Twice this summer R has reminded me of my sister:
1) We'll all be outside and he'll be the only one that gets bitten by mosquitos. I remember that Jen used to work better for me than OFF Bug Spray. As long as she was near me, I wouldn't get bitten, but she would. Poor girl. I told R this and he thought that the two of them should have a game to see who gets the most bites in a timed competition, "as long as we have a lot of Calimine Lotion and Itch-X in the house, we'll be fine." Are you up for it sistah???
2) I let each boy take seven bucks on our vacation. T's strategy was to spend it all at once on whatever he could (he chose polished rocks and a toy airplane -- neither of which is really a souvinere (sp) of where we were.) R, however, would ONLY buy something if he got change back.
Does this sound familiar, Sis??
The first thing that he bought cost two dollars. He had a five dollar bill and two singles. I told him he could give the clerk the two singles and he's still have his fiver to spend later. No, he said that he'd rather give her the five dollar bill so that he'd buy the toy AND get change back. "It's better this way, mom. I get more money and the toys." Okay.
Then, he chose not to buy this really cool thing at the fort that he wanted because he wouldn't get change back from his five dollars that he had left. As much as he wanted it, "it's not worth it, you know mom? Because I don't get any money back." He bought something little somewhere else and came home with three bucks and change.
Yesterday and today rivaled the heat records in my neck of the woods. It was 94 degrees yesterday, but *felt* like 108 due to the humidity -- that's what the weatherman said. I remember this "heat index" thing now from living in Chicago -- it feels hotter than it is because it's so darn sticky, sweaty, and sweltering. (It's just like the wind factor in the winter, but exactly the opposite -- ya know?)
Anyway, while all this heatness is going on, our central AC has been a workin' and a workin'. M has always said that our unit is too small for our house because it Never Stops. It's always running -- none of that on-for-awhile, off-for-awhile stuff for our little guy, nope. Once it's on, it's off and running.
Until yesterday at 4:00 pm. When it stopped. Completely.
I noticed that it was feeling a bit warm in the house. I wandered over to the thermastat to see if I had accidently turned it off for some reason or if it was set for "leave" -- which is what we do when we're out of town. Nope. It wasn't on "leave"...
and what was that temperature again, oh yeah EIGHTY degrees. Arghh! No wonder I was hot! Once I knew it was 80, it was really hot!
By the time night fell, it was 86 degrees inside. That's because it gets hotter here in the evening. What's up with that? At least in California, even when it was 100 during the day, it would COOL DOWN AT NIGHT. Not here, nope. It gets hotter...and stays humid. Yuck.
I checked the filter and it looked fine. I checked the breaker and it was fine. That's all I knew how to do. M was still out of town finishing the Port Huron to Mackinac race. So, I employed the two fans that we have in strategic positions and put the boys in a cool bath for an hour. By the time I went to bed at midnight, it was DOWN to 83 degrees in the house and 87 degrees outside.
I woke up at 5 in the morning and ran around opening the windows -- I was thrilled to get the temperature back down to 80 degrees (one degree short of my goal -- the 70's sound so much more tolerable than the 80's, ya know?)
Poor Emily the babysitter. She didn't bargain for what she got today. I gave her twenty bucks extra for hazard pay. I told her to get the kids wet every hour or so -- cool bath, water gun fight, running in the sprinklers, whatever it took. Then I told her to hold out in the basement where it was at least 15 degrees cooler. Finally, as a last resort, she could take them to her house if she wanted to. She's such a sweetheart and said that it was no problem :>
When I came home from work it was 88 degrees in the house and 85 degrees outside with not an inkling of a breeze in the air...and the air was thick with 80% humidity. Gross. Emily and the kids were melting in the living room watching a DVD, all with smiles on thier faces. Bless their hearts. Emily took her money and rushed out the door, promising that the day went along great.
Anyone for a leisurely dinner in air conditioned Red Lobster? Both boys said it sounded like a great idea. So we ran out the door too.
We're home from a very fun trip. There's a lot to tell, but I'm pretty pooped. M's boat was the 7th to the island -- pretty good :> They had over a day of no-wind (bad!) and a morning of a storm (good for wind!) They got in at about 8:00 in the morning on Monday. So, we got to play on the island for two days with him, which was great.I'll write more later, but here are the boy's favorite parts of our trip (I asked them earlier this evening):R: Eating fudge and playing at the kids' camp (at our second hotel after leaving Mackinac)T: The butterfly house and the fort.R: Oh yeah, and the fort. (How could he forget the fort??? He LOVED the fort!!!)
