Since I work at home somehow I end up being the one to receive and chat with workmen at our home. The latest research is getting quotes to replace our AC and system so that we no longer have to look at summer power bills for $550 per month.
Today I did the usual leading around and chatting with a contractor on all three floors of the house. We were on the top floor in a hallway with the light on and on the walls we have photos. One of them is a large photo portrait of me taken when I was 18 years old. My mother passed the portrait along to me when I was about 30 and I kept it in a closet. Then a little over 10 years later I brought it out and have hung it ever since.
In the hallway today after we finished discussing heat and AC systems, the contractor looked at the portrait then at me and asked if that was my daughter. Hmmmmph. Guess there is no resemblance any longer.
And now it is five o'clock and I just may make my no longer young and recognizable self a margarita to go along with my practical Mexican crockpot chicken. Have a great Friday night!
Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
I Miss Little League
It is just about 8:30 p.m. on a weeknight. My 10th grade son is not home from school yet. He left the house at 6:25 a.m. as usual. He has had no dinner. Mama's mad. Dad is too. The baseball coaches will probably have never had a parent speak to them (two in particular) like I imagine will happen at a meeting soon.
It is high school baseball season and the coaches are a piece of work. We are just finding out that a coach texts the boys at 7:00 a.m. each day to let them know if they have practice right after school at 2:30, or if it is the occasional late practice at 4:30, which ends at 6:45. A few of us moms pick up our three sons via a carpool schedule when they call.
These boys don't drive themselves home--I think the coach forgets the boys don't have their own cars -- or they are just plain rude to parents. At 6:30 tonight I got a text from the mom who is carpooling today that she stopped by after wondering why she hadn't yet heard from her son and that is when she saw there was a scrimmage game. There is absolutely no communication to the parents (unless it is asking for sponsor money or to help clean the field together--no coaches help clean it).
Some parents have told us they don't want to talk to the coaches about their concerns because the coaches may "bench" their son. I think we are past that worry point. I think the coaches really have some balls.
There will be night games when the season gets started shortly but there is a printed schedule for that so we can all plan. And I'll know he has had dinner.
It is high school baseball season and the coaches are a piece of work. We are just finding out that a coach texts the boys at 7:00 a.m. each day to let them know if they have practice right after school at 2:30, or if it is the occasional late practice at 4:30, which ends at 6:45. A few of us moms pick up our three sons via a carpool schedule when they call.
These boys don't drive themselves home--I think the coach forgets the boys don't have their own cars -- or they are just plain rude to parents. At 6:30 tonight I got a text from the mom who is carpooling today that she stopped by after wondering why she hadn't yet heard from her son and that is when she saw there was a scrimmage game. There is absolutely no communication to the parents (unless it is asking for sponsor money or to help clean the field together--no coaches help clean it).
Some parents have told us they don't want to talk to the coaches about their concerns because the coaches may "bench" their son. I think we are past that worry point. I think the coaches really have some balls.
There will be night games when the season gets started shortly but there is a printed schedule for that so we can all plan. And I'll know he has had dinner.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Going to the Movies in the 1970's
In the spirit of the Academy Awards this Sunday, Gretchen is hosting a Spin Cycle with "movies" as the theme.
I tell my boys that when I was around 10 or 11 in the 1970's I'd ride my bike or walk to a local movie theater either by myself or with friends. They cannot believe that sometimes it was a double feature. As if I'd ever have my 10 year old at the movies alone now for 4 or 5 hours......
I remember sneaking in my Panasonic tape recorder, with a sweater draped over it. It looked just like this:
(when I Googled this image I found it on a site that was selling it as a "vintage Panasonic tape recorder)
I recall bringing in my tape recorder when I went to see the Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music separately. Again, the boys are amazed that those movies played in the theater. When the songs began during the movie, I'd record them. Back at home I'd play them over and over, even writing down the words to the Scarecrow and the Tin Man's solos. That is why almost 40 years later I know those words.
