Off With Their Heads!

No, I'm not smoking something.  No, I haven't gone off my rocker.  Although I am close.

Image Courtesy Google Images

Today is France's Independence Day!  Being married to a Frenchie, today is second only to July 4th as to our family's favorite summer days.  Each year, Jerome's parents throw a huge party and all the French ex-pats and Francophiles (French-loving people) show up.  You can read all about last year's shindig here.


Strange as it is, I have started looking forward to this.  We used to dread it, because we would spend the entire week before preparing, the entire day of it running around like psycho people, and end up too exhausted and frustrated with each other to really enjoy it.  Thankfully, we have been kicked out of the manual labor the last few years in lieu of the bakery employees, so now I just get to come and have fun! 


I will post pictures later, but I thought I would share some random Bastille Day trivia with you.  Do you know the French national anthem?  It is called La Marseillaise.  It was written by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and was declared the French national anthem in 1795.  It sounds absolutely beautiful when sung.  I should qualify that.  It sounds absolutely beautiful when sung by a trained choir.  It sounds like a bawdy bar song when sung by my FIL and his champagne-enhanced buddies.


One year, frustrated in my attempts to understand their drunk joyous ramblings, I googled the lyrics to see what they actually meant.  And now I will share them with you all.  Don't thank me yet.  I give you:

La Marseillaise

Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!

Against us tyranny's

Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)

In the countryside, do you hear

The roaring of these fierce soldiers?

They come right to our arms

To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!

Refrain

Grab your weapons, citizens!

Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!

May impure blood

Water our fields!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This horde of slaves, traitors, plotting kings,

What do they want?

For whom these vile shackles,

These long-prepared irons? (repeat)

Frenchmen, for us, oh! what an insult!

What emotions that must excite!

It is us that they dare to consider

Returning to ancient slavery!

What! These foreign troops

Would make laws in our home!

What! These mercenary phalanxes

Would bring down our proud warriors! (repeat)

Good Lord! By chained hands

Our brows would bend beneath the yoke!

Vile despots would become

The masters of our fate!

Tremble, tyrants! and you, traitors,

The disgrace of all groups,

Tremble! Your parricidal plans

Will finally pay the price! (repeat)

Everyone is a soldier to fight you,

If they fall, our young heros,

France will make more,

Ready to battle you!

Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,

Bear or hold back your blows!

Spare these sad victims,

Regretfully arming against us. (repeat)

But not these bloodthirsty despots,

But not these accomplices of Bouillé,

All of these animals who, without pity,

Tear their mother's breast to pieces!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sacred love of France,

Lead, support our avenging arms!

Liberty, beloved Liberty,

Fight with your defenders! (repeat)

Under our flags, let victory

Hasten to your manly tones!

May your dying enemies

See your triumph and our glory!

Refrain

We will enter the pit

When our elders are no longer there;

There, we will find their dust

And the traces of their virtues. (repeat)

Much less eager to outlive them

Than to share their casket,

We will have the sublime pride

Of avenging them or following them!

Refrain

Translated by Laura K. Lawless and found on About.com

In my defense, the stanzas in between the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ are no longer sung today.  I told you not to thank me.  Please don't email me to tell me about all the nightmares this song gave you.

And now, I am off to enjoy escargot, stinky cheese, champagne, and lots of cheek kisses.  Joyeux Quatorze everyone!

This Weekend I...

This Weekend I...

got off work and drove over three mountain passes

Image courtesy Google Images because I am not stupid brave enough to stop while driving this pass.

to stay in this room.

ate tacos at the best Mexican food place in Ouray (also the only Mexican food place), and spent the entire dinner trying to figure out why there were dollar bills all over the ceiling

admired a Rocky Mountain sunset

soaked in a vapor cave under our hotel

and then soaked in a private hot springs, all by ourselves

slept in (please don't throw things)

then had an amazing massage in the cave

left the beautiful town of Ouray

and drove over another pass to see the stunning Bridal Veil Falls

and the wildflowers

and actually took a photo of myself

in the beautiful town of Telluride.

