Marriage Confessions | Marriage Confessions Marriage Confessions

I have had the same signature since I was in college. I sign with my first initial and then my last name. I started with the first initial thing because my maiden name was long and my formal first name is long and, quite frankly, I just couldn’t make my signature look cute. Shallow, but true. That long signature was just so hard to write. Instead of it being bubbly and happy, like I wanted my signature to be, it was the definition of chicken scratch. It just didn’t look good. And I got tired writing it. It was too long.

(Yes, I know I sound like a middle schooler. Blame it on my day job.)

So, I cut it down to my first initial and my last name. When I got married, my last name became even shorter and so did my signature. Now, my signature really looks like a KB and then the rest is undetectable. Apparently, the shorter my name gets, the lazier I become.

(This picture doesn’t have anything to do with my signature, by the way. It’s just the most recent picture of me. On a side note, to my side note, doesn’t it look like my head isn’t connected to my body?!?!)

This week, though, I was at the local library and I had to sign something. When I signed my name, the two older women behind the desk started having a private conversation right there in front of me about signatures of young people today.

“What kind of signature is that?” one said to the other, holding up my paperwork so she could see it better.

“It’s her initial and last name,” the other replied. “It’s how all the young people are signing their name these days.”

“Well, that’s not a signature!” the first chirped. “That’s just her initials!”

“I know,” said the second. “But they count it as a signature, so I guess we have to take it.”

This wasn’t the first time I’d heard that about my signature. My mom used to get on to me when I was younger for not signing my whole name. She works for a bank, so she’s always insisting that what I sign isn’t “officially” a signature. But, you know moms… So, I usually just blew her off and rolled my eyes.

But, after all this time, was she actually right????

So, I came home and told Chris what the women had said about my signature. He laughed and then said that he’d always thought my signature looked like a little kid’s initials.

So, apparently, I’ve been walking around for ten years signing my name like a child and no one told me. Thank goodness those little old librarian ladies set me straight. This has left me walking around for the past week like a middle schooler (day job again…), trying out my signature in all different ways. Finally, I thought I found the right one, but when I used it today at school?

Chicken scratch. And then my hand got tired.

Just like in college.

It’s amazing how far we come and, yet, how much we are still the same. (sigh)

Respectfully yours,
KB
*****

Marriage Confessions has been nominated by the Bloggies for Best Topical Blog and Weblog of the Year. Voting is open from now until February 19!

30 comments | posted in Changes, Fun Things, Just for Fun, Marriage Confessions, Random | tags: growing up, signatures

This past weekend we took Bean and Gracie to a birthday party for one of Bean’s classmates. Who knew that a toddler birthday party would be a lesson in the value of marriage? I had a class for my teaching certification all day on Saturday and was supposed to get out at the exact same time that the party was starting. I called Chris as I left the class and asked him to get the kids up from their naps and dressed so that we could quickly get out the door when I got home.

I walked in the front door 20 minutes later to find both the kids still napping. Which meant two things. First, I’d have to be the one to wake them up, which is like a death wish in our house. And second, we were going to be even later to the birthday party. At this point, I was irritable. I had made the effort to hurry home and all Chris had to do was get the kids ready. But there was no time to get mad. Instead, I got the kids up and Chris helped me get them dressed and ready for the party.

Turns out, the party was not only across town, but it was in the very touristy part of town where traffic on a Saturday afternoon was standstill. As we sat there in traffic with the clock ticking slowly away, I became more and more angry at Chris. At this point, we were almost an hour late for the party. It was only a two-hour thing in the first place. We had already missed half the party. Part of me wanted to turn around and go back home, but I had already gone through all the effort of a birthday party. I’d RSVP’d. I’d bought a gift. I’d dug a gift bag out of our gift bag pile in the garage and spent a whole night last week flattening it out so it didn’t look used. I mean, that’s a lot of effort! I couldn’t quit now!

When we walked into Monkey Joe’s, though, all that anger and irritation I had for Chris went right out the window. Because at this particular moment in my parenting career, I needed a wing man.

