I survived too

I'm back from my doctor's visit, and the results were what I expected (which is a good thing). We'll have to wait on the blood work to make sure that I'm truly OK, but I am optimistic. Seems I had a cyst that decided to rupture, which is a rather painful experience. I also found out that I should not be developing them, but that I am one of the lucky 1 out of 100 who do. So, I can expect more joyful cysts to form and burst. I don't need to tell you how thrilled I was to hear that (the sarcasm would be dripping of my tongue if I was actually speaking to you right now). Funny thing is, my dear identical twin is going through the same thing, although hers hasn't burst yet. I've left her a message so she'll be ready for it when it happens.

I can see clearly now...

I am happy to report that J can see clearly, his eyesight is R 20/15, L 20/25. No need for glasses yet. More importantly, no need for surgery.
He's so funny when he gets his eyes dilated -he squirms and complains so much you would think the opthamologist is poking his eye out with a hot needle. Yes, it stings some, but he carries on quite a bit. Especially since this is the same child who tore off half a toenail when he caught it in a door and simple said "ouchy, ouchy" as he went off to ride his bike; landed on his face while skateboarding with just a "oomph", and in general toughs out most injuries that would have us adults limping and whining in pain.

I remember

I remember...
sitting in my home in Connecticut, watching Sesame Street as I readied J for preschool.
Then the phone rang,
"What are you watching, change the channel, a plane flew into the World Trade Center"
There I sat, tears streaming down my face, poor J asking what was wrong.
I couldn't answer.
I dropped him off at school, went to work, and couldn't believe people where going about their daily business.
We had left NY but a few months before.
What of our friends, our neighbors, where they OK?
Can't reach them, the phones are busy, busy, busy.
Then the phone call from my Step-mother-in-law,
"Your father-in-law is there, he left for NY when the first plane hit. We haven't heard from him - the cell towers are down."
He was at ground zero, part of the rescue efforts
After a week or so, my brother-in-law went to do his service for his fellow firefighters.
Both of them have health problems that have developed since that day - connected, who knows.
One thing is for certain, I will remember and treasurer those who gave their lives for us, and their families and friends whose lives where forever altered.
I remember.

Posting woes

Sorry I haven't been my usual witty self. I have several stories I'd like to share, but I just can't sit long enough to write them. Like Wally over at the Resident Curmudgeon, I've been a little under the weather. Also like Wally, I don't know the cause of my "illness", all I know is that there is much fatigue and pain involved with it. However, I am bowing to pressure and seeing a doctor on Thursday, hopefully to get some answers.
Besides that appointment, I get to take J to his appointment to find out if he'll need eye surgery again. We went through this when he was two, and I swore that I would never go through that again, that the sight of my baby unconscious on a hospital bed was so overwhelming that I literally could not stand, and almost fainted (me, the ex-EMT who has seen it all).
These doctor's appointments would be much easier to go through if hubby was around, unfortunately work has him on the eastern side of the states, far away from me. It always seems to work that way, doesn't it?

Cafeteria woes

Last Friday I received once of those automated phone calls which usually are from a telemarketer or a doctor's office reminding you of your next appointment, informing me that my son's school lunch account was in the negative $9.80.
Hmm. My son takes his lunch to school everyday. He doesn't have an account with the school cafeteria. I check the school departments website to see what we are to do in a case like this, and see that all students are issued a "randomly generated pin, making it difficult for someone to gain access to the number". Oh really. After quizzing him to be sure that he has not been getting extra meals, I wrote a note and sent it on with him to school today. The note simply said that J takes his lunch everyday and has never used the cafeteria line for food. When I came home from work today, there was a message telling me that I was wrong, that my son was eating both breakfast and lunch everyday there and that they couldn't stop him from charging to his account. This is quite hum0rous, since J's bus gets there after the breakfast is done being served. Plus, he is a picky eater and wouldn't ever buy lunch. And lastly, my son does not lie to me! So when he tells me he has never charged to his account (which he did not even know existed), I believe him.
Tomorrow, I will go to the school, dragging J behind me, to ask the cafeteria manager if she recognizes my child, since she is insisting that he has served him breakfast and lunch everyday. I'm very curious to meet my son's doppelganger, whomever he may be.

UPDATE: We went to the school, the cafeteria lady finally acknowledged that she had never served my son, made all the others look at him so if someone was claiming to be him, they would know what the real J looked like. She also posted little notes on all the registers. We didn't get anymore automated calls, so I'm thinking it has been resolved. I'll keep you updated.

Race for a Cure

As a birthday present to myself, I have signed up to do the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure on September 30th, which is on my actual birthday. What better way to celebrate than to do something meaningful?I've said many times that I wanted to run in a race and this is a worthy cause, and one that has closely affected my family, as it has affected many families. Everyone I speak to is either related to or knows somone who had had breast cancer. It affects women of all ages - I've personally know women in their 20's who've had this devasting diagnosis.

Luckily, there are many advances being made in research in this field, and everyday we are closer to a cure. If you feel like supporting my run, please click on the link below.

http://www.komen-houston.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1010&px=1159010

Thanks.

Grey

Something scary happened to me last night. I was in my bathroom, brushing my hair when I happened to look into the mirror and something caught my eye. It looked like one of my hairs was covered in paint, which is odd since I haven't painted in months. I looked more closely. Yes, there was definitely something odd about one of my hairs.

So I pulled it out to get a closer look. It was....my first grey hair!!! For some of you this old hat, for me it is a bit frightful. You see, I've never been sure who's hair I have - my mom's or my dad's. The texture comes from mom, the color from dad. Mom's side doesn't go grey, Dad's side has stock in Clairol. Now I know. The question left is, how soon will it all go grey?

Bit of a funk

Sorry I have not posted recently, the loss of the rabbit has put me into a bit of a funk. For those of you who do not know, Speckle was a house rabbit - he acted like a cross between a dog and a cat. He was litter box trained, would beg for treats and play chase. I could let him out in my flower garden for a little "outside time" with absolute confidence that he would come back, since he loved an air conditioned house. There were times when he would almost trip me in his efforts to get back inside. Every evening when he would be running around the house, at 10:30pm he would stop what he was doing to jump up on the couch to watch "Sex and the City" with me. I think he had a crush on Sarah Jessica Parker.
Even hubby has been upset, although for slightly different reasons. As he put it, "You know there is no love lost between me and that rabbitt, but I am sad that he is gone because it is making you sad." I've given up hope on him coming back - there was a strange cat pacing in front of my house the night he went missing.

Lost

LOST

"SPECKLE"

Grey, White, and Black Rabbit

Will come to you if you offer a treat

REWARD

upon return of rabbit

Truth or Dare

So, monkeyboy seems to be enjoying the 3rd grade; or more to the point, the two days of chaos that his 3rd grade education has consisted of up to this point. It's a new school and they are a little disorganized. In fact, the playground is currently a barbedwire-topped, fenced-in field of grass. There is no playground equipment. It is due to be delivered "any day now".

In the meantime, the children need to find ways to entertain themselves. When I asked J what he did at recess, he responded with "We play truth or dare." My mommy radar went up, as I remember the games of truth or dare I used to play, and I was readying a speech about what is appropriate and not appropriate actions at school when I asked him to give me an example of a truth and of a dare.
His Response:
"Our truths are crazy questions like, 'is it true you kissed a cow on the lips?'. Isn't that just crazy Mom?"

"What about the dares?" I asked

"One dare that my friend gave me was to run around the school with no clothes on. That is just so silly and ridiculous. I dared him to go to the top of the Statue of Liberty and jump off."

So I can get rid of the speech for now. I wonder if years from now he will remember this and realize just how innocent and naive he was.

1st day of school

J stated 3rd grade today.
His school runs from 8:45am - 3:45pm
His bus was late coming home.
He came home at 5:35pm.

Locks of Love

I'm currently growing my hair for Locks of Love and it is driving me crazy - an adult woman should not have have hair that is half way down her back. It can't be styled and it keeps getting caught in the car door and windows. I go to turn my head to check if it is clear to pull out onto a road, and yank, my head painfully snaps back. Nevermind that I shed like a cat and these long strands of brown hair turn up everywhere. It would be OK if it was just in the bathroom, but in that night's dinner? Ew!! What is really frustrating is that I keep running into friends whose daughters have recently cut their hair for the cause. "Oh, little Susie cut her hair and donated it. This is the third time she's been able to do it (and little Susie is only 7)" Why does it take so long for my hair to grow?

Seriously, I only have 2-3 more inches before I can cut the foot length off for which I've been aiming. I just have to be patient and realize that it goes to a good cause.

Meet the teacher

Is it fall? It sure seems like that to me. Why? Well, we were able to go to J's new school yesterday and meet his teachers for his new school year. It seems he goes to a new school every 2 years, either due to us moving or to the district growing too fast. So, we went and tried to figure our the layout of his school and where his classroom is, got to see some of his fellow classmates, and in general where able to get psyched about school.

I love the beginning of a school year, not because he'll be out of the house but because I am one of those strange folks who loved school as a child. I would get giddy with excitement, planning what to wear to school that first week and deciding what "necessities" I needed to pack into my backpack. As the grades progressed, I would even make plans on how I was to decorate my locker, trying to find the perfect magnets for whatever them I was going for that year (usually it was "clutter").

Unfortunately, J does not share my excitement, at least not to the same intensity. He's had too many problems switching schools and has a mental block when it comes to writing essays, something he has to do often in his Horizons program. However, I'm optimistic this year. I have a friend who is teaching the same grade and is next door (figuratively, they have open classrooms at his school) and she promises to let me know if I'm going to need a marguarita or some other stiff drink before J gets home from school. Plus, most of the staff seems eager to have a good year, let's just hope this impression is true.

