So today is Jeffrey’s birthday, 28 years ago he made his appearance, what a beautiful baby he was. We were so happy to welcome him to the world, the doctors told his dad that he looked like a Japanese tourist due to the fact he had so many cameras and was snapping so many pictures.
It was a scary first few days with you son, you were born with water on your lungs and we were told at one point that you would always have lung issues. That you would never run or play sports like other children. You so totally proved them wrong.
You grew to be a healthy, active little boy, not only running but playing sports as well.
I am so proud of the man you have become, the way you are with your daughter is a wonderful thing to watch. I can’t wait to celebrate your birthday with you.
Perfect Day
Anybody else tired today? I am beyond exhausted, I need a week in the mountains to get some rest, maybe 20 hours of sleep, that sounds lovely, however I have a busy weekend so no major amounts of sleep in my near future.
Wednesday was a total Tessa day, we kicked it off with a movie and chocolate donuts washed down with chocolate milk. Then pool time, there were 4 other children there that they were all ages 9 to 5. Perfect, she had a blast and we ended up staying there for 3 hours! Then back to more donuts and milk, getting cleaned up for shopping for Samantha’s birthday party.
We get to the store, I explain she would pick out the toy and I would pick out the outfit. She tells me “Gigi, I think we should get Samantha 2 toys.” I said um ok. She then said “and we should get me two toys too.” Which we did.
It wasn’t until later, while looking at the receipt I see one of Tessa’s toys was over $30.00! She has expensive tastes.
Then it was off to Old McDonald’s (her name for McDonalds) where we met a little girl that was just her age and size. They bonded like crazy! The term fast friends comes to mind. They had the best time and did not want to part from each other! I had to explain that Tessa doesn’t live in this city. But when she comes to visit me we will go back to that McDonald’s in the hopes of seeing Lili again.
It was a perfect last day together before school starts next week.
Mary Kay Seminar
Sunday I will begin my Mary Kay Seminar experience. I know, not my first time at this rodeo, however it is my first time without Sandi. The last time I was there was my last time with her, that time I was the only one from her personal team to go. We got to spend major amounts of time together, it is a gift I cherish to this day.
This is not going to be easy, however, with Wanda, Faith and Louise I know we will be ok. We all have such wonderful memories of our dear friend that I know together we can not only celebrate our lives in MK we can celebrate the woman that brought us together as friends.
A lot of people have a hard time understanding the relationship we all had with Sandi. They don’t understand we were friends long before she brought me into the Mary Kay world. She was a mentor, friend, sister and huge influence in my life. We shared our sons with each other, we shared details of our lives, when my mother passed a way she shared her mother with me.
She never had a daughter, she used to tell me that if she’d had one she imagined that daughter would have been like my Elizabeth Anne. Sandi took great delight in the fact that Tessa’s middle name is the same as hers. One day I’ll tell Tess about my friend Sandi who was glamorous, smart, beautiful, funny and above all loyal.
Dean Cain Goodness
So I saw an episode of The new Dean Cain show, wow, he is even better looking! How did this happen? He is sporting an evil Spock look. I am more in love now! Yes, I know if I ever met him in person a) I would make a donkey out of myself 2) he would not even give me a first glance III) I am too old and too fat for him to notice. I can still look at him and dream, age and unattractiveness cannot take that away from me.
I am so tired today, yesterday was a full day with not only Tessa but two additional little girls. We went swimming, then Jump Street, McDonald’s rounded out with a trip to Costco. I need a week to recover! Sleep is elusive, it is not my friend. I am hoping I can catch up this weekend.
Well I am done for now, I have to quit writing to continue dreaming of Dean!
Family Reunion
Yesterday was a stellar day; Tessa graduated from Kindergarten and will now enter the world of numbered grades. It seems like only yesterday she was learning to walk, holding on to Chewie to balance herself and feeding him goldfish. I look forward to the many more adventures she and I will be having as she continues to grow. She is an amazing little girl, I feel fortunate indeed that I get to be her Gigi.
Next weekend is the Testerman family reunion, last year was the first year that I have gone since I was a little girl. I cannot begin to express the emotions that flooded through me. I had not seen my cousins and Aunt and Uncle for so many years. I didn’t realize how much I missed having a family, that family, the ones I look like.
Looking at all of them I see my grandmother’s genetic so strongly in so many of us, I have one cousin, Pat, that looks exactly like my grandfather. I don’t think I can ever fully form the words to express how much I have missed being connected with these people. They formed my world when I was a little girl, younger than Tessa; they influenced my thought process and my belief system.
They all exemplify what it means to be a Testerman, generous, kind, rowdy, loud, boisterous and fun. I can’t wait to see them all again.
The Irishman is going with me this time, so that will be interesting, I think he will get along with them. After all he is pretty rowdy himself, being Irish and all.
My thoughts are racing, my emotions are a mess right now, seeing Tess on stage, singing her heart out, and getting ready for the reunion. I shall sign off for now.
