Yep, I'm one year older and wiser, too. I guess in spite of a few unpleasant nuggets, the past year has been pretty good. Mostly because I have an awesome family, awesome friends and neighbors. I guess it's in my nature to be a little cynical, mostly because the bad things in life are so dang obvious, and I can always find something to complain about even though I know perfectly well no matter how bad things get they could be worse. In spite of all that, I can honestly say from personal experience I know that things tend to work themselves out for the best and that the best blessings usually come right when you need them most. I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast two weeks ago. It was a last minute decision for me again because I forgot about it, but I got up and went anyway. Right away I saw someone I knew and sat with her, ate a nice dinner and made conversation with someone I didn't know. I'm still shy and not fond of big crowds of strangers, but I dealt and it was all good. Last weekend there was a Temple Square Mission reunion in Utah that I didn't get to attend, but some cool folks posted photos and stuff on facebook, so I got a little taste, I guess. Thanks to a good friend I got a quote from Sister Snow (I love that lady): "In the end it will all be OK. If it is not OK than it isn't the end." I want that to be the title of my life's story. I want to be optimistic as much as possible because I truly believe there's a reason to be.
Maggie came with Wesley on Monday and we went birthday shopping. I like shopping with Maggie because I seriously hate shopping for myself to the point that I almost never do it unless she's there. Plus she has a no-nonsense way of telling me that my clothes are hideous and to freaking change them already. Aside from being a picky tomboy, one of my major faults is hanging onto old things. Like a pair of Chuck Taylor's from high school. I wore them a few weeks ago, I swear. And I still have a pair of church shoes from twelve years ago that are still in pretty good shape, but are so out of style and really I should just chuck them and buy new shoes, but I hate shoe shopping so much I just keep putting it off year after year. I had an eye examination today and my prescription changed (my eyesight actually got better, believe it or not) and instead of picking out a new pair of glasses I opted to keep my three year old frames and swap out lenses. I still wear the same old t-shirts and jeans and have absolutely nothing I could wear if I had to attend a formal dinner somewhere. Sure, I could go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, but ten years from now I'd just be back in the same boat. This is why I need to be rich and have someone to shop for me so I can look good while I continue to be lazy and indifferent to fashion.
Oh, well. It'll all be okay in the end.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
How'd They Manage in the Dark Ages?
Tuesday after I got Henry on the bus I went down and volunteered at the school doing busy work for the teachers. There wasn't a whole lot to do since there were a ton of moms there, so I busied myself with cutting out laminated stuff. Then I paired up with a much taller mom and dismantled an art display on a wall of the office. When we were done pulling stuff off the wall, we packed it all up and took it down to the art room, where Henry's class just happened to be at the moment. The other mom went and said hey to her kid while I looked around for Henry. He wasn't in the room, so I assumed, with only the slightest doubt, he was probably in the bathroom. The other mom had to make a stop at the kids' classroom, so I tagged along. Then Henry's teacher sees me and her face is genuinely happy, so right away I'm suspicious. Turns out Henry wasn't feeling well and had a slight fever and the office had been trying to reach me. This all happened an hour and a half before while I was in the workroom, and in the office, where my kid was probably waiting in the nurse's room. Anyway, Henry was feeling a little better so they'd sent him down to the art room. Well, since he was coughing and had a runny nose, I went ahead and signed him out for the day, collected his stuff and met him in the art room. The kids were all painting pictures of leaves so I waited until the end of art class for them to finish up. Of course, he was circling me like a puppy while I was leading him out, and by the time Ben got home from work he was back to his old self.
Ben had been concerned because he'd gotten a call from the school and since he couldn't get away from work, had tried calling me, too, as well as everyone else he knew, but no one had answered his call. He'd sent me two emails asking where I was. Which brings me to the title of this here blog thingy. How the heck did people manage in the days before the cell phone and email and stuff? Seriously. My kid had to wait a whole hour and a half before I could be reached. The horror. Imagine if this scenario had played out yesterday when I was out getting the tires replaced. He'd have had to wait two hours, and that's if I'd looked at the answering machine when I got home. All sarcasm aside, I do like the communications amenities we have nowadays, and could probably do with a few more. I can hardly conceive how my mom got through my school years without an answering machine. Or how my dad's mom managed to raise nine kids without a phone. It must have been a quieter, more patient time. I'd have liked living then, aside from the whole outhouse thing, and polio and diphtheria, etc.
Although I must say that while I could easily live without a phone, I'd sure hate it if I didn't have the internets.
Ben had been concerned because he'd gotten a call from the school and since he couldn't get away from work, had tried calling me, too, as well as everyone else he knew, but no one had answered his call. He'd sent me two emails asking where I was. Which brings me to the title of this here blog thingy. How the heck did people manage in the days before the cell phone and email and stuff? Seriously. My kid had to wait a whole hour and a half before I could be reached. The horror. Imagine if this scenario had played out yesterday when I was out getting the tires replaced. He'd have had to wait two hours, and that's if I'd looked at the answering machine when I got home. All sarcasm aside, I do like the communications amenities we have nowadays, and could probably do with a few more. I can hardly conceive how my mom got through my school years without an answering machine. Or how my dad's mom managed to raise nine kids without a phone. It must have been a quieter, more patient time. I'd have liked living then, aside from the whole outhouse thing, and polio and diphtheria, etc.
