Christmas With Us

So today is Christmas day and my day started at approximately seven am with grandpa. He gently knocked on the door and said It was time to get up and ready to head to my aunt and uncles for Christmas brunch and presents. Little did I know that it was only seven am…but anyway I still got up and got dressed and ready to go see the rest of the family. The thought of the look on my younger families face fueled me to hurry up and get out the door. Once we were all up and on the road it was finally talk about what the plans were for the rest of the holiday. My older sister piped up first. She needed to visit her boyfriend’s father and family. None of them had really met PJ yet and she was so excited to show him off. Next my little sister charmed in. She wanted to go see her dad and his new fiancé. They’re getting married on New Years Eve in Las Vegas. She wanted to make sure that she got to see them before they tied the knot. Finally it was my turn to tell what plans I had made. I was planning on going to see my boyfriend and his family for Christmas dinner at his mother’s house at 5. I’ve been with him since I was sixteen years old…I can’t believe it’s been two and a half years already.

The plan was set so I thought. We arrived at my uncle and aunts house at eight thirty or so. We were greeted at the door by my two lovely little cousins in their adorable Christmas jammies. Each of them had an ear to ear grin pinned on their darling little faces. That sight made the irritation of getting up before the sun melt away. We hugged each other one by one with the echoes of merry Christmas in the back ground. I was named head elf and was given the job of handing out all the presents. One by one everyone’s face lit up with excitement with each gift they received. We all sat anxiously waiting to open gifts and wondering if the gifts we gave were good and excepted. Finally after all the presents were open and being played with I had a moment to get a coke in me. Caffeine is my best friend.  All the kids were all wound up and going crazy with monster high dolls and karaoke machines. It was beautiful. I loved watching the little ones have fun with their new toys.

Eventually noon rolled around and I felt my stomach begin to rumble and knew right then and there that I needed something to eat…STAT! I darted to the kitchen and ate a nice big slice of banana bread and had a tall glass of tea. Then it hit me…we were here for brunch and it is now lunch time. I wondered what was taking so long. I went into the other room and over heard my aunt telling my uncle that the honey ham was taking way too long to cook. She was starting to fret that we would be starving before we were able to eat. I wasn’t worried and knew that she would worry if I acted like I was too hungry so I quit snacking and headed up stairs to play with my sisters and cousins. We played Scooby Doo and ran around solving pretend mysteries and talked about what characters we wanted to be. This went on for about an hour until my aunt called from down stairs that it was time for lunch. THANK GOD!  I was ready for some of that breakfast casserole and honey ham (my aunt cooks like a boss…she puts Rachel Ray to shame).

Lunch was great and everyone was winding down. I knew it was finally time to head home. What a great day! 

A Christmas Road Trip

      It's Christmas Eve and my family and I have traveled the long distance to Houston from San Antonio. It was a long three and a half hours in the car...or at least that's what it felt like to me. You see my family is very interesting. To put it nicely we all are very opinionated and stubborn. All of us think we are 100% right 100% of the time. This can lead to quite a bit of tension if we are all placed in a small space for more than about fifteen seconds. I'll begin with what happened yesterday when my mom, two sisters and nephew came to pick me up from my little house in SA. I had just got home from last minute Christmas shopping and a late lunch with my friend Cameron. My boyfriend (Shawn) was on his way home from work with a plan to take me out for a surprise Christmas eve...eve dinner! He got home showered, tried on new clothes I bought him and we headed out the door. About five minutes from the house I get a text from my mom saying that she was on the way to pick me up. The dinner plan was ruined before it even really started. We rushed back to the house and I immediately began packing my bag for the long drive to Houston. I was a little disappointed about my ruined plans but I was so excited to get to see my family. I put my irritation for the lack of dinner behind me and waited for my mom to arrive. 

      A short while later my little sister came and knocked on the door. I greeted her with a hug and a large it's Christmas grin. I hugged Shawn, gave him a quick kiss, and was out the door and in the car. This was it the big trip with the family. I buckled my seat belt and the first words said were from mom. I FEEL LIKE SHIT! Right then and there I knew this trip was doomed from the start. When mom doesn't feel well its a full on bitch fest. I say that with the up most respect...but seriously it totally sucks. My older sister, who just had a baby, was on her first period since little PJ was born. Extra bitch fest. And then my little sister wanted to play car games which only amplified the already raging bitch fest. I will be first to say that I am well aware "bitch fest" isn't the most appropriate term...but sorry not sorry it is the only way to describe the way my mom and sister were interacting. I felt totally lost. The only thing either one of them wanted to do was complain, play the poor me game, and argue about everything. So instead of getting involved in the bitch fest I decided to shut up and sit quietly while they bickered back and fourth. 

