Happy Birthday... and a little background

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Malinda. She had lots and lots of friends...but somehow that special someone was missing from her life....

And although she never let it get her down, she did catch herself dreaming of life with "him" now and again.Meanwhile, her future man was busy being manly, sailing to far-off islands and living off the land.

"Will I ever get married," she queried to her friend, Amy, one night while casually relaxing on the couch. "Of course," she replied. "One day your ship will come in and a big, strong man will sail you off into the sunset."

Happy with that thought, Malinda threw her head back and gave a slight chuckle. Meanwhile...


... her ship did come in, with a double-chinned manly man and all. "Yargghh!" he said. "I've been looking for some fine booty and couldn't help but notice the way your fanny is accentuated by that pack. I'll make ye a proposition. If ye marry me, I will...

...sail you away to exotic adventures.......cook the finest meals for you....

....sire you at least three strong chaps...

...craft with you (pretty nice sock snowman, huh?)...

and give you all of the finest comforts possible. You will live in the lap of luxury. However, Malinda, not entirely convinced, said "but what about you?" He added...

" I am strong...

have a nice butt....

and an uncanny sense of fashion. This and more can be yours if you say yes."

Well, as they say, the rest is history. Malinda did say yes, they did sail away to adventure, and are living happily ever after. So, even after all of these years of marriage (i.e. 4.5), and all of the adventure things are still as grand as ever.



And even at 30, she has still got it. Happy Birthday, Babe.

It's my party, I can cry if I want to

Happy 30th to me.

Let's hope this new decade is more of a hit than the smashing childhood birthday party pictured above. I'm the one partying-hard on the far left. Wow. Good times.

1987

James jokes that we Vances were feral children.

Maybe he has a point...

Marshall, Me (looking like Quasimodo) and Tony on Hide Out Hill, 1987

No, this is not a recent Children's Place ad. It is me and my brothers looking dapper on a hike.
Looks like fashion has always eluded me. Blast!

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday Mason and I tried our hand at the local garage sales. Unfortunately, most of them turned out to be a lot like the picture below. A total dud. So bad that I felt guilty just driving past without looking at least a little interested in their rubbish (like I do when I take a free sample at Sams without appearing to seriously consider buying thier demo. James thinks I'm a kook).


Do you recognize the hopeful business woman in this picture? It is my mother back in 1986. I LOVE this picture! Without fail, this pictures sends me into fits of laughter. I look at her expectant face (which you can't really see in this scanned version) and crack up! I can't help but wonder how long she sat out there waiting to strike gold? What in the world was she thinking? I don't think even D.I. would haul off any of that junk (well, maybe the pleather bean bags)! I love how spread out everything is so as to apear like there were more treasures to be had. So funny....

But then, after the laughter subsides, I think about it all even more. About my mother. Why was she doing it? Was it to get some extra cash to buy another beloved book? Most likely it wasn't even for her. She was probably just trying to make ends meet for her growing family.

In 1986 my mom was 32 and about to have her 5th child and had just moved to Thousand Oaks. She had graduated college but decided to stay at home and raise us kids while my dad worked hard as a new Professor nearby. They made enough to live rather comfortably if it weren't for choosing to have a large and happy family instead. What a wonderful example she is to all of us 7 children. I look at this picture and think of all of the sacrifices they made for us and feel so grateful. I had a magical childhood, largely thanks to my mom. I hope I can always be as creative, spirited and loving as she has always been to me.

Also, here is a shout-out to mothers everywhere. I hope James and Mason got me a pair of these. Enjoy!