Laugh With Moms

It is hard to write about the passing of someone you know, but doubly hard when that person passes away at the young age of 26 after a valiant fight with lung cancer.  His name is Dan Waeger and you can read his story on his and his fiancee’s blog under our blog roll or here (http://waegerwillwin.blogspot.com).  His fiancee, Meghan, is one of my very good friends from my college days and it has been amazing to watch their love story unfold over the last 2 years.  Dan passed away on Monday, March 16 with Meghan by his side after a 3 year, 10 month battle over lung cancer.  His motto was “Waeger Will Win” and indeed he did.  We all did by knowing him and watching him not only battle the cancer but develop his own foundation to help young adult cancer survivors (www.collegiatecancer.org).  He will be missed by so many, but his legacy will live on in all of us.  My thoughts and prayers are with my beautiful friend Meghan and both Dan and Meg’s family and friends  as they deal with the loss of their beloved fiancee, son, brother, brother in law, uncle, friend and hero.  Please visit their blog and website to learn more about them.

I arrived home today after a nice hour and a half heated power yoga class to find my husband and two daughters dancing away to the Wiggles.  And when I say dancing, I mean going to town with the moves.  I wanted to take a picture or grab the video camera, but I was just so happy to see this that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from them.  They were having so much fun and it made me smile to see my grown husband having as much fun as they were.  When we started talking about having kids, he was a little afraid to have girls because he knows what to do with boys, but really has no clue when it comes to girls (this girl included most times!!).   So to find them dancing away, to the Wiggles no less, just made me grin from ear to ear.  I secretly hope that I will come home someday and find that they have dressed him up with make up and hair done having a tea party, but I won’t tell him that.  In that case a picture will be a necessity.  I hope to commit the picture of them dancing to a permanent mental memory that I can access when I need a happy pick me up.  I will probably conjure up that picture when they are dancing on the their wedding day and cry like a baby to remember them so little.  So here is to letting all inhibitions fly out the window (whoa not that far) and dance your heart out to your children’s favorite musical tunes.

My husband always tells me I give our four year old too much information when I answer his questions.  He will ask “why?” and I will give what I believe is a complete answer. Then he asks another “why?” about the answer. Somehow I still feel the need to give him an honest and somewhat long answer.

Today I was driving my four year old to preschool and he tells me he doesn’t like school anymore.  I remind him that he says that he loves school every time I pick him up and that he also tells me how much fun he has. He responds with a whiny, “I don’t want to go to school”.  My nice response then starts turning not-so-nice and I finally say “you have to go to school so you can learn and one day get a job”.  He asks me what kind of job and I of course start with too much information.  I tell him that every year he will go to school and learn different things and then one day he will go to college and then he will decide what kind of job to get.  He then asks me what college is and not wanting to give out too much information, I simply respond with “it’s when you sleepover at a school and live at school”.  He then looks at me with a worried look and asks, “then I won’t live with you?”  I continue to give too much information and explain that when he gets older he won’t want to live with me. He then says, “I don’t want to go to college mommy.”

Not knowing where this is going to go next I try to put an end to it by telling him that we don’t need to talk about it now since it’s a really long time away. His response? “I want to talk about it now!”

I finally manage to change the subject and I successfully drop him off at school without incident.

I am halfway through Book #4 and am totally addicted.  I have googled everything I could about Twilight.  I have yet to see the movie, but that is because it is already out of our regular theatres and on to the secondhand theatres none of which are within a 30 minute drive.  So I will be anxiously awaiting the release of the DVD this month.  My husband asked me the other day, “what is it about those books that makes people so crazy and addicted to them?”.  I didn’t really have an answer that really summed it all up and I knew anything I said would just be filed away in his brain to use later “to bust my balls” (as these east coasters like to say).  But I tried to give him some sort of insight into the Twilight craze.  The books are so entertaining and there is always something that makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next.  I like to read when I am walking and running on my treadmill, it makes the time go much quicker for me while engaging in torturous exercise.  Anyway the other day, I got on that treadmill to start Book #4 and 115 minutes later I knew I had to stop.  Did you know that the treadmill only goes up to 99 minutes and then starts back over at one?  Who knew, I never even get close to 45 much less 100.  The point is, I did not even realize I had been on the treadmill that long and I didn’t even want to stop, but knew that my husband was about to send out the search party.  Anyway back to what I told my wonderful hubby about the book.  I also said that each character is really interesting and each has a story that folds into the whole story.  At this point, I saw his eyes glaze over and start to tune out.  Then I said, “well there is also Edward”.  With his eyebrows arched up,  he said, “what is with this Edward guy?  I have seen him in the trailer for the movie and he is not that cute.”  I said, “I actually agree with you about that, but once you read the book (or watch the movie- I think), there is so much more to like”.  With that, he got really interested in what makes Edward so likeable and makes the girls go crazy.  I don’t really know what it is, but who isn’t a sucker for a man who loves someone so totally, completely and selflessly?  Who would do anything to protect her?  My husband gave me that little shit-eating grin he has and continued to listen to me explain.  The whole time, I know he was just cataloguing everything I have said to use at a later date.  I seriously have one of the best husbands in the world who continually keeps me laughing and really would do anything for me (although sometimes I have to hint at what that may be!).  And man does he have a good memory when he can use it to his advantage.  Just last night we were talking about the new Bachelor and who he is going to pick on the Finale (yes we do watch it from time to time) and we were talking about Jason’s (the Bachelor) qualities to which he adds “well he is no Edward”.  Sometimes he can’t even remember the kids activities that they have every week, but he can remember some guy from a book he hasn’t even read.  Let me go off on a tangent here and say it boggles my mind how much useless information is stored in the brain of my hubby.  He can remember every golf hole we played in Hawaii on our honeymoon and what he and I both scored on each hole.  I always tell him I fear that information is really taking up space in that brain of his for things that are really important.   Anyway I am trying to convince him to read it to see if he will like it, but I fear that he won’t have an open mind about it and will just agree to hate it before he reads it.  Anyhow, I have about 15 minutes before the bus comes and I am going to sneak in some time with Edward.  If you haven’t read it, do your self a favor and go get the book today.  You will love it (and Edward too!).