My Super Sweet Birthday/Mother’s Day

If you read my previous post My Impending Super Sweet 32nd Birthday then you knew of my plans for last weekend. Saturday was my birthday followed by Mother’s day Sunday which made for a weekend all about yours truly. Since there was a very important UFC event on Saturday my husband and I made my birthday plans of dinner and a show for Sunday night.

Saturday we had some friends and family over. My husband barbequed some good food and we watched the fights. I am glad we decided to watch live because Sho Gun put Machida down leaving Sho Gun open to fight the douche bag Anderson Silva. This is important because Machida and Silva are butt buddies friends and refused to fight which would have left us fans with a stale mate. Now we can dream that Rua will kick the shit out of Silva someday (a feat which has yet to be done). The day of the fights we went to the store to get the food and my kids helped me get a cake. Now this cake became quite the embarrassment of our shopping trip. How, you ask, can a cake embarrass? Because of what we had written on it. My husband is a lover of nicknames and gives them to pretty much everyone he comes in contact with. My oldest son Lash is referred to as “Baby Vegas” while his younger cohort Remy is known as “Ram it Down”. Some of the other names are “Tea Bags” for our friend Tammy, “Habie” for my sister in law, “Flanders” for my step daughter, and so on. Now his nickname for me is the culprit behind Saturday’s shopping gate. Due to my utter lack of pigmentation my husband has always called me “White People” or “Whitey”. Everyone gets a kick out of it and he uses it so often my children refer to me as “whitey” on occasion. So, out of family tradition this is what we had written on my cake:

Not realizing how this could be taken until I was at the bakery counter, I began to profusely explain this name to the Hispanic baker who had to write it on the cake. She laughed and was good natured but I still blushed and freaked out a little. We collected the goods and moved on to the register where we encountered another Hispanic lady. Again I started to babble my explanation while the lady laughed and my husband told me to let it go. With the whole Arizona thing going on I was mortified that my birthday cake might make people think we were going to a white supremacy rally or something. Everything went okay though and our friends got a kick out of the cake and the story.

Sunday night my husband and I escaped the house and our little terrorists for dinner at Serendipity 3 followed by Peepshow with Holly Madison. Dinner was so good. I read mixed reviews about the restaurant but we liked it. It was a little loud but the food made up for it. I had a NY Strip Steak Sandwich which has steak, eggs, and bacon on garlic bread and it was super yummy. After dinner we walked over to the Planet Hollywood hotel for the show. It was a really good show. Based on several fairy tale females, the characters such as Little Red Riding Hood and Peter Pumpkin Eater’s wife were finally portrayed in the way every man imagines, hot with tendencies toward stripping. The music was bad ass. They actually had live singers and those bitches could belt. As for Holly Madison, it could have been any star up there and the show would have been great. My husband and I thought Holly was pregnant at first because her tummy has gotten a little rotund. At the beginning of the show she seemed to be trying to cover it up with a robe (we later realized she was actually trying to play her character as coy because she ended up topless in a g-string sans the robe). My opinion was that all of the late night drinking and buffet diving is getting to the poor girl. My husband says it may have been the contrast between her and the svelte dancers. I decided I am right and Hef’s little ex concubine is indeed showing some signs of hard ass Vegas living. She did okay in her role as Little Bo Peep for the most part, but the majority of the show is held up by the singers and dancers. Should any of you come to Vegas soon I suggest this show as long as you don’t mind partial nudity and suggestive content.

Overall, it was a great weekend. My husband took care of everything and I got to relax. Having access to such great entertainment whenever we need it is a definite advantage of living in the city of sin. I got some great gifts which included jewelry from Swarovski (my husband’s new favorite store). Becoming 32 wasn’t so bad and the past weekend is now going down as one of the greatest weekends in my history (so far).

My First Award

Thank you to my new friend Jacqui over at The Ins & Outs of a Stay at Home Mom and Wife for my first award. I like this one because I like to think of myself as a “Versatile” blogger (gloating is now done). As with most awards there are some guidelines the recipient must follow and they are as follows:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

I have taken care of number 1 in the opening paragraph above. As for number 2, here goes:

1) I have lived in Las Vegas for 16 years. I am now a true local and my kids were born here. An amazing fact to all of those who believe all you can do here is party.

2) Even though I am a chick and a heterosexual, I enjoy a good strip club every now and then (probably a product of fact #1 above).