Here's two pics to keep your eagerness at bay until I write more:
Here's R posing with some soldiers at Fort Mackinac. R could have stayed there all day long and never have gotten bored.
T had good luck getting butterflies to land on him at the Butterfly House. (R was jealous until (thank goodness!) one landed on him too. Yes, that is a real butterfly on his hand. Too cool!
I love my boys. Sometimes I look at them and wonder how a mother can love her boys so much. Certainly no other mother can love her boys this much. It's really amazing how much they fill my heart. Watching them grow into such wonderful human beings is really a blessing.I was sick earlier this week and T picked me flowers and sat and rubbed my arm to make me know he loved me and let me literally feel his love. R helped me set the table and jumped up to help whenever I needed something -- "anything for a sick mom" he would say. They want to please... and they struggle with doing what seems like fun versus doing what will please me and M. You can see their brains nearly combusting with internal struggles. They usually error on the side of what I'd want them to do. They're young, after all. I know the ratio of doing what I want them to do and what they want to do will shift at some older age. But for now, they're on my side. And I love it....--------------------------------------------I'll be off-line until next weekend. (See below).
We're off on a family vacation. M is sailing from Chicago to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw - like our dog!) and we're going to go up there to greet him when he crosses the finish line. His boat is a biggie -- about 72 feet -- so he should finish in about 35-40 hours. The last time I waited for him to finish this race, it took him about 60 hours (smaller boat and no wind.) This one should be much better.
Here's a website that tells you about the race: http://chicagoyachtclub.org/racetomackinac/coursemap.cfm. M's boat is Porororoca (I think that's spelled right) in group GL 70 (the big boys) and we might be able to follow his progress on the computer (if his boat is one of those that is tracked.) I can't believe that he's racing with these big boats -- I've heard about Nitemare and the others -- they're fast! The residules of the hurricane are here, so we'll have isolated/scattered thunderstorms -- M doesn't mind that at all, it means he'll have WIND :>
The boys are SOOO excited about the trip. There are no cars allowed on the island -- only bikes and horses to get around. We'll have a good time for three days -- swimming in the hotel pool, touring the fort on the island, visiting the butterfly house, eating fudge, swimming in the cold lake, renting bikes for a bikeride (I checked and they do have bike trailers and kids seats for the boys.)
Here's a website that tells you about the island http://www.mackinacisland.org/visitor.php?pages=20.
We'll also spend a day or two at Sleeping Bear Dunes http://www.sleepingbeardunes.com/slideshows/beaches.html where we'll rent a canoe.
Here are the boys on canoes at Grammma Smith's house over the 4th. Riley's on the top pic, with his big cousin helping in the back.
T is having a great time, too. He looks so grown up, doesn't he?
I have a lot to do to day -- laundry, pack, take Mackinaw (named after said island) to her "sleepover camp" (aka really cool kennel that she loves), pick up the new Harry Potter book to read on the island, get some DVDs at the library for the kids to watch on the long drive there... I better get going!
Just a note:
There are two new blogs on the net for your reading pleasure. My sister and my cousin have joined the blogging world. Check out their blogs - you can click on them from here -- just go to the right-hand margin under "Blogs I like to Read."
Enjoy! Now, scroll below for your regularly scheduled blog...
Here's a picture of T that I love...so peaceful.--------------------------------------------------------------Tonight it was just me and the kids for dinner, because M isn't feeling well. (poor guy, I hope he doesn't have what I just got over.)Well, R could *not* stop talking! Ay yi yi.....he was all excited about a time machine that he wants to build. He went on and on. I'll try to remember some of his excited chatter (while T and I enjoyed our fruit salad, cresent rolls, and mac n cheese.)R: When I'm 8 I want to build a time machine. Or maybe when I'm seven. I'll be six in two weeks, so 7 isn't that far away. I'm going to build a really cool time machine. It will be successful (editor's note: yes, my brilliant almost-6-year-old used the word "successful"). It will be successful, not like those ones on TV that blow up. I'm going to take the bath tub to sit in and protect me for my trip.Me: How will the bathtub protect you?R: Well, if the bathtub protects you during a tornado it should be okay in a time machine. It will be really great to go back intime and see all of the things that we need to see...like the dinosaurs, except that they might eat me, or the cowboys and I could bring my guns, but they should be real for the trip. And I could take a clock and hook it up to the bathtub...that should work out good for going back in time. I would try to go into the future, but that's the trickiest...I'll work on that after I go back in history first.Me: That sounds really great. R, but I've never really heard of a time machine that works. Scientist have been trying to do that for years.R: Yeah, that's a good point, mom. Maybe my machine will take us to a place where people dress up like the people in the olden days and act out the things so it's just like you are there. That would be really great and awesome, you know? To see it just like it was back in time..and the houses could be like the olden day houses and the food could be like the food they had then. You know?Me: I think that's a good idea, R. Now, you let T talk for awhile and take three bites of mac n cheese.T: Moo. Mooo. Moo.Me: T can you speak human and not cow, I'm not good at cow language right now.T: Moo! Can I have some more fruit salad?
