Photo Evidence

Here is my tattoo, as promised, in all its glory:

This is the best I could do, people, in the one minute I had to take a shot of it this morning.

Did I get it close enough so you could see the hair on my legs? If not I could certainly zoom in a bit. No? Okay.

And don't blame the tattoo artist for the blah shape and ugly colors of my tattoo. That was all MY genius. Did I mention I had a few glasses of wine before doing this??

My tattoo is an analogy of my life: It might not be perfect. But I love it just the way it is. Wouldn't change a thing.

My Tatt

(Thank you, Twitter, for inspiring this post. You do have a purpose in my life, afterall! I wrote this post a million years ago [or in March] but am just getting around to posting it now...)

May 1998 was the best month of my life. Hands down. No question about it.

That's probably sacrilegious to say. I mean, I should say that the best time in my life was when I got married or when we adopted. That would be the PC thing to say. But that month was particularly cool and life-changing for a myriad of other reasons. I didn't win the lottery or find Jesus or anything like that. But it was still the BEST month of my life.

And I have the tattoo to prove it. (I'll get back to that in a minute...)

May 1998 was a month that I spent traveling in Europe with a bunch of other college students (and one prof.). We went to Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. We saw about 500 cathedrals and churches, stayed with host families and in charming hotels, drank German beer, walked EVERYWHERE, saw stunning castles, rode on trains through gorgeous mountain passes, ate weird things like boar, saw a ballet in Vienna, visited fabulous museums, learned more history that can fit in my brain ... and on and on and on. It was the most amazing 4 weeks of my life.

This was not my first trip to Europe. In fact, it was my third. I had gone with my family when I was 9 and again when I was 16. I have done a lot of traveling so that wasn't a big deal. There was just something so magical about that month. I was free. I was away. I truly felt like an adult for probably the first time in my life. This, coming from the girl who cried when she went away to summer camps and had to wait an extra year after high school to go away to college because I just.couldn't.leave.home. This month was a turning point in my life as I went from Anne the girl to Anne the woman. No, not in THAT way ;) But in many other ways.

I felt like a butterfly that month, just opening my wings and learning how to fly.

ENTER: PRAGUE

If you have never been to Prague you must go before you die. Put it on your Someday List right now. Prague is my favorite city in the world, and I can say that after seeing many, many cities of the world. Paris is great, Copenhagen is wonderful, Budapest is incredible. But there is something out-of-this-world awesome about Prague. It's mysterious in a non-creepy way. I fell in love with it instantly. I will get back there someday. Mark my words.

And I have the best, most everlasting souvenir of my favorite city in the world that makes me smile every time I see it.

[teaser: you will have to come back to the blog tomorrow to see a pic of my tatt. I will wait for you to put that in your planner................okay, now we can continue]

This tattoo came after a couple of glasses of wine and a lot of prodding from my friend Megan, who was a tattoo veteran. We had seen a tattoo shop that was very busy as we were walking earlier that morning, and we just couldn't get the idea of leaving Prague with a tattoo out of our heads. Why not?

So we did it. And it hurt like bloody hell.

Thinking back (and frankly the memory is a little blurry ... wine and all, you know...), I can't remember why I chose a butterfly or why I chose my ankle. (My friend Megan got a lizard on her ankle, BTW.) But now when I look at the butterfly on my ankle I think 2 things: 1) OMG, how cliche to have a butterfly tattoo on your ankle, and 2) The butterfly symbolizes the incredible month I had 'flying' around Europe, spreading my new wings and making my transformation into who I was going to become.

There are, of course, religious overtones to a butterfly that also fit in perfectly with who I have become. But overall the butterfly was the perfect choice for me. I have never and will never regret it.

To my one reader who was with me on that trip...it was an amazing month, wasn't it???

My mom's reaction to my tattoo was classic. When she saw it she licked her finger and tried to rub it off, like it was a fake one!!! LOL!!! I think she had a heart attack right there and then. It was awesome.

And I am planning my next tattoo as we speak. I was thinking of something like this:


Yeah, right. ;)

What tattoos do you have or want to have? What would you think if your sweet little daughter came home from Europe with a tattoo?? Discuss.

Oops, I Did It Again

Wow. I really didn't mean to go an entire week without a post. I keep doing that! I have a been a little stuck in my head the last few weeks. There's just a lot going on, we've been insanely busy, BLAH BLAH BLAH... And no, I actually haven't been posting that much on my 'secret' blog either. Like I said, stuck in my head. I don't know how to get un-stuck but maybe seeing CONAN tonight will help :-) There will be a post about that tomorrow. I assure you. But for now I guess all I can say is to just hang tight with me! I have been neglecting my blog reading, too, so please don't be offended if I seem completely absent. Absent Anne. Has a ring to it. *sigh*

Comment-Love Letter

My bloggy buddy, Kerri (over at Kerri's Klutter), is super cool for many reasons: 1) She has a fun blog. 2) I recently won a giveaway on her fun blog and she sent me something in a box that vibrates. :-) 3) She has an ingenious meme called "Comment-Love Letters". 4) For everyone who does her meme today (or the rest of the Tuesdays in May) she will give $1 to Monkey. (If you don't know Monkey's story please click HERE!)

