Have you played Bossy's 10 Word Tuesday? So far, Bossy's got 428 comments so it's entirely likely you did. I didn't get around to it until today (thus making me commenter number 428).
Excerpts from her acceptance speech include "maybe I can put it beside the fruit bowl."
It was a real coup for Manic Mommy to get Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson to present this next award right on the heals of their Nipplegate exoneration. Ladies and gentlemen, The Blog Buddies Award, previously presented to Manic Mommy by the lovely and lusty JCK of Motherscribe.
Manic Mommy had previously won this award given by none other than JCK at Motherscribe.
What a night for The New Girl, The Man, and of course, everyone's favorite TLNG!
Here to present the award are Salma Hayak and Penelope Cruz. Uh, because they speak Spanish. And they're gorgeous.
In a near repeat of the 46th Academy Awards streaking incident, Jennifer begins her walk to the podium naked but for a pair of her signature fishnets to launch herself at accept her award. Viggo meets her halfway and the two are quickly ushered off stage by Rumer Willis.
George Clooney (throws an arm over the back of a Green Room couch as he straightens his tie to cover lipstick marks from his previously crisp white collar and unbuttoned shirt): Well folks, I hope you all had as good a time tonight as I did. God give me the stamina to do this again!
Manic Mommy: And again...good night everybody!
I started reading blogs around April or May of 2007, when my friend and neighbor send me a link. By June, I was hooked. By July, HRH fell and split his head open - and my first post was born. I started my blog right around the time of BlogHer 07. It seemed fitting.
This week, I am again home while bloggers from across the nation converge to discuss, learn, and drink. But it was different. This year, I would have had friends to hang out with. I may have even had a roommate. And each day, each month, I find more friends and more in common with women I may never meet but whom I feel I know well only through their words and my own.
In honor of my first Blogoversary, I give to you, My 100 Things:
1. I had my tonsils out when I was 4. When I was in my late 20s, I went to an ENT specialist following a series of strep throat infections and learned that they had grown back.
2. This same thing happened to my mother-in-law
3. I can touch my nose with my tongue
4. When I was eight years old, I knocked boiling water onto my left ankle while we were camping. I can still remember my mother and uncle grabbing me and peeling off my sneaker and sock, and watching my skin peel off with it.
5. When I was 20 and all my friends had already turned 21, I had a fake ID that I used.
6. My name was Maria Siasios and the license listed me as 5’ 2”. I’m 5’7”
7. One night at The Boston Beach Club, a guy I was flirting with talking to saw it and told me he was with the ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Commission). My friend, Jen grabbed me and we hauled ass out of the club.
8. Years later, I was telling this story and my brother-in-law told me this was a ploy he used to use.
9. I’m going to be co-maid of honor in my younger sister’s wedding next spring.
10. My older sister is the other maid.
11. We are both married but refuse to use the term “matron”
12. I have been in eight weddings.
13. We were also co-maids-of-honor at my cousin’s wedding, nearly 9 years ago.
14. This same cousin and I were engaged at the same time, got married within six months of each other and have been pregnant with each of our respective two children at the same time.
15. She’s pregnant again and due in January.
16. She’s flying solo this time.
17. Despite my earlier yearnings, I think we’re gonna sit tight with the two we’ve already got.
18. My driver’s license expires on 09/09/09.
19. The same thing happened a few (uh, like 10) years ago, when it expired on 9/9/99.
20. On a work boondoggle trip to Vegas, I learned how to play craps and kept winning on number 9.
21. That was my third trip to Vegas for work and the first time I actually enjoyed being there.
22. Andy and I went to Vegas three months after 9/11 and stayed two nights at the New York New York, with non-stop round trip tickets from Boston for $550.00 total for the both of us.
