First Steps

Wow!! What an amazing day!! Today I headed out to California to go to Westfest. This is my very first trip to Disneyland. It's been surreal. After a very long but, thankfully, uneventful flight I landed in LA around noon local time. I hopped on a shuttle and headed out to Anaheim. Boy, was it surprising to drive down the street and see the Tower of Tower right there on the corner. The hotel is literally across the street from the parks. I'm so used to the hugeness of Walt Disney World that this aspect of Disneyland has been quite a shock. I dropped my bags and headed out. As I made my way into Disneyland for the very first time I was on the phone with my good friend Paul Barrie from the Window to the Magic podcast. He wanted to be there with me "virtually"  as I took my first steps in the park. It was very cool to share that with him. I've spent so much time listening to him walk the parks it was fun to be the one doing the walking. I was surprised at how much smaller everything is. Of course, I knew going in that Disneyland is smaller. But, nothing could prepare me for just how small Sleeping Beauty Castle actually is. I had seen plenty of pictures and I knew it was smaller but you can't truly appreciate the difference until you're standing there in front of it. I met up with a lot of the people that I'm friends with on Twitter and Plurk. It's been so cool to finally see and talk to these people face-to-face. The first "unofficial" meet of Westfest was Podfest West at the Lost Bar at the Disneyland Hotel. All the podcasters that are here for Westfest and all us crazy fans hung out, drank and had a great time. Since I had been traveling all day I hit the wall pretty early. I know I looked comatose most of the night. But, it was so great to be with all these people I couldn't bring myself to leave.  I can't believe that I'm here at Disneyland and that Westfest hasn't even started yet. What a great trip this is going to be!!

It's Finally Here!!

Just a quick little post tonight. Tomorrow I head to California to attend DPN Westfest. I can't wait to go. This will be my first trip to Disneyland. I will miss The Knight and the girls terribly. However, I'm in need of a vacation. It's going to be an amazing trip!

Doing The Happy Dance!

In just a couple of days I'll be taking my first steps into Walt's Original Kingdom. I'm very excited. I managed to pull off a last minute trip to Disneyland, thanks, in part, to a generous donation from the federal government. This weekend members of The Disney Podcast Network forums will descend on Disneyland for their annual Westfest event. I've been trying to get there since it first started almost 4 years ago. I'm finally going to do it. I'm pretty excited.This is going to be an amazing trip. I've never actually met the three girls I'm bunking with. We only know each other through the DPN forums, Twitter and Plurk. I'm going to get the chance to meet some of the amazing people that produce my favorite podcasts. I will know a few people. My good friends Will, Shannon and Keegan will be out there. The girls and I have shared some great adventures at Walt Disney World with them. This will be Keegan's first trip to Disneyland as well. I am sad that The Knight can't come with me but I know I'll be having so much fun that I'll be able to push it to the back of my mind. I know he wouldn't want me to dwell on that. He would want me to have as much fun as I can possibly have. Besides, the homecoming is sure to be good. Two people that won't forgive me anytime soon are The Heir and Spare. This trip was too last minute to get them out there too. I promised them next year for sure. I kind of like the idea of experiencing Disneyland for the very first time solo. I very rarely get to do things without them. Naturally, I'll report on my adventures right here every night (well, if I'm still able to put together a coherent sentence by the time I get back to my laptop each night.) I'm most excited to meet all the wonderful people that I consider close friends. It will be a most excellent adventure!

Is That Thunder?

Last night The Knight and I took the girls to the drive-in. It was the first time for The Knight and Princess-in-Waiting. The girls and I have been there before. It's actually a pretty fun time. We got rained on at the very beginning. This was a problem because we went to the drive-in in The Knight's truck. The idea being that it would be easier and more fun to watch the movie from the bed. The five of us were crammed into the cab during the trailers. The windows got all steamed up which made it a bit hard to see the screen. Luckily, the rain stopped before the actual movie started. When we were all finally settled and enjoying Monsters v. Aliens I took a moment to survey the scene. There we were, a happy family of five having a fun Saturday night together. Sure, we had a bit of drama here and there but overall it was a lot of fun. We only stayed for one of the three features that night. The Heir was a bit mad. She really wanted to stay for the second. I told her there were plenty of warm nights to come this Summer. We would get the chance to watch a Double Feature. On the ride back, the three girls were in comas in the back seat. I propped myself up on The Knight's file box and dozed in and out. It was as close to a perfect family evening as I've had in a really long time. I finally feel like I've come to the end of the 10 year test God has been giving me and The Knight and our new little family is the reward for a job well done. Thank you, God!!

