It's that time of year again!

Yes, the annual mission trip. This year, we're going to Espanola, New Mexico to work on a school there. I would tell you more, but since we've never been there, I have no idea what exactly we'll be doing.

We leave Sunday, and I've already been getting MySpace messages and texts from the kids about how they're so excited and how fun it will be. It is going to be fun -- it always is and it's always a new adventure!

So I'll see ya when I get back!!

Even the elderly enjoy the occasional concert...of the elderly

So Becki and I went to the "True Colors" tour a couple of weeks ago at lovely Red Rocks with a troupe of lovely gay boys. This worked out well, seeing as it was a sort of benefit concert for the Human Rights Campaign and for the Matthew Shepard Foundation and I would estimate that a large portion of the attendees were gay/lesbian/transgendered and/or drag queens. Please don't misunderstand my humor here for bigotry -- the aformentioned troupe of gay boys included one of my very closest friends from high school, his awesome boyfriend, and another couple of boys who I just love. And from the standpoint of people watching and just pure fun, you can't beat the crowd at this concert. More on that later.

Anyway, after the requisite unknown bands did their thing, Debbie Harry from Blondie came onstage. I was looking forward to her, sort of, because really, who doesn't like at least one Blondie song? From the 20th row, she looked pretty good. But then she started dancing. Wait, no, not dancing -- I'm pretty sure she was doing jazzercise. Do you know that she's 62? That's my parents' age -- and while I feel that my parents are pretty cool, I would NOT want to see my mom attempting to dance around on stage in a metallic silver miniskirt - which, I might add, was just one part of an ensemble including nude pantyhose and low heeled sandals. Yes, you heard me. It was painful. And to top it off, I'm pretty sure the audience could tell she was totally phoning it in, because everyone lost interest quickly and I'm also pretty sure I speak for the entire amphitheater when I say "WTF? Why did she not sing ONE Blondie song? NOT ONE." Humpf. Blondie is dead to me now.

Next up was Erasure, and of course they rocked. They sang every song I wanted -- "A Little Respect", "Chains of Love" AND "Oh L'Amour". Plus, Andy Bell is a graceful dancer. I could have totally done without the unknown bands and pseudo-Blondie and just had more Erasure.

In between each act, Margaret Cho came out and did stand up, and she was funny. Over the top and nasty, but funny. If you like that sort of thing, I highly recommend that you watch this. It's funny, and um, not safe for work or children.

Lastly, Cyndi Lauper came out and she was GREAT. Note to Blondie -- Cyndi's 54 and she looks absolutely fabulous, she dances well AND she knows enough to sing her old favorites -- I mean, she sang the "Goonies" song. She's aware that no one really cares about her new material, so she kept it to a minimum. I love her.

As for the people watching, well, how much time do you have? There was this one guy who was super skinny with very messy black hair and he was dressed in a red tank top and gold lame pants (that's "lam-ay", not "lame", althought truth be told, the pants were both). He also had shiny bronze gloves that went up to his elbows, and he was dancing around like a spazz. One of the boys with us is like "Um, just so you know, he is NOT representative of us. We're embarassed by him." Funny. There was also a guy there who looked like the typical preppy -- short blonde hair, khaki shorts, blue polo shirt, copper stiletto peep toe heels. You know, the usual.

We had a blast. Dancing and singing and laughing and people watching. It's times like that that remind me (again) how unbelievably fun and cool my friends are. SO fun and SO cool.

First, some pictures...

...and then some words.
First, my girls -- at the Botanic Gardens, the park and the Zoo...

and my handsome boyfriend...

...and there was going to be a picture of me, but I decided to wait until I got my hair cut later today.

Anyway, the words for today consist of a small bit of news. I'm moving. Here's my house:

I have more pictures, which I will post if you so desire.

It's Chris' house, and it's pretty far away from where I live now. Which, on the one hand, really sucks, because I will no longer be two minutes from Kendra, seven minutes from Karen, and five minutes from my mom & dad. On the other hand, it works so much better for the four of us in that it's at least twice the size of my house now. I love my house, and it's perfect for one person, maybe two. But not four people and two cats. With just one t.v. I mean, I love Spongebob, but there's times when I'd really like to watch something else. The upside is that there's a yard and a place for the girls to ride their bikes, the downside is that there's no longer a pool within walking distance. Also, it's pretty much the kind of house I would have picked out. It's been for sale for a while, and we figured it'd sell and we'd get a different house somewhere in the middle. However, it hasn't sold, and so we decided we'd keep it for a while at least. The other upside is that it's 15 minutes from work, which is way better than the current 35-40 minute commute. And the main upside is that I get to live with Chris, although we basically already do -- it'll just be easier to live together in just one house.

So yes. That's the news for now. Stay tuned for the tale of Becki and I's recent concert experience. Fun times.

Aw, who am I kidding?

I thought it was time to leave, but as it turns out, it wasn't. I'm back.

Can I promise regular posts? No, but then again, who can? Can I promise that I won't tell stories that are really only funny if you were actually there? No, but then again, who can?

When I closed down the blog, it was because I thought I was no longer interesting. Maybe I'm not, but I feel like I lost some of myself when I stopped writing.

I've been living in fear lately of that very thing -- losing myself. Losing myself into the realm of mom - I love Chris and I love the girls, and I love our little family. But no matter how happy I am in that realm, there was always the fear poking at the back of my mind -- am I losing something important here?

My biggest fear was that I would be phased out by my friends -- Becki, Beth, Karen and Kendra. It's stupid, because we've been through pretty much every possible life changing experience together and yet are still as tight as ever, but I was afraid that I would get so wrapped up in what it takes to raise two great little girls that I would no longer have anything in common with my friends who weren't wrapped up in that.

My fears were laid to rest last weekend, when Becki showed up for the weekend. I got to spend a lot of time with her -- just us -- and time with Karen and Kendra as well. I cannot tell you how much I needed that. As cliche as it sounds, it made me realize that as much as things change, some things will always remain the same. There will always be things that make us laugh and laugh and laugh -- waiver rancheros, anyone? -- and there will always be the songs that we know by heart (and sing at the top of our lungs). And what I forgot was that there will always be coversations about whatever is going on in our lives. In high school it was lamenting grades or boys or the unfairness of parents. In our early 20s, it was lamenting hangovers or new jobs, finding apartments and the unfairness of boys. In our late 20s it was lamenting mortgages and health and the fears of the impending future. As life evolves, we've evolved with it, both as individuals and as a group, but even if the subject is serious, there will always be laughter and there will always be good advice from the girls that love me the most.

So thanks to my girls for making me feel like I have balance in my life again, and to Chris, for understanding my fears and encouraging me to spend time with my friends.

So yeah. I'm back! Didja miss me? Because I have a lot of words that REALLY want to come out!