Facebook?

Do you Facebook? Ramona invited me to join a couple of months ago. I signed up but then worried about how I was going to add friends to my Facebook! I had an automatic friend (Ramona). That's 1! Then I added my friend Alicia (she was already on as Ramona's friend) so that was 2. Next, I sent a friend request to Alicia's sister (now I was up to 3 friends!). Whoo-hoo! I started searching around and found my oldest brother's two dd's (I now had *5* friends!). The next week, I found out that one of my high school teachers had an account on Facebook so I added him and quickly found three more former classmates through his profile. Look at me! I had friends on Facebook!

I kept checking though and all of my friends had way more friends than I did. Especially my nieces although it appeared that they had just about everyone person they had ever met listed as friends. Everyone in their high school it seemed, plus friends from the high school they used to attend. I still only had 9 friends. I was looking up everyone I could think of but was a little shy about asking them to be my friend. What if they said NO? Fortunately, I had two more friends to add - two of my brothers. I was up to 11.

About that time, I noticed that my nieces now had an application on their Facebook that listed their "top friends". I also noticed that I was not a "top friend". Hrmph!

My BIL's dd was on Facebook so I added her (12!). Then she posted some photos of she and her friends "pretending" to drink so I had Stephen check it out. He decided to ask her about them so he joined Facebook (13!). His niece denied the drinking and after he told his brother about it, she deleted Stephen and I as friends (back to 12).

I had another friend from high school and my best friend in college add me (14!). It was great to hear from them both. A friend of that high school friend added me because he recognized my name although he did not remember me (he probably just knew my dad's name) but hey, I'll take it (15!!). Then a guy I kind of remembered from high school (he was cute but apparently gay) added me after I joined my high school group on Facebook (16!).

Sixteen friends on Facebook! Ok, it was nowhere near the 248 that my niece, D, had, but I was getting there.

I have since added a few more friends (I'm up to 27!). I also have Robin as a friend. And another online friend, Kris. And just the other day a friend whom I had met when I had gone to community college (I once had ambitions to work in the hotel industry and entered a community college program before quitting and going back to grade 13 so I could go to university) added me as a friend. She and I had been inseparable for those 3 months I attended. We lost touch and I often wondered what had become of her. She has written me several long notes to update me on her life. Things are good with her for the most part and that is wonderful. Funny enough, she did recognize one of my other friends (neither of us knew that the other knew her - I've known this friend from high school and she used to work with her about 10 years ago).

Anyway, I am enjoying the little game of adding friends on Facebook. Facebook also have a lot of silly little apps (like being able to send a hatching egg or a growing plant or buying drinks for your Facebook friends). I play a Facebook version of scrabble with my brother and I poke some friends incessantly (not all because I don't want them to delete me!). My current favourite app is "More Cow Bell!" Check it out!

I hate when the weekend comes because Stephen decides that weekends are for taking care of business. This weekend it was mowing the lawn, reorganizing the garage, washing the kitchen floor, etc. The problem is that it makes me feel incredibly guilty (well, the kitchen floor thing). I do not know how to use the lawn mower. When I was growing up, our mower was electric so you plugged it in and turned it on. This one is gas and you have to add oil and then there is the whole starting it thing. I have asked Stephen several times to show me how to use it but he seems to think it is his job to mow so he won't show me. I guess if I *really* wanted to learn how to use it, I could. So, I let him mow on weekends.

The kitchen floor is all his thing. He does not go to church with us on Sunday so to appease his Catholic guilt, he cleans on Sunday mornings. Which is great the days when the kids and I are at church but we have been a little lax in going lately (well, all summer) so we are definitely in Stephen's way when he is cleaning and it irritates him.

The garage thing bugged me because it really did not need to be done and Jax wanted to go to the skate park and by the time all was said and done yesterday, it was too late to go. And today Stephen announced that we were going swimming so before I had gathered my gear - bathing suit, brush, comb, ponytail holder, hair clip, moisturizer, mascara (geez, am I high maintenance?) the kids were already waiting in the car and Stephen was tapping his foot at the front door. Literally, he was tapping his foot. Never mind that the tv was still on, the back door was wide open and every friggin light in the house needed to be turned off because apparently on bright summer days you need lights on everywhere!

Ok, I hate being rushed. Hate it! I am a huge planner and I always allow myself plenty of time to get ready and to get somewhere so that I am not rushed. Rushing and being late stress me out and I do not handle stress very well. Which is why I plan, give myself plenty of time... *deep breath* So the foot tapping pushed me over the edge and I told him to take them without me so off they went.

Why could he not have said "Let's leave for swimming in 20 minutes" or even 10 minutes would have given me time to get my shit together and then turn off the tv (which is just on one of the digital music channels but still on!), the lights, lock the back door, close the ground-floor windows, etc. Hell, why don't these things ever even occur to him? Oh, he nearly left without Cars' float belt too because I had not had time to fish it out before he was gone.

Can you tell I am not wearing my complaint-free world bracelet at the moment?

And since I am not wearing it I will also complain about my brother telling me today to tell me that he saw photos from our Toronto trip and that I really, really need to colour my hair because I am too young to have grey hair. Apparently I am not since I *have* grey hair. He said he will send me a gift certificate to have it done at Christmas. Grrrr! Hey! I wonder if he is going to dye his hair and that's why he thinks that hsi younger sister should should not yet be grey. I'll have to ask him.

Ok, off to do something productive with my time. And no more complaining. For today anyway.

It was a rough day for me emotionally. I realized today that we are starting the allergy-thing all over again with Cars. Funny, I thought since I had BTDT it would be so much easier and I would handle everything with a lot more grace. Apparently not. Also, I just may be bowing out of my moms' club over this issue. We'll see how things pan out.

So, at the end of the day, a much needed and welcomed Cosmo Friday with my two very good friends, Lau and Ash.

And, taking a cue from my friend, Tracy, (aka Pley, I would like to thank all of my blahg readers and blahg friends. I had a few new people comment on my blahg lately and I am delighted to know that people read and care. Thank you!

P.S. No, I am not tipsy from Cosmo Friday and this is not the on-line equivalent of a drunken midnight call. Besides, it is only 8:20pm. ;)

Cars spent most of the time at swimming lessons today goofing off and laughing. Remember when he used to cry and I had to bribe him?! What a difference! I think a big part of it right now is that his friend is in his class so they are showing off for each other. That's ok if it gets them both swimming, right?