Monkey Joe’s is a giant, two-story warehouse in a sketchy part of town with tons of inflatable bounce houses and obstacle courses for kids to run frantically around. When we walked in, I literally had to grab Chris’s arm for support. It was INSANE. Kids were running everywhere, parents were running everywhere, birthday parties and large families were gathered in designated corners and party areas. And over it all, loud, banging music played throughout. Even I was overstimulated. Bean Man was terrified.

Because we were so late (cough, cough…Chris…cough, cough), we couldn’t find the party we were with, which meant we couldn’t find any of Bean’s friends. So, we ended up accidentally in the big kid area, where Bean was getting trampled by kids as big as me. He would finally get up the courage to climb up a big slide and then this big group of big kids would come trampling over him and he would panic and start crying. There were signs posted everywhere that adults weren’t permitted on the bounce equipment, but the minute I saw Bean crying and scared, I did the only thing I knew to do.

I handed my shoes to Chris and climbed my big ol’ behind up in that bounce house to save my kid.

As soon as my head appeared up in that bounce house, Bean’s little face glowed and he put his tiny little arms around me and yelled, “MOMMY! YOU’RE HERE!”

I mean, being a super hero is pretty darn awesome.

Unfortunately, Bean happened to love the inflatable slides and so I spent most of the rest of the afternoon climbing up and sliding down with him. I felt ridiculous and I was sweating like a pig, but what else was I supposed to do?

Later, they announced our party group over the intercom and we headed to the party room for pizza and birthday cake. It was at this point in the afternoon that I learned that at toddler birthday parties, often there are surprise “guests,” who are often large, purple monkeys. When these “guests” appear, all toddler party guests will begin crying and screaming and crawling up and over their parents to get away from the giant cartoon “guest.” Bean thought that Monkey Joe was the scariest thing he’d ever seen. The entire time Monkey Joe walked around that birthday party, basically scaring every child there, I was thinking, “For the love of God, Monkey Joe! Go scare someone else’s birthday party! SAVE THE CHILDREN, MONKEY JOE! SAVE THE CHILDREN!”

All in all, it was a big hit. Bean finally found his friends and so we followed them to the three-year-old play area, which was much better suited for wee tots. He spent the afternoon chasing his classmates and calling out to me and Chris 5,000 times, “Watch this, Mommy! Watch this, Daddy!” And in between his rounds down the slide, Chris and I even got to meet some of the other parents and get to know them a bit. It was pretty nice. Although, I was about 10 years younger than any of them and so I’m fairly certain they thought I was a teen mom. I wanted to preface every conversation I had with someone by saying, “I’LL BE 30 THIS YEAR!” or “I OWN MY OWN HOME!”

When it was time to leave the party, Chris was carrying a very tired, very happy Bean and I was carrying a very tired, very hungry Gracie out to the car. We buckled them into their car seats and headed home.

In the years that we’ve been together, I’ve been to a lot of different parties with Chris. High school parties that he used to throw at his house. College parties that I used to drag him to. Engagement parties and wedding showers. Grad school dinner parties and housewarming parties. Baby showers and first birthday parties. I guess after all of that, it shouldn’t really surprise me that when I stand in a crowded, loud warehouse of inflatable slides, birthday cake, and screaming children, that he’s the one standing by my side. After all this time, that really isn’t a big deal, I guess. But riding home that afternoon from the birthday party, I squeezed his hand and said a prayer of thanks for all the different parties that are in our future and for the fact that I’ll be attending them all with him.

17 comments | posted in Flashbacks, Florida, Fun Things, Husbands, Marriage, Marriage Confessions, Out and About, Parenting, Understanding Katie | tags: life, love, Marriage, parenting

On Sunday, we went to early church, came home, changed, had lunch, and then headed to Universal Studios for a family fun day.

I was talking to my friend, Whitney, the other day and told her that the greatest part of living in Orlando is that you probably know someone who works at either Disney or Universal. We are lucky enough to know co-workers of Chris who work at Disney and Chris’s sister, Annie, works at Universal. Last week, I called Annie to see if she had any comp passes we could use and so she met us for a super fun day at the park.

