War and Peace. I'll Fight for Your Peace.
This next year is going to be one battle after another.
I finally felt at peace about my parents. I left them to their own destructive devices and decided to take the girls at least once a week (currently, Thursdays only) to get them away from the yelling. I've really been enjoying my time with the girls. So far, we've spent two Thursdays together. Our first Thursday, we met up with Jonathan for dinner at Cali Pizza Kitch. It was nice to sit down and be candid about... whatever sprung to mind. There was no bickering - some mild teasing, but no fights, no put-downs... it was so pleasant. And, healthy. Exactly what we need right now... actually, what we've always needed. The rest of our evening was spent up in Vancouver at Earth, Glaze, and Fire - I worked on the piece that I started and worked on for about three weeks two years ago, Sam started a bowl, and Ab started and finished a container shaped like an ice cream cone as we sipped on Starbucks. It was a relaxing evening.
Last Thursday, I invited Jeff to join us in a cornmaze adventure out at the Original Pumpkin Patch up in Sauvie Island. We dined at Elephant's Delicatessan... remind me to never get their butternut squash pizza. Yuck. The whole way up to Elephant's, we played license plate game and Cousin. Jeff and the girls REALLY got into both games - as we walked up to 22nd (or, maybe it was 23rd place? Good lord, I can never remember exactly where Elephant's resides!), Jeff started running up ahead of us scrounging for license plates before us girls could get em. Sam and I egged Abby to get ahead of Jeff - it quickly became a race to see who would read off license plates first. We looked ridiculous to passer-bys, but really, none of us gave a rip. It was great to let lose and be our silly, ridiculous selves.
We arrived at Elephant's and started our quest for dinner - Sam wound up with a pint of mushroom soup, Ab devoured cheese pizza, and Jeff munched on margahrita (sp?) pizza. Before our orders were up, I ran down to the restroom and by the time I came back up, Jeff had footed the entire bill, the crew was sitting down, girls eating, Jeff waiting patiently for his and my pizzas to come up. As he rose to grab our order, I asked the girls what they thought of him. Sam IMMEDIATELY gushed that he was "perfect" for me. That he seemed really shy, but really silly when he opened up. Definitely nerdy. Just like her crush, Chris. Ab didn't say much, but she hit him a few times - and at 11, that means that she was crushing on him. Big time. Heh. I told them that I needed a favor from them - the night before, Jeff and I were on the MAX and he started singing a song from The Mickey Mouse Show - Hot-Diggity-Dog. He successfully got it stuck in my head that night, the next morning, and all of that day... soo.. the girls agreed to think up the MOST annoying songs that they could think of... and then STRIKE when he started on Hot-Diggity-Dog. Heh.
Elephant's was tossing out bread and allowed us to stock up for free. I grabbed a ton (my roommates are REALLY, REALLY, REALLY poor right now), Jeff grabbed a loaf, and the girls chose "fighting sticks" - french bread. We drove over to the cornmaze and began our trek. Original Pumpkin Patch offers a few "hint".. maps(?) for the maze. Sam picked one on "Constallations", Jeff on "American History", and Abby and I settled on the "Interactive" map. As we lost ourselves in the dark, we worked together answering questions to poop back out to civilization. Abby clinged to my arm the whole time - pausing every now and then to hit Jeff as he offered silly jokes and songs.
About halfway through the maze, Jeff started on Hot-Diggity-Dog. The girls attacked with The Song That Never Ends and.. some crazy song that Ab pulled out. BUT, IT TOTALLY BACKFIRED ON ME!!!!!!!!!!! He LOVED Ab's song and got her to slow down enough to teach it to him. Damnit! Both of the girls just ate up all of his attention.
On our way back to Sunset TC, we listened to more of the girls' songs... though, we gave Jeff the chance to choose a couple. He chose Amerie // One Thing at one point and the girls and him cardanced and sang like crazy. It gave me the warmest feeling - I couldn't stop laughing. No drama. No yelling. No tense stares. No bickering. Teamwork. Silliness. I loved it. The girls loved it. And, I'm pretty damn sure that Jeff loved it.