The Home Stretch

Well, this is it. The Heir's last modeling school weekend. It's been a very long six months. There was lots of drama but in the end she stuck it out and finished. To hear her talk, you would think that she missed prom and a Presidential Ball. Every modeling weekend there would be drama about ruined weekends and all the things she was missing. Most of the time she didn't even bother telling me about her social events because she assumed she wouldn't be allowed to go. I told her that was pretty dumb. I've definitely noticed a change in her. She carries herself a little differently. She doesn't look 12 not that she ever really looked her age to begin with. I have no doubt that she is going to grow into the most beautiful person I've ever seen. It still amazes me that I gave birth to someone so strikingly beautiful. Both The Heir and Spare are quite gorgeous. I don't know how I managed it really. I'm not what you would call a particularly pretty person. They definitely got their looks from their father. Now, that the classes are over we wait for graduation. In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers things go well with this agency that is interested in her. I would like to see her get the chance to work while it's all still fresh in her mind. She worked so hard and sacrificed a lot. I want her to experience an actual job and the thrill of seeing herself in print. I think after that happens she won't be so ready to throw in the towel because of all the "fun" stuff she's missed. I think she'll find this is pretty fun too.

Second Fiddle

I've spent a lot of time over the course of my life playing second fiddle. In school I played the violin. I never really practiced very hard but I was still a decent musician. In high school I was always second chair. I just didn't care enough to work my tail off to improve. There are so many kids in my blended family that there was always somebody having a major crisis that warranted all the parental attention. The kids who were not having problems always floated around the fringes. The man I married loved me very much. I have absolutely no doubt about that whatsoever. However, depending on the time of our stormy relationship, I was always second place to something else in his life. When we started dating I was second to his beloved truck. He washed and waxed that thing every night. If I so much as laid a finger outside of the window he would pull over and jump out to buff off the offending finger print with a diaper. Later on he bought a dog and that bumped me down the line; Dog, Truck, Me. When The Heir was born, nothing was more important. I was far out of his thoughts when she came along I swear sometimes I think he was surprised to see me sitting next to him when he looked up from cuddling that sweet smelling baby. There's something about Daddy's and their daughters. I've accepted the fact that I will never be first in the heart of the men that I love. No matter who they are, there's always someone or something more important. It's a reality that I've lived with for a very long time.

The Start of Something Big?

Wow!! Did we get a huge surprise in the mail today!! If you've been keeping up with life here in the castle then you know that The Heir was in a modeling competition last weekend. She did really well. She got two call backs from some of the judges that were there. Call backs were so crazy that there wasn't time to really talk to them. All we could do was hand them her call back sheet and move on. I was expecting a phone call about interest in The Heir. We got a letter instead. Now, a letter always means thank you but no thank you. When I saw it in the mail box I opened it right there in the street. I wanted to be prepared for what would happen when The Heir read the rejection. I was plenty surprised when I read the two page letter. I had to read it twice before it hit me that this wasn't a rejection. They wanted to see The Heir again and work with her. I was floored. I just couldn't believe it. When I showed it to her she had the same initial reaction that I did. She had to read it a couple of times through before it sunk in. We're going to Tysons Corner, VA on May 17th for a photo shoot. The agency is going to look over her pictures and see where they can take her. I think this is finally the start of something that will truly change The Heir's life. I'm so proud of that kid.

Is Cybil in the House?

I always dread the time between 3:00 and 4:30 pm. That is the time between The Heir's arrival home from school and my return from work. In that time I must receive 10 to 20 phone calls from The Heir and The Spare. I get next to nothing done as I field various calls about who did what to whom and why can't she get off the computer. I always say the same thing, "I'm not there. Please go to the person in charge and let them handle it." I swear I want to tear my hair out every time I see the caller id. Today was the worst yet. I don't even know what happened to start the chaos. One minute The Heir is calling to let me know the dinner plan. Then, The Spare is crying about God knows what. Then another call about things being thrown and people bleeding. Five minutes later all is calm and you would never be able to guess that there was chaos just a minute ago. During this whole time, I can hear the Step-King in the background freaking out. It's like my children have multiple personalities. I never know which one will be working when I pick up the phone. I've decided that all calls from the castle will be bounced to voicemail from 3pm till the time I leave the office. It's the only way to get anything done. For now though, every one will be going to bed early and I will be enjoying a cold alcoholic beverage. I need to soothe my nerves before I go to bed. Where's the bottle opener?