      Finally my my little sister broke out the strange train of arguments with the idea to play the ABC game where you make up a name that starts with a letter and list your husband/wife, where you live and favorite animal that all start with that same letter. For example...A. My name is Abby. I life in Alabama. My husbands name is Albert and I like Ant Eaters. This was the perfect game to play seeing that my nerves were totally shocked and I was on the verge of jumping out the window. Fortunately the game was a success! Everyone was laughing and smiling and having a good time. We were all making fun of every stereo type, gender and race while giggling and having a ball! It was fabulous allllllll the way to letter P. At letter P my older sister felt that the game was getting old and thought it was time to try a new game. She decided on the game NERDS. 

      NERDS is a game that my family invented when my older sister and I were younger to teach us that it's ok to laugh at yourself. The whole point of nerds is to make fun of a family member in a way that can be taken as a joke. For example my older sister likes to complain about everything so I made fun of her by saying "UGHHH you guys always take the slim jims! I swear I'm just going to go sleep...you guys suck!" All of this was said in a high pitched valley girl voice. Usually when we play nerds no one gets their feelings hurt they just laugh about their flaws. But that night was different. My sisters and I were laughing and rolling with the punches. All of us make fun of each other on the daily so nerds is no big deal. But God help you if  you tried to make a nerd about mom. She was getting pissed and offended left and right. I swear the woman believes she has no flaws. Every nerd about mom was followed by an obnoxiously loud sigh and a disapproving head shake. How could it be that the woman who came up with the idea of learning to laugh at yourself couldn't take a joke about her odd spending habits? All of us kids agreed that it was best not to make any more nerds about mom. BUT to our surprise mom decided that she wanted us only to do nerds about her...unsure of this decision we all began to make more nerds about mom. 

      It was ok for the first three nerds but after that it went straight back to the defensive wall that was my mothers disapproving head shake. The game was ruined and all of us felt it was time to be quiet and start a new game. We quietly sat there for about five minutes when I piped up with the idea of the story telling game. In this game everyone tells one sentence at a time. The story continues until somebody says "the end".  It started out harmless and about mermen and a donkey fish...but that didn't last. Our story quickly became about swimming lesbians, exploding testicles and golden ladders made of nipples and string. It was by far the most disturbing story my twisted minded family has ever come up with. Finally I said the end and ended the ongoing torture of hearing about nipple-less boobs and men without balls. After the story my sisters both went to sleep and I sat there thinking about how strange my family is...but i wouldn't have it any other way. 

      

Who AM I??

      I have found over the years that it is really hard to figure out who you really are. I know it sounds lame and like a high school paper but how many of you can honestly say you know exactly who you are? I know for a fact that I unfortunately cannot! I know that I am eighteen and was born on April 2nd...but aside from the basics I'm still trying to figure it all out. So I guess I'll just type about things in my life and let you decide who you think I am.
      I was born in Houston, Texas in the year 1995. I was born with a heart murmur (that means the beat in my heart sort of echoed) and my mom was totally freaked out. Luckily it went away after a couple weeks of my time outside the womb. I grew up in an apartment with my mom and my dad. I can't really remember much from the early years seeing that I couldn't talk and didn't really have any of my motor skills developed yet. But I do know one thing. My mom and dad and big sister totally loved me! I was cute and didn't cause too much trouble...for the most part. I was a really good baby! When I was four my mom and dad got divorced and my dad got married to my step mom! She's super cool and has a great since of fashion. She taught me almost everything I know about keeping up with my style and the importance of taking care of myself. Not too terribly long after my mom met my step dad. He was really goofy and taught me that it's alright to be as silly as I want. He taught me the importance of expressing myself and never being afraid to ask questions.
      In 2001 my dad and step mom had my first little sister! She was born during a hurricane and all I remember about the day was that it was raining and I really didn't want to be in the car...but I'm thankful I was because she was such a beautiful baby!   Next my mom and step dad had my next little sister! she was born in the summer. We waited all day for this one! I remember thinking how much I liked her chubby cheeks and how excited I was to have ANOTHER SISTER! Then a few years later my dad and step mom had another little girl! She was the sweetest and most beautiful out of all my sisters...not to say my other sisters aren't beautiful or anything...but this one to me was perfect! She is special and has downs syndrome, and she LOVES more than anybody I know! I had an immediate connection with her. So now in total I have 4 sisters and 0 brothers!!
       So that right there is my immediate family. The rest will come in later when they come up in all the stories that are yet to come. In middle school I was really into acting, singing and dancing. Back then I was sure I was going to be a performer. I auditioned for all the school plays and was in the schools mime company for all three years. When high school began I stuck with the thought that one day I would be as big as Fergie! I took a ton of classes and practiced singing and dancing all the time. I even was on the schools freshman dance team...then one day I woke up and thought that I was being a fool. I quit the teams and the classes when the school year ended. I was back to square one. I didn't know who I was or who I even wanted to be.