M is a sailor. Not the white hat, military kind of sailor...but, the sail on a sail boat kind of sailor. He's been sailing since he was about 8 years old. He learned on small boats on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin -- boats that took one or two kids to race. He's been racing big sailboats for about 10 years -- big, as in 32 feet or so big -- the kind that take about 7-9 people to sail in a race. He's done the legendary Chicago-to-Mackinac Island race about 6 times. (Even though you may not heard of the race, it is legendary. Ted Turner has even raced it on his sailing yacht.)Anyway, needless to say, M has wanted a sailboat FOREVER. When we moved to the Midwest from San Francisco (and had a big of jingle in our pockets) he wanted to buy a boat. But he also wanted to put in a pool, and he wanted to own some hunting property, and he wanted to own a cottage, and he wanted to upgrade our RV...am I missing anything? So, we made a deal. We set aside a bit of money and agreed (note, that means that we agreed together) that we would live through one summer and then decide which of the fun summer things we wanted to invest in -- the boat, pool, cottage, or RV. It would be silly to just jump into one of these expensive things without knowing where we'd rather spend our time (and money). We agreed to this. Together. Agreed.How is it that every other week, M has come to me with another "amazing deal" on a sailboat? Honey, this is such a bargain and she's a beauty (all boats are female, did you know that?) Each time, I would remind my darlin' that we agreed to a plan and wouldn't buy anything this summer. Then, there was the sailboat in Grand Haven that was in incredible condition -- no, I reminded him, we agreed that wouldn't buy a boat this summer. Each boat seemed to get more expensive. First they were in the $5K range, then somehow they crept up to an amazing deal at $9K. He wore me down (which was probably his plan to begin with.) I finally said, okay, if you can find a boat that works for the family for $1K we can get it this summer. Of course, I thought that this was impossible. After all, look at the price ranges that he was dealing with before.Well, I obviously don't know my husband very well, because I should have known a "mission" when I said one. For two weeks, he was online and on the phone, researching sailboats that were for sale in the closest five states. He learned about which fleets were active, which boats had benches (a stipulation that I had -- I hate sitting on the edge of the boat, and it's not safe for the kids), which boats were light enough for our SUV to pull on a trailer. I knew I was in trouble.He had it narrowed down to two kinds of boats -- Stars and Buccanneers. He found a Buccaneer in great shape a half an hour away from his mom's house. The Buccaneer is 18 feet long. As T says, "it doesn't have a basement" so there is no place to sleep. But she's a cutie! I'll post a picture as soon as I get one. Ours is sky blue with a red-and-white striped (like the Cat in the Hat's hat) spinnaker. We named her Yankee Doodle because of her colors and the fact that we got her on the 4th of July weekend. The name Firecracker was a close second; actually, it was the kids' favorite, but we wanted to show a bit more patriotism.M and the kids sailed it at his mom's house last week and had a great time. We put it in the nearby lake on Sunday and had a blast too. R is a natural sailor. When M told him to "cleat the jib" R knew exactly what to do! T was more interested in the snacks that I packed than learning how to sail, but he had fun too.Here's a website that shows some pictures of the Buccaneers, so you get a feel for her. They race them with two people, but you can sail with 4 or 5 pretty comfortably.http://www.buccaneer18.org/Yesterday, the wind picked up and the trees in our woods started really blowing, so he jumped in the car and went out and took Yankee Doodle for a spin around the lake before the thunderstorm started.My man has his boat...and he's a'grinnin' from ear to ear..
So, we've lived here for about nine months and have been itchin' to have a party. But, we haven't known anybody to invite. Now that we've been here a bit, M knows a lot of people in our neighborhood. He's like that...you know, Mr. Friendly. I like that about him. So, M designed an invitation for our shindig and I invited a few people from work and he invited, well...the whole neighborhood! Luckily not all could come and we had about 35 people at our house. About ten of them were kids.
