It's midwinter break for her ...

Daddy arrived to pick her up for 5 days and was greeted with

... so we are taking turns on the couch with her because she's not allowed to be up at all. I now look like this:

Here's the short version ... of my life ... details to come later!

Soooo ... it's been many years since I've seen or spoken w/ many of my friends from New York and Arizona. Several have commented, ok, more than several have commented or asked about all my last names. So here we go~and this is the condensed version:


Born 1965 as Marissa T. Mom and Dad divorced ... that in itself is a separate post for another time. 


Moved w/ the family in 1982 (the day after Jr. year ended w/ little notice) from NY to Prescott AZ, where I was registered in school for my Senior Year as Marissa M. (my step-fathers last name) and then moved a few months later to Flagstaff AZ where I graduated from Coconino HS as Marissa M. (although my diploma has my legal name of Marissa T. on it).


I attended Northern Arizona University until 1986, moved to Oregon w/ the family and attended Western Oregon State College. I left school in 1987 to work full time in the Monmouth, Independence, Salem area.


In May of 1990 I got married and my name became Marissa G.  I divorced in 1995 and reverted my last name to T.


In 1997 I moved up to Tualatin (Portland area), married Mark P. and we had our son David in 1998. In June 2006, Mark tragically had a major heart attack and died at the age of 41 while in Baton Rouge LA with his Youth Group, he was a HS Youth Minister.


Marks best friend Clark has been living w/ David and I for almost 2 years to help out so I could keep David in the house he has grown up in. In October 2007, I met in person a man (Tim) I had been chatting online with for 6 months, by January 2008 he asked me to be his wife, which I answered with a YES, and in March of 2008 he moved in with David, Clark and myself. It's a crazy house, but for us, it works.


We don't have a date set for the wedding yet, I'm still clearing up an IRS mess as a result of Marks passing (he wasn't done filing the taxes and I didn't know it...YIKES). Once that is done, we'll be setting a date.


At that time, my name will be Marissa C., although David has asked that I keep it P. We'll see how he feels when the wedding date comes, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm Mrs. C. already.


So there you have it, the Readers Digest Condensed version of my life... and all my last names.

I hate days like this...

... because I hate being the "mean responsible mom" that has to tell her child "You can't go".

David has a rash that has spread across most his body. I spoke with the advice Nurse, he has no fever or other symptoms, but he cannot be around other kids for 72 hours, which also means he cannot attend the G.R.E.A.T. Summer Camp that he started yesterday. We are so fortunate to have these opportunities in our Community, and this week is specifically for 6th graders. I've called them and asked that he be allowed to go next week w/ the 7th, 8th, 9th graders, but I completely understand that it's probably not going to happen.

Today was a field trip to the North Clackamas Aquatic Park, I've promised to take him another time.

I folded ...

My 11 yr old now has a pre-paid cell phone. Urgh. We've put strict rules on it, here they are:

Rules of David’s Phone

1) David can call Mom, Tim, Aunt Bibet and Clark ONLY.

2) David can receive calls from Mom, Tim, Aunt Bibet and Clark ONLY.

3) There are to be NO text messages sent or received on this phone.

4) David does NOT know his phone number and has no reason to know it.

5) David is not to access the internet or download anything on his phone, it is for emergency and update use only with those mentioned above.

6) David must ask permission to take the phone outside the house.

7) David’s phone use can be monitored at any time by any of the above people and if there is an issue with calls, any of the adults can pull David’s phone privileges.

8) David is NOT allowed to send text messages from his phone.

9) If David breaks these rules, he will lose this privilege.

10) This agreement will be reviewed in 3 months.

He's already taken about 20 photos, has showed it to our college age neighbor and has it on his sweat pants now as he rides to his friends house.

Why does this scare the heck outta me??? My kiddo is growing up!! AHHHHH!!!

The Diaper Bag ... and Murphy...

As I read Live. Laugh. Pull your hair out. I was reminded of a trip we took out to Hood River to visit my sister and Grandmother. David was maybe a 18 mos old (so this was about 9 1/2 yrs ago), and we ALWAYS took 3 changes of clothes with us for him, because Murphy was a great friend. If we didn't bring the clothes, we needed 6 changes in 30 min time; but I digress...

I had my grandmother in my truck, and we stopped at Stephs house for a quick visit. Steph decided that David would stay with her while I drove our Grandmother up to our mothers house. I'd be gone about 40 min, and she INSISTED that she did not need the diaper bag, joking that she would use a dish towel if she needed to. Mind you, my sister did NOT have children and even though I insisted that Murphy would visit, she refused to take it. Far be it from me to push harder with her.

So, when I arrived back to her house an hour later...I found my son WRAPPED IN A DISH TOWEL and his clothes in a garbage bag, and her towels in the wash, because Murphy visited in the 5 minutes after we left her.

Is it bad that I still giggle with joy when I think of this happening??

Having Wings in your sleep ....

I found her story over this past year after her tragic accident through her sister's blog

I absolutely LOVE both the writing, photography and honesty about life and the Faith they have. They are Mormon, I am not, however we all believe in the Father and that's good enough for me.

Anyway, reading NieNies blog tonight reminded me of when I was a child and I'd have dreams of flying anywhere I wanted. I could control how fast or slow I went by moving my arms back or out to the side, or in front of me ... when I was in for a thrill I would pull my arms down by my side and screech head first towards the ground ALWAYS able to move my arms out in front and with a grand arch, pull myself back up into the air.

Freedom ... Dreams ... Safety ... Escape... that's what Flying in my Dreams meant to me.