When I was in the 11th grade I started working at the movie theater--located in Westwood Village, CA near UCLA. My brother had worked there previously and was friends with the manager and got me the job. I'd work usually Friday nights and Sundays. It was a great first job experience--I enjoyed it so much--I'd either sell tickets or be at the concession stand. I remember sometimes the owner--Ted Mann--would come in and we'd be prepared to offer him what he wanted to eat. He'd stand there and reach his hand right down into the popcorn bin and scoop out some and eat it.
We would of course watch movies over and over -- during our break with food from nearby, or after work and we'd get free passes to all the 4 or 5 other single theaters in the area. I also worked there the summers after my first two years of college in California. I remember once Tatum O'Neal coming with a friend to see her own movie, "Little Darlings" (I thought that was strange). What is also remarkable is that it was filmed near Atlanta, to where I would then move--about three years later. For some reason that movie was never released on dvd, but years later I consider it one of the most poignant movies ever.
(I love the clip best from about 1:20 seconds in. No one again is as natural looking ast Kristy McNichol, whose smile can light up the whole screen).
I tell my boys that when I was around 10 or 11 in the 1970's I'd ride my bike or walk to a local movie theater either by myself or with friends. They cannot believe that sometimes it was a double feature. As if I'd ever have my 10 year old at the movies alone now for 4 or 5 hours......
I remember sneaking in my Panasonic tape recorder, with a sweater draped over it. It looked just like this:
I recall bringing in my tape recorder when I went to see the Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music separately. Again, the boys are amazed that those movies played in the theater. When the songs began during the movie, I'd record them. Back at home I'd play them over and over, even writing down the words to the Scarecrow and the Tin Man's solos. That is why almost 40 years later I know those words.
When I was in the 11th grade I started working at the movie theater--located in Westwood Village, CA near UCLA. My brother had worked there previously and was friends with the manager and got me the job. I'd work usually Friday nights and Sundays. It was a great first job experience--I enjoyed it so much--I'd either sell tickets or be at the concession stand. I remember sometimes the owner--Ted Mann--would come in and we'd be prepared to offer him what he wanted to eat. He'd stand there and reach his hand right down into the popcorn bin and scoop out some and eat it.
We would of course watch movies over and over -- during our break with food from nearby, or after work and we'd get free passes to all the 4 or 5 other single theaters in the area. I also worked there the summers after my first two years of college in California. I remember once Tatum O'Neal coming with a friend to see her own movie, "Little Darlings" (I thought that was strange). What is also remarkable is that it was filmed near Atlanta, to where I would then move--about three years later. For some reason that movie was never released on dvd, but years later I consider it one of the most poignant movies ever.
(I love the clip best from about 1:20 seconds in. No one again is as natural looking ast Kristy McNichol, whose smile can light up the whole screen).
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
What The Boys Are Reading
There have been conversations around here this week with each son about books so I thought I'd share.
My Fifth Grader--
I am going to sound like a broken record about my hatred of Accelerated Reader (AR) but it just astounds me. This son is a stellar student and yet his teachers bug him about reading certain books. I read to him every night (with a Mad Lib and a Picture Puzzle book thrown in) and he always has a book in his 30 lb backpack. The school just had its book fair and he bought two books and was pretty excited about one called The Whisper, which is a continuation of one called The Roar by Emma Clayton (bought at last spring's Book Fair). They are about boy/girl twins and kids that have to compete in violent virtual reality games. Turns out that there is no Accelerated Reader (AR) quiz for these books. (BTW I loved your previous comments on AR reading and quizzes). In class the other day his teacher (he has several and she teachers "gifted" language arts and math) suggested that he finish the media center book (which is AR) before starting the new book he just bought.
Here is what I have to say about that:
Tonight at dinner I asked him if she said anything today about his new book. I made sure Hubs was listening. She told the class that if you don't make your AR points you will get an "N" on your report card and will be off the Gold or Silver honor roll. Teacher conferences are coming up--fun times. Read what you want, we tell him. It pains me that we even have to have conversations like this with him.