We had the menu discussion about two weeks ago and wanted something barbeque-ish, but didn't want to be chained to the grill the whole time. We threw around things like pulled pork sandwiches, brats, hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, and even sloppy Joes (which got ruled out because of the non-griling aspect of them and the fact that I don't think that they are really "summer food" to begin with. We/M kept changing the menu. He was going to bring back the Italian beef from Chicago (but he brought back a sailboat instead, but I digress). Instead of actually deciding anything, we decided to have pulled pork sandwiches AND brats AND hot dogs! M bbq'd two pork butt roasts on Friday afternoon/evening/night and we pulled pork from 9:30-11:00 on Friday night. A lot of work, but it sure was good. He also bbq'd the brats on Friday and we simmered them in beer all afternoon on Saturday. I just had one for dinner tonight too and they sure are tasty -- the taste very beer-y and delicious. Strange that I like them to taste like beer since I don't like beer. Hmmm...Anyway, when folks asked if they could bring something, we told them to bring an appetizer. I made a big pasta salad, chocolate-dipped strawberries and brownies for dessert, and apples with caramel sauce (like I made last week. They were such a hit then, why not?) I also put out chips and salsa, chips and onion dip, veggies and dip, and I made tortilla-roll pinwheel sandwiches (like last week) but never put them out because we had SO MUCH FOOD. Our friends brought bruchetta (two different kinds from two different people, more veggies and dip (from a nutritionist), spinach casserole, and a blue cheese ball and crackers. Good thing that M convinced me that we didn't need the artichoke and spinach dip that I was going to make.
M had hooked up our deck speakers which are in the shape of terra cota planters, and are actually terra cota planters on top. Totally cool. He made a "party mix" of songs that played throughout the party (it had four hours worth of music on it and we used it all and then restarted it for another hour or so.) We had three coolers filled with drinks, one with cokes and juices, one with wine and vodka coolers, and one with beer. An interesting note, we had two pastors and thier families in the crowd -- I've never seen a party where the coke drinkers outnumber the beer drinkers. We had to keep refilling the coke cooler. Funny.
We had the "jumpy" blown up and going so that the kids could jump to their hearts' content. It was on the other side of the yard from the play-fort, so we had kids all over the place. We had enough chairs for 24 people because we borrowed 6 chairs from our neighbors. People kept complimenting us on such a fun party. It was fun! The kids got to stay up for the whole thing and were thrilled that they got to run and catch fireflies. Again, very cool. R asked if he could stay up that late every night because he loves fireflies....ummm, no. Fraid not. The boy doesn't sleep in. No matter what time he goes to bed, he gets up at 6:45 or so. So, no can do with the fireflies every night.
Anyway, it was a lot of fun.
I promise to write about the boat, but right now I gotta make sure that two boys are washed up in the tub. They've been in there for twenty minutes, but I don't know if they've used soap yet.
It's been a whole week since I last blogged. And it was a busy one. M sailed from Wisconsin to Michigan and then we drove to Illinois, going through Indiana. Yep, it was a four state weekend. We celebrated M's dad's birthday -- on July 3rd, just like my sister -- and had a little party in their huge backyard on the lake. While M golfed with his dad and brother (a request from the birthday boy) M's mom and I got ready for the party. I made tortilla roll-ups, apples and caramel dip, and chocolate-dipped strawberries. She made BBQ pork for sandwiches, her famous salsa for dipping, deviled eggs, and cream cheese with pepper jelly for crackers. Lots of M's dad's family came and the boys got to meet some more cousins -- two teenagers that played with R and T all day long; it was like R and T were their personal play things. Boy did my kids love it! They took them on canoe rides, had wrestling matches in the water, and practiced swimming. They played tag -- how I always turned out to be the "safe" spot, I'll never know, and played bocce ball. It was a really nice day. We had lots of good food and good company and good weather to boot!Almost best of all, both boys took a nap before the festivities began -- amazing! A. Two. Hour. Nap. Nice....! They were in good spirits all day -- no crankiness and no complaining (but, then again, what's to complain about in a day like that?) They even got to stay up until 10:00 so that they could see our fireworks show...our own personal fireworks show. M and I bought a whole lot of fireworks in Indiana back in May. It's legal to buy cool fireworks all year long there. Even fireworks that shoot up and explode into the air - like the professionals! It was awesome.The next day, I took the train home (five hours on two trains, but it was nice...a little "me" time with a book and my new iPod) and M and the boys stayed for two more nights. They got back late last night and we're all here together now.Two notes that I'll write about tomorrow or the next day (call this a blog teaser, if you will): We now own a sailboat, and we're getting ready for a party on Saturday night with about 30 people.See ya later!