School bells ring

This is the last weekend before the little guy has to go back to school. We have yet to officially find out who his teachers will be and the playground has yet to be released into its possession. I hope that happens soon, since the kids certainly are going to need somewhere to run off their extra energy. Of course, they probably won't be doing much running since it's going to be high 90's - 100's for their first week back. Thank goodness the school has air conditioning.

Return to normal

My father returned J to us, after a three week vacation visiting his grandparents. From the sounds of things, he seems to have had a good time. My folks have mentioned making it a yearly event, since we no longer live within driving distance of them. I'll all for it - that would mean couples only vacations for us, which we enjoy; and bonding time for J with his grandparents.

Dad wanted to help around the house while he was here, which is normal for him. We did some lamp rewiring, and he fixed up my bike for me. He also wanted to mow our lawn while I was at work. When he asked if I would mind, I said "yes", since I figured my mom would not appreciate if he had a heart attack while he was here. You see, our lawn is composed of the thickest grass around which has a vine-like consistency, and it is an intense workout to mow the law since we do not have a self-propelled lawn mower. He assured me that he would only mow the front lawn, and only if he could breathe OK (remember, this is the man who just got out of the hospital a few months ago and has been using oxygen at night to breathe).

So I came home from work to the two strips of the side lawn cut and one line along the back fence. Dad's comment? "That lawn will kill you. I wouldn't mow that lawn ever again if I didn't have a self-propelled lawn mower"

Photos are fun

Now that I have ventured into the world of photo blogging, I must admit I am enjoying the extra dashed of color to my blog. It is something that I think I'll continue to do. Of course, that means I'll have to continue to take pictures, which is not something that I do very often. Perhaps one day you will see a picture of me on my blog. Or not. If I were to post it, it probably would not stay up for that long.

Thems good eatin'

There were feral chickens all over the island. You could find them at the pool, on the beach, climbing the rocks near the waterfalls - everywhere. We spoke to a few locals who commented on how tasty and healthy they were. The theory is that since they are "free range" chickens, they stay lean and that means less fat for those who are eating them.
Our kayaking guide gave us a live demonstration on how to hypnotize a feral chicken. He grabbed one off the rocks, laid her on her back, and started stroking her underside. After a few minutes, he stopped stroking and released his grasp of the bird. She stayed flat on her back, as though invisible bonds were tying her to him. Bryson, our guide, finally flipped her over and sent her on her merry way.

Cost of living

As we enjoyed our visit, we actually stopped to think what it would be like to live on the island permanently. We could open a Krispy Kreme (folks travel from island to island to get them)and have a successful life. Unfortunately, the cost of living would probably send us to the poor house. After visiting a few grocery stories on various islands we realized something: a gallon of milk, a 64 oz. container of Juicy Juice, a 12 pack of Coca-Cola all cost the same amount - $5 to $6 dollars apiece. Most of our staples were priced in the stratosphere. Even fresh fruits were expensive - bananas were $1.79/lb (as a comparison, I picked some up yesterday at our grocery store for $.39/lb), and they grow them there!
The things that were more reasonably priced were actually the Asian influenced goods. Thinks like pickled plums, dried spicy cuttlefish, dried scallops, and many things I did not recognize.
Housing was also pricey. One person we met who had just moved to the island 3 months ago told us about some of the places she had come across - a 500 sq. ft. apartment which was a dug out basement in someone's home, where the bathroom was not attached to the apartment, was $900. Yikes!!

View on the right is our hotel's pool/beach area.

Some pics of paradise

As promised, here are some pictures from my trip. They can't capture the utter peace one feels when viewing the scenary, but they will have to do.

Aloha

I'm back, although rather reluctantly. The wedding/tropical vacation was absolutely wonderful and I may even attempt to post some picture, although I am still on "island time" so don't hold your breath. Our hotel was located right on the beach, with it's five pools practically touching the sand. Often we would take a dip in the pool then head out to the sea for a dip in the Pacific. The weather was beautiful - mid 80's with a lovely island breeze. We hiked, kayaked, snorkled and swam to our hearts content. Lest I forget the main reason we went, the wedding was simple and refined. The bride looked as though she had just stepped out of a bridal magazine, she was so beautiful. It was wonderful watching the ceremony, her legs rocking slightly with nerves as her groom held her hands and steadied her nerves.

Hubby and I laughed more than we have in a long time, and it felt good just to relax with him by my side. We went out almost every night with different members of the wedding party, often closing down the bar we went to (not a tough job since it closed at midnight and we often didn't arrive until after 10 pm.). We were able to get to know the groom much better and he seems to be a good choice for my sister-in-law.

Check

Vacation checklist:

Lawn mowed so folks won't suspect that our home is abandoned - check
Laundry done so that we actually have clothes to put in the suitcases - check
Shopping done for clothes that actually fit after shrinking some in the wash - check
Haircuts done so that the family pictures at the wedding will be presentable - check
Rabbit packed up and ready to be delivered to the sitters - check
Itinerary printed out in duplicate, so hubby has one to keep safe and I have one to keep for pulling out and double checking and eventually losing - check
Extra spending money, though probable not enough - check
Ability to relax - not there yet, but give me a few drinks near the pool and I just might get there.

Aloha!

queasy

Not good - I've got some intestinal bug that is clearing rooms, to say the least, and I leave for vacation in two days...on a long plane ride...with two bathrooms for hundreds of people... with no ventilation. I apologize in advance to my fellow travelers.
The bright side: the dress I was debating to wear because it was a wee bit snug won't be snug anymore.

Time flies

The boy has been at his grandparents since Monday, and the house is oddly quiet without him. I find myself turning to the rabbit for my daily dose of silliness and I must say Speckle is not doing a good job of filling in for J. I had thought that with J gone I would get to relax and enjoy the time, but I'm finding that I've filled it with work instead since I don't have to worry about rushing to pick him up from daycare. Plus, with my vacation starting next Wednesday, I want to have everything in order before we leave. Time is going by too quickly.

Birthday party

Well, we had the boy's birthday laser tag party today. It went well, but not for lack of trying on fate's behalf. What do I mean? Well, let me rant for a moment.

My boy's birthday is July 4th, Independence Day, a national holiday and prime time for family vacations. So every year when we have his party, we have to contend with his friends often being out of town on vacation. I usually plan his party 3 weeks in advance (this year it was only 2 weeks)so as to give everyone time to check their plans and RSVP accordingly. I always warn J that there is a good chance that many people will not show, to not expect a big turnout.

With that said, I do everything in my power to get a correct count of whom is coming to the party. This year we did evites to many, some mailed invitations and a few hand delivered. There were 11 children invited. Two RSVP'd early that they'd be out of town. Fine. Several viewed the invite, but didn't give a response. A few checked "maybe" and that they would get back to me. On Friday, July 1st, I called the folks whose phone numbers I knew and who had yet to view the invitation to see if they were coming. By last night, we had 5 definites coming, three who never RSVP'd but had assured J they were coming and 1 maybe, with a possibility of 2 extras (siblings), which would have been great. Then this morning came around.

The maybe never confirmed her plans and a call to her home made me rule out her son and the 2 siblings.

I checked the evite one last time - one child who supposed to come, the one my son was most excited about, was not coming - he was going to be out of town. I had talked to the father of this child last Friday and had stressed how happy J would be if Missing boy would come, that the party was going to be small since so many were out of town. This parent has my email address, the evite address, my phone number and my regular address. This parent had to wait until last minute (sometime last night after 10pm) to respond to the evite with a no.

Then another parent called to say that her hubby had come home the night before with tickets to the ballgame and that they had the opportunity to meet Roger Clemens. Since both father and son are rabid baseball fans, I understood why they were canceling, but I was disappointed, especially since this same parent had had a party once where only 2 children showed up and it had hurt her son's feelings quite a bit. They promised to make it up by having a fun day together with the 2 boys later in the summer.

That left three definite kids coming, and that included the birthday boy. What would we do if no one else showed? How do you explain to your child that just because someone says they are coming that it doesn't mean they actually can come. It was breaking my heart this morning. I can't protect my son from everything, but I should be able to give him a birthday that he can enjoy. Luckily, 2 children (they are siblings) who did not RSVP were able to come, and several parents stayed so that the party at least seemed full. Plus the dads that came behaved like the 8 year olds, so laser tag was fun. I just wish people would RSVP by the date listed on the invite. Is that too much to ask for?

Culture conversion

The Boy: Hey mom, I started off living in the smallest state (RI) and we moved around and now I'm in the largest state. Cool, huh?

Me: Well, actually Alaska is the largest state.

Boy: But we've got more people

ME: I know, but it is still the largest state. Texas is the largest state in the continental US. You know, Texas actually wanted to be its own nation at one point.

Boy: Cool. It should be. It's the best state. You know, I think I want to be a Texan forever.

The conversion continues. My son has immersed himself in Texan culture, even affecting a "cowboy" accent at times (at those time we have no idea what he is saying - it is a combination drawl and mumble). It seems all the advertising has worked its magic on him. This is the only state that I have ever lived in where the car commercials reference the state rather than the country, ie. "Bigger in Texas, better in a Dodge; Ford: built Texas tough". There are even special edition trucks that you can only get in Texas, because they are made for Texas only.

I don't know why it bothers me so much, other than the fact that I would like my son to have a more cosmopolitan view on life, rather than the provincial one he is developing from living in this state

Birthday boy

Well, it is almost July 4th, which means the boy turns another year older. My soon to be 8 year old was telling us what he would like for his birthday dinner [birthday person chooses whatever (within reason) they want for his/her birthday dinner]. He said something frightening to us native Yankees - "I want a Texas dinner." What is a Texas dinner? No it is not rattlesnake or armadillo, at least not in my son's mind. All it is is steaks and potatoes on the grill along with corn-on-the-cob and a nice fresh salad. This is actually the birthday meal my husband normally picks out, but the fact that the boy calls it a "Texas dinner" is a little scary. He is slowly losing his northern roots and becoming a "Texan".