Did It Really Happen That Way?

Being in a relationship with a person you dated in the past is a very interesting thing. The Knight and I talk a lot about our time together in high school. Some of the things I have learned that I didn't know back then have been really funny. I've learned that we remember the same events very differently. It's fun to get his point of view on some of the memories I have. He reminds me of things we did that I had totally forgotten about. I correct some of the memories that he has conveniently changed to suit him. We spend a good deal of the time laughing so hard I swear I've almost peed my pants on more than one occasion. The old saying that you can never go back has proved to be untrue in our situation. We have a wonderful history together that we thoroughly enjoy remembering. We also have lots of new things to learn about the years we were apart. Every day with The Knight brings something new and interesting. Even though a lot has changed since we were high school sweethearts there is a lot about The Knight that is still the same. I can still see the boy I loved all those years ago and his grown into a wonderful man that I look forward to spending the rest of my life with.

A Hard Lesson To Learn

Today was the big event. The Heir's modeling competition. We had to be back at the hotel by 6:45 am. We were a little late leaving. I drove like a mad woman and got her there just a few minutes after 7. Whew! I wasn't allowed in until 10:30 so I spent the interim curled up in the front seat of the Royal Carriage sleeping. I slept for 3 hours. The Heir was busy rehearsing and getting ready. It was a very long day. The show began at 11 and was supposed to be finished by 3. It wasn't. The show didn't warp until 4:30. I sat in that ballroom for the entire thing. My rear was so numb I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk. The kids were divided into divisions based on their ages and the individual divisions then competed in Runway and TV commercials. They alternated between the two categories. There were 60 judges there to judge the competition. The Heir was in Division 7. I enjoyed the Runway portion the best. The commercials were good but there's only so many times you can hear the same "Payless" Shoe commercial. For her first competition, The Heir did really well. I was so proud of her. She ended up winning one of ten Honorable Mention medals and she got two call backs from the agents that were judging. The Heir was not happy at all with her results. She was upset that only two out of 60 judges called her back. I kept telling her that she only needs one to sign her. She was not consoled. She cried all the way home. I kept The Knight informed all day and when he heard how hard she was taking her results he bought her a balloon and a bouquet of flowers. That made her feel so good. It was so sweet. I was so very proud of her. I know she's going to be successful if she just sticks with it. It was a hard lesson for her but she needed to learn it. Rejection is a big part of the business and the sooner she gets used to it the better.

Let The Modeling BEGIN!!

The Heir's big modeling competition has finally arrived. After an hour's worth of drama this morning we made it to Alexandria to start a day of workshops. I was prepared for another day sitting on my butt and working on my laptop. I didn't know the first two workshops were for the parents as well. I felt like a bit of an ass carting around my laptop bag. I did learn some interesting things. When The Heir moved on to rehearsals I settled in with my trusty laptop. As always it was a long and boring couple of hours. I found myself daydreaming about The Knight and our future. I wondered about the Princess-in-Waiting and if she was feeling better. Very briefly my mind wandered to my little dream house that I found for us. Sadly, it's under contract with other Buyers. I pray hourly that the contract falls through because I know that house is meant to be mine and The Knight's. Every time a class would change I would watch the girls going by and picture The Heir at different stages of her career. The Queen Mother is convinced she's going to turn in to some tragic pageant princess. I'm not trying to create a JonBenet Ramsey here. I'm hoping that The Heir gets to experience things that I would never be able to give her any other way. If she becomes the next Heidi Klum then good for her. I'm not pushing her to do anything she doesn't want to do. I'm just pushing her to see this thing through to the end and go on a few jobs before making the decision to continue or let it go. Momma didn't raise no quitter.

Why Didn't I Do This Sooner?

