The Never Ending Q&A, Part Six

From Mum's the Word...

What happened to that movie that was being filmed? The one that might have been shown on Lifetime? I know they filmed a few parts of your life like your baby shower with Maggie. Just curious!

I think this question has been asked by a few, but I'll answer it just from this one. We were recorded during my pregnancy for a potential documentary. There was a couple out of LA, John and Suzanne, who were both in the film industry that approached us. Both of them were there for different filming days. We filmed my baby shower at Dana Eisenberg's and during our big family party that evening in honor of Allie's anniversary. They also filmed the day before Maggie's birth, during Maggie's birth, and a few days afterwards, including our homecoming.

We always knew there was a possibility that nothing would come of the video. Though we all believed it was of interest, we had no way of knowing if others would find it worthy of putting on TV. Once they returned with HOURS of footage in LA, they worked on editing it to create a few minutes spot to show to potential TV channels and producers. We thought for a while that there was an interest by Lifetime. There wasn't.

So, at this time, nothing will happen with that filming. But I'm ok with that. At least I have great footage of Maggie's birth!

What is your favorite junk food?

I'm a junk food queen!! But it's ice cream. Always ice cream. YUM!!

Where do you hope HFC will be in the future (as far as how large, how many families it will serve, etc.)?

I have so many plans for Heroes for Children! I honestly can't see us outside of the state of Texas any time in the future. Our biggest goal is to serve ALL children diagnosed with cancer in the state at the level they need. There are so many possibilities for our future, and it's very exciting to be involved.

What is your favorite game to play with Maggie and Andrew? How do you keep Maggie occupied without placing her in front of the tv all day?!

Wait, I'm not supposed to do that? Darn! It doesn't help that Maggie loves movies, or "moonies" as she calls them. Her current favorites are the "Pig Moonie" (Babe) and the "Mousie Moonie" (Ratatouille).

We love to play chase around the house and to tickle. Once her belly laughs starts, it's contagious. All of us get to giggling. My personal favorite is snuggling. But I can't get Andrew or Maggie to snuggle as long as I would like. Neither of them like to sit still long enough!

From Mum1228...

I always wondered how it felt to so many people peering into your life. People that you don't know

It doesn't bother me, really. It was a choice I made with continuing this blog after Allie's death. It doesnt surprise me that people think they know me. They know my family members and even my dog. But I often have to remember that this blog only shows a portion of my life. A fraction. And while I have the choice to continue it, I have the choice as to what all I reveal and share.

From MommaSpaz...

McSteamy or McDreamy?

Great question! McDreamy. So, McDreamy. Of course, I was one of the dorks that liked him back when it was the Can't Buy Me Love days! I'm a good girl. Been called a goodie--goodie a few times in my life. A guy like Derek Sheperd, in my eyes, is pretty close to perfection.

From Candeloop....

How long have you been friends with all the members of the posse, and how did you meet each of them? I think I know about Debbie and Jen, but not any of the others.

It surprises me each time I realize that we as a group have only been together a year. Our friendship is so incredibly strong that you would think we've all known each other a lifetime.

Debbie I met in high school my junior year. She was a senior, I was a junior. In her bright yellow car, she exuded an energy that you just wanted to be around. We've been best friends ever since and I couldn't imagine a life for me that didn't include her in it. When I go longer than a few days without talking (such as this weekend since she's out of town visiting family), I have withdrawal. I call her at least once or twice a day! Debbie is funny, smart, kind, and compassionate. She can have me go from tears to giggles in a matter of minutes. And, as I've said before, I still think she is one of the coolest chicks I've ever met.

Jen luckily found me. When I was pregnant, I got an email from a local photographer offering her skills to photograph my newborn. Umm...stranger coming to my house to photograph my newborn? Not so sure. I didn't respond. The day Maggie was born, I had an emailed titled, "My offer still stands." This time, I followed the link to Sugar Photography's website and fell in love with the quality of work and the way the families' love was captured. I knew this girl had to be our photographer. Ten days after Maggie was born, Jen entered our home. Our first session was tough. It was visibly painful to notice the missing little girl not in the photos. Through the next year, the sessions got easier. I looked forward to every time I got together with Jen for our sessions, knowing that this girl was someone I could really be friends with. We had lunch a few times too. It wasn't until last March that I think we finally crossed the threshhold of just being client/photographer to actually being friends. Jen is wickedly funny. She has a heart of gold too.

