It's Official

So after a year of getting our crap together, Ben and I have finally finished up with our application/paperwork/interviews to begin the adoption process. We're now featured on itsaboutlove.org.

I think the hardest part about getting our profile online was coming up with the teaser. It's not spectacular or anything, and really, if it sucks-- well, I told you that was the hardest part.

A friend took our family portrait. He was very generous with his time and patience, especially with Henry, even taking the time to do a few silly shots to get some of the wiggles out.

My favorite shot:

Catching Up

I ought to be more diligent in recording the goings on in my life. This month's been fairly busy with different stuff, and already I've forgotten half of it. I think a lot of it has to do with the summer weather and all the headaches I've gotten transitioning from air conditioning to sweltering heat. Aside from that, Henry and I have been having fun.

We had a fun trip to the lake with Grandma, Papaw, Maggie, and all the cousins. Dad brought his ice cream maker and Maggie and I quickly threw the ice cream ingredients together and everybody headed to the lake. Mom and I went separately to the store to pick up a few things we'd forgotten and when we met up with them at the lake Dad announced that we'd forgotten to put sugar in the ice cream, so we had to turn around a go back for some sugar. So my first joint attempt at ice cream was a little off, but it turned out okay.

We had a church activity the next day, so I borrowed the ice cream maker and had another go at it. I wasn't sure how it would turn out since I used a different recipe and it was my first solo attempt. And I was the only one who brought home made ice cream, so that didn't help my self confidence much. The activity went well. All the kids had fun releasing butterflies and watching the cub scouts launch water rockets. After the water balloon fight (two hours of filling balloons for two minutes of play) we went home. Ben acted a little sad that there was no more ice cream, which is unusual because he doesn't even like ice cream (weirdo), so I made another batch just for him the next week. And who's been eating that ice cream? That's right. Henry and me.

The graphics card in my computer went kaput and so Ben frankensteined (his terminology) it for me until he could get a new computer, which he did last week. Ben's happy about his new computer, although it was a little iffy at first. He builds his own machines now in the name of saving a buck and this time he had a little trouble with the motherboard/memory configuration. He figured it out though, and now I've got his old one.

Ben and I celebrated our eleventh anniversary. Ben purposefully didn't remind me to see if I'd forget. I did. Oh, well. We took Henry out for pizza at Rudino's. Life is good.

Can't think of anything else. Upcoming events: Henry begins first grade next week, the rest to be announced.

Have a good one everybody.

A Trophy for Henry

Henry got his snorkel set Monday night. Tuesday it rained all day. Tuesday Henry whined all day. He demanded to go swimming, cursed the rain, the cool weather, the lightning, and me. We stayed home and built things out of Legos. Henry continued to whine and complain. I only just managed not to go insane. Wednesday was much better. No rain, no thunder or lightning. Blue skies with big fluffy white clouds, not too hot, and the pool water was the right temperature. Henry had a blast. He mastered the snorkel, learned to swim slowly and to float on his face, and he taught himself how to swim backwards. He was so proud of himself that he announced that he needed a trophy.

Nee-nee was prepared and provided the trophy, that very afternoon, in the the form of a Fushigi ball. The ball had just arrived that very day in the mail. Apparently they'd seen an ad on TV and Henry had asked for the floating ball. They were both a little disappointed when they found out the whole floating thing was an illusion. I thought it was kind of funny, though. We sat and watched the video that came with the ball and I helped Henry understand that even though the ball looked like it floated, "The Amazing Kenny" had spent many years practicing in his grandma's basement so that one day he could impress people with his sleight of hand magic and finally get a girlfriend. Of course I later regretted my sarcasm when I found out that Henry thought that everything I'd said was true, and so I had to further explain that I was only teasing and knew absolutely nothing about "The Amazing Kenny" or any alleged basement dwelling.

Henry loves his trophy, though, and any initial disappointment was completely eclipsed when he was able to amaze some of his friends with the ball later that night.

Hurray for the Amazing Henry!

Family Heirloom

Recently Ben's mom was doing some house cleaning/purging and came across one of Ben's old t-shirts. I gave it to Henry.

This is Ben circa 1984.


This is Henry circa today.

Henry Learns a Few New Tricks

Since this has probably been one of the hottest summers I can remember, Henry and I have spent a lot of time at the pool. Last year he learned to dog paddle, but wasn't into getting his head wet. This year, thanks to peer pressure, Henry got up enough courage to swim under water. Then last Thursday I taught him how to fetch a dive stick. Granted, it was in the shallow end, but for Henry, who at the beginning of summer wouldn't even put his whole head under water, this is pretty awesome.

