The Beauchamp FamilyYes, we really are this geeky…

I was reading the news after lunch today and ran across this news story out of Virginia. Today is also Tuesday which means I might get bonus points from Dynila for her Tuesday Tirade thing she does sometimes.

Let me first say that I don’t have a teenager, so maybe you can say that I don’t understand teeangers. Fine. Whatever. But I want to know why this administration thinks they can just go reprint the damn yearbooks? What was so horrible? Do you mean to tell me that you don’t know your kid might be getting high? Oh wait, you don’t know that some of them get abortions without your knowledge? You don’t know what they are aware of the rest of the world? What? Little Perfect Mary Sue would never do that right? And you don’t want that filth in your yearbook, right? Guess what? It’s out there. And your Little Miss Perfect has probably even gotten drunk and done something stupid. Most teenagers do (except for me, of course, mom, I was one of the few perfect teenagers! Really!)

The point is that this was a pretty neat project that the student body and yearbook staff took on. They asked for secrets. The administration had to have known they were soliciting for them. They probably even thought it was neat themselves given the current popularity of PostSecret (and if you say you’ve never looked, you are LYING). It’s the perfect thing to include for so many reasons. The least of which is that high school isn’t all cheerleaders and pep rallies. There are kids with real thoughts and real things to process and yes, some deep dark secrets to share. No one was hurt in doing it.

So I want to know why the administration is now taking all the yearbooks back? Because some parents got upset? Really? Because they knew it was going on and they HAD TO HAVE KNOWN the yearbook staff was doing the piece. Just once I want to see school administrators stand up and say “No. Our students did this. You may not like it, but it was published with our knowledge. I’m sorry it offended you, but this was their project done by them and their peers and we stand behind it.”

But no. They are too busy kowtowing to those few enraged parents. I bet those same parents are trying to get books banned too. Oh, that’s another rant.

Okay, so I feel better. What a crock.

I have this weird thing with Cassie (tell me I’m not the only mom that tortures her children). Any time she tells me another mom did something really cool, I ask her if that means I’m not her favorite mommy anymore, it makes her giggle. I always proclaim that the other mommy is OBVIOUSLY her favorite mommy now.

Cassie came home from the neighbor’s house on Friday with a mini pencil and a silly bandz (I hadn’t heard of them either until very recently). I was joking with her after her shower that Mrs. Neighbor was now her favorite mommy. She was giggling when I asked her who her favorite mommy was and she stopped and got really serious. I thought she was going to be mad because I was picking on her, but no. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “No. You’re my favorite Mommy.” I asked why and she replied, her voice full of seriousness and sincerity, “Because you are MY Mommy.”

Dammit. She almost made me cry. Yes, sweetheart, I certainly am your mommy.

We’ve done this a few times now, but it’s always surprising and makes me feel good when we make the front page of Recipezaar. These lemon bars were really good but not as lemony as I would have liked, next time we’ll kick it up with some True Lemon.

So, my hip joint has been bugging me for a few days. I have a chiro appointment tomorrow, but I needed something today because Advil isn’t helping. Off to my regular doc who sends me for x-rays and says it’s bursitis. First of all – what the heck is that? And don’t only old people get it? If interested, it’s in Wikipedia.

Apparently not. She seems to think the donkey kick exercises I did on my own (okay, I overdid it, it’s my new way of dealing with stress and the allergy season that is right now) and then laying on that side for 10 hours (I passed out I was so tired one night) contributed to it.

Of course. *I* would get bursitis. I’m gonna walk around saying “Ethel, come help me over here, my bursitis is actin’ up” cuz, ya know, I can.

Who knows what the chiro will say. I need to visit her anyway. I’ve noticed my lower back is burning when I walk a lot, usually means I need a quick adjustment. And yeah, I cannot believe I actually like the chiropractor. Yes, I used to think they were full of bunk. Now, I think mine is the best thing since sliced bread.

Oh, and while I’m whining (cuz it’s all about me)… freaking Austin. My allergies are CRAZY. This is, by far, the worst year. I actually asked the doc again about it because I am going to go crazy with the itching and scratching and eyes bright red and swollen. I’ve even had to start carrying around an inhaler because I cannot breathe sometimes. The doc said that it’s the worst they’ve seen it too, the oak pollens are just horrible. I’m kind of glad because that means that mine isn’t getting worse, it’s just the season is bad.  She also told me that she was hearing that the oak should start coming down in 2 weeks. So I have 2 more weeks not to lose my mind. And she called in some new meds for me to take to get over this hump. I’m LOSING it. Seriously.

