Blog Challenge: DAY 4

My Parents

@ The Pacific Edge Villa during the (wedding) planning stage

(Note: This picture has been sitting uploaded in this draft for 48 hours. And about 15 minutes ago Dan pointed out to me that I've failed to update 2 days in a row now... And not that anyone cares.. but here goes: (Oh! and it's going to be brief, because clearly... it's 10:15 on a Sunday night.. and in our house.. that means bedtime.)

My parents. Unconditional Love... goes without saying. Support. Security. Funding. Best parents ever. Growing up, especially in high school, everyone had a friend who had "the cool parents." The ones who were OK with underage drinking, usually provided a place for it to happen.. and/or were out of town when it did... let you play loud music with obscene lyrics and have the door closed when you had a boy in your room... you know. I just never thought that was cool. Or maybe I did... and I'm just so enlightened now. Either way. The things that I think are cool about my parents.

1. They taught me to appreciate good food. (See previous post)

2. They taught me to appreciate good wine (with good food) and allowed me to consume moderate amounts. (I strongly believe that this influenced me to NOT abuse alcohol)

3. They never told me I could not. (In the.. follow your dreams sense). I had 7 (or 8) college majors. Transferred schools 3 times. Dyed my hair pink in the 10th grade.

4. They supported me, even when I quit (soccer in the 8th grade and SMU after 6 months).

5. They REALLY believe in me.

6. They think I'm a fabulous cook and tell me ALL the time.

7. They always planned the most elaborate and fabulous family vacations. As an adult I've come to appreciate the cost and value of vacations. These are some of my favorite memories, not because of the luxurious hotel rooms or expensive excursions (although I will say.. The Essex House Jr Suite overlooking Central Park, NYC is something I will NEVER forget) but because it was always just the 6 of us (I say that like 6 is a small number... I never really brought friends on vacations.. because there were 4 of us (kids) we always had a "buddy") but we traveled more like a team... I mean, we took up an entire row in the airplane! I think my favorite memory, or at least the one that sticks out most prominently in my mind tonight, is the night that Bruce came out. Let me explain. To preface: My dad, having worked in retail for 28 years, has (and I'm sure has always been) quite the metro-sexual. One year, in Maui, after a fancy dinner towards the end of our vacation, we piled in the rental car to drive back to the hotel. On the way, we passed the Lahaina mall... I'm really not sure why we decided to stop but we ended up wandering through countless cheesy shops. Mom got talked into some Dead Sea hand scrub. Bethany bought some "Maui Babe" tanning lotion... and Dad tried on a floppy (hawaiian print) cotton beach hat and started giving his best (stereotypical) gay guy impression. (This involved showing his fingernails (freshly buffed) and saying "Hi, I'm Bruce." Really.. the story ends there. To this day.. we give him a hard time when he's letting his Bruce show :)

8. They taught me modesty and perspective.

9. They loved me... even when I thought my (their) Macy's credit card was like an AMEX black.

10. They will always be there for me.

(Note: Dan's irritated that I'm still awake.. and now it's 10:50pm. REALLY BEDTIME!)