I was at an "off site" today in a meeting of the minds to try to solve our brand's problem (you know, the one that we haven't been able to advertise in nine months because we can't make an ad that people like or that makes them want to buy the product.) There were ten people in the room, including two SVPs (Senior Vice President), one EVP (Executive Vice President), on Vice President, two Directors, one Associate Director (me), two Managers, and one Consultant. The folks in this six-hour meeting probably are worth $4-5 million in salaries and bonuses a year....big bucks, big minds, and yes, big egos. (By the way, I was the only female in the room. Usually, this is not the case, but I think that it's because there were so many senior executives in the room. It's an interesting part of business life.There are no other Associate Directors who are female and only one Director who is female in my division of 200 people. I hope that the glass ceiling can be shattered soon.)The morning started out with a lot of pointing fingers and defensiveness. It was a bit ugly. But, I think it had to all get out on the table so that we could get past it and be productive. And, five hours later, we were productive.With free-flowing Diet Coke and water, you can bet that I had to make a few bathroom breaks during the day. After getting directions to the bathroom from one of my collegues the first time. I could only find a men's bathroom and a unisex handicapped bathroom. So, I used the handicapped bathroom. The second time, I asked an employee of the hotel and was told that there were no women's bathrooms on that floor and I should just use the handicapped bathroom. The floor of this hotel is the "executive board room" floor, where there were SIX meeting rooms for 10-20 people in each room. How old-school is the hotel (which was built three years ago) to think that they would only have men in these board rooms??The third time I went to the bathroom, there was someone cleaning the handicapped bathroom, so I waited patiently outside. I knew that there was only one potty and one sink in there and it wouldn't take too long to clean. The woman cleaning the bathroom glanced up and saw me waiting. She said "I'm sorry, these bathrooms are for the board rooms only." I told her that I was meeting in one of the board rooms. She said, "no, I mean the executive board rooms down the hall." Yes, I told her, I'm meeting in the Amish room. "Are you sure?" she asked. I finally said, "Yes, I'm an executive from XXX company meeting in the Amish board room. May I please use the bathroom." "Oh, I'm so sorry" she replied and hustled out so I could do my business. I guess that because I'm not a fifty-year old man in a suit, I couldn't be an executive!
We just got back from the local 4th of July carnival. It's set up at the local airport about three miles away. M and I splurged on the unlimited-ride wristbands for the boys. We calculated out how many rides they'd get with just tickets and this was a better deal. We got there as soon as I got home from work and stayed for two hours. Each boy got to go on 18 rides, including repeats. Each boy has his own favorite type of ride. R loves the small rollercoasters that look very fast to me -- it was big enough for both adults and kids to go on it. He had a grin from ear to ear the whole time. T is a different story. He likes rides that whip him around, fast -- not up and down. He'll go on a ride that whips around the corners and he laughs so hard, while R looks uncomfortable and nearly turns green. They had a very nutritious dinner of funnel cake and snow cones (it's a carnival, after all!) M ate a pickle which reminded me of my youth when my folks sold pickles at the county fair and tried to use a photo of me as their advertisiement. The problem was that they wanted me to take a bite and smile for the camera, but I hated pickles (still do) and couldn't manage more than a grimace for the pictures. But, I digress.R also went on the climbing rock and did pretty well. The guy helping out was really nice and gave him lots of help. He made it up about half way to the top two times. T also tried, but found it to be too dificult; "I'm never going on that again!" I said that maybe he could try when he was a bit bigger and he said that he would think about it.About the staff at the carnival (aka "carnies"). There were four that seemed normal and were nice to the kids. Five of them were missing more than two teeth. About half of them were chain smoking. Three didn't say a word to the boys, but just motioned with their hand where to get in the ride. Then, there were the game carnies...my worst nightmare. They would yell to the kids that they'd get a free game and a winner every time. After we passed the first one and I nearly lost R to the sirens of the carnies' calls "Hey boy, you look like you can win this. Come on over here and give it a try. It's okay. you can do it. Don't worry, you're mom will let you, won't you mom?!" Aarghh.... From then on I held their hands tightly. At first I got down to the kids' eye level and explained that these guys try to trick you into giving them money for the games and we weren't going to fall for their tricks. Then, after barely making it by the fish-for-a-duck game, M explained that we spent all of our money on the ride wrist bands and had none left for the games. That did the trick, thank God. After that talk, R would tell the carnies"We can't. We don't have any more money." Whew. Boy, I've never liked those carnies and I'm sure that my dad and mom were never like that when selling his pickles, sea monkeys, and photo buttons.But, all of that is forgotten. When we walked into the house, R said "I feel like we've been on vacation today. We went golfing, swimming in the lake, and to that cool carnival. Thanks mom for taking us there." Awww.--------By the way, have I mentioned that R is taking golfing lessons? He loves it. While he takes the lesson, M plays nine holes, with T driving the cart and putting. Too cool.