Middle Son
He reads! He reads! I love to help this 8th grader find books--I am his personal library shopper just like I am the TJ Maxx clothes shopper for them. Once I brought home a book from Goodwill that he has enjoyed--it is edited by Jon Scieszka called Guys Write for Guys Read -- short stories by various favorite of boys' authors writing about being boys. Another similarly edited is called: Guys Read: Funny Business. Check out the Guys Read website with reading lists. I really enjoyed watching these interview segments of the author--stories of growing up with 5 other brothers and antics at dinner table, being a male teacher, and more. I really appreciated what he had to say about how boys like to read magazines and graphic novels and non-fiction and that's OK.
Oldest Son
AR points don't exist in high school--yay! This 10th grader is our guinea pig--truly--he navigates his way and we learn along with him. But about books--this boy does not read books. In 9th grade he had to read books that were written so, so long ago like Silas Marner (snore) and Dickens. I actually said to him to him once as he tried to write about them: Google ideas and notes--I don't care!
In the beginning of the month he had to choose a book from a long list. Of course I found this out at the last minute which gave him 3 weeks to read a book but I took the list and crossed off every girly book and we went to Barnes & Noble and I put many, many in a pile and he flipped through them, made sure there was lots of conversation, read a few pages of each, put back the ones had too much scenery (Cormac McCarthy) and he picked a winner!! (Tim O'Brien's) The Things They Carried, a combination of memoir, non-fiction and short story style about the Vietnam War. He read it! And enjoyed it! And we just had another conversation just this second! He just said he has heard so much about other wars and not this one and learned a lot. Told me there were a lot of F-bombs in it. After he picked it out I then remembered to tell my closest friend about what he chose--she teaches AP English in California--and I learned it is her favorite book and was part of her thesis. Wow!
My Fifth Grader--
I am going to sound like a broken record about my hatred of Accelerated Reader (AR) but it just astounds me. This son is a stellar student and yet his teachers bug him about reading certain books. I read to him every night (with a Mad Lib and a Picture Puzzle book thrown in) and he always has a book in his 30 lb backpack. The school just had its book fair and he bought two books and was pretty excited about one called The Whisper, which is a continuation of one called The Roar by Emma Clayton (bought at last spring's Book Fair). They are about boy/girl twins and kids that have to compete in violent virtual reality games. Turns out that there is no Accelerated Reader (AR) quiz for these books. (BTW I loved your previous comments on AR reading and quizzes). In class the other day his teacher (he has several and she teachers "gifted" language arts and math) suggested that he finish the media center book (which is AR) before starting the new book he just bought.
Here is what I have to say about that:
Middle Son
He reads! He reads! I love to help this 8th grader find books--I am his personal library shopper just like I am the TJ Maxx clothes shopper for them. Once I brought home a book from Goodwill that he has enjoyed--it is edited by Jon Scieszka called Guys Write for Guys Read -- short stories by various favorite of boys' authors writing about being boys. Another similarly edited is called: Guys Read: Funny Business. Check out the Guys Read website with reading lists. I really enjoyed watching these interview segments of the author--stories of growing up with 5 other brothers and antics at dinner table, being a male teacher, and more. I really appreciated what he had to say about how boys like to read magazines and graphic novels and non-fiction and that's OK.
Oldest Son
AR points don't exist in high school--yay! This 10th grader is our guinea pig--truly--he navigates his way and we learn along with him. But about books--this boy does not read books. In 9th grade he had to read books that were written so, so long ago like Silas Marner (snore) and Dickens. I actually said to him to him once as he tried to write about them: Google ideas and notes--I don't care!
