Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 26

The kids and I went to the Seattle Aquarium today. They have a new exhibit - Window on Washington Waters - which is very, very cool. We probably spent about 20 minutes just watching the fish swim around.

One of the sea lions was a little frisky and it was funny to see the other swim away and push him away. It was a little funnier when we found out they were both males.

It was very busy when I arrived downtown and I could not find parking at the meters under the viaduct so I parked in a lot. OMG - it cost me $22 to get out of the lot! I could not believe it. Next time I will drive around for hours to get the metered parking rather than get robbed at the parking lots!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 25

Nothing extraordinary today. The bigger boys had golf lessons today. Cars and I ran some errands. The boys and I ate dinner at the park then they played for a while before bed.

I took Jax and Dex to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". I loved it! They had to change many details because that book is monsterous but I thought the visual effects in HP&TOOTP were amazing. Although, I must admit that if I had not recently re-read the book then I might be a bit lost. I think the movies have always relied heavily on the expectation that you had read the books.

I am starting to get ready for our camping trip. Looking ahead at the weather, it is going to be cool and today they changed Saturday's forecast to say 30% chance of rain. Noooooooo! I am worried a little about getting everything into the van so I think we need to buy a soft-sided carrier for the roof to put the sleeping bags and pillows in. This year we will be bringing our own tent (we borrowed last year) which will take up quite a bit of room.

I also need to bake a pan of brownies for us to eat on Sunday for Cars' 4th birthday. Can you believe my baby is going to be *4*?! Four! I look at how much my life has changed in the past 4 years. I had a baby, thought I was going to die on the operating table and later the next day. I fell in the deep, dark pit of ppd and slowly climbed my way back out. In fact, I started this blog shortly after I was diagnosed with ppd. Well, actually it was my first blog that I started which I then deleted before I started this one. Going back and re-reading parts of this blog sometimes brings tears to my eyes. I don't always recognize that person I was and I feel badly for her/me because I know the pain that she was in. Knowing what I was feeling when I wrote sometimes seemingly innocculous blog entries saddens me. But it also gives me hope because I know I am no longer that person.

I often joke that I was crazy but the truth was, it was no joke. I was crazy. The thoughts that would go through my head scared me. I lived for Fridays when Nanny would come for 4 hours so I did not have to be a mom for a little bit. Well, sometimes I had to finish nursing Cars before I could go out. Or come back early to nurse him since he often would not take a bottle. But those Fridays were mine. Even though I mostly spent that time at Costco or Fred Meyer or Safeway, doing things that were not just for me but for my family. I got to shop alone. And it was heaven.

I also think I am so lucky that I was able to recover from ppd. Crazy Doctor helped a lot. Never underestimate the power of psychotherapy. I think I have mentioned before too that if I had been brave enough to take meds, I might have recovered sooner. I just did not feel that I had the support I needed to help me if the drugs did not help or made things worse. Seems silly now but when you are crazy...

Anyway, when I started typing this post I was thinking about all the wonderful things about Cars turning 4 but wow, this post did not end up that way at all. I am so proud of him because he is smart and funny and so very lovable (albeit bossy and stubborn). He totally makes our family complete. I love all of my boys with my whole heart and soul.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 24

I think I lost a day somewhere. I think this might have actually have been SoF Day 24. Must go back and count... (edited to add that it is SoF day 24 - I mistakeningly had Thursday as day 22)

Anyway, I drove the boys to Vancouver (New Westminster actually) for the day. We went to visit an online friend who recently had a baby. We took her 5 yr old son to lunch while she and her dh had a nice lunch date (with the baby). My boys had fun playing with T. and the baby, D, is very cute.

Ok, so you know I do not particularly like driving over bridges. Well, as I was approaching New Westminster yesterday, I suddenly saw this huge bridge before me. Huge! And a cable bridge. Over the Fraser river. OMG! This is that bridge. My hands got all clammy and I had to keep my eyes focused on the road ahead rather than the huge drop below me as we rose higher and higher into the air. At one point though, it was beautiful because all I could see was the tops of the mountains and it did seem that we were driving in the sky. Then my stomach started to churn but we were more than 1/2 way across at that point. I knew that I was NOT returning along this same highway - but would travel through Vancouver to get back to Hwy 99. The weird thing is that there are many bridges through Vancouver but I guess because they have higher sides that they seem more solid or something. Anyway, I had no problems going over the Oak Street bridge into Vancouver. Perhaps because it is a steel bridge and the bridge into New Westminster is a cable bridge. And the one into Seattle is a floating bridge which scares me too.

