Thanks, Mom

I know Mother’s Day is still a few days away, but I’d like to take a moment to thank my mom, and so should you, because she’s responsible for Osama’s death.

Hear me out.

A week before she flew to Rome to visit my dad (who works out of the country), the Pope died.

She just left for Dubai to visit dad again. Just days before her departure: Osama: dead.

Coincidence? Or perhaps, when my mom travels, it causes the death of the most important figure in the country.

The Military will get the credit for this one, which is cool, but we all know it was thanks to mom and her ticket on Delta.

We’re contemplating of booking her a flight to Washington DC when she gets back… see what that does for us.

Even if she isn’t responsible for taking about Osama (and frankly, we weren’t thrilled about the Pope….), she’s still a freakin’ awesome mom, and you can check out her blog here. (This is one of my favorite posts)

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there (even though mine will always be the best!)

(I could have used a more recent picture, but I'm quite fond of this one. She's the one with her finger up her nose. Mom, you rock!)

Happy New Year!

Is it 2011 already? So many things happened in 2010, here’s a quick recap:

Launched this very blog and found myself 27 followers. Thanks, folks! You really brighten my day with your comments!

Acquired some new furry (and slimy) family members. Toby the cat, Clarence the frog, Mr. Clean the snail and a multitude of rats.

Weaned 2 rat babies, one from 2 weeks old, the other from just 8 days old!

LT Fromage and I celebrated our first anniversary; we went to Kansas City, ate some stale cake and fell even more in love (insert sappy awwww, here).

Hosting our very first Thanksgiving, for both families!, went off without a hitch!

Battled a house full of fleas, which included bathing 2 dogs, 3 cat baths and hours of flea spray and vacuuming. Fromages: 1, Fleas: 0!

Bought my first gun, learned to shoot and even completed a pistol course!

Began medical transcription training and made the Dean’s List (If anyone knows about a job opening for transcribing autopsy reports, hook a sister up, will you!)

Broke my diet soda addiction! (Smokers trying to quit: I feel for you) I’m down from 6 a day, to less than half that number in a week!

Drove back to Colorado to see a Rockies game (oh yeah, and the family, too)

On a solo drive back to CO for my sister’s bridal shower and blew a tire half way home. With both dogs in the car. On a Sunday. Drove a quarter of the way home on the spare tire at 55mph.

Stood as Matron of Honor at my little sissy’s wedding, where I found out my new brother-in-law’s grandma could drop it down lower than any of us young ‘uns!

And so, so much more. I wish I could list it all!

Upcoming in 2011, be sure to check out my new blog (don’t worry, it’s an addition, not a replacement), 365 Days in Pictures – a photographic journey. And, as always, keep checking in here for more Fromageness!

Christmas Recap in Pictures

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree....

Decorated with home made ornaments inspired by Country Living....

"The Cheese Nun" was opened and made me so glad.... (Thanks, LT Fromage!)

Then I opened this cow purse from "Mom" and from "Dad"

LT Fromage's stocking was overflowing with treats....

Left over turkey bones the ratinos did eat...

The dogs both got rawhides, despite being naughty....

Next year we'll save money and just give the cats all the paper....

Christmas oh-ten, you were such a good one. I hope all my readers had just as much fun!

Multiple Choice

Lack of recent posts has been due to

A) Taking a leave of absence from work to deal with my anxiety disorder

B) Hand feeding an 8 day old baby rat every 3-4 hours day and night

C) Cleaning cat pee off of the love seat

D) Screaming at the dog for unwrapping the gift “she got” for her daddy (That was FROM you, Erika, your name was in the FROM spot, not TO, D@MNITT)

E) Hanging cow Christmas lights in my cow kitchen (An early gift from LT Fromage, since he got to open one early… er, Erika opened it for him)

F) Winning the lottery

G) All of the above

H) All of the above except for F

If you answered H, you’re correct. I’m at home for a few weeks (maybe longer, if I qualify for short term disability). I wish we’d won the lotto, but alas, my recent activity has included no such luck. I’m supposed to be using this time to de-stress, however most of my time has been spent trying to undo the damages caused by our four-legged kids and playing wet-nurse to a little boy we call Florian Geyer who’s little eyes and ears aren’t even open yet. (Ok, the baby isn’t stressful. I actually kind of like all that mothering I get to do for our new little guy).

So, folks, please bear with me. I’m still around and blogging, but if I don’t post quite as often for a short bit, assume it’s because I’m re-stuffing the cats’ stocking (again) or dealing with a couple of dogs who’ve eaten every last shard of glass from a broken cake platter. Cross your fingers that I actually will manage to get some down time so I can drink some Red Thai Chi Tea (say that 5 times fast!) with LT Fromage, open some gifts (if the dogs don’t get to them first) and read a good book or two.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from us and ours in the Fromage household!

I Am My Mother’s Daughter

(image couresty of postsecret)

I strive to be even half the woman, the wife, and one day the mother that my mom is. My mom is my hero and my best friend. I haven’t yet mastered her patience or her home-made biscuits, but we’re 2 peas in a pod when it comes to interest in world religions, we’re both painfully introverted and we share a love (ehm, obsession) for Rocky Horror Picture Show (Not many people can relate when you say you’ve already watched it for the 5th time that week… on a Tuesday). She passed along much of who she is to me, and for that I’m so thankful. Except for one thing…

My mom has an aura that screams “Walk all over me! Use me! Please! Please! Take advantage of me!” My poor mom gets no respect. Like the time she was in Italy with my dad, they were the only ones in the restaurant for a late lunch. My dad was given a handsome, leather bound menu, while my mom was tossed (No lie, it was actually tossed to her) a dirty, food stained stapled stack of paper listing their food offerings. She could see a tall stack of fancy menus, but it was no surprise that they wouldn’t waste one on her!