So, count me in!

To participate in "Comment-Love Letters" I have taken comments from last week's posts and basically mashed them all up in a semi-cohesive way that resembles something like a letter...from all of YOU! This is so much harder than it first appears to be...but hilarious! Maybe YOUR comment made it in?? You will have to read it to find out! Enjoy!!!


Dear Anne,

Gasp! Our relationship is so new and you're already cheating? The horror! I knew something was going on! How *could* you?!?! You sneaky, sneaky lady!!

JEALOUS!!!

Just kidding! I say "Rock On, Sista!" Proud of you. What a lovely feeling that must be. I love it. Good for you! I bet it does feel nice to be able to write stuff that no one else can read. It's your journal. And I am sure it's very therapeutic! I am totally with you.

I like this idea and may have to go on a quest to find the hidden blog. I have to say, I kind of am intrigued. I bet it is much more interesting than you are giving it credit for. Aww man...I wish I could know. I don't have any cash for bribery, but I'll have to work on figuring something out... Your bribe is on it's way to you in the form of a big brown box with something inside that vibrates!! Do I get the address now? lol.

Maybe instead of playing with my dog, I should be blog stalking you. If I find you, do I win a prize? A tell all book perhaps?

You are funny. Funny!

I was much worse than that as a child. My mother had to cut the feet off of my pajamas and put them on me backwards.

WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAT. NO NO NO NO Make the image stop!! What the hell? Is this some kind of conspiracy? Ugh. Oh, please don't tell me this... That is a nightmare indeed. I'm going to get a glass of wine now.

Nuff said.

Have a lovely day!

Your Favorite Commenters

Spoiled Rotten

Mother's Day is very quickly becoming my favorite holiday of the year. Because my husband and family spoil me rotten.

I won't go into every detail of the weekend because frankly WHO CARES besides me. But I will say that I have the best husband and extended family on earth and if you think yours is better you are wrong :-) Just kidding, of course. But seriously, I am one blessed mother. I have to pinch myself often. How did I get so lucky to be this kid's mama????

Photo by Catharine

It got me thinking about what I could do for Grant for Father's Day. Hmmmm.....any ideas??

Here is a quick update on the sleeping situation and then I will hopefully be done whining ... I am sick of talking about it and I bet you are all sick of hearing about it!

Putting him down is slowly getting *easier* every night. And I say a cautious *easier* because it's still far from easy. It's nowhere as easy as it used to be. But we are working with what we've got, making some changes and the most important thing is that we are NOT giving up or giving in. If we are consistent and stick to our guns we will get through this bump in the road okay. I hope, I hope, I hope. Thanks, all, for your words of encouragement and wisdom. I needed them more than you know...

It Got Worse

Oh, how I terribly and desperately wish I could tell you that the sleeping thing was just a fluke but if I told you that I would be a lying liar who lies.

Here's what happened last night:

IT GOT WORSE.

Remember yesterday's post where he was "kicking around in his crib for an hour and a half"? That seems like a nice dream compared to the 2 hours of screaming that we encountered last night. NO he is not sick and does not have an ear infection of any kind. He is just being a pain in the ass and that is that.

So, after going in and out of his room, trying to calm him down, willing him to not fling himself over the side of the crib again ... I let him cry.

I stayed out of his room and listened to him wail for what seemed like an eternity but it was probably more like 10 15 20 minutes.

Then I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to go in.

And what did I find when I went in, you ask?

Everything had been thrown overboard and out of the crib: pillow, blanket and his beloved kitty and lambie stuffed animals.

But that's not the worst part.

The worst part is that he had also managed to unzip his footie pajamas and take them off. And he was half-way toward taking his diaper off.

UGH!

That's about all I'm going to say about that because then mama lost her sh*t and it got ugly. He did eventually fall asleep and slept the entire night like usual. We don't have any problems with him waking up once he is asleep (he sleeps like a friggin' rock) (and now I just jinxed that, too) but now GETTING him to sleep is suddenly a huge chore.

UGH, again.

I would like to add (and this is IMPORTANT so listen up) that this was preceeded by a fantastic evening. The three of us went out to dinner, went shopping to buy him a basketball hoop (yeah!) and we went to a softball game that a friend of mine was playing in. He even got his picture taken by the local paper. Maybe he will be in the paper today? We will see.