23. I have a restraining order against an old boyfriend whom I found in my bedroom closet five years after we broke up.
24. Andy and I were introduced by JD Power’s daughter.
25. She’s married to Andy’s cousin and I used to work with her.
26. Two years ago, we had JD and his wife over for Thanksgiving dinner.
27. I pushed Andy away for more than a year, insisting we were “just friends” because of my steamer trunk baggage.
28. He didn’t give up on me, thank God.
29. Both of my boys were born with their umbilical cord wrapped around their neck.
30. HRH was born a month to the day early at 5 lbs 9 oz.
31. RC was born via emergency c-section at 6 lbs 14 oz.
32. I much preferred the Cesarean to pushing a baby out of my vagina.
33. I love Mexican food.
34. I could eat nothing but guacamole and chips quite happily for the rest of my life.
35. I was eating and later threw up guacamole the night I went into labor with HRH.
36. I like California Mexican better than Tex-Mex.
37. I visited San Antonio on business quite a few times a few years ago.
38. People in San Antonio really do wear cowboy boots and cowboy hats – and drive pickups.
39. The Alamo is really, really boring. And small. The Riverwalk is quite cool.
40. I have a theme song. It’s Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.
41. Jimmy Buffett does a nice cover of it and when we’re at the concert, I pretend he’s singing it just to me.
42. This will be my 11th year seeing Jimmy Buffett in concert.
43. I’m claustrophobic but not debilitatingly so. More like, if given a choice, I’ll take the stairs.
44. I’m not ticklish.
45. Change is really hard for me. Even if I’m going out to do something I really want to do, part of me is thinking “maybe we can just stay home and watch TV.”
46. I have a head for trivia and useless knowledge.
47. My sister recently called me for that word that describes words that are spelled the same backwards and forwards, like racecar.
48. That word is palindrome.
49. I love board games. Trivial Pursuit in particular. Go figure.
50. The problem is that I judge people’s intelligence based on their game-playing prowess.
51. I also do this with misspelled/mispronounced/misused words.
52. This is why I find texting language so difficult.
53. Kevin Bacon is A Number 1 on my List.
54. You know, the free pass your spouse gives you to sleep with one (usually famous) person should you ever find yourself presented with the opportunity.
55. KB has been on the top of my list since I saw him in Footloose when I was 15.
56. George Clooney currently resides in second place.
57. Ocean’s 11 is on right now and I hate Julia Robert’s gold lame dress.
58. I also think she walks with the grace of an elephant, although she’s supposed to play elegant.
59. I think Michelle Pfeiffer is luminous. George described her as such in One Fine Day.
60. Andy and I both love The Mummy with Brenden Fraser and Rachel Weisz.
61. Rachel Weisz is probably currently Andy’s A Number 1.
62. I was baptized Catholic and spent 12 years in Catholic school.
63. We baptized both our boys Catholic.
64. I went to church religiously weekly until after we were married.
65. Clearly Andy’s converted me to The Dark Side
66. I used to be a lector at my church.
67. These days, I am an ala carte Catholic
68. There’s too much I don’t agree with.
69. I wanted to convert to Episcopal but Andy believes “you gotta dance with the one that brung ya.”
70. I absolutely believe in God.
71. There’s too much out there that had to be created by a higher power.
72. I also believe that there is a universality that exists, linking all of us together and affecting the outcome.
73. I think that people who say they are spiritual but not religious haven’t figured out what they’re looking for.
74. We’re sending HRH to Catholic school in the fall.
75. We’ll have to start attending church again.
76. You know, so we’re not hypocritical.
77. I’ve been cramming with him to learn The Sign of the Cross, Hail Mary and Our Father.
78. We have been doing ‘God Blesses’ with the boys since they were infants.
79. We talk about God and Heaven and they know who The Big Man is.
80. We’re sending him to Catholic school less because we want him to receive a Catholic-centric education as because we don’t like the alternatives available to us in our current public school system.
81. Generally, I feel that good public schools offer more alternatives than parochial schools.
82. Education is a top priority in Andy’s family.
83. He and his four siblings all went to top private schools.
84. I’ve completed four years of college but don’t have a degree.
85. That is really, really hard for me to admit.
86. I had this stupid idea you were supposed to know what you wanted to be when you grew up in order to complete college.