I'm having a tough time at work right now. It's nothing that I'm doing wrong; I'm actually doing my job well and getting compliments. It's that the brand I'm working on is having a hard time. We're having a hard time getting an ad on air and we're getting desperate! It makes for a stressful work environment, when we're all trying to do what's right and it's just not working....yet.The good part of the day is coming home to such happy boys and a great husband....and a bit of Malibu Rum that M bought for me today to "take the edge off". But really, the boys are having such a fun time this summer and are thrilled to tell me all about it when I get home at night.Tonight M had a chicken and salad dinner all ready when I walked in the door and a drink poured for me (he knew it was a rough day and I have two more rough days coming up.) Drink in hand, I listened to T tell me about the little, tiny beach that they found on a new lake today and R tell me about the new soldier's armor that he created out of a coat hanger and some wire shelving squares. The were both talking at once (I do have two ears after all) and were so enthusiastic, that I just smiled and nodded when appropriate.
Ninety degrees with 85 percent humidity is definitely summer weather in the midwest. I've learned to appreciate tank tops, even with my wobbly upper arms. The boys and I have learned to appreciate a good glass of lemonade and we have the recipe down pat: Fill the pitcher up with ice, roll three lemons to release the lemony-juice-goodness; juice the lemons, catching the seeds as best as you can before they go into the glass; pour juice into pitcher; fill pitcher with water; add five packets of splenda, stir and drink. Yummy and refreshing.M and the boys also bought me a Super Soaker (water gun for you water gun novices). As in, "quick mom, get your swim suit on and come join us, you're on my team!" M filled his Super Soaker up with crushed ice for an extra cold squirt to the opposing team.We saw the remake of Herbie the Love Bug, "Herbie Fully Loaded" and it was a fun family flick. It was also a nice way to get relief from the heat.
Last night I was lamenting on how I still felt rotten after being sick for five days. Even though my sinuses were clearing up (and my mucus changed to a much nicer color from the grey-green it had been for two days), I still felt like Crap! And my throat hurt *really* bad. I knew that my throat hurt all along and I know that my glands were swollen and nearly popping out of my neck on Saturday, but my main complaint was never my throat. It was my mucas-head that wouldn't drain or dry up or explode (which seemed like it would make it feel better if it did explode.) I also had no energy and no appetite (as I have lacked for five days, which by the way, is good for the diet, but not good for providing any said energy.)ANYWAY, I found a flashlight and asked M to look at my throat. I could tell by looking in the mirror that it was quite pink, but I couldn't see much past my tongue. While looking in my mouth with R's camping flashlight, he exclaimed, " You've got a white spot the size and shape of Texas on your uvula. I think you've got strepp." Texas on my uvula? Well, I grabbed the flashlight and went to the bathroom mirror, shined the light in my mouth, said "ahh" and discovered that the man was right! There was a white Texas on my uvula that took up about two-thirds of the uvula. Hmmmm....I went to the doctor this morning and learned that it's not strepp, but a "doozy of a throat infection." I'm not sure if they learn "doozy" in medical school, but I knew what he meant. I left with a perscription for antibiotics in my hand and orders to stay home as long as my fever was above 99 (it was 99.9 at the doctor's office.) The boys got to have me home again today (I left work at 11:30 yesterday), even if I spent the whole time lounging on the couch. Oh wait, I did make it out to the red adirondack chairs at some point today :> They make me happy.I am feeling much better and actually made dinner tonight (pesto chicken on the grill and a salad).