Sam is eager to see him again soon. As am I.
I finally felt at peace about my parents. I left them to their own destructive devices and decided to take the girls at least once a week (currently, Thursdays only) to get them away from the yelling. I've really been enjoying my time with the girls. So far, we've spent two Thursdays together. Our first Thursday, we met up with Jonathan for dinner at Cali Pizza Kitch. It was nice to sit down and be candid about... whatever sprung to mind. There was no bickering - some mild teasing, but no fights, no put-downs... it was so pleasant. And, healthy. Exactly what we need right now... actually, what we've always needed. The rest of our evening was spent up in Vancouver at Earth, Glaze, and Fire - I worked on the piece that I started and worked on for about three weeks two years ago, Sam started a bowl, and Ab started and finished a container shaped like an ice cream cone as we sipped on Starbucks. It was a relaxing evening.
Last Thursday, I invited Jeff to join us in a cornmaze adventure out at the Original Pumpkin Patch up in Sauvie Island. We dined at Elephant's Delicatessan... remind me to never get their butternut squash pizza. Yuck. The whole way up to Elephant's, we played license plate game and Cousin. Jeff and the girls REALLY got into both games - as we walked up to 22nd (or, maybe it was 23rd place? Good lord, I can never remember exactly where Elephant's resides!), Jeff started running up ahead of us scrounging for license plates before us girls could get em. Sam and I egged Abby to get ahead of Jeff - it quickly became a race to see who would read off license plates first. We looked ridiculous to passer-bys, but really, none of us gave a rip. It was great to let lose and be our silly, ridiculous selves.
We arrived at Elephant's and started our quest for dinner - Sam wound up with a pint of mushroom soup, Ab devoured cheese pizza, and Jeff munched on margahrita (sp?) pizza. Before our orders were up, I ran down to the restroom and by the time I came back up, Jeff had footed the entire bill, the crew was sitting down, girls eating, Jeff waiting patiently for his and my pizzas to come up. As he rose to grab our order, I asked the girls what they thought of him. Sam IMMEDIATELY gushed that he was "perfect" for me. That he seemed really shy, but really silly when he opened up. Definitely nerdy. Just like her crush, Chris. Ab didn't say much, but she hit him a few times - and at 11, that means that she was crushing on him. Big time. Heh. I told them that I needed a favor from them - the night before, Jeff and I were on the MAX and he started singing a song from The Mickey Mouse Show - Hot-Diggity-Dog. He successfully got it stuck in my head that night, the next morning, and all of that day... soo.. the girls agreed to think up the MOST annoying songs that they could think of... and then STRIKE when he started on Hot-Diggity-Dog. Heh.
Elephant's was tossing out bread and allowed us to stock up for free. I grabbed a ton (my roommates are REALLY, REALLY, REALLY poor right now), Jeff grabbed a loaf, and the girls chose "fighting sticks" - french bread. We drove over to the cornmaze and began our trek. Original Pumpkin Patch offers a few "hint".. maps(?) for the maze. Sam picked one on "Constallations", Jeff on "American History", and Abby and I settled on the "Interactive" map. As we lost ourselves in the dark, we worked together answering questions to poop back out to civilization. Abby clinged to my arm the whole time - pausing every now and then to hit Jeff as he offered silly jokes and songs.
About halfway through the maze, Jeff started on Hot-Diggity-Dog. The girls attacked with The Song That Never Ends and.. some crazy song that Ab pulled out. BUT, IT TOTALLY BACKFIRED ON ME!!!!!!!!!!! He LOVED Ab's song and got her to slow down enough to teach it to him. Damnit! Both of the girls just ate up all of his attention.
On our way back to Sunset TC, we listened to more of the girls' songs... though, we gave Jeff the chance to choose a couple. He chose Amerie // One Thing at one point and the girls and him cardanced and sang like crazy. It gave me the warmest feeling - I couldn't stop laughing. No drama. No yelling. No tense stares. No bickering. Teamwork. Silliness. I loved it. The girls loved it. And, I'm pretty damn sure that Jeff loved it.
Sam is eager to see him again soon. As am I.