3) I moved 17+ times growing up and I was not in a military family.

4) I met my husband 17 years ago but did not date him until 4 years ago.

5) I would like to get my Master’s Degree in school counseling and help high school students pick reasonable paths for their future.

6) I’m deathly afraid of spiders to the point of not being able to sleep in a home where I know one is roaming freely.

7) Though I always speak to the contrary, I would like to have a third child. Maybe even a girl.

I have hand picked the following 15 bloggers to receive this award from me (hopefully they take it and play along):

Nacia @ Moms in Boyland

Aunt Becky @ Mommy Wants Vodka

LLuvia @ I’ve Been Thinking

Robin @ Mass Hole Mommy

Keely Mann@ Mann Land 5

Dr. Heckle @ Dr. Heckle

Gas @ Brakes and Gas

Lisa @ Smell the Coffee Lisa

Leslee @ Waiting for the Click

Dina @ Family Sanity Reviews

Holly @ Domestic Dork

Erin @ Cultivating Rosebuds

The Obnoxious SAHM

Confessions of A Semi-slacker Mom

Jennymac @ Let’s Have a Cocktail

As for number 4, I will be contacting my chosen bloggers tomorrow. In the interim go check them out.

Word to My Mutha

My mother has been reading my blog recently and demanded suggested that I write an ode to her post. Seeing as mother’s day is Sunday and she gave me a bad ass birthday gift birth I graciously agreed. Plus, my mom is a really great lady. From her I learned what it really is to be a mother and woman. She always loved us and no matter what, stood by us. There was a rough time when she and my father divorced several years ago and my brother and I chose to alienate ourselves from her for a while. My mom could have gotten angry and bitter with us and though she occasionally handled our anger without the proper amount of understanding she hung in there and waited for us to have our emotions out (it took like 5 or 6 years, we be some grudge holding ninjas). When we finally decided to come back around, she held none of it against us and took the relationship right back to what it was before. Forgiveness is always guaranteed with her.

When I was young my mother stayed home with us until we were in school. She did attend college while being a SAHM but never let it get in the way of her duties to us. Watching her get her education later in life while trying to raise two toddlers showed me it is never too late to better yourself and no matter what happens in life you can preserver. My mom was not perfect but she was honest, kind, and educational. She used to take flack from my father about her need to allow us to explain our less than acceptable behaviors. When kids weren’t supposed to have a voice, she provided ears and expected us to put some reason behind our choices (my brother’s bullshit skills are excellent as a result).

As a teenager I went through a very rebellious bitch like period and my mother and I often kicked the shit out of each other argued. She was very controlling and always up in my business. I detested it and at times her. It wasn’t until I had my kids that I understood what the hell she was doing (cliché but true). I was actually lucky to have a mother who was so involved in my life because though I did my fare share of bad things and was far from perfect I had more to fear and someone to answer to unlike my friends with less involved parents. I was also armed with the knowledge and background to choose my sins wisely and work through bad periods without being damaged by them. This also came from my mother. She never hid any of her past from us and in knowing all of her screw ups and wrong turns we were able to understand what we were getting into most of the time (not always, like I said, informed not perfect).

Now that I am an adult I can go to my mother for anything. She usually takes my side, she doesn’t judge me, and she tries her best to help. We still have our issues (especially after long periods of time together or when she tells me something I don’t want to hear) but I completely appreciate her for who she is and all she has given me.

A more selfish and generic reason I am thankful for her is her awsome genetics. She looks great at 56 and I am positive her ass has another 10 good years which gives me hope for my physical future. Looking at her, I have a vision of me at 70 in my beach side condo located in a beautiful yet debaucherous retirement community dancing around to “Baby Where’d You Get That Body From” by the Black Eyed Peas.

All joking aside, I love you mom. This mother’s day my gift to you is thanks. Thank you for being my mom and now my friend. I haven’t always shown it but I appreciate you. If I am half the mother to my boys that you were to my brother and I then I will consider myself successful. This parenting shit isn’t easy but you took it and ran with it and for that I am eternally grateful. So, I would like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and all of the bad ass moms out there. We’re all doing a very tough and sometimes thankless job to the best of our ability and though we don’t always feel it, we are appreciated. You go ladies!!!

