LAUGHING SO HARD....

....I literally wet my pants....in Walmart....and had to leave.....Yes, I was laughing THAT hard.

If you have ever known me for any length of time, you know that I have the WEAKEST bladder ever. EVER. If you make me giggle just a lil too much, look out! I KNOW FOR A FACT that Annie, Sarah, Juliet, Crystal, Beth, probably Elizabeth, and at least one or two girls from high school(and maybe even Debbie, my mother-in-law) have witnesses my mad bash to the potty as I am yelling "stop! stop! I'm gonna......nevermind...too late..." I can blame my bladder. I can blame the fact that I have funny friends. I can blame that fact that I am just a little too-easy-to-make-laugh sometimes. Whoever you blame, once it starts...the ENTIRE situation then becomes infinitely FUNNIER....instantly. I mean c'mon. What respectable 30 year old woman wets herself just because she laughs too hard? (picture me proudly waving my hand in the air, saying "me! me! I do! I do!")
And to be honest, after the last 3 weeks I have been (dragged) through, I earned this laugh. It felt good. (If not slightly embarassing and gross...)

My day started great and ended on the same high note. I had a long talk with God on the way to work today. I took a step back from the "God PLEEEAAAASSEE..." He's heard a lot of lately from our direction, and I spent a lot of time praising Him and thanking Him for everything we have. Our house, our jobs, our health (although I miss my sanity), our WONDERFUL family and friends who are carrying us through this, our dogger, the fabulous future we have ahead of us, and the truly amazing marriage God has blessed us with. I thanked Him and just talked to Him. I laid it out there and told Him exactly how I feel. Don't get me wrong. I know He already knows. I get that. But it felt good to tell Him. Without begging. We jsut had a lil chit-chat, God and I.

I can't tell you what a great day I had. The kids at work were not sickly or sad. They were smiley and funny and happy and giggly, and everything little babies should be (if not stinky sometimes). I laughed with the girls at work. I cuddled my favorite kid who has moved on to the big kid room and left me behind..but who has a mommy who is thoughtful and nice enough to stop by almost every morning, just so I can get my cuddle and a smile from "my katie-bug". I emailed with my aunt and reconnected with friends via my addiction that is fac.ebook. I didnt eat too much or too little. I wasnt frantic or worried. I heard from Eric, who talked with our attorney (the owner/founder of our agency) and listened CALMLY without talking over him and asking question after question. I came home, laughed with my neighbor and one of my favorite chicks. I made my husband and myself a yummy dinner and enjoyed it at the table together, instead of on the couch in front of the TV. I didnt obsess or over-analyze or even re-think anything too involved or complicated.

I went to Michael's (craft store extravaganza) with Eric and the laughing started......wandering aisles, looking for..what were we looking for again? I knew it had the potential to get ugly when, after looking down several aisles and not seeing EXACTLY what we "needed", or thought we needed, or had convinced ourselves would "work perfectly"...if we could just find it in a bigger size....if we could just find a wider piece....if it was just a little thinner...I made the mistake of stopping a store employee.

As soon as I stopped her, I knew I was headed downhill. She had this sort of glazed over look in her eyes, as if to say "it's 8:40pm on a Tuesday night...American Idol is on and I am here working at Michael's....WHAT do you want from me, lady?" It took me a good 4 seconds to even start talking. In that looong 4 seconds, I thought "oh jeesh..WHY did I stop her? SHE isnt gonna know what I am looking for..*I* dont even know what I am looking for! I dont know how to explain it so she can see the picture in my head. It SHOULDNT be this hard. I KNOW there are people who make them. I just dont want to BE one of those people who makes them HERSELF. I hope she knows what I mean...". All in 4 seconds. Yes.

So I struggle through my "explanation" of how we want this saying "and she lived happily ever after" over our daughter's door (yes, i said "our daughter"...in real life) but we DON'T want a decal or a pre-made version. Oh no! I have seen "word walls" and "uppercase living" and that's not what I want. I want it to be a stencil. But I havent been able to FIND said stencil, so here I was, standing in Michael's, asking this poor soul HOW we can make this stencil ourselves and still remain married when its all said and done.

As this is all trailing out of my mouth, not making sense to her, I sorta knew my good day was about to get "better". It was confirmed when she smiled sheepishly and said, "umm, i know we have stencil paper down there, but WE HAVE FOAM LETTERS YOU COULD USE!" and pointed us at the GIANT foam letters one would use as a 7-year-old girl at a Brownie Troop gathering or a friend's birthday party to make picture frames that say "B-F-F" or "I love you, Mom!" in bright purple foam letters. Not exactly a "stencil", aye?

So the giggles sorta started under my breath then. And as Eric soldiered on, trying valiantly to find the stinkin' pieces of stencil paper necessary to craft this masterpiece, the giggles made their way into laughs. By the time we left there, minus $7, but with a strong vision of grand stencils on our baby's wall, I was just before belly laughing.

Its a short drive from Michael's to our beloved Wal.mart. Not far at all. But Eric could NOT resist popping into the Doll.ar Tr.ee that sits halfway between those two fine establishments. As he went inside, some fun Fac.ebookery ensued; some funny messages exchanged, and some more giggles as I sat in the car waiting for him to buy ziploc baggies. (Because apparently Wal.mart doesnt sell ziploc baggies...!??)

By the time I exit the car at Wal.mart, walk through the garden center, and enter the building, it's too late. I was a goner. Eric and I were laughing so hard. At what?! i really couldnt tell you. Not that I dont WANT to, or that I cant because its personal or private. I truly could NOT tell you what was sooooo funny at this point. It was a combo of soooo many funny things...some funny friend's comments...some "remember this time when..." moments...some joking comments between two people who needed to laugh.....and too much water with that yummy dinner. That was the deadly combo.

I took less than 20 steps into that store, still laughing, and turned to Eric with pathetic eyes and said "we gotta go. you made me wet my pants. sorry. we have to leave now. come on. let's go." and as the poor guy stood there, cart still in his hands, he looked at me for 4 seconds with this "are you friggin' kidding me? seriosuly?? you DO know you are 30 years old, right? are you REALLY doing this right now? REALLY, Kathleen? we have to leave? you're for real? ahhhh. this is ridiculous. my WIFE just wet her pants, folks!" kinda look on his face. All in 4 seconds. I couldnt even look at him standing there. I had to walk right back out into the garden center and walk back towards to car, hoping and praying that he knew that I was, in fact, serious. This was, indeed, for real. My pants were wet. Thankfully, and to my great relief, he had followed me into the garden center and towards the car. From his view from behind me, he actually said the words, "you cant even see anything...it doesnt LOOK wet to ME. comeon. let's just go back in. we dont need that much stuff. it'll be quick."
Which, of course, made me laugh harder. The thought of me trapsing through the local Wally, where I could run into countless former students, current kidlets/their grown up parents, or even our own family members! RIIIIIGHT, Eric.

So we head back to the car..me, still laughing. Eric just plain confused. Me, apologizing. Eric still not understanding how his wife could wet her pants in public. Again. Laughing.

It felt so good. Sooo good to laugh. Together. To remember that WE ARE FUN. We HAVE fun. We do fun, stupid things and we laugh about them. We dont cry all the time. We dont worry all the time. We dont think so hard it makes our jaws hurt all the time. It felt so good to let go.....even if my bladder took it one step too far.

So for once, instead of an update or the latest news or email, I leave you with a stupid story (all facts, unfortunately)to hopefully make you smile. And maybe even giggle. But be careful. That's where it all started tonight. With a giggle.

I think I'll start tomorrow the same way I started today. Today WAS a great day, afterall. :)