I also took photos of lupines, which are toxic to cattle (random, I know),

rummaged around in the Free Box

looked like a total tourist taking photos of street lamps

and neat old buildings

and ski benches

I also made Jerome tote around two pink butterfly nets and a box of sidewalk chalk we found at the hardware store

while we took a gondola ride to the top of the Telluride Ski Area

and watched a great thunderstorm roll in

and rain all over Oprah and Toms weekend homes

and then drove the minivan rocketship over another pass (weekend high altitude pass count:5)

in the pouring rain to come home and find that my parents took our children on the train to Silverton.  Thankfully Dad took photos. 

All in all, it was an amazing weekend.

Saturday SOOC

Why, Mom?

Why do you insist upon taking my picture?

I don't want my picture taken!

Maybe if I turn away she will just stop.

Seriously?  Maybe if I walk away...

She will stop...

Letters of Intent

Go visit Julie for more letters that just need written!


Dearest Rain,

Where are you?  I miss you.  Normally, we are well-acquainted with your monsoon habits by now.  Clear blue skies in the morning, thunder and downpours in the afternoon.  And I don't have to water.  Do you know how many times I have crawled into bed in the last month, exhausted from the day, only to realize that I left the sprinkler on?  Again.  Do you know how many times I have then had to pull out the sad puppy face to get the hubby to get up and turn them off for me?  I even miss listening to the tourists whine about you.  Please come back.

With love,
the lazy gardener

P.S.  The spitting last night does not count.

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Princess Potty Violet,

As much as I am enjoying our extended quality times lately, I would prefer that those precious moments were not spent waiting in the bathroom.  Sometimes, I think you tell me you have to go potty just so that we can have a one-on-one conversation.  Because, it never fails.  We spend 10 minutes in the bathroom, discussing the finer points of cartoons, shirt colors, and bugs, and then you pee in your pull-up.  And why, oh why, will you pee on the potty for everyone but me?  You stay dry for the nanny, for Daddy, for your Sunday School teacher, for Grandma, but not Mommy.  Why, darling?  By the way, your sisters were not nearly this stubborn. 

Love,
Ready to be done with diapers

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Dear Mom and Dad,

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
Getting me the gift certificate for the Weisbaden Resort for my birthday was way beyond cool!   And, taking the kids for the night - fabulous!  You have no idea how much we needed this time to ourselves.  Oh wait, you had 4 small kids once.   You know exactly how bad we needed this.  I am positively giddy to go on a date night with my hubby, to sleep in past 6:30 (Ha!  Have fun with that one!), eat what I want when I want, and just relax.  To not have to referee, defend, correct, heal, chase, wipe, or admonish for a while.

Seriously, I could not have asked for better parents, or better grandparents for my kids.  I am sure that, as always, they will have a ton of fun.  And so will I.

Gratefully,
Is it Friday yet?

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To my handsome hubby,

You ready for tonight babe?  To be able to hold each others' hands down the street, instead of the minions?  To eat dinner where and when we want?  To relax and enjoy a restaurant, instead of trying to keep our children from being those kids?  To just relax and talk in a pool, rather than playing "half time trade sides" on the water slide?  To SLEEP IN?!?!?!?!? 

Yeah, me too!

Smooches,
ton amour

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Mr. Loose Tooth,

Seriously.  It is past time for you to remove yourself from my daughter's head.  You have been loose for, what, months now?  I know she is fairly relaxed about wiggling you, but really?  You must have roots of concrete.  You would have thought that her crying and pleading every night for the last week would have annoyed you into leaving.  But, no.  You are even more stubborn than my children.  Well, just so you know, you are facing the master this weekend.  Because Grandpa can pull loose teeth like nobody's business.  And he is far less cheap than Mommy in the "cash for teeth" department.  So, be warned.  You have met your match.

Sincerely,
Can't wait to hear this story

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To my readers/followers/friends,

Thanks for all the loving and encouragement you have given me lately.  It has been a blessing to develop friendships with amazing men and women from all over the country.  You are quickly becoming a family of choice (a post for another day), and I am grateful to have met you.  Although it is kind of weird, still, to me that people actually want to read what I write.  But, anywho, thanks!