I am working on my laptop using a new battery that was delivered today. My battery died and if you can believe it, with less than 2 weeks before the 1 year warranty expired so I received a replacement for free! When does this EVER happen? Usually they die two weeks AFTER the warranty expires. What luck! Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket?

The kids walked to school today. Cars and I walked with them about 2/3 of the way (I did not want to walk down the big hill when I knew I would be dragging Cars back up it!). There were about 9 kids in all and another one will be joining them tomorrow (I's dh called me today to ask if their son could walk with my kids - not sure why it was not arranged earlier since he walked with the others last year. Perhaps he did not want to assume anything?).

Dex told me that his teacher asked if anyone in the class had a peanut allergy and two kids put up their hand (well, three if you count Dex who put up his hand and said that his brother did so he supports him by not eating peanuts - which I thought was so sweet and I laughed when he told me but he thought I was making fun of him and he started to cry!). Anyway, I thought it was weird that the teacher asked out right like that when in Jax's class, do to "student confidentiality", the note that went home said he/she so that no one would know if it were a boy or girl (although most know it is Jax).

Today was also an open house at Cars' school so we dropped off his Epi Pen and Benadryl to his teacher. And I got roped into being co-room parent. Ugh. Why do I do this? I hope it really is as easy as the teacher promised. I hope to teach Art again in Dex's class (and perhaps Jax's) but we'll see. Can't committ to too much!

First Day of School

The plan for the kids to walk to school fell flat today as we awoke to rain. Not just rain but a torrential downpour. It is raining like it rains in November. Unbelievable!

So, I drove the kids in then took their big school supplies to their classes then stood outside in the rain with them waiting for class to begin. I forgot to take photos of them before we left but a friend of mine snapped one of each of them at school and she will email them to me.

The back-to-school coffee/tea for parents was poorly attended because of the rain (it is held outside, under the awning at the front of the school) and of course none of the baked goods were safe for Cars so I just grabbed a cuppa tea and chatted for a moment then headed home. Cars and I are completely soaked.

Cars has swimming lessons this afternoon which will be just miserable for me if the rain does not ease up. Nothing like swimming lessons in the pouring rain! Hopefully there won't be any thunder though. I heard we are going to get more thunder today. We had a fantastic thunderstorm last night. Lightning and thunderstorms are actually a rare event here so last night's storm, which lasted about 20 minutes, was exciting. Of course I was the only one in the family awake to enjoy it.

Ok, off for my second cuppa tea and to get some laundry done.

Ugh - I hate this weather. It is humid today which of course means that I have a migraine. Completely sucks. It is 72 degrees outside but feels like about 92 because of the humidity. Blech.

Tomorrow is our 14th anniversary so Stephen made a wonderful meal for me tonight - ribeye steaks, baked potatoes and grilled veggies. Unfortunately, since I have a migraine I did not enjoy it as much as I should have.

Tomorrow is also the first day of school. Jax and Dex will walk in their new shoes and I will drive to the school with the huge pile of school supplies. I should have had my act together a little more last week and I could have dropped off the 5 reams of paper, 3 boxes of kleenex and 1 box of baby wipes. I cannot expect them to lug them to school tomorrow, along with the rest of their supplies (hell, *I* can barely carry all that). Oh, I just remembered that I need to put a roll of wet wipes (not baby wipes) in Jax's supplies to keep in his desk to clean his desk when he feels he needs to do so.

Ok, time to tuck the kids into bed. Then it will be my turn to get into bed to sleep off this migraine.

Shoe shopping for three boys is PAINFUL! Excruciatingly painful. Well, perhaps I should say it is painful shoe shopping for a 9 year old boy when I have his two brothers in tow. Shopping for the other two was a dream!

All three boys needed new shoes. I wanted to buy them each two pair. One pair of runners and one pair of shoes for everything else (skate shoes I thought would fit the bill). We headed to Nordstroms today to get them sized (Jax is a 5, Dex is a 2 and Cars is 11). Jax saw nothing "cool" at Nordstroms (just as well since they had virtually NO shoes on sale). I did get a pair for Dex and Cars there but we were in and out quickly because they actually have people working there who WANT to help you. That in itself is almost worth the cost of the shoes. Jax saw nothing that he liked so off we went into four shoes stores in the mall, plus Macy's (they don't carry kids shoes, btw) and JCPenney. In JCPenney, Jax found one pair of shoes that he said were "ok" but they did not have his size, of course. Apparently, size 5 is a very popular size.

We left the mall and headed to Shoe Pavilion (huge store with not as big of a selection of kids shoes as one might expect them to have). No luck. Next, Sears... Sears had a great shoe sale going on and some shoes that Jax actually liked. But virtually no sales people (not unlike JCPenney) and no size 5 running shoes to be found anywhere in the store (save for the girl's section). The one sales clerk who I actually managed to track down admonished me for waiting until the weekend before school to buy back-to-school shoes. If my poor crest-fallen size 5 son had not been standing beside me at that instant, I might have put my size 9's on that sales clerks' sizable behind.

We ended up at Fred Meyer where Stephen had wanted to shop in the first place. They had a sale plus in-store coupons for $10 off skate and athletic shoes. Jax finally found a pair of runners that he really liked but of course there were no 5's to be found anywhere (nor sales help!). I started searching the shelves again and realized that there were another row of shoes behind the boxes that were facing out so we started digging. After 5 minutes, Dex found the elusive size 5's for Jax. They fit and he really liked them. Success!! Well, near success. The runners were purchased but now we needed skate shoes!

(just to clarify here, I told Jax that we would not consider any other shoes until the runners were purchased)

We started checking that hidden back row again and Stephen found two pairs of size 5's but not the exact skate shoe that Jax wanted. After a few heavy sighs, Jax agreed that one of those two pairs were "cool" too. We bought the second-favourite size 5's after Stephen promised to stop at yet another Fred Meyer on the way home to double check to see if they had the ones Jax really, really, really wanted. If so, we'd return the second-favourite pair for the fav ones. Meanwhile, Dex easily found a pair of skate shoes in size 2.