My Weekend
On Friday I went to pick up Tessa from school as it was our afternoon to have an adventure, first on the agenda, a stop at the school playground to swing and play. And play we did, Tessa decided we should play a game of zombies, in which I was the zombie, I gave it my best shot, however I believe the folks of The Walking Dead would not have hired me to be one of the walking dead.
As we were leaving the school, sitting at a stop light, the most horrible thing I have witnessed to date happened. I saw a little girl crossing the street, on the red light. I saw a car turning on the green light and thought I hope the driver sees the little girl, then it dawns on me that the driver does not see the girl.
Tess and I both see it at the same time and begin yelling no, the SUV hits the girl and knocks her off of the bicycle, I threw the car into park and told Tessa to stay in her car seat. I did not want her getting out until I saw if things were bad or if she could safely be exposed to the situation.
There was no blood on the ground, the girls bike was mangled and her cell phone destroyed, she was on the ground and her leg was hurt, but no blood. The driver of the SUV who hit her was already calling 911, I asked the little girl if she knew her mothers number as her phone was destroyed and incapable of making a call. She did, I dialed, no answer, I left a voicemail telling the mother that I would call her back. I called a second time, still no answer, I then sent a text message. A few minutes later I did receive a call from the little girls mother. I answered and asked if she was indeed the mother and she answered affirmatively. I handed my phone to a paramedic who, in theory would have been better equipped to tell a parent their child has been injured.
After giving my statement to the police officer, making sure the little girl was ok, Tessa and I left, I assured her the girl would be fine and her mother was coming. We then went off to McDonald’s to take her mind off of it, then on to her school carnival, she had so much fun at the carnival. Bouncing in houses, running in a giant round thing, eating junk and playing with her friends.
Later that evening the mother of the little girl called me and told me thank you for being so diligent in my effort to contact her, she said the little girl was fine. Banged and bruised and would be sore the next day, but other than that she would be 100% in a few days.
I was relieved to hear that, it was such a horrific event, I believe I witnessed a miracle, that child could have been hurt much worse or even killed. She was riding without her mother’s permission and without a helmet, people no matter what age your child is, please make sure they wear a helmet.
That was my eventful Friday, Saturday was much quieter, it was my dear friend Sandi’s birthday, I still can’t believe she is gone. I miss her so much, to this day when something good happens I can hear her voice. She was such an amazing woman, a great friend and an all around outstanding human.
Sunday was Mother’s Day and it was spent with my 4 favorite people, Jeffrey, Elizabeth, Alex and Tessa, I was very surprised by Tessa being able to join us. So it was a great surprise, I hope everyone had a great weekend and is having a great week.
Amazing Sons
I am ready to write about my weekend happenings, it all started Friday afternoon, with my new schedule I work on Fridays. I am not ready to give up picking up Tessa at school every other Friday so I am taking off part of the day to spend with her. So off I go, when I get to the school, she comes out and my car will not start, I have had some issues with it, but nothing like this until now. I called Alex and he dropped everything to come to mine and Tessa’s rescue. He was able to tow my car back to Jeffrey’s house.
Tess and I had a lovely afternoon as we were able to walk to the park and have a picnic snack and she was able to play with the other children at the park.
As soon as Jeffrey got home he and Alex worked on my car, went and bought the part they believe is causing all of the mischief and fixed it.
This was after Jeffrey had already put in a full days work, he could have easily said I’ll take you home mom and look at it tomorrow. But my sons don’t do things like that, they help immediately. I do believe I have the best sons on the face of the planet.
The next day Jeffrey called and he was sick and asked if I could come and take care of Tessa, 3 guesses as to how long it took me to say yes, hang up the phone get dressed and go over there.
Tess and I played all day and I took care of both her and my son, it’s good to feel wanted.
Sunday was spent with the Irishman, we went to see a movie and grocery shop, boring to some, fun for us.
Tomorrow is another Monday for me, I shall persevere, as I only work two days, then off two, this is not a bad schedule whatsoever.
Birthday Synopsis
Well, my birthday weekend is over, the month continues, in the immortal words of Tracy Lawrence, Time Marches On. I had the best birthday this year, not just due to the presents but due to the fact I got to have lunch with Jeffrey, Elizabeth and Alex. It was not only enjoyable but fun, I have really funny kids, they have the most amazing humor. So happy I was chosen to be their mom, the only missing element was Tessa.
Let’s see, I know you want to know what I got, so I shall go down the list in order of birth, from Jeffrey I got a Starbucks gift card, he told me he knows how much I love my “Friday” coffee treats. Very thoughtful!
From Elizabeth a new Coach purse, all three of my Coach purses have come from her; this one is the trademark brown, only with purple trim! It is so pretty! I immediately had to empty the old one and put everything in the new one!
Alex gave me the gift of pampering; he got me a gift certificate for a mani/pedi at a salon called the Beverly Hills Salon! I get to be a movie star! How cool is that? I can go in with my coffee treat, holding my purse and get the star treatment.