In the beginning of the month he had to choose a book from a long list. Of course I found this out at the last minute which gave him 3 weeks to read a book but I took the list and crossed off every girly book and we went to Barnes & Noble and I put many, many in a pile and he flipped through them, made sure there was lots of conversation, read a few pages of each, put back the ones had too much scenery (Cormac McCarthy) and he picked a winner!! (Tim O'Brien's) The Things They Carried, a combination of memoir, non-fiction and short story style about the Vietnam War. He read it! And enjoyed it! And we just had another conversation just this second! He just said he has heard so much about other wars and not this one and learned a lot. Told me there were a lot of F-bombs in it. After he picked it out I then remembered to tell my closest friend about what he chose--she teaches AP English in California--and I learned it is her favorite book and was part of her thesis. Wow!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
A Valentine's Day Story
This past Sunday Hubs wanted to browse around at a bike store and I joined him--that part bored me big time but I knew we'd also wander around a huge antique indoor market place, which we both love to do (a benefit of teen kids: both parents can go out together for several hours to pursue own errands).
On the way back home Hubs reminded me that a new Humane Society was somewhere nearby. We have no pets, but before we got married I/we had a cat, which expanded to two cats and then later a dog and then another dog. They all lived their long, geriatric lives and the last one left 7 years ago. Recently in a local paper they featured a dog whose features were a striking cross of the two dogs we once had so I showed Hubs and he agreed and asked every day if I had called to see if that dog was still available--I did not. But we were curious. We really don't want a dog and trust me this is not s story of us getting a dog. But if we did get a dog it would be from the humane society--many years ago that is where we found a wonderful best dog in the world.
We finally located this other humane society and looked at the dogs and a worker asked us if she could help and I asked about the dog we had seen in the paper and we were both happy to hear that the dog had been adopted. So we were truly just spending time together and it was a nice reminder to see a little "softie" side of Hubs, the way he talked to the dogs and puppies. He plays a really tough role but I have some incriminating photos of a cat we once had that lived and breathed for him alone.
As we were driving back home I started to chuckle about an episode that took place at the Humane Society in midtown Atlanta 26 years ago, the year before we were married. I had moved to Atlanta by myself after I graduated, and he was still in school in Florida and he was visiting me in February. We knew as soon as he graduated that coming May that he would move into my apt with me and we would begin to plan our wedding for the following year. I had previously told him that what he needed to know about me to be happy is that I had to have a cat and I had to have a lot of books and reading time. He was game.
So back in 1986 during a visit to me in Atlanta near Valentine's Day we went to the Humane Society and I found a cat I wanted. We stood in line to adopt and the clerk was HORRIBLE. We had observed him being rude to people with an ugly attitude. When it was our turn for paperwork we found out that you had to prove you owned a home or if you rented (I had my own rental apt) he would call the leasing company to find out if pets were allowed. He called and they were not allowed. The rule is the rule (I get that) and he could have talked to us differently but he WAS AWFUL. I started to cry and went to walk away.
Well. Hubs let him have it. He ranted about the man's attitude and treatment of customers and then yelled about "How NO ONE would love that cat MORE THAN ME and how this cat MAY DIE instead of being adopted." (there were some older ladies nearby who literally gasped at this part). Hubs was livid.
(BTW I was on a mission to find a cat after this --sheesh there were no ads in the paper during that February--but then a coworker knew a friend who knew a friend whose cat had kittens and I picked one out and he was perfect for me so we have a happy ending, but who ever thought for a month or so how hard it was to get me a darn young cat or kitten).
Back to this past Sunday--when we got into the car on the way home I started to think about that Humane Society scene and thought about how my Hubs couldn't care less about cats but he knew how much I wanted one and he knew we'd be together soon to start our life together, and KNEW how much he loved me. I said, "Do you remember that time at the Humane Society??!? About the cat??!? "
And he said, "Yes, that man was such an asshole!" I was smiling and thinking about this from so many years ago and how that was the beginning of our lives together, and how we started as parents to pets and then years later parents to------- and he says,
"So you saw then a glimpse of years to come with my interactions with bad customer service!!!!" Hmmmm, how true. The stories I have of Hubs having words with a clerk and/or walking away from his purchase as needed........
Happy Valentine's Day and may your true love have your back always.
On the way back home Hubs reminded me that a new Humane Society was somewhere nearby. We have no pets, but before we got married I/we had a cat, which expanded to two cats and then later a dog and then another dog. They all lived their long, geriatric lives and the last one left 7 years ago. Recently in a local paper they featured a dog whose features were a striking cross of the two dogs we once had so I showed Hubs and he agreed and asked every day if I had called to see if that dog was still available--I did not. But we were curious. We really don't want a dog and trust me this is not s story of us getting a dog. But if we did get a dog it would be from the humane society--many years ago that is where we found a wonderful best dog in the world.
We finally located this other humane society and looked at the dogs and a worker asked us if she could help and I asked about the dog we had seen in the paper and we were both happy to hear that the dog had been adopted. So we were truly just spending time together and it was a nice reminder to see a little "softie" side of Hubs, the way he talked to the dogs and puppies. He plays a really tough role but I have some incriminating photos of a cat we once had that lived and breathed for him alone.
As we were driving back home I started to chuckle about an episode that took place at the Humane Society in midtown Atlanta 26 years ago, the year before we were married. I had moved to Atlanta by myself after I graduated, and he was still in school in Florida and he was visiting me in February. We knew as soon as he graduated that coming May that he would move into my apt with me and we would begin to plan our wedding for the following year. I had previously told him that what he needed to know about me to be happy is that I had to have a cat and I had to have a lot of books and reading time. He was game.
So back in 1986 during a visit to me in Atlanta near Valentine's Day we went to the Humane Society and I found a cat I wanted. We stood in line to adopt and the clerk was HORRIBLE. We had observed him being rude to people with an ugly attitude. When it was our turn for paperwork we found out that you had to prove you owned a home or if you rented (I had my own rental apt) he would call the leasing company to find out if pets were allowed. He called and they were not allowed. The rule is the rule (I get that) and he could have talked to us differently but he WAS AWFUL. I started to cry and went to walk away.
Well. Hubs let him have it. He ranted about the man's attitude and treatment of customers and then yelled about "How NO ONE would love that cat MORE THAN ME and how this cat MAY DIE instead of being adopted." (there were some older ladies nearby who literally gasped at this part). Hubs was livid.
(BTW I was on a mission to find a cat after this --sheesh there were no ads in the paper during that February--but then a coworker knew a friend who knew a friend whose cat had kittens and I picked one out and he was perfect for me so we have a happy ending, but who ever thought for a month or so how hard it was to get me a darn young cat or kitten).
Back to this past Sunday--when we got into the car on the way home I started to think about that Humane Society scene and thought about how my Hubs couldn't care less about cats but he knew how much I wanted one and he knew we'd be together soon to start our life together, and KNEW how much he loved me. I said, "Do you remember that time at the Humane Society??!? About the cat??!? "
And he said, "Yes, that man was such an asshole!" I was smiling and thinking about this from so many years ago and how that was the beginning of our lives together, and how we started as parents to pets and then years later parents to------- and he says,
"So you saw then a glimpse of years to come with my interactions with bad customer service!!!!" Hmmmm, how true. The stories I have of Hubs having words with a clerk and/or walking away from his purchase as needed........
Happy Valentine's Day and may your true love have your back always.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Two Honeymoons
When I met my husband in college (just a few months before I graduated) I invited him over for dinner. As I gave him directions to the apt I shared with some roommates, we noticed there was a theme with the number "two". I told him I was 22 (so was he in 2 weeks). The address had a two in it. He was to take the second turn. It was the second building and on the second floor. The apt no. was 2. We got married two years later. Turns out we planned TWO honeymoons.
(Married at a home that looked like Tara. "You should be kissed and often and by someone who knows how.")
When we got married I had been at working for two months at post-college yucky job #2 and if I took a week off I wouldn't get paid so we honeymooned for a weekend. The following weekend. We got married on a Sunday (a brunch) and all my friends from California were bridesmaids and flew in Friday and left Sunday. Hubs and I did take Monday off. And then I went to work on Tuesday. Pitiful. Then Friday afternoon we drove from Atlanta to Savannah, GA, a four-hour drive. We had a great time and it was April and beautiful with all the pink azaleas and pink and white dogwood trees. We stayed for two nights in a bed and breakfast, and toured the lovely town squares and some old homes.
It may have been around this time that we planned a trip to California for later in the summer. I think what happened is one of my mother's oldest friends from Calif (where I grew up) attended our wedding and invited us to stay with her in Santa Monica anytime. So I continued at this horrible job and planned our trip (back then you'd got to the library and find books on bed and breakfasts and call and they would mail you a brochure). I don't think my husband knew my plan but in August prior to our trip I quit my job. (heehee, spending money on a vacation with no job....some things never change).
My husband had never been to California and I had never been anywhere north of Santa Barbara so for much of the trip it was new turf for both of us. We flew to Los Angeles, got a rental car and stayed with my mom's friend for a few days, whom we barely saw, and we saw "my bridesmaids" whom my Hubs had met at the wedding and really liked. One thing I'll never forget is we were at my friends house and she had some relatives over and they asked Hubs how he liked Calif (it was Santa Monica) and being the honest person that he is who forgets subtleties, says, "I like it. But there are no trees and so much cement." They reminded him that there never were many to begin with--just beans.
We then cruised up Highway 1, stopping in Big Sur for a couple of hours and then stayed in a B&B in Monterey. We had a great dinner with a family we know in Carmel, went horseback riding in Big Sur, went to the aquarium on Cannery Row. In fact, we were going to spend a couple days in San Francisco but liked it where we were too much to leave so added on a couple more days and never went more north. Oh I do remember this--there was a couple at the horseback riding place that was on their FOUR WEEK honeymoon. They had spent two weeks in Hawaii and then two weeks going up the Calif coast. Gah. I hated them. But we had a great time and I had a horse that would stop to eat off bushes and get behind and then gallop like crazy to catch up over and over again and each time I'd let out a blood curdling scream. They probably hated me.
We then drove Highway 5 back down to Los Angeles but also visited my grandparents in Palm Springs, which was very special to me. This past summer, 24 years later, we did see San Francisco with our three boys and drove south on Highway 1 discovering different sites from the honeymoon number two.
Off to find the photo album to post photos--which I think is in the attic. (Update: Went through the attic and bookshelves and cannot find our photos I know I put in an album. These things always happen to me).
Go check out Gretchen's honeymoon in 'Nawlins and other Spin Cycle stories of honeymoons!
When we got married I had been at working for two months at post-college yucky job #2 and if I took a week off I wouldn't get paid so we honeymooned for a weekend. The following weekend. We got married on a Sunday (a brunch) and all my friends from California were bridesmaids and flew in Friday and left Sunday. Hubs and I did take Monday off. And then I went to work on Tuesday. Pitiful. Then Friday afternoon we drove from Atlanta to Savannah, GA, a four-hour drive. We had a great time and it was April and beautiful with all the pink azaleas and pink and white dogwood trees. We stayed for two nights in a bed and breakfast, and toured the lovely town squares and some old homes.
It may have been around this time that we planned a trip to California for later in the summer. I think what happened is one of my mother's oldest friends from Calif (where I grew up) attended our wedding and invited us to stay with her in Santa Monica anytime. So I continued at this horrible job and planned our trip (back then you'd got to the library and find books on bed and breakfasts and call and they would mail you a brochure). I don't think my husband knew my plan but in August prior to our trip I quit my job. (heehee, spending money on a vacation with no job....some things never change).
My husband had never been to California and I had never been anywhere north of Santa Barbara so for much of the trip it was new turf for both of us. We flew to Los Angeles, got a rental car and stayed with my mom's friend for a few days, whom we barely saw, and we saw "my bridesmaids" whom my Hubs had met at the wedding and really liked. One thing I'll never forget is we were at my friends house and she had some relatives over and they asked Hubs how he liked Calif (it was Santa Monica) and being the honest person that he is who forgets subtleties, says, "I like it. But there are no trees and so much cement." They reminded him that there never were many to begin with--just beans.