Although I must say that while I could easily live without a phone, I'd sure hate it if I didn't have the internets.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Teacher Workday
Last week I went down to the park sans Henry. It was a little weird because my Henry radar was still wanting to function even though he was at school. But I got my adult conversation fix for the week, so that was nice.
This morning I got Henry up and dressed and fed and went down to the bus stop. After a few minutes I noticed the bus was running slightly late and then one of the neighbors stopped by on her way to work and reminded me it was a teacher workday and the kids were out of school.
Whoops. I knew there was something I forgot to mark on the calendar. Oh, well, no biggie. We just went home and played. Since I had a slight headache and Henry wanted to play inside for a while, we skipped going to the park, but by the time we'd had lunch I was ready to head outdoors. So I packed up Henry and a snack and we went down to the state park for a hike. Henry complained at first. He wasn't interested in a long walk in the woods and was disappointed that there wasn't a playground. I gave him a park map and put him in charge of navigating our hike. I enjoyed teaching him the rules of hiking (stay on the trail) and how to use trail markers to stay on the right path. Henry led the way and made a game of a boring (in his opinion) walk. We watched "Goonies" last night and so Henry was in treasure hunting mode, what with the map and all, and decided that we were traveling through levels in the style of a video game. This tells me that Henry is fairly imaginative, and also needs to spend less time with games and more time outside (hence the hike). As we progressed deeper into the woods we encountered booby traps, had to over cross creeks hopping on the backs of alligators, some of which were real and some were fake, the fake ones being brown, the real ones green. We dodged boulders, fire balls, and ninjas. And there were moving walls. And we saw some real creatures: daddy long legs, a tiny lizard, a big shiny-black wood beetle, a dog pile of various insects devouring a dead millipede, some people and quite a few dogs.
This morning I got Henry up and dressed and fed and went down to the bus stop. After a few minutes I noticed the bus was running slightly late and then one of the neighbors stopped by on her way to work and reminded me it was a teacher workday and the kids were out of school.
Whoops. I knew there was something I forgot to mark on the calendar. Oh, well, no biggie. We just went home and played. Since I had a slight headache and Henry wanted to play inside for a while, we skipped going to the park, but by the time we'd had lunch I was ready to head outdoors. So I packed up Henry and a snack and we went down to the state park for a hike. Henry complained at first. He wasn't interested in a long walk in the woods and was disappointed that there wasn't a playground. I gave him a park map and put him in charge of navigating our hike. I enjoyed teaching him the rules of hiking (stay on the trail) and how to use trail markers to stay on the right path. Henry led the way and made a game of a boring (in his opinion) walk. We watched "Goonies" last night and so Henry was in treasure hunting mode, what with the map and all, and decided that we were traveling through levels in the style of a video game. This tells me that Henry is fairly imaginative, and also needs to spend less time with games and more time outside (hence the hike). As we progressed deeper into the woods we encountered booby traps, had to over cross creeks hopping on the backs of alligators, some of which were real and some were fake, the fake ones being brown, the real ones green. We dodged boulders, fire balls, and ninjas. And there were moving walls. And we saw some real creatures: daddy long legs, a tiny lizard, a big shiny-black wood beetle, a dog pile of various insects devouring a dead millipede, some people and quite a few dogs.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Happiness Is...
Opening the silverware drawer and finding right on top a spoon that hasn't yet been mangled by the garbage disposal.
Ok, for all those who might be interested, I got my first phone call from Henry's teacher last week. Apparently the little angel thought it'd be hilarious to cram his mouth full of paper. When the teacher told him to spit it out in the trash, he only spat out a pittance, and got busted because he had one of his patented evil grins on his face. So the teacher's aid gave me a call to let me know Henry needs to work on his listening skills. More like obedience skills... Anyway, I got a chance to talk to Henry on the phone and so he now knows that Mommy doesn't like getting phone calls from the teacher. Not that I was overly surprised to get a phone call, or that I wasn't expecting a phone call eventually. That's one thing I kind of foresaw, and to be honest, it was a relief to get it and I actually laughed (not within hearing of the teacher, of course) because I know Henry so well. He's such a good kid and a good learner, but it's so hard for him to reign himself in when he's not supposed to be silly. So Yesterday we spent just about all night playing Simon Says and Henry started getting pretty good by the end, even if I was sneaky and tricked him a few times.
