I Lied ...

Sorry Jen ...

You would THINK that I would have remembered that it was my daughters 23rd birthday 'today' (things went slowly so it has clocked over to the day after, but for the sake of my sanity ... we are going to pretend it hasn't). In my last blog I promised to blog the next day about 'The Chocolate Bar' which is not going to happen - thus the lie.

I shall be blogging about my girls b-day instead. Maybe tomorrow ... er ... today I will get around to 'The Chocolate Bar'.

~~~~~

Gary picked Jessie up on his way home from work and she stormed in the house at full tilt. Right up there with Christmas in making my oldest childs head explode is her birthday.

Why?

PRESENTS!!

Jessie has a thing for presents. Well ... she has a thing about OPENING them. She opens one, barely glances at it, chucks it aside and on to the next one. She is a machine that won't stop ripping wrapping paper, tossing tissue paper about and generally running amok until all the presents have been opened. She isn't even particular if they are hers, so on her birthday things are all above board and proper. No stealing others gifts and ripping them open ...

A few minutes after arriving, yelling, tormenting the dog and just generally bursting with joy at the fact that she was yet another year older she received a phone call from my parents.

She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to speak with Grandma and Grandpa, and was sufficiently thrilled:

UNTIL she spied our guests arriving! Then it was all shove the phone at me without a 'goodbye' or 'see you later' to either of them.

Why?


Because she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES it when the Randall's visit ...

... and THEY BROUGHT LITTLE ONES!!!

Apparently Charlie was in the Birthday Spirit and would not calm down, knocking wee tots down, barking and generally making a HUGE pest of herself, so we all trooped outside to throw a tennis ball for her and see if we could get her so exhausted that she would stop knocking children down ... And then it was time!!

PRESENTS!!!

Well, some of them. Me, being SO on the ball had all of her gifts arriving from Amazon ON THE DAY OF HER BIRTHDAY. I sort of forgot about the stupid holiday. FedEx had arrived, but UPS - with the bulk of her presents - had not arrived yet.

Not that she noticed or cared. My parents had sent multiple gifts as did the Randalls - all of them knowing that it was the opening that was important ...

A good time was had by all, and soon she had opened everything.

So .... time for the cake! Yes, I baked it and decorated it myself. (not)

Everyone sang:

And then, before my dang camera would recharge its flash, she had blown out the candles. She was a good sport though and when I asked her to pretend to blow out her candles again so I could get a photo - she looked at me as if I were crazy (go figure) and blew:

Gary was a sport and directed traffic, dished up the goodies and in general did everything while I stood around snapping photos: Everyone seemed to enjoy the delicious Kroger's cake:

We got a bit of a breather and had a good time visiting:


We had started to wonder where Ryan was, since we had told him he needed to make an appearance and he was a half an hour late. But eventually he and Alessandra arrived thrilling Jessie even more.

We forced cake on them even though they were headed out to dinner: And then the doorbell rang.

I said: "Oh, that must be the rest of Jessie's presents"

IN FRONT OF JESSIE.

Not a wise move since everyone was still eating cake. She immediately wanted to open them, but was rather patient (for Jessie) and waited ... a bit.

I am sure she did not get the proper 'present opening high' from the rest of her gifts as Gary opened up boxes and handed her stuff right out of the box. I didn't seem right, but hey, I wasn't going to sneak off and wrap them just so she could unwrap them seconds later.

She seemed excited none the less.

Ariel is a sure bet to excite her, and she INSISTED on putting her Ariel shirt on right then. She looked ...

eclectic ...

and a bit kooky ... Then it was time to play with her bounty. She did an excellent job of sharing and everyone had a good time:

Jessie had so much fun playing with all the visitors! She couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Soon, she said it was time to go back, everyone was tired and we trooped en mass out to the cars.

It was a fun day. Generally Jessie's birthday consists of Jessie, Gary and I and if we are lucky Ryan (actually he is very good with Jessie and probably has not missed a birthday). So having a house full of people - a bunch of them play mates was just what was needed to make Jessie's day.

So, that was our evening.

I am sure Jessie is asleep with her Disney Princess laptop and her other laptop (I couldn't decide on the two)stashed somewhere in her pretty little bedroom. They both make a bunch of noise - but, hey, I wasn't going to be hearing it now was I?

~~~~~

So, twenty three years ago yesterday I became a mom.

Where has the time gone?

I still remember that day and the days to follow filled with sorrow, fear and guilt. Feelings that were so strong and so new to me that I felt like I had been swept into a sea of emotions by a huge tidal wave and wasn't sure if I was going to keep my head above the water. I often felt as if I were drowning in emotions. Unfamiliar emotions.

But I, survived - some days just treading water, but things got ...

not easier ...

more familiar, I guess.

And I kept treading water, and dealing with new challenges as they came up.

And every day, Jessie grew older. And every day Jessie was filled with joy and was happy. She was ALWAYS happy and a wonderful child.

Then one day I turned around and realized that my little girl had grown into a beautiful young woman:

And now she is off on her own.

I believe she is enjoying it.

I KNOW it is what she needs.

I have to guess how her days go.

And I miss her all the time.


When she left, she took a spirit of joy with her that leaves the house just a little bit empty. But the walls still echo her laughter, and I see her every Sunday, so I cannot miss her too much. And, joy of joys - I am getting my fears about her well being under control!

Life is good.

Love you baby girl ...