Trying to find a sliver of humor to Martha's series unfortunate events of 2011

Without a doubt, it has been a rough year. We have not, however, lost our sense of humor about it all. Let's say it's a coping mechanism for us. After all is said and done, laughter is the best medicine.

March
Spring brought me such a NOT nice surprise. To say that I loathe bugs, insects, any creepy crawly things is an huge understatement. I kid you not when I say that one day I completely lost control and found myself yelling at the top of my lungs to some invading insects, "This.. is.. MY.. HOUSE!!!!!! This included some stomping, like a child throwing a fit. We called pest control. Problem solved.

May
I spent Mother's Day weekend in the hospital with a really bad kidney infection. I ended up with a roomie that reminded me of a Chatty Cathy doll. Really. She could not.. stop.. talking. Oh- and she kind of looked like her, too.

June
I had a really bad reaction to poison ivy, oak, and sumac. A friend said that it happened to her several times in her youth. I had just finished parking my car (from having been to the ER) and was walking home with Liam when she said that her reaction to poison ivy was so bad she looked and felt like the "swamp thing", with all the oozing and everything in the heat of summer. Despite the severe swelling and my own oozing face, I managed to laughed out loud. Some people that passed us by at the exact moment I laughed, gave me such an alarming look. There I was, no doubt looking indeed like a monster and laughing out loud, too. Yep, I must have been just as scary as the "swamp thing."

So, I was on some strong meds for the inflammation and whatnot, that made me really dizzy. Exactly a week later, I tripped over some slippers and fell flat on my coccis bone, very nearly braking it. It was quite a trip, too. I started from one end of the living room and ended up falling in the dining room. When I think about that fall now, even I laugh out loud. If it would have been caught on tape, it definitely would have made it on AFV.

August
A freak hailstorm shattered the rear window of my car. It happened only in this area. Manhattan apparently experienced bright sunny skies during our hailstorm.
Bill: "Maybe you should have ran out there and moved the car to a safer location, like the underpass of the LI expressway."
Me: "I thought about it, but considering the hail was the size of golf balls and baseballs, we would have gotten hurt. Don't you think?"
Bill: "Well, you guys could have worn the bicycle helmets."
Now picture us, with bicycle helmets running out into the hailstorm as everyone was running away from it.
Um... no.

Lastly, the hurricane called Irene that put a tree on our house. Bill and I called several tree removal companies for estimates. We had to make sure they were licensed and insured. During the selection process, he said we should forget about this one particular company because he thought they were "shady". Then, I said that I was "leaning" towards another company anyway. We both turned to look at each other and suddenly started laughing, only my laughter ended up in bawling. Two days later, one of our neighbors came over to ask us why that tree was "still sitting on our house". My immediate thought was, lady- please don't make me scream in your face. We explained that we were scheduled for the removal on that Thursday because all the tree removal companies were booked solid. I guess we needed to call a tree removal company the moment the tree fell on the house. She also told us that she thought we should all "chip" in and remove all of the trees from that abandoned property next door. Hurricane season is not over and heavens forbid another one of those trees should fall onto mine or our any of the neighbors' houses... "knock on wood".

One of my favorite websites, Scouting NY, did a post on what New Yorkers would consume as Irene passed over New York City. I seriously could not stop laughing. Apparently, New Yorkers refuse to accept the possibility of the power ever going out. Why didn't I think about taking photos of our empty supermarket shelves? It really was a comedic sight. People planned to hunker down as if a blizzard would be hitting us instead of a hurricane. We are not used to monster hurricanes up here in the northeast. Some thought of having fun with it, like Super Bowl weekend. Even I get it.

So this is the list of Martha's series unfortunate events of 2011. I seriously hope I won't have to add to it. If I do, I might have to ask the reader/s (if any) to vote at the end of the year on the one considered worst.

Hey, humor me, I have got to laugh to keep from crying. Sure, there is a subtle (or maybe not so subtle) hint of cynicism, but I have to find some humor in it all somehow.

Martha Speaks

We came across a PBS kids show that I didn't know existed. We got such a kick out of the theme song that I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!