We then cruised up Highway 1, stopping in Big Sur for a couple of hours and then stayed in a B&B in Monterey. We had a great dinner with a family we know in Carmel, went horseback riding in Big Sur, went to the aquarium on Cannery Row. In fact, we were going to spend a couple days in San Francisco but liked it where we were too much to leave so added on a couple more days and never went more north. Oh I do remember this--there was a couple at the horseback riding place that was on their FOUR WEEK honeymoon. They had spent two weeks in Hawaii and then two weeks going up the Calif coast. Gah. I hated them. But we had a great time and I had a horse that would stop to eat off bushes and get behind and then gallop like crazy to catch up over and over again and each time I'd let out a blood curdling scream. They probably hated me.
We then drove Highway 5 back down to Los Angeles but also visited my grandparents in Palm Springs, which was very special to me. This past summer, 24 years later, we did see San Francisco with our three boys and drove south on Highway 1 discovering different sites from the honeymoon number two.
Off to find the photo album to post photos--which I think is in the attic. (Update: Went through the attic and bookshelves and cannot find our photos I know I put in an album. These things always happen to me).
Go check out Gretchen's honeymoon in 'Nawlins and other Spin Cycle stories of honeymoons!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
January Birthday
January was a month of house projects, room cleaning, getting busier at work (going well) trying to make time for me such as exercise (not going well). It is also a month of a birthday--our middle son who turned 14. Fourteen! I'm a mom of many traits but taking many photos of my kids is not one of them and for that I am disappointed in myself--not one photo was taken on Christmas Day. But hey--our middle son loves to film his friends at the skatepark every weekend and they took a photo of him and so I have snagged it:
I found that ever since I got an Iphone last March (the 3g for $49) I just use it for photos and have barely used my digital camera. But on our son's birthday last week I took pictures of him blowing out his candles and opening his presents with my digital camera. In fact I took several photos of him and the bros all night. And then when I looked for the cord to use to get my camera hooked up to the "downstairs" computer, the cord is nowhere to be found.
That kind of sideline distraction always happens to me. Yesterday morning I asked my middle son to show me step-by-step how to use the PS3 as a dvd player so that I can play Jillian's Shred dvd which has not been touched in 18 months. The PS3 is in the basement which has carpeting. I had the dvd jacket in hand and he patiently showed me every step. We then opened the dvd jacket and inside was some Ice Age 2 dvd. Alrighty then. I spent 20 minutes opening and closing about 100 dvds to find Jillian and she was nowhere to be found. I decided at lunch I would go to Target and buy a new dvd because Jillian and the way she spoke to her two employees bugged me anyway. That never happened. But I did go grocery shopping for the third time in a week and fill the fridge and cupboards during my lunch hour.
The prior Friday, the day that we celebrated Middle Son's birthday, I did have everything I needed to make him a homemade cake with love during the day and that brought me much joy and thankfulness that I work from home and am able to cross some things off of my to-do list.
(choc cake with peanut buttercream frosting with crushed Reeses Cups on the outside and crushed Butterfingers on top--idea taken from Piece of Cake).
Before we had cake at home we all went out to eat to a restaurant of Son's choice where you pick out all your meat or seafood and veggies and spices and sauce and they grill it for you Mongolian BBQ style. The table next to us had three girls and when we left that Dad commented to my Hubs how maybe they should "mix it up a little." To myself I thought about how much more I'd be spending on clothes and accessories if my boys were girls but lately I don't know--you should see the food bill.
Back to the January boy's birthday. I never thought I'd have a January baby. Our first son was born in June and his tried-for conception took six months. When he was seven or eight months old we knew we wanted to try for baby #2 and it only took a few months. He was conceived toward the end of April, but the prior month I didn't try. I told Hubs I wanted to avoid a December b-day. He thought I was nuts but I was a chart person and knew my dates. When I was in my last two months of my 2nd pregnancy I'd talk to baby #2 and say, "Stay in a long as possible so you have a birthday as late in January as possible"--and he did. He likes how it works out because he considers what he'd like for Christmas gifts in December and then he is on a roll and knows what he'd still like for his birthday in January.
