“…So don’t do it like me….I see you tryna do it like me…. Man that shit was ugly….”

This is the song that popped into my head while listening to McKinnley and Bailee play a video game recently. I was actually waiting for McKinnley to bust into song, seeing how he does that often. However, he was more focused on the game at hand and how his little sister was narrowing in on his score.

So he did his best to psyche her out.

“You can’t grind like me, you tried but failed,” “You missed that now you’ll never catch my score,” “Man, you’re really bad at this,” “You should give it up now,” “It’s okay to quit ya know,” etc., etc., etc.

Bailee did not give up. Nothing would please her more than to beat her older brother at a skate game. Not only could she rub it in his face at any time she felt necessary, she would have beaten him at his own game so to speak. See the boy wonder got a board for his birthday (much to the girls dismay because they didn’t get one- I foresee Christmas presents this year) and has since thought he was Ryan Sheckler or something.

These two couldn’t be more different in their playing “styles” if you will. Bailee is quiet and focused on the goal at hand. That goal of course is to beat her opponent which just so happened to be her older brother. She doesn’t like talking much or anyone talking to her while she’s playing because it distracts her from her game. While watching the other, she does at times talk trash (who doesn’t?!) and laughs at the flub ups. She is not a sore loser however. She can handle being defeated, but will demand a rematch in which she will “take you down;” all done while batting her eyelashes and flashing a smile (I have taught her well!).

McKinnley on the other hand will talk during his game play; tell you what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do it. He doesn’t mind the questions from onlookers as long as they are held at the most dire segments in a game. He is also a very determined yet dirty player. He will win at all costs; he will lie, cheat and steal his way to the top. When he watches someone play a game he does all he can to make you lose focus; more trash talk than his uncle (who is a hardcore gamer & in the picture with the 2 taken almost 3 yrs. ago), he takes jeers and jabs at your skill level. His ‘know-it-all’ attitude is taken to a WHOLE new level; one that makes you wanna smack him silly. He IS a sore loser and it usually ends with the games being taken away.

I have come to believe that this is simply encoded into him as a male. The ubber competitive side that comes out of him is just short of obnoxious. My ‘research’ was short & sloppy in coming to this conclusion: his father and uncle are both like this when playing anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a video game or an actual sport such as basketball. Neither of which the kids are around for due to the extreme foul mouthed, aggressive boys they turn into. I’m calling it a testosterone overload, one that is so great it completely clouds the brain of anything else but the words “MUST WIN.”

I’m assuming all boys are doomed from conception because somewhere inside at some point, the obnoxious, competitive testosterone monster will rear its ugly head and turn your sweet little Mama’s boy into this hideous beast.

Is never an easy thing to do. You can’t “prepare” for it even when you know its coming. You really can’t say how you’ll react until it actually happens.

In the last two weeks, I have had my fair share of good byes. So many that I don’t want to ever have another, but that’s just not realistic. In fact, I will have to say good bye yet again next month. Am I ready for it? At first I thought I was, but now after this evening, I know I am not.

You see, the tearful good byes started when my mom had a family dog put down on July 1st. He was supposed to be going for a check up to the vet office. Little did poor Copper know (or anyone for that matter) that it would be his last car ride. Copper was very old and began to have problems so instead of him suffering, my mom decided to have him put down. Which was very hard for her to do, I know. It was very hard for all of us to say good bye to the little bugger and he is missed daily.

The next crying session took place on July 3rd when I had say good bye to my sister-in-law, 7 year old niece & 2 ½ year old nephew. Due to the ‘shit happens’ factor in life, they were moving (moved) to Arkansas where she is from and where her family still lives. I was actually quite proud of myself during this one. I kept telling myself to not cry because I didn’t want to upset my niece as she had just said good bye to her daddy. My sister-in-law apparently could see that I was getting ready to wail so she added the “No crying! We’ll see you when you come to Arkansas!” I was a trooper and held it in until they were down the road….then I cried like a baby.

An expected yet unexpected good bye took place late this afternoon when I got to my mom’s. My sister had found a home for Little Man. Little Man is my ‘grand dog;’ he is the son of my Macy and the brother of my Chunky. I grew very attached to him. I wanted to take him so badly and hold him until they could have him again, but things don’t always work out the way we would like for them to. I’m sure the teenager that was holding him thought I was off my rocker as I cried, kissed his little face and told him that I would always love him. Then again, maybe he understood.