In any case it was a super fun evening that was topped off by Miles peeing in the potty!! It's a first!! He has been sitting on the potty and "pretending" for months but this time there was pee action and it was AWESOME. We did the potty dance and clapped and called Grandma ("I pee!") and it was fantastic.

And then the bedtime hell.

Did I mention that his eye is also partially swollen shut from falling at daycare yesterday?

Never a dull moment with this kid. *sigh*

Wish me luck with nap today. I'm gonna need it.

Two Quick Stories

Okay, one more quick wedding story...

I once had a bride who was missing her front teeth. So during pictures she had "fake teeth". She would pop in her fake teeth, smile perrrrdy for a few pictures and then proceed to ........ wait for it ........ spit her fake teeth into her hands. I will never get the image of this bride standing with her fake teeth in her hands out of my brain. So gross. I can't make this stuff up. I really wanted to slip the words "cosmetic dentistry" into a conversation with her but somehow I could just never finagle it in there :-)

Now for a quick story about the fresh hell that is happening in our house...

Last night we listened to Miles toss and turn in his crib for an hour and a half (this is after 30 minutes of crying and stalling before going to bed). Then, when he started yelling for me after being in there for 90 minutes, I went in to hear this come out of his mouth: "All done sleeping, mama." He decided that he was done and wanted out of the crib. *Oh my holy god awful WTF is this hell* And this is NOT an isolated incident. I don't even want to talk about naps. Our once easy sleeper is suddenly easy no more. Kill me now.

Just Call Me JLo

I once did a little stint as The Wedding Planner, JLo-style.

Actually, I was the Lead Wedding Coordinator at our church for over 2 years and it was a fascinating, fun, frustrating gig. Our church performs over 40 weddings a year and I did most of those. It was a huge time commitment.

People always said, "That must be such a fun job! I LOVE weddings!!" Yes, it was fun sometimes. When you had the right bride and groom. But it could be downright painful if you got a cranky Mother-of-the-Bride. Believe me.

But the best part is that I now have some classic stories. Oh so many stories...

Have you ever seen the Mother-of-the-Groom step on her skirt while walking up the aisle and have it fall COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR? I have. :-)

The most interesting situation came about when I got a call from one of my grooms about 3 hours prior to their Friday evening wedding rehearsal:

"Anne, we have a problem."

The problem? The bride was in the hospital. But not just in the hospital...she was in surgery for an emergency appendectomy. Yup.

The kicker is that we went ahead with the rehearsal without her. And then the next day they went ahead with the wedding!

The morning of their wedding, after she was released from the hospital, we got her dressed, put her make-up on and propped her up for pictures. She was able to stand there for a couple of pictures, then run to the bathroom to throw up. Then she would come back and do more pictures. Repeat. It was awful.

She was such a trooper the entire time. Trying to smile. Trying.

And her husband-to-be? So sweet, so concerned. But helpless.

She made it through without passing out during the ceremony. But we had them sit the entire time. Poor girl.

I heard she actually danced quite a bit at their reception. Unbelievable. But true. They will have quite the story to tell their children and grandchildren about their wedding day...

I have so.many.stories. However, the only thing that would coax me back into being The Wedding Planner again would be the promise of slow dancing with Matthew McConaughey. Mmmmmmm.....

Let the Truth Be Told...Today

I need to tell you all something and it's painful so I'm going to come right out and say it:

The truth is...I am cheating on you.

With another blog.

Do you remember all of my waxing and moaning about how I wish this blog was more 'anonymous' because I would feel so much more free to write what I wanted to write without trepidation? And remember how I said I was thinking about starting yet another blog to fulfill that desire??

Well, about a week ago I DID start another blog.

You know, with all my spare time.

It's out there and anonymous and I have ZERO readers and it's FANTASTIC.

Writing just to write is amazingly freeing. Writing just to have an outlet for things I am struggling with is so therapeutic. SO therapeutic. Hitting "publish" and letting it all out there in the universe is fabulous and I really love it.

I'm not really cheating on you, per se, but I have been rather neglectful. This is my first post in 6 days because I have been working on posts on the other blog. Sorry.

But have no fear. (Because you are all shaking in your booties right now of course because you all LIVE to read this blog I just know it...ha) I will continue to write on this blog because I also love it here, with all of you, my 2 loyal readers :-)

Don't even think about asking for the blog address. But I will accept bribes in the form of cash.

And now with 3 blogs (not to mention a toddler, a husband, a job, life in general ... and a partridge in a pear tree) I will be getting even less sleep. Good plan, Anne. No one has ever accused me of being a genius.

But my blogs are like my children (if I actually had more than one kid): I love them all equally. But have my secret favorites, of course ;)

My truth is here, but it is also out there ... somewhere ...