Quiet on the set and ACTION!

Today brought the girls a brand new adventure. Madison and McKenzie were chosen to be in a commercial! My friend, Leigh, works for an advertising agency that specializes in advocacy groups. Today's commercial was for the TX Dept of Health and Human Services about immunizations. Leigh e-mailed me on Monday saying an African American child between the ages of 3 and 7 was needed for today's shoot. I e-mailed her back that I had 2! At first, we were asked to only bring Madison, but this morning we were asked to bring McKenzie too. So off we went!

We were told to be there at 1:45, but apparently filming a commercial doesn't have a specific schedule. So we waited outside for 3 hours and finally had our turn. The girls changed clothes and went to work ... for 3 minutes! That was it! 3 minutes! It was over before I knew it! Madison and McKenzie walked through a front yard with their TV mom and then played ring around the rosies. CUT! The end.




The entire commercial was filmed in Spanish as well as English. Maddie and McKenzie had fun played with the Spanish speaking children, who also spoke English. The other children had done this before and seemed perfectly fine waiting. I wasn't so patient. You know me, I need a schedule.



The TV Moms (English and Spanish) filmed their part in the kitchen of a home. They were playing the role of 2 sisters - one is pregnant with her first child and the other has 2 kids (Madison and McKenzie). They are discussing the pros and cons of immunizations. Thank God no needles were on the set or Madison would have been out of there! Here she is on the set in front of the monitors.



On our way home, I asked Maddie if she would like to do another commercial. She said, "No it was dumb, it was boring, I didn't even get to talk!" I had to admit it was rather anti climactic. I told the girls we didn't have to do another one and at least it was fun to try something new. Madison pipes in from the backseat, "Well, I could try another one ..." I think we will.

We made it home in time for dinner to tell Kim all about our afternoon. I made a special toast for the big girls because I am so proud of them. They are beautiful and smart and incredibly funny. Take McKenzie, for instance, who was given new make up at a play date. Here she is with blue lip gloss on her mouth. It is a wonder she could even move those lips under the weight of the gloss.




As I put the girls to bed tonight, I listened to them talking about the day. Madison grabbed her Hannah Montana notebook and laid down. McKenzie asked for her own book to keep in the bed with her. Madison said, "No, McKenzie, this isn't a regular book. This is my diarrhea. I have to write about my day so I won't forget about the commercial."

Ain't they precious?

Conversations in the Back Seat

Driving home from school today, I asked Madison how to spell a word, which she did correctly.

I said, "You are so smart! How did you get so smart?"

Madison replies with a big smile, "I don't know."

Long pause.

And then McKenzie pipes in, "And I be so cute!"

I could hardly keep my eyes on the road for laughing so hard. Her timing is incredible!

I keep driving and the girls keep talking. I hear Madison telling McKenzie about a bad word that starts with s. She says her friend, Addison, has an older brother and he told her about the cuss word that starts with s. McKenzie asks what the bad word is. I was just about to jump in when I hear Madison lean over and whisper "Sucker".

I love my kids.

R Family Vacations

It is Saturday afternoon. Morgan is asleep in the crib. McKenzie is asleep on the floor in the living room. Kim and Maddie are softly snoring in the bedroom while I sit on the couch watching the HBO Documentary All Aboard Rosie's Family Cruise. From minute one of the movie, I was back on the Norwgian Dawn with the O'Donnell family and hundreds of other families like ours, embarking on a new adventure.

I remember hearing about this brand new company, R Family Vacations, rumored to be run by Kelli O'Donnell. As a travel agent, I had to know more. What were they doing? How was this going to work? A boat full of gay families? And celebrities would be on board? How incredible is that? I had to be part of this. So we signed up.

That first cruise was a week in paradise. Every detail of that week is flooding back and I am so happy we took part. I remember the comedians like Poppy Champlain, who made me laugh until I thought I would wet my pants. I remember the beautiful families from all over the world. I remember seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time and sailing around her with a couple thousand people dancing on the deck of the ship. I remember the incredible teenagers on board, like Hope from Staten Island, who amazed us with her insight and wisdom. I was so excited to see Hope on other cruises, always with her 2 dads. I remember thinking I hope Maddie would be something like her someday. I think I shared that with Hope. I heard she graduated from high school and is now finishing up in college. I remember the first time I saw Rosie up close and how thrilling it was to stand inches away from an icon who was a mother just like me. I remember her sitting at the next table and her yelling at Parker to put all 4 legs of his chair on the floor. That's a mom.

I remember being amazed by all the talent Rosie brought with her. I remember seeing first hand how incredible her wife is. I remember feeling like we were suspended in time on the ship in a big gay bubble. It was truly the coolest thing I had ever taken part in. I felt connected to a larger community to which I would never have gained access had I not been a lesbian. I remember disembarking in New York at the end of the week and feeling so sad to leave the bubble of love.