Grateful

Things I Never Thought I Would Say...

... no, Madison, I will not buy you a Harley for your birthday.




... yes, Violet, your poop is very stinky.  Good job.




... please do not pick my boogers for me.  I can get them.


... give me back my underwear.


... yes, Violet, you do look kind of like an elephant.

... Please do not run naked in the house when we have company.

... Cheerios do not belong in your diaper.

...  Please do not hit your sister with the boomerang.

...  We do not need to buy horses for the front of our car.  Our car runs just fine without them.  Yes, that would be very fun, but we are still not buying horses for our van.

Getting There

Well howdy stranger!  It feels like forever since I was here.  Please excuse my absence this past week or so - it has been a rough one.  Why do I feel like I am writing a letter to the school secretary?  Anyways...


The full brunt of what happened hit me last Tuesday.  Up until then, I had been in "get it done" mode.
 
Keep the furious husband from going next door.
Hold the children every time they cried.
Keep the furious Katrina from going next door.
Pick up toys and water dishes and leashes.
Keep the furious Dad from coming unglued.
Make pies for the neighbors.
Keep people from filling in holes in my flower beds.


I spent so much time taking care of the details, and taking care of everyone else, I forgot about me.  Last Tuesday evening, facing court the next morning, the emotions flooded me.  Anger, sadness, betrayal, fear - they overwhelmed me.  I was unable to sleep for longer than an hour-ish at a time.  I would wake up at every sound, unable to return to sleep because of the replay in my head. 


It is honestly the first time that I can remember fearing for the safety of my family.  I couldn't even look at the neighbor's house without getting sick to my stomach.  I couldn't talk or even think about what happened without the anger and fear bubbling to the surface.  What if I had just taken Ranger with us?  What if we had been home?  What if they had attacked the girls?


Last Wednesday, it hit the fan.  All of it.  We had court that morning, sort of, and I got to spent 3 hours trying to keep my father from doing or saying something that would land him in jail.  FYI - never, ever, put this man's grandbabies in harm's way.  Jill, Ranger's mama, and my amazing friend, wrote this post about what happened that morning.  Honestly, for me, it is really a blur.  I remember the outcome, and the decisions ( and lack thereof), but not much else.  The dog's owner plead guilty to the charges, and we have a hearing at the end of the month to decide the dogs' fate.  And I lost my favorite coffee mug.  That's about all I remember of the details.  The emotions still, at times, are very raw.  The details are hazy.


I got back to the office mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted.  That night I crashed.  I could feel myself slipping back into depression, something I have struggled with since middle school.  Trying to fight the slip, I found myself in fight mode.  Fight the children.  Fight the husband.  Fight the housework.  Fight the emotions.  Fight to keep my head above water.  When Jerome asked me what I was feeling, I had no words.  No way to express the hurricane in my heart and mind.


I just sat in my hubby's arms and cried.  I had no idea how deeply this would affect me.  There were so many times I sat down to write this post, or something like it, and the words just wouldn't come.  Normally, writing is my escape, my release.  This time, I had no words.


Slowly, over this last week, it has gotten better.  It has become OK.  The kids are finally back to sleeping in their own beds.  I have slept through the night for the last 4 nights, greatly improving my outlook.  When I look over at our neighbor's house, it is no longer with anger.  Right now I feel a deep sadness for them.  Their world has been turned upside down too.  They had just moved in, and are now probably going to have to move somewhere else.  They will probably lose both of their dogs.  And, no matter how I feel about those dogs, they were treasured family pets. 


So, how are we doing?  OK.  There are still hard moments, fearful moments, sad moments.  But, those moments are coming less and less every day.  Children are incredibly resilient.  Mamas are not quite as elastic, in many ways.  But we are getting there.  Every day is a testimony to God's grace, His forgiveness, His peace, His mercy, His love, and His healing. 