Ok, for all those who might be interested, I got my first phone call from Henry's teacher last week. Apparently the little angel thought it'd be hilarious to cram his mouth full of paper. When the teacher told him to spit it out in the trash, he only spat out a pittance, and got busted because he had one of his patented evil grins on his face. So the teacher's aid gave me a call to let me know Henry needs to work on his listening skills. More like obedience skills... Anyway, I got a chance to talk to Henry on the phone and so he now knows that Mommy doesn't like getting phone calls from the teacher. Not that I was overly surprised to get a phone call, or that I wasn't expecting a phone call eventually. That's one thing I kind of foresaw, and to be honest, it was a relief to get it and I actually laughed (not within hearing of the teacher, of course) because I know Henry so well. He's such a good kid and a good learner, but it's so hard for him to reign himself in when he's not supposed to be silly. So Yesterday we spent just about all night playing Simon Says and Henry started getting pretty good by the end, even if I was sneaky and tricked him a few times.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Maggie Ties the Knot
Maggie and Avdo got married last weekend. It was kind of on short notice, so everybody pitched in to make it a nice event. Either from desperation or extreme confidence in my skills, Maggie entrusted me with the construction of the bouquet and boutonnieres. This happened the day of the wedding, a few hours beforehand, to be precise. Of course she had plenty of confidence in my skills, though she nixed my original flower arrangement, and Mom helped me with the boutonnieres (lucky for Maggie Mom had some floral tape stashed away or, while probably being functional, they'd have been real ugly). Thank goodness Maggie had a cake made, because if I'd been in charge of that... Well, let's just be thankful and try not to imagine the horror that might have been.
Newlyweds:
In-laws:
Cutting the cake:
And just because I like the expression on Henry's face:
Newlyweds:
In-laws:
Cutting the cake:
And just because I like the expression on Henry's face:
Sunday, September 6, 2009
For Those Who Asked
Here's a photo of Henry in his nerd uniform. I found those suspenders in a box-- they were mine when I was Henry's age.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Happy Birthday, Daddy
Ben just turned thirty four. For his birthday, among other things, he got his stent out and a big potted plant from work. And some more renal colic. And he thinks he might have another kidney stone on deck. Yee-haw. Here's hoping next year he's in better health and better humor.
As you can see, the celebration this year was pretty low key.
Henry's been having a good week at school. I straightened things out with his teacher, so all his stuff has been relabeled "Henry." This morning at the bus stop he and the neighbor kids found a half-dead cicada in the gutter. One of them poked it with her shoe and the cicada briefly, noisily, flapped its wings, sending the kids running and screaming. It's nice to half a good laugh in the morning to wake me up.
As you can see, the celebration this year was pretty low key.
Henry's been having a good week at school. I straightened things out with his teacher, so all his stuff has been relabeled "Henry." This morning at the bus stop he and the neighbor kids found a half-dead cicada in the gutter. One of them poked it with her shoe and the cicada briefly, noisily, flapped its wings, sending the kids running and screaming. It's nice to half a good laugh in the morning to wake me up.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Owen Tilley
Friday afternoon I sat on the curb and waited at Henry's bus stop for like thirty minutes for the bus to arrive. The bus finally showed up and I stood up, dusted off my butt and waited for Henry to make his exit. The first kid I saw was a very excited kid I know from Cub Scouts who very eagerly told me Henry was on his way. He told me it was a good thing Henry had a card safety pinned to his shirt with his bus stop information on it or they wouldn't have known where his stop was. That made me smile. It's really nice that Henry has four kids he knows from church riding his bus. Then Henry came to the bus door without his book bag, but one of the kids reminded him he'd forgotten his bag, so he grabbed it from a helpful friend and climbed down off the bus.
The first thing I noticed was that his little name card said Owen Tilley on it.
"Owen Tilley?" I asked Henry.
Henry smiled and matter-of-factly told me that he'd told his teacher that he wanted to be called Owen. So he went all day being called Owen at school. That made me chuckle and reminded me of my sister Beth who in Kindergarten wanted everyone to call her Liz and went all year being called Liz by everyone but her family. Well, anyway, Monday I have to take Henry's school supplies in, so I'll go set the record straight with his teacher; i.e, Henry's a cute little clown.
Today was long and busy. This morning I got up early (for a Saturday) and took Henry with me to the music leadership training meeting at church. Right after that was a primary activity. Henry and I got our picture taken and made a family banner, which I noticed after it was almost done that I'd misspelled Tilley and had to insert a little E between the more stately L and Y. After Henry decorated a journal, he then ran around with his friends. After that he had cookies and milk, actually drank the milk. In fact, he had three glasses of milk, which blew my mind because he doesn't usually like milk unless it's got Ovaltine in it. I think some of it had to do with this guy who told him milk would build up his muscles and encouraged him to drink more to see if his muscles were growing, so dutifully Henry chugged milk while flexing his arm.
After that Maggie came over and we went to Ben's grandparents to pick up some furniture. We moved two beds, two dressers, a desk and a rocking chair. All this had to go to make room for Ben's mom, who is moving in with her parents in a few weeks. Henry inherited a new bed; new for him, as the bed was his grandmother's when she was a kid (just the frame). So moving the furniture, cleaning and rearranging Henry's room, setting up the bed, and getting all the rest of the stuff organized pretty much took the rest of the afternoon. Then we had to run to the store to buy Henry some bed sheets. And now I'm tired and ready for bed. Can't wait to sleep in again, but that's not going to happen until next Saturday. Only one more week and we're back in the late shift for church, and the return of the lazy weekend. Yippy!
The first thing I noticed was that his little name card said Owen Tilley on it.
"Owen Tilley?" I asked Henry.
Henry smiled and matter-of-factly told me that he'd told his teacher that he wanted to be called Owen. So he went all day being called Owen at school. That made me chuckle and reminded me of my sister Beth who in Kindergarten wanted everyone to call her Liz and went all year being called Liz by everyone but her family. Well, anyway, Monday I have to take Henry's school supplies in, so I'll go set the record straight with his teacher; i.e, Henry's a cute little clown.