Then there was this evening; saying good bye to my sister and her family (7 & 3 year old nieces). With my brother-in-law being stationed in Georgia, I honestly thought I’d be okay with this one. Georgia isn’t very far away, the drive is only like 6 hours and I knew that they’d be back to visit often. As the evening came to a close and all the kids were giving out their hugs & kisses, my sister and I exchanged glances. I think we were both thinking the same thing only neither one of us wanted to say it- “This is it.” We hugged and cried and hugged and cried and hugged and cried some more.

My final good bye will be to my older sister next month whose husband has been stationed in Germany. Although she lives in Colorado right now, she will come ‘home’ before the big move and I’m sure the waterworks will be in full effect.

Whether saying good bye means the loss of a loved one or a move out of the area, it’s really never an easy thing to do.

First and foremost I’d like to say thanks to the douche bag that inspired this blog…so… thanks Summer’s Eve. You will never know what it truly meant to me.

I wish I could send out some sort of bulletin to all the male species out there on the World Wide Web. One that lets them all know that shirtless pictures of their (non-existent) bodies will get them no where with me. I wouldn’t be too harsh, just truthful in my message to the desperate and clueless. Since I can’t figure out how to do it on the ‘Space, I’ll do it here in my blog. Maybe the word will get out!

Please, before you post up a picture of your chest do 2 things for me. The first is to go work out some more. Until your chest (or entire body) looks like Gerry Butler’s in ‘300,’ I don’t wanna see it. The second is to go hit the tanning beds or a beach or your backyard. Of course there are such things as SPRAY ON TANS these days. This would probably be your best bet.

Now, aside from the pictures of your oh-so yummy body (ha!) when I get that invite sent my way, know that I’m going to ask how you know me. I do this because I have tons of pictures up of my kiddos and I don’t want some sick freak stealing them for his own personal use. When you get that message, don’t reply back with a “I’m ___ _____ and I love to live large.” WTF is THAT about? Dude, who are you trying to impress with that? Not I. I actually got a good belly laugh from the response so yeah, thanks for that!

Let me clarify in all this that I am not a woman that requires her man to have a ‘body.’ Personality, looks, sense of humor, looks and sensitivity is what I go on. (You can say looks don’t matter, but you know they do!) I am also a married woman but should I ever decide to be a dirty girl, this wouldn’t cut it to get my attention.

So please, fellas, before you hit that ‘Enter’ button, think about what message you’re really sending out with your response.

Rant over!

My twins girls are 8. They love being eight. They love even more being twins. They understand that it's a very special thing they have together, something that NO ONE can take from them. While they love doing things together (and excluding others on purpose because they aren't a "twin") they also do plenty on their own. Sometimes A will want to play with B and she's busy doing her own thing and can't be bothered.

This is when the "twin negotiations" come in. Yes, on any given occasion it seems my girls have perfected the "when in crisis" situation and can talk the other one into things. Sometimes this is a good thing...more times than not, trouble soon follows!

The other night as I was cooking dinner I hear Ashlyn ask Bailee if she wanted to go play 'Justice League' in their room. Bailee was waiting for her turn to play some PS2 and declined with a "No, that's okay." That was simply not good enough for Miss A and she continued to harass her other half.

The voices turn to whispers and then I suddenly hear A asking B if she would "pick up a thousand feathers for it?" "Yes...." "Would you 'twin wrestle' for it?" "Yep..." "Would you...dance 'til your feet hurt?" "*SIGH* Yeah..." "Would you...kill yourself for it?" "Uh, NO. You know we can't do that. Mom'll get mad."

Even though I was laughing inside at Bailee's response to this, I had to interrupt and question Ashlyn as to why she would ask something like that. She did the typical thing every kid does- she shrugged her shoulders and said "I don't know." Once upon a time, I answered my parents the same way.

So I had a little chat with the girls about things, nothing too heavy, I don't want to be the sourpuss Mom that ruins the fun and off they went to the bedroom to play 'Justice League.' It seems Ashlyn had won that round of negotiations!