I love trying new things. No matter your age, the joy of trying something new never gets old. There's a certain exhilaration to it. I remember the first time I rode the Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The Heir had been riding it by herself since she was 7. I was always terrified of it but I used the excuse of The Spare being to young and not having anyone to leave her with. Even when The Spare was old enough to wait at the exit I still couldn't bring myself to ride it. I'm not a big fan of dropping up and down like that. I wouldn't even walk through the queue. Finally, on our 2006 trip, I felt a little guilty at the thought of The Heir always going through the queue alone and I was interested in seeing the inside of the building. The three of us walked through together and I contemplated riding it, until we got into the Boiler Room. I quickly changed my mind and asked for the chicken exit when it was time to get on. The Spare was not at all ready to ride it so we left The Heir and headed for the exit. Well, thumbs up to the Imagineer who decided the chicken exit on an elevator ride that drops you up and down should be an elevator. The look on my face had to be hilarious. The Spare wouldn't get on and I had to pick her up and drag her on kicking and screaming. Our trip that year, as it is almost every year, was 12 days and it wasn't until the last night that I finally got up the courage to ride. I've been addicted every since. The thrill of riding Tower of Terror for the first time was so exciting that our very next trip The Heir and I rode ToT at least 15 times. The Spare finally got on during our August 2008 trip with a lot of help from our good friend Keegan, The Teenage Disney Geek and his Dysfunctional SuperFamily. The Spare is an addict now too. And ever since The Knight swooped in on his shining steed there have been many new experiences that we've enjoyed already and many more to come.

Stepping Into The Unknown

For some strange reason The Knight thinks I would be a good novelist. I've told him many times that I think he's crazy but he insists I'm the one who's losing their mind. This all started a few weeks ago and since then I've been reading this book about writing a novel. It's very interesting. The whole time I've been reading this book I kept thinking to myself, what would I write about? I just couldn't get an idea in my head. I know most writers are full of amazing ideas just waiting to be born. I've blogged before about the various things I wrote about as a child. But, now that I'm faced with the challenge of putting something down that I could possibly sell, there's nothing there. I guess it's the whole failure aspect that's got me blocked. Well, last night while waiting for The Heir and Spare to finish up lacrosse practice things began to stir. As I was reading my book the image of the first page started to float around in the back of my mind. It was the first page of my book, printed and bound with words on it. I grabbed a scrap of paper and started to put those words down. I'm pleased to say I've got two paragraphs that I actually like. Where it's going to go I have no idea. But, you've got to start somewhere. I'm excited to find out just where it ends up.

The Hunt Begins

As I mentioned before, The Knight and I have decided to start looking for our own little castle. In the last three days I've looked at six. None of them have been right so far. I didn't think we would find something instantly. I'm in the real estate business and I know it doesn't work that way. I just hope we can find something suitable in our price range. I really don't want to move again before we've gotten all three girls out of high school. Which means we've got to find a house that we can be happy in for the next 11 years. That's a long time and a lot to ask of one little house. I have no doubt whatsoever that it's out there somewhere. When I close my eyes I can see it. Now, if there was only a way to make it a reality when I open them. If I can figure out how to accomplish that I'll be the richest girl in the world. For now, I'll keep scoring the listings praying it shows up and praying The Knight will be able to carve out time from work to see some of them. Until then I'll soldier on alone, my trusty digital camera in hand taking pictures to send to him.

Happy Easter!!

Yet again, we get to glory in the Resurrection of Our Lord!! Alleluia, for sure! It sure was chilly today but a beautiful day none the less.  We had a very small gathering for Easter dinner and The Knight was there. I've been trying to get him to meet the parents "again" for the better part of three weeks now. It's not that he's been avoiding the inevitable. His job keeps getting in the way.  It almost did again today. I was not happy. But, it all worked out. The Knight spent a good part of the afternoon playing with The Heir and The Spare. They shot hoops and played lacrosse. They rode on the girls scooter and played with The Little Master. I think all three thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed watching them. The one thing those girls have been missing is a father. Sure, they've been lucky to have very close male relatives in their lives. But, it's not the same as a Dad. The Spare is hopelessly in love with The Knight. The Heir is a little more reserved. Every once in awhile I've caught The Heir showing her actual feelings for him. But, just as quickly she reigns it right back in before anyone has the chance to see how she actually feels. I know she'll come around eventually. The nicest part of the whole day was hearing The Knight tell me how much he loves them. Nothing could be better for a single mom to hear.

Happy To Ya!

