Happy Birthday, Bowser!

Dearest Bowser,

Happy Birthday, my love! For your "old age" birthday, I thought I would take a few minutes to write to you and tell you all the reasons I love you so...

~You have an uncanny ability to make me laugh. Even when I am throwing pizzas against the wall, you can come up with crazy comment, straight out of left field, that makes me giggle and step back from my anger. That is not easy to do, but somehow you are able to do it.

~You are a wonderful father to the Goombas. You let them crawl all over you, bother you during work in the middle of the day, and leave random toys in your office. You can make them all giggle with glee and scream with delight with your silly faces and games. When you come out of your office at the end of the day, they all jump around and yell, "Daddy! Daddy! It's time for fun!" You read them stories, change their diapers and tell them the monsters are gone. I am lucky to have a partner like you in this insanity-inducing job of parenting.

~You are so super duper smart. Computers? Piece of cake. Construction? Been there, done that. House projects? Eh, too easy. Homework for you and the kids? Done and done. If there is a question, you have an answer. And you don't show it off, which makes it that much more likable about you.

~You still have the same nice tush you had when I met you way back when in college. 'Nuff said.

~You listen to me sing in the car, even though I know I am totally awful and it pierces your eardrums.

~You play Wii with Mario and you let him tell you how to play. It drives me crazy to listen to it, but you have a wealth of patience that I will never understand.

~You let Luigi "help" you with projects even though you know he is going to try to eat the screws, or water himself instead of the plants.

~You always said you wouldn't know what to do with a daughter, but now that you have one, you are wrapped tightly around her little finger. Whatever Peach wants, Peach gets. I love how she is her Daddy's Girl.

~You listen to my Dad's "Ham Sandwich Theory" every time we visit them.

~You love beer with almost the same passion as I do. Which means you put up with having more Keystone Light in our fridge than milk and soda together. And that makes you a worthy man in my book.

~You take care of our family and provide for us. And of course, I only married you for your money, so there is that, too. (**Disclaimer--I did NOT marry Bowser for his money, although in a heated battle, he once told me that he thought I did.)

So, thanks, Bowser for being you. It's been 12+ years together. I have seen you go from young, crazy college guy to responsible husband and father, and I'm glad I have been here for the journey. I'm looking forward to being with you when all your hair really does fall out and you reach your "really old age."

I love you!
your lovely wife,
~Daisy

My Favorite Time of Year

Beyond Christmas, or my birthday, or even St. Patrick's day, there are 2 days coming up that are probably my absolute favorite days of the year. It is Back-To-School time!!! Can you hear Moms across the world rejoicing? It's not that we don't love our cherubs. It's not that we haven't had fabulous summers full of fighting over Wii remotes and who used their brother's toothbrush. It's not even that we have been dragging kids around in 100 degree heat to things we thought would entertain them, but they deem boring. It's just that it is back to routine, consistency, and kids at school!

Today is the day that kicks it all off. School Supply Shopping Day! There is just something so exhilarating about buying all new stuff for school. I'm not sure the Goombas share in my joy over this blessed day, but they know that it makes Mommy giddy, and that is good enough for them. New crayons, sharp pencils with no eaten erasers, glue sticks, shiny sharp scissors...it's all so magical!

I just love how my friend, the Amazing Ms. B, describes the thrill of new school supplies:

"I get giddy when I see bins of glue sticks and crayons. I literally cannot pass by a twenty-five cent box of crayons without buying several unneeded boxes, which I did yesterday. What a deal!!! I secretly open the boxes and admire the unmarred crayon tips, and take a deep satisfying sniff of the childhood smell. I buy erasers and rub them between my fingers. I put new colorful pencil tip erasers on all of the pencils that I can find in the house, and send extras for my kids for when their erasers run down. My daughter adds colorful erasers with glee and packs them into her pencil bag carefully. That's my girl.

And oh the pencils!!! Ok, really, this is what it all comes down to for me. The pencils. Between my kids they required 60 pencils for their school year. SHARPENED! I love nothing more than sharpening pencils. I listen happily to the sound of grinding wood as I happily sharpen, sharpen, sharpen. After each pencil I test the lead tip to make sure it won't break and then, and THEN, I smell them. Each newly sharpened pencil is a fresh scent of delight!"

You are so very right, Ms. B. I really think Yankee Candle and Crayola should join forces so we can have fresh Crayola and sharpened pencil smell whenever we want.

The real fun for me comes when we get home, though. I love---I mean, the Goombas love to open the stuff and arrange it all neatly in their art boxes. I get such---oops, THEY get such joy out of labeling folders and large pink erasers. Then I--ha ha, again, I meant WE, pack it all ever so neatly into the backpacks and set them on the counter to await my next favorite day of the year....