So today, Tom and I celebrate 17 years of marriage and look at how far we’ve come. It’s hard to believe we are 18 and 21 in that photo (and no cracks about the hair – that was high fashion in 1993!).

I think it’s safe to say that we’ve been through the best and the worst of times, but we’ve always managed to do it together. Someone asked me last month how we manage to stay happy together and it’s not an easy question to answer. I think the big thing is that we laugh together – a lot. We laugh at ourselves, each other and at our own inside stupid jokes. If we are angry, we usually say what we have to say and move on – agreeing to disagree. We argue, but usually about stupid stuff.

More importantly, he lets me win a good bit. Hey, he’s not stupid, right?

Happy anniversary, Tom. Love you, babe!

I was going through Cassie’s backpack for tomorrow (taking out her lunchbox that she forgot, was getting ready to scold her for forgetting) when I came across the below. (I didn’t even mention the lunchbox… cuz… well… awwww… she gets a pass today)

It says:

February 12, 2010

Dear mom,

Happy valentines!!!!! I love you so much. You help me make my lunch. You are my hero always.

Love,
Cassie

So, today is Valentine’s Day. Tom and I’s first date was in December of 1991 and we got married in 1993. It’s 2010. No, really. It is. I checked. Cuz… yeah.

I won’t tell the whole sorted story (no, I wasn’t pregnant, that came 7 years later) but we got married the day after I turned 18 and a few days later got on a plane and moved from South Carolina to Hawaii. How my mother didn’t smack me and tell me I was the stupidest child on the face of the planet… well… I don’t know. Obviously, it wasn’t a mistake, but I think back to how badly it could have turned out. I mean, I was a kid, he is just a few years older than me. WHAT were we thinking? Oh yeah, we were in looovvvveeee… *laugh* And yes, we were. Yes, we are. But still… I wonder…

I am the luckiest woman I know though. All these years later, and we’re still together, still in love – moreso I think, still write silly little notes (although instead of paging 143, I text it to him now and then), we still argue (never about big stuff like, always little stuff – like brands of mustard – you’d think we would have figured this out by now, right?), we still laugh, we still cry…

But I also look back over the past 17 years in awe. How much our lives have changed, how things morphed several times over the years. We went from being nearly dirt poor living in Hawaii, to being pretty well DINKs living in Hawaii, to being happily living DINKs living in Austin, to having two of the most beautiful and wonderful children in the entire world, to… well, where we are today. And everything in between. I remember his face when I told him I was pregnant (no screaming “but you were on the pill!”) the first time. I remember supporting him through the closure of his business and him supporting me through the treacherous growth of mine.

I remember my mom telling me when I was kid that I am so darn independent. She’s right, but I’m also very dependent on my husband, who really has been through everything with me. In some weird way, we kind of grew up together. I mean, I was 18, he was 21 when we got hitched. We made some really stupid mistakes, but we managed to get out of them together. We made some really wise decisions (and let me take credit for them) *laughing*

My point? I do look back all those years ago and wonder… what would be different if I hadn’t decided to get married? Would we still be together? Would we have grown apart? Can you even have a relationship that spans 6000 miles? I honestly don’t know. We were probably too immature to have made it work, if I’m being honest. I don’t regret even a second of it though. Tom is the love of my life and I don’t know what I’d do without him.

To you, Tom, thank you. Thank you for being persistent (3 months just to get a date!). Thank you for making me feel special, for making me feel like I am the most important thing in your world, and for making me laugh (gosh, I hate this part!). Thank you for sharing in our own little weird private jokes, for always being there when I need a shoulder, for always chipping in when I think I may be on my last ounce of sanity, and for always supporting my weird “yeah, let’s do this!” ideas. Thank you for picking up the slack when I drop it, for fixing things when I break them, and for laughing with me when we both screw up. Thank you for being you, for who you were, for who you are and for who you will become. I promise I’ll be right there with you for the rest of our lives.