Today the Step-Queen is the BIG 6-0!! We celebrated with a small family gathering of all the usual suspects. No big surprise party, no embarrassing highlights reel, although that would have been fun. Just lots of good food, a very good cake (if I do say so myself) and lots of family. Here's to another 60 years, Nani!!

Life Couldn't Be Any Sweeter

I was sitting on the couch after a hard day's work today and my gaze landed on The Little Master. He laid there next to me curled up in a tight little ball. It got me to thinking about how sweet his life is. Every morning he gets up and heads outside to do his "doody" and patrol the yard. He barks at a squirrel here, a grasshopper there, making sure they all know who the boss is. After about 30 minutes he comes in to enjoy his breakfast, which is always ready and waiting for him. He licks his bowl clean then heads off to find his favorite toy. It's a little black and white skunk that we call his "guy." Tell the Little Master to go and get his "guy" and you can bet he'll find that thing no matter where it is in the palace. He wrestles and throws it around for about 30 minutes. After that, he's spent. Now, keep in mind that he's only been awake and on the move for about an hour. He'll spend the better part of the day stretched out in a patch of sun on the floor. When the sun moves he gets up and moves with it. When the floor gets to hard he moves to the couch. Occasionally he'll stand at the one of the sliding glass doors and stare out on his little kingdom. When The Heir and Spare come home he plays with them for awhile then heads off to the couch for a little more R n R. After a hardy bowl of kibble for dinner it's off to his room for a good night's sleep in preparation to repeat everything the very next day. All in all, I would say The Little Master has a pretty sweet life. Except for the butt licking I could get used to spending my days like that.

That Which Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Drunker

I made a startling revelation today. I was on my way to take The Heir to a friend's house for a sleep over. For some unknown reason she didn't have the address and couldn't get a hold of the girl to find out where she lives. We decided to check The Heir's email to see if there was something that might be in there with the address on it. Instead, I came across emails from Facebook notifying The Heir that some of her friends had tagged her in photos. Let's just say that pissed doesn't begin to describe my reaction. She explained rather hurriedly that a friend of hers, one that she won't be seeing anymore, had created the account for her. I preceded to chew her out for 30 minutes about the stupidity of not telling me this friend had done this. We were back and forth with who was at fault and what privileges she was losing. When we got back to the castle I searched for her page only to find out it was gone. The friend had taken it down because she thought The Heir would get in trouble. Smart move but it should have been done two weeks ago. The Heir, in turn, spent 15 minutes chewing the friend out for getting her in trouble although she should have done something about it as soon as it happened. Later, she came up to me and told me she was going to make mistakes and I still had to love her. I told her she better not mention Facebook, texting or going to the mall with friends to me until she turns 13. And then, we'll discuss but it's no guarantee. I don't know how I'm going to survive two more girls going through adolescence after The Heir. I hope it will be easier. I think I'm going to buy stock in Red Stripe. I'll be rolling in dough by the time all three girls are in their 20's.  

A New Adventure

I decided to see if The Knight and I would be able to buy a house. We're trying to figure out what the next steps in our relationship are and living together as one big happy family is it. Since my castle is owned by others and his is way to small for five (never mind the fact that he owns it with the ex) we definitely need to find something we can call our own. Boss 2 is married to a mortgage guy and he's been working hard to see what he can do for us. The news was very promising. The Knight was very pleased. So, I've started to search for the perfect castle. I'm looking forward to the process even though I know it's going to be a tough one in this market. But, searching and visiting and trying to imagine our family in a particular house and neighborhood is going to be fun. Having something that The Knight and I can call our own will be even better. I never imagined my future would end up with a big family and a white picket fence.

Worse Than Real Life?

When it comes to what The Heir and Spare get to watch I'm not usually an uptight nut job. If I'm unsure of something I'll watch it first without them. If the content is relatively harmless I'll give it the thumbs up. Lately the girls have become entranced with the CSI franchise. I'm a big fan of all three shows. I've been slowly catching up on all the shows I've missed since The Knight and I started dating. Now that ER is all caught up and (sadly) over I've moved on to CSI. The girls have been watching it with me and both have decided they want to be crime scene investigators when they get older. Today, while enjoying CSI:NY, my mother happened to walk through the family room and see what we were watching. She preceded to call me out for letting my children watch a show about car bombs and houses blowing up. I pointed out that they can see car bombs and houses blowing up almost every day on the news. What's the difference? Is watching these things on a tv show any worse than watching it happen in real life on the news? I don't think so. The three of us sat there with the show paused while the Queen Mother went on about my poor choices. There's nothing the girls and I can't stand more than someone talking while we're trying to watch a show. We stared at her with glazed expressions, waiting for the tirade to end. When she finally realized that no one was listening she stopped and huffed out muttering to herself about the serial killers I'm raising. The girls and I returned to our show. Listening to them discuss the science of what they were seeing and being fascinated by how the evidence was analyzed and how cool it all was gave me all the justification I needed for allowing them to watch it. If watching CSI gives The Heir and Spare are greater love of science then we'll keeping watching.