My Impending Super Sweet 32nd Birthday

  Since I have had very little blog inspiration lately and 2 Cent Tuesdays did not catch on the way I’d hoped I have decided to post about a very big event happening this Saturday. My 32nd birthday!! In fact, this weekend will be completely about me. Having a birthday Saturday and Mother’s Day on Sunday makes for a very narcissistic weekend. Birthdays are one of the many times living in Las Vegas really pays off. The celebration activities are endless and this year my husband and I will be throwing down Vegas style. We will be issuing this throw down Sunday instead of my actual birthday on Saturday because Saturday night is reserved for UFC 113. Lyoto Machida and Mauricio ShoGun Rua will be having their rematch. If you saw the first fight you would understand the importance of putting off a birthday outing to watch the event live because Shogun was robbed the first time when the fighters allowed the outcome of the fight to be made by the less than knowledgeable judges. My husband, little ones, and I will be joined by a few friends and family members to watch the fights and have some cake while my husband and I reserve our energy for Sunday’s debauchery.
 
  Sunday night is our night on the town sans kids. My husband and I will begin the night by having dinner at Serendipity 3 located inside Caesar’s Palace. This is a new establishment I have wanted to try for a while now. I have read mixed reviews but as always I will decide for myself. Let’s hope it is good. Amazingly we got dinner reservations for 7pm even though Sunday is Mother’s Day and restaurants become over crowded family mosh pits every year. After our quiet dinner (and cocktails) we will be moving on to Planet Hollywood to catch Peepshow with Holly Madison (and more cocktails of course). If you haven’t been to Vegas or don’t know Holly Madison she has been in this stage show based on Little Bo Peep and Red Riding Hood for like a year now. It consists of a little less fairytale and more of a Vegas staple, bare breasted dancing showgirls. We have wanted to see it for a while and felt that my birthday was the perfect excuse. We purchased great seats right in front of the stage. My husband met Ms. Madison on a flight a few months ago and according to her if you sit in the front the lovely ladies come down and interact with you so we may get VIP access to those dancing breasts. I will let you know.
 
  Though my kids won't be joining us for Sunday night's outing, they are so sweetly excited because they now truly understand what a birthday is and cannot believe mama gets one too. My 3 year old, Lash, has a list of items he would like to purchase for me which includes a “choo choo train” and a “neck-a-lace”. Luckily my husband will be escorting my little minions out Saturday afternoon to shop for their offerings of mama worship. He is great at leading them to purchases more along the lines of a necklace than a choo choo train.

  I know normally age is supposed to freak us out and make us depressed but I gotta tell you, I am just not there yet (maybe because I’m still relatively young). However, this is the first year I have started to notice the physical signs of my age. Until about 4 months ago I had just completely ignored what age was doing to my face. I have lines in my forehead which have deepened over the years and the skin on my face has taken on a different texture. Even though I have just recently joined reality and noticed the signs of my slow physical demise, my mind still feels pretty young. Now I completely understand the sentiment that age is how you feel. If it’s true my ass is still 25. In yo face wrinkles!!!

  Aside from my new wrinkle reality I am excited to get older. The older I get the more I understand myself. I have gained a confidence that I never experienced when I was younger. To me, this self awareness is well worth the remnants of father time’s exuberant tango across my face. I am now declaring myself a MYLF (mother you’d like to f*c*). I plan to be hot and feel young well into my 60’s. Wrinkles, saggy bits, and all. But, we will just have to wait and see. All of this self indulgent aplomb aside, something tells me those pesky little midlife years may not be as kind and could potentially crush my current expectations. I highly doubt it though. That being said, here’s to me and my 32nd year on this planet.

What are your feelings about your aging process? Do you get depressed around birthday time or do you celebrate like you just won the lottery?

My Absence Excuse; Blog Block and Laziness

I am attempting to think of a great post topic. I have been out for a while but that's because I haven't had anything to post about. I feel posting just to post is a let down to my readers (all 7 of you) so I usually forgo blogging until I feel inspired. Which I am not just yet. I have thoughts, many thoughts, but nothing has quite made it over the threshold of thought and into the fruition of product. I will come up with something I promise. For now, just know that I am sitting around ignoring my kids and racking my brain for a topic that will pull me out of my blogging block. As I have said in previous posts about being blocked, I would love to be a writer but get blocked so often it would take me 20 years to finish one short story. In fact, the bulk of my writing is first chapters to books and a few finished short stories. I suck (literally and figuratively). Oh well, a girl's gotta have a dream and right now my dream is stuck in procrastination. I will post soon so please don't forsake me yet.