Burgers, hot dogs and dysfunction on our grill

Family is who you turn to in times of need, for warm get togethers and when your former husband and his nice, but 6 feet tall with a pretty decent purchased set, girlfriend are in attendance for your nephew's graduation party. Dysfunction is nothing new in my family as we actually have more flavors of it than Baskin Robbins has ice cream. And, my incredibly friendly divorce just adds to the fun.

We all arrive at my sister's house with the requested side dishes for the barbecue. Of course the standards are there: potato salad, chips and of course, bloody mary's, beer, wine, mojitos...you name it as we are all going to be there. Well, almost all of us. The East Coast family did not make it for this occasion so really the fireworks won't be nearly as colorful.

Between my smart for his years 18 year old nephew explaining that allergies are not caused by pollen but by the Chinese experiments in their biodome preparing to take over the world and the bets on how much cleavage action we'd get from the GF, it was just a regular old family get together. I actually won the cleavage bet as she went for 4 inch heels and ripped bedazzled jeans to make her statement.

In the end though, I wouldn't have been anywhere else. Family, in all of our craziness, makes us who we are.

I realize I am a relatively private person...well, relatively might be an understatement as there are plenty of people in the community in which I live who don't know my former husband and I are divorced, and well, have been for over 5 years. I just don't live my life as a Real Housewife of the SF Bay Area so have been increasingly surprised by the number of family and friends who seem to have the complete opposite problem and have thrown away their much needed share filter.

I have a Facebook account like every other person in the world, and use it to reconnect with friends from across the country, share adorable pictures of my children and post my incredibly witty thoughts and sarcastic tidbits of the day. However, I'm not exactly sure when, for the most part, sane individuals went from making updates as inane as "Had cheeseburgers for lunch" to deciding this was the right medium to announce their 10 year marriage is ending by posting "Friends, looking for an apartment to rent." Really? Because this is what you want your 16 year old daughter to read? Or, your husband's boss? Or really, anyone? I think Facebook should spend a little less time on the privacy issues, and a little more time on the etiquette of social networking.

Finally taking the plunge

For years family and friends would tell me I had to write a book about the insane antics that made up my daily life. But, a book always seemed so onerous, like a marathon I knew I'd never run. I would write a page, even a chapter once, and then put the notebook away, only to be seen on days of extreme cleaning. At which point, I'd pick it up, read what I had written, laugh and say "one day...". But, then as someone who has arrived extremely late to the party, I realized this blogging thing might actually catch on. So, here I am, attempting to capture the moments which make me laugh, shake my head, drop my jaw and even cry on occasion, in hopes to enlighten, entertain or amuse...And, as the title of my blog states, this stuff actually happens...