We arrived at the next Fred Meyer. This one is different than the others. The clothes and shoes are on a second floor (the other stores are all one floor). BTW, Fred Meyer is like a Super Target so a grocery store and discount department store all-in-one. Anyway, since Fred Meyer was having this huge Labour Day weekend sales EVENT, they had brought down shoes and clothes from the second floor to the first. So, not only did we have to check in three different locations on the second floor for the elusive size 5 shoes for Jax, but there were three areas of the main floor where they had shoes too. I said FORGET IT! but Stephen *insisted* that we check every shoe area for NSS Green/black/white skate shoes in size 5. No luck. And in the end, Jax was just as happy to have the other shoes so we could have saved ourselves a good 30 minutes of rummaging through boxes, under tables and behind shelves.

So, my children are all now well shod to go back-to-school. And I hope not to have to do that again for at least six months. By then, no doubt, size 6 will be the popular size and we shall have to go through it all again.

The last weekend of the summer. Last night was Cosmo Friday then we had a bbq at Ash's. Today, we took the kids to Family Fun Center then we stopped at the skateboard park on the way home. Stephen really wants the summer to end on a very high note for the kids. Not sure what's up for tomorrow and Monday.

Summer o'Fun Day 2007 Day 48

Dex and Jax met their teachers today. Dex got one of the two 2nd grade teachers that I wanted for him. Yeah! Jax's teacher seems very nice. I have heard a lot of good things about her and only one person who knew of her did not like her (funny enough, it was the same person who told me that she did not like the teacher whom Dex had last year, who turned out to be the perfect 1st grade teacher for him! So I need to take the comment about Jax's teacher with a grain of salt). Anyway, in Jax's class, I was happy to see a little sign that said "Peanut Allergy Present - please be considerate". It was better than nothing.

All of my friends with 4th graders managed to avoid the one mean teacher, except for L's dd. However, L's dd is a very good student and a great kid so I am sure she will do fine in that class.

Now that the boys are older, I have arranged with two other moms for our kids to walk to school together. Jan's kids live in the cul-de-sac behind us so they will meet my kids at the corner and they will walk around to the water tower to meet A's kids (and possibly's I.'s son. Then they will all finish walking to school together. I will walk with them the first few days (or at least part of the way) to ensure that they keep up the right pace to get to school on time. It will make it so much easier on all of us to have them walk. I have ordered a new rain coat for Jax (Dex will get Jax's old one). I need to get them some all-weather mocs and they will be all set for the rainy season!

Is Summer over yet?

Well, I did not meet with Jax's teacher and the nurse yesterday. We are meeting on Friday (the day after the Meet'n'Greet which irritates me to no end but I am going to stay open-minded about it and trust that all will work out and that on the first day of school no one will bring peanut butter or peanuts. Of course the classroom will not be peanut-free but hopefully at the Meet'n'Greet, the other kids and parents will realize that Jax is in the classroom and not send in those items. ~hoping~

I know who Jax's teacher's name but I don't know her. She taught 2nd grade last year and apparently had a kid with food allergies in her class last year (don't know if it were a peanut allergy or not). At least I know she is trained to use Epi Pens.

Dex was upset that he did not find out early who his teacher is. Poor middle child. ;)

The book I am reading for book club is very interesting (The Book of Joby). It is very long though - 638 pages! The woman who picked it knows the author and he might come to our meeting in September. That would be cool...well, as long as everyone loves it and doesn't trash the book! Anyway, I am enjoying the book. Read the publisher description here.

Summer o'Fun Day 45

Well, the last week of summer. Nanny came this morning while I ran out and bought some back-to-school clothes for the boys. Well, mostly for Jax. Dex is between sizes so I need to take him out with me to buy him some pants. Cars has enough clothes already with some hand-me-downs and some long-sleeved t's I bought on clearance at Old Navy back in the spring. All of the boys need shoes but we'll probably do that on Friday or Saturday.

Tomorrow I am hoping to meet with the school nurse and Jax's new teacher to hand over the Epi Pen and discuss the health plan/504 plan. The nurse told me that she will not be at our school this year but will be there tomorrow to hand over stuff to the new school nurse. Jax is praying that he does not get one particular teacher who seems like a real bitch (my words, not his). If he gets her we will just have to deal with it but I hope that I worded his placement form in such a way that he will get one of the other teachers. They also have to add another 4th grade teacher and I have heard it maybe that a teacher from another grade moved up. We'll see...

Ash is taking her kids to the river tomorrow to swim and float with tubes. I have qualms about my kids swimming in the river - probably because I worry about the current and I am not a strong swimmer. Anyway, we'll bow out tomorrow but it will be HOT on Wednesday so we'll head to the beach that day. Cars received a "Pirates of the Caribbean" sprinkler for his birthday so the kids can splash in that. Whoo-hoo.

We were in Target a few weeks ago looking to buy a high-back booster seat for Carson because I did not want to lug his huge car seat with us when we went to Toronto. Anyway, Stephen and I were discussing the Graco Turbo Booster (we have one that used to be a high back but we threw out the high back a couple of years ago and now we use it as a regular ol' booster). A woman walked up to me and interrupted us to tell us that we should unequivocally consider another brand because Graco booster seats suck. You see, she dropped hers and it broke and Graco refused to replace it for her. She apparently believes that dropping a car seat is not the same as a collision so it should not have broken. It took everything I could muster NOT to roll my eyes at her.

Anyway, I was just thinking of this little interchange today as I buckled Carson into his Graco Turbo Booster (high back) and I had a little chuckle.

As I was writing this, I started to wonder how many cars seats/booster seats I have purchased over the years. Let's see...hmmm....I think 8. I bought an infant car seat that both Jax and Dex used. A convertible car seat that they both used. A convertible car seat/booster seat for Jax which totally sucked because the strap adjustments were BEHIND the seat. That one did not last long. Then we bought a high back booster that converts to low back (and up to 100 pounds). We are still using that one - it is the spare booster in Stephen's car.

When Cars was born, I borrowed an infant carrier car seat because I did not want to spend another $100+ on a seat that he would use for five months, max (my kids always outgrew their infant car seats early because they were so long/tall). I borrowed it from a friend who is about the most safety-conscious person I know so I had no worries about it having been in an accident (she later used it for her baby who was born a year after Cars).

I then purchased a convertible car seat for him and now he is in a high back booster (that will convert to backless). Somewhere along the line we also purchased two more backless boosters. So that makes a grand total of 8 car seats/booster seats purchased. I think we are good to go until Cars will be tall enough (4'9") to be able to be buckled in without a booster. Right now, they are all still in boosters. Jax has another inch or so to go until he is 4'9". Our state's law is 8 years OR 4'9" AND 80 pounds.