Home show

Last night I hosted my very first home show. As you all probably already know, home shows are where you have someone come in and give a demonstration about a product line and then wait for you guests to order stuff so that you can earn free products. Normally I am opposed to hosting parties, since I feel uncomfortable asking my friends to pretty much fund my desire for new things. But this jewelry just caught my eye - it's sterling silver with semi-precious gemstones. It's called Silpada jewelry and I just wanted it all, which is highly unusual for me.

So, I had the party and it was actually painfree. There was no presentation to sit through, the jewelry was just out for you to try on and admire. By the time the party was done, I actually earned myself $250 worth of free jewelry. Which means I was able to get some stuff for me and some birthday presents.

I also realized that I can have company over and even in my crowded living room we can have fun. For me this is a big step, since I have felt uncomfortable about having a group of "strangers" (folks who don't visit me often) hang out in my home. (I have an inferiority complex when it comes to the size of my home - in Texas everything is bigger, even the houses). I might even have hubby invite work friends and their wives over for a night of socializing.

**I've put up a link in case you want to check out the jewelry. I won't get anything from it, but I really think it is gorgeous. The catalogue does not due the jewelry justice - it is 100% prettier in person.***

Downward dog

I power yoga now.
Well, I've done it twice.
The last time the class was cut short.
I was glad.
When I topple over, I do it in slow-motion, in an almost graceful motion.
I know this from watching myself in the wall length mirror that is in the yoga classroom.
If nothing else, I will get a good cardio workout from laughing so hard.
As will my fellow classmates if they are watching me.


CLARIFICATION: Power yoga is like regular yoga, only you move quickly from pose to pose instead of holding in one stance for a long period of time.

Cardboard vs. plastic

I was getting ready to pour myself a large glass of juice the other day when I realized just how extraneous some "improvements" on products can be. What am I talking about? The plastic pour spout on 1/2 gallon cardboard juice or milk containers. I'm not quite sure what the thought process is behind this improvement; perhaps the developers felt it makes pouring juice easier, I don't know. What I do know is that it makes it so the container is not recyclable. The joining of plastic and cardboard make it so they can't pe put in the cardboard bin and they can't be put in the plastic bin either.
My other problem with this improvement - you can't get all the juice out. There is always some juice sloshing around on the bottom and no matter how you tilt the container, it stays stuck in it. Now you can just open up either side of the cardboard, but that would be the old-fashioned way of doing things. Next thing you know, we'd be back to opening the container in this fashion from the very start which would send the manufacturer into a tizzy. There might be an uprising with consumers demanding that the old way be returned. Think of the savings if they didn't add that piece of plastic to each container! True, we would still have those individuals who open both ends of the container because they forget to follow the directins of "open this end", but overall it would be an improvement. Admit it, we've all had that plastic seal break off in our hands at least once, or pulled so hard that some of the juice sloshed out onto the floor!

Yup, back to the old ways for me. Either that or I can just stick to coffee as my morning beverage of choice.

Bathing suit battles

I'll be traveling to Hawaii in July for a wedding. While there, we'll be spending much time by the pool and in the ocean. Since there will be all these water activities, I feel I probably should search for a bathing suit, one that is both fashionable and flattering. I dread this search. I have had the same bathing suit for 7 years, and the best way to describe it in one word is "sturdy". It is a classic one-piece suit that has held up quite well to the trials and tribulations related to swimming with a toddler.

However, since I'll be child-free for this vacation, I would like a bathing suit that reflects this. Yet, my search as of yet has been a failure. It seems that any time I look for a new suit, there is never my size. If it is a bikini, I'll find a size 2 top and a size 16 bottom. If perhaps I was looking for a clown outfit, this would work, but since actually want something that flatters me, I keep searching. Then there are the one piece suits. Always when I find my size and then try the suit on, I am soon made to realize that it is an extra-long waisted style. (I'm short-waisted, which for those of you who don't understand what this means that when I try on pants, they come up to my armpits. My rib-cage ends below my bellybutton.)So with those bathing suits, the crotch is down to my knees. Again, not very flattering.

Worst of all, I actually have a bathing suit pictured in my mind, in both a one-piece and a two-piece style. Great you say, just find it and order it from on-line. Small problem there - I've never actually seen this bathing suit. It is a figment of my imagination. It does not really exist, which will make purchasing it rather difficult. Oh well, I'll just have to continue looking.

Rain, rain, go away....

OK, we have been under drought warning for the last year or so, with rainfall at a severe shortage. That ended today. We are offically above normal. Which makes sense, since some areas of town got 10 inches of rain today, with more to come in the following days.

I've been told that the flooding is as bad as when Tropical storm Allison struck 5 years ago. There were even alligators swimming in the flood waters. All I know is that the ride to work today was an adventure. As the boy sat in the backseat saying repeatedly, "hey it's like we're going through another car wash mom" as the waves (yes, waves) of water from oncoming cars swamped our car. We were lucky that we didn't get stranded in the middle (or side) of the road.

I know you are not supposed to travel through water that is higher the curb, but where are you suppossed to turn around when there are no driveways and there are drainage ditches that you can no longer see on the side of the road? At least I learned my lesson partially - I'll take the main road tomorrow. Maybe we'll be lucky and have a rain day tomorrow.

Anniversary

So many times I post when things upset me, today I had to post some of the positive in my life.

Thursday was my 11th wedding anniversary, and I was pleasantly surprised by my husband. As you know from reading past posts, hubby is not known for his romanticism. I know he loves me, but he is not the traditional "romantic". So imagine my surprise when I see the flower delivery guy come to my work. Flowers at work again? (see Valentine's Day post for last time's efforts)My co-workers all start saying how romantic he is, sending me flowers for all these holidays. I start choking on my spit becuase I'm laughing so hard. I explain to them out the 11 years we've been married, I think I can count on one hand how many times I've had flowers delivered to me. This is an oddity, not a commonplace occurance. The flower arrangement is odd - there are 12roses- 11 red roses and one orange one sticking up along with some filler flowers. Since I'm also dealing with a migraine, the significance does not strike me as of yet.

Later on at home, my sweetie gives me my gift - a beautiful cedar trellis for my rose bushes. This is exactly what I wanted! As he explains it, he would have put the delivered roses on it, but couldn't figure out how to get it to me. Isn't that sweet?

So who would like to guess why my dozen roses where different colors? Anyone? 11 for the years we've been married, and one to grow on.

What to keep and what to give away

My mother and I often discuss what my parents would like us children to do if they become terminally ill or if they pass away. That may sound morbid, but we are practical women and like to have plans set so that when a life changing event occurs, we have something to fall back on. We are the eternal realists, not optimists.

One thing we discuss is what is to happen to the houseful of furniture, knicknacks, tools, etc. that have accumulated over the years despite my best efforts of trying to get my parents to "clear the clutter". We children all live thousands of miles away and I shudder to think of having to pack and move those material goods. Most likely we would sell the stuff at an estate auction. But what would we keep? Is there anything so valuable to us that we would be willing to pack and ship it across the country?

Of course there is. The topmost thing on the list would be the photographs, decades worth of memories stored in old cardboard boxes, half with no name or date on them so it is anyone's guess whether the boy in the picture is Uncle David or little Danny. How do you divy up pictures? Does the person in the picture maintain material rights to it? What about in cases like mine, where my twin is in 98% of the photos with me? Let's put this one aside and go on with the list.

Each of us children do want one of the pieces of furniture my father has crafted over the years. Since we know the history behind each piece, not only is it a fine piece of furniture but it is also a bit my father's legacy. My sister and I have been lucky because dad has made things specifically for us and our homes, so even though we may all want the Shaker cabinet he crafted, I don't think there will be hard feeling by those who don't get it, since we already have something from dad.

What of mom? What would I want that would forever bring back found memories of my dear mom? She is a strong, stubborn, capable woman who has not had yet found a creative outlet for her talents. Perhaps some of her recipes, so that each time I prepeare one, I would fondly remember a dinner she created. Since dried out chicken was her specialty when I was growing up, maybe this is not such a good idea.

Perhaps something mom and dad made together. When we were toddlers, they often took to creating "one project wonders", where they would tackle a project complete and so they could say they did it and then be done with idea forever. They took our outgrown clothes and fashioned a colorful patchwork quilt out of them, handstiching the entire thing. My brother came into possesion of it (how, I do not know) and I believe still has it in the trunk of his car, for cold weather emergencies or warm weather picnics.

I am lucky in that I have an example of some of their handiwork. They did a large "paint-by-number" fabric painting with special fabric pens that were popular in the late '70's. After they were done with their "painting", dad hand-made the frame in which it hangs today in my living room. It is a very folk art type of painting, one that brings admiration from all who see it and awe when they realize it was done by my parents. It is the one material possesion (other than photographs) that I swore I would take with us last year when it looked as thought we were to be hit by hurricane Rita.

So that brings me to this question, what would you keep if you had the choice of only one thing (and it can't be photographs)?

Dancing for joy and general musings

I'm doing a dance of joy today. I was able to have my treasurer's audit and pass off all my PTO nonsense. I love helping out my son's school, but the treasurer position was too time consuming for me, and the pressure to keep the financials correct did not help either.