Thanks, y'all, for being patient with me.  For all the sweet and wonderful emails, phone calls, texts.  I am grateful to have friends like you.

Monday Mugs: Pets

Are you in need of a mindless Monday Blog post? Are you struggling to deal with the weekend being over and can't muster the strength to type a single word? Well, Monday Mugs is for YOU! I may or may not "borrow" ideas from IheartFaces and post my interpretation of their weekly theme. Without submitting my photo for judgement and not being forced to follow the rules.
 Mondays are hard! Blogging on Mondays shouldn't be! Go visit Oswald Cuties for more Monday Mugs! Today's theme for Monday Mugs is: Pets    Well, as you can imagine, this week's theme is near and dear to my heart.  It seemed like just the right opportunity to participate in Heather's fun carnival.    Our pets are treasured members of our family.  This is Harley. 

She is our tiny spitfire.  She was the smallest in the litter, and the only one with her colorings.  She looks just like her mama did.  She turned 8 years old in April, and has always been a part of our home.  She is calm, loving, and welcoming to everyone.  She has a slight addiction to leather, so jacket and shoe wearers beware!  Harley is also our nursemaid - whomever is sick in the house is her baby.  She does not leave their side until they are well.

This handsome boy is Toby.

He is the big brother and littermate to Harley.  I know, I know, they look nothing alike.  But, I swear, they came out of the same mama.  We can only assume that Toby looks like Dad.  He is part coon cat, so he is HUGE.  And fluffy.  His massive amounts of fur are deceiving.  Everyone assumes he is fat, but really, he's just fluffy.  He is much more shy and distrusting than his sister, due to some ornery people that teased him as a kitten.  But, once you have earned his trust, you have it forever.  He is quite the chicken about everything, actually, but loves his girls fiercely.

Yeah, he puts up with a lot. 

This beautiful boy was never ours, but we loved him like our own.

Yup, that's Ranger.  I blatently stole this beautiful photo that his mama, Jill, took.  She wrote a beautiful post about their amazing Ranger  here that you really ought to read.  And while we were never technically his owners, he stole our hearts.  Yup, he was a nut.  And excitable.  And ever-so-graceful with that weapon of a tail.  But, I have no doubt that, had my children been home that horrible night, Ranger would have gladly given his life to protect theirs.  He was a great dog.

I realized when I started looking for photos for this post that I started this blog 6 months after this beautiful girl died.

This is Maj.  We adopted her in December 2006.  She was our gorgeous pound pup.  Maj was about 2 years old (they think) when we adopted her.  The Animal Control had found her abandoned along the side of the road, badly injured.  She had, obviously, had a litter of puppies, but no one could find them, or her owner.  Once she was healthy, the Humane Society had a hard time finding a home for her because of her heart murmur.  When I heard that, I knew she was ours.  I have a heart murmur, too. 

I have never seen a more gentle dog.  She would wrestle the daylights out of Jerome, but step over a sleeping infant Madison on the floor with the upmost care.  She knew exactly where the babies were at all times, and sometimes thought they were her own.

You could tell her former life was horrible, whatever her previous owners had done to her.  She was terrified of the UPS man, until he won her over with treats.  If my dad was in his "insurance" work clothes, she loved him.  If he was in his "ranch" clothes, she cowered in the corner. 

The only man she never feared was Jerome.  If he was home, she was with him.  Usually in his lap.  She loved her "prince".

She passed away in April of 2008 from injuries after getting hit by a car.  It was a freak accident that I will replay in my mind forever.  If she had not had the heart murmur, they could have surgically repaired her badly injured leg.  However, we knew her heart was not strong enough for surgery.  I will never forget holding her in my lap as they administered the drugs to put her down, her tail wagging up until the very end.  For the short amount of time we were blessed with her, she knew she was loved.

After all, that is the point of pets, isn't it?  They are a reflection of God's forgiveness and unconditional love.  A dog does not care who you are, what you drive, where you work.  He only wants to play with you, to have your attention.  A cat does not care who your friends are, what clothes you wear, where you live.  She only wants to be loved.