Yeah! A hot summer day! The kids and I ran a couple of errands then headed to the beach at the lake for the afternoon. It was crowded! Everyone was taking advantage of one of the last summer days.

Afterwards, we headed to Laurie's for Cosmo Friday. :)

This weekend the kids have birthday parties to attend and I think we'll go to the club too.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day ??

I took the kids to the locks today. It is a summer tradition to go there, eat a picnic lunch on the grass and then watch the boats going through the locks. Today, it was especially exciting because they moved a car ferry through the locks. It had to be pulled by a tug boat into the locks while another tug boat "pushed" from behind. The ferry was so big it seemed to barely fit! I know that I was much more excited about it than the boys were.

After a quick trip to check out the salmon, we then drove to Archie McPhee's so the boys could buy some fun stuff. A back scratcher, oversized feet, Star Wars bandaids, pirate figures, plastic bowling set, and a devil duck - all things we need in the house. ;)

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day xx

Cars' b-day party at Build-A-Bear Workshop today was great. Cars had such a fun time.

The kids got to pick out their bears and they played games while they took turns stuffing them. Then the kids all made a wish on a heart for Cars and all of the hearts went into his bear. The kids picked the clothes and the BaB people helped the kids dress their bears.

When the kids were all done, they took a photo with all of the kids and their bears. Cars also received an extra little bear that each child can sign for him - a birthday keepsake. I was really impressed with it and Cars loved it! Ok, so I don't feel so bad about not having a grand b-day party at our house like I have always done for the older boys when they were Cars' age.

Oh, and Jax was fever-free when he woke up this morning. His fever/illness lasted exactly the same length of time that Cars' did - 2.5 days.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day ?

Jax is still sick. I hope his fever breaks by tomorrow morning because Cars' b-day party is in the early afternoon and Stephen has a physical at the same time so he cannot change it at this late date or we'll be charged for a missed appointment.

Good news though is that the sun is supposed to come back. We've been home for 3 days and it has been pouring rain most of that time.

I am still trying to get used to being back on West Coast time.

Today was the golf tournament and Dex and Jax were signed up to play. However, Jax still has a fever and is achy and sore so only Dex participated. He did not do well at all but he had a really good time anyway.

Tomorrow I have to finish putting away all the vacation stuff we dragged home and get ready for Cars' b-day party on Wednesday. We are going to Build-a-Bear workshop then back here for cake. I promise to give him a good party next year. I swear!

edited to add Photos

Overall, we tried to make our trip to Toronto a VACATION. For any of you who go "home" for a "visit", you will know there is a distinct difference between a trip and a vacation. We really made sure that we made it fun for the boys. It was also nice to go to Toronto as a tourist and do things that we might not do if we lived there.

Thursday - Travel (long detail below if you aren't bored yet*)
Friday - trip to the Dollar Store to buy toys for the boys. Dinner at The Keg with my mom and Stephen's parents. This is the same restaurant that Stephen and I went on our first day - nearly 21 years ago.
Saturday - My aunt's 70th birthday party at my mom's house. All three of her children came and it is the first time in over 5 years that her sons have seen each other because they have been fighting. I was happy for her, even if they boys did not talk to each other (when I say boys I mean men in their mid-40's).
Sunday - dinner at Stephen's parent's house with his uncle and aunt and one brother and his family. The other brother's family were away at a soccer tournament for their dd.
Monday - Visited the street named after my dad. Visited Ramona and Greg and saw their new house (it's wonderful!), stopped at the cemetery to see my dad's grave (Cars told my MIL "We went to visit Papa, who is dead and in the ground, to say hi. He did not say hi back to us because he is dead and in the ground".)
Tuesday - Niagara Falls. A nearly *4* hour road trip (it should not have taken more than 2). Apparently a billion people decided to go to Niagara Falls that day or cross the Rainbow Bridge into Niagara Falls, NY that day which backed up all traffic trying to get to the Falls. The kids had a great time on the "Journey Behind the Falls" and on the "Maid of the Mist" (click here for details on both).
Wednesday - I was sick part of this day. Mostly because I had eaten non-stop since arriving in Toronto. So Stephen took the boys downtown Toronto to see the CN Tower. Long lines meant they did not get to go up the skypod but they really enjoyed the glass floor on the observation deck. Wednesday evening I went to dinner with Ramona, Alicia and Sharon. I will write more about this another day, I think.
Thursday - Denine's break-down day. I am still not quite sure what happened but I know the trigger was the garbage situation in Toronto. It is so stressful trying to figure out just what garbage can do where. Anyway, I think mostly it had to do with my mom getting older and also feeling as though we were disappointing people again even though we spent a lot of money and time on our visit. Saying NO has always been hard for me and always comes with guilt about disappointing others or feeling selfish for not doing what they want. Sorry that you filled your fridge with food and we did not eat it all. Sorry that you wanted to cook us a turkey or prime rib dinner and we did not have time to be at two different houses for two different feasts the same night. Sorry that we did not get to see your new house/new car/new dog/new whatever whomever you are. Sorry I cannot have dinner/coffee/tea/lunch with you during our very limited time home. And it was not just about the people we were visiting either. Stephen and I were at odds about going to take the kids the next day for a "big" end to the vacation.
Friday - The Ex. I always had great memories of the big end to summer was a visit to the CNE/Ex. It was the first day so we were expecting it to be just packed but it seemed like there was no one there! No waiting for any of the rides on the midway so the kids went on the same rides 4, 5 and 6 times in a row if they loved it. We definitely got our money's worth for the all-you-can-ride passes. Of course the carnies short-changed us *4* times at the games and seemed genuinely "surprised" at their mistakes. Yeah, right).
Saturday - travel day home.

Whew! That was long. I was going to post a little bit everyday for the next few days but then I felt that I just needed to get it off my chest so I can move on. BTW, Cars' fever broke the morning we left so he was fine to travel. Now, tonight, it seems that Jax has what Cars had. His fever has not gone over 101.5 and I don't think it will go up as high as Cars' did. We'll see.

Anyway, if you haven't yet fallen asleep wading through this, you can keep reading about...

