Happy Birthday, JOHN!!

It's John's birthday today! Yup. He's the big 2-9.
Oh my gosh - I wonder if he knows how close he is to being officially old like me. ;) If you aren't familiar with John, please read this before you do anything else.

Seriously.

Go.

Read it - we'll wait.

Now that you know how incredible this man is, let me offer this...
In honor of my sweet friend John, my words sadly fall short, so I thought I would call on some old and familiar friends to help me out...

By one of my favorite authors...
"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."
- Francois Mocuriac

"It's the friends you can call up at 4am that matter."
- Marlene Dietrick

John, you are all of these to me. My life is richer for knowing you. My soul sleeps more soundly at night knowing you're my friend.
And on this incredibly special day that you were born, I know that God is looking down on this earth and smiling at who you've become.

Love is at it's best when you have others to divide it with. May your coming year be filled with long division.

I love you, my friend. May your day be blessed.

Finally. A Breakthrough.

I feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I've spent so much time and energy lamenting the fact that I'm still single, as you know from a previous post. And, as many of you know, I consider myself a spiritual person with the belief that God wants what's best for me on this earth. Bear with me here.

I've spent quite a bit of time lately asking God what it all means...Why am I still single? Have I done the right thing by ending my past relationships when I did? Will I ever find my soul mate and one day marry again? Have I met this person already and just not seen the signs?

I've had what I believe to be an epiphany. After much thought and prayer, God has made it very clear to me...

He wants me to marry the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls.

Irrefutable Signs That I Have Become My Mother...

1. The sheer number of fast food napkins in the glove box of my car, "just in case."
2. The way my daughters complain that I speak like this, "I think we should go to...um...uh...um...yeah...What was the question?"
3. My brand new Spode Christmas Dinnerware, service for 8.
4. How I walk out of Big Lots with my girls (CA's equivalent to the 99 cent store), and say to them, "Don't touch your eyes!"
5. The fact that I use a variation of the, "Because I said so" response, only mine sounds more like, "Because I AM the boss of you!"
6. The number of tupperware lids I have in my cupboard that have no actual tupperware to cover.
7. My inability to throw away a perfectly good ziplock baggie if it can be reused.
8. The fact that I have bottles of salad dressing in my refridgerator that pre-date the millennium.
9. The way I walked into my 15 year old's bedroom the other night and whined, "I only saw you for five minutes today. We never spend any time together anymore!" Wha,wha,wha...
10. My inability to purchase something spontaneous for my kids because in the back of my mind I'm really thinking, "I think I have a coupon for that..."

...And these are just the ones I'm willing to admit.

Any of you turning into your mother? Let me know and make my day! ;)

AWWWWWWWWW.......

I had the sweetest conversation the other day with one of my dealers. His name is Magnus. He's Swedish and looks much like I imagine a Nordic God would look. He has a really strong accent, which just makes him even cuter, and he's a really nice and sensitive guy.
There are only two people at this dealership and I usually call to speak to Alex, the owner, after talking to Magnus for a few minutes. I see them in person probably once every two weeks, over the last year and a half.
Magnus is always watching out for beach volleyball tournaments for my daughter and always wants to hear about what's going on in my life. He truly is as kind as he is gorgeous.
This is what he said, almost word for word...

"Steph! How are you?! I have to tell you something! (this part was a little funny to me, since I haven't seen him in about a week and I don't even do business directly with him) Someone called the other day and Alex answered the phone. Right away he started saying, 'OH! I'm so sorry! How did it happen? Please give the family our condolences.' And I tried to get his attention to find out who died, but he wouldn't answer me! He was on the phone for 15 minutes and he was so upset. Then he said, 'How is her daughter? She plays volleyball doesn't she?' And I thought. "IT'S STEPH!!' And I was so upset, Steph, I kept trying to get Alex's attention and I was asking, 'Is it Steph?!' But he wouldn't answer me, and I was so upset! I thought you were dead! And I cried! I didn't know what to do. I thought it was you. And then he hung up and said, 'No, it's not Steph.' And he told me who it was, but my day was already ruined. It made me so sad to think it might have been you! I just wanted to tell you that I care about you so much and I'm so glad you're okay!"

How cute is that?! And how nice it is to think about the impact we may make on other people's lives even when we don't know it.

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P.S. On a completely unrelated note...Check out this picture of my daughter, the Unabomber.



See the resemblance?

Yeah, I think I'm funny.
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P.S.S. I recently saw this sign at the hospital where my mom had her surgery. For those of you who may not know, California has a "No questions asked" policy with babies. Sadly, we've developed a need for safe surrender sites, such as this one. With all of the idiots out there leaving their newborns in dumpsters and bushes, the state felt the need to give them this option.



Here's the great news...I checked and they DO take 15 year olds!! :)