon intact. Since I’m now on the next year marathon bandwagon, she says she’s going to try to run that one with me. Then I’ll have to do it. ☺

I have been running again. Multiple times per week. With the elliptical thrown in for good measure. And since this new bent is working — I’ve dropped some lbs. — I’ve used that as my excuse to over-do it in the shopping department. (I got paid!) But now it’s time to put the ole kibosh on the imports. So last night, as I walked out of Nordstrom, I said, “Bye-bye Nordy’s. It’s been good to know ya.” Miss 6, never one to miss a beat, says, “But we’ll still know Nordstrom. We just won’t shop here for a while.” True that. Or not. Anthropologie did just come to town after all…

And in the parental strife department, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Two parents, living their own lives while sharing a house. That’s where we are. They’ll figure it out eventually and there’s little to no drama for the time being. They celebrated their 24th anniversary with a card in passing and dinner in separate places. Sounds like fun.

We’re doing a round of photo ops this week — one with the printer I work with who wants to use the b-partner and my kids as stand-ins for their Halloween poster. So I’ll grab Miss 6 and Bean and head over with costumes after school today. Then tomorrow we’ll dress up a bit, only to break into a sweat while we try to keep Bean still for a family pic that we do every year. Last year the one where she is screaming/crying is the one we chose for the holiday card. This year she’ll be the one: a) biting me on the shoulder or b) taking off her shoe or c) just out of camera range. Fun times.

That’s all from the frontlines. For now…

TODAY’S THEME SONG: Today’s the Day. Aimee Mann. Better pack your bags and run. Or stay until the job is done. For you, since you couldn’t stay.