Today was long and busy. This morning I got up early (for a Saturday) and took Henry with me to the music leadership training meeting at church. Right after that was a primary activity. Henry and I got our picture taken and made a family banner, which I noticed after it was almost done that I'd misspelled Tilley and had to insert a little E between the more stately L and Y. After Henry decorated a journal, he then ran around with his friends. After that he had cookies and milk, actually drank the milk. In fact, he had three glasses of milk, which blew my mind because he doesn't usually like milk unless it's got Ovaltine in it. I think some of it had to do with this guy who told him milk would build up his muscles and encouraged him to drink more to see if his muscles were growing, so dutifully Henry chugged milk while flexing his arm.
After that Maggie came over and we went to Ben's grandparents to pick up some furniture. We moved two beds, two dressers, a desk and a rocking chair. All this had to go to make room for Ben's mom, who is moving in with her parents in a few weeks. Henry inherited a new bed; new for him, as the bed was his grandmother's when she was a kid (just the frame). So moving the furniture, cleaning and rearranging Henry's room, setting up the bed, and getting all the rest of the stuff organized pretty much took the rest of the afternoon. Then we had to run to the store to buy Henry some bed sheets. And now I'm tired and ready for bed. Can't wait to sleep in again, but that's not going to happen until next Saturday. Only one more week and we're back in the late shift for church, and the return of the lazy weekend. Yippy!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Another Eventful Week
I'm really glad it's Friday. Finally. Monday was so long ago I can barely remember it. Henry got to spend the night with some friends because Tuesday morning Ben had to go in for surgery to forcibly remove Junior, the recalcitrant kidney stone. We got there at five something and were finally able to go home at one p.m. Let me tell you something, never in a million years could I be a nurse. I don't cope well when people around me are suffering.
Dude behind the screen in the next bed over: Sorry I screamed.
Nurse: That's alright. You were in a lot of pain.
Ben groans.
Me: I want to go home now.
Poor Ben. He has surpassed me by far in pain experience bragging rights. Sure, I have more scars than he does, but I hope to never ever experience the kind of pain that morphine and two other analgesics won't touch. Not only did he have the whole peeing through a mangled urethra fun, he also had the much worse pain of his body mistaking the stent the doctor installed to help him heal for a huge kidney stone and going nuts trying to squeeze it out. Happily he's feeling slightly better now and is scheduled to have the stent removed on Wednesday. Then he'll hopefully feel a lot better.
On a much happier note, Henry started school today. We waited down at the bus stop together and after five minutes or so Henry became irritated because the bus was taking too long. But pretty soon afterward it came and he hopped aboard without any trepidation. Now I'm not quite sure what to do. I've already mowed the lawn. There's still a little laundry to fold, but I'm not that desperate. It just feels weird because I haven't been repeatedly nagged to look at something, or to play, or to build something out of Legos. And it's quiet. I can't believe I have three more hours of this. I suddenly have the urge to remodel the bathrooms. This can't be good.
Dude behind the screen in the next bed over: Sorry I screamed.
Nurse: That's alright. You were in a lot of pain.
Ben groans.
Me: I want to go home now.
Poor Ben. He has surpassed me by far in pain experience bragging rights. Sure, I have more scars than he does, but I hope to never ever experience the kind of pain that morphine and two other analgesics won't touch. Not only did he have the whole peeing through a mangled urethra fun, he also had the much worse pain of his body mistaking the stent the doctor installed to help him heal for a huge kidney stone and going nuts trying to squeeze it out. Happily he's feeling slightly better now and is scheduled to have the stent removed on Wednesday. Then he'll hopefully feel a lot better.
On a much happier note, Henry started school today. We waited down at the bus stop together and after five minutes or so Henry became irritated because the bus was taking too long. But pretty soon afterward it came and he hopped aboard without any trepidation. Now I'm not quite sure what to do. I've already mowed the lawn. There's still a little laundry to fold, but I'm not that desperate. It just feels weird because I haven't been repeatedly nagged to look at something, or to play, or to build something out of Legos. And it's quiet. I can't believe I have three more hours of this. I suddenly have the urge to remodel the bathrooms. This can't be good.
Friday, August 21, 2009
I Hate Monopoly
For years now there's been a Star Wars Edition Monopoly set collecting dust on the shelf in the guest room closet. I think my sister bought it at least a decade ago and gave it to me maybe six years ago because she never used it. Guess what? We never used it either. Yesterday Henry noticed it for the first time and asked to play. I had to read the rule book because it's been probably twenty years since I last played Monopoly, and I'm not sure I even knew the rules then. Basically since Henry's only five and doesn't have a firm grasp on money and consequences, I had to do everything for him except roll the dice and advance his little Luke/Darth Vader/Emperor (He kept changing his mind about which one he wanted). We played for about an hour during which time Henry thoroughly trounced my butt. Finally I called an end to the game because I was sick of playing (losing). This morning before book club met at our house we played again for about an hour, and yes, Henry schooled me again. Then he wanted to play again this afternoon. We played for two hours. I landed in jail at least four times. I went straight to the $200 tax square three separate times after passing Go. Henry finally got a spaceport on Lars' Homestead and wouldn't you know it, I landed on that freaking spot twice, completely cleaning me out.
