Nine Kids... ZeroTherapists

I’ve needed to do this for a while, so here goes…

1)  My new job has been really good for me.  It’s something that I did for myself because I couldn’t take the negativity associated with the practice of law.  And I could not have found a better company in which to make that change.  I have an amazing team, and my counterpart in another division of the company has become my biggest coach, my rock, and a source of levity.

2)  Thanksgiving weekend was truly the most fun weekend I’ve had in years!  I may have partied like I was back at Purdue, but it was exactly the break that I needed.  On top of that, Thanksgiving night was quite possibly the most fun I’ve had with my family ever!  

3)  I am finally starting to regain confidence in myself.  A lot of things have played into this, and some of those things were completely unexpected.  The unexpected things were probably the ones that allowed me to gain the most ground.

4)  My dad and Robbin are back together.  And all is right in the world again.

5)  Clarity.  While it might suck, it’s a whole lot better than confusion.

1) There is no question that the last couple of years have been a roller coaster, but that roller coaster is so much easier to deal with when you have great friends to help you! Lindsey, Coral and Jamie…I love you ladies and cannot thank you enough!

2) I am really enjoying the new job! And it’s a crazy sense of relief to not be practicing law!

3) I have met some unexpected people over the last few months that have provided me with great conversation, an opportunity to lighten up, and a chance to really be honest with myself. And it feels great!

4) One of those unexpected people in #3 introduced me to The Walking Dead. That is some crazy good TV! And speaking of crazy good TV, Nashville is definitely my guilty pleasure!

5) New phone with a pretty pink case! I like to think its because my guy at AT&T rocks (and he does!), but I’m pretty sure my timing was just damn good. Pink! :)

“I hate being tall.  It totally limits your dating ability”- random 12 year old at my house (For the record, I don’t feel her pain)

“When will the ice cream be here?” - 5 year old holding a Nerf gun to my head

“So I told her…you bring me pills and people and I’m likely to make out with the people!” - thankfully not a 12 or 5 year old

“Can I eat M&Ms and drink wine while we’re doing yoga?” - me

“Can Jamie come over and do more before I go to bed?”- Coral’s husband Matt, via text

“Excuse me, attorney bitch-face…” -JC

“I’m a thee-ater major.  I’m setting a scene.” - JC

“It was so boring in there!” - Max, age 4, re his time in his mommy’s belly

“You threw her like she was a fish at a fish market!”  -JC re me and my kid

“She was a magical mermaid that turned into a human!” -Lily re JC 

…I’m happy to share with the three of you!

Tonight, I helped put together a stripper pole. The directions were worse than reading Swedish Ikea directions. We spent an hour trying to figure out what to do until we Skyped a friend that pulled her stripper pole out and showed us what to do. It was like a live YouTube video! Yes, I know more than one person with a pole.

Monkeys were beginning to melt down at this point, but refused to sleep. I’m convinced my kid has “allergies”, so I decided Benadryl was a good idea. Jamie offered the kid a blow-pop if she took it, then said “OMG, I’ve become “that” mom!” My question for Jamie was “which mom? The one that drugs her kids to go to sleep, or the one that bribes them with candy?” As if I should know she said “the one that bribes them with candy!” :)

Jamie, thank you for making me leave my house and have a sleepover at Pixie Hollow! I SO needed it! Now let’s get me silk ready, because I definitely need some help!

It’s been a year today.  I miss you and love you Grandpa!  Glad you got to see me!

Sometime I’m amazed by the cool experiences in which I’m invited to take part.  Last night was no exception!

A good friend of mine works for a wine distributor (yeah, I know…I’m a lucky girl!).  I’ve helped her out with a couple of wine events and I get paid in wine.  Yesterday, she asked me to be her date (paid for!) for a very small wine dinner with the following description:

3 Course Wine Dinner hosted by winemaker/ screenwriter Robert Kamen. $130/person before tax and gratuity

Robert is not only an accomplished screenwriter (he wrote The Karate Kid movies, Transporter, Taps, A Walk in the Clouds, Taken 1 and 2, The Fifth Element, among others) he he also makes incredible wines in Sonoma, California.

Please join us for a 3 course dinner of his wines (such as the 93+ Cabernet Sauvignon) paired with the inventive dishes by Greg Hardesty at Recess, and celebrate the release of Taken 2 with Robert!