We have had a lot to do lately, but with Chris’s work schedule and the stomach virus that knocked out Chris and Bean in the past two weeks, we haven’t had a real FUN family day in a while. Universal seemed just the ticket. I was especially excited about Seuss Landing, a whole area of the part that is designed after all the Dr. Seuss books.

Everything about this part of the park was amazing – the colors, the designs, the shops, and rides. It looked like we had stepped into the pages of one of Dr. Seuss’s books.

The first thing we did was ride the Caro-Seussal. I am a sucker for a good carousel and this one did not disappoint.

After that, we all rode the “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” ride. Even Gracie! She wasn’t quite sure what the heck was going on, but she sat on the seat with me and looked around with her eyes as big as saucers and her mouth hanging wipe open.

Bean thought it was pretty awesome. On this ride you got to control whether you went up high or stayed down low and he seemed to enjoy having supreme power to choose.

After an hour in Seuss Landing, we headed over to the real reason I wanted this family fun day… The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Have I told you about my love of Harry Potter? I’m not quite those people who dress in capes and carry wands wherever they go, but I’m close. I read all the books this year with one of my classes (they get to choose their own novels in my class, but about 75% of the students in this particular class chose to read along with me) and I have been hooked ever since. Twice we have had plans to go to Harry Potter World at Universal, but both times our plans were canceled. This time, though, I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I FINALLY made it!

And it was awesome! The attention to detail was incredible. All of my favorite details and side stories from the books were there in real life. I got to go into Zonko’s Joke Shop and Honeydukes Candy Shop! I even went to the Owlery and the train station where the Hogwarts Express was parked.

I think the artistry of the place was totally lost on Gracie. She did not appreciate.

I mean, how do you sleep through THIS????

Anyway.

My sister-in-law, Annie, dragged me into Hogwarts and made me ride the Harry Potter ride. Now, I do not ride roller coasters. Or rides. Or anything that requires me to be strapped in and hurled through the air. Apparently, Annie missed this memo about me. Either that, or she hates me.

But I’m pretty sure it’s the missed memo one.

I actually caught myself thinking, “Just don’t cry, just don’t cry, just don’t cry,” during the ride.

Sadly, that’s a true story and a very true statement.

When I came off the ride, I have never been more relieved to see these sweet little faces… (well, Bean’s face is kind of creepy in this one, but you get the idea)…

After my Harry Potter fix, we moseyed on over to Toon Town and then the Marvel Comic area.

Bean walked around pointing to everything, saying happily, “That scares me! That scares me!” The only thing he actually seemed scared of, though, was this giant cartoon rocket. It had misters underneath it so that you could cool off in the heat, but Bean literally thought the rocket was about to take off on top of him.

It was pretty much an awesome day. We were there almost all day and the kids hung in there like troopers. They had just as much fun as we did, even though both of them were too short to ride any of the real rides.

It was really nice to have a relaxing, carefree day with no responsibilities, no schedule, and nothing to do but enjoy each other. I thought that I would be dragging on Monday after such a busy Sunday, but I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to start the week.

And I think that was the universal consensus around my house this morning.

Family fun day: Success

19 comments | posted in Marriage Confessions | tags: Family, fun, Orlando, Universal Studios

A few weeks ago, the kind people at Olive Garden sent me a $150 gift card so we could take friends and family to enjoy a nice meal out. Which was funny, because we had gotten two Olive Garden gift cards already for Christmas. Basically, we will be eating at Olive Garden for the remainder of 2012.

Not that I mind. I’m a big fan of Olive Garden!

In college, my BFF, Emily, and I used to eat their soup, salad, and breadsticks for lunch at least once a week. And Chris is a Fettuccine Alfredo junkie, and Olive Garden is his all-time favorite. Even Bean likes it. When we pulled into the parking lot for dinner one night, he looked at the sign and said, “We’re eating grapes for dinner?!?!”

The first night we tried to go to dinner, I’ll admit, it didn’t go well. We had a party of six, and we waited over an hour before we finally gave up and left. The wee ones in our group were gettin’ twitchy. We ended up going home and ordering pizza. Not to be deterred, we tried again a couple nights later with our friends, Sarah and Scott.