At least Henry had fun. Die, Monopoly, die!
At least Henry had fun. Die, Monopoly, die!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Morning Fun
Today our morning trip to the park was cut short. Henry was having a fun time with some kids on the merry-go-round, having imaginary trips to Mars, etc. Soon all the kids were joking about throwing up, touting their three, four and five-year-old acting skills, making barfing sounds as they spun around and around, which was disgustingly hilarious until one little kid puked for real. That was the cue for the end of the merry-go-rounding, and some of us grownups decided to duck out early, myself included. Unfortunately, Henry was almost out of the park when he lost his breakfast, thoroughly. It was one of those moments when all you can do is watch and wait for it to be over, then share a laugh with the other mom whose kid puked, and hope for the sake of the other parents that their kids don't puke in the car on the way home.
The only thing missing was a fat kid and a pie eating contest.
The only thing missing was a fat kid and a pie eating contest.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
My Sensitive Boy
So Henry's one of those kids who pretty much wants to run around being funny and having fun all the time. This personality type tends to interfere somewhat with the whole you have to be reverent at church thing, so Henry and I have worked out a rewards system to hopefully find a happy middle ground. When he's good at church he earns a star sticker; three stickers (three "good" sundays) earn him a treat, ten will get him a used video game. Since the advent of the sticker policy, he's only missed out on one star and tomorrow I'm taking him to pick out a treat.
Today Henry was pretty good. I stopped to chat with his teacher to see how he fared. Apparently Henry was really glad to have his teachers back (She and her husband have been on an extended summer vacation). She told me he behaved well, but had a brief emotional breakdown towards the end of class and told her he really loved her a lot. This made me laugh, in an amused, isn't-that-sweet kind of way. So on the way home in the car I asked him why he'd cried in class. He got a little teary and said that he was so glad that his teacher was back and didn't want her to go away again.
Aww, what a sweet kid. I think it's hilarious though, that he didn't even remember her name.
Today Henry was pretty good. I stopped to chat with his teacher to see how he fared. Apparently Henry was really glad to have his teachers back (She and her husband have been on an extended summer vacation). She told me he behaved well, but had a brief emotional breakdown towards the end of class and told her he really loved her a lot. This made me laugh, in an amused, isn't-that-sweet kind of way. So on the way home in the car I asked him why he'd cried in class. He got a little teary and said that he was so glad that his teacher was back and didn't want her to go away again.
Aww, what a sweet kid. I think it's hilarious though, that he didn't even remember her name.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Ten Years
This past weekend Ben and I celebrated our anniversary. We were married ten years ago in the Washington, D.C. temple. No, writing that didn't make me feel old. But realizing that I was sealed there with my parents and sisters almost twenty nine years ago sure does. So Ben and I decided it was time to head back up to D.C. and check things out, seeing how it's been a few years. We made it a family thing, brought Henry along and drove up with my parents. Henry's main ambition was to ride on the metro. He's a huge fan of trains and was thrilled at the idea of a train that goes underground. Thursday we spent the morning driving up there and stopped by the temple visitor center to stretch our legs and show Henry around. It's just as beautiful as I remembered.
After we checked into our hotel we went for a walk and Henry insisted on seeing the metro, so we walked down and let him look around. Satisfied that he'd definitely get to ride it a lot the next day, we went back up and went for a walk and dinner.
The next morning we took the metro to Union Station and Henry loved the heck out of that. After breakfast we toured the mall and most of the museums.
Henry especially liked the armor exhibit at one of the art galleries (can't remember which one it was).
Henry also liked it when we stopped to rest a bit.
He also liked helping his mom burn off some blubber.
We walked from the capitol building to the Lincoln memorial. Instead of turning back around we decided to ride the metro back from the stop at Arlington, so we walked across the bridge to get there. Were were all very tired at this point.
I pointed to the big white house on the hill in the distance and asked Henry if he wanted to walk up and see it.
"No!"
We had a nice long ride back to the hotel and Henry got to hang out with Grandma and Papaw while Ben and I went back to the temple. It was very nice. Ben even got all romantic and stuff and took me to where he slipped my wedding band on my finger those many years before. Then we had a nice romantic dinner at Burger King because everywhere else was closed. Yeah, who am I kidding? This is Ben we're talking about; he's lucky I'm the kind of person who couldn't care less about fancy dining. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we were made for each other.
The next day we parted ways with Mom and Dad so they could visit the Holocaust museum, and Ben and I took Henry to the National Zoo. It's not as big or long a walk as our zoo in Asheboro, but after all the walking we did the day before, we were pretty much tired before we even started. But it was fun. Somehow after complaining about being too tired to walk, Henry miraculously recovered enough energy to run amok in the Think Tank building. Then to his infinite joy we ate at McDonalds and then rode the metro again. The kid loves the metro.
We paid one last visit to the temple before heading home.
Tomorrow I'm driving to the park.
After we checked into our hotel we went for a walk and Henry insisted on seeing the metro, so we walked down and let him look around. Satisfied that he'd definitely get to ride it a lot the next day, we went back up and went for a walk and dinner.