Back home in America, when we go out to eat, the waiter or waitress will refill every empty glass except mom’s, sometimes they look right at her, turn with the half-full water pitcher and leave the table. Then there was the time the storage top on the car came open on the interstate during a family road trip, of course, the only bags that flew out were mom’s.

Just last week she tried to reach the 32nd floor of a hotel, the elevator wouldn’t move. She tried another but still wasn’t taken to her floor. Other guests rode the elevator with ease. She traveled up and down with them, never stopping on her chosen 32nd floor. She finally asked another passenger to push the button for her, and, of course, it worked then. Poor mom.

This, this is what I inherited from my mom. Not her ability to clean any stain, her charm, her vast knowledge about everything (basically), nope, I got this. A lifetime of empty drink glasses and lost luggage at the airport. When our couple’s massage appointment was “accidentally cancelled” recently, LT Fromage just sighed and said, “You defiantly are your mother’s daughter…”

Thanks, Mom.

Be sure to check out her blog, which she no longer updates, ehem, mommy dearest, but reading thru her archives is sure a lot of fun. Also, you'll notice this post is more than 4 years old... how come she didn't market her own snuggies?

What Were We Thinking?

I thought about calling this post “Finally! A picture taken by a professional and not that crappy phone camera! And, no vermin on her head!” but went with this instead.

Don’t you just love candid shots?

*picture from my sissy’s wedding in August.

**Cut me a break, I’m home from work today feeling no beuno, it’s after 2 and I’m still on the couch.This is all you get. Back tomorrow.

Host First Thanksgiving as LT and Lady Fromage: Check!

(Unattempted as of yet, but they look quite yummy! Check them out here!)

Phew! It’s over.

We actually had a great time, and I have to mention (rub in) again how lucky LT Fromage and I are to have in laws we love, who love each other! The food was great, the company even better, and by a miracle of God (or it might have been my momma) the house was sparkling clean when everyone left!

However, the stress of so much company, more cooking than we normally do in a month, constant entertaining and 3 dead car batteries (each family experienced it at different times, his, mine and ours) spread over the week has us a little on edge now. When I say a little on edge, I mean I slept on the couch last night. (Lesson learned: When LT Fromage is burnt out, he wants to be left alone, which conflicts with my need to draw close again. Ah, the discoveries of a young marriage. See, L, we aren’t perfect all the time!)

With thanksgiving out of the way, it’s time to start prepping for the most spectacular time of the year…. Christmas!

Stay tuned for cookie recipes (It’s true, I’m going to try my hand at baking once more!), darling home décor ideas and wish lists (listen up, Santa! Or blog readers in a giving mood!) In the mean time, be sure to check out Shutterfly, where you can score 50 free personalized Holiday greeting cards, with your photo! They also offer mugs, calendars and more. LT Fromage and I are totally doing it this year. Especially since we get them for free. Free is good. It means saving more money for the mega-electric bill we’ll get in January thanks to all the lights I’ll be attaching to the house.

I Paid for Services from a Woman on Craigslist

This Thanksgiving is gonna be uh-mazing.

3 years ago on this holiday LT Fromage asked my dad if he could marry me (Yeah, he’s totally such a gentleman! I’m a lucky lady, I know). I was uber nervous about that day, not because I knew he was gonna pop the question (to my dad… not me, yet. He waited until Christmas, but I’ll save that story for next month!) but because it was the first time we were introducing our parents to each other.

I had nightmares for months prior (I kid you not) about them hating each other. Most mornings I woke up when they started screaming at one another in the front yard.

That didn’t happen. Phew.

Actually, our folks loved each other!

I think we’re a pretty lucky couple. It’s hard enough to find someone you love enough to marry, a plus if you like their family, and even better if they like yours too. But for your original family and the new addition to get on so well… Well, that pretty much rocks. Jealous much? \

Sadly, our families like each other maybe a little too much.

This year LT Fromage and I are staying in the Little Apple for Turkey Day, so we planned to host one side of the family. Yes, only one side.

When it’s just LT Fromage and I in the house, it seems like a mansion with its 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. If we throw in 4 parents, 4 siblings and a brother-in-law, plus their combined 3 dogs, well, the space would close in quickly. I’m not even sure we’d have enough hot water for everyone to shower on a daily basis. We couldn’t possibly invite them all, and in small print include “Daily shower not guaranteed”. So we didn’t. We picked the side that hadn’t yet been out to visit, and asked them to keep their travel plans quiet, which they did, but then this conversation happened.

Family 1: “So we were thinking, since the kids aren’t coming back for Thanksgiving, we should get together anyway! Would you guys join us?”

Family 2: “Uhm. Thank you so much! That sounds wonderful! I’m actually not sure what we’re doing quite yet… Can I confirm later this week?”

Family 2 to Fromages: “What do we tell them?!?”

What did we do? The only thing we could do, we invited everyone. All 9 of them (minus the dogs, we had to draw the line somewhere).

Of course, being fairly newlywed with no kids, we haven’t accumulated enough place settings, utensils or cookware for this situation. Solution: BYOP – Bring your own place setting. And forget sitting at the table, because it only seats 4. Hello, living room furniture! May you survive this day wearing no cranberry sauce.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for my 2 families. 9 people who are stellar enough to come out early to help cook, bringing pots and pans and their own dishes and not their dogs. Above all, to be laid back enough to make this week a whole lot of fun instead of a headache.

(PS: Who wouldn’t stress about cleaning the house with all those people coming? I did myself a favor and hired a housekeeper. Best $67 I’ve ever spent on services provided by a woman I found on craigslist… Wait… That sounded really wrong…)