I "met" Tracey back in 2005 online with the fundraising group, Friends of Allie. Tracey was in Rhode Island and at that time the person who wrote the FOA newsletter. She was also going to help with that book Dana and I were tossing around with writing. We had a conference call during her lunch hour, I think, when she was a counselor at a RI high school. Over the next year or so, Tracey and I corresponded a few times on email and talked on the phone once or twice about issues with Friends of Allie. We clicked really well. But hey, this chick lived in Rhode Island, so it wasn't like I was going to get to know her THAT well, right? When they moved to Texas, I was on her email list as one of her Texas experts of where to live. I read her blog from time to time, though never associating her with the "More than a Minivan Mom" title. It wasn't until Jen told me over lunch once that they were going to have dinner with "Minivan Mom" when she came to town, that I linked Tracey with that title. So, naturally, I invited myself to the dinner! I wanted to meet Tracey in person! We made a plan for a dinner in March o7. Tracey ended up with a schedule conflict, but we decided to keep the dinner and set another for the following month with Tracey when she drove up to Dallas. That dinner introduced me to the ever coolness that is Jenn M, Amy, Stacy, and got me even more time hanging out with Jen! Tracey and I officially met in front of Uncle Julio's the next month with Debbie. I remember my first reaction was my surprise at her height--she's taller than I expected! I had invited Deb to join me, telling her that this group of ladies is the kind we would hang out with. Anyone who meets Debbie likes her, so she is great to go with me to things like this. That was a great dinner! We could have been together laughing and talking for hours. A few months later was our trip to Austin to invade the Robinson house. That did it, the friendship was solid from then on. It is impossible to fully describe Tracey. She's a bit of an enigma. She's bold, passionate, funny, and the smartest damn person I think I've ever met. She's immensely loyal and a bit protective too. And I don't want to piss her off, because frankly, I'm still a bit scared!

At that first dinner, I sat across from sweet Amy. I didn't know her, but she "knew" me. She and Jen were friends, and she was a Minivan Mom fan. I really liked Amy that night. At the next dinner with Tracey, I found myself seated next to Amy. Debbie was on my other side chatting it up with Tracey. Throughout the evening, I was deep in conversation with Amy. We talked about a range of topics, including discovering the fact that neither of our husbands eat fruits or veggies. After that night, I knew we were friends. I knew that though I barely knew her, I would be willing to get in her car and drive to Austin. Of course, that was before I was locked in the car to realize that she wouldn't take the main highway to Austin under any conditions and risked both mine and Jen's life with the almost touchdown tornado that dipped down "like a finger." It is always a joy to be with Amy. She makes you feel good. Amy has the best wit of any of us. I love to call Amy just for no reason. What can start with as a quick five minute conversation can turn into more than an hour. I like nothing more than a long conversation with Amy covering of course a wide range of topics just as we did that night at dinner. I've never met a kinder woman, and I hope to call her my friend for the rest of my lifetime.

Megan got involved through Heroes for Children thanks to Jen. Jen had a link to HFC on her Sugar Photography blog, and thankfully, Megan clicked the link. For her son Hopper's birthday, she chose to raise funds for Heroes for Children. To let us know, she emailed both me and Larissa with a copy of the invitation she designed for his birthday. We corresponded by email a few times, and then finally met in person last April at the HFC Friends Spring Picnic. Megan started volunteering for Heroes for Children on a regular project, mainly doing design work. At the same time, she was working with Sugar Photography to assist with their card designs, and now helps with creating their coffee table books. Thankfully, Megan joined our circle and we love her so much! Megan's heart is huge. I am lucky to have her both as a friend and as a volunteer for our organization. Heroes is better because of her. Last night, she designed 20 beautiful centerpieces for a young girl's Quinceanera. Because, you know, not only does she have mad design skills, she's also quite the floral design wiz. Megan is so funny. She will bust out with a "fo shizzle" randomly placed in a sentence just in time to make me burst out laughing. She's the kind of girl who secretly buys a margarita machine for a backyard pool party at her house and emails us a picture of her next to the machine. She's the beautiful girl that you always wish you could be friends with but think would be way too cool to ever talk to you. But turns out that not only is she beautiful on the outside, she's even more beautiful on the inside.

So, that's us. It's only been a little over a year. And yet, we're now planning a trip to Disney World in December 2010. For Amy's birthday, we had lunch at a swanky spot in Dallas. Behind us was a group of six older ladies meeting for what looked like a frequent lunch dates with girlfriends. Sure hope that's us years from now. Besides Andrew, they are the ones I immediately think of when I need to share something. It might be an exciting announcement for HFC or something that is bothering me. Whatever it is, I know I can get what I need from these girls. And I certainly hope they know they can get that from me too.

Love you ladies!

From Pattywhak1....

From someone who has lived in Lubbock my entire life, I want to know....ARE YOU A TECH FAN??

I'm not one to have team spirit. I didn't in high school, didn't in college. I think I went to ONE football game in college. And I wanted to leave as soon as I arrived, especially after getting hit in the head with a stupid tortilla. But Tech itself? Love it. I loved my time there and I am one of the crazy ones that loved Lubbock and all of West Texas.

Oh, Maggie just woke up--better log off for now!