Friday Henry and I went to Mom and Dad's. Maggie came down with Wesley. We decided to fix dinner, which meant driving to Asheboro and buying groceries. We made a roasted chicken, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, salad, and salsa. Dad came home just long enough to pick up Wolfe and take him to a movie. Mom had a funeral to go to and ate on the way home, so our lovely dinner was enjoyed by Maggie, Wesley, and myself. Henry sampled the chicken and pronounced it "gross," refused everything else, and would only eat chips and salsa. Oh, well, at least he got some vegetables in him. After dinner Maggie and I started making lemon pound cake. Only after we'd gotten most of it thrown together did we discover that the lemon juice we'd just bought was missing. It's a half hour drive back to town, so we turned the house over looking for that stupid plastic lemon, hoping that Wesley had mislaid it somewhere where we could actually find it again. After a while we gave up. The lemon juice in the fridge was a little old. The expiration date was a little smudgy but the year looked like it started with a nine, so we tossed that. Then Maggie found an little unopened bottle on Mom's food storage shelf. Upon opening it, the liquid inside was a little chunky and grayish green. The expiration date on it was sometime in 1999. Apparently Mom and Dad don't have much use for lemon juice. We added a cup of cocoa to the cake instead. It turned out okay, not as good as what Mom usually makes, but good enough. Then we went for a ride on the pond, all four of us in one kayak. It was right at sunset and the bats started coming out to eat the bugs flying over the water while the heron circled overhead. We only had a little trouble docking; upon exiting the kayak Henry missed the bank and sloshed right in the mud.

Saturday we helped Mom and Dad prepare for their Pioneer Day party, i.e. cleaned the house. We hooked up the sprinkler and sent Henry and Wesley out to play, Henry in his boxer briefs and Wesley in his birthday suit. After we got them cleaned up we noticed that the tap water was going brown. Whoops, seems we overtaxed their well. Since we were leaving before the party, Dad took Henry and me on a tractor ride. I sat it the trailer with Henry while Dad drove us through the woods and raced down the hill in the field in front of the pond. Then Dad made ice cream and Beth and the rest of the cousins showed up. So we had ice cream and some more cake, then it started raining, so we stayed a little longer and Henry played with his cousins, and then after the downpour let up, Henry and I went home to have dinner with Ben.

Sunday I taught the sharing time lesson at church and we stayed after for a baptism-- it was cool because the girl getting baptized was the aunt of Henry's friend at school, and since his friend came for the baptism, Henry invited him to come to our house after and play.

Today was another hot day, so we skipped the park and went swimming again. Because Henry kept practicing his diving, (and because he's been nagging me for a while) I promised to get him a snorkel if he could swim down and fetch the dive stick again. He succeeded and so after dinner and I took him to pick one out. And he wore it for the rest of the night.

Incidentally, in case anyone cares, Maggie found the lemon in the back of her car.

Productivity Amongst a Spate of Laziness

A couple days ago I decided it was time to replace the old ceiling light in our office/computer room. Ben suggested we install a ceiling fan. So we did:

Time For Another Post

The summer's been hot so far, and the heat's been keeping us indoors when we're not swimming. Last week wasn't so bad, though. Thursday Henry and I went to see Grandpa and Grandma Tilley. The weather was awesome, rather spring-like with minimal humidity. We had lunch and a fun time building an enormous tower out of straws. Out at the pond Henry found a ditch full of tiny frogs no bigger than my fingernail. Henry had a good time exploring and collecting stuff. He brought home a variety of flowers, a green apple, and an onion and a potato from the garden.

Friday Henry and I went with Maggie, Wesley, Papaw and Uncle Dave to the Thresher's Reunion in Denton. We walked around looking at old tractors and watched a couple of demonstrations with horses running antique farm equipment. Henry didn't feel like sitting on a horse, so he posed for a photo on the ground next to it instead.


We got to feed some goats and look at more old stuff and finally, finally we reached the little train depot so Henry could ride the train. On the train I saw something I thought was funny. This kid was wearing a t-shirt with two pit bulls on it, one howling mournfully, captioned with "I DON'T LIKE TO FIGHT BUT I AIN'T SKARD (sic) TO BLEED." The word bleed was really big and flood filled with an image of the confederate flag. Later I did a google search to see if I could find one for myself, but alas, I was unsuccessful. Must be a vintage tee.

We had a busy few weeks and now that things have slowed down a little I thought I'd post something.

We did a Johnson family beach trip a couple weekends ago. That was a lot of fun, even if I did have to sleep on the couch and listen to Henry snore all night. Henry got a boogie board from Grandma and Papaw and thought that was the coolest thing ever. We also took a tour of the battleship North Carolina, which I'd never done before. It really made me appreciate air conditioning and modern times and the fact that I'll probably never have to live on a battleship. So many thanks to Peepaw and all the brave men and women who've spent time on one in time of war or peace.

On the way home from the beach, we decided to take the ferry to Southport and head home from there. Henry's never been on a ferry before, so it was fun to watch him enjoy the new experience.

Just as we were approaching Castle Hayne we hit this huge traffic jam, one of those where you sit so long you have to throw it in park and kill the engine to save gas. I suggested we take the nearest exit and fill up the tank. Everybody and their brother had the same idea, and when I took Henry inside for a bathroom break, we had to stand in line for fifteen minutes. Lucky for us there was an alternate route right there that took us past the wreck and we were able to get home without really losing any time.


This week we finally had a few days where it wasn't raining every other day, so I hurried and bought some water sealer and a paintbrush and started on the deck. The first day I spent all morning and afternoon hunched over, standing, on my knees, or sitting, painting. I used lots of sunblock and wore a hat so I wouldn't get nuked by the sun. I was so smart that I forgot to put some on my ears. Ouch. The next day wasn't so bad because of blessed cloud cover, so I was able to get all the stairs and the tops of the railings done. Today it's raining. I guess I could use the break and get some laundry folded.

And... School is winding up for Henry. I can hardly believe today is his last day as a kindergartener. Seems like only yesterday he was hopping on that bus for the first time. Not that I'm crying. Tomorrow we get to sleep in.

Yeah!

Wedding Fun

This weekend we found ourselves traveling to Louisburg to attend the wedding of my step-cousin-in-law (Ben's stepmom's nephew). The wedding was at this old plantation house, which an impressed Henry addressed as "the rich house." There were green lawns and flowering magnolia trees and some kind of big bush with small fragrant flowers growing over an archway, and even though it was sunny and pretty hot, the humidity wasn't that bad, so it was a nice outdoor setting for a wedding. During the ceremony I was bitten on both ankles by a couple of ants, but other than that, I had a good time. Henry had a really good time. Especially after dinner when the dancing started. Or rather after the Bride and groom dance, the father and bride dance, the mother and groom dance, the grandpa and bride dance, and the groom and daughter dance were finished and the floor was opened to everybody. Henry loves to dance and since Ben and I are both pretty self-conscious about our own dancing, we both think it's cool that he's not afraid to go out and have fun. And he had lots of fun. I thought maybe he was having a little too much fun when right after he'd just finished some rudimentary breakdancing to a Michael Jackson song this older lady stopped him as he came prancing by her table on his way to ours. I thought she was going to get onto him or tell him to be more careful, but she actually wanted to compliment him on his dancing skills.

By the time the bride and groom cut the cake and we had all eaten a slice it was getting late, so we made our exit. The evening air had cooled sufficiently and we drove home with the windows open. While Henry snoozed in the back, Ben and I chatted. In moments of quiet as darkness set on I enjoyed the subtle woodsy scents of the countryside, the faint aroma of mushroom mingled with honeysuckle.

I don't know why some of my most peaceful happy moments happen to occur during the car ride home after family events. Weird, but it's true.

Jury Duty: Part Two, or the Conclusion of a Long Week

So on day two I was chosen as an alternate on the jury. That was fine with me. In fact, I would've gladly been a full fledged juror and traded places with the obstinate chick who kept insisting that she'd be a terrible juror and had to be questioned at least twice by the D.A., the defense, and the judge. Even though it was obvious to everyone that she was just being a jerk because she didn't want to serve, they wanted to make her concede that she was just being a jerk. She of course, was too much of a jerk to actually do that and thankfully they dismissed her because everybody else was getting crazy waiting for them to dismiss her already.

Even though it took all day, after the trial got underway it was smooth sailing mentally. The judge didn't have enough time to wrap up with everything by the end of the second day, so I had to come in again on Thursday morning. After an hour or so they were ready to go into deliberation, so I was off the hook. The judge dismissed me and I gave a little wave to my fellow jurors and went my way.

Overall, I'd say it was a good experience. I learned how time consuming the jury selection process is, that there's a lot more to trials that the jury never sees, how bailiffs get their jobs (thanks to a long wait outside the courtroom while the judge and lawyers had a chat), and that they have these stackable crate things for short people in the jury box to rest their feet on so their legs don't fall asleep (I got two). I also learned the extent of my terrible sense of direction when I finally figured out where in actuality the courthouse was in respect to the parking deck.

Now I'm off to take care of that huge pile of laundry on the couch.

Jury Duty: Part 1

8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Juror Lounge
1:05 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:35 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Juror Lounge
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Jury Selection
5:10 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. Fighting insane traffic to get home

I could say it was a day well spent because I got to read about all day, but since we got a late start with jury selection, they didn't actually get finished so I'm still on the hook and have to show up again tomorrow morning.

Laughs maniacally and rams head through the wall.

I LOVE the DMV. LOVE it.

On Being Kind to Our Slithery Friends

Today Henry and I went to visit Mee-maw and Pee-paw and Nee-Nee. While we were there I decided to get started on opening the pool, mostly because for once there wasn't a layer of water and rotten leaves on top of the tarp. Every year it's the same, pull the tarp off and find a plethora of disgusting things on the sidewalk or floating in the pool. This year was easier, even though Ben wasn't there, mostly because the top of the tarp was dry, and my mother-in-law and I got it off and with the help and direction of Pee-paw we drug it into the driveway so we could hose it off. Halfway through sweeping leaves and pollen, slugs and earthworms off, Jeanne found a baby snake. She wouldn't go near it, so I went to investigate. It was a little brown snake, not a copperhead, and for once I didn't go into instant kill mode. Amazing, I know. I tried shooing it off the tarp with the hose, but it didn't take the hint, so I got a shovel and carefully scooped it up and deposited in the yard where all the weeds are. I have to say I'm proud of myself for being charitable towards the snake. I guess that means I'm one step towards being a better person or something.

The Weaker Sex

This week I decided that a six year hiatus on deck maintenance was at an end. The pollen finally quit, the sun was out and I had a lot of free time on my hands, so instead of waiting for the weekend, I went out and rented a power washer. Ben wanted me to wait until the weekend so he could help, but I insisted that I could handle it. I may be small and shy, but I'm not helpless. The rent-all place was pretty cool, they showed me how to operate it and loaded it up in the trunk. The guy who put it my car said it was heavy, but he picked it up without so much as a grunt and I figured if it didn't weigh more than fifty or sixty pounds I'd be okay getting it out. Ah, such is foolish optimism. Or ignorance, because as I found out when I got home, that thing was a bit more than fifty or sixty pounds.

Being short has its disadvantages, I'll be the first to admit it. Trying to heave a very heavy object out of the back of my trunk really illustrates the point, when trying to get better leverage I had to stand on the bumper. I got it partially onto the lip of the trunk and realized that continuing with my fruitless endeavor would inevitably result in one of the following scenarios: I'd seriously damage the car, the power washer, or the driveway, or all three plus my back and maybe even an appendage or two.

Now that I realized I was an idiot and should have waited until the weekend like Ben said, my stubborn resolve drove me to call a friend and see if her husband was available. He wasn't. As we were mulling over some possible solutions, inspiration hit.

"The missionaries!" I cried.

And it was divine intervention, too, because they were home and had a car and were over in a few minutes. One of them picked up the power washer and plopped it on the driveway. Easy as pie. It took him two seconds.

Yes, I am a woman, a small one, with skinny, weak arms, just strong enough to piggy-back my six year old son downstairs every morning. It's annoying when I have to be reminded of my limitations, but I'm pretty blessed having access to bigger stronger people, especially being married to Ben, who's more than capable of loading a power washer in the trunk. And while I may be dinky, I managed to get Henry ready for school this morning, squeeze in our scripture study, see him off at the bus stop, return the power washer, volunteer in Henry's classroom, visit the dentist, the library, and the grocery store, be home for Henry when he got off the bus, and collect sleeping bags, pillows and snacks for Ben and Henry's camp out.

And the deck is ready to be water sealed, which I'll get to as soon as the next sunny day next week. When I'm done reading, or when I feel like it.

Weekend Excursion

This past weekend Henry and I took a little vacation. A few old friends from back in my missionary days were having a get-together and since I received a direct invitation, I figured I'd better go. Yeah, such a hard decision, let me tell you. I wanted Ben and Henry to come, too, so I could show them off, but Ben was adamant that he remain at home. Number one, he hates to fly, and two, he hates to spend. I convinced him to let me take Henry because otherwise he's have to get Henry ready for school Friday and Monday, be there when he got home from school, plus entertain him for the weekend, etc. Besides that, Henry's never flown before (if you don't count the business trip I took when I was about five months pregnant), and it was a great opportunity for him to see where I served my mission. Happily the combination of benefits for Henry and benefits for Ben were worth the expense of an extra plane ticket.

Poor Ben. A week before we were set to fly out, Ben's boss called after he got home Friday night and told him he had to be in Minnesota on Monday, so Ben ended up having to fly after all. He got home late Thursday but I didn't get to talk to him until after ten because two of his bosses called him at the same time right when he got home and kept him on the phone for half an hour-- he actually had to hold two phones to his ears. He was so beat, it really was a good thing he had the weekend to himself to recuperate.

Henry and I had to fly out Friday morning at six, so that meant getting up at 3:30 a.m. A crazy mix of excitement, anticipation, and Ben's snoring kept me awake so that I got a grand total of one hour of sleep that night. I figured I could get some sleep on the plane; little did I know how grossly I underestimated Henry's ability to prevent such an occurrence. After all the questions he asked from Raleigh to Houston, it was the inane high pitched nonsense songs the entire duration of the flight from Houston to Salt Lake City. After a while, though, Henry got really bored. Somewhere over Colorado he threatened to jump out of the plane. I was as tired of him being bored as I was being tired. No matter, once we landed I was stoked. Kiki and Angela picked us up from the airport and took us out to eat. Then Kiki loaned me a car and we went down to Aniesa's. We had just enough time to get there (I only had to make one extra phone call to actually find her house) and we loaded up in a van to go to Chuck E. Cheese's. I told Henry beforehand we would be going, and so he was under the impression that the whole purpose for our trip to Utah was so that he could go to Chuck E. Cheese's-- never mind that we have one in Raleigh. Afterward he told me, "Mom, I had so much fun at Chuck E. Cheese's."

Saturday we went to Audrey's where everybody else was meeting. We ordered food from this place called Cafe Rio. I ordered a cheese quesadilla because I knew Henry wouldn't eat anything else from there, but Angela refused to let me eat a quesadilla when there were better things to be had, so she ordered me a salad-- it was delicious and I'm eternally grateful she did, because the quesadilla turned out to be meh. It was so good to see everybody and catch up and share so much laughter. I have a hard time expressing in words my gratitude for the enduring friendships I gained while serving at Temple Square. It actually gets me all emotional and sniffy to think about it. Suffice it to say, I love love love all of the women I served with and being able to reconnect with them, even via the internet, means the world to me.

The only bad thing I can say about the trip that I wished I'd more time to visit everyone I wanted to see. I wanted to see everyone, of course.

Since we were running short on time, on Sunday instead of going to church I took Henry for a visit to Temple Square. It was cold and gray, and we were lucky that it held off on raining while we were there. I wanted him to get the feel of what I did as a missionary, so I snagged us a tour with two sisters. While they showed us around we chatted and I shared my general experience at Temple Square during my own mission. So much has been renovated, rearranged and changed that it was almost like walking in a dream, and a little sad because the sisters there now are not the ones I knew and loved. Sad to think I wouldn't ever be able to revisit the garden room and check the mailbox for letters from home-- the garden room is gone. Oh, well. Change is good most of the time. One thing's the same though: life is good and I'm so blessed, and my testimony of Jesus Christ is as strong as ever.

Well. Now that I'm done emoting, here's my favorite photo:

I love how Henry's sneaky expression was caught just as he was trying to ruin the photo.

And one more:

If you look carefully you can see Henry wandering around the reflecting pool in front of the temple.

Can't wait to do it again.

I seriously have nothing to blog about. So I'll bore you with a short anecdote.

The other day I commented on a friend's Facebook status update. Said friend had just received a jury duty notice. I bragged that I'd gotten out of jury duty six years previous because of a new baby. I also noted that I'd probably cursed myself by admitting that.

Two days later I received my notice of jury duty in the mail.

I'm not superstitious. Even so, I'm not telling anyone how long it's been since I've given a talk at church.

Happy Easter

This weekend we had a fun time at Grandma and Papaw's house. It was sunny and warm, a completely beautiful Easter, I got in most of the General Conference sessions, got in a kayak ride, and I got to make fun of the New Moon movie. I had an awesome lunch of grilled chicken, potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, black olives, and a slice of blueberry pie... I might have had another slice of pie, but it was all gone by the time my stomach digested enough food to make room for one more. Oh, well.

Me and Mom, making pies:


And all six grandkids, post Easter egg hunt:

Adventures in Plumbing

Yesterday Maggie and Wesley came over and while Henry was in school we ran some errands. While we were out I bought a couple of perennials for the front of the house. They're blue and smell nice and for the life of me I can't remember what they're called. Anyway, now that Henry's busily occupied in school and I finally have some free time and energy, I've started trying to get our yard in better shape. For some reason, all the bushes on the right side of the house have died off, one at a time, over the last six years. This year, after removing the last dead bush, I planted a couple of hydrangeas and am hoping they will live long enough to at least flower one day. Maggie and I put in the perennials and then we dug up some errant hostas and replanted them over where the dead bush used to be. Earlier I planted some flower and herb seeds, but Wesley ran across the flower bed with a rake, so now I have very little hope of success on that front. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things turn out.

Today I was feeling productive and decided it was time to fix the leaky bathroom sink. Ben grumbled and moaned but I got him into the spirit of things. We went to the home improvement store and picked up a new drain pipe/sink stopper combo and returned home to get to work. Demolition of the drain pipe was interesting. Ben unscrewed the pipes and then uttered some horrified gibberish and sent me for a bucket. The smells that emanated from the bathroom were unpleasant much in the same way sewer gas or rotting animal carcasses are unpleasant. The culprit appeared to be a big hunk of mold in the pipe. I spent a good ten minutes scrubbing slimy black mold off the sink while Ben cleaned the pipe out with the garden hose outside.

All I had plans for was repairing the drain, but Ben wanted to fix the leaky faucet while we were at it. In the process of removing some vital part of the faucet, he managed to bend it, so we were going to have to replace the entire plastic ball chunk (I have no idea what that part is called). So we Lysoled the bathroom and left it to air out while we went looking for sink parts. Unfortunately, the faucet was some ancient twenty-year-old off-brand job, so there was nothing at either Lowe's or Home Depot we could use. That meant we had to buy a new faucet. Ben picked out a cheap replacement and I suggested we get some new hoses to hook up the hot and cold water, but Ben thought we could use the old copper hook ups. When we got back home and got the old faucet off, we found out the old pipes were soldered on. So I went back out for the hoses. Together Ben and I swapped out the faucets and with minimal rage fits got the stopper and drain all fixed. Then when we tested everything, the drain started leaking.

While Ben was busy getting ticked off I asked him, "You didn't put teflon tape on the pipe like I said, did you?"

Ben took the drain apart again and taped the pipe thread, put everything back together and it worked beautifully.

The finished product:


It's nice to know that even though Ben and I tend to screw some things up and get angry and yell before things get properly repaired, at least we've learned enough so that next time something breaks we'll know how to fix it with slightly less mistakes and yelling.

I'm thinking the next thing to break will probably be the dishwasher. That'll be a real adventure, I'm sure.

Reemerging from the Chrysalis

If said chrysalis were a comforter on the couch, then yeah. Finally I'm feeling better after a bout with clogged sinuses and a pesky cough.

This past weekend Henry and I went to visit family. Ben stayed home because he was sick. We went to Mom and Dad's first to spend the night.

For a while Mom and Dad have been sans pets, which made their house seem weird and a little lonely to me. Then this winter a sickly half-grown kitten showed up at their door, so Mom took pity on it and took it to the vet. At the vet's the receptionist asked the cat's name.

Dad replied, "Dumb ugly cat." Dad's not one for harboring any feline affection.

Dumb Ugly Cat (Mom calls her Kitty) is one of those tortoiseshell cats, the kind that look like what would happen if you inadvertently washed a load of clothes with three or four different colored tabby cats. She's cute in a hideous way, but her ugliness is more than eclipsed by an affectionate nature. Anyway, when they first got her she had to stay inside because she was sick. When we came on Saturday I was surprised that she still had free run of the house. I thought maybe Dad was getting soft in his old age, but it turns out that Dad's new dog, Red, thinks Dumb Ugly Cat would make a nice snack and has to be chained if the cat is outside.

Saturday the weather was so nice that Henry and I decided to talk a walk on the trail through the woods. Accompanying us was Red. This was our first time meeting Red. If I didn't think Dad would miss him terribly and Ben would kill me, I'd have seriously considered taking him home with me. I'm a sucker for big floppy eared hunting dogs, and Red is a cheerful, laid back guy that didn't jump on me, lick my face, or bark like mad when we arrived (like a certain mutt in residence at Meemaw and Peepaw's house). After we got nice and muddy on our walk (the ground was saturated from the rain) I took Henry for a ride in one of the kayaks. Red really wanted to come, too, but he settled for running around the pond. It really surprised me that he didn't go after the ducks. I guess cats look more appetizing, or at least easier to catch.

That night since my nieces were staying the night, Henry and I shared a bed. Henry's a bed hog and a snuggler, so I got maybe four hours of uninterupted sleep. And woke up with a cold. Dad made us breakfast and Maggie called and asked if I was still coming to church with her in in Greensboro. It was eight and her church starts at nine, I was still unbathed and half through with breakfast, but I said okay. I didn't exactly rush to get ready, but I knew Maggie was going to be late, too. I neglected to bring church shoes, so instead of wearing my sneakers, I borrowed a pair of shoes from Mom. I tried on a pair of brown Mary Janes and Dad commented that they looked like something I'd wear (I suspect he hates those shoes) and so I traded them for something I'd never wear, a pair of black high heeled zip up boots. "For the shock value," I told him.

We only arrived forty five minutes late for church, just in time to hear the last speaker, because I took a wrong highway and had to back track, had to take a detour because of a closed exit ramp, went the wrong way on a street, and missed a turn and had to circle back. The whole time Henry kept encouraging me to go the wrong way because he didn't want to go to church. When we took our place next to Maggie (me strutting like a drunk hooker in those boots), she told me she'd only gotten there fifteen minutes before. I like Maggie's church because there's this old guy there who, when Maggie and I were probably fifteen or so, went on a hike with a bunch of us on an overnight hike to Uwharrie National Forest. At the campsite we'd gone to the neighboring creek and caught a few crayfish. He still remembers that day like it was yesterday and always remembers me and asks if I've caught any crawdads lately. I love that guy.

After church I helped Maggie make Wesley's birthday cake. He turned two that day and Maggie wanted his cake to be cool. She's a lot more ambitious than me. Luckily she'd already baked the cake and cut it such that it reasonably resembled the shape of a fish. The icing didn't turn out quite the right shade of orange, and because it was really moist, composed of pudding and whipped cream, the black icing we used bled a little. Well, honestly it looked like Nemo got bleached at the water treatment plant and bled from the eyes. Maggie said he was crying because he missed his dad. The cake tasted fine though. Mom and Dad, Beth and her kids, Avdo's family and a bunch of other people came over and we all ate and had a good time. Because I'd never had any before, I decided to try a piece of Bosnian smoked cheese. And because I'm a jerk, I made Mom try a piece, too. Well, I didn't make her, I just pestered her until she gave in. Since my nose was clogged, I'm not sure I got the full effect, but there was no mistaking the dominant flavor.

"Tastes like a campfire," I said. It really did. The cheese itself was firm and dry, a little crumbly, but all I could taste was the smoke. And I tasted the smoke for a long while after. Mom did, too. I don't think she's going to take any of my suggestions from now on. That reminds me, I got her a copy of Hunger Games for Christmas. I bet she never reads it now.

I'm Liking the Warm Weather, But it Makes Me Stupid

Saturday was a warm lazy day. Ben wasn't feeling great so I took Henry with me to get the oil changed in Ben's car. I think there's some kind of weird correlation between good weather and Ben feeling ill, because he always seems sick when it's nice out, never when it's rainy. Anyway, we went to the Chick-Fil-A to grab lunch and kill time while the car was in the shop. Henry wolfed down his nuggets and hurried to the playroom. I sat in there to watch him play. The playroom has this big playhouse thing with tiered platforms leading up to little rooms and slides and stuff. Henry really likes it but he's got a little bit of a fear of heights, so getting the courage to climb up to the slide takes him a while sometimes. The last time he had no problems, but this time he'd regressed somewhat and wouldn't go up past the third "step," spending a lot of time mostly running around and watching other kids go up. He was nervous about the stability of the structure, but I helped him understand that it was very sturdy and that he couldn't possibly fall off. I gently encouraged him to try one step at a time, to see if he could get up to the fourth step and gradually he made it up to the slide level. He wouldn't go any higher to the rooms on top, but he went up to the slide again and again. He counted each time he went up and was very pleased when he'd done it ten times. After a while some more kids came in to play, including a little girl who was afraid to climb up the platforms. Henry very sweetly told her that he'd been afraid, too, but he wasn't anymore and offered to help her up. She need more convincing that Henry could give, but I thought it was nice of him anyway.

