Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Trying to give credit where credit is due...

I have to start this one out with an apology first...I am completely sorry to some amazing chicks that I left off of my last post. I have since come to my senses and need to acknowledge them and let them know that even though I was completely careless in leaving them off it is not because I don't think of them often and appreciate their friendship and sisterhood more than I can say so here is a tribute to them.

First off is my sister Mary. I would feel disingenuous to call her anything but sister. I love and value her deeply. We may have been raised by different parents but she is my sister through and through. We have supported each other through so many ups and downs in life that I truly can't remember a time in my life before we knew each other. Mary and I became friends in high school when we were strategically placed around the star football player in Chemistry class by the head football coach, aka Chem teacher. As we learned about covalent bonds we formed a few bonds of our own. When her brother, Greg, said he was going to ask me out she encouraged him with the following words, "she'd be a good sister in law!" Little did she know that she was sealing our fate as sisters. From there we've had many nights sitting at the bar acting as though we weren't drinking, days and nights discussing husbands, kids and life. I know and I hope she does too that when the chips are down we have each others' back. I appreciate her acceptance and love of me Forever and Always! Mary you are a true blessing and I love you dearly.

My friend Bev is the one chick I call sister soul. She gets me and loves me as me! She is Abbey's other mom and loves her and Em as much as I love Hailey and Britt. She has raised one daughter into adulthood to be a fun, kind spirit and Hailey is being raised to be as much of a gem as Britt and I couldn't ask for a better friend for Abbey.

If I could be 1/2 as good of a mom as Bev I will be doing well. She and I can go months without contact (which sucks!) but can feel as though we've been side by side day in and day out. She is a friend that is kind, and compassionate and will have your back no matter what. Bev, I love you more than my luggage!

Carin is another fantastic, amazing woman. She is one of my only friends that has my same political view so that alone puts her @ hero status. She is brilliant, kind, funny and a fantastic mom. I value her friendship more than I can ever say or repay! Carin is creative and more intelligent than I can describe (and I'm not just saying that because she mimics my political leanings!) She is another friend that I don't get a lot of time with these days, but we can fall in step as though we've been together day in and day out. She and her sisters have learned sisterhood well and I so love and appreciate her for it.

Jen is my other girlie that I don't get to see enough of and now that she is going to be moving I will probably see less of her which really makes me sad! I love this chick and I'm going to have to invent ways and things to do so that I maintain that touch point. She is one of the prettiest people I have ever met and I think this is made more so by the fact that she is extremely sweet and kind as well as incredibly intelligent. She is another friend that I can always count on and who always has my back. Not only is she a kick ass friend but she is a kick ass wife and mother and I learn something from her every year. I don't tell her enough how important she is to me so I hope she'll stop by the blog and see what I have to say! Jen you my friend are a truly class act and if you were a bombshell in a past life you would have been Audrey Hepburn because you have got it all going on and you are nice to boot, I can't tell you enough how much your kindness and friendship have meant and I only hope that no matter how far apart we may be geographically that we will maintain that friendship!

Mary Beth is the newest addition. You have quickly become my sounding board and I so appreciate you for it. You are one of the wittiest people I know and I so appreciate a quick witted friend. You are beautiful, inside and out and I am so glad that we are becoming friends and LYLAS! he he

Thank you to all of you for being my friend and putting up with me! YOU ROCK!!!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Trying to give a shout out to amazing women...

OK, so I have to blog about amazing women. I have already praised my sister Farrah so I have to let people know that I have some great women in my life and its time I give a shout out. my SIL Lucy said she couldn't wait for a shout out from me on my blog so this is my chance. Which means that I also have to give a shout out to my sister Kelley or she'll pout! :) And then there's my friends Lisa and Laurie who have been my friends forever, and my friend Tammy who has been a fabulous girlfriend and the latest addition to my blessed life my BBFF Kendra.

Before I start just to cover all my bases I have to tell you again that my sister Farrah is the coolest! If you ask my girls how they got so cool they will tell you Auntie Rah Rah...and they are right. Its hard to be that F$%&ing great, cool and beautiful.

So I am going to start with my sisame Kelley and I'll move on to my sista Lucy, my sistas Lisa and Laurie, my Kansas chicks Tammy and Kendra who really are Butte girls at heart.

First of all my sister Kelley is a beautiful person and I love her dearly. She is a great mom (even if sometimes she sounds like our mom) and she is a great person. She is kind enough to donate free haircuts to locks of love and has given numerous makeovers, gratis no less to women who couldn't afford the wonders that she works. She has performed miracles on me and as my friend Tammy and my husband will tell you I have never looked better than after she has given my makeover. The common thread among all of these great chicks is the fact that they all make me laugh. I will tell you one story for each that is a good chick laughing. My most memorable laugh with my sister was the day that we were shopping together. The first laugh was the fact that we were singing along to a song, both professing how much we love the song, and the only real words either of us knew was part of the chorus and a few other words so we are singing and moving our mouths like we know the words and then only saying the words that we knew so it went something like this, "I've gone from Phoenix Arizona, all the way to Tacoma, Philadelphia Atlanta LA....mumble along while we move our mouths) and then say phrases like "I really know this part" move my mouth along and still not know the words...But the best part of the day was being in a store trying on different things, and laughing about everything until the store clerk had to come over and say in a very stern reprimanding tone, "Girls!" This came after I saw a very cute day-glow, furry, green vest that I tried on and my sister said, you look like the Grinch...to which I replied no I don't I look like the Abominable snowman from the one Christmas movie" Just the words Abominable Snowman makes us both laugh.