The First Day of School! In the words of the great Lewis Carroll, "O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" My love for the First Day of School started when I was young. I was one of those total nerds that looked forward to and was excited about going back to school every year. I used to wake up early, get dressed in my awesome new clothes and skip out the door. Now the excitement is a little bit different. Instead of new clothes and a hearty breakfast, it is my "nice" sweat pants and a margarita in my coffee mug as I skip out the door.

Although only Mario has been in school so far, this year Luigi will be starting preschool. He is so thrilled! Two first days for us this year. I'll admit, I get a little sentimental when I bring them to their classroom and say good-bye, but that usually goes away once I get home and realize that I have just a tiny bit more freedom to get something done. With only one Goomba hanging on my leg 3 mornings a week, I just might get a project or two accomplished.

And so the countdown is on. Two weeks till school starts. We are going to cram the fun in as much as we can over the next couple of weeks. Since we start school on a Thursday, we will have "practice runs" Monday - Wednesday of that week. I will iron uniforms with glee and gladly take Luigi shopping for a non-Thomas shirt. We will buy lots of delicious (but, of course totally cool) food for packing in lunch boxes. We will go to Family Nights, meet teachers, check out classrooms and then, before we know it...it will be here!!!

So, to all you Moms out there anxiously awaiting that most sacred day of the year...Cheers to you! You made it through another summer! Enjoy your supply shopping and back to school prep. I'll see you mid-August for a breakfast margarita soon!

Cheers!
~Daisy

Just What I Needed (or...Back to Reality)

Whew...what a weekend! First of all, I must say a HUGE thank you to my fabulous Mom-In-Law for taking care of the Goombas while we were away. I know it couldn't have been a particularly easy 4 days and 3 nights, because as she was leaving our house, MIL said, "I'm going to go have a drink!" I hear ya, MIL, I totally get it. Thank you so very much for allowing Bowser and I to have a weekend away. It was a much needed break and we owe you BIG TIME!

And now, for those of you that have been sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting for details, here is the low-down on Wedding Weekend Extravaganza...

It was a great weekend. I was able to hang out with 2 of my aunts that I haven't seen in far too long. We met lots of awesome new friends. Bowser bought shots for everyone and their mother (including my mother) on Thursday night. The food was amazing. The bride was beautiful. The groom was handsome. The beer flowed like wine. The dancing was loud and fun and, at times, raunchy. My Spanx (girdle for those of you not in the know) came off early in the evening, but my shoes stayed on far too long. We closed down the bar on Thursday and were there when it opened again on Friday...and Saturday, for that matter. We slept late. We said bad words out loud and didn't feel guilty. And we even called to check on the Goombas once or twice.

Some highlights of the weekend:

~To begin with...we parked at one of those airport parking lots. Not the ones at the airport, the one that you have to take a bus to and from. We parked, dragged our bags over to the bus and hopped on. I was still on a high from leaving the kids, when I looked towards the front of the bus and saw, "Your driver today is...Jesus." Ok, ok, I know that it was probably "Hay-soos", but really, when you see that Jesus is your driver, you know it is going to be a good weekend.

~After the wedding on Friday night, we hopped into a cab with my parents to get back to the hotel. The cab smelled like peaches. Not just any peaches, mind you, but that fake, sicky-sweet, sugar peach smell. And it was AWESOME! I have been in many taxi-cabs throughout my life, and none, I repeat, NONE, have ever smelled so amazingly delicious. When I mentioned this to Mr. Taxi-Man, he replied, "Well, of course! It better than smell like fart, right?"

~At the reception, somewhere between belting out the lyrics to "Shot Through the Heart" and my 3rd rum and coke, a lovely lady came over to introduce herself. I said I was the sister of the groom and she said, "Oh! The one with the blog, right?" Aak! A total stranger is reading this! Joy of joys! Darling Ms. G, you made my whole MONTH by telling me that! Thank you, and keep on readin' sistah!

~On Saturday, we decided on seafood for lunch. I love seafood, don't get me wrong (when I "see food" I eat it!) but I'm not sure that I was prepared to have Mr. Lobster staring at me with his beady little black eyes. I must say, though, my red-shelled friend, you were a tasty treat.



By Sunday, we were tired and hungover, but also refreshed and ready to get back to responsibility. I missed Peach's curly hair and sloppy kisses. I missed Luigi saying, "You my best friend, Mommy." And I missed Mario's blow by blow description of the most recently conquered level of Mario Galaxy.

So, now we are back to reality. Back to the old grind. Back to the whining and temper tantrums and the diapers. Back to hugs and messy kisses and sticky hand prints all over my body. And it feels good to be home.

Congrats again to my Bro and his new Mrs! It was a lovely wedding and I'm glad we were able to be a part of it.

Cheers!
~Daisy