Anyway, as I said, I went into Vancouver too and I stopped for a quick visit with my brother, SIL and Lola. Lola is so cute! She looks a lot like my SIL around the eyes and the hairline but she is definitely my side of the family around the mouth. When she was smiling she looked like my dad, I thought. She is very, very sweet.

The boys and I stopped in a Safeway store and bought Dare-brand cookies (made in a peanut-free facility), Canadian Cheese Whiz, Hickory Sticks, Ketchup chips, Canadian-made Quaker Oat bars (peanut-free facility) and some pea butter. Then I stopped to buy Stephen a huge can of Tim Horton's coffee. All told, we spent $100 on snacks! The very saddest part of it all was that at Safeway I was offered only a 1% exchange rate and my US$ was accepted AT PAR in Tim Horton's and Burger King (where we had lunch). Far cry from the days of the 45% exchange rate. So strange! I think it has been over 30 years since the Canadian dollar has been so strong against the US dollar. Not good for us as we are about to go to Toronto on vacation.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 23

What fun today! A trip to the allergist's office! ;)

Stephen forgot that the kids were not to be on their anti-histamines this week in anticipation for allergy testing and Jax had his Zyrtec today so no testing for him to see if he has outgrown his egg allergy. I managed to intercept Cars' dose of Claritin so he was able to have a skin prick test (SPT) for Milk. It was negative so they put fresh milk on his arm and pricked it. Again, no wheal. So, it seems he has outgrown the allergy. His last blood test was pretty low. The doctor will just check for milk next time he has a blood test (probably next year). So that was good news!

Then we went to Target and I picked up a few things that we needed for camping (wash basin and plates). We came home and the kids played outside for a while. It was a lot cooler today than was forecast. I am not sure it hit 70. I miss summer weather! :(

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 22

Low key day today. Laundry and tidying up. Later this afternoon I put the slip'n'slide out for the boys.

I have a friend who has some weird shit going on in her life. I have always kept her at arms length because I could tell that she had some toxic relationships with others and I knew if she were closer to me, it would seep into my life. I can see it starting to spread to some other close friends so I think now is the time to cut her off. Just need to figure out the best way to do it without all the drama (things might be coming to a head). She very much you're with me or against me attitude. I think I will just try to fade away first because that is the path of least resistance for me (I hate confrontation).

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 21

Jax is on the mend so we went to a park today. There was this strange glowing yellow thing in the sky that gave off a lot of heat and...oh, it was just the sun. First time we saw it in over a week! Weather-wise, we have not had a great summer. It started late and then rain where rain does not belong? What is up?

After dinner I took the kids to the skate park. The older kids (teens) are pretty considerate of the young ones for the most part but the couple of yahoos swearing irritates the hell out of me. Ok, we get that you are disappointed that you did not get enough air when you did your kickflip but that certainly is not reason enough to scream the effenheimer! Grow up, pull your pants up and get a haircut! (just kidding about the haircut ;)

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 20

It is *still* raining. We've had rain for a week now, setting rainfall records left and right. And it is ~humid~. It is never humid in Seattle in the summer. Gross, sticky, icky. The only upside of this rain is that my lawn may turn green again before the end of September.

Due to the rain, I did not send the boys to golf lessons today (it is pay-as-you-go so we are not out any money). I did need to go to Costco though so off we went. Jax had been complaining of his legs aching, then his throat was sore. It was HOT in Costco and he was wearing his hoodie and shivering. By the time we got home he had a fever and went to bed for 2 hours. I think he has strep throat and we are off to the doctor late this afternoon to find out. God, I hope if it is strep that the others either get it immediately or never get it because I do not want them getting sick while we are camping or when we go to Toronto!

Wow! What a read!

My dh gave me the day to myself to read the book. He rocks!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 19

Ok, it is now actually the next day but what a day this way. Well, evening.