*Details from our day of travel to Toronto:
Flight to Toronto via Vancouver. We had a 2 hour layover (which really turned into 1 hour and 40 minutes after you take into account that the plane needed to taxi to the terminal and we needed to deplane). That ~should~ have been plenty of time to get through Canadian Immigration and Customs, pick up our luggage, put our luggage through to our next flight, get from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, buy some water for our next flight. It wasn't. It took just over an hour to go through Immigration/Customs (apparently a lot of international flights landed at the same time). We hired a red cap who helped us bi-pass two other lines (exit customs and the line to put luggage through to next flight). We somehow ended up at the wrong gate for our connecting flight and it was 20 minutes before it was to leave. I asked a very kind Air Canada gate agent (isn't that an oxymoron?!) and found out that we needed to be on the other side of the terminal. She said "YOU WILL NEED TO RUN!". I ran over to Stephen and the boys and said "WE NEED TO RUN!". The Air Canada agent then ran over to us and said "YOU HAVE NO TIME! I WILL HAVE TO DRIVE YOU!" and she made us hop into one of those carts.

Now, have you seen Austin Powers? You know where he is stuck in that cart trying to turn around? Back and forth and back and forth? Well, that was this woman trying to get the cart into position so she could drive forward. Then she had to maneuver through a doorway and was shouting at people to get out of the way. She then got us into a restricted area that leads to every gate (I have only ever seen this restricted areas at the Toronto and Vancouver airports) and sped along and got us to our gate in less than 5 minutes. ~whew~ I wish I had my wits about me to have asked for her name so I could write to Air Canada to let them know that she rocked!

And this was really the icing on the disaster that was the trip TO Toronto. From long lines and stress at security (unpacking very carefully packed backpacks for 5 people), printing off the wrong number of baggage tags, nearly having to throw out 2 bottles of duty-free booze (the red cap was able to stuff them in our bags for us). As I mentioned before, Stephen says we will only ever fly DIRECTLY to Toronto again. Seems like a good idea to me too.

We are home.

More later.

But I will add that Stephen says it does not matter the cost, we are never, ever, ever, ever, ever taking a connecting flight to Toronto again. Too painful to rehash at the moment even though it happened at the beginning of our trip. Let's just say that you know when you see the airport personnel on those golf-card things, speeding through the airport with a family of tourists onboard? Well, we were that family. :\

Summer o'Fun

We are on vacation. There has been some sunshine and warmth so it really does feel like summer. The kids are enjoying themselves so that is wonderful.

I am wearing my complaint-free world bracelet so that is all I can say at this point. ;)

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 32

Cars still has a fever but it is not as high as yesterday. He sits on the couch under a blanket bossing us all around. It is quite comical but won't be in a couple of days when he is better and we stop doing his bidding.

Jax and Dex are dragging. I think the shitty summer weather is wearing us all down. Yesterday on tv, the news teaser was "October weather in August!". It is horrid. At golf on Monday, I was speaking to someone who moved here in September and she was wondering if summers were always like this. It completely sucks!

It reminds me of one summer in Toronto where it rained both Saturday and Sunday on 14 of the 16 weekends in the summer. And on those other two weekends, it rained one of the two days. At least there was sun and warmth during the week though. We don't even have that really.

So, here I am complaining while wearing my Complaint Free World bracelet that arrived in the mail (4 months after I ordered it! Oops! Complaining again! Time to change the bracelet to my other wrist.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 31

Not much fun around here again. Well, Stephen took Jax and Dex to buy some books for our trip. He also bought they both new golf bags for them.

Cars was very lethargic today and very hot so I finally took his temperature. The readings I got scared me - 104.9, 105.1, 106.9! I thought for sure my thermometer was broken but it took my temperature just fine. Cars would not take any Advil because he was sure it was going to make him barf, like it did the night before (he barfed up the o.j. right after I gave him Advil). I called the nurse line and they told me to get him to a doctor. I was able to get an appointment at the ped's office. His temperature had dropped a few degrees by the time we got there but the doctor told me that no air travel for him if he keeps spiking a fever. Also, we need to take him back if he is still spiking a fever on Thursday. So, I need to call the airline tomorrow to see what we can do about our flights. I will send Stephen, Dex and Jax and then Cars and I will go when he is better. But, that is only if his temperature does not break.

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 30

Today was the last day of golf lessons for the boys. They will play in a tournament in a couple of weeks.

Jax says he does not like golf lessons. I think it is because he does not have a golf bag with the backpack-like straps. Seriously. Something as simple as that can make or break his good time. Dex likes it and is excited to play in the tournament.

We spent much of the day doing laundry and putting the camping gear away. Cars received some b-day presents and was happy to play with them. Late in the afternoon he became moody and he fell asleep just before dinner. He woke up around 8pm with a fever and he was hungry. He decided he was really just thirsty and wanted some orange juice so I gave it to him. Big mistake. He puked it up all over the carpet. Stephen steam cleaned it but I think we will still be able to see it when it dries. Yikes!

Here are some photos from the past week:

We are back from our camping weekend. Lots to write about but I am tired so I'll do a quick recap and perhaps post in more detail later.

- cold and rain in the forecast does not mean it will rain or be cold
- Stephen is proud of our new tent and loved the tent-envy
- Do not stay on the beach until high tide and then try to drive out in the soft sand. You will get stuck. And when your friends stop to help you they will get stuck too. And the other friends who do not get stuck because their SUV can fly over sand dunes will rescue your dh left behind
- driving on the beach during high tide causes marital strife (proven true for four out of five couples)
- I am Killjoy for all of the children who want to walk into the woods with burning sticks
- my children were ridiculed by others because "you always listen to your parents!"
- Do not spend the 3-hour drive home from camping daydreaming about a hot shower because when you get home your hot water tank will not be working

And finally...

- do not blink or your baby will turn *4* years old while you are camping

Happy birthday, Baby Cars!

Summer

I am still in shock about the 35W bridge. I cannot imagine all those poor people who were on the bridge when it fell. One good thing of all of this, a former co-worker with whom I had lost touch email me (she lives in Florida) then we spoke briefly on the telephone. Last time she called me out of the blue was when she saw me on Oprah. Anyway, we both had tried to reach our former manager but we no longer have email address for him (our company - a financial planning division of a credit card company - changed their name a couple of years ago so all of the email addresses changed and apparently they did not transition over so pez.me@oldcompanyname.com did not become pez.me@newcompanyname.com).

