My divorce happened really fast. One minute I thought things were fine, and the very next instant things were completely different. We were in shock. And what do you do when your whole world falls apart? You go home. So that's what we did. For a year my kids and I moved in with my parents. They were so kind to let us stay there, and they really made us feel like we were home, not just visiting. They were great. My little family has begun pulling it together again, and Ethan's school situation changed a little this year, so it was a great time to get out on our own again. For the time being we need to stay close to my parents. I am still trying with all my might to get through school, and I have a much better chance of accomplishing that if I have a free babysitter. Also, while we are doing much better, we don't have super power, and really, I need my daddy now and then:) So anyway, we moved about an hour away. We are only here for another year, two tops, and we already own a house, just not here, so buying wasn't really an option for us. The only houses that I could find for rent are either falling apart or are way out of this single mom's budget, So that left the only apartment building in town. It is actually just renovated, and so we are the first person to live on the carpet, which makes me more happy than you can imagine. It also has new managers, so there are new rules which are pretty strict, and that makes me happy too. And this little town isn't really the kind of town the has a "ghetto" or anything, so although it isn't the best situation, it isn't bad at all either. But then, as you may or may not know, in the divorce I got the kids. ...And that was pretty much all. So the quality of my possessions is not the highest. I have mismatched dishes, glasses, and silverware, one pan, two bowls, etc. I feel like a college student with grandma's hand-me-downs all over again, except now I'm 29 and a mom, so it's less acceptable:) We also have an old TV that I got when I was in high school. It has a built in VCR, that's how old it is. The remote is lost and the power button is broken, so to turn it on we use a pencil and stick it down inside the hole and poke it around until we either get shocked and give up or it turns on. Yeah, that's the quality of our lifestyle now:)
It actually isn't that bad, and we have everything we need, our apartment is pretty cute (even though the entire thing can fit inside of my kitchen/dining room in my other house:) and we are doing fine. But, I wanted to have a housewarming party, and I LOVE a good theme, so I decided to embrace our circumstances; our theme was "WHITE TRASH"!
It was SO funny.
Right across the street from our new place is the city park. It has a nice pavillion and a pretty good skate park, and a playground, and everything else a good white trash party might need, so we decided to hold the first part of the party there and let the kids play while the adults visited. It seemed like a good idea until our friend Cade, not being told ahead of time that it was being held "in public" refused to get out of the car for 10 minutes for fear someone "normal" might see him.:) Eventually he did though, and the party was a huge success. We started the shindig out by applying some fake tattoos. I made them super white-trashy like barbed wire and hearts with the word "mom" inside. And our friends put them in super trashy places too, so the effect was a good one. We had a wonderful spread of food too. Cocktail sausages with an array of dipping sauce, twinkies- still in the wrapper, a pyramid of generic soda, squeeze-cheeze, potato salad, chips and bean dip- straight from the can, and pickled eggs. All of this was served on paper plates with sporks, and paper towel for napkins.
A few hours later we wound the party up with white (trash) elephant gifts. I ended up with a can of WD40! Some other things included a can of SPAM, rusty nails, and a brush for the shower that boasts to save you from all that pesky bending over to wash your feet.
Now on to the proof. Yes I did take a few pictures, but don't judge, I shot in (gasp!) Auto!
Look at the farmer's tan! And the boots!
This is my happy family. Can we say CHRISTMAS CARD!!! :) My kids didn't get it at all either. They didn't know why I was making them dress so immodestly, and why I was wearing sweatpants in public (an absolute no-no in our family). They didn't mind too much though until later on in the night Ethan's shirt got ripped pretty badly and I said "Oh no! Now what are you going to wear to church tomorrow!" I thought they were both going to cry!