The next morning we took the metro to Union Station and Henry loved the heck out of that. After breakfast we toured the mall and most of the museums.
Henry especially liked the armor exhibit at one of the art galleries (can't remember which one it was).
Henry also liked it when we stopped to rest a bit.
He also liked helping his mom burn off some blubber.
We walked from the capitol building to the Lincoln memorial. Instead of turning back around we decided to ride the metro back from the stop at Arlington, so we walked across the bridge to get there. Were were all very tired at this point.
I pointed to the big white house on the hill in the distance and asked Henry if he wanted to walk up and see it.
"No!"
We had a nice long ride back to the hotel and Henry got to hang out with Grandma and Papaw while Ben and I went back to the temple. It was very nice. Ben even got all romantic and stuff and took me to where he slipped my wedding band on my finger those many years before. Then we had a nice romantic dinner at Burger King because everywhere else was closed. Yeah, who am I kidding? This is Ben we're talking about; he's lucky I'm the kind of person who couldn't care less about fancy dining. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we were made for each other.
The next day we parted ways with Mom and Dad so they could visit the Holocaust museum, and Ben and I took Henry to the National Zoo. It's not as big or long a walk as our zoo in Asheboro, but after all the walking we did the day before, we were pretty much tired before we even started. But it was fun. Somehow after complaining about being too tired to walk, Henry miraculously recovered enough energy to run amok in the Think Tank building. Then to his infinite joy we ate at McDonalds and then rode the metro again. The kid loves the metro.
We paid one last visit to the temple before heading home.
Tomorrow I'm driving to the park.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
So Ben's Been Getting Back into Shape...
...Which started with him resuming him running the greenway, which he abandoned sometime last year, either when it got too hot or cold, I forget which. He's been at it for about a month and lost about a micrometer of his chubba-chubba (as Henry calls it) and now has to scale back a bit. Monday he went to work as usual and called me to report he was having severe abdominal pain and was throwing up. I offered to come pick him up and take him to the doctor, but he decided to wait it out; manliness and pecuniary issues always make him reluctant to see a doctor. He came home feeling fine, so he chalked it up to a virus. Then at four thirty a.m., he was up with the same pain, so I drove him to a walk in clinic as soon as it opened. From information he found perusing the internet Ben figured he had a kidney stone, but after two and a half hours at the doctor's office (Henry's patience was wearing thin after hour number two), the doctor couldn't say for sure and referred him to a general practitioner. So Ben set up an appointment with somebody, but then the next morning he was hurting again, so we went to the emergency room. I got Henry up (it was way too early to call a neighbor to watch him), and got him dressed and supplied with a fluffy blanket so he could go back to sleep in the car if he wanted. Luckily we live right down the road from the local hospital and the emergency room was all but deserted. Henry and I snuggled under the blanket in the waiting room while Ben had a cat scan. The sun was just starting to rise and Henry asked, "Is it almost morning?" It was a little after six, so I said yes. Anything earlier than that is most definitely not morning. A few minutes later we were hanging out with Ben in his little exam room and the doctor confirmed that it was a kidney stone. We were relieved that it wasn't something worse, but still glum. Poor Ben. Now he thinks he can lord it over me for sympathy because kidney stone pain is comparable to childbirth pain. I just reminded him that I wasn't crazy; when I was in labor I took all the pain meds they threw at me. So now he's waiting for Junior to work his way out of his kidney and emerge gloriously from his urethra. Wheeeee!!!!
Since Ben was feeling okay and supplied with pain medication and was working from home, I took Henry with me to Maggie's place so we could do the grandkid photo we'd been planning. Korah, Wolfe, Zejda and Maddox were there along with Wesley and all the kids had fun for a few hours before we fixed lunch and herded them to the portrait place. We chose this particular franchise because the one where I live has always impressed me. The folks at the location in Greensboro, however, failed to make the slightest positive impression, which is saying something since I usually don't care one way or another about how people run their businesses as long as they get the job done. I could complain about how the computers where customers pick out their portraits were occupied by chicks playing games and checking their email while we waited for the photographer, but since I'd probably have done the same thing (albeit I'd have gotten off the minute a customer walked in) I can't complain too much. We explained what we wanted, a group shot of the kids, but the photographer insisted that she had to take individual shots of the kids. I know it's because they want us to see a nice individual shot and be tempted to buy it, but still, as I explained, we didn't have time to waste for something we didn't want. I thought about asking her about the huge family reunion photo on the wall, "You mean to tell me that you made forty people sit through individual shots just so you could give them what they asked for in the first place?" The photoshoot or whatever you call it, didn't go well. All I can say is that the chick deserved it. Maybe if she'd gotten one of her coworkers to assist her Wesley might smiled in more than one shot. She probably took fifty shots and only ten of them were of what we wanted, and of those ten only one was acceptable, but not with the background we wanted. We made her skip over all the individual shots, only taking time to laugh at the ones where the kids looked silly (I might've bought the one with Wolfe winking like a complete goofball if I weren't so annoyed at the chick). So after that I bought a box of ice cream for the kids and we visited a pet store to kill time, then we stopped by to visit my mom at work before Henry and I drove home. Good thing we made that stopover, because it forced me to take a back way home, thereby avoiding I-40 and the huge wreck in Durham I would've either been in or been delayed by. All in all, a crazy day.