Anyway, I will just keep my fingers crosses that he and the others we used to work with are ok. I am sure they are. Though it was at 6:05pm, that is actually the equivalent of 7:05pm else where. Minnesota is in the Central time zone but businesses still keep Eastern Time hours. So many people started work at 7 or 7:30am and were out by 3:30 or 4pm. We at least that was the case in the companies I worked for at the time.

For some summer fun, I took the kids to the beach for a couple of hours. Then I spent the rest of the day preparing for camping. This is just our second camping trip ever. It is a whole lot of work for such a short time.

Well, I cannot call today a Summer o'Fun day because of what has happened in Minneapolis. Friggin 35W bridge collapsed! The bridge that carries the interstate highway over the Mississippi River collapsed! Nevermind my bridge thing. I used to live right beside this bridge.

See that building in the background? That is where we lived! Funny enough, I never, ever had a problem with that bridge. I think probably my fear of bridges came along the same time my ppd did.

This is just insane! How does this happen?

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).

Air Canada had some ludicrously low prices today so we booked flights to Toronto and are going to by-pass Minneapolis. Poor Jax was looking forward to seeing where we used to live and what hospital he was born in, etc. Now he can do it on his own dime "when he's a man".*

* I used to tell my kids they could do what they wanted "when you are a man" so Dex used to always say "When I'm a man, my kids will use potty language at the table" or "When I'm a man, my kids will chew with their mouths open", etc. This is a running joke in the family now.

The bike rack is still on the car (we are shopping for a new bike for Jax now) and today the cable lock managed to come undone and drag along the road, completely wearing it away and ruining it. Fortunately, Stephen called the place where we had it installed and they had a replacement cable (with the lock thingie attached) to give to us. Stephen will replace it tomorrow. I think that bike rack is cursed!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 4

We went to the skate park again before the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpours on and off all day today.

The rest of the day the boys watched a movie, played "Indiana Jones" and we went to the library. They are in "quiet time" right now because I need some time to myself.

How many more days until summer vacation is over?

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 3

I took the boys to the new skateboard park. We went at 10am to avoid the teenagers (we figured they would still be sleeping at that time!). A couple of other families we knew met us there and the boys (hey, I just realized they were *all* boys - rarely does that happen) skateboards and scootered around for a couple of hours. Well, except for Cars who ran around with his "lightsabre" (a green piece of plastic).

Afterwards, Jax went to a playdate and I took Dex and Cars grocery shopping! Wheee!

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 2

Today, we had a hitch and bike rack installed on our van so I can more easily take the kids' bikes to the park or where ever. Until now, I had have to cram Dex's and Cars' bikes in the back of the van then position Jax's across the middle row seat. This has left grease stains on the seat and the handlebars are often poking Cars in the head. This rack will be make things so much easier. Although, I will have to remember that there is an extra 18" sticking out behind my van when the rack is on (and more than 24" when it is on and the bikes are on it). Already today I back into a curb (ouch!) and scraped the bottom of the rack when I went up a very steep driveway. *@#&$! Nice way to ruin the new rack. Anyway, it will get its first try-out tomorrow when I take the kids along with their bikes, skateboards and scooters to the skateboard park. Wish me luck!

After the bike rack installation (and lunch at Burger King while we waited), Jax and Dex made a pirate board game. It is borrowed heavily from The Game of Life: Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean™: Dead Man's Chest, (which Jax played at a friend's house) but it still some of their own touches and it kept them busy for two hours:

Here's a picture of the game (which we played after dinner - Cars won!):


And here is a photo of them modeling their tie dye shirts (I had just taken them out of the dryer and they wanted to wear them so I let them put them on for 3 minutes only - mean mom that I am, only letting them dirty one set of clothes a day). They are excited to wear them tomorrow when we meet up with friends (who will also be wearing theirs):



And finally, here is a (blurry) photo of a hummingbird visiting the feeder. You will probably have to click to view it larger because the hummingbird is reddish and blends in with the red maple tree:



So, it has been a good summer so far. :)

Summer O'Fun 2007 Day 1

We made tie dye shirts today. They are still sitting in plastic bags waiting to be rinsed off (I'll do it tomorrow morning). The rubber gloves I were using leaked or had a hole in them so now two of my finger tips are turquoise. I hope it wears off soon.

It was hot today and being out in the sun has exhausted me. I think I will take a quick nap before I start dinner. Geez, what an old biddy!

The kids' last day of school today. We celebrated with a picnic (well, McD's) in the park after school. It was a weird day - very cool breeze but warm when the sun was shining. Tomorrow will be a nice day which will be great to kick off our Summer O'Fun 2007.

Jax and Dex had great report cards this term. I am so proud of them both. This was a really great school year for them and I think their teachers were perfect for each of their personalities. Still keeping my fingers crossed for next year for great teachers. Jax's teacher today told me that she will be sure to talk to his next year's teacher (I guess she knows who it is already) to discuss his peanut allergy. I really appreciate it. I know that all the problems we had at the beginning of this school year had nothing to do with her and all to do with the school administration, counselor and nursing services.

Anyway, as I said, tomorrow is our first day of Summer O'Fun. We are making tie dye shirts. They have such fun making (and wearing) them.

We went to dinner at a friend's house last night. They bought a plot of land behind their house and it is so cool. They call it "the meadow" and it is overgrown with grass and wild flowers. There are cherry, plum and apple trees on the lot (a little shy of an acre). They installed a sliding door in their fence to access the meadow and another small door for their girls to run in and out. It is wonderful!

Also, the land creates a short-cut for them to a park that leads directly to the lake. It is about a 10 minute walk to the water. It is a very small park that I had never been to before. The beach is small - about 50 feet perhaps, but the neatest thing about it is that there is a beaver lodge along the shoreline just past the beach. There were several trees that had been recently felled by the beavers. It was so cool to see the ones that they were currently 'working' on. I have never seen that before! In fact, I had no idea that there were beavers on 'our' lake. I will definitely go back to that park again!

Tomorrow is the last day of school for Jax and Dex. They just have 1/2 day (3 hours). I have the gift for Jax's teacher so I will have to go in. We had money left over from the class party fund so we purchased gift cards for the teacher. Also, I had the kids fill in a "VIP" sheet for the teacher. She has the kids make one for each kid in the class and they are very cute so I thought it would be fun for the kids to make one for her. It worked out well that she was away last week so the substitute teacher had the kids complete them in class. I then took them, put them in page protecters and into a duo-tang (ok, I hope you guys know what that is and my Canadian isn't showing).