Sarah and I are old pros at Olive Garden. We used to go in college, too (apparently, I walked around looking for people to go to Olive Garden with me…). You can’t beat the AYCA soup, salad, and breadsticks deal!

Actually, they are getting ready to run another deal that might actually beat it. Starting January 23rd, for $12.95 you will be able to get soup or salad, one of five new entrees, and one of five Dolcini desserts. (Want to see all the delicious options available with Olive Garden’s 3 Course Italian Dinner? Visit olivegarden.com/specials)

In the past when Sarah and I have gone as poor college students, it was usually just the two of us and occasionally a random boy or two to accompany. But this time, it was kind of a different scene…

Isn’t it funny how that happens over time? It never ceases to amaze me. We started our meal with an appetizer of Bruschetta, one of my all-time favorite appetizers. And I love Olive Garden’s because they bring the tomatoes on the side and you build your own at the table, so it’s not all mushy. This is CRUCIAL to perfect bruschetta. Trust me. I have sampled thousands in my pursuit of perfection.

Bean and Gracie started with a sampler platter of blue Play-Doh. Although, both of them ate their weight in breadsticks, I must confess. Any time I’d stop feeding Gracie, she’d start flapping her arms in the general direction of the bread basket, knocking over anything between her and the bread. Clearly, she is of my loins (ew, I said loins!). (Speaking of loins, please ignore my man-like features in this picture. I didn’t want to be the weirdo with the camera at the restaurant, and so I insisted we use Chris’s camera phone, which now I regret, as I look like a man in every picture.)

After appetizers, we dug into our meals. As always, Olive Garden did not disappoint. Sarah had Ravioli with Portabella Mushrooms. I’m not a fan of mushrooms myself, but she said it was delicious.

Scott had the Tour of Italy. I swear, every time I go to Olive Garden with people, someone always orders this. It’s a crowd pleaser: a taste of this and a taste of that. For a taste of everything, it sure is a lot of food!

Chris had his favorite, Chicken Alfredo, because he’s like a fifth grader when we go out to eat and orders the same thing every time. (I love you, sweetie…)

And I had something I’d never tried before: Shrimp Caprese. It was diiiiiivinnnnnne. I love shrimp, and the sauce for this was perfect. It was light and delicious, but still hearty enough to sop up with (what else?) breadsticks. And – bonus! – it was awesome reheated the next day for lunch!

Even Bean Man had a delightfully Italian meal of mac ‘n cheese. Gracie, too. And they shared some grapes, which thrilled Bean because he had predicted that we would eat grapes at Olive Garden! But seriously, they have a great kids menu!

Dinner was a lot of fun. I think we were there for almost two hours. The kids had a great time, we had fantastic service from a lovely waitress who laughed at all my lame jokes, and the atmosphere was comfortable and homey. We even sat at a big round table, just like in my kitchen when I was growing up!

In fact, we had such a good time, we went crazy and ordered this amazing dessert! It was a trio of dessert “shots,” and let me tell you that the caramel chocolate cake/brownie/thingy was to DIE FOR! I drooled. Really. Sarah liked this amaretto tiramisu number that tasted like almond clouds. If I hadn’t been up to my eyeballs in caramel, I might have had more of that one. Chris, knowing better than to fight the womenfolk for dessert, stuck with the straight chocolate cake with this mousse on top that was thick and creamy and rich. Or, so I heard. Chris isn’t very good at sharing.

It had been a while since I’d been to an Olive Garden and I’m so glad that I was able to go back and remind myself how awesome it is to have a restaurant that can grow with you from your skinny salad-only days of college up through the years when you fill your dinner table with babies. It’s nice to know that some places stay the same. That’s comfort food to me.

Olive Garden and BlogHer are generously offering a $100 gift card to one lucky blog reader so that they, too, can experience a fun, comforting meal with friends and family. To enter to win, leave a comment below telling me who you would take with you to a big dinner out on the town and why.

Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 1/23/12 – 3/18/12.

Also, visit the Olive Garden page on BlogHer.com to check out the other blogger reviews and more chances to win!

199 comments | posted in Giveaways, Marriage Confessions, Reviews | tags: