Anyone have a spare $32k laying around?

Because I would love to add this Pez to my collection. It is a prototype for the 1982's World's Fair but it never went into production. The current bid is $32,205.00 but I have read that some people estimate that it could be worth as much as $100,000. Wow!

I'll have to settle for these Pez Ornaments. And hope I don't get sniped in the next few hours.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 50(!)

Ok, the sun came out. The temperature rose so off to the water park we went. It was a great time. Ash and her clan were there too so it worked out well with adults tag-teaming with the kids. We all are a little pink (forgot to re-apply the sunscreen after a few hours), a little scraped (the wave pool can really knock you off your feet!), and a lot tired.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 49

We went to the Pacific Science Center today and the kids had a great time. The exhibits there are really great - although some are exactly the same as some at Telus Science World, where we went at the beginning of the month in Vancouver.

Anyway, there was a special exhibit called GameOn with over 100 video and arcade games ranging from Pong up to new Xbox 360 games. It was a blast I forgot how fun it was to play Space Invaders, Galaga and Asteroids. And, of course, Tetris, which is very near and dear to me. I used to play it for hours on end when I was stressed and no one could ever touch my high score. Stephen, who prided himself at being a gamer, was always in awe of my high scores. And true to form, I even made high score today at the exhibit!

However, I must say that my reflexes are not what they were and years of working on a computer has caused repetitive stress injuries (RSI), specifically tendinitis and bursitis, and they have flared up. So, after playing video games for a few hours, I need to take some ibuprofen. How sad is that?!

Oh, and speaking of Tetris, I saw a Lexus with a licence plate that said TETRIS at the club last Tuesday. I figured the car probably belongs to Alexey Pajitnov who is the inventor of Tetris. He now works for BigSoftwareCompany and he also invented one of my other favourite puzzle games, Hexic.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 48

Not much going on today. We took the boys for haircuts. Well, Cars did not have one because he kicked up such a fuss so Stephen decided that was that. I was in a different salon with Jax at the time so luckily I did not have to endure the terrible three's that Cars has developed seemingly overnight.

Stephen has now taken the older two to a movie and I am home with Cars. He fell asleep quickly after we arrived home so no doubt his tantrum at Great Clips was partially from him being so tired.

It is cool again today. This really stinks. We are still hoping to hit the water park later this week.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 47

Ok, so where did the summer weather go? We had plans to go to the water park today. And Stephen was hell-bent on fulfilling those plans. Even when I told him the high today was going to be only 70. And it was overcast and chilly this morning, he insisted we go. So, we drove off, bundled up in sweatshirts. The kids complained that it was cold. We went anyway.

We decided that if it were still chilly when we got there (well, *I* knew it would be - only Stephen was hopeful), we would go on some of the non-water rides until it warmed up. Forty minutes later as we are getting off the highway, it started to rain. Not a lot but enough. I demanded that Stephen pull over. He got out of the car and yes, it was too cold. And it was spitting. And we had no rain gear with us. So, we turned around and headed to Seattle and the boys had a blast at Gameworks. We were there for three hours (well, I took a time-out and went to Old Navy and Eddie Bauer). The sun finally came out at 4:15 and we walked through Pike Place Market as the vendors were closing up shop.

Stephen just really, really wants the kids to have fun. His heart was in the right place and he was sooo optimistic. So, we are going to try to go again to the water park on Friday when the weather is supposed to warm up to the high 70's. Wish us luck!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 46

Dex decided he wanted to play in the tournament after all so Stephen took him today and Stephen acted as score keeper for that group of four 6-year olds. Dex had a really good time even though he did not win a trophy (he only entered the tournament because he thought he might win one - not because he particularly wanted to golf!) lol

Jax, Cars and I went to the park and met Ash and her kids there. They played in the woods, rode bikes and ran through the spinklers on the outfield of the ball diamond.

Oh, and it looks like we were a little premature in celebrating about Cars' food allergies. His RAST test came back and while he has outgrown his egg allergy, he still shows a low positive for milk. So, the doctor wants us to keep doing what we are doing (give him milk in baked goods, etc but no milk, ice cream, yogurt or cheese). We'll retest him next year. :\

As I suspected, Stephen does not want to move back to Toronto but he somehow thinks that is exactly what I want. Thus the onus on me to make the decision (which is very, very unfair). Of course I want to live where he will be happiest, which I know is not Toronto. Going backwards is what he always called it.

Anyway, after a looooong conversation last night we are staying here, as I knew we would. But, we will do things to make this more our home, whether is it look for a house in an area where we really want to live (i.e. closer to Big Software Company to lessen his commute and to a place with some diversity and public transit) or just invest more time into exploring our home state. So there you have it. Oh, and I get to go visit my friends more often. Ramona, watch for me! :)

And just to top off this turmoil, Killjoy is coming for a visit at the beginning of October. She has decided she wants to take a train ride across Canada so it will take her 3 full days to get here (and at a cost of about 4x what an airline ticket would cost!! Outrageous!). The boys are excited to see her which is nice. She wants to teach me how to make Christmas cake and has already asked for Christmas lists for all of us so she can shop before she comes! I cannot believe it.

Actually, I can...

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 45

This morning it was very chilly in the house. It definitely feels like summer is ending. I am worried that it won't be warm enough next week to take the kids to the water park. We did not make it last year for the same reason. Next summer, Stephen definitely needs to take vacation earlier in the season.

Nanny came today and I went back-to-school shopping for clothes for the boys. I went to Fred Meyer then headed off to the factory outlet stores in North Bend. I found some great deals, especially on Stride Rite shoes for Cars. OMG, I will never buy my kids shoes at Nordstroms again!

Stephen told me last night that there is a huge re-org going on at work. He said it would be a good time to consider moving back to Toronto. WHAT?! He said he is going to have a great review/bonus so he could take that and find a job with Big Software Company in Toronto. Otherwise, he is digging in his heels here and his career will grow. But, he said, it was up to me. Completely my decision. That is so not fair!

I have lamented sometimes about moving "home" but mostly it is about seeing family and friends. I don't actually WANT to move to Toronto. First of all, Big Software Company is not actually located in Toronto but in a western suburb so we would not be able to live close to family (the east end or east of the city). Nor could we live where I want to live (uptown) because the commute would be insane. We'd live in someplace like Acton! Is it worth the drive? (inside joke for any Torontonians).

Next, I hate-hate-hate the winters in Toronto. They are cold and wet and grey and slushy. At least when we lived in Minneapolis, wile the winters were cold, the snow was not slushy and we would have wonderfully clear blue skies (there are no clouds when it is 40 below).

Toronto summers are horrible too. Hazy, hot and humid. The skies are not blue then either because of the smog and pollution, which leaves a grey/yellow haze floating over the city. Complete migraine weather. Ick!

Don't get me wrong, Toronto is a great city! So many things to do and see. My history is there - both good and bad. It is "home", it is definitely not my home anymore. Nor do I want it to be. I am not sure I could say that with as much certainty 2, 6 or 10 years ago. Of course when I moved to the States 13 years ago, it was with full intentions of moving back to Toronto when Stephen finished his PhD. It did not work out that way but that is fine. Move now?! No, it is not that easy. Not what I want. However, if he said "Let's move to Vancouver", I'm in! ;)

In the meantime, we need to have a serious chat before we make any life-altering decisions here...

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 44

I organized a day at the beach today for everyone, only to wake up to an overcast, 60 degree morning. Ash was sure the sun would come out so we headed out anyway and arrived at noon. It was still chilly but the clouds did blow away and the sky was blue. We ate lunch in the park area and it had warmed up by the time we finished so we headed to the beach. One nice thing was that our group was the only one on the whole beach for the first hour or so (5 moms and 12 kids).

Jax of course dug a hole. Dex had a crying fit because I did not bring his floatie. Cars dumped sand down his bathing suit then demanded I clean it out (he has become quite sassy since turning three!).

Now I am attempting to cook dinner (beer can chicken). The last time I made this I undercooked the chicken, knocked it over and had to throw the whole thing out (and nevermind that I also burnt the top of my Lazy Daisy cake while it was under teh broiler because I thought I would just be a second while I stepped outside to get the chicken off the grill).

So, no cake tonight. I am just serving raw veggies, salad and bread. Easy? I hope so!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 43

Again, another boring day for the kids (according to them). They played outside, they watched Return of the Jedi, they played with their Star Wars Lego and action figures but still oh-so-boring. Lucky me, I got to clean.

We also had a quick trip to Michaels because I needed paint brushes. I forgot that I had a meeting for MOPS tonight to help out the table leaders decorate their "Fresh Air" themed table center pieces and I said I would bring the paint brushes for the Modge Podge. I thought it was tomorrow night! So, now Stephen has to come home early (he works late on Wednesdays) and I cannot walk with Neighbour.

Ash found out yesterday that Gav was accepted into one of the choice schools in our school district (she tried to get him into the gifted program last year but his scores fell just short of the minimum so this was an alternative she looked into for him). This school is not located at our local school. She is still undecided about whether to send him or not but definitely leaning towards doing it. I feel a little sad that I won't see her everyday at the park after school while our kids play. I haven't really said anything to Jax yet about it because I know he will really miss playing with Gav and he was hoping they would be in the same class this coming school year.

Hurray!

Looks like Cars has outgrown both his egg and milk allergies! No positive skin test. He had blood drawn and we will know next week if he shows any allergy that way. If all is well, we will do a food challenge for eggs (no need to for milk because he eats cheese on pizza and Parmesan Gold Fish crackers with no problems).

Jax was happy for Cars but I could tell he was a little disappointed too because now he is the only one in the family with food allergies. And also because he has never outgrown his egg allergy (though it is slowly tracking that way) whereas Cars has outgrown it with the first re-test.

The doctor filled in the appropriate school forms for Jax's Epi Pen and said he is at the age where he could carry it on his person if we thought he was mature enough to do so. I think we probably will not do that just yet.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 42

We are off to the allergist today for appointments for Jax and Cars. Jax's is more to renew Rx's and to get the doctor to sign forms for school and discuss her input on the 504 Plan. For Cars...skin prick time! Poor thing will be tested for milk (and probably egg) to see if he is outgrowing (has outgrown?) his food allergies. Wish us luck!

Afterwards, we will pick up Dex, who will be going to work with Stephen, then head to a park near Big Software Company. After that, home for a couple of hours before we head back out so I can work out while Stephen takes the kids swimming (just two sessions left with the personal trainer!). Oh, and I am *still* doing laundry from the camping trip.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 41

Last day of golf for the boys. Dex has decided he wants to play in the tournament next Monday. I will have Stephen take him (afternoon tourney, dinner at the golf club).

I spent the majority of the day doing mountains of laundry that was generated from our camping trip. At times like this I wish I had two washers (or a cleaning lady to do it!). Cars watched Star Wars and napped.

Last January, I wrote about the mom of one of Jax's classmates who has a form of dementia (H.). Her son was in Jax's class last year and on his baseball team. There were some odd moments from I. during baseball season and at school. Including the day in June when she drove into Ash's car and drove away laughing about it. Ash was very upset (understandably) but mostly from the point-of-view that perhaps H. should not be driving. Well, on Friday while we were packing up our van for the trip, and Ash had stopped by to drop off dry ice for the cooler, H. was walking by and stopped in to say hello. She told me that it is official, the doctor told her she is not allowed to drive anymore. I feel so badly for her...and her sons, especially the one in Jax's grade because it is a long walk to school otherwise. I cannot commit to driving him everyday but certainly I can do it once/week or something. Anyway, I will call them close to the start of school and offer to drive when I can.

Then she went right up to Jax and said "You know my brain is atrophying, right? Well, now the doctor says I cannot drive". He looked at her and nodded. I know he knew because her son had told Jax and her son was in the Leadership/Friendship class that Jax was in. Jax told me that they made her "Get Well Soon" cards in that class. Not sure why the guidance counselor would think that was a good idea when H. clearly has a chronic condition. One of the symptoms of her disease is inappropriate behaviour which I think her behaviour was on Friday (and when she told Stephen something back in June that we really did not need to know). It is so sad and also scary to know that these kind of diseases can happen and there is no known cure or even treatment!

Survivors

We are home and we survived our very first camping trip! We had a lot of fun, especially the boys. They loved playing in the woods, the dirt, digging holes on the beach (guess who did that?), s'mores and "Crazy Sleep Night" in a tent. We had so much fun, we are now on the look-out for our own tent.

Top 10 Things I learned on while on the camping trip:

1) I can build a fire! (Thanks in part to Survivor).
2) One can never have enough food, especially ingredients for s'mores
3) Park Rangers love to tell campers who stay up late around the firepit that it is illegal to be intoxicated in a Washington State Park. They will tell you several times. Two nights in a row. Whether you are intoxicated or not
4) If you lose a tooth while camping the tooth fairy will not visit you (well, it was actually Jax who learned this)
5) Tent envy runs rampant
6) Camping while potty-training a child is not as hard as I imagined it to be
7) Six year olds cry really hard if you accidentally throw their marshmallow stick on the fire
8) The ocean is very cold but children do not seem to notice
9) Do not pack fruits and vegetables close to the dry ice blocks in your cooler
10) No matter how careful you are, sand and grass always get in the tent, in the sleeping bags, in the luggage, in the car, etc


We were able to take the boys' bikes thanks to a co-worker of Stephen's who lent him a bike rack (the kind that hooks/straps on). We took one of the seats out of the van and were able to cram everything into so we did not need to use the soft roof-top carrier.

Photos:

We've arrived!

Our borrowed tent is up

Breaking in the new camp stove

A chilly day at the beach

The kids do not notice the cold

Jax digging holes

Sitting around the campfire


A slew of pictures can be found
here. J. took tons of pictures which turned out much better than mine so I hope to get a cd from her with all of the photos on it.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 40

Ocean, here we come!

We are off on our camping vacation. Ill-prepared and over-packed, of course. Our neighbour insisted that we borrow his camping lanterns, telling us that flashlights would not cut it. Then he called us the Griswolds and wished us luck. We're going to need it!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 39

Another day of no fun planned for the kids as we run out and buy last-minute camping supplies. Yesterday, one of the families with whom we are going told me that they had no idea that we were sharing meal planning so looks like we are all on our own for meals which is fine with me. Especially since I was bringing separate meals anyway because Kraft dinner was planned for the kids Friday night (Cars' milk allergy) and eggs for breakfast (Jax and Cars' egg allergies). Just needed someone to bring peanut butter and we would have a food allergy hat trick. (Note to self, pack extra Epi Pens and map to nearest hospital).

Anyway, Stephen still hasn't decided on which camping stove to buy. Now he is looking at an even MORE expen$ive one that has a grill as well as a burner. Good thing it is almost bonus time at work. He also want$ to have a bike rack/hitch in$talled on the van (did I mention that already?) a$ oppo$ed to one you ju$t $strap on that co$ts about a quarter a$ much. Unfortunately (or fortuntely?), it take$ five day$ to have in$talled $o there i$ no time before thi$ camping trip $0 the kid$ will have to make do without their bike$.

And to make our first camping experience a delightful one, we have this lovely weather to look forward to:

Fri Aug 11 AM Clouds / PM Sun 61°/49°

Sat Aug 12 Mostly Cloudy 64°/51°

Sun Aug 13 Mostly Sunny 71°/54°

Brrrr!

I meant to post these pictures last week from our trip to Vancouver.

First, here is a photo of Leah Ann and I. She says I am shrinking but she had thick-soled shoes on whereas my feet were bare:

This is everyone in our hotel room: Dex, Cars, Stephen, Jax, Jean-Paul, Marilyn, Kris, Al, Leah Ann and Roman

Cars climbing on Lego at the LEGO®: Secrets of the Pharaohs exhibit. It was so cool!

And yes, Cars wears this shirt almost every day. In most pictures from this Summer O'Fun, he is wearing it. He begs me to wear it every.single.day. So. I wash it often.

And this one is for Kross-Eyed Kitty because I know she would love it:

King Tut

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 38

First day of rain since July 4th. It has stopped now and it is overcast. I have spent the day pacing around trying to figure out how we will pack all this camping shit in our van. Right now I am wishing we had purchased a larger one (the MPV is about 11" shorter in length than a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna or Dodge Grand Caravan).

I am so super stressed about this camping trip. I am thisclose to saying "frig it" and not going. From the fact that everything will not fit in the van, to menu planning for 17 people, to my husband who thinks that the $25 camping stove must be a piece of crap so we *need* a $70 one. Emotional eating, here I come.

Yesterday, I took Jax and Dex to the doctor for a wellness check. They had not been in for wellness checks since they turned 5 (last year for Dex, three years ago for Jax). Today is Cars' 3 year old wellness check.

Off to fold some more laundry and pace the floor some more.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 36

Golf today for Jax and Dex. I introduced myself to the director today after I had to send him a note last week because some cretin child pushed a candy bar with peanuts in Jax's face after Jax and Gav asked the kid not to eat the candy bar at their table. Fortunately, the bar did not actually touch him. The kid said he didn't believe there was any such thing as a peanut allergy and when Jax and Gav got up and moved away, the kid followed them, taunting Jax. I was so proud of how Jax (and Gav) handled it but Jax told me he was unsure what to do when this kid kept harassing him.

I wanted the director to know it had happened and that Jax needed a safe place to go should this happen again. Geez, I was really not expecting this shit until middle school. The cretin child apparently was not there today. Next week is the last week so hopefully he will not be there then either.

While Jax and Dex were at golf, I took Cars shopping for sleeping bags and looked at other camping gear. Our camping trip is this weekend and I am starting to panic about it - the supplies that we do not yet have, the food planning, what about bugs and critters and worst of all - it is only going to be in the low 60's on the weekend!!! We are going to freeze our asses off! Nooooo! It had better not rain or I will not go.

And our van is small so I worry about getting all the stuff into the van. We may take out one of the middle seats and pile the sleeping bags and pillows there.

Ok, off to check out a Camping for Beginners article on about.com.

Crappy Pictures

Cars' birthday pictures. Yes, I have fired dh as photographer.

Crappy Pictures

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cars!

Cars is three! How did that happen? Really, how did it?

We had his birthday party today - Pirates of the Caribbean. There was a beanbag toss, pin the treasure chest on the pirate map, they made pirate jewelry, wore pirate bandanas, eye patches and played with balloon swords (we sent them home with plastic ones).

We decided to have a bbq with the families rather than just kids so it was nice to have adult interaction along with the kiddie stuff. I goofed twice though when I 1) put 3-7 on Laurie's invitation instead of 4-7 so she showed up early while we were still getting ready and 2) I served her a salad with wonton noodles and she is allergic to wheat! OMG, I was horribly embarrassed.

Other than that, the kids did have fun. The balloon swords were a bit hit (although they burst easily - I think we went through almost the whole bag of 100 balloons).

I will try to post some pictures later. Stephen was in charge of the camera so there were not many pictures nor good pictures!

Happy birthday to my dear, sweet baby.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 34

A quick review of the week... Monday was golf (I posted about that). Tuesday, we went to the locks and watched some boats go up and down (love those big barges and tug boats). Then we visited the fish ladder and saw them tagging and measuring salmon. The highlight for the kids though was rolling down the large grassy hill.

Wednesday morning we left bright and early and drove to Vancouver. We met my cousin and her family at Science World. The kids enjoyed it but I thought they would be wowed by the "LEGO®: Secrets of the Pharaohs" exhibit but they really did not care about it as much as the adults did!

Then we left and checked into our hotel. Because we decided to stay overnight just a couple of days before we went, and it is summer time (high tourist time), I could not ask my brother to get us a discounted room at a Starwood hotel. So, I just booked it on expedia.com. He did ask me to send him my confirmation number though and he had us upgraded from a double room to a two-bedroom suite!! It was fantastic! Two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a sitting room with a couch, chairs and a dining table. Plus we were in the north side of the north tower and had an awesome view of the Celebration of Light fireworks. We met up with my cousin and her family as well as Jean-Paul and Marilyn for dinner and then we went back to the hotel to chat.

It was fun although later in the evening, a short, heated discussion about my relationship with my sister ensued. Both Jean-Paul and Killjoy have mentioned several times over the past couple of years about me not speaking to my sister or being mad at her. Excuse me but she does not speak to me so I have chosen not to call her because, as I have mentioned before, there is only so much rejection I can take. So, I made it perfectly clear (in probably a bit of a raised voice), that it was not me, it was her and I would be perfectly willing to talk to her if she would ever pick up the phone when I called. Which she never does. And there you have it.

Ok, so I was writing about how great our trip was and now I am talking about my sister rejecting me...not what I wanted to do.

Soooo, anyway, today we went to Granville Island so the kids could buy a toy and then we met Jean-Paul for lunch because his work is located on Granville Island. Then we left, stopped at Safeway to stock up on Canadian potato chips, Canadian Cheez Whiz, Pea Butter, and peanut-free Smarties.

Our drive home seemed endless because of a long delay at the border and then we hit rush-hour traffic in both Everett and then right here close to home. I think it took us 5 hours from the time we left Granville (we did stop at the grocery store and for two potty breaks) until the time we arrived home (it should be a 3 hour trip).

Anyway, it was great to see my cousin and her family. Her kids are great (as is her dh) and it was nice to see them again too. I feel spoilt because I have seen her 3 times in the last 16 months (vs just once in the three years before that!). And it was nice to see Jean-Paul and Marilyn too. We used to see more of each other however, since they bought their house, they spend most of their weekends working on it.

Tomorrow I will be frantically trying to prepare for Cars's 3rd BURR-dee PAH-dee (as he calls it). I still need to make a Captain Jack Sparrow bean-bag toss game and a pin-the-eyepatch-on-the-pirate game. Oh, and shop and clean and order balloons, etc.

Off to get some sleep so I will have energy for that!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 31

Cars had an accident - just moments ago in the corner of the family room. Well, it is not a setback, right?

The older boys are going to golf this morning (Ash is taking them) and I am taking Cars to the U of WA to participate in a research study about how children learn new tasks.

I contacted GlaxoSmithKline, makes of Aquafresh to find out if it really does have peanut oil in it. This is the letter they sent back to me:

Dear Mrs. Pez,

Thank you for inquiring about the presence of peanuts in Aquafresh toothpaste.

Your health and safety is of utmost importance, and we would like to assure you that no Aquafresh toothpaste products contain flavors with peanut oil, peanuts, or peanut
derivatives.

Here is some background information on this issue:

We were recently contacted by several consumers requesting information about the
possibility of trace amounts of peanut oil in our Aquafresh toothpaste products. It was our belief that trace amounts of peanut oil could be present in certain flavor blends purchased by Aquafresh from external flavor suppliers. Consequently, we responded to those consumers that there was a possibility that trace amounts of peanut oil may be present in some Aquafresh products.

Subsequently, we have contacted our flavor suppliers to confirm this information. We are pleased to learn that all of the flavor blends currently used to manufacture Aquafresh toothpaste contain no peanuts, no peanut oil and no peanut derivatives.

Until we were able to validate our flavor blend information, we chose to err on the side of caution and told consumers that the products may contain trace amounts of peanut oil. In light of how serious some allergies can be, we felt that was the right thing to do. As an additional assurance, we are arranging to have independent tests of our toothpaste conducted.

We appreciate your taking the time to contact us, and we apologize if this has caused you any confusion or concern. If you have additional questions, you may contact us by phone toll-free at 800-897-5623 weekdays between 9am-4:30pm.

Sincerely,

Sharon
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare

So, for those of you who were planning to stop using Aquafresh, be assured that it you now do not have to. ;) And my ever frugal dh is happy not to have to throw out the 3 tubes we have left from a Costco mega-pack!.

We've turned the corner

I am whispering this because I do not want to jinx it...Potty training is happening fast and furious here. Cars has been diaper-free since Tuesday (pull-ups at night only) and he has had one accident since Thursday night (a bm - gross!) yesterday. I am so proud of him. He is a champ!

I will not complain but I need to comment that last week it was 100 and this week it is 60. WTF? How about a nice reasonable 75 degrees?

Oh, and I spoke to my sister on Friday night. I called my mom at my Aunt's house and my mom handed my sister the phone. I think for fear of embarrassing herself in front of my aunt and my cousin's family, my sister took the phone and spoke to me like it was just last week when we last spoke. Too strange.

Today was my sister's 46th birthday. She is visiting Killjoy in Toronto at the moment. Of course Killjoy reminded my eleventy billion times and "suggested" that I call to wish sis a happy birthday. I had mailed her a card to my mom's house so I figured that was good enough (more effort than she has put into my birthday in the past 27 years). Anyway, the guilt was too much so I called but of course sis was not available to come to the phone. Boy, rejected yet again. I am pissed off at Killjoy for the guilt and I am more pissed off at myself for succumbing to it.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 29

The boys have been angels today. We went to the beach and they were super-duper listeners. They played nicely together, they have been very respectful towards me today. Guess this will keep up while yesterday is still fresh in their minds.

I just found out that Aquafresh for kids has peanut oil in it but since it is NOT a food product, they do not have to put it on the label. That is shocking! This is a short news item about it if you are interested.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 28

No fun here today. Laundry and tidying up for me. The kids played nicely, watched a movie. Stephen worked late so I decided to take them the McD's for dinner then I was going to run through Michael's because I needed to pick up some memory wire for a bracelet I am designing. Anyway, Jax and Dex started fighting in the back seat. I told them to stop. A few moments later they were at it again. So, I went directly to Michael's, then stopped at McD's and bought only Cars and I dinner. We drove home and Jax and Dex made themselves ham sandwiches while Cars and I ate our McD's. A lesson learned from Mean Mom, I hope.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 27

We went to the zoo today. The weather had cooled down considerably so it made for a perfect day to meander around the zoo.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 26

Golf for the kids today. Hot but a little breeze which is a nice change from the weekend. Today is was 94* in our area.

The weekend was unbearable. Friday and Saturday it was over 100* in our area. Fortunately, on Friday night, clouds rolled in. It did not rain or cool off but it made Saturday at the Big Software Company's annual picnic better than sweltering since the sun did not come out from behind clouds until after 2pm. It was pretty humid too, which is unusual for here during the summer.

Sunday we went shopping for school supplies. I spent a bloody fortune. One item on Jax's list was "accordian file binder type". No one knows exactly what this means. The guy at Staples told me it meant a binder with an accordian file attached to it ($14.99). Ash took it to mean jsut a regular accordian file that closes ($5). I will have to ask Laurie, when she returns from vacation, what she thinks it means. Or just wait a month until the Teacher Meet and Greet and find out exactly what it is. I still need to buy 4 reams of paper, 2 boxes of kleenex and new lunch boxes for the kids.

I have been feeling so out of sorts lately. Feeling old. And feeling like my body is falling apart (the arch on my right foot has fallen!). I was watching some 80's videos (mentioned in an earlier post) and it made me feel so nostaglic and a little sad. I feel like those pathetic people who reminish and miss the "old days". Maybe I am going through a mid-life crisis? Whatever it is, it is pathetic. But, I guess I am not the only one. I received this email from a friend today:

Sometimes I want to go back to the "chicken-deli days" where all we had to
do was ensure we had money for pizza/sub after drinking and watch Jackie
eat hers without chewing. Or....me waking up the next morning and
smelling onions from my coat closest then remembering......"Oh ya!, we
had subs lastnight!"* lol

* She would often find a half of a sub in her coat pocket

Anyway, I guess this will pass. Just don't want to be the kind of person who sits around talking about "Glory Days".

Man, growing old is a bitch.

Scorching

Too hot to post.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 25

It is very, very hot today. The kids stayed inside all morning with Nanny while I went to IKEA to buy some stuff for MOPS crafts. Now the kids want to go to Target to buy Pirates of the Caribbean action figures with the money they have been saving. I will probably take them because it is cooler than staying at home.

Last night I had a nice long telephone conversation with my best friend, Ramona. It has been a long time since we have chatted like that. It was fun! We both agreed that being 41 is old and we needed to see each other again. Hopefully, this autumn or winter.

Ah, winter...with frost and cold. What I would give for that today...

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 24

Cars is wearing underwear. He is not potty trained but we are working on it. Only four accidents yesterday. And two loads of laundry.

Today we are going to the beach. It is going to be HOT. Then the next three days are going to be scorchers! And of course this weekend is the Big Software Company's Annula Summer Picnic. Usually it is held the last weekend in July but they moved it this year up one weekend because historically temperatures are 10 degrees cooler that weekend. Well, not this year! It is to be in the 90's here. And again, that is very HOT for this area.

This week has been odd for me. I have been off a day all week. On Tuesday, I thought it was still Monday so I forgot we had milk delivered and I left the milk in the milk box until 5pm (it is delivered about 8am!). Good thing it was cool on Tuesday and the milk was still cool when I took it out. Then last night I completely forgot it was Wednesday (although Stephen worked late, as he does every Wednesday) and I forgot to watch
Project Runway!! Eeep! And I forgot to DVR it. I will have to catch it later this week.

Ok, off to pack for the beach.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 22

Today, we went to a park in Redmond that has farm animals (pigs, goats, horses, rabbits and chickens). I thought it would be fun for the kids to have a scavenger hunt so I made copies of Katie's list from her 50 days of Summer (week 2) but then left the 10 copies of the list at home in my rush to get out the door. Doh!

The kids entertained themselves by digging in mole holes, collecting sticks and counting the piles of horse droppings as we walked along the trail. Ah, to be a kid again. ;)

Stephen has been watching and re-watching RUSH in Concert: 30th Anniversary World Tour. The songs bring back so many memories from high school. And then this week my brother sent me a link to a huge list of 80's Videos. Some great memories there too.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 21

Wow - looks like we are just about the only place in the USA which was not sweltering today. In fact, I don't think it even hit 70*F today. That's ok though because the kids went to golf lessons so they were comfortable.

This weekend, we went to Nosy Neighbour's new house. It is really lovely home. However, the drive there SUCKED. According to Mapquest, it should have taken 1 hour and 6 minutes. It was *2* hours and 10 minutes. All due to traffic! And it seems that the traffic delays are permanent. Driving through Tacoma, I-5 has *permanent* signs that state "SLOW TRAFFIC NEXT X MILES". We drove maybe 20 miles hour for about 30 minutes. Then as we approached the Tacoma Narrows Bridge we were in stop-and-go traffic for 40 minutes. And OMG, when I realized that we had to cross the bridge (how the h*ll did I not realize it?). Mercifully, Nosy Neighbour's house is just off the first exit so our drive finally ended. And thankfully, the drive home was not nearly as bad. We stopped about half-way home and played a round of mini-putt at a family fun center.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 19

Not much fun the last couple of days. The weather has changed and I have had migraines two days running. Today I think I will need a nap to get rid of it because I have book club tonight.

I did take the kids to the school to ride their bikes. Dex is a whiz on his and I am so proud of him. Not quite as stable as Jax at his age but still great. Cars sat on his new bike for a moment but he hates, hates, hates to wear his helmet so he doesn't stay on it for long. I won't even let him sit on it without the helmet.

Ok, off to pop some Excedrin, pop a movie in for the kids and hop into bed for a nap.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 17 - Best Day Yet!

Today, we went to a beach in Seattle during low tide. It was the lowest tide of the season and right in the middle of the day (11:30-3:30), the temperature was cool (about 68*F and a little overcast) so it made for a perfect day of exploring the Tidepools.

The Seattle Aquarium provided some Beach Naturalists to answer questions and help people find the sea creatures. They were very helpful and the kids loved learning about the sea life.

We saw clams, heart cockles, blue mussels, barnacles and other rock dwelling creatures, periwinkles, dungeness crabs, hermid crabs, shore crabs, purple sea stars, mottle stars, sunflower stars, red sea cucumbers, tidepool sculpin, anemones, and lots of different types of seaweed. I think the highlight for me though was a Moonsnail that was laying an egg collar. The Naturalists had never even seen on before that was not at the aquarium (they had seen the snails and the egg collars but not one that was in the process of making one during low tide). It was very cool. I did not take a picture but you can see one here (page down a bit).

Here are some pictures from today (click for larger if you wish):

Purple Sea Star and Anemone

Dungeness Crab

Purple Sea Star

Jax Finds Red Sea Cucumbers

Kids in Tidepool

Sand Castle


Then this evening, Stephen took the kids swimming at the club while I worked out. A fun-filled, action-packed day.

How will we top this?!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 16

Today it is overcast and threatening rain so I did not take the kids to golf. I hate golfing when it is wet so I won't do that to them. Fortunately, we pay as we go so we aren't out any money. I think Ash is disappointed with me though because she wanted her kids to go but Gav won't go if Jax doesn't and so she is stuck with her kids today and tons o'clean-up after their weekend camping trip.

We took the training wheels off Dex's bike yesterday. My God, you would think we were torturing him the way he wailed about it! Stephen then took him to the school so he could ride on the soccer field (dirt) and he did fine. He came home all proud of himself and got to sit in the celebration chair at dinner time.

We are having NO luck in the potty-training department. I think I will just need to bite the bullet and put regular underwear on Cars. Time to pull out the carpet cleaner!

Now I will try to figure out what we will do today. I'll check out Katie's 50 Days of Summer for inspiration (we did all-day Movie Day on Friday, which was SoF Day 15).

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 14

Today we went to a park for Stitch N'Bitch. The park happened to have a beach volleyball court (well, just a sand volleyball court I guess since it was not actually on a beach) and the kids had a blast digging in the sand and trying to play volleyball with a big 18" diameter ball that we brought. It was pretty cold today too but they had fun.

I got lost in my pattern and may have screwed it up. Aargh!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 13

Happy 5th of July!

Our Annual 4th of July BBQ was a smashing success, in spite of the downpour from 9pm-10pm. I had some games and crafts for the kids (BINGO was a huge hit). Way too much food and of course, some illegal fireworks. Our city banned fireworks this year but Stephen was determined to light some off anyway. He and Gar (Ash's dh) spent way too much $$ of fireworks and they lit off many while it was still light. We took a break during the rain (the kids watched a movie and the adults played poker). When the rain stopped, back out they went. I did not watch much of them because I was very concerned about getting caught and the fine. Anyway, at about 10:45, some friends popped by to pick up their son who had stayed when they left after dinner to go to another party. When they showed up, we all started gabbing then a police car drove by while Stephen and Gar were trying to decide what to blow up next. OMG! I hustled all of the kids into the house and put an end to the fireworks. Stephen called me a killjoy (I guess I *AM* my mother).

So, no more fireworks. It is not worth the stress to me.

Today, Summer O'Fun day 13, we just hung out, cleaned up and then I took the kids to the club to go swimming. It turned very chilly and will stay this way for the next day or so.

And here is a picture of the Jax, Dex and Cars on Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 12, the 4th of July:

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 10

Today was not much fun for the boys apparently. I had a MOPS Steering Committee meeting so they ahd to hang out in the MOPS Leader's backyard with the other kids.

Tonight is movie night so at least that will be fun...I hope!

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 9

I took the kids to the park today for Stitch N'Bitch (they played while I stitched). They are getting bored with it, I am afraid. It is the same park they play everyday during the school year. So, next week we will go to another park that is not too far away but is a change of scenery for them.

We are starting to play out our 4th of July party. Looks like we'll have 4 families here so lots of chaos and fun. Next up is a trip to Costco for supplies.

I read an article today about a boy who had a peanut butter sandwich thrown at him by a kid in his school and he went into anaphylaxis. OMG, it made my stomach turn. I pray that Jax never deals with situations like that. Here is the article if anyone is interested in reading it: A lunchbox killer

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 8

Dex was invited to a playdate today so I dropped him off and he said he was nervous about going inside because they have a cat. Playmate's mom said there was nothing to be afraid of so off he went inside. Playmate's mom asked me to pick him up at 3pm. At 12:58, I received a call from her saying that he wanted to go home. I packed up all of the kids and went to pick him up. He had been crying and just kept saying he wanted to go home and that he didn't want to talk. Playmate's mom said "He was fine until I made pb&j sandwiches for lunch. He said he doesn't eat pb so I offered to make him a jelly sandwich but he said he would not eat". Then, just as we were to get into the car, she said "I guess there was something to be afraid of after all". Huh? Not sure if she was joking or not. I really do not know her ~that~ well.

Of course I realized that it was pb that had upset Dex but I wanted him to tell me. I asked him why he was so upset. He told me that he was afraid the pb at Playmate's house would make Jax ill and make him die.

[hanging head] Shit. I have made my six year old frightened of pb. I again reiterated to him that if he ever ate pb or peanuts, he must then carefully and thoroughly wash his hands and face so Jax would be safe. I thought he understood that but evidently he did not. I need to make sure that he understands what can and cannot hurt Jax.

In the meantime, we definitely need to reconsider playdates away from home.

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 7

We went to the beach today. It was a glorious day, hot but not unbearable. The lake wasn't too cold. The kids had a blast. Jax and Dex spent nearly 2 full hours digging a huge hole. Not sure why they wanted to do it but it kept them busy. Cars would not wear a hat which completely irked me though.

I am off shortly to drop the kids off with Stephen at the club for more swimming while I work out.

Edited later to add that I did not apply sunscreen evenly on Declan's shoulders and he is burned! OMG I feel so horrible. I have a burn too on my back/shoulders but it is splotchy. That's what I get for assuming that an 8 year old could apply the spray-on sunscreen evenly. :\

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 6

Thanks for weighing in on the colour choice for our house paint. Stephen has decided that the Olive is "less puky" so looks like we will go with that.

Today, Jax and Dex went to their golf lessons at the course. Cars and I came home and did the Hokey Pokey and read Head to Toe by Eric Carle - about 7 times each!

It was a scorcher of a day so when I picked Jax and Dex up they were all hot, grimy and sweaty. Then they spent 40 minutes on the slip'n'slide and in the little kiddie pool. Tomorrow, we are braving the beach (I hope the hot temperatures we have had the last two days have warmed up the lake!).

It's Not Easy Being Green

So, remember how I said I had picked out a paint colour for our house? Well, I bought a sample of it from Benjamin Moore and slapped it up on the side of the house. Ooops - definitely not the right colour. So I ran back to the store and bought two more sample colours. Again, they were not what I was looking for. I went back today and purchased another sample and then a quart of another colour (they did not have the samples in that colour). The last two colours are the ones I like the best.



Now, do I go with Tate Olive or Wethersfield Moss?!
(Ignore that image of me reflected in the glass)

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 5

Ok, we made it through week 1. Today, Nanny came and watched the kids while I worked out and went shopping for groceries and to Sears for a fridge water filter. While I was gone, the kids broke the toilet seat lid and the screen door on the new patio door. Was Nanny even watching them?! Geez!

Jean-Paul and Marilyn are due to arrive in a couple of hours. They are just staying overnight but will arrive with our stash of Smarties, Canadian Cheez Whiz and Tetley Tea.

Here is an article about a promising treatment available at Duke University for peanut allergies: Can Deadly Peanut Allergies Be Cured?

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 4

This morning we went to the park and met fellow Stitch N'Bitchers and their kids. I was going to hold it at my house but then I realized that everyone would have their school-aged kids with them along with the toddlers so our group of 7 kids would balloon to 14 or 15. So off to the park we went. It was a little cool but the sun was shining and the kids had a great time.

Now it is movie time (Ice Age) and I am doing laundry (it cannot all be Fun).

Here is a picture of the boys in their tie dyed shirts. Dex was less than thrilled that I wanted to take his picture rather than feed him since he was "starving!".

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 3

Yesterday we tie-dyed t-shirts. Cars would have none of it so I did his. Jax did not put enough dye on it but he likes the shirt. Dex did it but I think he really could not care less about it. We did have fun though.

Today was just a hang-out day (it is cool and overcast) then we went to Costco this afternoon. Oh, we did stop at Big 5 to buy a slip'n'slide in the event that we actually get some hot weather this summer. Good thing I spent that money on new windows that we have not had to open. *sigh*

Summer O'Fun 2006 Day 1

Today was the first day of summer. I registered Jax and Dex in a local youth golf program. They attend every Monday from 10:30-2:30 for golf instruction and lunch. Today, I hung out there the whole time to ensure that lunch was peanut-free (there were candy bars with peanuts available for purchase but no included in the lunch provided). I had Jax carry his Epi Pen from his golf bag to lunch and back.

The kids had a good time. Dex started spouting out all of the golf rules he learned today, especially the etiquitte about the golf green. Seems they teach them early to ensure the greens do not get chewed up! lol Anyway, this will be a great program for them for the summer.

The rest of this week will be filled up with Tye Die (tomorrow), swimming at the club (Wed) and Stitch N'Bitch (fun for me, not necessarily for them, on Thursday morning).

My New Motto

Father's Day

Today for Father's Day, we just hung out in the yard, planting flowers in planters on the deck. The kids played and the sun actually came out for a few minutes. We are having steak, potatoes and mushrooms for dinner (some other veggie or two thrown in there).

Seven years ago today (well, on Father's Day - the actual date is 6/20), my dad passed away. I always miss him so much at this time of the year. I haven't called my mom today as I usually do because she is in Minnesota visiting for my brother's family (it is Melissa's high school graduation party today). I will give her a call on Tuesday when she is home.

We are planning to have the outside of our house painted this summer. Stephen does not want to do it so we are hiring our neighbour to do it (he is a house painter) however, he is very busy refurbishing a yacht (his other job) so he is not sure when he will get to it. Also, the colour I had picked out - saybrook sage (you can find a sample here - about 1/2 way down, right about in the middle of the page) - is too light, according to Stephen. So, I am not sure if I should just go ahead with it or check out another colour. Hmmm... We also need some wood trim replaced on the house but again, Stephen does not want to do it so I will have to hire someone to do it. I guess I will call Handyman tomorrow to see if he is interested in doing it.

One small step...

Remember last June at Dex's preschool's End-of-Year Carnival? Where the cake walk consisted of tons'o'peanut cookies/candy bars and other treats at the "Peanut and Nut-Free School"? Well, this year, they send out note after note reminding people to keep all items for the cake-walk nut/peanut-free. The note even said "We will only accept items that are nut/peanut-free". I know this because Kins goes there and Ash told me. She said that after the f-up last year, the owners of the preschool were very careful at this year's carnival. I like to think that I had something to do with them making certain to keep it peanut/nut-free this year. :)

I had a migraine last night so I went to bed at 5:30pm. Woke up at 9:30 then I was awake until after 3AM! I was then up at 6:30 to go to the club to work out with Terry. So, I am looking forward to having a nap later this afternoon.

School's Out!

Jax's last day of school was today. They got out at 11:30am. Because of the half-day schedule, Dex's last day was yesterday (no P.M. kindergarten). I am so very glad the year is behind us.

Their report cards were good (nothing stellar though). At least Jax improved in the "speaking in a respectful manner" to the teachers. Yikes, that was embarrassing last term. Dex's comments said he was a funny kid but doesn't know when to stop when he is on a roll. Oh dear.

Jax's teacher told me today that there was a meeting with the guidance counsellor about Jax and a 504 plan. It was agreed by the teachers that it was a good thing to have in place so hopefully that will make things go smoother at the beginning of the next school year.

We are still waiting for the summer-like weather to reappear after its brief visit in May. So, no summer activities yet. So, for the rest of the day I plan on taking a nap and letting the kids play Nintendo.

What's the Frequency Kenneth?

Can you hear this?

It is a high-pitched noise that apparently people over a certain age cannot hear because they have lost the ability to hear some high frequency sounds. Teenagers are downloading the sound to use as a ring-tone for their cell phones. That way, they can receive calls/text messages at school because their teachers cannot hear the sound. To read more about it, click here.

I cannot hear it but my kids can (Dex started to cry when I played it again and again because I was "torturing" him!). Can you hear it?

The Final Stretch

This is last week of school! I cannot wait. I just need to get the kids through this week then I don't want to think about anything for at least a week.

The potluck went well yesterday. I showed up and asked to see the ingredients of food as people brought it in. There was nothing there with peanuts on the labels and while there were some home-baked goods, nothing with peanuts. I did tell Jax to avoid any home-baked goods. There was also a kid in one of the other classes who did not want a hot dog but had brought a pb sandwich from home. He was instructed to eat in his classroom. Of course I had no problem with that because it would be like a normal day.

Thanks for all of your comments of support. I am happy to know that I have helped raise awareness of food allergies, specifically peanut allergies.

Dear Readers

Sorry for my outburst. I know that some of you do not like to read profanity so I would like to apologize for that.

I am continually amazed at people's ignorance and inconsiderate behaviour towards food allergies. I do know that if I did not have a child with a food allergy (nevermind two children!), I would not be as well versed to what they can or cannot have or about cross-contamination issues. However, I know I would definitely have compassion for them. Imagine how carefully they have to live their life, knowing that just one bite could kill them. The trust that they need to have before taking just one bite. Trust that the labels on food are correct. Trust that someone did not forget to mention that the item to which they are allergic is not present in their food. Trust that the person who is shaking their hand did not have that allergen on them. And think of the trust that a child must have. A child who, although he can now read, must still look to others for reassurance that a food offered to them is safe for them to eat.

This past week has been a disappointment for us in this way. The classroom function with the peanut butter cookies, the lack of warning about peanuts on the notice about the luncheon today, that hag with her precious peanut dessert...all reinforces just how much we have to fight for Jax every.single.day. It is exhausting. It is frustrating.

But there are some triumphs.

I was speaking to the school psychologist the other day in my pursuit to get a 504 Plan* in place for Jax for the next school year. She told me that Jax was a great advocate for himself and gave me an example of when he had asked that a certain food item be removed from a Leadership class because he suspected it had peanuts. Another triumph was when an acquaintance told a certain hag that just being around peanuts could possibly kill him. And when Dex told me that he will never eat peanuts, even when he is a man, because he doesn't want to ever put Jax in any harm.

So, off to battle another day in our small, personal war on peanuts. And hope that there are no casualties along the way.


* Section 504

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability...shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973

Section 504 is a civil rights law. To meet the criteria for Section 504 protections, a child must...
- have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
- have a record of such impairment, or
- be regarded as having such an impairment.
Under Section 504, a plan may be developed to assist students with disabilities that require accommodations in order to access the general education program.

What is a Major Life Activity?

Major life activities include: walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks.

Open Letter to Mom of other Second Grader

Dear Mom of other Second Grader

Your panties are in a wad because the teachers asked that no peanuts or peanut butter be served at the Second Grade lunch tomorrow so you cannot send in your special dessert. Boo-effing-hoo. And saying "That kid should just bring in his own food" when you were referring to my son with the life-threatening peanut allergy just shows how ignorant you are. It is not that he might just EAT something with peanuts or peanut-butter, rather, he can react to just being around it.

It was not my idea nor his to have this frigging potluck lunch with all 80+ Second Graders. In fact, I would prefer if they did not have it because of stupid bitches like you. However, it is a school function during school hours so my son has as much right to be there are your child. And he has the right to not be exposed to something that could potentially kill him, or, at the very least, make him extremely ill.

So f* you and your "that kid" attitude. Seriously. F* you.

Regards,
Pez

First Holy Communion

Today was Jax's First Communion. I am so proud of him for all of the hard work he put into learning everything he needed to do for today. They had the kids all line up and then proceed in before the procession. The kids then joined their families throughout the church and went up for communion with the congregation rather than separately as some other churches do it.

Afterwards, my MIL took us all out to brunch (she is visiting BTW but that is a whole other story...).

Here are some photos. Click for larger views if you wish.

Jax before Mass.



Pez Family photo before we left.



Kids after we went to brunch.

Today was Dex's last baseball game. Thank goodness that is over. Now we just need to finish up Jax's next Saturday. I am so going to look forward to not spending Saturday at dinner time at the ball park! The season was so long!

Tomorrow is Jax's First Communion. I am so excited for him. We made a f e l t b an ner to hang over the edge of the pew that we will sit in tomorrow. He is happy to be able to partake in communion. Dex is more than a little jealous that he cannot do it yet.

This morning I got up early to work out at the club. Turns out they do not open until 7am so I spent 20 minutes in the parking lot listening to NPR. Anyway, then I had an awesome workout today. I am starting to feel strong and my legs are less flabby. My arms are getting toned too which is nice. Now why won't the big belly disappear?!

Meme

I was tagged by Ramona so here goes!

5 Items in my Fridge
* four ears of corn
* perfectly ripe cantaloupe
* opened can of Pillsbury icing
* "Cars" yogurt (soy yogurt)
* lunch meat (ham and turkey)

5 Items in my Closet
* filing cabinet (yes!)
* old computer
* tons'o'out-of-style clothes
* blanket
* long, purple wool skirt that I bought in 1989 but I love too much to part with (even though it is about 3 sizes too small!)

5 Items in my Car
* car seat
* hands-free adapter for cell phone
* several open bottles of water
* doctor's office stickers stuck to the doors of the car
* broken sunglasses (I sat on them!)

5 Items in my Purse
* cell phone
* wallet
* referral for CT scan
* Safeway receipt
* Epi Pen (actually attached to the handles of the purse in a medical pack)

Six!

Yesterday was Dex's 6th birthday. Six is huge! On his birthday he tied his shoes for the first time! It was like he decided he was finally old enough to try and he just did it. What a terrific kid!

Yesterday, I took Jax out to buy his First Communion outfit. We decided to nix the suit so we just purchased a pair of navy dress pants and a white shirt (with clip-on tie!). I also have a navy vest that he might wear too. Anyway, I had to buy size 10! Granted, the pants are size 10 slim, but still size 10!!! Where did my little boy go?

We have had pouring rain for the past three days so baseball games have been canceled (Dex's was on Friday night and Jax's was yesterday). Today, we were invited to a picnic bbq at a local park and it pissed rain. Fortunately, the park has a large pavillion that had a fireplace so we stayed relatively warm and dry. It was fun but would have been great if the weather were nicer. It is so cold that I might have to turn the heat back on in the house!

O.M.G.

Someone please shoot me if I ever say that I will host a home birthday party for a six year old again. Seriously. It was so challenging (what a nice word) to keep these kids from killing each other or wrecking the place. The good part is that Dex said he had a great time and did not want the party to end. :)

Here is a picture of him:


(please disregard the toothpicks that I forgot to remove before the photo).

And here are all of the wizards:



Again, I do not know why these pictures look so grainy. Click for bigger if you like.

Things that made this party interesting are:
- the kid who showed up after his mom said they were not coming
- the kid who arrived one hour late because his parents mixed up the party time with a party for next weekend
- the lone girl who wanted to go home because the boys were "Too loud!"
- the milk allergic child who insisted that it was ok for him to have ice cream (after his grandma called me and told me he could not have any).

Thankfully the rain held off during the party so they were able to go outside for a bit. Now it is raining on and off so we are just waiting to find out if Dex's baseball game is canceled. Oh, I hear thunder. Now I will just wait for the call...

Early Weekend

The kids have Friday off school so I decided it was the day to have Dex's birthday party (his birthday is on Wednesday). He wanted a Harry Potter theme. I tried to talk him out of it since I have BTDT (Jax's 5th birthday) but he was adamant. So, I made black robes (capes). Again. I did find some little glowing wands so I did not make wands this time. The activities will be Divination Class (guess the number of jelly beans in a jar), Potions Class - I made purple cabbage juice and it will turn red when we add vinegar and greenish/blue when we add laundry detergent (I got that one from here. Last will be Spells and I will have them practice some spells and we will have them make a bottle of pop explode (same as Jax's science experiment. They will also pin the scar on Harry's head then eat pizza and cake. I hope Dex enjoys it!

The rest of the weekend will be filled with baseball (Friday night and Saturday afternoon) as well as a bbq on Sunday. Let's hope the rain eases up some.

MIL is arriving on Tuesday. She really wanted to come for Jax's First Communion but it will be nice that she will also be here for Dex's birthday.

Mom Is So Mad

Dex has been walking around for the past couple of days singing "Mom is so maaaad!" in a kind of familiar tune. I finally asked him today why he is singing that.

Dex: I saw "Drake and Josh" singing it.
Mom: When were they singing it? I don't remember that song.
Dex: Well, do you know "The Blues Brothers"? They dressed up as "The Blues Brothers" and sang it over and over again "Mom is so maaad! ba-da-da da-da Mom is so maad!"
Mom: (spits her tea) Dex! They are singing "I'm a Soul Man"!
Dex: Oops! (walks away singing "I'm a Soul Man!"

Ramblings and Rumblings

Busy weekend for us. I took the kids to their school's jamboree (fun fair) on Saturday then we had two baseball games (overlapping at two different fields, of course). After the second game (ended at 6:45pm), the team set up a camping grill in the parking lot and we had a team bbq. It was a lot of fun.

Today, after church, I had to run Jax over to have his baseball team picture taken. It was originally scheduled for two three weeks ago but was canceled due to rain. Afterwards, I took Dex to a birthday party at a skating rink. He had a blast! At first he said he was not going to skate. Then he did get on the ice but would not let go of the wall. The rink had 5 gallon buckets that kids could use to keep their balance. So, after skating around for an hour, he was able to skate unassisted (not well, but he could skate!). See for yourself!

The next week is still very busy. I am so looking forward to June. Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment (just a check-up). I will have to boot home to get Jax to swimming lessons on time. On Tuesday, Dex has an allergist appointment. Friday, the kids do not have school but I am having Dex's birthday party that day. I need to sew 10 black capes (Harry Potter Robes) before then. Oh, and plan the rest of the party. I have no idea what the kids will do besides pin the scar on Harry's head (yes, this will be very similar to Jax's 6th Birthday Party when he too had a Harry Potter theme).

Oh, and Stephen told me that his mom is coming for Jax's First Communion after all. She wanted to come then said no then she called today and said she was coming. She arrives next Tuesday. Stephen said he is not sure how long she is staying but it will at least be a week.

I still do not know exactly what Jax will wear for First Communion. I will need to take him out shopping next weekend. Oh, and we need to make a banner for Jax to hang on the end of the pew by next week.

I am behind on my blog and forum reading. I have completely knitting and felting that big booga bag but have not yet finished putting the handles on it! I have to start the next book club selection too. I am so looking forward to the end of this month so I can take a breath!

Here is a photo of me with the lowlights and new cut:

I don't know why it looks so grainy. Click on the picture to see it full-sized.

May has got to be the busiest month of the year! I swear it is busier this month than December!

So I caved. I went six months, one week and 3 days without colouring my hair. And it looked it! But today, I went to a salon and had some lowlights put in my hair to blend in the grey. I hated that line of grey/brown hair so much. The lowlights are subtle - you can still tell that I have grey hair but it blends in so nicely and that line is pretty much gone. I will go back in a couple of months for lowlights again but she will put in fewer. I also had a haircut to chop off the bottom 2" of my hair because it was dry-dry-dry! And it was too heavy for summer. But now it looks so much nicer.

I cannot believe I waited six months to do this.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Thought I would share some photos today.

This is a family picture taken yesterday (Mother's Day). Notice the bad hair day had by all (Gray hair for me and too long, Jax needs a haircut desperately, Cars and Dex need to brush their hair and Stephen is just losing his:


This picture is of a big booga bag that I am knitting as a gift:


This is the stepping stone that Dex made in Art Start:

Happy Mother's Day

It is early but so far my day had been wonderful. I slept in until almost 8am! Whoo-hoo! Then, I came downstairs and all three of my boys rushed over to hug me. Then I opened presents - stepping stone from Dex, Still life pastel drawing from Jax, Pez dispensers from Cars and a new cell phone from Stephen.

Not sure what else is in store for the day but I know it will be a fabulous day!

And here's a picture of my phone!

My friend put her dog down today. G-dog was 13 years old and was almost crippled. He could barely walk and he often fell down trying to walk across the floor. She struggled with the decision and after consulting with a friend (who is also a vet), she decided it was time.

The problem was that her dh did not think it was time. He accused her of rushing it and making the decision because G-dog was an "inconvenience" to her (yes, true it was inconvenient for her to carry a 60 pound dog up and down the stairs). He then told the kids that their mom was making a hasty decision and last night told them that maybe it was not yet time. How unfair to those poor children to do that to them knowing that their dog was going to be gone the next day.

Then he told my friend that he resented her for making the decision, that he probably will hold it against her for a long time and might not be able to forgive her.

Ok, the guy is obviously hurting and upset that their family pet is being put down but that is just so cruel and mean to say to someone who has to make the decision on her own. He refused to see that the dog could not walk down the hall without struggling or falling. He is the one being unfair to the dog for making G-dog suffer because he is not ready to say good-bye.

And my poor friend is then going through this alone. Well, she of course has her friends but not the support of the one person whom she really needs support from.

This has opened my eyes too because I can see that I have such a wonderful husband. There is no way he would ever say such cruel and hurtful things to me. Ever.

Extinction

Polar Bears have been put on the endangered species list. So why the hell is some "Big Game Hunter" allowed to pay money for a licence to shoot them? This guy paid $45K for a chance to bag a polar bear. The weird thing is that the bear he killed is actually a Polar Bear/Grizzly Bear cross that they have never seen before in nature. Wow - how cool! Bears who have a very slim chance of ever crossing paths and their mating seasons overlap a little bit managed to get along for a short time to mate and produce an offspring. And some dumbass shot it!

I am not morally opposed to hunting. If you eat what you hunt then great...but to shoot an endangered animal is morally wrong. Wrong. So this guy manages to hunt and shoot an animal that is a cross between two endangered animals (grizzlies are endangered too).

I am not an animal lover, normally. I mean I like cats, can tolerate dogs, am in awe of horses but that's about it. Spiders and bugs are for squishing only. Cows and pigs are for eating. But please leave the polar bears alone.

Ack!

1) A bear was sighted going into the small wooded area that borders the north side of the school yard. No recess for the kids all day.
2) Tuesday afternoon = baseball practice for Declan. I remembered at 7:45pm - three hours late.
3) Incisional Endometriosis hurting like a bugger today.
4) A friend is putting her dog down on Friday and I cannot stop tearing up about it. I don't even particularly like dogs.
5) I signed up to deliver a meal to someone who recently had a baby. I remembered about it on Sunday night at 11pm. The meal was supposed to be delivered the previous Monday.

I need a vacation.

Ok, I think I am over my spider scare. Thankfully, I have not seen another spider - big or small - all weekend!

Book club is to meet this coming week and we are in for a tense meeting. Long story but host first asked to have the meeting in a restaurant then asked to change the date. Now one cannot make it because her dh will be out of town. Another is ticked off that it got moved to a date she would prefer it not be held so she is going to boycott it - maybe. Another told me she thought there was bad blood between the host and the boycotter anyway (I did not suspect that) so she thinks boycotter will diss host.

OMG! I cannot believe this is all happening. I do not want our book club splintered like this! It feels so high school. Let's hope that it will all blow over and we will be back to smiling, reading and laughing by next month.

Oh and the book? "The Virgin's Lover" by Phillipa Gregory. I am thoroughly enjoying it!

Shaky

No kidney infection! I just must finish out my round of antibiotics and I shall be all better. :)

I wish the cure for embarrassment was as simple. I have just a moment ago realized that I did a complete bone-head move for Museum Night last night. I put up the wrong description of the art work for the kindergarten class. I described the art and "based on" artist for a different project! And about eleventy billion people read it? OMG - I am blushing as I write this. I feel like a total moron! ~breathe~

And to add to my moronic state, I had to have my neighbour come over this morning at 7AM to kill a enormous, gigantic, monstrous spider that was in my house. Jax woke me up just before 7:00 to tell me that there was a big spider downstairs. I asked him if he could get it but he said it was too high. I asked him to tell Stephen to get it. I thought Stephen was in the shower but it turns out he had left for work already! YIKES!

I bravely crept downstairs and almost swooned in fright at the sight of the monstrosity. It was up on the wall right where the wall and ceiling meet. There was no way I could get it myself. Not because of its location. Because of its size and location. I went as far as getting the fly swatter but I knew that I could not get it. What if I nicked it and it ran off (these suckers are FAST)? What would I do?!

So, I had to bite the bullet and wait until 7AM to call the neighbours. I got washed and dressed (there was no time for a shower!) and I called over there. Tom said he would be right over but I knew he was shaking his head in disbelief at me (backstory: I called him once about 4 years ago to kill one of these huge buggers, then another time to kill one but that time he was in my house painting it so it is not like he had to come far - only down from a 10 foot ladder, then last year because I saw what looked like a rolled up rubber band in the corner of my kitchen counter but almost fainted when I realized it was a spider).

Anyway, just after I called, Tom's wife, Lynn, arrived home from driving her dd to high school so she came over to kill the spider which was pretty humiliating. She was taken aback at the size of the thing but managed to squish it with seven kleenexes, then two damp paper towels to clean up the wall.

Ok, so just HOW big was this spider you may ask? Huge! The body was about an inch and a half long and the thick, meaty legs were about 2" long. ~shudder~ I frigging hate spiders. I had arachnophobia. I would sweat and swoon at the sight of spiders. Eventually, since there are always a billion spiders all over our rhodies and our deck in the summer, I was able to go outside without shaking to squish them, and in fact, I don't usually kill them anymore unless they are in my way (like on the bbq or in a chair). So, in one fell swoop, I have become a jumpy, nervous coward. All day long I have been flinching when, out of the corner of my eye, I spy a mark on the wall or the floor only to discover it is a piece of lego or a scratch in the paint.

I will probably have nightmares about them too. Time for a visit to the Crazy Doctor, I think.

In Over My Head

Why is it that everything always comes to a head at the same time on the same day (or close to it?). This is always the busiest time of the year for me and I always forget by September or whenever and commit to doing too many things that all end up occurring at the same time.

First Thing: Mother's Day tea and MOPS and I had volunteered to decorate our table. I bought pretty blue flowered paper plates and napkins for our table and a new blue (plastic) tablecloth which I spend 1.5 hours hot-gluing blue flowers onto until the wee hours of the night last night (word to the wise - hot glue MELTS plastic tablecloths and it burns skin very quickly!). The party store where I bought the paper goods also had these pretty blue flower-shaped lollipops so they were a nice touch to the table.

Second (and third and fourth) Thing(s): Art Start Museum Night. What a HUGE PITA. HUGE! I spent this afternoon while Cars napped creating name tags for the kindergarten class' Art Start projects (granted, I could have done this sooner but I knew I would have the time today so why not wait until THE LAST MINUTE?). After Cars awoke, we rushed to the school to put up the art. Ash watched Cars and Dex as the park for 1/2 hour while I put the art up (Jax was on a playdate). Except after 30 minutes, I was no where near done. The only thing I was near were tears! It took ONE POINT FIVE HOURS to put everything up and that was with HELP! I did Jax's class fine (it took 30 mins to tape up coloured butcher paper and then the projects) but then I had to the same thing for friggin *40* kindergarten classes and then glue on name labels (I was stupid not to have done this beforehand).

Anyway, I had to call Ash after the 30 mins and tell her to drop my kids off at the gym (she was just at the park beside the school). She came down and started helping me which I really appreciated. Then a really sweet couple (their dd is in Jax's class and they go to my church) came over because they were done putting up the art for one of the other classes and they spent 30 minutes applying pieces of tape to the art projects so I could just slap them up. OMG, I was soooooo grateful for their help. And like I said, that took 1.5 hours! I had NO idea that we would have to put up the butcher paper borders ourselves (we are talking two 4x8 feet sheets and two 4x12 feet sheets).

Fifth Thing: First Communion classes for Jax. Ok, no stress for me, right? WRONG! I realized he had not yet done his homework for the class. Also, because of the time of the class, we had to have dinner a little earlier. I was so exhausted and ready to drop that instead of driving home after dropping him off, I sat in the car and read a book. It was heavenly! A friend from book club, whose dd is also taking the classes, did the same thing. Ok, it seemed indulgent, spending 1.5 hours away from everyone and just reading reading reading, but really I was doing it to save money because the price of ga$ is nuts (at least that was my excuse to Stephen). ;)

So, this fall as I am signing up for school volunteering, MOPS volunteering, Religion classes and Little League for spring 2007, I will remember this day and hopefully have the sense to at least chose things that will not all culminate at the same time.

Now it is 10:30pm and instead of going to bed since I am exhausted, I am writing a very wordy blog entry. Ok, off to bed now.