I also get a day off tomorrow, the first in 2 weeks. It has been our busy time and we had several people out due to surgeries. Arrgh! I do have to work the weekend, but it is just a sales assistant job to sell homes. I get paid to sit for most of the day, catching up on my reading. Every once and awhile someone will come in, but then I get to socialize. Anyone looking for a house? Last weekend I got to help sell a $441,0000 house at a steal for $402,000. Pocket change, right? :)

Tomorrow the boy and I will just sleep in, relax, and maybe go swimming. What you should do on a summer day.

Not a very exciting post, but I didn't want you to think I was forgetting about you, my loyal readers.

Summertime

You know it is summer in Southern Texas when...
you cut the grass on Friday and it needs cutting again on Sunday
you hang clothes out to dry and they still are wet three days later
you walk outside and you are instantly drenched and there is not a cloud in the sky
the humidity gets so thick that when you use the airconditioning in the car, ice crystals form on the windshield.

T-Rex

T_Rex
by Monkeyboy

Kiler
ferocious, extinct
eating, attacks, chases
the huge, hungry T-Rex
dinosaur


(My 7 1/2 y.o.'s early start on a writing career)

Caverns

My husband, although a very loving man, is not a spontaneous man. So when I said that I wanted to do something fun this long weekend, I honestly did not expect to get a response. Imagine my surprise yesterday when hubby told me to pack an overnight bag and to be ready to leave the house by 10am.

He would give me no clues, only that it would take a few hours to get where we were going so everyone should use the facilities before we leave. The boy had no clue either, and was insistently attempting to get any information out of hubby as to where we were going.

After 21/2 hours we ended up at the Innerspace caverns. These are underground caverns that were discovered years ago when highway workers were determining if the ground was stable enough for the highway that was going through that area. It is a "living" cavern, so the rock formations are still growing. It was quite an amazing site. We would loved to have done the adventurer tour, it last 2 1/2 hours and you get to in more areas of the cavern, but you have to be 18 for that and the boy is just 7 1/2. Maybe we'll come back when he is visiting his grandparents for a month up north.

We also visited the capitol of the state and it was rather impressive. The layout of the capitol building in the city has it so that the main thoroughfare leads right to the central walkway into the capitol building. I was amazed that it was open on a Saturday, but I guess it is because it is a historical monument as well, dating back to the early 1800's. It was interesting to read the various plaques on the monuments - there were some bitter feelings still when the monument to honor those that fell during the Civil War war built. There was an underlying tone of "northeners are scum of the earth". No need to worry, we didn't take it personally.

Rollerskates vs.Rollerblades

"You can only be young once. But you can always be immature."
-Dave Barry


My son was invited to a rollerskating party the other night. I was excited to take him, since he has never gone skating before. It went along as most children's parties do; with the adults mulling together and cringing as the children crashed into each other or used the wall as their brakes. I commented "someone is going to go home with a broken bone." Some of us parents who rollerblade extensively thought it would be fun to get out and skate as well. I decided to go "old school" and got the rollerskates instead of rollerblades.

We skated around and the children had races to see who was the fastest. Then the birthday girl wanted to see the parents race. No problem. We lined up, waited for the signaland....go! I want to point out right from the start that several of my competition had rollerblades on, which are much easier to manuever in. However, I was in the lead for 9/10ths of the race.

We came into the last curve, last 5 feet of the race. I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I was falling, with a one point landing right on my elbow. I sat stunned for a moment as the "referee" shouted out 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Then the pain set in. Whew, I could barely speak. Needless to say, I sat out for the rest of the night, with ice on my elbow hoping that I would get some sensation back into my arm. The landing seemed to turn off my arm - I couldn't lift it or rotate my hand.

We went home, I went to the emergency room. The admitting clerk at the hospital laughed when I told him what I did to get me the visit to emergency room. He said two of his co-workers did the same thing with equally disasterous results - a broken elbow for one and a cracked kneecap for the other. 3 series of X-rays later and a presciption for pain medicine, I was sent home with the diagnosis of nothing broken, just a deep contusion (yes, I am a little disappointed - that much pain should have guaranteed me a cast).

I've gotten most of the movement and strength back in my arm (it is at 90%). I've got two huge bruises - one on my elbow and the other on my pride!!

Religion

Growing up I was raised as an Episcopalian, although my family was very "WASP". You knew you were loved, but there was not much affection in my house. We were emotionally removed from each other. My family went to church regularly until I was in 2nd grade, then we went for the important holidays, that is until we moved the summer before 5th grade. They we stopped going all together, although mom would occasionally take we three siblings to a Baptist church or synagogue or Pentecostal church, etc. so we could be exposed to all religions and so we could make our own "choice" when we grew older.

Around this same time, several close relatives passed away (2 grandparents and an aunt). I remember being distraught over the death of my aunt, distant over the death of one grandparent, and altogether emotionally removed when the third died. I think it is at this point in my life when I decided to no longer believe in God.

I remember sitting in the church during my grandfather's wake, listening to the priest mangle his nickname and screw-up the children's' names and relations. I looked around, saw the packed church, and started to laugh. I don't why, but absurdity of the moment just struck me. All the people gathered had not been close in my grandfather's life (as far as I knew), they didn't know me from Eve, yet they were crying as though they actually missed him. To my young mind, this was wrong.

We moved shortly after that and my family went through a readjustment period that was not good. Again, where was the "almighty support" that I needed? There was none. I grew older and chose archaeology as my profession. The scientific, rational world became my choice of reality. In my hands, I held objects that were older than anything in the bible, and could scientifically be proven so. In my young 20's, I found religion laughable. Only unsophisticated folks believed in God (remember, I know everything at this point in my life, or at least I think so). I couldn't understand how some of my friends could go to church regularly, especially with the way they lived their lives. They were hypocrite. I tried going, but felt oddly out of place, like everyone could see I was "faking it".

In my late 20's; far from home in a different country, with husband away defending our country, I envied those around me who had their religion. I wanted to be able to place my faith in a superior being who would make everything alright, or at least have a purpose for the hurt and sorrow that was around us. Again, I couldn't believe in God. I wished I could, but I just couldn't.

Now in my thirties, I still desire a belief. I have a son who is being raised a "heathen" (my mother's words). I know the value of a religious education, it is ingrained in our culture (Easter, Christmas, words like crucified, etc.), and yet I do not believe. With what my dad just went through, I would love to have had a faith to fall back on for support. But I don't. My question to you: "How can you make an unbeliever believe?"

Thank-you

Thanks to everyone for their positive thoughts during the past stressful week. Dad is out of the hospital, although not fully recovered, it looks good. This has made me reflect on my beliefs/lack of beliefs and made me look into why I feel the way I do. I had some self-discovery which I'll post about later on.

Update

Dad is still in the hospital. It looks like he has a blood infection on top of the pneumonia. They think he may have gotten the infection from a "dirty stick", by which I mean the injection site of the IV was not cleaned properly before they inserted the needle. Little guy is sending a "get well" card to his Papa. He made sure to enlose $1 since they do that for him when he is sick and it always makes him happy. I wasn't allowed to see the actual note - it was taped up into a small little package. If Papa can open it (it's a big if - there is about a roll of tape on this 2x2in square) he's sure to smile.

Dads

I know Mother's Day is this Sunday, but I want to blog about my dad. You see, he's in the hospital and it worries me. He helped my brother move about a week ago, and decided to stay with my sister for another week to help her around the house, to work on her "to-do" list (she's a single mom and does not have time to fix all the little things that go wrong in an old house). Well, while out visiting, he got sick with a sinus infection. Only he let it go and it turned into pneumonia. For most people, that would be bad but not too worrisome. For my dad, it can be a death sentence. He has emphysema.

Yes, he did get emphysema from smoking. He smoked for decades. No matter what we did, what we said, we couldn't get him to quit. Then he found out he was going to be a grandfather and a light went off in his head. He wanted to be around to see his grandson grow, to teach him all the bad habits that grandparents can since it's not their child. So he quit and hasn't smoked for almost 8 years.

When my son is around my dad or even just talking to him on the phone, the inevitable "silly Papa" will be spoken at least once, usually more often than that. Papa is the one who wears furniture arm protectors on his head like a hat; who plays tackle with his grandchildren; who insists that he is the young one, that Nana is the "old lady"; who willing walks through the woods to go "exploring" with his grandson. In fact, he has a list of things he's planning for when the little guy visits this summer.
I just hope he physically able to do everything he wants to do. My "fun" grandfather died when I was the same age as my son is now. To this day, I miss him. There are so many things in my life that I wish I could have shared with him. I don't want my son to have to go through that, not yet

Branded

Have you ever wondered what a cow feels when he is branded? It doesn't look too painful; but then again, cows are not know to have very intelligent expressions. I bring this up not because I really care about cows, but because I think I know the answer: nothing at first, but then some serious "burning" pain.
I can say this since I managed to brand myself at work. "How?" you ask. Well, that new employee needed some help with our shrink wrap machine. For those of you who do not know what a shrinkwrap machine looks like, it basically has a role of plastic that sets on a stand. There is also a hairdryer like attachment which is used to "shrink" the plastic. The metal nozzle of this apparatus points outward. Remember that, it'll come up again later on.
My new employee, while she listens does not remember everything that she is told, which is understandable being that she is new on the job. She was standing in front of the shrinkwrap machine, standing there, and she asked me to show her once again how to do it. So, since I can't reach through her, I have to reach from the side. The side with the hairdryer attachment. The attachment that had not been used yet that day, or so I thought. I reach over and feel my upperarm press against it. Only, my new employee; well, she had attempted to use the machine. Several times. My arms flesh stuck to the hairdryer attachement. I took a deep breath in, said "excuse me, I need to go put some water on this" and walked away. After I came back from the ladies room, with my spanking new oval brand, she just kind of shrugged her shoulders and said something along the line of these things happen. Not a reaction I would expect when you've just injured your coworker. Most everyone else's reaction has been a little stronger from the "did you scream, I would have" to "that's going to scar".
It's growing on me. I always wanted a cool tatoo, a cool scar wouldn't be bad. It only hurts when my shirt rubs it, and it is shortsleeve weather here, so I'm good.