Last night Ben heard something rooting through the trashcan. I'd heard it before, and have picked up trash from some creature dumpster diving for spoiled meat, so I was interested to see the culprit. I turned on the porch light and went back to the window.
I told Ben there was something in the trashcan.
"How do you know?"
"The lid's up."
Then I told him, "It's a raccoon."
"How do you know?"
"He's looking right at me."
The raccoon was staring insolently at me from his perch on the lip of the trashcan, and I ran off to get the camera. Of course, by the time I got back he'd already hopped down and moseyed on to raid the neighbors' garbage. I guess I'll have to get a bungee to secure the lid.
Since Ben was feeling okay and supplied with pain medication and was working from home, I took Henry with me to Maggie's place so we could do the grandkid photo we'd been planning. Korah, Wolfe, Zejda and Maddox were there along with Wesley and all the kids had fun for a few hours before we fixed lunch and herded them to the portrait place. We chose this particular franchise because the one where I live has always impressed me. The folks at the location in Greensboro, however, failed to make the slightest positive impression, which is saying something since I usually don't care one way or another about how people run their businesses as long as they get the job done. I could complain about how the computers where customers pick out their portraits were occupied by chicks playing games and checking their email while we waited for the photographer, but since I'd probably have done the same thing (albeit I'd have gotten off the minute a customer walked in) I can't complain too much. We explained what we wanted, a group shot of the kids, but the photographer insisted that she had to take individual shots of the kids. I know it's because they want us to see a nice individual shot and be tempted to buy it, but still, as I explained, we didn't have time to waste for something we didn't want. I thought about asking her about the huge family reunion photo on the wall, "You mean to tell me that you made forty people sit through individual shots just so you could give them what they asked for in the first place?" The photoshoot or whatever you call it, didn't go well. All I can say is that the chick deserved it. Maybe if she'd gotten one of her coworkers to assist her Wesley might smiled in more than one shot. She probably took fifty shots and only ten of them were of what we wanted, and of those ten only one was acceptable, but not with the background we wanted. We made her skip over all the individual shots, only taking time to laugh at the ones where the kids looked silly (I might've bought the one with Wolfe winking like a complete goofball if I weren't so annoyed at the chick). So after that I bought a box of ice cream for the kids and we visited a pet store to kill time, then we stopped by to visit my mom at work before Henry and I drove home. Good thing we made that stopover, because it forced me to take a back way home, thereby avoiding I-40 and the huge wreck in Durham I would've either been in or been delayed by. All in all, a crazy day.
Last night Ben heard something rooting through the trashcan. I'd heard it before, and have picked up trash from some creature dumpster diving for spoiled meat, so I was interested to see the culprit. I turned on the porch light and went back to the window.
I told Ben there was something in the trashcan.
"How do you know?"
"The lid's up."
Then I told him, "It's a raccoon."
"How do you know?"
"He's looking right at me."
The raccoon was staring insolently at me from his perch on the lip of the trashcan, and I ran off to get the camera. Of course, by the time I got back he'd already hopped down and moseyed on to raid the neighbors' garbage. I guess I'll have to get a bungee to secure the lid.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Time for an Update
Because updates are important, even if not much has been going on.
A couple of weeks ago I spotted a white grandma hair on my shirt and since it was a bit long I deduced it hadn't been picked up at Mee-Maw's house (Ben's grandma sports the traditional, professionally coiffed old lady fro), and since it was the same length and straightness of my own hair I knew without having to perform a DNA analysis that it had indeed come from my own head. It was with irritated resignation that I accepted the fact that I'd had a gray hair long enough to die of old age and fall off my head. Then like the next day I found another one. So I'm kind of amused at myself for being a girl, i.e., having a tiny, chagrined desire to stop the hands of time and remain young forever. Believe me, it's not all about the gray hairs-- as my mom and sisters can attest, a bottle of hair dye'll take care of that real quick, but about everything else, my body aging, weakening, falling apart, etc. But as I've never done anything "unnatural" to my hair, aside from that bowl cut back in the early nineties, I've decided to see how long it takes me to go completely white. When I'm really old I want to look like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies, which means I'd better start exercising more and working on my shotgun skills.
A couple of weeks ago I spotted a white grandma hair on my shirt and since it was a bit long I deduced it hadn't been picked up at Mee-Maw's house (Ben's grandma sports the traditional, professionally coiffed old lady fro), and since it was the same length and straightness of my own hair I knew without having to perform a DNA analysis that it had indeed come from my own head. It was with irritated resignation that I accepted the fact that I'd had a gray hair long enough to die of old age and fall off my head. Then like the next day I found another one. So I'm kind of amused at myself for being a girl, i.e., having a tiny, chagrined desire to stop the hands of time and remain young forever. Believe me, it's not all about the gray hairs-- as my mom and sisters can attest, a bottle of hair dye'll take care of that real quick, but about everything else, my body aging, weakening, falling apart, etc. But as I've never done anything "unnatural" to my hair, aside from that bowl cut back in the early nineties, I've decided to see how long it takes me to go completely white. When I'm really old I want to look like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies, which means I'd better start exercising more and working on my shotgun skills.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Halfway Through July Already?