Except for being sick, it was a really fun weekend. I was sick with a flu or a really bad cold or something. It kicked my butt. None of the drugs worked well, so I couldn't breathe through my nose for four days. (M said that I was quite a trooper and thanked me for hanging in there.) Finally I can today, but my throat still hurts and I have absolutely no energy. Enough about me, here's what happened over the weekend.We went camping. It was the first time this season that we went camping. We took "The Duck" out of storage (named because of the picture of the duck on the side of our tent-trailer.) M's mom has always wanted to go camping, so we invited them to go with us. It was definitely cozy in the Duck. As my grandpa used to say, it sleeps six, but walks one. Everybody had a good time. I was feeling super lousy on Saturday, so gramma, grampa, M, and the kids went for a tour of the submarine that is a museam near where we were camped. They also ran across a Father's day picnic in town with free hot dogs, cotton candy, a jumpy and other games. I got a good four hour nap and they had a great time.We also brought along our bikes. M and his dad took the boys for a ride (T in the bike trailer and R on the extend-a-bike behind M). M also took his mom for a ride and they had a really nice time. I had some energy on Saturday afternoon and we walked the block to the lake where I sat on my behind and the boys and M played in the lake (Grampa slept on the beach, snoring away!). It was an hour of splashing in the lake, building sandcastles, and collecting sea shells (including olives, my favorite shells that I used to collect in Santa Barbara).Of course we had campfires each night, and even one on Saturday morning. We roasted hot dogs, roasted marshmellows, made s'mores, and had a nice time by the campfire. I think it was a good first camping experience for M's mom. The kids had a great time -- R wants to live at the campground, T missed his home but said that he had a really good time.We're also going camping next weekend. Hopefully we'll all be healthy and we'll all enjoy it.-----------------------------------------------------Tonight while T was helping my dead-head our flowers said out of the blue, "Mom wouldn't it be great if we built a lazy river in our back yard?" I don't know where he learned the term "lazy river" (or wazy river as he says) but it sure was cute. After I told him that unfortunately we couldn't build a lazy river in the backyard, he proceeded to tell me exactly how we could. It involved an endloader, dumptruck full of water, and lots of pretty river rocks. Sounded nice.
On Sunday, we headed to our local lake for a morning full of fun in the water and the sun. It was about 80 degrees and a bit humid, but not too bad. It was about 10 am and there was only one or two other families at the beach. We almost had the place to ourselves...nice. M kept walking towards the water to put our towels down. I had to hold my tongue because I thought he was getting too close and we'd get soaked when the tide came in. Luckily I did hold my tongue because the tide doesn't come in at a small lake!We all went in for a family swim and had a blast. The water was shallow for a long ways out. R and T could touch for a really long time. They were so happy, collecting rocks, splashing, and bobbing and kicking. We swam out to the bouy that designated the swim area -- it was deeper here, but the boys had blown up swim rings around them and did fine. I told the boys that sometimes those rings go up over your head if you're not careful, and that all they had to do was kick-kick-kick and they'd get their head up above the water. They had a good time with those rings.One bouy was tipped over and R investigated and found the hole that let in water to make it too heavy to float -- quite a sleuth. T would go under water, touch the bottom, and shoot up like a rocket. Lots of fun. We got the kids closer to shore and M and I got out and sat on the beach watching the kids with smiles on our faces. We both love the water and love it that our kids love the water too. T came out and collected sea shells (or is it lake shells?) We called both boys in for our picnic lunch (cheese sandwiches, cherries, and juice for the boys; cashews, cheese, and pickles for M and me. - Atkins, ya know.)M went back in with the boys for a long time -- I could hear lots of laughter from all three of them. It was fun to watch. R is very proud that he invented a new sport -- underwater rock climbing. I'm not really sure what it entails, but he talked about it all day.When it was time to come in, IT happened. Tommy slipped out of his ring. It happened for only two seconds; it wasn't even a big concern to M and me. He was in water that was only up to his belly button. Well, let me tell you, it was a concern to him! He was a-screaming and a-crying! Poor boy was scared to death! (I SWEAR it was for only two seconds, but you'd never know it by his carrying-on!) He was yelling "I'm NEVER going in the water again!" and "I hate the lake" and "I was sooo scared!" We had a really hard time calming him down. Even though we were planning on going, I thought that it was pretty important that we get that boy back in the water so he remembered how much fun it was! Back in the saddle and all that. (Plus, he was going to start swimming lessons the next day. I wanted that to go well!)He did not want to go in. Nope. Not gonna do it. Finally, M talked him into going in the water up to his knees. He did it, but he wasn't happy about it. I could see M getting frustrated, so I whipped off my shorts and top and decided to get wet again for the cause. I went to T and he was not happy. I kept walking out farther and he yelled "The water is higher than my knees, daddy said I only had to go to my knees!!!" I convinced him to go to my knees and went in a bit reluctantly, but he went in. He even broke a smile once or twice, but it wasn't easy. Finally I got him to splash me (which isn't usually allowed) and he had fun. Whew. Mission completed. We went home, hoping (and praying) for the best on Monday at swim class.