(okay and to make a sappy post even more sappy, I thought about tacking on Have I Told You Lately That I Love You by Rod Stewart since that was closer to 1993, but Stand By Me… well, always makes me think of my hubby)

(Oh, and this is a good version of Stand By Me too. Love John Lennon’s version and this video is so well put together, check it out)

Tom and I really like RecipeZaar. He likes to cook, I like to take photos so it’s something we can do together. The past several months have been a bit crazy and we haven’t been doing anything consistently. Imagine my surprise this morning when I woke up and a recipe AND photo of ours made the front page. Check it out RecipeZaar. What makes it even more special is that it’s actually one of my mom’s recipes – her Tomato Based Beef Stew. Super yummy!

I know most of you won’t know who this is, but trust me when I tell you that he is probably one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. On Sunday, I saw a Tweet from my friend and colleague Shawn Powers that simply said “My house burned down”. I was hoping this was figuratively or some weird Linux thing I don’t understand (hey, it happens more often than you’d think!). But no. His house did burn down. He, his amazing wife and 3 girls (ages 12, 10 and 9) are okay. The family pets did not make it. I cannot even begin to imagine how you recover from this. He and I work together (virtually) with Linux Journal. He’s a funny, yet caring gentleman who would give you the shirt off of his back. So, I’m here asking you.. if you have an extra dollar or two sitting around in your paypal account, can you pass it on to his family to help them get back on their feet? I’m writing this on Sunday to post on Monday – he hasn’t asked us to set this up, Linux Journal just did it – we know there are things they are going to need that he hasn’t even thought about.

So there ya have it… my plea for a friend This money goes directly into his paypal account, bypassing myself and the Linux Journal crew completely. My thoughts are with you and your family, Shawn. If you aren’t able to contribute, you can always stop by his blog with thoughts/prayers/whatever. I know he appreciates just knowing we are thinking of him.

You can give by clicking the button below or by visiting the donation site directly at http://helpshawnpowersfamily.chipin.com/

I also wanted to add a note here about the power of the internet. See that total up there? Is that amazing or what? I remember back in the early 90s when I was using a BBS, my mother asked if I considered “those people on the computer” my friends and I told her yes. She asked how I could call someone I’d never met my friend. She understands a little more now since she has email and works from home via internet, etc. BUT…

Yes, you can make wonderful friends virtually. I’ve met Shawn once. We had dinner together with a group of Linux Journal people and then walked around downtown trying to find a place to do some remote video thing LJ was doing (I have learned to just nod my head a lot). But I still consider him a friend. No, maybe more like a big brother. I look up to him and I know that if something ever happened to me, he’d be there to beat those mean people up! I also have a stinky little Internet brother too, but that’s another post for another day (love ya, Justin!).

In the meantime, help if you can… you can follow Shawn and find out his status by visiting:
http://www.facebook.com/shawnp0wers
http://www.brainofshawn.com/
http://www.natuba.com/shawnp0wers/
http://twitter.com/shawnp0wers

Earlier today I shared this on Facebook, but figured I’d give the full run down of “what the heck” I meant…

~My husband and I have the weirdest conversations, “No, the dead lady, the one that we think really is dead this time… she’s the one having the roof work done”….. “OMG, did you see her outside? I’m pretty sure she did really die this time.” (yeah, that’s a long weird story)~

So yeah… what? Early last year, Tom told me that the neighbor behind us had died, he had talked to someone out in the yard and that’s what they said. We talked to her a few times when she was watering her grass or whatever, but we weren’t “friends” I guess. I said “oh, how sad” and on we went… about 2 months later, I get up on a Saturday and look out the window… the dead lady is watering her grass. Apparently, she’s back! So I go wake up Tom, who comes into the kitchen and we’re staring at her. He’s saying maybe it’s her sister, but no, it’s her.

What the hell, right? Zombie neighbors!

Apparently, her husband died I guess and she was staying with family. Um… okay.

So… late Summer Tom once again says she has died,  he talked to her son who comes and mows her lawn (and can I say that I hope my son one day loves me enough to come mow my lawn and do nice stuff for me *ahem*Jamie*ahem*). I’m not sure if I believe him and if that zombie bitch comes back again, I swear I might go stake her.

Um. I’m kidding. (Mostly)

So yeah, the house is not “the neighbor behind us” – it will always and forever be the “not really dead lady’s house”. Gah, I hope my kids don’t hear us saying crap like that. Now to get one of my friends to buy it LOL