For Dex's teacher, of course ALL of the party fund$ were $pent so we all pitched in $2 to buy the teacher a huge lavender plant. At least I hope it is huge for $40. I also made her some note cards out of an Art Start project (the kids embroidered swirls on muslin - I was going to quilt them but after several panic attacks decided just to spray mount them on cardstock and mount those on blank cards). They still took me over 6 hours to make but they look nice and the teacher will have some cards to write thank-you's to her students for the lavender plant. ;) I should have taken a photo before I wrapped them up.

Now that all of the wrapping paper and scrapbooking/card making supplies are away I think I shall indulge in a wee bit of chocolate. I feel off the roof today and chocolate is the only thing that helps with cramps. Well, only thing besides Advil, Tylenol and Anaprox. :)

Garage (no) Sale

Well, I guess technically there was a garage sale because I put a bunch of $hit out to sell but we did not sell a lot. The "neighbourhood" garage sale apparently wasn't. The neighbourhood assoc'n did not advertise. The dumpster never materialized and I know I am not the only one a little irked about this. Late last night I put an ad on Craigslist and put out a couple of signs this morning.

All that work and I only made $91 - which is not a lot considering I sold an xBox ($20), a wagon and trailer ($20), a trike ($8) and several DVD's for a buck each ($8). The rest were all 25 cents to $2.00 things. I had to drop the price on my key items (wagon and xBox) because I had no customers for the first 45 minutes! When does that ever happen?! Anyway, I will never rely on someone else when it comes to advertising GS's.

I also have two van-loads of items to go to Goodwill. I will have to do it tomorrow. And once that is done, I will enjoy my less-crowded garage, closests and rafters in the garage.

:\

Jax apologized to the teacher this morning. The teacher told Jax he wants Jax to have fun in the class but he must not be too silly. I told the teacher that if Jax's behaviour is a huge problem, I need to know.

Later in the day, my friend, who has a dd in Jax's class, told me that the teacher "screamed his head off" at Jax yesterday because he did the worm. And yes, my son was misbehaving (apparently when he did the worm the whole portable shook) but I am pretty sure he did not need to be screamed at. Let's hope that tomorrow's class goes well (and a new music teacher is around next year?!). And Pley, yes I think it is a bit much for a teacher to tell a student that he's pushed him over the edge. I need to ask around a bit - perhaps this teacher has issues with controlling his classes (or maybe my son is just that rotten?! Ok, I know that is not it - he just likes being "class clown"). :\

I made a Santa Fe Quinoa Salad for dinner tonight and when I served it Dex asked me why we were eating budgie food. I didn't even know that he knew what a budgie was! I found out later that Stephen told him last time I served quinoa that's what it looked like. Dex apparently thought that was funny so he said it to me today.

And just to add something about Cars...he was looking carefully at my hands one day last week and said "Why are your hands just like Granny's?". I asked him what did he mean and he said "You've got those blue bumpy things just like her!" (veins). Wah - I have old lady hands! Oh, and one day he was sitting on my lap, facing me and talking to me. Suddenly he stopped and told me that I had something in my nose. "Oh? Do I need to blow my nose?" I asked. He said, "No, it's just hair".

Jax asked me today what "pushed me over the edge" meant. I explained to him what it meant (literally and figuratively). A short time later he came up to me with big eyes and told me that his music teacher said that to him today after Jax did The Worm in class. He was very contrite and wanted to know what I thought the teacher was then going to do.

Now, I was not too sure what exactly he was more upset about at first. That the teacher had been driven crazy or that the teacher was going to call our home to talk to me. I told him he had to apologize (he said he had already written a note and it was in his desk at school and he would give it to the music teacher on Friday). However, I don't think this should said so we are going to go in to school a little early tomorrow so he can get the note then we will track the teacher down so Jax can apologize in person.

This is the second time this year that Jax has told me he was in trouble in music for trying to be funny. *sigh*

I told him that it was very important for him to behave in school. Not only was he keeping the teacher from doing his job but he was also keeping the other children from learning. Now for the mean mom part...I told him that if he were ever having an anaphylactic reaction the music teacher might not initially recognize it and think that perhaps Jax is just acting up again. Jax's eyes almost popped out of his head. I said of course the teacher will help you, *if* he recognize that you really needs help and is not just misbehaving but if you constantly misbehave, the teacher might figure that is what is happening yet again.

I think I have scared him straight. We'll see. And we'll see what the teacher has to say tomorrow. I am irritated with the teacher because if Jax is chronically being a PITA why on earth has he not called me? I guess the other time Jax acted up the teacher said he was going to get a "communications slip" which is given out for things like fighting or destroying property and openly defying teachers. It means a trip the to Principal's office and a meeting with parents. But we heard nothing! Why is he making idle threats? Punish him if he is misbehaving! Sheesh!

Tomorrow is Cars' last swim class until September. I am sure I have mentioned that he no longer cries when he swims and he just lives for the "candy" that I buy for him after the class (he usually choses a small bag of cheetos or crackers with cheese - both of which he should not be eating due to his allergy). Anyway, today he asked me how many more swimming lessons he had and when I told him just one more until he is four years old, he jumped up and down and shouted "Yeah!". It was so funny but a little sad because I want him to really love swimming.

Tomorrow is Jax's class end-of-year party even though 1) it is not yet the end of the year and 2) his teacher is out of town until Friday. She did not want to have it on Friday because it is "clean out the classroom day". I must remind her that Jax is not allowed to clean anything besides his own mess (in case he accidentally touches pb). Anyway, the party tomorrow will consist of a kick-ball game of kids v. parents and substitute teacher (I don't imagine she has *any* idea of this), a limbo contest (no prize yet - still thinking) and then ice cream and juice. Laurie is in charge of kick-bsll and I will run the limbo contest. I have lots of leis and tropical tattoos for the kids too. I hope they have fun.

All of the 3rd grade parents are concerned with who their children will get for 4th grade. Currently, there are just 3 4th grade classes but they will have to add a teacher for next year. And one of the 4th grade teachers now seems like such a mean, unfriendly and rude person. One of my friends sent an email to the principal this week stating she did not want her son in that teacher's class because she was rude and mean to her students. The principal replied that she could not honour such requests and my friend fired back that she would pull him out and homeschool him if he ended up there. With our luck, Jax will get her. :\

Ok, off to watch the news. Has anyone been following the story of the Vaughn Family? The kids attended our school before they moved to Illinois. The school is offering counseling for the children are feeling a sense of loss. It is shocking and very sad (and of course we want to know what happened!).