Jax, Dex and I went to Borders for the Hallow's Ball for the release of HP7. They dressed like Harry Potter (I will post photos later) and entered the costume contest (a Mandrake and a Dumbledore tied for 1st in the under 10 category). They there were lots of trivia games to answer before we headed outside along with 1000 others to get in line for midnight. We were approximately #750. So, it was a loooong wait. Especially when it started to drizzle but fortunately it did not last long and we were able to procure some of the complimentary umbrellas scattered around this outdoor mall.

We saw a few people we knew and ended up in line next to a family whose dd's are in Jax and Dex's grades at our school (the oldest dd was in Jax's class in k, 1 and 2) so they all played together which helped the time pass a little more quickly.

Anyway, now I am off to bed to start the book.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 18

Dex had an appointment with the neurologist today. His headaches (and head shaking) have mostly disappeared over the past couple of weeks. The neurologist asked both Dex and I a lot of questions and his conclusion is that he is 99% sure that Dex had a tic which has waned. He explained that tics involving head shaking usually cause headaches so most likely the headaches came after the head shaking, not vice versa.

I am happy that it is not something that is serious. He said that 1/100-1/150 kids have tics and that they usually go away by the age of 15 or so. I hope so. And I do feel more at ease hearing this from a neurologist than from the pediatrician. We only have to go back if he gets any tics that have vocalizations or if they really bother Dex.

While we were in Seattle at the doctor, Jax and Cars got to work with Stephen. Dex is feeling put out because they probably had more fun than he did. He will be happy next week though when Jax and Cars are getting poked and having blood drawn at the allergist and he gets to just sit there and play gameboy.

Edited to add that I made Pork Tenderloin with Peach Glaze for dinner tonight and it was yummy!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 17

Pouring rain + active kids = crazy day

We just hung out at home today and then declared it MOVIE DAY with movie and popcorn. Then for a sanity break I went to the club after dinner.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 16

We went to a beach in Seattle today for low tide on Puget Sound. Like last year, it was a super cool experience although there were no beach naturalists this time. Unlike last year, my pictures sucked so if you want to see examples of the sea life, look at last year's post. :D

Ok, here is a photo of something I did not see last year...This blue heron (click for bigger)


And here are the boys being eaten by a giant salmon:



And on the way home, I saw something that I just ~had~ to take a picture of...seemed a little out of place in this blue state:
>

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 15

Nanny came for a couple of hours this morning and I went to Target and to Michaels all by myself. It was heaven. However, she was to go to Ash's house in the afternoon but Jax told her that they were on vacation (they were but got home Saturday) so Nanny headed back to her side of the lake and Ash did not get a sitter for the day. I felt badly for her but I did not want to watch her kids while mine were off at golf lessons.

Jax told Stephen today that he does not enjoy golf lessons. I think he is mad that he does not get lunch until 1:30 (we normally eat at home between 11:45 and 12 since they get up so early and he eats at noon at school). Jax is totally driven by habit and schedules so I can see why this puts him out. He is not really hungry because I give him a good snack before we leave about 11:30 and he also has a snack in his golf bag. It is just that lunch is supposed to be around noon and 1:30 is clearly not noon. So really, why he does not like golf lessons has absolutely nothing to do with golf.

Dex on the other hand really enjoys the lessons. Today during warm up time, rather than hit balls on the driving range he wanted to practice putting since "I am not very good at it and if I want to win a trophy this year, I have to practice putting". :)

Cars and I worked on his ABC's and writing the letters of the alphabet. I am ashamed to admit that he is not where I think he should be at this age. Or maybe he is, compared to Jax and Dex. I am comparing him to where they were at the end of their first year of preschool but they were both already 4 years old when preschool ended while he won't be 4 until next month. He is interested in learning so that's good. When he writes his name he says this:

"C"
"down, down, across"
"down, little bump, line"
"snake"
"O"
"up, down, up"

So he says how he writes the letter rather than the letter name (exception is C and O although he used to call O "circle").

Anyway, more remedial ABCs tomorrow. We are going to the beach so we will write in the sand with a stick.

The furthest I ventured from my home this weekend was to the dumpster, 3 doors down.

I cleaned and tidied and read books, the newspapers and not much of anything else.

Need to snap out of the funk I am in.

Our HOA rented dumpsters this weekend and we were able to get rid of a load of stuff. An old plastic pool, broken vacuum, wood pieces from blown down fence, concrete blocks with broken fence posts, a bucket of rocks, two old garbage cans - all gone into the dumpsters. The HOA rented a couple but just like last time, they filled up overnight and this was before they even unlocked them so people had to climb up and throw stuff over the top. They ordered more to come but decided to padlock them when they arrived and wait until 5:30pm to unlock them to give everyone a fair chance to put their junk in them.

I was able to get most of my junk in after the dumpster arrived but before the HOA president padlocked it. It was like a little game with my neighbours - who could dump the most stuff before they padlocked the dumpster. It was raining and there was an actual lightning storm (I have never seen lightning streak across the sky in the 8 years I have lived here!) so we were wondering if we would get hit by lightening while standing in the big metal dumpster.

One neighbour complained that there were too many wood fence pickets in the dumpster and concluded it must have been the people on the corner who did it. Well, it was, but not the corner she meant - it was ME! I just nodded in agreement while wondering WTF she was even complaining about it. It is a friggin dumpster for getting rid of junk!

Anyway, I wonder how much junk we can accumulate over the next two years at which time the HOA will rent dumpsters again. And really, we used 1-800-GOT-JUNK last year to get rid of our old grill, a wood pile, old kitchen sink and some other crap so all the stuff today was just from this past year! Scary!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 14

Can you believe it? Take a look!



Who knew I had such handsome boys under all that hair? The top photos were taken on the 4th. The others today, after I strongly suggested that they get their hair cut short. Jax did not think I meant "this short!" but I did. I told him that he will not need another cut until just before school starts and he can grow his hair long again, but I am hoping he will realize how much nicer it looks short. But even as short as it is, he has some crazy cowlicks and waves in there. Dex is so ambivalent and said he did not care if his hair were long or short.

And I will have to be liberal with the sunscreen in the next little while because they both have white walls around their faces and necks from the hair.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 13

What a difference a day makes. Today it reached maybe 85F. Much easier to live with.

I rushed the kids out the door because we had to stop at Barnes & Noble to buy a gift card for Tami from the book club before we met our friends at the beach. After purchasing the gift card I realized that I had forgotten the towels at home (20 minute drive) so I paid the stupid tax at Linens'n'Things, which was across the parking lot from Barnes & Noble, and purchased three new towels for the kids. Not fun.

We arrived at the beach the same time as the rain clouds. It was maybe 70 degrees at this point and it started spitting on and off for the next 40 minutes but our group of 7 moms and 17 kids refused to budge and within 2 hours, the sun came out. We stayed much longer than we usually do because the first two hours were cool and overcast so no one was sick of being at the beach until 4 hours had gone by. The kids dug a humongous hole (which they filled in before leaving) and I was nice mom today and bought them ice cream bars and Popsicles from the concession stand. One day my kids will realize how much I rock as a mom!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 104° F

We spent the morning hanging out at home until it got too warm then we drove in our air conditioned car to Staples and Fred Meyer for some school supplies that were on sale. I then took the kids to the pool at the club. The parking garage looked promisingly empty but it turned out that everyone at the club was at the pool! Anyway, we are home now and I turned on our woefully inadequate window air conditioner because it is now 89° F in the house.

My friend, Tami, is moving away. Her dh took a new job in Albuquerque (I always think of Bugs Bunny when I hear that word). She is the first person I became friends with from Jax's preschool years (her dd was in his class). I also met Ash and Laurie the same year but Tami was the one I spoke to most often then. And for the past two years her youngest dd and Cars had swimming lessons at the same time so we could sit and chat for 30 minutes twice each week. Tami is also the person to whom I sold my first painting! Tomorrow night is her last night at book club. Everyone is pitching in and buying her a Barnes & Noble gift card. I am going to really miss her.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 11

We went to a park today and the kids rode their bikes, played in the sand volleyball courts and on the playground. Jax has been having a hard day today and everytime he bumps his arm or something he reacts as though someone has tried to pull out his fingernails or chop off his arm!

I am having a delphiforums.com withdrawl symptoms today because I cannot get that site to load. I also cannot get www.laineygossip.com (celebrity gossip - a guilty pleasure) or www.thestar.com to load either. And a lot of banner pages say "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage". Very frustrating! So I called Comcast. The guy was giving me a hard time saying it was probably a problem with my computer(s) then he made a derogatory comment about Microsoft OneCare (we have that on the desktop and Trend PC-cillin on the laptop). I told him that Microsoft pays the bills in my house I would prefer that he keep his comments to himself. (If it were not 90 degrees in my house I am sure I would not have been so bitchy). Anyway, he then gave me 2 days credit. I should have reported him to his supervisor and let Comcast know I will be sending a note to Microsoft about their staff badmouthing a major business partner.

So, as I mentioned, it is HOT here. Tomorrow it is forecast to be 96F in Seattle which means it will top 100F here. Ugh! Not sure what we are going to do tomorrow. I do have to go to Barnes & Noble. I may take the kids swimming at the club (we are going to the beach on Thursday). I bought a new fan today so that gives us a total of 6. Hope that keeps us cool!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 10

I am doing the happy dance because my dryer is FIXED! $ear$ called and said they could get someone out today rather than Wednesday day. So I jumped at the change and now I am a excited about doing laundry again. However, $ear$ did charge an arm and a leg. Stephen and I had decided that if it cost half of a new dryer we would just a new dryer. It was half (plus tax). The guy did say that the problem will reappear in 8-10 years (bearings wore out). He also said our washer was sounding sickly so if it died (same bearing problem) it would cost about $700 to fix (takes 2 guys* to take it apart)- the same price as a new dryer - or more because it goes on sale often enough! Anyway, he suggested I could buy a service plan for ($109 for 1 year) but he said it might not break before the year was up. So we are again gambling and hopefully it will last quite a while before it breaks then we will just buy a new one. What ever happened to major appliances lasting 30 years?!

It is a gorgeous day today. Not a cloud in the sky but not too hot...yet. We are expecting 90+ degree weather for the next few days. I filled the pool so perhaps Jax and Dex (and Cars) will want to wade in after golf today. It it a soft-sided pool so I don't imagine it will last a long time.

Nanny came today so what did I do wit my time? I spent an hour in Starbucks reading my book ("Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer - book club book for this Thursday's meeting) and drinking tea. Then I got an oil change and read my book for another 45 minutes while I waited in line at Oil Can Henry's. Quality "ME" time, eh?

* edited because I said it takes two days to take it apart but I meant two guys. Doh!

Nothing much going on here. Stephen built a gate for the fence (the one that blew down in the storm in December). Anyway, it looks good. We still need to drill a hole through the post and attach some wire or a chain to the latch so we can open it up on the other side.

We had sparrows nesting in the eaves of the house. Once the babies leave, someone (Stephen) will have to get up on the garage roof and put some mesh over the eaves so they do not try to nest there again next year. They chirp all day long, starting about 5am and are still chirping at 9pm. And of course they are right above the boys' bedroom window.

I told Jax that I would buy him a Nintendo DS game if he cut his hair short. Like buzz cut short. He is waffling. He really, really, really wants the game but he loves his shaggy mane. I told him he had one week to think it over before the offer expires.

Nanny is coming tomorrow morning for a couple of hours. Her hours were cut back with her Nanny job so she has Mondays off now. I wish it were Fridays because that would work better for me. Anyway, she is coming here in the morning and will go to sit for Ash's kids in the afternoon. She is going on vacation in a couple of weeks so she will come tomorrow, next Monday then the last week or two in August.

We are expecting some scorching weather over the next few days. I pulled out the blow-up pool that I picked up on clearance at Target last year ($2.48!) and will fill it tomorrow. That and the slip'n'slide should keep the boys cool. At least the hot weather will ensure that I can get my laundry dried on the rack outside!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 9

My friend, Carolyn, who was the playgroup in which we belonged, moved back to this area from Pennsylvania this week. We formed the playgroup as part of the mom's club we used to belong to. We started it when Dex and her oldest, Ben, were about 5 months old. She moved away two weeks after Cars was born. Anyway, the boys and I went to her house today and hung out. It was so nice to see her and all of the kids got along well.

After we got home, the boys played for ages in the backyard with bows that Stephen made out of twine and tree branches. Jax can get his arrows to fly about 20 feet! Not bad for a home-made bow!

I also bought a clothes drying rack and dried a couple of loads of laundry out in the yard. The problem with no dryer is that everything needs to be ironed! Which completely sucks especially since my iron started leaking a month ago so I cannot put water in it so no steam which helps get the wrinkles out. *pout*

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 8

(Day 7 was yesterday)

Stephen took the day off while we got the house and backyard back in order from the party yesterday. Then I took the kids to the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Jax and Dex dug a big hole again while Cars explored the water with more confidence this year thanks to his swimming lessons. I still made him wear a life jacket though.