87. My dad was a blue collar hero whose favorite expression was ‘fucking yuppies.’
88. As a result, I didn’t get a lot of support from him on the college front.
89. Especially when I was initially an undeclared major.
90. Working without a degree and doing pretty well taught me that you don’t have to love what you do to be good at it.
91. One of my biggest regrets is not going away to college. I partially blame a tiny Catholic school and a really shitty guidance counselor for that.
92. Not having a degree is my biggest insecurity.
93. I’m very smart but don’t have the piece of paper to back it up.
94. I have finally figured out what I want to do when I grow up; interior design.
95. I get to go to school when RC starts full-time kindergarten. Two years and counting.
96. I think if I were to pursue a career without first finishing my degree, it would be Real Estate.
97. Part of the reason I will get my degree is so I can never be an excuse for my kids.
98. I used to think I was a very good writer before I started reading blogs.
99. I still think I’m a good writer.
100. I know I am a survivor.
RC in his Hawaiian Elmo "bagging suit"
My mom and I went out one night and Andy got the boys out of bed to catch a rainbow. I hope you can see it.
I can't recommend the Pirate Adventure highly enough for ages 3 to about 7 or 8. Arrr.
Yes, I was wearing a blue golf shirt and khaki shorts also. No, we didn't do this every day. They boys and Andy were a coincidence, then I saw it and decided to geek out and join in. Andy called us the Griswolds.
At this point, it was time to find a boat. Let me give a shout out to another local, Cap't Danny and Clamneck Charters, who have a very kid-centric 1 1/2 hour catch-and-release fishing trip staying inside Lewis Bay. Each kid must have caught at least a school of porgies.
We had a fantatic deck off our bedroom where we were able to set up a telescope and show the boys the moon close up.
Maybe they'll be astronauts or astronomers.
Or maybe they'll just remember another family vacation on the Cape.
July 15, 2000 Andy and I were married.
The first thing everyone always says is "how do you deal with those crowds?" The answer is simple:
No kidding. Back in the day, Front Row Center involved showing up with my dad and siblings around 8:00 pm on the night of the 3rd with a tarp and a blanket to secure your spot, then hanging out all night. I lived my tween and teen years there. First under the closely watchful eye of my father and later with increasing freedom to move.
We met hundreds of people, spent time with family we might not otherwise have seen, made friends with all the police and service people you could think of, and met a ton of local celebrities. I've brought my closest friends, flirted with my cousins' friends, walked along the Charles River, and watched the sunrise over The Public Garden with my father. I know what it is to truly feel patriotic. In those moments, I'm supremely proud of my country.
The question the reporters always asked is "Is it worth it?" I've been there in the pouring rain, like today. I've been there in the broiling heat with my parents demanding I drink more water and contemplate taking us home. And I've been there in jeans and sweatshirts - and one year even a turtleneck! But as the sun begins to set and the orchestra arrives and begins to tune up, you know; it's so worth it.
As the years passed and we "went national," and especially as the world became a more dangerous place, it became necessary to get there earlier, and more and more restrictions were placed on our movement. It became more work and less fun. And that's when I said 'enough.'
The Pops used to play a few more concerts at the Esplanade throughout the month of July and even after the 4th became a major event, you could still go to the Esplanade with just a blanket and picnic basket and enjoy a wonderful summer's evening set to an amazing soundtrack. I miss those days.
Lying on a blanket in The Oval, watching the sky darken, listening to live classical music remains 'my happy place.' In my mind, I go there often.
Today, my brother and younger sister are there (sans significant others - for some reason, none of our four S.O.'s ever really 'got it'). My older sister turns 41 with her family, down in Williamsburg, VA (Happy Birthday, Dan), and my mom's joining us for a barbecue with our neighbors.
Whatever you do today, celebrate and enjoy. Happy 4th of July.