The Irishman, I know you are all wondering about him, well, he gave me the gift of communication. I got the new IPhone 5, at first I was like, my IPhone 4 works fine, but then we got to the Apple store and I fell in love with the white one. Then Siri talked to me! OMG I think I am in love with Siri! It was a very cool and thoughtful gift.
He and I had a combination of lunch and dinner, at the Londoner in Allen, it was nice, it was a really nice day.
Next year I don’t know if I want to acknowledge my birthday as it will be a huge one, a really huge one. I don’t even want to say the number, I don’t feel this number, I feel like I am maybe 25, however I know my body is going to start betraying me, that I will eventually just cave. I really don’t want to get osteoporosis, which really terrifies me. My grandmother had it and her spine curved, I know it caused her a lot of pain, she never complained about it, but I know it was not fun. I remember the doctors wanted her to wear a metal contraption that would help straighten her spine, but that was more painful than the actual curvature, so she quit wearing it.
On that note I will say goodbye and go eat my yogurt for the calcium!
Theories and Such
I have Starbucks today; I also had them add an extra shot in my coffee treat, welcome to my Friday. I actually had time to go to my favorite Starbucks on the corner of Park and Custer, love them. Tomorrow I am going to pick up the pictures from Tessa’s Fairy photo session, I am so excited! This place was just wonderful, their website is http://enchanted-fairies.com check them out when you get a chance. All of the employees treated Tess like she was a fairy princess, I highly recommend them.
Tonight I am going to the DMA (Dallas Museum of Art) with friends, every Thursday the month of February they are having a free jazz concert. So, I suggested going this Thursday as an outing for the Ladies that Lunch. Not everyone can go as it is a weeknight; however there are several of us willing to brave the night and I know we are going to have a blast.
I am really enjoying being on the radio, I know I talk about it often, but it is the most exciting thing that has happened to me in a long time. I love talking, I love saying whatever is on my mind, granted we have the shows planned out and for the most part tend to stick on topic. Easy to do in a 15 minute show, I wonder what will happen when we go longer. I know eventually that we will I can totally see this going to an hour long live show, taking calls, fielding questions. Can you imagine? Me, live, talking to people! The thought is absolutely heady.
Can I be honest here for a moment? I am so happy that football season is over, I am not a sports girl, never have been, never will be. I have a theory about women who watch sports, or profess to watch them. Yes, I said profess, I know I have a couple of female friends who do not fit in with my theory, but the majority do. Hence the theory, people form theories for a reason, and I have a keen eye for this sort of thing.
I have theories about a lot of things in life, some I share willingly, some not so much, this is one theory I tend to not spout in public. Mainly because women who are doing this for one of the reasons I believe they are have no desired to be called out. The other side of the theory, well if those women are not admitting who they are, they don’t want me calling attention to what I believe. Wow, how much more cryptic could I be?
I will sign off for now, you will probably hear from me Saturday, the day before my birthday, but probably not.
Elusive Creature
Yesterday I took Tessa and the Irishman’s girls to lunch and playtime at McDonald’s, fun for them, typically incredibly loud for me. Usually I see parents who do not parent, you know the ones; “little Johnny don’t do that, oh hahaha boys will be boys” I will be honest, I hate passive parents.
I was sitting there, and a woman walked in with her four children, two older boys, a little girl and a baby, they proceeded to have their lunch then the older children ran off to play. When they were done playing they came back to their mother and said they were ready for desert.
The mother sat up a little straighter and proceeded to let the boys know there would be no desert for them, the boy began to speak and she said no, I was very clear before we even got into the car. I said that if you fought in the car on the way over there would be no desert for whoever was fighting. You and your brother went at it like animals, sister did not fight, she is the only one who gets desert. The older of the two boys began to speak, trying to negotiate a desert for himself. Trying to justify the fight, the mother looked him in the eye and said you are not a terrorist, there will be no negotiations, my word is final, perhaps next time you will think twice before fighting. She then made the boys go and purchase the sisters desert. I love this woman, there was no yelling, she was calm, she let them know that she had already told them the consequences of their actions and followed through.
It has renewed my faith in the younger generations ability to parent, I love this woman, I don’t know her, I am not likely to ever lay eyes on her again, however I think she rocks.
Too many times I see parents being lazy regarding their duties as the leaders of their own households, one or more of the children run the household. When did this happen? I was the undisputed leader of my household, the children did not dictate the actions of the household. The parent residing there did, it is unconscionable what is happening in this country. Parents are getting lazy, some not all, as I have witnessed, but when children dictate what they have for meal times, resulting in obese children, children no longer are told to go outside and play they are given controllers to video games. Resulting in lazy, obese children, given soda instead of water, given cookies and candy instead of fruit. Shocking is what it is, however, due to this one woman in McKinney, TX I have hope, I have hope there are others like her out there.
Parents, if your child is running the roost, make some changes, I beg you, for the health of our country, mentally and physically, take control, say no to soda, say no to candy, say no to nothing but junk for the mind and body. Take your children outside, make some hard rules, follow the rules yourself and have some follow through. Stop allowing the terrorist to hold you hostage, no more negotiations, run your households!
Angie World 