We took part in a few more cruises with Rosie and then had to take a break for financial reasons. Finally, we're headed to Alaska this summer with Rosie and the gang. I am so glad I am watching this documentary. I am so glad to remember the wonder of that first cruise. Seeing those memories on the screen makes me proud to be who I am, even sitting on my couch in the suburbs. I am proud of the family we have created. I am proud of the community to which we belong. I am proud to be associated with companies like Family Vacations, who make the impossible possible for so many families. I will never forget it.

Madison, Basketball Prodigy

I am so glad we have found an activity Maddie enjoys as much as she does basketball! I truly believe she has a gift and I hope she always enjoys the game the way she does now. Kim and I have visions of sitting in the stands at the Erwin Center, watching Madison play for the UT Lady Longhorns! For now, we get excited going to the YMCA every Saturday morning to watch her play with other 5 and 6 year olds.

Her biggest strength is in playing defense. The children on the other teams don't know how to handle her aggressive defensive moves and it usually gives the parents on our team a big chuckle. Today she really ticked off #11 on the other team and he actually reached out to grab her shirt to move her out of his way. Madison's feelings were hurt that he was angry with her, but the coach said that meant she was doing a great job. Eventually, Maddie took him down to the floor in a struggle over the ball. I'm not saying she should have done that, but at least she was gentle :) Kim had her go over to him to say Good Game before we left. He was quite a player.

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Since basketball is only offered in the summer and winter, Maddie has chosen to play T-ball in the Spring. McKenzie will be playing soccer as well! Stay tuned!

To Be or Not To Be ... A Drama Queen

I am noticing my life is hectic ... most of the time. There is never a dull moment. Maybe I am a drama queen, as much as I hate that phrase. Sometimes I think it would be nice to not have any drama, but how boring would that be? I don't think I invite drama into my life, but it always seems to find me.

Take my eye. I scratched the cornea of my right eye in January 2007. It has been super sensitive ever since then. It started bothering me again in Chicago last month, but it became a huge problem on Wednesday when I couldn't see and the eye was pouring tears. Not good. I went to the doctor on Thursday to discover I have reoccurring corneal abrasion. This means when my eyes get dry and I blink, the scar tissue is torn. This latest abrasion turned into an ulcer on Friday. Yes, an ulcer on my eye! And then infection set in. CRAZY!

I have been in so much pain and completely incapacitated. You need an eye to do almost everything! And when one eye is "sick", the other one naturally closes. It hasn't been pretty. I have seen the eye doctor more than I ever thought possible and am putting drops in my eyes on the hour. I've come a long way with the eye doctor. Dr. Wasser is a brave woman and patient. I could barely put Visine in my eyes before this experience! I am a pro now. On the upside, my eye is getting better. I can see, which is good, and I can watch a little TV, check e-mail, and even knit with one eye. And the pain is nothing like it was 2 days ago. Praise the Lord and Dr Wasser!

Maybe a contributing factor to this whole drama queen title is my level of enthusiasm. I get really excited about things - big things, small things it matters not. Take the e-mail I received over the weekend from Lyn Phillips, my high school journalism teacher and newspaper sponsor. She sent me an article from Thursday's Hattiesburg American, our hometown paper, about Patrik Polk. Patrik Polk was a tall, skinny, black kid who graduated 3 years before me. He was very active in school activities and always referred to himself as the tall, skinny, black kid. Well Patrik graduated from Hattiesburg High School and then USM. He went on to film school and was honored Thursday night at the NAACP Image Awards for his movie Noah's Ark - Jumping the Broom.

Patrik wrote and directs a show on the Logo channel about a group of gay men living in Los Angeles. A movie was made about the show, similar to the way the weekly show Sex in the City went to the big screen. Anyway, Patrik has been part of a number of films and is now being honored by all kinds of organizations for his work. I am so incredibly proud to be from the same hometown, the same high school, as this amazingly talented man. We came from the same place and he has made it so big. I used to think I was the only one in high school and I wasn't. I am so excited!!

So, this morning I found Patrik on Facebook and we've exchange a couple of e-mails. I feel inspired, much the way I did last week before the eye thing. There is so much I want to do. I have so much to share with the world. I have words, ideas, and love to give to anyone who wants some. I can do anything if given the chance. Patrik Polk did. I can too.

Ok, maybe that did sound a little like Scarlett O'Hara :)

New Hair

I love black hair. There is a freedom with my children's hair that I have never known with my own. I can do anything with their hair. Yes, there are challenges like McKenzie and Morgan's forever dry scalps, but all in all, black hair is awesome. Since McKenzie struggles so much with a dry scalp, I like to keep her hair in braids which gives me easier access to the scalp and saves me at least a thousand minutes every morning.