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Swim Class had two black marks on it from the get-go:1. R and T were in two different classes, which was fine for R, but not for T. Quote: "I never have fun without R." End quote.2. T had the whole scary episode the day before.I think we had less than a fifty percent chance that things would go well. M braved it and went with a positive attitude. A postitive attitude that lasted about half way through T's 20 minute poolside fit that he pitched. Poor T. Poor M! M went from the postitive attitude to empathy to consoling to cheer leader to consoling to frustration to making deals to anger to completely fed up. T wouldn't go in the water with the class. He wouldn't sit by the pool with his feet in the water. He wouldn't sit down by the wall to watch the class (I think this is when the anger set in, I know it would have with me if I were there!). So, M took T to watch R's class, which went swimmingly (sorry about the pun, but I just had to use it). R used a kickboard, practice his strokes, and practice breathing. He likes his coach and had a great time. M called me with a report of the whole thing and my heart went out to him.Somehow, M got a brainstorm to go to the lake after swim class. The very lake where the beforementioned incident happened. M took R and T in the water and they had a great time. Both kids had a great time....swimming in the lake....a great time. M left me a voicemail, saying "T's cured." Cured? How can that be? But he was. He went to swimming class today with nary a whimper and had a blast. He says his coach is pretty and had fun swimming and playing in the pool. Allelluia!
We were playing at the park today and R climbed up really high on one of those metal monkey bar things shaped in an upside down U. Those kind that you climb up to the top, carefully turn around so that you can climb down the other side backwards (otherwise you'd be heading down head first) -- you know the kind I mean? -- R calls them the Rainbow Bars.
ANYWAY, R had a tough time at the critical turn-your-body-around part at the top. So, he asked me to help him and I did. He said that his tummy felt funny from the Rainbow Bars. Then he said he had to go poop. There was a portapotty on the other side of the baseball field at the park, so we trekked over to it. Luckily it was open and it didn't stink. R went poop and Tom did too. When we headed back, R said that his tummy hurt still and came to sit with me on the bench while T played on.
Quote of the day: After R sat down next to me..."Mom, I think my tummy hurts from the combination of the tricky Rainbow Bars and the blistering hot day."Never fear, within five minutes he was fine, running and jumping again.
I just got back from a business trip. This was one that I was dreading because I'd be gone for three nights. I hate being gone for more than two. But, I couldn't help it. This was a sales meeting and I had no control of the agenda. I was also a little mad that there was going to be hardly any work to be done -- only three hours of meetings a day for two days -- the rest? play. I wasn't happy about being forced to be away from the kids for four days and three nights to play! (Crazy, I know.) But I had to go and I did. M prepared by arranging for a babysitter to come over for three hours both Tuesday night and Wednesday morning so that he could get a break. He and the boys had a great time while I was gone. Sure they missed me, but they had super soakers to occupy their time in the 92 degree heat. As M said, they got "soaked to the bone" every day! That made me happy while I was gone.Meanwhile, I was at a fabulous beach resort, having a great time. Besides the whole six hours of meetings I spent some time on the beach watching some of my colleagues learn how to surf (quite amusing!) I got a "hot rock" pedicure (in which they gave me a foot massage with hot rocks -- nice) on my company's dime. I liked it so much, I booked a manicure for the next day on my dime. I went to a beach party with a great live band. They served all you can eat lobster and steak and an open bar with great umbrella drinks. And, there were four fire pits set up with all the fixin's for s'mores. The next day, I read a book in the shade, got my manicure and leasurely got ready to go out with the gang -- to a great restaurant and a sing-along piano bar afterwards. The piano bar was my idea and it was lots of fun. You could request songs and it was fun when the crowd all sang a long to the song you picked out. There was after hour drinks after all of these events until two in the morning, but I never partook -- I was always in bed by midnight. So, despite my initial misgivings, I had a good time and my family survived :>