Stephen has decided to buy Guitar Hero II from Gar (boy, saw that coming a mile away considering Gar does not have an xBox 360). Anyway, the kids love it and so does Stephen. The cost of it can come out of the vacation fund.

So, on the heels of Stephen deciding to buy Guitar Hero II, the dryer broke! Seriously, it broke 10 minutes after Gar and Ash left (they came for dinner again tonight) and I put the dryer on and it made this horrible grinding noise and the drum is loose. Perhaps a pin fell out? I cannot get Sears in until Wednesday morning to take a look at it. What will I do without a dryer for a week?! Ok, calm down (deep breath!) The nearest laundromat is about 10 miles away. My laundry will be dry by the time I get there in traffic! I would love to have a laundry line but it is against the HOA. Oh, I have a portable rack so I guess I can use that to dry things outside as long as no one reports me to the HOA. Ok, perhaps I will survive!

Ok, so as I said, Sears cannot get here before Wednesday. When I called to make the appointment they told me I had two options for service:
1) pay $189(!!!) which would include the service call and all repairs and a 1 year warranty on the repairs or
2) pay $60 for the service call, then $$ for the parts and $$ for the labour and have a 90-day warranty on the repair$

But I have to decide that very second! So I say screw it and I will take the gamble and go for the $60 service call. I hope it works out for me!

Our Fourth of July party was a lot of fun. There were about 25 people. We packed it in early to head up the the city's fireworks display. Stephen, the kids and I parked at McD's just down the hill from us and then walked up the big long hill to the city centre. This was the first year that the city put on a fireworks display. The fireworks were pretty impressive. Our tax dollars at work! I think Stephen was disappointed that he did not have fireworks at our place. I just did not want to risk the fine for po$$e$$ion ($500!) and fine for lighting them off (another $500!).

Ash's dh ran out and purchased a Guitar Hero II game to play on the xBox 360. All of the dh's and the kids had a go at it. Of course they had it turned up loud! Our neighbour peered over the fence and gave me a "thumbs down". Might have been more polite for them to come over and ask us to turn it down. But then again it would have been polite if it had not been turned up to 11 in the first place. heh

Well, off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a HOT day and I plan to take the kids to the beach.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 6

We went to a new park a couple of miles from our house. It has a nice big playground but sadly, most of our kids are "too old" for it. Cars loved it and played on most of the equipment. The older kids mostly rode their bikes around the park. What am I going to do when they don't think going to the park is good enough?!

Anyway, I used the bike rack today to haul 3 bikes. It worked out nicely.

Cars managed to grind a whole wad of funny putty (think no-name Silly Putty) into the family room couch. Into the couch. My microfiber couch that is washable and "easy to clean" has ground in funny putty that does not come off! I cannot believe it! Arrgh! I have scraped up as much as I can but I need to figure out what I can use to get the rest up. I am sure my neighbours are glad they are moving after I yelled the F-word when I realized what had happened.

I think I need to get a grip. It is only a couch, right?

But on a happier note...here's a photo of Lola and family. She is the pot'o'gold at the end of the rainbow!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 5

Today was the first day of golf lessons for Jax and Dex. They go every Monday (lunch is included). Registration includes a free t-shirt and hat. They begged me to get the pink t-shirts. The kids working the booth laughed but said that they really were for the girls. However, they did let them take the white t-shirts with fluorescent pink writing on them. :\ Fortunately, they did not ask for pink hats.

Cars and I braved the huge crowds at Costco. It was a complete zoo! Nearly as bad as the day before Thanksgiving (btdt). I still need to get beer, ice, pop and tomatoes for our 4th of July party. I will just go to Safeway though.

Today while we were out, I suffered a severe allergy attack so when we got home about 3:15, I went to bed after popping two Benadryl tablets. I had just about dozed off when I felt the house shake. I figured it was the washing machine (yes, it can shake the house when it spins!) but turns out it was an earthquake! It measured only 2.5 in magnitude.

O Canada!

Happy 140th Birthday to my home and native land!

Test your knowledge of Canada here. (I got 18/21).