You tah? Me tah. We tah!

I believe it was a cold day in April that Marcy informed me that we were going on vacation over 4th of July to Utah. As I was in the middle of saving lives or something equally important, I agreed. "Where are we going in Utah?", I asked. "St. George", I was told. Sounded good. She hasn't led me astray yet. Besides, we GOT to take all the kids. Happiness in the making, for sure. Only later did I realize that this was going to be an 18-ish hour road trip (each way)...what COULDN'T be fun about THAT?

The kids were concerned about meeting each other before we threw them in a car together for basically an entire day, but we assured them they would be fine. (Just to be clear, Alex and Zack knew each other prior to going, as did Keleigh and Josie...however the Kim offspring had yet to meet the Marcy offspring. Weird, I know. [You're welcome for the clarification].)

Marcy, Keleigh and Josie came to Sandy the night before we left for our trip. Much to Zack's relief, Marcy and I actually started looking at maps (Marcy already had) and planning our route. Earlier in the day he indicated that he and Alex were concerned that Marcy and I wouldn't even know HOW to get to Utah. I just told him that we were going to head south-ish/east-ish, and eventually we'd get there. He seemed comforted with Marcy's arrival with actual pictures of roads. Whatever. The kids hit it off and threatened to stay up all night in order to sleep all the next day in the car. I just laughed and said "sure, you go right ahead". KNOWING that it would never happen. It DID. I woke up at 4 am to a room full of jacked-up giggling kids and piles of empty Mt. Dew cans. Wow. I had a mixture of emotions....slightly impressed, slightly worried. This could go either way. Time would tell.

We had set an ETD of 0500, and only missed it by about 15 minutes. Yes, I'm pretty sure that was my fault. We'll just go with that. We had carefully mapped out our day, and stayed basically on task with a few unexpected delays. Following are a few things we learned on day one of our road trip.

1. Never raise the kids' expectations by eating anywhere "fancy" while on the road. Follow our guidelines by stopping at a truck stop McDonald's for breakfast, a Wal-Mart Subway for lunch, and the parking lot of a Carl's Jr. for dinner (the dining room was closed) after getting food at the drive-thru. Currently they are looking forward the possibility of a well-rounded meal. Always keep them wanting more.

2. State Troopers on east side of the state don't like speeding any more than the ones on the west side. They are nicer though (except you, Lee. Duh.). I actually was being VERY responsible most of my drive time, but obviously lost focus just before Ontario. I had JUST discussed with Marcy that we hadn't seen any cops yet. Naturally. I'm honest to a fault and pulled over before he even pulled out to pull me over, immediately questioning my decision to do so. He seemed to appreciate my honesty and our smiles and the fact that we maybe looked a little crazy with a car full of kids and just gave me a verbal warning.

3. Ontario is scary. The only reason Josie was excited to go there was because that's where Justin Beiber is from. She was slightly (very) disappointed when we explained that he's from Ontario, Canada. Slightly different country. Slightly. I'm sure that Ontario is way less scary.

4. Josie gets car sick. This fact reared it's ugly head shortly after our truck stop McDonald's breakfast. We were all thankful for DRAMAmine by the end of the day, especially for the extry-strength kind that Marcy found. (Trust her. She's a medical professional.) The "magic" pills helped Josie sleep most of the remainder of the day. (Yay!)

5. Idaho is yicky. (Thanks for my new favorite word, Anders!) I'm not sure why Mike always defends Idaho so much, it's clearly just a suburb of H-E-double hockey sticks. The only positive things were the name I-DA-HO, which provided some entertainment for a car full of kids, and the fact that the interstate speed limit is 75 mph. The end.

6. Marcy thinks that white grain silos near Salt Lake City double as temples, and argued the fact with Keleigh. (It was totally a grain silo.)

7. When I warn the other kids that Zack will "wake up swinging" if harrassed while he is sleeping, I don't mean 'on a swing'.

8. The kids only fall for the line "just a few more miles" a few times. Especially when you start using it 400 miles into a 1000+ mile roadtrip.

9. The look of fear on the kids' face is priceless when you threaten to leave them at a truck stop in the middle of the Utah desert at dusk. It is only funny, however, until you speed off, hit a bump and launch yourself basically 20 feet into the air (basically), leaving them all hysterically laughing and yelling "karma!!". Whatever.

10. Beaver, Utah is WAY different than Beaver, Oregon.

11, and possibly most amazing. It is nothing short of a miracle that all of the kids survived the trip with two PMSing mothers. Yes, I went there.

We love Utah. The speed limit is 80 mph. The temperature is currently 100 degrees. We have a pool. We have popsicles. We have our kids. (We miss our men.)

Stay tuned. More good times ahead. For sure.

Great weekend. For sure.

So I have some unanswered questions from this weekend. One being the whole toe-print thing on my windshield. I think I've traced it back (CSI-like) to my boys' stinky feet. But when? That's the question. I shouldn't leave them unattended in the car while I grocery shop anymore. At least without strict guidelines and rules (and stuff). I HATE cleaning my windshield to begin with, and to have to do it because of toe prints makes me extry-cranky. My other question (welcome to my mind) is WHY is there dog hair in my fridge? (Any explanation is appreciated.)(Thank you in advance.) It's just weird. And wrong.

Sooo...my weekend. What a great weekend. In a nutshell? It included running in the sun in shorts (sorry, Sandy!), mowing (no butterfly massacres this time), planting flowers, hanging with my boys, shopping (for said boys), barbecuing, drinking coffee in the sun, getting a sunburn (yay!), and hanging with my favorite man and all our kids for "linner". Good times. Truly happy...happier than normal, which is pretty darn happy. (Have I mentioned that I'm in love?)

Some really cool things I've learned this weekend? I'm glad you asked. I have amazing friends. To see their (yes, your) interest in my happiness (no matter how annoying) just solidifies your coolness. I love you all. I am totally happy and content right now. Other things that I've learned? Priorities. The things that matter are the things that make you (me) happy, make you (me) feel complete. That's what I'm feeling right now. Contentment, completeness, happiness, and all the other stuff that makes you want to vomit (Mike and Larry). I'm a happy girl. Deal with it. :)

Ohhhhh...rest assured, more will follow. Do you seriously think you can shut me up? I'm a BLOGGER now. And I have followers and stuff. Which makes me almost dangerous, the sense of power it gives me...Muahahaha! ;) xoxo

My first post...so grown up.

Okay....so my 13 y/o son is helping me with this, which brings up my first topic. WHEN did I become so technically inept? I'm pretty sure I gave birth to it. My previous technical ability which allowed me to program VCRs like none other, is now named Alex. I'm no longer smart. (I gave all my smarts to him.) I totally used to be able to program the clock AND my favorite programs on any VCR which made me seem pretty incredible, to my parents. Now here I am...wondering HOW, exactly, does he know how to download (or is it upload?) songs and stuff without reading directions? Phenomenon. He's my little miracle. (In more ways that one. OH. So is Zack. For sure. But admittedly, Alex is OUR go-to guy.)

What's on my mind? I have amazing friends. I might be in love. I have a stupid dog. I want to plant flowers, but need it to stop raining. I AM in love. I'm going on a road trip to Utah with my BFF and 4 kids soon (Thelma and Louise, revised.). I'm running a marathon next May. I pole dance. I want to know who's paying attention. I'm in LOVE.

I'm going to keep this first one short-ish, because I need to know it works. Then watch out. Because I have THINGS to say. Some might not find this surprising.

Ummmm...I'm planning to have a good weekend. I hope you do, too.