(Lyrics)

Martha was an average dog. She went —
Bark. And— Woof. And— Arrr.
But when she ate some alphabet soup, then what happened was bizarre.
On the way to Martha's stomach, the letters lost their way. They travelled to her brain and now—
She's got a lot to say. Now she speaks.
How now brown cow?
Martha Speaks. Yeah, she speaks and speaks and speaks and speaks and speaks...
What's a caboose? When are we eating again?
Martha speaks...
Hey Joe, what d'ya know!
My name's not Joe.
She's not always right but still that Martha speaks.
Hi there!
She's got a voice; she's ready to shout. Martha will tell you what it's all about. Sometimes wrong, but seldom in doubt. Martha will tell you what it's all about. That dog's unique...
Testing, one, two!
Hear her speak! Martha Speaks and speaks and speaks and speaks and...
Communicates, enumerates, elucidates, exaggerates, indicates, and explicates, bloviates, and overstates and (pant, pant, pant) hyperventilates!
Martha...to reiterate, Martha speaks!

Bill plays it over and over again on youtube and now Liam is humming it.

Too cute!

On the playful side

One night when I was around eight months pregnant or so, I decided I wanted to turn over from lying on my left to the right. No easy task, but after all the grunting as I swung around and the re-adjusting of my pillow, I finally settled into a somewhat comfortable position. After a long period of stillness, this happened:

Bill: Could you please lay still, honey. I was finally drifting off to sleep.

Me: I am lying still.

Bill: No, you just bumped me.

Me: It wasn't me. It was the baby.

Bill: Was not!

Me: (Laughing on the inside)

Me: He was kicking your butt!

This last comment, of course, was followed by a burst of laughter from Bill and me.

GR82BAMOM

So, here goes. It has taken me a while to actually get this blog up and running. Why? Life happens. And it is a lot more involved and interesting than spending every ounce of spare time sitting in front of a computer. Why bother, then, with a blog at all? Well, I do need to start putting some thoughts down and there is no better time than the present. Actually, Liam is down for a nap, so here is my big chance. :)

Why "GR82BAMOM"? It's not my license plate number. It probably should. I think it is great to be a mom, hence, the name for this blog. So, let’s take this from the top, shall we? It all started when…

Like any little girl playing with her dolly, I always dreamed I would be a mommy someday, only I thought it would be a lot sooner! Better late than never, right? Well, I believe that all things happen in the Lord’s due time, including my becoming a wife to the love of my life and a mother to an awesome son.

An Aussie and a Queens girl
After years of fun in the city as a single woman, at long last, I met the love of my life. William John M, a.k.a. Bill, and I were both born in New York City. We found out just before we got married that we both lived in the very same neighborhood when we were infants. Just before we were to start school (probably the very same school building), Bill’s father accepted a lucrative position in Sydney, Australia, so the whole family relocated. After reaching adulthood, Bill got the itch to move back to New York City to further his education. We ended up meeting at an LDS singles’ cruise around lower Manhattan. We were briefly introduced by a mutual acquaintance just as the cruise was coming to an end, but did not exchange phone numbers or e-mail addresses. Some weeks later, after much pleading and supplication from our married friends, we both found ourselves in the awkward position of accepting to join LDS Singles.com. He dropped me a hello, I recognized him from the cruise, and we quickly began corresponding. We had our first date on September 1, 2004 at Serendipity’s in Manhattan, and the rest, as they say, is history. Less than one year of meeting, Bill proposed at Serendipity over their signature frozen hot chocolate on June 22, 2005 at the same table we were seated on our first date.



We were sealed for time and eternity on September 17, 2005 at the Manhattan temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and our beautiful wedding reception was held the same day at the landmark building of the Woodside LDS chapel in Queens. We honeymooned in the Hamptons in Long Island. Then, this lifelong Queens girl started her new life with the love of her life in Brooklyn. We got pregnant toward the end of April 2006 and had our baby boy named William John M., Jr. (a.k.a. Liam) on January 17, 2007.