I had never been to Recess, but have heard nothing but amazing things about it, so I was pretty excited.  There were only 11 of us at this dinner, including Robert Kamen.  He walked in the door shortly after I did, he introduced himself to me and I congratulated him on a pretty fantastic weekend, since Taken 2 was #1 at the box office last weekend!

We all sat down for dinner and he got up to speak.  He told us that he wasn’t going to tell us about the wine because we were going to taste it and could figure it out for ourselves.  Instead, he was going to tell us about how he got into wine.  

So I sat, completely engaged, listening to a screen play writer tell his story.  I can’t imagine there is a better story teller!  There is no possible way that I can retell the story I heard last night and do it justice, but I’ll try to recap.

He began his career by writing a novel about Afghanistan.  A friend convinced him to turn it into a screen play, and then Robert sold it for $135,000 in 1969.  At that point, he called a few friends and told them the party was on him.  A friend in Sonoma took him up on the offer, so they jumped in Robert’s pick-up truck filled with wine and weed and headed to Sonoma.  His friend made him take a walk in the Sonoma countryside.  When they made it to the top of the hill next to his friend’s property, Robert turned around and was amazed because from where he stood he could see the entire San Francisco Bay.  Robert told his friend that he never wanted to leave that spot and his friend told him he didn’t have to because the land was for sale.  Robert put his entire $135,000 down on the land (minus the amount spent on wine and weed) and bought the vineyard.  

Robert enjoyed the weed he bought for that trip so much that he called the guy who grew it to buy more.  During the deal, the grower, Paul, who Robert says looks like he came in 2nd in a Jerry Garcia look-alike contest, told Robert about his true dream.  To farm completely organic grapes.  After Robert sold the screen play of T.A.P.S. for $250,000, Robert gave it to the Jerry G look-alike do exactly that on his newly purchased land.  Today, Robert and Paul still grow organic grapes, but now they make incredible organic wines with those grapes!

At one point during the dinner, one of the guests asked Robert what he thought about the new Karate Kid movie.  He said that it never should have been remade and that it was the same as the first one, but without the heart.  The first one was about a mom who wanted a better life for her son so she moved out to California.  The new one is set in China where one of the crazy amounts of factories in China had to go to inner city Detroit to recruit a black woman to work for them.   He said that the new one was written by a guy that he used to mentor.  At one point, Robert’s protege was about to get fired from the movie, so Robert sent him the screen play.  After the protege was fired, Will Smith called Robert in for a meeting.  Robert wanted nothing to do with the remake, so he had a t-shirt made that said “Wax On, Fuck Off” and wore it under a hoodie to the meeting.  Throughout the meeting with Will Smith, Robert slowly unzipped his hoodie.  Will Smith saw the “Wax On” part of the shirt and started to get excited because he was sure that Robert was on board.  Once the hoodie was fully unzipped, Will Smith stood up and said “this obviously isn’t going anywhere” and walked out of the meeting!  

Aside from the stories, dinner was masterfully created to pair with the Kamen wines!  The main course was lamb with a cocoa crust with greens and squash, but I was a really big fan of the duck confit appetizer!

After 3 and a half hours, the night came to a close.  Thank you Lindsay for allowing me to be a part of such a cool event!

Me with Robert Kamen

Remember a while ago when I went to Nashville for my friend Chism’s birthday?  I posted a link to her blog because she is, in fact, one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.  Her story is tough, but she has battled through it like a champ!  She started a new blog, and I want the 3 of you to make sure you read/follow her at the right place!

I find it funny that in her post today she calls herself a “nobody.”  This could not be further from the truth!  

Why are you still here?  Go read her blog.  Now.  Please.  :)

Much needed right now…

1)  It’s quickly becoming common knowledge, so hopefully she doesn’t kill me, but my BFF is preggo!  SO SO happy for her and her family!  Everything seems to be falling into place for her!  

2)  I’ve got my final interview for a non-attorney job that I really want next Thursday.  Trying to stay positive, but it’s still competitive at this point.  Prayers and positive thoughts are much appreciated!

3)  Folgers Chocolate Truffle coffee

4)  Lily

5)  Lulu

That’s all I’ve got.  It’s been one of those weeks.

Just need some positive thoughts and prayers thrown my way tomorrow.  From all 3 of you! Please?