spring fever

It's finally May, school is almost out (last day May 24), and I have a "I don't give a ---- attitude" towards anything related to my son's school.
This year was the first year where I held a board position for the PTO. Today I received feedback that would have been helpful back in August, but is useless for me now. There has also developed "cattiness" towards the end, which I'm not comfortable with - I am a "settle your problem face-to-face" kind of gal. The migraines this has caused I am not willing to endure anymore. It has been more work than I thought it would be, and not something I am anxious to repeat. So, in two short weeks I get to hand off all the headaches to someone else. Yea!!
I love volunteering, but I don't want the responsibility anymore. So I will be uber-volunteer, but no more.

job update

It looks like my co-worker will continue working with us (yay). Unfortunately, it was a rather bitter pill for her to swallow when she realized that the higher ups were questioning her integrity. As she put it, "I guess I won't be going very far in this company - they're will always be something in the back of their minds, questioning whether or not I am loyal". The sad thing is, she is incredibly loyal.

work woes

Things are about to get heated up at my work. We are approaching one of the busiest times of the year for us, we just had someone quit with absolutely no notice, and now we have an "ethics" issue to face. My coworker happens to have a relative that just opened the same type of business as us but one block down the street. This coworker did tell my boss before the competitor opened that it was her brother and has tried to stay out of any business that we have dealing with this competitor, so as not to appear influenced or biased by the competitor.
Well, it seems my boss never passed this information on to the powers above him. Yesterday we received a call from our regional manager, asking what the heck was going on, that he had received a call from the college that we work with that there was a conflict of interest going on at the store. My poor coworker was in tears - she had done her job, had reported to her supervisor that there was a possible conflict, but my boss chose not to do anything. Now whether or not he did this because he knew the results would be if he did report it, I don't know. I don't know what his reasoning was, since he was out yesterday, golfing. So today I get to go and find out if we lost one most loyal employees or not.

Field Day

My son has field day at his school, the one day a year where the children are actually allowed to play for an extended amount of time with no worries about studies. Each classroom is assigned a "spirit color". Since there are about 10 second grade classes, the color choices are limited and one class will get stuck with a tough color, a color like purple. Now those of you who have girls probably are saying "What's the big deal?", purple is a popular color. It is - for girls. For boys, not so popular. In fact, I've been to several stores looking for a simple purple tee for a boy and have not found one. They have pink, turquoise, peach, but no purple. I decided that I would just dye a white tee shirt purple, maybe make it tie die. The boy was adamantly against this idea. Actually, he was adamantly against any purple tee.
Now, I'm not one to pressure him on clothing choice. In fact, most days he looks like a blind hobo when he walks out the door with the choices he makes in clothing. However, I know that as soon as he gets to school he'll want to have a purple shirt like everyone else in his class. I know from experience - the last two years of field day.
So, I was still going to die the shirt and stuff it into his backpack so he would have it when he went to school and changed his mind. We happened to go to a sport shop to look for a birthday gift for his dad who needed some new work out clothes. Dad happens to like the Armour line of work out clothes - they are a tight fitting, spandex/lycra combo type of clothing. We picked out a new shirt for his dad - there was purple as a choice. Hmm. Let's check the kids section son.
Sure enough, they have the same style shirt in kids sizes. I mention he could try it on, but don't worry if you don't like it. He tries it on, is a bit self conscious (it is tight fitting). When I mention that it's more of a running shirt, it's ok that it doesn't fit; he tells me that he'll be running, maybe we could get the bigger size.
The power of dad. A shirt which would never have been considered if it weren't for the fact that his dad wears the same one. The superpowers of dad.

Green, green, green

Today, being my day off, is the day I would normally tackle the lawn. I have yet to mow it since last time, when I had no gas, fugitively and literally. I went out and bought the additive for the weed whacker, made sure there was enough gas for both lawnmower and weedwhacker and was all set to mow today. But then...I forgot to turn the sprinklers off. The grass is soaked. It would normally dry by midmorning (our temps. have been in the low 90's). But we also got rain showers; drenching, soaking, lightening-inducing rain. There is a lovely little river running from my backyard to the street. I don't think I'm mowing today either. Instead, I'm going to watch the jungle that was once my lawn grow even more.

Comings and goings

Hubby was able to come home this weekend in between business trips. It was nice to have him home again. He was suppososed to leave again on Wednesday to a foreign country, but that country is currently having a coup, and the powers that be decided that it would be bad to send people into a country that everyone else is fleeing at the moment. So that trip was cancelled.
Unfortunately, he still has to go on another trip. His grandmother passed away yesterday and he needs to be with the family for the wake and funeral. It is a sad event, but not completely unexpected.
His grandmother chose (I truly believe this) to die exactly three years to the day that her husband died. She had been preparing herself and her family for some time now. She's been giving away things and saying that there was nothing left for her to do on this planet. Then she took a very sudden unexpected bad turn in health and things went downhill rather quickly. I don't know how, but she just knew it was her time to go. We'll miss her.

Vacation plans

I'm finally done. I've been making plans for Hawaii in a rather piecemeal fashion for the last few months. My sister-in-law is getting married there in July. It will be a small wedding, as my husband's family is in no way wealthy and I do not think the groom's side is either. The ceremony is on the island of Kauai, which is supposed to be a very beautiful, relaxing, tropical paradise. We're making the trip into our 10 year anniversary get away as well. It may be a year late, but we never celebrate on the actual day anyway.
We'll be able to socialize with the other adults without worrying about anyone's bedtime besides our own. Hubby and I are going sans child, as I feel that the boy will not appreciate the wonders of the island and therefore does not warrant the cost of the trip. He gets to go to his grandparents house, for quality time and activities that he will find much more enjoyable than staring at sunsets - fun stuff like fort building, fishing, and silly time with cousins. My sister-in-law is disappointed; but hey, she is not paying for the trip!

Silent birth

Silent birth and Scientology. It's been in the entertainment news a lot lately, with many an opinion given over whether or not it is a good idea. I've thought back to my son's birth and wondered if I would have liked to have gone the "scientology way" with the delivery.
Let me clarify that - I could not have gone complete, no spoken word - I had previously undiagnosed serious complications that had to be talked about during the delivery. However, because of these complications, I was not allowed to take the route of epidurals and painless bliss. Yet, I did not scream during delivery. In fact, I kept shushing people - the doctor counting to ten (he counted to slow everytime), hubby counting and talking (shh - just hold my hand), and I found the noise of the nurses disturbing. I've also been in several delivery rooms, and all the noise from the various relatives and friends who were there is distracting and not helpful. So this point I have to cede to the Scientologists.
(Does this mean I have to like Tom Cruise now?)
Scientology suggests that the noise of birth can be disturbing for the child and that years later some of what was said during birth might resurface from the subconscience and cause repricussions. I don't agree with that. If you are told to "push, push" in delivery, years later when you tell your child to "push, push" a toy, I doubt he will experience pyschologial trama from the resurfacing memories. I don't believe any memories at that birth will resurface.
I like the idea of a quiet birth (I did not say silent), but not the Scientology reasoning behind it. So, I believe I can continue with my distain of all that is Tom Cruise with a clear conscience.

Things that shouldn't need explaining...

Things that shouldn't need explaining, but do to a 7 year old:

Juice pouches once opened can not be stored back in their lunch kit. They will leak all over binders, backpacks, and couch seats.

spring cleaning

It's a beautiful day out - the sun is shining, it's in the low 70's, perfect for doing lawnwork. Let me go to the shed, pull out the huge box of outdoor toys (the box which is made of leftover plywood from the hurricanes, the box which weighs more than the entire shed and gives splinters at the merest brush of flesh against it), wiggle the lawnmower out of its corner. Start it up, well try. Nearly rench my arm out of it's socket as I continously pull the start string. Finally get it going, only to run out of gas. No problem, I'll just refill the tank with the spare - oh it's empty. It's blade needs to be sharpened anyway and I can't figure out if clockwise or counterclockwise to loosen it.
Well, I'll weedwhack instead. After throwing the weedwhacker to the ground out of frustration (you need longer arms than mine to use it's start string), realize it's out of gas as well. It's spare tank is too. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Maybe I'll just sit and enjoy my flowers. The grass will be here tomorrow.

Hectic life

Things are a little crazy around here. Hubby is away on business, pretty much through the first week of May. All the end of year activities for my son's school are cycling into high gear, which means I'm busier than usual. I'm back on my regular work schedule, with no more days off until July. On top of that, my friend went back into the hospital today, with more complications from the birth of her second daughter. So, if I post more infrequently than usual, you know why.

Karma gives back

As you know, I volunteer at my son's school on Fridays. I also volunteered yesterday to help out with spring portraits. I come prepared, spray bottle full of water to knock down those crazy cowlicks. I know as a parent I would like to have the best picture possible of my child and I tried to make that happen for them yesterday. We have over 1400 students at my son's school, so I helped quite a few of them put on their best smile.

Today, as I was wandering the halls, I had the pleasant surprise of "random hugging". As I went into classrooms, I'd be surprised by little arms going around my waist with a sweet hug for me. I don't know these children, but I helped their classes yesterday and they certainly seemed to like me! I'm glad they feel comfortable in giving me those hugs - I might not know their names, but I do care for my little friends.

Then when I checked my email this afternoon (the one time I don't check my email in the morning), I was notified that I had won $100 from a opinion website to which I belong. How cool is that?