It's amazing how fast time flies by when you're busy being lazy. Actually, I've been slightly more on top of housework lately. It's this weird phase I'm going through, getting things straightened and organized, cleaned, laundry done (for the most part). It's very strange to be sitting at night on the computer or reading a book and stopping suddenly in the midst of sloth and wondering briefly at the strange absence of something, then realizing that there's no procrastinator's guilt because I already cleaned up. I'm pretty dang sure this won't last. But so far so good. I mean, if I could somehow keep this up and make it a habit... Yeah, okay, let's not kid ourselves. But still, it'd be kind of cool.
So far the summer's gone by pretty well. Henry and I have been doing a fair amount of swimming, mostly at Ben's grandparents' place, avoiding the sun, as usual. I seriously hate the sun. We went to the lake a couple weeks ago and when I got tired of swimming I sat in a chair with my feet in the water, a towel draped over my head and shoulders and one over my lap. Yes, I looked like a psycho, but I'm too cheap to buy a beach umbrella when a towel works just as well. And yes, I wore sunblock.
Independence Day was fun. That afternoon we went for a long walk to the dragon park and played, then drove over to the Wal-mart parking lot to watch fireworks. We've never done that before, usually we go to Raleigh at the state fairgrounds. We got there a few minutes early and by nine the lot was full. The fireworks there were better than the ones we'd seen in the past, but halfway through Henry insisted that he had to go to the bathroom, so Ben walked him over to the port-a-john, except he ended up using the bushes instead. Hurray for America! (That's what Henry kept saying, anyway.)
So far the summer's gone by pretty well. Henry and I have been doing a fair amount of swimming, mostly at Ben's grandparents' place, avoiding the sun, as usual. I seriously hate the sun. We went to the lake a couple weeks ago and when I got tired of swimming I sat in a chair with my feet in the water, a towel draped over my head and shoulders and one over my lap. Yes, I looked like a psycho, but I'm too cheap to buy a beach umbrella when a towel works just as well. And yes, I wore sunblock.
Independence Day was fun. That afternoon we went for a long walk to the dragon park and played, then drove over to the Wal-mart parking lot to watch fireworks. We've never done that before, usually we go to Raleigh at the state fairgrounds. We got there a few minutes early and by nine the lot was full. The fireworks there were better than the ones we'd seen in the past, but halfway through Henry insisted that he had to go to the bathroom, so Ben walked him over to the port-a-john, except he ended up using the bushes instead. Hurray for America! (That's what Henry kept saying, anyway.)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Woes of Power Outage
Yesterday while I was enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap, the power went out. I might have slept through the whole episode but for the fact that a neighbor called to see if we still had electricity at our place. Henry and I chatted about why he couldn't open the fridge door while the power was out, why he couldn't leave the front door open, etc., and we went down a list of all the things in the house that don't work without electricity. Henry was happy to know that his legos still work without power, as did his walkie-talkies, but then thought for a millisecond.
"My games use power!"
He got all teary and sad and I quickly reminded him that the power was only going to be out for a little while, not forever. Then he was okay again. After that Ben took Henry for a ride around the neighborhood and I went back to sleep. Sunday afternoon naps are essential to my sanity, after all.
Of course, the power was back on by the time they got back, and Henry parked himself in front of the TV for a cathartic viewing of Loony Tunes.
"My games use power!"
He got all teary and sad and I quickly reminded him that the power was only going to be out for a little while, not forever. Then he was okay again. After that Ben took Henry for a ride around the neighborhood and I went back to sleep. Sunday afternoon naps are essential to my sanity, after all.
Of course, the power was back on by the time they got back, and Henry parked himself in front of the TV for a cathartic viewing of Loony Tunes.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Henry is Such a Boy
Yeah, so Henry is growing up. He hasn't quite caught onto the notion that girls are icky, but he is starting to believe that boys are far superior. A while back he constructed a fort from the couch, desk and lazyboy configuration in the living room. He wanted me to make a sign that said "no girls allowed," but knowing that he would use this sign for evil I told him to make his own sign, which he promptly did. He very happily showed me his sign, written on a giant piece of card board covered in magic marker scribbles. I did the mom thing where you say, "oh, I see," when pretending to make sense of such scribbles, when he pointed out his sign, a tiny blob inside one of those crossed-out circle things. I took a picture, check it out:
Can you see it? I almost didn't.
Then my little boy supremest decided that his room needed scary pictures on the door to keep the girls at bay. So he enlisted my help in drawing ghosts and bats and such. He wanted a skeleton, but I made him draw it himself. I had to tell him how to draw everything, but he paid attention and followed directions pretty well. And the results:
And as for my most recent achievement, I did a load of whites yesterday and forgot to put them in the dryer. Ta-da!
Can you see it? I almost didn't.
Then my little boy supremest decided that his room needed scary pictures on the door to keep the girls at bay. So he enlisted my help in drawing ghosts and bats and such. He wanted a skeleton, but I made him draw it himself. I had to tell him how to draw everything, but he paid attention and followed directions pretty well. And the results:
And as for my most recent achievement, I did a load of whites yesterday and forgot to put them in the dryer. Ta-da!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)