Wow! I Can't Believe He Did That!

I've mentioned before that The Knight was my high school boyfriend. We were an oddly matched couple. I was a "dirt-munching, tree-hugging hippie" (his words) he was an "uptight, penny loafer wearing conservative". Who knows what attracted us to each other but we loved each other deeply all the same. A love that ended up lasting much longer then even I expected. I had no doubt back then that we would end up married. When I pictured what our life would be like I imagined The Knight in some white-collar job, an executive or maybe a loan officer. If computers had been big back then I definitely could have seen him as an IT guy. We parted ways my sophomore year of college and I never heard from him again. Eighteen years later we're back together and the line of work he ended up in was something I never expected. The Knight ended up in the pool business. He started out as a lifeguard and then got into pool management. Somewhere along the line he left the management side and got into the construction side. Yes, The Knight builds pools. Over the last couple of months, he's sent me pictures of various jobs, the equipment he uses, the people he works with. I find it fascinating to learn about what he does. He had to work very late tonight so he asked me to drive out to one of his current projects. I found myself at a YMCA at 9:45 at night to see his latest pool. There's nothing fancy about it. It's just your average, every day lap pool. No disco lights or dancing water fountains. I had seen a picture of it earlier in the day when his crew was busy plastering away. When I got there he was filling it up. What amazes me most is the boy I knew in high school, who was supposed to end up pushing papers somewhere, is now a highly skilled and highly respected pool builder. I didn't understand what any of the stuff he showed me does but I was blown away by the fact that he had designed and built it. He doesn't have a big, expensive Engineering degree. From what I understand he's almost exclusively self-taught. I was absolutely amazed. And the sweetest part of all was seeing the look of pride in his eyes while showing his girl this amazing thing he did. He's not curing cancer or finding the answer to world peace. But, he's very good at what he does and I'm extremely proud of him all the same.

Family Fun Day

What a fun day we had today!! I can't remember a more beautiful Palm Sunday then we had today. After church we headed out to the lacrosse field to start The Spare's game season. She did an amazing job and her team won 9-4. I haven't seen The Spare play so well. The Knight and the Princess-in-Waiting came down to watch. I'm not sure how much fun the Princess-in-Waiting had but The Heir and The Knight had a good time passing the ball together. I was impressed at how quickly he was able to master the skill of catching the ball. That's something I'm still not able to do. After the game we all headed over to a little carnival in the parking lot of our local mall. There wasn't much too it but we managed to ride almost everything as a family and the girls played a lot of games. Everybody won something. The Knight even won a prize for me. It was so sweet, no one has ever won me a prize at a carnival game. By the time we were done, everyone was windblown and sunburned. But, we all had a wonderful time. Days like this are so much fun. I'm looking forward to many more family fun days to come. The one I'm looking forward to the most is our first family trip to my favorite place of all, Walt Disney World! The Knight and I talked for half an hour in bed tonight about the fun we had and the other things we want to do as a family. I couldn't be happier then I am right now!

Bitter Disappointment

There's not much in a young girl's life that could cause such abject disappointment. Today The Heir and The Spare suffered some of their own. This was supposed to be the start of their lacrosse game season. The day was shaping up to be a perfect day for lacrosse. The sky was a beautiful blue and the sun was shining. It was quite windy but we've come to expect that at the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, yesterday's rains made the fields unplayable today. The girls were devastated. The Heir took it especially hard. She's a hardcore lacrosse player and found it very insulting that the girl's games were canceled but the boy's games were not. I didn't have an answer for this blatant show of discrimination. I agreed with her that it was very unfair that the boys were still able to play their games. Well, it was only a matter of time before the battle of the sexes directly affected The Heir and The Spare. It's a shame it had to happen at such an early age. The Heir held at hope that the powers that be would change their minds and allow the afternoon games to go on but she waited in vain. We ended up spending the day lounging around the castle. Something I very rarely get to do. Many little things prevented us from spending any time with The Knight and the Princess-in-Waiting today. When you live in two different kingdoms those are the breaks sometimes. I was lucky enough to see The Knight a couple times this week, something I didn't expect to do. Unfortunately, it seems that I won't get the chance to spend any time with the Princess-in-Waiting before she turns back into a pumpkin and returns to her other life. That, for me, is my own little bit of disappointment. I do so enjoy spending time with that sweet little girl.

