Day 27.

The day isn’t even done, not even near being over, and yet I am thankful.

The girls have spent the past few days playing together.  It isn’t always perfect and peaceful.  Someone usually gets their feelings hurt, and the pretend plots need to be de-dramatized sometimes.  Sometimes the players need to be reminded that it is just pretend, that we can each have ideas, and take turns playing out our ideas.

As Ashley was crying because Lynn was bored with the Polly Pockets, and wanted to play something else, I told them of what it was like for me growing up…

I had no sisters.  The only people I could play dolls with continually were my friends in the neighborhood.  I didn’t always want to play dolls.  I didn’t always want to play with my friends either.  I was a homebody (still am!) and would much rather play with my brothers, in my own home 95% of the time.

We would spend our time playing G.I. Joes, Star Wars, Micro-Machines, Hot Wheels, Legos, Constructs, or building forts.  Bottom line, we had a blast together.  I loved playing with my brothers.  They were always there, and we always had a fun time.  There were times that I wanted to play Barbies, they knew it.  I remember them building giant “men” using their Constructs, so my Barbie could have some guy friends (besides the Ken doll who had hair issues).  There was one time that Ken, my oldest brother, not the doll, spent a while making a man out of a wire hanger, toilet paper, and duct tape.  We played late into the night with my Barbie and his “man”.  They were so good to me!

They still are..

My brothers are always there when we need help.  Their hands were many of the helping hands when we moved.  They have helped in home-improvement projects, have shoveled my driveway when we were on vacations, and even when I was pregnant or had a newborn.  They have been there for me during the hard times.  They have been a shoulder to cry on.  When others treat me unfairly, they are on my side.  They always support me.  They were on the couch, right next to my dad, “cleaning” guns when a new date came to pick me up.  They are what family a means to me.  We love each other unconditionally.  We have all made bad choices, but we have always been there to support and love one another through them.   They didn’t say a word to me about my “almost marriage”, they just wanted me to be happy.  They were planning on supporting me through it, if that was the choice I made.  I later found out that not one of them really liked him.  “He was alright..  but not good enough for you.”

We always joke about how protective they are.  Joe is referred to as “Sonny” from the “Godfather”.  (That leaves either Ken or Kev to be the “Fredo” and I am not going to do that…)  He can be a little hot-headed..  but so can Ken.  He once chased down a punk kid because he knocked over my snowman.  I was 17 at the time.  Ken was 22.  And then there were the snowboarding trips that Kev and I took.  He always tried to blame me for getting him into near squabbles, but he just got upset to hear other guys on the mountain call me not very nice names when I would ask them to move away from in front of the jumps we wanted to take.  Can you see the hot-headedness?  Geez, but I love ‘em!

I recently got a massive bruise on my forearm after a co-ed volleyball tournament.  It was pretty bad.  I wore long sleeves for the first few days, didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.  Then I started to laugh to myself.  If anyone knew my family, they would know if Merrill had laid his hands on me..

Have you seen that scene in “The Godfather”?  Sonny goes off on Connie’s husband for hurting her.

Um, that is kinda how my family is. 

When I told Merrill that thought, he laughed at me and said, “You think really highly of yourself..  you think your family loves YOU more than they love ME?”

Because that is how they are.

My brothers might not have all things in common with my sweet (but very confused) husband, but they love him anyway.

I feel a little sad for my girls, that they don’t have brothers like I do.  I am thankful that they have each other though.  This time of childhood, the innocence and the play, is so fleeting.

Someday, they will be reminiscing about all of their fun times playing and pretending together..  I wonder if they are remembering this, as they play Polly Pockets with the Christmas village and Nativity…  amoxicillin snow anyone?

I might just have to buy some G.I. Joes and Legos for Christmas, just so they can have the experience.

I am thankful for the brothers I have been blessed with, and the sisters I now enjoy in my life because they have married them. 

I love you Ken, Joe-Bo, and Kev!

Prom night[mare]...

here is a flashback friday for your enjoyment...
sophomore year, prom... ugh!
here's the story:
there was this boy, tyson. we liked each other. we expressed mutual interest and prom was fast approaching, exciting, right?
wrong...
he had asked somebody else to prom already, before we had really met. i had just literally had my heart broken by my best guy friend, whose life, my life revolved around, and i was still reeling and feeling unsure of myself, was sure that nobody was going to ask me...
so the guy i liked, tyson, told his friend, adam (the goofball in the picture..) that he should ask me so we could double.
he did. he gave me a goldfish in a bowl with a card that read: "of all the fish in the sea, would you go to prom with me?"
and i said yes, answering him with helium-filled pink balloons decorated to look like pigs with a tag that said: "i'll go to the prom with you when pigs fly... (look up.)"
now i only said yes because i was for sure this would be my only invitation, and at least this way, i could be with tyson during prom's many activities.
four invitations followed his... so maybe i wasn't dog poop...
so i should have known that it was going to suck when, the fish he gave me, died the next day.
and when i got up the morning i was going to answer him, the balloons, with the high-float in them with the helium i might add, were not flying, rather, lying on the ground. dad said that was an omen, i shouldn't go with him...
oh, how i should have listened...
thank heavens i am the only girl with three brothers to teach me how to be tough.
the whole day was miserable.
he was trying to get me to act like his exclusive girlfriend... holding my hand, trying to get me to sit on his lap, putting his arm around me... and then he started in with the "perdiddles"... a game that whenever you see a car with only one headlight, you point, shout, "perdiddle!", and touch the roof of the car. whoever gets the most by the end of the night gets some predetermined prize. he had already decided that for each one he got, he was getting a kiss, from me. i know, annoying.
i made up this game, at the dance, that we were to slow dance during the up-beat songs (not many, heeelloo! prom?!?), and fast dance to the slow songs. i got away from him many a time and tried to stay away from him. he wanted to dance too close for my comfort during those few and far between fast songs. to boot, he wouldn't even let his friend tyson, or any of my other guy friends dance with me. i found that out later. he monopolized me the whole night.
alison, tyson's date, was my sole support. when we went to change, after the dance for our "night games", she was expressing extreme sympathy. she had the whole night, whenever we were alone, while the guys got out of the car to open our doors, and in many a look when we were all together.
we went to play our "night games", and he sent me over the edge...
he tried to keep me alone with him, even though i wanted to be around my friends, he even tugged at my hair trying to keep me back.
i told him to take me home. i had a late curfew for once, but i didn't care, i wanted to be rid of him! he brought up the curfew, i told him i had a headache (and it's name was adam...)
so we got to my house. my friends stayed at the school to play, and he drove me home, alone. once he walked me to the porch, he had the goofiest, most pathetic grin on his face and he had the balls to bring up the whole, "perdiddle" thing, i.e. a kiss...
so ...
i punched him.
it hurt him.
i was happy. and surprised, he had quite a bit of padding...
i told him "goodnight", went in and reported it to my fam...
so you might be wondering why on earth am i thinking about this?
"eclispe", bella breaks her hand punching a similar creep.
oh, how i so do not like jacob...