I like seeing Henry's personal successes. A couple weekends ago he went to a friend's birthday party at a community center. All the kids were given plastic kites and Henry really wanted to fly his. With very minimal help from me, he assembled the kite and took off with it. Moments later I was very surprised to see him running around the circumference of the room, his kite flying high about an inch below the ceiling, the long red tails rippling behind. He had such a happy, triumphant look on his face that I just sat there and grinned.

Yesterday Ben sloughed work (he took a personal day) because he was tired and not feeling well. I let him sleep in and went quietly (as quietly as I could anyway) about my day. He got up around noon and I made us some grilled cheese sandwiches. After lunch we went for a nice long walk through the neighborhood. It was a warm sunny day and it was really nice to have some time alone with Ben. I enjoyed the warm weather so much that after Henry got home from school I took him to the park. We were about halfway to our destination before I noticed that Henry had forgotten his helmet. Oh, well. A little extra precaution ensured that he didn't fall off and split his head open. At the park Henry ditched his bike with me and went to make some new friends. We finished the day with a family outing to the library and that night Henry read one of my all time favorites, Bears in the Night.

Today was another beautiful day. I cheerfully sent Henry off on the bus and then went over to his school to do some busy work. Said busy work included cutting different shapes out of colored paper. I eventually got the die cutter to work and got some hexagons made, finished some little rectangles, and was moving on to big rectangles, when my happy spring-feverish brain drifted off to stupidville. I was rearranging the paper on the paper cutter and switched hands to hold up the cutting blade, when I noticed somewhat belatedly that I'd grabbed the blade arm not by the handle, but by the blade itself. Whoops. The blade slid right through the skin between my thumb and forefinger. It was with some disgust and shock that I noticed that I could see all the way through the severed flap of skin to the tissue below and decided it might benefit me to see a doctor, for just in case. Luckily there was someone there today who had some bandaids in her purse and the school nurse hooked me up with some gauze, an icepack and a latex glove so I wouldn't bleed all over my car. Not that the cut was spouting blood or anything. It just looked really nasty, and to my chagrin, nauseating to me. The school nurse had me sit for a little bit "until I got some color in my face." I think I'm usually white as death anyway, but the thought of me fainting over so trivial an injury amused me. I drove myself down to a walk in clinic, pleased that my old gas-guzzling grandpa-mobile really came in handy, no pun intended, since because it's an automatic, I didn't have any trouble driving with one hand. I did have to wait seemingly forever and a day, though, before my hand was inspected and taped up. As a precaution I got a tetanus shot as well.

And now, though I really want to go outside and ready the flower beds, I've got to stay inside and keep my hand clean and dry.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Today, even though it was cold and damp and perfect for staying inside wrapped in a fuzzy blanket reading a book, I decided to go volunteer at Henry's school. I like that the school is nice and warm. Ben likes to keep our house at 67. Brr. I'd like him to keep it at 67 in the summer, but no such luck. So I stayed warm while I cut out laminated stuff. Then because I ran out of stuff to do and it was only nine, I went over to the media center and shelved two carts of books. Little did I know that this little act of extra effort would result in me idiotically freezing my butt off.

Usually I shelve books on Wednesdays. But today is Tuesday. So when I got home I thought it was Wednesday. On Wednesdays school lets out an hour early, for the teachers to plan stuff, apparently. Anyway, that wouldn't have made a difference in the world, except that Henry had a substitute bus driver this morning. Henry's regular bus driver drops him off in front of the house in the afternoons. The sub drops him off at the bus stop down the street. So, me thinking it's Wednesday, I went out to the bus stop and stood in the rain/snow/sleet windfest and waited almost twenty minutes before my stupid brain bought a clue. An hour later I was back out there, but I only had to wait ten minutes before the bus finally showed up.

It's pretty lame when all I have to blog about is pertaining to me being not smart.

So I'll mention that it's Dr. Seuss' birthday. Henry's favorite Dr. Seuss book is Green Eggs and Ham. I like Fox in Socks, just for the part about the Tweedle Beetle Battle. I like the evil sadistic look on their faces when they sock each other with paddles. After Fox in Socks it's definitely the Sleep Book.

Now I think I'm ready for a nap, buried under a pile of warm blankets.