Back Pain + Doc who is Out of the office =

Another trip to Urgent Care this afternoon.

I started having back pain today in the general area of my kidneys (on the left side) so I called my doctor who is out of the office and her receptionist told me to go to Urgent Care. Pfft! Right. So I called the nurse line provided through dh's work and they told me to go back to Urgent Care. So, I did. The infection does not seem to be cleared up according to the tests they ran. I am now on Cipro (so I am well protected against Anthrax!) and I have instructions to call them back on Friday afternoon because they should be able to tell from the tests they are running if I have a kidney infection (Forget them calling *me* - "So many people look at these results we cannot be sure if you will get a call or not so you should call us").

This is exhausting.

Recovering

Ok, the bladder infection is gone but the anti-biotics have caused another problem. Nothing that won't be better in a few days.

Stephen arrived home safely on Sunday. He had a great time. He lost money, ate well and enjoyed the company of his oldest and dearest friends. An all-around successful trip.

Today, I am going to take the stepping stones out of the moulds and wrap them in small-sized pizza boxes. The kids will get to take them home for Mother's Day this week...or maybe we should wait until next week since Mother's Day is not until the following Sunday? I will take a picture of Dex's and post it.

This week is "Teacher Appreciation Week". The kids were to take something in everyday this week for their teachers. I have lost the list of what goes in which day (like a flower one day, a small gift, a letter of appreciation, etc) so my kids' teachers have received nothing yet. I am so disorganized. Oh and trying to get Jax to write a letter of Appreciation for his teachers will be like pulling teeth. I will just get him to write "Thanks!".

Ok, I haven't had a shower yet today and I have to pack lunches (the Cars and Dex will eat at school while I take out the stepping stones, then Dex will go to class at 12:30).

I am doing much better today. Thank God for antibiotics. I spent most of today just resting. Ash took the kids for baseball photos (although right after Dex's they canceled the rest due to rain so Jax's will be rescheduled). I did venture out to get some McD's for dinner for the kids.

Killjoy ordered me not to tell Stephen that I had to go to Urgent care less I "ruin his good time" in Vegas. WTF?! I did tell him, of course, when he called today to check in with us. Turns out all was not well in Vegas either. His friend, Paul, was not feeling well all of last week and felt sicker once he got to Vegas so he flew back home on Friday night. Dan and Mike are still there though and they are having a great time.

I hope I am feeling well enough to take the kids out tomorrow. We all have cabin fever!

So, Stephen is in Vegas and of course things here are falling apart.

Dex started crying at school today while I was working his classroom, saying he had very bad stomach pains. I brought him home and his stomach was churning and it hurt for a few hours then magically disappeared.

Now it is the middle of the night and I have a UTI or something and I would love to go to urgent care to find out why I am peeing blood but I have no one to watch the kids! I called Ash about 30 minutes ago but there was no answer (they turn their phones off when the go to bed). I am sitting here wondering how long I can sit here without working myself into a tizzy and deciding my kidneys are malfunctioning or something. I am sure it is just an UTI but I have never peed blood before so I am freaking out. I wonder if I should call my neighbour...

Ok, six more hours until the kids will wake up and we can spend our morning at Urgent Care. I can do this...

edit 2.5 hrs later - I could not wait until the morning because I started having back pain so I called E (Z's dad) and he drove down from Redmond to stay with the kids while I went to a 24 hr Urgent Care. I have a UTI but it is bad and they were worried that I might have a kidney infection already. If the back pain is not better by tomorrow night I need to go to the hospital. Now I am wide awake in the middle of the night. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday.

Stephen is in Vegas. He was so excited before his trip. I had not seen him so excited about anything in such a long time. He did go and exchange the watch for the blue-faced one and he is much happier with it. He is now in Vegas with his new watch which I hope he won't have to hawk to cover his gambling losses. ;)

Stitch N' Bitch today was fun. Again though, there was more bitching than stitching going on.

I met with a personal trainer today to do a body analysis and man am I fat! I am still below the "obese" category but just barely. One good thing is that I do weigh 3 pounds less than I thought - our scale at home must be wrong. ;) I have set a small goal which I plan to reach by June 4th then I will go back to meet with the trainer and will set a new goal.

Jax had his initial First Communion class tonight. I am getting so excited for him to complete his classes and have his First Communion!

Stephen liked the watch but when he went to have it sized, he saw another that he liked a little more. Funny enough, it is the one I had originally picked out for him but I kept second-guessing myself and went with the one that was "safer". Rats! Anyway, he asked me if it would be ok if he exchanged it so he will run back to the jeweller tomorrow before he leaves for Vegas.

My back/neck is stiffening up again so I think I had better call the doctor. I feel like an old granny walking around hunched over and not moving my neck much.

Jax started swimming lessons this week after a 2 year hiatus. He is not as strong as the rest of the kids in the class but he is pretty good. Anyway, today he told me he wanted to quit because the teacher yelled at him twice. She did yell at him ("KICK THOSE LEGS, JAX!" and "JAX! WATCH WHERE YOU ARE SWIMMING!" as he was about to swim into some other kids) but I did not think it was that harsh. She yelled at other kids too. Anyway, I told him he did not have to take more lessons after this session is over if he does not want to and I think he has already decided that this is it. Oops.

Tomorrow, I have Stitch'n'bitch here in the morning then in the afternoon I am going to the club to meet with a personal trainer for the first time. I am so not looking forward to finding out how much body fat I have. Or how out of shape I am. But, I do look forward to someone showing me what I need to do to lose weight and get fit.

Today is Stephen's 40th birthday. The kids and I made a poster for him with a big photo of him (I printed it using the poster-printing option and made it 3 sheets of paper X 3 sheets of paper). It also says "Lordy Lordy Look Who's 40" then with 4 birthday greeting from each of us on it. I am baking a cake for him at the moment. Not sure what we are doing for dinner. We were going to go out but now he is leaning towards pizza (no doubt a pizza with chicken which I hate because chicken does not belong on pizza!).

Today is also my dad's birthday. If he were still alive he would be 75 today. This year it will be 7 years since he passed away. I cannot believe it has been that many years. It doesn't seem that long ago.

Oh I am in a much better mood today. No headaches. The sun is shining. Church was mercifully short. Things are looking up!

I glossed over this but I ended up buying Stephen a watch for his birthday. It is nice (I think) and I hope he likes it. I told my neighbour that I bought him a watch and she asked me if I bought him a Rolex. HUH?! No! She thought that was the kind of watch you buy someone for their 40th birthdays. Uh, only if you are rich, I think. Her dh bought her one a few years ago as a thank for you supporting him while he finished up school (and I think it was around the time of her 30th birthday). Stephen thanked me when he finished school by getting a full-time job!

Ok, off to take the kids out to buy gifts from them for Stephen. He wants some flip-flops, a couple of basil plants (I think it is a tad too early for them since it still gets quite chilly at night) and a rake. Is this man practical or what?

Migraine Hangover

I have a migraine hangover today. Slow speech, sensitivity to light etc. Plus now I think I have a sinus headache (pain is on the "wrong" side today and I feel congested). Woe is me.

Jax and Dex both had baseball games today. They both had fun and the sun was shining so it made for a pleasant day. I just wish it would get a little warmer.

I hope Stephen hasn't figured out what I am getting him for his birthday. I went to amazon.com and had been doing some searches. When I went back today, the first thing you see is "Customers with similar searches purchased" with three pictures of similar watches! YIKES! I had to do some quick searches on things that I know he would not be interested in to get it off the page. I know he was using the computer just before me but I hope he had not going to amazon.com. I guess I will have to wait to see if he lets on...

Ok, off to take some advil cold and sinus and to tidy up. After Jax's game, Stephen invited Ash and Gar et al over for dinner tonight. He has run to the store for supplies and to refill the bbq propane tank.

Migraines suck

Today was an Imitrex day. I have been trying to not take Imitrex but to manage the pain with Excedrin Migraine. I had to lie down for 30 minutes after I took it and I almost threw up twice while driving the kids to a birthday party (really, I probably should not have been driving and I am mad at myself now for that). I am completely wired now from the Imitrex.

Jax and Dex are at a sleepover birthday party. I really do not like sleepovers but it is Z's birthday and besides Jax and Dex, there is just one other kid sleeping over. Z has had a hard time with friends this year in school partly because his Aspergers is a little more noticeable as he gets older and the other kids are starting to notice and are keeping away. So, when T asked if the boys could sleepover, I said yes. I hope they do well. It is almost 10:30pm and we haven't had a call yet to ask us to pick them up so that is a good sign. Cars of course was devastated that he did not get to sleepover at the "burr-day paw-dee" (I love the way he says that!). He cried and said he was a big boy so he needs to sleepover too! lol

Ow

I worked out at the club for the first time in FOREVER and boy am I feeling it tonight. I did several lunges and OMG. Burn baby burn!

Stephen's birthday is in 5 days and I still do not know what to get him. I was thinking of a nice watch but what if he doesn't like it? He thinks I am buying him a guitar. I have absolutely NO idea where he got that from and I hope he isn't expecting one! Man, he is going to be so disappointed.

Jax has been busy making phone calls to thank family and friends for his birthday gifts. He is worried that if he doesn't thank them then they won't send him more gifts next year. I just shake my head at that kid. I wonder if he is using his watch to time each call?