Then there is my sil Lucy, who has come to not be thought of as an inlaw at all. She is one of my soul sistahs. I first have to give a shout out to her for her strength but this is coupled with her beauty inside and out. She puts up with the whole Loewen clan and is joyful about the whole thing. While her husband was in Iraq she found out she was pregnant and she handled it all with much grace. She was stronger than most of us would be in the same circumstance. Lucy and I have the most amazing bond that comes from truly "getting" one another. We have had ups and downs and we can always vent to each other. Its amazing to have a cool chick that knows my in-laws just like I do, can relate to everything I say and loves me anyway. When we are together we can simply make eye contact and know exactly what the other is thinking. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't have matching rings so we could do the whole wonder twin power thing. The most memorable laugh that Lucy and I have had has to be when we were in Montana for our brother in law's wedding. We got to sharing some funny stories and by the time everyone got back to the house the two of us were rolling around on the floor laughing...seriously I fell to the floor in fits of giggles and from that point on of that trip we would see each other and the laughter would begin again.

Lisa and I have been friends since 5th grade. She is beautiful inside and out, not to mention one of my first truly smart friends. This friendship has weathered, different schools, boyfriends, college, jobs, marriage, kids, and 1400 miles. We can pick up like we haven't been apart even if its been 5 years since we've seen each other. She is an amazing mom, colleague, and friend. I don't know how I would have survived without her. We had more crazy nights, friends, and experiences together than probably anyone and I can think of thousands of laughs that we've had. We spent many an hour trying to come up with the best electric jello concoction and on many an occasion we succeeded. I can remember one night in particular, drinking our hearts out when Lisa was all excited to have finally made it to the airplane. (We had been refilling her drink all night) The thought of that night makes me laugh.

Laurie is about to experience motherhood and I know she will be great at it. She is not only beautiful and smart but she is kind. She is the one that remembers not only every one's birthday but our anniversaries as well. Laurie and I can always find some inane topic to discuss that will have us laughing. Most of the time our phone conversations sound like a Seinfeld episode. The funniest of all nights had to be the time that she was trying out her trick of unbuttoning the button fly with one tug. She had had limited success with this feat until she was in a crowded bar and performed the tug on a friend of ours and success it worked. This was joyous for her, humorous for me, mortifying for her subject, and downright despicable to the girlfriend of the subject. Which somehow turned into a reason for the girlfriend to hate me which became an even bigger reason for us to laugh. HE HE

For my other sistah Tammy. Tammy has come to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about me and still finds reason to be my friend. My favorite thing about Tammy is when something has me really pissed off she will say "Do you want me to kick their ass?" which makes me believe that she is a Butte girl at heart! :) Keep in mind that is not a title I would bestow on just anyone. You have to really rank high with me to be welcomed into the ranks of Butte girl. Had I called her a Walkerville chick she would have reason to want to scrap but being regarded as a Butte chick is a high honor. One of our greatest laughs has to be the time that we were with someone that is not as refined as we are (read ready to kick some ass) and we were discussing someone we both despise. We were discussing how this particular person wore really horrid lipstick and we decided that it could only be called Bitch Face brown. Whether it was the alcohol, or the thought of Estee Lauder slapping that name on a tube, we laughed and laughed about that...and will laugh if we bring it up. We have many sessions like this and if others were as cool as us, they would laugh too.

Then there is my friend Kendra. Kendra is another chick that is funny, smart and beautiful. Kendra is one of the kindest souls who really puts a lot of effort into her friendships and it makes me want to kick the ass of anyone that has ever taken advantage of it. She is beautiful (and recently became boobalicious) and the two of us will be BBFFs forever and ever. She is another one that would have your back no matter what. I can tell you that we can find humor in the silliest things when we are together. She makes me laugh from my toes. the funniest of all had to be the day we were coming back from lunch and an Arab man gave us the craziest look. So I had to put on my Arabic accent and say, "You with the princess car, go home, you are not deserving of working you should be home" To this day all I have to say is princess car and the two of us crack up. I always know that if I need someone she will be there. Again, I don't bestow the Butte girl title often but she ranks right up there. She and I clicked from day one. May be that experience with Fancy Pants but it was a bond that will last a lifetime.

OK, so I think I've covered the important chicks. If I have inadvertently left anyone out please do not feel bad its due to lack of sleep and not due to your importance in my life.

I've probably waxed poetic long enough but I do want to say to each and every one of you. Thank you for your friendship, for letting me vent, for putting up with my ever changing moods and most of all for all of the great laughs. You all help me get through this crazy life and you make me glad to be along for the ride.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Trying not to cry...

Ok, so I've been a really poor blogger. Ok, let me rephrase that, I know I'm a poor blogger, but I've done a poor job of posting anything new!

So to turn a phrase from the great Kim Possible, Here's the sitch. I'm off an another trip today. I can remember when I thought a little bit of travel might be nice. It would be a chance for Greg to have to deal with everything I had to deal with while he traveled. However, instead all I'm finding is that I'm dealing with everything he had to deal with while he traveled. I had no idea that I would feel so lonesome or that I could miss my kids so much. I love when I get alone time but for some reason being a few hundred miles away from them is different when its on our terms and not under the steam of something else. Its one thing for them to visit friends/family and a completely other one for me to leave them. Maybe I have abandonment issues...ok I know I have abandonment issues. I just have to say that it really breaks my heart to see one of my little girls cry and ask through tear choked sobs, "why do you have to go?" The thing is, they're going to be adults for a long time, and I'm already seeing glimpses of them not wanting to be with me (gasp!) but I can't handle being the one to have to leave them. I hate knowing that I put them through some pain everytime I leave for the airport. Maybe when they're teenagers I'll want to willingly leave them but for right now, I want to hold them, kiss them good night, put that extra blanket on them before I go to sleep and hear their sweet voices in the morning when they wake up.

So I'm getting ready to leave watching Abs across the room and I'm trying to be the big girl and not show my tears.