"I'm pretty sure this happened over night." Part One: GABE

So, we've been living in this little apartment since June. We're feeling rather cramped. Especially at night when all six of us are here. I swear my kids are ALL legs. Man, there's just no room to move! We were so naive to think our house would be done by the end of November... anyway, it's an adventure, right?

At night when everyone is restless and I don't know what ... we clear out a space in the middle of the living room and turn on some dance music. My dear friend, Sharon, made me the BEST CDs! At least I think so... my kids are asking for Oingo Boingo and Big Audio Dynamite.  I'm feeling rather proud of myself as a parent right now! It's fun to dance around with them and play; the kids need to move and wiggle. I think I do too.

We've had some impromptu dance lessons as well. Last Friday, Zeke was sick. I mean really sick. The doctor said he was getting pneumonia -- yeah, so he laid on the couch while we danced. (He's feeling much better now, by the way.) A slow song came on. I think it was "Never Tear Us Apart" from INXS (oh, the memories!)

Do you ever just REALLY want to slow dance??? Well, I do, and my sweetie was laid up on the couch. I grabbed Gabe. The girls kept giggling and staring as I tried to teach him how to slow dance. I cannot fully explain to you how totally BIZARRE it was to look UP into the eyes of my 14 year old son. (I'm nearly 5'7" already!)

Anyway, I tried to show him how I think it's cool/more romantic/proper/whatever when a guy puts one hand on your waist and "holds your other hand up like this". Are you picturing it? It reminds me of Dirty Dancing, "...spaghetti arms! would you give me some tension, please?" (No, I won't show my kids that movie, but man, I loved it when I was younger.)

So it was one of those moments I will always remember, cheesy I know, but Gabe wasn't too bugged. In fact, he seemed pretty eager to figure out this slow dance thing. Little did I know, it was perfect timing. The very next night, Gabe was at a friend's house and called me to ask if he could go to a Stake Dance with said friend's cousin's Dad. I said sure??? (Gabe has NEVER wanted to go to a Stake Dance before now.) This was around 9pm.

11pm. The door opens. In walks Gabe and his friend, Zach. They were laughing and stumbling about in the way only 14 year old boys can, simultaneously creating a wake of noise and candy wrappers as they crossed the room.

"So how was the dance?" I asked. Immediately, they launched into a VERY animated explanation of learning how to do the Electric Slide and the Macarena. Then, without any reservations whatsoever, they SHOWED us how to do the line dance to "Cotton Eye Joe". Remember, we're in a 1400 sq. ft. apartment with 3 other kids! I laughed SO hard I thought I would burst. It was priceless.

And... then (here it comes) we asked them if they got to slow dance with any girls. They both grinned and said sheepishly, "Yeah, we did." (I could swear there were little heart bubbles swirling and popping around their heads.)

Gabe got real excited and said, "MOM! Oh wow, by the way, thanks for showing me how to hold their hand up and put one hand on their waist! The girls said that was really cool! "

To all of the girls from some random Stake Dance in Sky View... "You're welcome." Oh, if ever I could be a fly on a wall...

I tried to choke down the lump in my throat. You know, maybe this Mom thing has its perks too. He was so excited! I thought, "Oh, my baby boy is slow dancing with girls!!"

Now as I type this, reality sets in and the lump I remember is replaced by a sick butterfly-type feeling in the pit of my stomach, "My baby boy is slow dancing with girls???????"

Oh dang.

I can take a hint!

Here I am. Monday, January 3rd, 2011. The 3 older kids are back at school again. Zeke is at work. Beck is watching "Kipper" (Thank you, Netflix!) And I'm thinking I need to post on my blog... it's been a week and that's a long time for me!

This last week has been a blur. The entire holiday break is a blur. But we did have fun in spite of all the sickness. And more importantly, we are feeling better for the most part. I'm doing as well as I can right now.

Way back in January 2007, my Dad had a heart attack and I wanted to go see him. Zeke was so wonderful. He took off work and stayed home with the kids so I could drive to Orem where my Dad was in the hospital. Only one problem: my retarded bladder was acting up again. (FYI, stress is one of the triggers for my IC) I remember Zeke gave me a blessing before I left and it was one of those blessings that you didn't really feel better, but you felt peace at the same time. Does that make any sense at all? Probably not. But he said something like, "You will have health problems your entire life, but you will be able to enjoy your life in spite of them." It took my breath away, but at the same time I already knew that would be my fate. I am just so thankful to be here.

I don't suffer from any serious/major health problems really, but I always have something. Anyway, my IC has been terrible this Christmas. Dr. Pitcher gave me a HUGE list of foods that can be triggers for a flare up. Chocolate is one of them. I'm almost positive it affects me. NOT CHOCOLATE! I love chocolate so much! Really. But as horrible as I have felt, it's an easy trade. 2011 will be very different in that respect. But I might fudge a little on that one now and then, no pun intended!

We watched two great movies over the holiday:

"Avalon High" -- A Disney movie made from a book by Meg Cabot (author of the Princess Diaries). Now, this movie won't win any major awards, but I LOVED it! We all did! The twist at the end was AWESOME! I love when I'm surprised by a movie. Very cute. It's all about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Sir Lancelot, and Queen Guinevere. My kind of movie.

"Stone of Destiny" -- true story about Ian Hamilton, a guy from Scotland who tried to raid Westminster Abbey in 1951 to bring back the "Stone on Scone" a symbol of Scottish pride back to Scotland where it should be. LOVED THIS!! Charlie Cox from "Stardust" starred in this movie. He's great.

Gabe made shoes out of duct tape! He is so creative.
He actually wore them to school today. :)

On New Year's Eve, we took the kids bowling. It was great!
This was Beck's first time :)

Zeke cooked steak and homemade fries for us and we also had Fortune Cookies (one of our New Year's traditions). I guess I'm the kind of person that believes in fate and destiny and all that, but I try to take my fortunes pretty seriously. The rest of the family got happy, predictable, positive fortunes like: "You will be very prosperous and successful in your business ventures." or "Your travel plans will take an exciting turn this year." or "Your wit and ingenuity will bring great success to your life."

Well, this was my fortune for 2011:

"There is a time to be practical -- NOW."

Coincidence, no! Remember the quote from Elder Holland, "A coincidence is just a small miracle in which God chooses to remain anonymous." This fortune was PERFECT for me. Not exactly what I wanted to hear (not at all really), but I can take a hint.

I have too many plans, I'm trying to run faster than I am able and I know I just need to slow down. For now, my New Year's plans are to:

1. Join the Ward Choir (I've been waiting for the "perfect" timing and I think this is as good as it's going to get)

2. Finish writing my book... more details later. I actually have 3 book ideas, but I've decided to focus on one this year and see if I can actually get it published.

3. Take better care of myself.

4. AND take Ballroom Dance lessons with Zeke! (Did I tell you that was his Christmas present to me?) I was so excited, I started crying when I opened the envelope.

Happy New Year!!

I forgot to add a scripture to go with this post (this is one of my goals for the year as well):

Jacob 6:12 says, "O be wise; what can I say more?"