I called the young lady who braids McKenzie's hair on Saturday. She said she was available on Sunday evening and without thinking, I said yes to Sunday night. The problem? I hadn't bought any hair! You see, in order to braid her hair, we add extra hair. You buy this in a bag at a "hair store". FYI, hair shops are always owned by Asian people. I don't know why. Anyway, it was Saturday night and I didn't have any hair. I spent Sunday afternoon racing from store to store in hopes someone was open on a Sunday. No luck. And then Kim thought of Sally's. She called several locations while I was driving around town like a mad woman and found an open store. I raced inside 10 minutes before closing and asked (more than likely pretty loud), "Where is your hair? I need a bag of braiding hair. 1B please." 1B means black.

It is synthetic (highly flamable) and comes in a bag for about a buck. The lady looks at me like I am crazy and says, "Are you sure?"

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Really?"

Being a transracial family ain't for wimps. I love to watch people try to figure this out.

I brought the hair home in time for it to be added in with McKenzie's own hair. If you've never seen this done, I can only liken it to the days when Mom would braid a ribbon into my hair. The synthetic hair is super long and when everything is braided, the extra hair is cut to the appropriate length. In the meantime, McKenzie looks like and is acting like Cher from an episode of Sony and Cher.

Here she is with her fabulous braids. It was totally worth the trouble!





Madison and McKenzie are always anxious to help with Morgan. Kim put Maddie to work the other morning so we could all get out the door on time for school and work. Here are two of three ladies lounging on the sofa with a cold one.

Braker Braker 409

I am sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV and paying bills on line. I am listening to my children play upstairs with Barbie walkie talkies. McKenzie is only 3 and hasn't mastered the "press the button to speak" trick. So this is what I hear:

McKenzie: blip blip "Can you hear me?" blip blip blip
Madison: blip "What?" blip
McKenzie: blip blip "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"
Madison: blip "WHAT?" blip
McKenzie: I SAAAIIID CAN YOU HEAR ME! blip
Madison: blip "Push the button and talk at the same time!" blip
McKenzie: blip blip "WHAT?" blip blip blip

I am cracking up. God bless 'em. They're real cute.

The Fever Has Broken

Praise the Lord! We are fever free this morning! I am so relieved. Maddie is fighting with her sister and running all over the house. Things are just as they should be. I, of course, feel like crap and though not running fever, I have lost my voice. I remember losing my voice years ago only in times of extreme stress. I wonder what this means now??

I am doing my best to pick up the toys/clothes/papers/shoes/stuff that is everywhere in my house. This is a never ending struggle. I feel like a one woman warrior against clutter. I am working with the girls to make up their beds and put pajamas under their pillows. As I walk around the house with arm loads of clothes, socks, shoes, books, homework, etc., I wonder if my house will ever be clean full time. Any thoughts?

Motherhood Ain't for Sissies

Madison is sick. She has been sick for 4 days now. It started with a stuffy nose and a fever. As the fever went higher, the nose grew stuffier. She insisted on playing basketball Saturday morning, where she scored 2 baskets, but this probably made the situation worse. I started feeling bad on Sunday with what appears to be a cold. I thought for sure Maddie would be up and at it by now, but this morning dawned with a fever of 102.3 so it was straight to the doctor's office.

On the way to see Dr. Azuma, Maddie starts coughing and coughing and coughing. Then I hear it. Yep, you got it, she threw up. Not once but three times in the backseat of my car. We were merely a few blocks away from the office, so I calmly parked the car and went inside to ask for papertowels. Yeah right! As if paper towels could clean this up! I managed to get Madison out of the car and into the bathroom. I did the best I could on the carseat and cracked a window while I was inside.

Maddie does not have strep or the flu. She does have a wicked fever and feels awful. She laid nearly naked on the table in the exam room shivering underneath her winter coat and a blanket. Thank God Mama could bring a change of clothes! Dr. Azuma sent us home with instructions to treat the fever and come back on Thursday. I hate the diagnosis of "virus".

Maddie fell asleep on the way home in McKenzie's car seat. This gave me time to sit in the middle of the driveway and disassemble the car seat. Seriously, I could go to work for NASA now. Car seats were never meant to come apart or the covers to be washed. My sincere prayer is that I will be able to get it all back together again.

The little patient is subjecting me to an afternoon of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" on the Disney Channel. Fortunately (not), Hannah Montana is up next. The washing machine is churning away with 1 outfit, 1 car seat cover, and several towels. The naked car seat is laying in the middle of the driveway. Any parent who drives past our house is giving me a respectful nod/salute because what happened there earlier today ain't easy to do. Stay tuned for more details from the Hospital!