Monsters vs. Aliens

This one's going to be short and sweet. I'm beat and I just got word I can see The Knight, very unexpected. The Spare and I went to see Monsters v. Aliens tonight. The Heir was at a school function. I wasn't expecting much from this movie going in. It was a lot funnier then I thought it would be. The 3D was well done. The Monsters were hilarious. They definitely made the movie. I won't give any spoilers away. But, I  loved Bob. He was my favorite monster. I was also surprised at some of the voice actors. I knew Reese Witherspoon  was one but, not only did I not know Kiefer Sutherland did a voice but I couldn't figure out which one he was. He did such a good job disguising his very distinctive voice. There were a few actors that I couldn't figure out till the credits rolled. I like not knowing who the voice actor is until the end. It makes it easier for me to get into the movie without the distraction of say, Eddie Murphy's voice coming out of a dragon's mouth. Overall, The Spare and I give Monsters vs. Aliens four thumbs up. Now, I've got to hightail it over to The Knight's before he falls asleep on me. Ciao!

Heart Broken

Tonight a little piece of my heart broke. ER ended. It's silly to think I could be so upset over the ending of a tv show but, for me this was no ordinary show. I've religiously watched each and every episode since the series started in 1994. From the days of recording it on my vcr to today's dvr sets, ER has been a part of my life for 15 years. It's really quite amazing. Somehow, important episodes always coincided with important events in my own life. Both The Heir and The Spare were born on Thursdays. I can remember the quiet of my hospital room and the terror of being a new mother, alone at the age of 23. The only comfort was the familiarity of a favorite show. Three years later, another baby and alone again as a young widow. I sat in the hospital bed in the dark staring at the tv wondering how I was going to raise two little girls all alone. For an hour, I lost myself in the lives of old friends. A few short months after my own husband died, Dr. Greene died. After months of stoic strength, I wept that night like I hadn't been able to since the day I had to stand in the morgue and identify my husband's body. I watched that episode over and over till the tape finally wore out, crying like a baby every time. To this day I can't listen to that particular version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  Later, when Carole left Chicago to find Doug I wished that I could do the same thing. I had lost my husband and the only other man I wanted to find was the one I had given up as a stupid college girl. I dreamed for weeks after that episode aired about finding my high school boyfriend again. The man I had loved since I was 16. Every night I would fall asleep with Carole's words echoing through my head as she explained to Luka how much she loved this man. I saw myself walking up to him just as Carole walked up to Doug on that bank in Seattle. I could see him turning to me and wrapping me in his arms. I never thought back then that I would actually find The Knight again. Over the course of this final season so much has happened to trigger memories both from the show and my personal life. Every time they trotted out "the wall" I wept at seeing the name tags of the various characters that had left. Yes, it's just a tv show. And through the wonders of dvd's and reruns I can continue to enjoy it. But, there's something about the knowledge that there will never be another new show that makes it very sad for me. When I close my eyes tonight I'll see that wall again with the names of all that have moved on and place my own little name tag up there next to Lucy and Greg and Mark and all the others that have become like family to me.

Seriously Folks

Do I even need to say April Fools? I mean it's April 1st. It's a fore drawn conclusion that you never believe anything you hear or read today.

The Gig Is Up

It took longer than I thought it would but they found me out. All of this has been a lie. Sleeping Beauty has no sister, she really is a dumb blonde if I could fool her for this long. The Heir and The Spare aren't mine and The Knight is a figment of my imagination. I've gotta be quick 'cause I hear the angry mob of villagers gathering in the streets to run me out of town. It's been a great run but the story ends here. I bid you all a fond farewell. Sleeping Beauty's (Fake) Sister signing out.