I am now obsessed with the hummingbird feeder. I sit and watch and watch and watch and get so excited when a hummingbird approaches it. I am sure that I have scared off more than just a few of them by jumping up when they approach. lol

We still have not booked our trip to Toronto. Stephen and I both are dragging our heels. I think we should just forget it and go next summer (early summer).

Father's Day

Today had to be the most boring Father's Day ever. We did nothing special but that is what Stephen wanted. The excitement of the day was a trip to Home Depot to get a few things. We had our front door painted and we needed a new kick plate (they do not carry 30" kick plates at Home Depot BTW), some long wood screws to hold our newly painted front door (apparently we were missing like 6 screws and the ones that were in were only an inch and a half long), a garden hose reel, dust pan for the garage, nails for the fence and a new register for the heating duct opening in the kitchen. BOR-ING!

But, we did have rib eye steaks for dinner with mashed potatoes and mushrooms sauteed in butter. Yes, we are missing vegetables from the menu (I think of potatoes as breads and no one ate the mushrooms but Stephen and I so there you go). I figure it will not kill the kids to not have a vegetable today. They ate lots of fruit (and leftover birthday cake) and took their vitamins so that's good enough, right?

Lots of activity at the hummingbird feeder the last couple of days. Actually, I think there is one aggressive hummingbird that keeps chasing the others away when they stop by to check it out. I am going to try to get some pictures of the activity.

And it was 8 years ago today (well, Father's day but the actual date is June 20th) that my dad passed away. I still miss him a lot and I wish he was around. I know he would get suck a kick out of my kids. He only met Jax (Jax was 14 months old when my dad died). Two days before he died, my dad was cracking up at Jax running in and out of the hospital room privacy curtain. I remember thinking that there was no way my dad was going to die any time soon because he was so perky that day! The next day, however, things were a little more somber. One of my cousins stopped by for a visit and when he left my dad shook his hand and said "I'll see you, Matt". I realized then that he was really saying "Good-bye, Matt". What a shock. I mean, I ~knew~ he was gravely ill and I ~knew~ he was going to die, but seeing that he knew it and knew it was going to be soon was still stunning. My dad died about 12 hours later.

Happy Father's Day, Dad. I miss you.

Today was all about Dex. It was his last baseball game for the season (Go Cubs!). And today was his birthday party.

He had a pool and pizza party at the club where I work out. The kids swam for about an hour then we moved to the party room (daycare center really!) and they ate pizza, cake and played with the toys in there (the Lego was a big hit).

Since the party was at a pool, Dex picked luau invitations so I made a beach-theme cake. Fun and easy to do! Palm tree from Imaginext pirates, umbrella pick, Swedish fish and Swedish "sea life" gummies, tinted green, tan, blue icing and graham cracker crumbs for sand.



Dex had such a blast swimming at the party. The club provided a party coordinator who takes the kids into the pool and plays with them, supervises them in the change room and then serves the pizza and cake for the kids. It was low stress and very relaxing (except when one kid sank to the bottom of the pool when he jumped in and the lifeguard jumped in after him - he had to wear a swim belt after that).

A house is for sale up the street and I was so excited when I learned of it! It is exactly my house but it has a "daylight basement" because they are on a hill. I always said my house would be perfect if it had a basement and here was my house for sale for a "reasonable" price (reasonable being subjective since the prices of houses are outrageous here). The basement is not finished but is plumbed for a bathroom and definitely could be finished and would not have to be done immediately. I looked at it yesterday afternoon then Stephen and I went to see it today. He nixed it though because he says when he buys a new house it will be an "upgrade" not our exact same house with an unfinished basement. Totally burst my bubble. :(

Book club last night was fun. I finished a little more than half the book and we barely discussed it so that was fine.

I am baking the cake for Dex's b-day party today. I hope the decorating turns out. I'll let you know.

I received a cheque in the mail from the company who did our roof. I mentioned to a friend of mine that she should call them for a quote and when she did, they sent me a $10 Starbucks card. Then she booked with them and the cheque they sent to me was for $100! Whoo-hoo!

Ok, cake needs to come out of the oven!

Book club is tomorrow night and I have not read the book. Eeek! I just have not been in the mood to read it. It is non-fiction book and I just cannot get into it. I will give it another try a little later this evening but no doubt will fall asleep as I have the last few times I have tried to read it.

Anyway, I will make up for not having read the book by bringing a fabulous dish or dessert tomorrow. :)

It was time

The painful process has come to an end.

Nineteen months since my last all-over colour.

Thirteen months since I had some low lights put in to blend the colour/no colour.

Ten weeks since my last haircut.

I was so sick of pulling my hair up or back because it was long, unruly, frizzy and, of course, a multitude of colours. It was just about long enough to cut all of the colour out of it so chop-chop flick-flick with the razor to thin it out and voila - my natural hair colour (or lack thereof).

Before and after shots taken today.



Now, how long do you suppose it will be before I colour my hair again. ;)

The Saab is back on the road for now. Friggin car!

I bought a skirt today that was a size M! Ok, so it was not an actual number size and M does cover more than one size but it was still an M and not an L. Go me!

School will be over in less than two weeks. I have to start planning Summer O'Fun 2007.

Dex's birthday party is this coming weekend. I have to bake and decorate the cake on Friday because he has a baseball game on Saturday morning (party is at 4pm). He is soooo excited to be having a swimming party.

Jax's class is having their Funny Money Bazaar on Friday. In the past, he has made comic books (I would end up spending about $15 for photocopying them!). However, last time he accidentally sold his original copy and is very upset about it so he has decided that he will sell "pet rocks". He has about a dozen rocks so far that he has drawn on. I think he is drawing eyes or something. Anyway, I am sure no one will buy them. He thinks they will. We'll see...

Cars' last day of preschool for the year is this week. His Summer O'Fun will start a little earlier than Jax and Dex's. We'll start with him going into the daycare center at the club on Friday so I can work out. ;)

Uh-oh!

I could be in serious trouble:

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But, I at least I can spell:

I Scored a 100%!

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(I got these quizzes after linking to Mingle2 from Miss Arrogant's blog. I did the Grade 8 science quiz but only got 73% and did not want to post that I only got a C!)