As a parent sometimes it’s hard to let go.  The kids grow up, they don’t need you as much, yet you still worry that they’ll do ok.  My kids both had a great first day of school.  My son was thrilled that he could use his cell phone at brunch and lunch and my daughter found out that she could listen to her Ipod while doing work in some classes.  It’s the little things that matter right.   Aside from the technology revelations, they like their classes and I think they’re motivated enough to at least get to Christmas Vacation.

Just dropped my daughter off at school.  She was very nervous.  I cried as she walked away.  I always cry though on the first day of school.  I guess I just feel nervous for them.  My husband took my son, so now I have the house to myself.  It is so peaceful, I figure I have some time to tell you about me now and why I started this blog.

My husband is an internet guy.  So I know a few things about blogging.  I’ve been intrigued by it for awhile and he has quite a few friends that have blogs and I try to read them as much as possible.  Mostly though, their blogs are about internet geek stuff that surpasses my level of comprehension.  Sometimes I feel like the adult in a Charlie Brown cartoon.  So anyway I figured I’d give it a go at a more personal blog about me and life where I live. 

Basically I am thirty seven.  Yes, that happened quick.  I’ve been married to my husband for 15 years.  We live in a Desperate Housewives type of community.  We drive nice cars and sometimes our friends call us the “Jones’s”.  We spoil our kids at times, but not too much.  Like I said before, they are good kids.  I travel a lot.  Mainly for sports with the kids or business with my husband.  We haven’t had a “real” family vacation in over five years.  Our fifteen year wedding anniversary was spent in some white trash town in a crappy hotel because we were at a tournament with our daughter.  So as you can see, we usually put the kids first.  Just like most parents I suppose.  Like I said, we spoil them.

So, I don’t really have a job.  I work at my husbands company doing the accounting stuff.  I do volunteer work when I can.  My free time is spent at home doing household stuff.  A few times a week I hang out with my best friend from high school.  There are many days that are monotonous and sometimes lonely.  My kids are older and don’t really need me as much anymore.  Unless of course they need a ride somewhere.

So I figure with this blog…it’ll keep me busy.  I figure there are alot of women out there like me.  Although our lives can get stagnet sometimes, at times they can be very interesting and we all share similar experiences.

About me being short.  Yes I am.  I five feet tall to be exact.  The weird thing is I think of myself as being tall and don’t normally focus on my shortness.  Unless I get in the elevator with a really tall man, then sometimes it’s kind of weird.

My kids start school tomorrow.  My daughter is 14 and starting her freshman year in high school.  My son is 12 and starting seventh grade.  How the hell did that happen?  I can remember like it was yesterday when they were little.  Things are alot easier when they are little.  Four to eight were my favorite ages for both of them.  All they want to do at that age is please you and love you.  Not too much talking back.  Alot of learning in school.  They were proud of so many different accomplishments.  The older they get, the bigger the issues.  School is harder, they have more demands on them.  Other kids are more involved in their lives.  Everything is drama and critical to there continued existance.  I mean, I remember so well being that age.  My first day at that all girls Catholic school…I only knew three people.  The school wasn’t too big, but big enough to feel alone.  I guess at first glance I can kind of look stuck up til you get to know me, so it was a bit hard to make friends at first.  My daughter inherited that from me, lucky her.  Things are different now though.  I think parents are much more involved in their kids lives than they used to be.  At least that’s how it is in my family. 

I’ll be writing alot more on this topic, but for starters. I like it. I would never not want to be married. I hate sleeping alone. At social events I hate being alone. I don’t know why, maybe because I am an only child and spent alot of years alone. My husband and I met at work. We worked at a messengar service. We delivered stuff for the record industry. It was a pretty fun job and easy. It was a while before I knew what he looked like becasue we used these walkie talkie things to communicate with everyone. I liked his voice though. Apparently, he hated me. At least that’s what he told me later. He was jealous because I was getting more work than he did. I won’t go into why that was, but at any rate…he invited my friend and me over to his place and that was pretty much it. We hung out everyday from then on and I never really went home. A few months later we moved in and three years later, we got married.

We had no plan. Just got married. We knew we wanted kids so I was pregnant a month later. Alot of people plan for stuff like this. Not us, we just knew we loved each other and wanted a family. We really had no plan for anything. We got married, then lived with my parents for a couple months til we figured out what we were going to do.  We were poor. Somehow we worked it out. I guess looking back, maybe we should’ve planned our lives out better, but in the end things worked out pretty good. I’ll talk more about it in the next few posts.

Well, for starters, I could see Fredricks of Hollywood from my balcony. I guess that’s cool. I learned to ride a bike on Whitley and Franklin amongst all the traffiic and bums. Okay, there weren’t too many bums. I did come home one night with my parents to find one sleeping right in front of our door. How does that happen when we lived in a building with a doorman?

I went to Catholic school starting in the 6th grade. My teacher had a weird concept…open book study. Can you imagine telling six graders they could take tests using open book? Junior High was fun, except our softball coach was a perv. He wore these short Dolphin shorts. Remember those? With no underwear…gross!

High School was spent at an all girls Catholic school. Not as bad as it sounds. I made some of the best friends of my life there whom are still my friends today. My weekends were spent at clubs on Sunset like the Roxy, Rainbow, etc. I was a rocker chick I guess you could say. Big hair, lots of make up. Typical rocker chick and proud of it. I hung out with alot of musicians. Kind of weird because I never learned to play an instrument. I guess the most famous musician I hung out with was Stephen Perkins from Janes Addiction. His girlfriend Rebecca and I were friends from school and we spent alot of time with him and going to his shows and stuff. I remember he worked at a shoe store before the band got popular. Once high school ended, never heard from him again. He was alot of fun though. Always thought Rebecca and him were a cute couple, but I guess life goes on. I also met Gene Simmons once at a Halloween party, that was cool.

I learned how to drive in Hollywood too. Lots of traffic. My first ride was a Royal Blue Oldsmobile Delta 88. It was loud and I needed a pillow to see over the dashboard. At the time though, I didn’t care, I loved that car. Power steering, power windows, cruise control. How many 16 year olds in the 80’s had cruise control? As much as I loved it, it broke down way too many times, so my parents bought me a truck. A red GMC with a camper shell. Note to self: Never buy a teenager a truck with a camper shell. Enough said.
Jobs…

My first job was in a movie theater in Glendale. I won’t say the name becasue really it was a disgusting place to work. There were roaches all over the floor at any given time. They cooked the hot dogs for hours. The only thing that was good was the popcorn, but it had to be fresh out of that popper thingy. Anyway, it was good money $3.35 per hour. It was right by the Glendale Galleria, so paydays were great. A few of my friends and I worked there for a few months, then we ended up in the mall.

Next job - Bill Gambles…a clothing store for men. That was the ticket. I had a great discount if I wanted to buy clothes for my Dad. What was I thinking? Anyway, stayed there for a couple months. Seemed like a year, but it was just a couple months til I ended up quiting and moving on.

Next stop - Ralphs market. Ralphs on Sunset sometimes known as Rock n Roll Ralphs. All the bands would shop there since it was walking distance to the apartments where most of them lived while they were trying to make it. Who knew the first time my husband would see me would be there of all places pushing carts around in the parking lot. Three years later, he remembered me. Who knew I looked so good in polyester pants and a blue apron?

Oh ya…about growing up in the 80’s.  Loved it!