Real friends

My best friend just had a baby this past Friday. She had a C-section, so even though she is now home, she is definitely not at 100%. Unfortunately, she has a had a run of bad luck since coming home. Her hubby took time off to help with the baby, but instead got a stomach virus and has puked for the last three days. (Sidebar: a woman would not allow herself to be sick in this situation - she would swallow some Tums and suck on some ginger candy but would not get sick. Mothers have this superhuman ability.) She can't drive herself anywhere, yet so I've done some shopping for comfort foods for her hubby while she cared for the baby. Another neighbor has been able to go over during the day to give her a hand as well.
Yesterday evening I got a call from her - she was having chest pains and needed to get to the hospital STAT! Hubby couldn't drive her - he barely could stand. She was able to get in touch with her mother, but she needed someone to care for the 5 day old baby while she was at the hospital. Luckily, I was available to help.
When I got there, she was crying. Not because of the pain in her chest but because she has to keep asking her friends and family for help. I had to laugh at her because what is the definition of a friend? I believe it is someone will stick by you in good times and in times. She can only look at things that are happening right now, that she thinks she is a burden on us. Where as I see it as payback for all the help she has given me over the years. It is her house we stayed at for over a month while we waited to close on our house (she was pregnant and due to have her baby at that time too). It is her house I'll be at for company while hubby goes away on business trips for the next month and a half. As I see it, I'm just continuing the circle.

Note: My friend came home from the hospital - she is OK.

To TP or not to TP

Tell me something, faithful readers, have you ever toilet papered (TP'd) a house? Was it a friends or someone you did not like?
I ask this question as this past Saturday, my neighbor's across the street were visited by some nocturnal female guests, those who were carrying armfuls of Charmin'. Number one son was kind enough to notify me of these actions, as was watching from his bedroom window. Of course, he was supposed to be sleeping, but that is neither here nor there. So I, the perpetual nosy neighbor who can not mind her own business walk across the street, up to one of the girls and say, "So, what do you think you are doing?" She drops here TP and starts to tell one of the other girls to get down from the tree she is in. The leader of the group, a girl who lives 2 doors down, tells me her sage - one of being wronged, cheatin' boyfriend JR and revenge.
Now, I don't see anything necessarily evil about the act of TPing a house, but I knew my neighbor would. She moved here from a different country and has different beliefs, values, and ideas about what is appropriate for children to do or not do. I told the girl that I understood where she was coming from, but if Jr's mom asked me who did it, I would tell her. The girl couldn't understand why I would do such a thing. I tried explaining how Jr's mom would be the one cleaning it up, how it wouldn't be fair to her, etc. The girls got the glossy eyed looked teens get when listening to an adult and then promptly took off.
Needless to say, Jr.'s family came home, they knocked on our door to see if we knew what happened, we told, Jr's mom and dad then went to the girl's house to tell her mom. It took those girls over 2 hours to clean up the mess. I hope they learned their lesson.

Lurking in the woods

As I've mentioned before, my family and I go "geocaching". If you did not read that post, it is where you take a portable GPS, enter map coordinates from the geocache website, and then search in the great outdoors for a "cache" that has been hidden by some individual. Last weekend we went on a search for treasure, and boy did we see some unexpected things.
The coordinates that we had led us along a off-road path, that looked to be frequented by all terrain vehicles on a regular basis. To the left of this winding path there was a berm and on the other side of that, a bayou (which is really just a very large, natural drainage ditch). As we closed in on our target, we had to veer off the path and up the berm. Hubby had the boy and I wait while he went up, so he could check to be sure that it was not a sudden drop off or anything dangerous.
Hubby goes up, hubby quickly comes back down.
(ME) "Is it clear for us to go over?"
(Hubby) "No, we better wait a few minutes."
(ME) "Why?"
(Hubby) "There are people there, and they need a few minutes"
(ME, the dense one) "What are they doing - did they find the cache?"
(Hubby) "No, they are busy."
(ME) "Huh?"

(Who knows what they were doing? Anyone, anyone?)

(Hubby in a whisper so the boy doesn't hear, since boy is now getting antsy)
"They're having sex!"

Ohhh. Well I lead the boy off to the an area a little bit to the left and actually found the cache. The couple soon left on their ATV, and we were able to finish our walk. I bet that couple never expected company when they planned their rendezous.
As a side note, Hubby and I both were itching with some severe poison ivy from that trip. Ours was on our legs (we both had worn shorts), I can only imagine where the two lovebirds were scratching!
their poison ivy!

Vacation bummer

I just got back from the dentist - no cavities but I do need two crowns (I had many cavities when I was much younger). $2200, not covered by insurance. Yikes. At least I'll be back at work next week, so that'll cover costs, right?

Wrong. It seems there was a directive sent down from headquarters that all stores had to cut payroll. It doesn't matter that our store was $30,000 under budgeted payroll. We still have to reduce. Which means I work two days next week, and no days the week after. Another vacation, only it won't be paid. I'm upset but not too badly. Yes, I would like the money so I can fix my teeth, but if it had to happen, now is a good time. I have no day care cost right now, my dear friend is expecting her 2nd child any day now, hubby will be away and I'll be able to get things done during the day, and the weather is very mild and pleasant so I can enjoy myself outside.

Plus, we've always budgeted on hubby's salary alone, that way in case things like this happen we would not be in trouble. Many of my friends laugh at me for this, but I'm frugal for a reason. We had this sort of thing happen 2 times before and we learn from our experiences. So, I'm going to go plant some flowers, weed my garden, and just in general enjoy my day.

Vacation..or is it?

My work is closed this week, so I have a week off to get everything done on my "to do" list which I've have been slowly adding to for the last few months. I don't know why I think I can get the list done other than the fact that I'd hate to waste my week and I know that hubby will be gone for several weeks which will leave me no time to do any of the things on the list.
It is such an exciting list - paint walls, wash all windows (inside and out), plant flower garden, wash down all woodwork in house, clean blinds, finish mailing out tax documents, give blood, etc.
I have actually written down fun things as well. Our museum of Natural History is hosting Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS 3: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, which I can't wait to see. I'll even use my new knowledge of public transportation to get there.

fright meets sight

As I have mentioned in the past, my eyesight leaves something to be desired. In fact, if I don't have my glasses on, you need to be at the most 3 inches from my face for me to see clearly. So, in a sense, without my glasses on I am blind, blind, blind.
This leads me to a story from when hubby and I were just married and had recently moved overseas. I was still getting used to the newness of the country and to the fact that he kept leaving for 2 weeks to months at a time. I had heard lots of rumors about how Americans were often targets of burgalries, and how we should keep our windows locked tight.
Well, it was summer time and hot; so my my windows were open - their heavy wooden blinds rolled up and gigantic windows propped all the way open. Hubby was away for training, and it was just me in our sparsly decorated Italian apartment. Needless to say, I was a bit paranoid and jittery. I had finally fallen asleep only to be awoken by the sight of a dark figure near my window. My eyes, which had been half open, sprang wide and I screamed at the top of my lungs. (Up to this point I never knew if I was going to be to scared to move or say anything if this type of situation were to arise. I now knew the answer) The figure jumped, turned around and started saying in English (1st clue)"What, what is it?!?" and "It's me, honey, it's me." Well, after a quick fumbling with the nightstand I found my glasses and saw my hubby, who had come home early from a training exercise. Whoops. I was thankful that no other folks were living in our apartment building at the time. I can only imagine what they would have done if they had heard my blood curdling scream.

Southerners

I've been thinking of the subtle differences that exist between Southerners and Northerners and have tracked down their origins. What I am referring to is the extreme friendliness of Southerners. If you are walking down the street, going into the market, or coming out of a restaurant, you can often find yourself being greeted by perfect strangers who insist on looking you in the eye as they greet you. It is not just "hi" or "excuse me" it is "how are you doing today?" or "it sure is a beautiful day, isn't it?". As a transplanted Northerner, I still find this disturbing. What ever happened to looking at your feet as you pass a person and the slightly gruff "thanks" or simple nod of the head you would give in acknowledgement to a stranger as they held the door open for you? Why be so personal? Southerners also tend to hang out in their garages a lot. You'll see people with their lawn chairs just sitting in an open garage, watching the traffic go by. Again, up north, garages are for cars and junk. There usually isn't room for a sittee, never mind leaving the door open to watch the traffic go by.

As I said earlier, I have traced the roots of this behavior and now know the answer as to why there is such different behavior among the states. Simply put, it is the weather. Southerners spend much more time out doors, since they are not freezing their keisters off during the winter time, so they interact with society much more often than Northerners. The garage social scene is a way to enjoy the day, but not get too hot in the sun. Northerners, on the other hand, are used to rushing from one building to the next or from the car to the store in an attempt to stay warm while being exposed to as little cold air as possible. Who has time for friendly conversation when your nose is about to fall off from the cold? They need to conserve heat, not make new friends.

So, I'm off to go enjoy my warm March weather. Perhaps I'll take a walk around the neighborhood, greeting every person I walk by including the garage society.

Flowers

I finally got my flowers - yesterday at work I had a special delivery. It seems hubby decided to go with another company, one more reliable. The delivery person was under strict instructions that only I could sign for them, so that there could be no confusion over who and where they got delivered. I had figured the flowers were a thing of the past, but hubby felt that I deserved them, even if they were 2 weeks late. He definitely earned some points for that. I'm so lucky to have him in my life.

He didn't know he was broken

I brought my rabbit in to get neutered. Some people wonder why I did that, since I have just the one and he is a male. Well, I was tired of being "loved" by the rabbit every chance he could. Plus, male rabbits spray their territory and he made the mistake thinking I was his territory one too many times. This should help his bad behaviors dissipate somewhat. We'll see. Right now he is content to stare at me balefully, with a look that says "why would you be so cruel to me". He'll heal, but I'm feeling a bit guilty. Hubby is taking the rabbits side, which is in itself surprising since he goes on about how tasty rabbit stew would be, but then again they are both guys and the surgery touches on a tender area.