When he was 2.8 years old he became a big brother:
These two share a room and clash a lot so I sure am glad that we took many old fashioned FILM photos when they were little. When we had baby #3 at home we talked to the boys ahead of time about the birth and told them about cutting the cord and we assumed that oldest--who was 4.3 years old-- would be the one. As it turns out, oldest took a hike to the playroom at that time so the newly "middled" son all nonchalantly said he'd cut the cord with Dad:
I found that ever since I got an Iphone last March (the 3g for $49) I just use it for photos and have barely used my digital camera. But on our son's birthday last week I took pictures of him blowing out his candles and opening his presents with my digital camera. In fact I took several photos of him and the bros all night. And then when I looked for the cord to use to get my camera hooked up to the "downstairs" computer, the cord is nowhere to be found.
That kind of sideline distraction always happens to me. Yesterday morning I asked my middle son to show me step-by-step how to use the PS3 as a dvd player so that I can play Jillian's Shred dvd which has not been touched in 18 months. The PS3 is in the basement which has carpeting. I had the dvd jacket in hand and he patiently showed me every step. We then opened the dvd jacket and inside was some Ice Age 2 dvd. Alrighty then. I spent 20 minutes opening and closing about 100 dvds to find Jillian and she was nowhere to be found. I decided at lunch I would go to Target and buy a new dvd because Jillian and the way she spoke to her two employees bugged me anyway. That never happened. But I did go grocery shopping for the third time in a week and fill the fridge and cupboards during my lunch hour.
The prior Friday, the day that we celebrated Middle Son's birthday, I did have everything I needed to make him a homemade cake with love during the day and that brought me much joy and thankfulness that I work from home and am able to cross some things off of my to-do list.
(choc cake with peanut buttercream frosting with crushed Reeses Cups on the outside and crushed Butterfingers on top--idea taken from Piece of Cake).
Before we had cake at home we all went out to eat to a restaurant of Son's choice where you pick out all your meat or seafood and veggies and spices and sauce and they grill it for you Mongolian BBQ style. The table next to us had three girls and when we left that Dad commented to my Hubs how maybe they should "mix it up a little." To myself I thought about how much more I'd be spending on clothes and accessories if my boys were girls but lately I don't know--you should see the food bill.
Back to the January boy's birthday. I never thought I'd have a January baby. Our first son was born in June and his tried-for conception took six months. When he was seven or eight months old we knew we wanted to try for baby #2 and it only took a few months. He was conceived toward the end of April, but the prior month I didn't try. I told Hubs I wanted to avoid a December b-day. He thought I was nuts but I was a chart person and knew my dates. When I was in my last two months of my 2nd pregnancy I'd talk to baby #2 and say, "Stay in a long as possible so you have a birthday as late in January as possible"--and he did. He likes how it works out because he considers what he'd like for Christmas gifts in December and then he is on a roll and knows what he'd still like for his birthday in January.
When he was 2.8 years old he became a big brother:
I began my blog three years ago with my first post being about my middle son. All week long I have thought about a blog post stating what is special about him. And now they are all in the kitchen area and it is getting louder and all my chores need to begin. When Hubs and I were expecting our first baby I remember telling him a fear was what if this new person in our family got on my nerves--there'd be no escape. I remember that fear the most. I can say my boys are some of my favorite people and I love being around them and it is even more so as they get older.
Oldest son goes to bed last because he has to wake up last for school. So he dvrs shows per my request and we watch many together. He is my buddy watching The Bachelor--we have perfected the eye rolling and head-shaking in tandem, and we have enjoyed Celebrity Wife Swap immensely. When he was much younger I'd tease that I was going to do that show and it would only be for a week that another mom would be here and he'd strongly protest saying he did not want another mom here. I feel that same way about him.
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