In my search to find a vet who does take care of rabbits, I came across a a nonprofit organization that helps place abandoned rabbits. They list vets who neuter, but a lot the information was out of date and the prices were much lower than the going rates for today. I contacted them about it and received a prompt email back. They appreciated my input, but needed a volunteer who would update the list. Guess who volunteered? I can't help it - I truly enjoy helping individuals or animals in need. If you don't have a voice, I will be your voice. It's my nature, something I can't change, and I don't want to either. All my life I have been drawn into the roll of rescuer. Maybe it is a second child trait, I don't know. What I do know is I have a pile of work to do this weekend - type PTO minutes (volunteered to step in for the missing secretary
); count, cut and mail in boxtops (volunteered to be the school's liaison for community fundraising), help with the cubscouts, and now update the bunny vet list. Those are just my volunteer commitments, never mind my "real" life. Oh well, I enjoy it.

Jury duty

I survived jury duty, with nary a scratch upon me. I was out the door by 6:30am, after reminding hubby that he had to make luch for the boy. I was a bit worried that I would miss my bus due to the fact that the drive to the park and ride took longer than I thought it would. It seems a car was broken down in the left hand lane and was snarling the traffic for miles. I made it to the station with seconds to spare, walking from the parking lot right onto the bus I waved my jury summons at the bus driver (it is free to use public transportation when reporting to jury duty as long as you show your summons to the driver)and sat down for the ride in. The use of public transportation was very smart of me for several reasons. The garage that the internet recommended jurors park in has not yet been completed, and I doubt the construction workers care all that much about keeping the paint job on the car pristine. It was also quite fun to watch the rest of the traffic that was at a standstill as we whisked by in the HOV lane. What would normally be an hour drive was just a 30 minute ride for me.

I knew I had to walk a few blocks to the courthouse when I got off the bus, but was unsure of the exact way. Luckily, the woman who got off the bus ahead of me was going in the same direction and guided me to my location. (Thank you kind stranger!). The county I am in does many jury pools in one day, with about 1500 people called in to serve that day. I was polled for a civil trial, which I was happy for since they usually last just a day or two. I didn't actually get selected for the jury, as I was potential juror #26 (remember, they only need 12). Some of the potential jurors were very obvious in their attempts to get removed from the jury pool. If I had been selected, I might have had to ask to be excused anyway - the plaintiff's lawyer had such a heavy Louisiana accent that I was having a difficult time understanding him!

We were dismissed around lunchtime and I headed to my bus stop, which was different than the one from the morning. I circled a 3 block radius a couple times, asked the homeless guy at corner three if he knew where my stop was (he tried to help, but actually had me going the completely wrong way), waved to homeless guy #2 as I passed him again as I and finally found my way. Luckily, the bus comes every 40 minutes, so I didn't miss it and in fact got a little exercise in the process.

Civic Minded

Tomorrow I report for jury duty and I am hoping it is an uneventful experience. I think most of the experience will be taking public transportation downtown. I had planned on hubby driving me, but that put us in a jam when it came to the boy. I have to leave the house at 6:30am to make jury duty at 8:00am. The boy does not wake upo until 7:00am and his bus leaves at 8:15. Since none of us know how to time travel, it'll be best for me to just ride the bus and have hubby put the boy onhis school bus in the morning. My neighbor will watch the child in the afternoon if I'm not home in time.

Although I think being on a trial jury would be neat, I don't want to get picked. Arranging care in the morning for my son will be difficult, since hubby normally leaves the house by 5:45am. I don't think his boss will appreciate him arriving late and leaving early, nor will he be able to get any of his work done.

My work can get buy without me, we are in a slow period right now. In fact, it would probably help our budget if I didn't show for work.

Wish me luck. I'll just have to go in saying "I have no problem listening to the evidence, but we can skip it 'cause they'll all guilty anyway."

Flower Update

For those who were curious, I never received my flowers. Plus, every attempt to contact FTD was met with failure. The hold time was estimated to be over one hour, and it was, since I actually was on hold for more than two hours one night before I gave up. I say one night, because I have tried to call them every day since Valentine's day and there has been no connection, just the indefinite limbo of the "hold system", which is an attempt to get you to hang up before speaking with a real person. Why else would they play muzack from the early 80's?
They also did not respond to any emails sent by hubby, even though the website said the response would be within 24-48 hours. If this is any indication as to how well they handle the holidays, I would strongly suggest not to use FTD Florists.

Valentine's Day

Let me tell you about my Valentine's Day. It has fury, mystery, humor and romance.

I came downstairs and saw on my kitchen table two cards, one from my son and one from my husband. My son was very creative - he had folded paper accordian style into a heart which I could open up to read the message in side. He had also enclosed a dollar bill, since he loves getting money so he figured I would too. Very sweet.

Let's see what else hubby left. Two cadbury creamy eggs. My thought: It's Valentine's Day, not Easter. Why the negativity? I knew hubby had gone out at 10pm the night before, and I assumed this is all he got. I had gotten his gift weeks ago and had actually put thought into it. I try to think positively - the card is very sweet, I knew when I married him that romanticism was not a word in his vocabulary.

Off to work I go, where I am surrounded by tales of plans of romance and fun. I steam, and futively hope that something will arrive at work for me, which is silly since he is not romantic.

The day passes; I go home, debate whether or not to wash the car for hubby, say "screw it he got me nothing", sit on the couch and read, hubby comes home.
He asks "How was your day?", my response "It was OK".
He stares at me and says "Just OK?" "Yes, why are you staring?"
He looks around, then goes upstairs to get changed. Comes back down. "Did you get your gift?"
"Yes, I got the card on the table this morning."
"Anything else?"
"The 2 Cadbury eggs" What significance of those candy eggs that he wants to bring them up again?
"Nothing at work?"
"No, was there supposed to be?" my heart perks up.
Come to find out; yes, there was supposed to be a delivery of flowers at work. For whatever reason they didn't come. Sweetie is a romantic and was thinking of me throughout the day.
Hubby is furious they didn't get delivered - he did notice the chill in the air when he came home. He searched the house to see if I had put the flowers somewhere, anywhere. As he put, it's not fair his heart was in the right place, he even wanted to show me the receipt to prove that he ordered them.

I didn't need to see a receipt. All I needed was to feel appreciated. Once he told me that he had sent flowers, it did not matter that I didn't get them. It may have actually helped that I didn't get them, because I could appreciate the thought more that was behind the action. We were actually able to get several laughs out of it, especially as he told me his impressions on things when he came home, which would not have occurred if the flowers had actually been delivered.

Final note, especially if hubby is reading. This only works once. :)

flirting with fame

If you go to www.gofugyourself.typepad.com, you'll see a picture labeled "meet the fuggers". Shanna Moakler is in it. I know her(actually I know her brother better). As teenagers/young adultss, hubby and I used to hang out at her family home. It is so odd to see a person who is "famous" and know that you have seen her in a less than desirable state many times, perhaps hugging the porcelain god once or twice. And to know that she comes from a very "normal" New England home. Her dad is a dentist, for goodness sake.

Hi

Just got off the phone with my nephew.

He said "Hi"

He's 17 months old.

He talks to no one on the phone. Not his mother, not his nana, not his papa, no one.

He said hi to me. Twice

Don't I feel special (can you see my ear to ear grin from there?).

School Zone

I was running errands the other day and one of the streets I travel on has 3 school zones: 2 elementary and 1 middle school. I happened to hit them at the time when school was letting out, so instead of being able to go 40 mph, I had to go 20mph. Rather frustrating since I had to run my errands before the boy got home, which gave me all of 17 min. At one point on this road, there is a section where you can go back to the normal speed limit. For whatever reason, my gut said don't.

I looked to my left and I saw groups of children walking on the sidewalk, going home. I noticed one girl who decided to cross the street; not at a corner where there is a crosswalk, but in the middle of the street. I watched her as she meandered across the street, looking straight ahead. She got to the island in the street, crossed that and walked right in front of my MOVING vehicle. Luckily, I was paying attention and did "the swerve and hit the brakes" manuever in time. She saw my car the moment she was in front of it, not a second before. I could tell this by the look of utter shock and fear on her face when her short life probably passed in front of her eyes. She had no headphones on, she wasn't talking to any of the other kids across the street, she just was oblivious.

Morale of this story: honor all school zone speed limits. They do save lives.

The cold that would not leave

I'm still sick, which is amazing to me since I usually get a stuffy nose for 2 days and then I am done with it. Instead, I've had this silly chest cold, stuffy head, on again/off again fever for 5 days. Today I am going to attempt to work out. We'll see how exhausted I become.

The boy recovered quickly - he was back at school on Monday. However, when I spoke with his teacher on Friday, she did say he had been very well behaved and quiet throughout the week (which is not normal for him). He might still have some of the lasting effects of the cold. He slept through the first hour of Saturday morning cartoons, which never happens. He is usually up before they even start, parked on the couch, watching an informercial in anticipation of the cartoon that is sure to come on shortly.

insomnia

It's 3:30 am and I am wide awake. It may have something to do with my chest cold, it might be that cup of coffee I had at 7:00 pm or it might be that my body has turned into a fine tuned machine that needs no sleep. Whatever it is, I'm up.

A smart person would take advantage of this extra time and do some of those tasks that she had been putting off for months. Yet, after I tossed in a load of laundry in the washing machine and folded the one in the dryer, I've drawn a blank. I know entering an instant win contest on line (I didn't win) was not my only priority, but it is the only thing I've accomplished so far.

To be honest there are a few things I can think of, such as doing some accounting for my son's PTO; but if I've put them off this long, I certainly can't accomplish them with little sleep, can I? Maybe I'll give it a whirl. If nothing else, it might help put me back to sleep.

The Plague

This past week at work has been interesting. On Monday there was one person out, on Tuesday there were two. On Wednesday there were four...a plague has hit my office, one that involves high fevers and severe vomiting. Which is always fun for those of us with stronger immune systems. My boss showed a much more caring side of himself by asking everyone as they came in, "How are you feeling?" and "How are the kids feeling?". Well, it wasn't really caring. We have a very small staff and when 4 people are out in a day, that is over half our work force. That meant my boss had to pick up some of the slack. Of course, so did the rest of us, but I found it to be a fun challenge to see just how many tasks I could complete in one day. I did pretty well, even though my standard answer to many a customer "well, I'm pretty sure we've ordered those and normally I'd transfer you to D, but she's out and so is L. her backup...so...".

I was bragging about how many family has a strong immune system yesterday and of course it came back to bite me. My seven year old came home from school complaining of an upset stomach - uh oh - and he didn't want his afternoon snack. In the morning He had said he had a headache, but I thought it was the "I don't want to go to school so I have a headache" type of pain. Red flags started waving and sirens were going off in my head. Quick temperature check - 102.5. I'm surprised he lasted all day in school.
He's still got that same fever today, but nothing else. On the bright side, it is the weekend so none of us have to miss work of school. On the negative side, we actually had a full weekend of events planned, with birthday parties and hockey games to go to. Looks like our schedules are going to need some rearranging.

4 things....

Thanks to Wally, you have the following lists to contemplate.

Four jobs I have had:

Archaeologist
EMT
Postal Clerk
Bookkeeper

Four movies I would watch over and over:

Shawshank Redemption
Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
American History X
...No others come to mind...


Four favorite foods:

Coffee icecream
Stuffed zucchini flowers
Rissoto ai gamberi
Red velvet cake

Four places I have lived:

Vicenza, Italy
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Long Island, NY
Houston, TX

Four place I've been on vacation:

Disneyworld, Fl.
Grand Canyon, Az.
Pompeii, Italy
Innsbrook, Austria

Four Websites I visit daily:
Fat Cyclist
envoy-ette
the resident curmudgeon
this mom blogs

Four places I'd rather be:

Actually, I enjoy where I am but if I have to answer the following would apply because it's where family and friends are:

Arizona (the whole state since they are spread out)
Rhode Island (hey, it is small enough that I don't need to name a city)
Florida
Kentucky

Back to normal

Work has finally slowed down enough so I only need three hands instead of the two bodies and 6 arms I've felt like I needed two weeks ago. We are starting to get back feedback from our corporate office, and have heard positive things. Bonuses have come into the store (no I won't see them directly, life's not that good), and congratulatory notes are coming in as well. It is good to be recognized by the higher ups since the boss doesn't care.
I'm still sticking to my New Year's resolutions of being less judgemental of my co-workers (I said less, which means I can judge a little), although they try me, oh they try me. When I correct someone, I expect them to take heed of what I say; not do the same error three more times. With me correcting them again. Between each error.
With it slowing down, I've been able to get back into my workout routine. I'd love to be able to run in a 10K race. This is quite a challenge for me since (1) I find running to be one of the most boring sports ever invented and (2) I seem to have developed a sharp pain in my heel which flares up every time I try to run. We'll see how it goes. I'll have to find a race and sign up for it and then let you know. You will keep me accountable for my commitments. I'd be too embaressed not to follow through.

Geocaching

Over the holiday, hubby was given a GPS device from his mom, with the thought that he would enjoy using it for a hobby called "geocaching". In geocaching (gc), you go to the gc website and look up coordinates for "treasures" that are buried in your area. You enter then into the GPS unit and then you are off to find the cache. Once there, you log your visit into the log book, take a small prize and leave one behind. Sometimes there is a "travel bug" that has a certain destination in mind, that you might want to help move along.
While we were on the East coast we picked up one that wanted to travel along Route 6. We helped it go 1500 miles by taking it back to Texas with us and leaving it in a cache on Route 6 here. We logged it on the gc website so its owner could follow its adventures. It is a cheap hobby once you have your GPS unit, and it gives one the chance to see parts of the local neighborhood which you likely would never visit on your own plus enjoy the outdoors at the same time.
Since we've been back, we've gone every weekend. It is a very reasonable family fun event where anyone of us is likly to find the cache. Our 7 year old has had as much success as we have. Sometimes it helps to be on his eye-level, especially when the cache is hidden in the hollow of a dead tree. It is comical at times to watch us wading through overgrowth; we are not as stealthy as we should be, but we are enjoying ourselves.

New Year's Resolutions

With the new year comes the new year's resolutions, which I absolutely detest. Normally, I would skip all pretenses of declaring how I will change in the coming year since, let's face it, 90% of resolutions are broken within the first two weeks anyway. However, this year I made one resolution: To be more tolerant of my coworkers. Notice how I did not say of people in general, no I am trying to be realistic in my goal. So far, I am sticking with it, although several of my coworkers are not following my lofty ambitions. They know of it and have already said to me several times "still going for that resolution, are you?".

Hubby has also made some resolutions, ones which I don't think are all that important. I have a list he could have chosen instead which would have much better benefits for me, but I guess it is about his growth not mine. One of his resolutions is to reduce clutter. Great, super. His computer desk is a mess, as is his garage space and his half of the closet. Except, he doesn't start in these areas, he starts in on MY kitchen counters. I walked into the kitchen yesterday, and notice that several utensils that I keep in a caddy missing. In fact, all of the utensils are missing and caddy is empty. Hubby thought it was cluttered and decided to put them in the already cluttered utensil drawers. I happen to look across the kitchen, as I am drawing a deep breath, and I see that the bread machine is gone. Where to? The garage. Why? Because that is where he plans to put his clutter, which makes no sense to me. Clear it out, don't just move it to a new space. Plus, he wanted to see if I would notice. Arrrghh!!!! Work on your clutter not mine!!

After a heated discussion, in which I insinuated that I would start in on his clutter if he didn't leave mine alone and he would find that it was gone for good; we agreed that he would focus on his own things first. This resolution thing is for the dogs.

Final Vacation Post

After our long plane ride home, we got home late Sunday night. We walk in the house, verify Santa came while we were gone and send the boy up to get ready for bed. I hear him exclaim "Hey, who cleaned the house?". Of course the answer is no one,I cleaned it before I left. I hate coming home from a trip to a messy home.
Finally, my efforts have been recognized by family. It has nothing to do with the fact that my stepmother-in-law's house was full of clutter and mine is not. No, I choose to believe that my son just decided to recognize all the hard work I do around the house. Na,na,na,na - I can't hear you if you are saying anything different!

More vacation tales

So Christmas morning I hear stirring in the room my son is sleeping in. I pray that he waits a little longer before getting out of bed (it is 5:15). I also hope that he is not disappointed when he sees that "Santa" has left him but one gift here at my in-laws, and remembers that Santa was stopping at our house in Texas instead. I also hear the steady beat of a cold rain against the roof top. Luckily, baby boy goes back to sleep.

It's now 7:30 and I decide I have made J wait long enough to get out of bed. He hears me open the bedroom door and comes bouncing out of his room.
"Mom, Mom, I heard Santa's reindeer last night! They were on the roof! I heard their hoofs!" It seems the downpour sounded differently to my son than it did to me. What joy is on his face as he tells me this wonderful news.
He is not disappointed in getting only one gift under the tree; in fact, he is amazed that Santa found him here at his Nonna and Pepere's house.

Meeting my nephew

My sister also flew in, and brought her 15 month old with her. This was the first time I met him, and he immediately was willing to go into my arms. That is, until he saw my husband, then he wanted to be in his arms! I dare say that hubby was his favorite person of all the visitors; each time the baby saw him he would reach his arms out to be held by hubby, or would run around the table until he got to him. If hubby came in late, the little guy would squirm out of whomever's arms he was in and run over to hubby to hug his legs and ask for a lift up!

The little peanut is only 18 pounds (he doesn't eat anything) and into everything. When he laughs his eyes light up, his mouth goes wide, and then he's usually silent -a silent laugh. It is odd to see, but hilarious at the same time.

We were curious to see his reaction to me - after all, his mother and I are identical twins. Only once did it seem to throw him for a loop - he was crying and ran towards me, then suddenly stopped with a slightly confused look on his face as if to say "wasn't my mom just standing right there?" and turned back around to find his real mom.

Back from vacation

Hello, I'm back after a long vacation. Yes, as the old joke goes, I need a vacation from my vacation. Luckily I am off today before going back to work tomorrow.
Where to start telling you about my holiday? Hmm, this is a tough one, there was so much going on.
The morning we packed up to leave, my son couldn't understand why he wasn't allowed to wear his normal clothes. "But mom, it is short sleeve weather!" "Yes dear, it is here, but where we are going it is long sleeve and coat weather." After two long but uneventful flights, we arrived in New England to snow on the ground - yay! After getting the luggage and rental car we were off to my in-laws house. There, we were created with hugs and kisses and food, lots and lots of food, which was to be a theme throughout the holiday. My step-mom-in-law is a party person, who seems to know everyone in the state of RI, which although it is a small state it is not possible to do, and needs to invite them all over for at least one meal. Either that or she is going to their funeral - no word of a lie, she went to four funerals while we were there, and her relationship to the individual was convoluted to say the least.
We were up to midnight, including my 7 year old, and continued that theme of late nights for the rest of the holiday.