What my children drive people to do.

Self-portrait at 12,000 feet. Perfect composition (she even squeaked out a single tear!)

My sister from another mister, Tracy, has volunteered to watch my children Friday evenings for the next month so that mom and I can go Salsa dancing (we do Swing on Mondays).

So what does Tracy decide to do the day before she is scheduled to watch my children? Skydive! I mean I can't blame her for trying to end her life, but she could have just said no to me.

I'm really proud of her for following though with the experience, but as she described it to me it just made me that much more certain that I will NEVER jump out of an airplane. Ever. Never ever. Never.

But I'm happy for her (and happy she made it down in one piece). She did watch my children Friday night, and the Salsa instructor kicked our butts (apparently Aerobics 101 is a prerequisite).

Freak accident

Larry and I were "working together" (it's really blaming each other and sniping while trying to accomplish something at the same time) on installing Brady's new fish tank filter. The problem was that the filter tube (that hangs in the back of the tank and does the sucking) was too long for the tank. So Larry pulled the whole thing out so that he could cut down a piece and the motor that propels the sucking action fell out of the tube and into the tank. Big deal, right?

The propeller fell into one of Brady's "rocks" that the fish like to hide in. And the frogs like to hide in there too.

The propeller impaled one of the frogs, killing him instantly. I picked it up, and there was a frog stuck to it. Of all the places for that frog to be.

And then I had to get him off the motor to finish the installation.

What a week

The kids "prayer pots". As you can see on the right Natalie chose to pray for Grandma & Papa, Mom & Dad, and Pinky (grandma's dead dog). Brady... apparently only The Neighbors earned his prayer, the rest of us can go to hell.
and there is still Friday! Brady and Natalie had to get up early and to to VBS again (I'm so glad this is just one week). I had to pick up Brady a little early to go to the dentist to finish up his work (another filling). This time I opted out of sedation, as he is an angry drunk (he fights the feeling the medicine gives him), and he just had the nitrous.
Apparently he fell asleep during the procedure,though the woke up pretty cranky (if you woke up and your face was numb, wouldn't you?) So he was no fun for the rest of the afternoon, but perked back up just before evening VBS, so I took him over and Natalie and I went to Elizabeth park to dance the night away.
I'm so glad tomorrow is the last day of the week, it usually doesn't matter to me (days of the week) since I'm home every day anyway, but this week has been a butt kicker!

Me and my girl

Tonight we walked over the VBS to drop Brady off, and on the way home Natalie said she didn't want to go home, so I walked over to the elementary school (B's new school) so we could play, and I got a little more mileage in.

We were the only two there (who else would be there at 6:30 on a Tuesday?) and it was so fun to talk with her and play on the equipment. It's the one on one time when you really find out who your child is.


All the way home Natalie wanted to talk about Pinky, Grandma Honey's dog (she was wearing a t-shirt with grandmas dogs on it). About how Pinky died, why, etc. Then she somehow moved from Pinky the dog to daddy's. She wanted to know if I have a daddy? So then we talk about Grandpa Bill. He's in heaven, he died. Was he old? No, he had sick blood. Did it pour out of his body? No, it stayed inside and made him too sick to live. Oh. You were his baby? Yes. And I'm your baby? Yes. Big smiles, she makes this conversation hard and sweet at the same time.

We headed home and had a nice visit with Julie before we had to go pick up Brady. They had discussed being kind tonight at VBS. I didn't know this yet, and when we got home Brady took my camera and took a picture of the sunset for me. I thought that was a kind gesture, I don't get too many from him so it was very, very nice. He is having so much fun this week he comes out with big smiles on his face, and still dancing and humming along to the music in his head. Makes me consider taking him to church more often. If it brings this much joy to my child's heart, maybe his heart belongs there, even if I don't feel that same joy. This is why I wanted my children to be exposed to religion(s), so that they could find their own path and that I could help nurture that journey. We'll see.


Oh! And this afternoon we spent a couple of hours at Bloedel-Donovan, it was great. We went to meet up with Beka and Maggie, and I ran into Karrie and Michelle in the parking lot (preschool friends that we keep trying to organize playdates with). Then it turns out that Karrie and Maggie know each other (from school). Cool! Then my friend Sam arrives with her entourage and she starts talking to Karrie, they know each other! It was weird to see 3 separate friends know each other, and I've formed friendships with them all somehow. We all commented on how nice it is to live in a community where we all "know" each other. Good 'ol Bham.

Having a Type A friend has it's benefits.

Tonight was my first night of swing class with my mom. Larry ended up scheduled to work (always the whipping boy), and I was really bummed that I was going to miss class.

My dear and wonderful friend Erin kindly agreed to watch Natalie while our boys were at VBS up the street (she gave up her evening alone to watch my child, and pick up my other one. good friend deed #1).

Natalie was thrilled to get some one on one time with Miss Erin, she couldn't wait for me to leave so that she could monopolize her and drown Erin in girly gooeyness. Natalie is a far cry from the cricket eating, dirt digging, sword swinging Christian (her boy).

Mom and I had a wonderful time dancing, I was asked twice to help the teacher demonstrate to the class, and he approached my mom and I and accused us of having experience (mom does, I am just blessed with natural rhythm). Class was over too soon, and I'm so looking forward to Salsa on Friday.

When I got home, Erin had 5 children with her (my two, her one, and another friends two boys). They were all outside playing when I got home (good friend deed #2) so that my house wouldn't be destroyed at 9:15 at night.

Then, once they all packed up and headed home, I noticed that Natalie and Erin had been busy while they were busy being girly (Natalie was wearing her Tinkerbell costume when I got home). Both children's rooms have been swept up and toys have been put in their proper place (Good friend deed #3 and #4, for both rooms). WOW. It made me so happy. I love living in a clean house, but apparently I'm not supposed to live in MY house.

I think there will a serious push for the kids to maintain their rooms (I'll bribe them with money for the Disneyland pot).

Thank you Erin. I love your type A personality. You can control my household whenever you want. And then Jen can come decorate it. (Oh, and Rach, now that you can see each room you can pick which one you want to stay in!)

Smug checkers piss me off

So I stopped at Freddies today to grab a couple of things and I noticed that sunblock was on sale (I hope to need more of it by the end of this summer!). I looked around and they had some that I liked and it had a orange coupon thing that said $1.00 off, LIMIT TWO. So I grabbed 2 and a coupon and finished shopping.

By the time we got to the checkout I was frazzled, the kids were chasing and pinching each other and I was ready to be done.

Enter my cashier. She was very friendly until the coupon. She says "Is this yours?" Um, yea. She scans it once. I say "I had 2." She snips "you only have one coupon. If you want to walk back there and get another, go ahead." So my know-it-all self chides "The coupon says LIMIT TWO on it, why would I need another coupon?" She tries to be a smartass and says that it's a manufacturer coupon (it is,but it's a in-store promotion too. I've worked retail, I know what the deal is.) and if I want another dollar off, then I can go back and get another coupon.

At this time another shopper comes up behind me, so I feel bad for making her wait, but just for spite (and my dollar) I have to haul both kids halfwway through the store to get another frickin coupon. I'm pissy when I get back and slide it at her. She is all friendly once again, but I'm not buyin it this time. I make a comment about how she needs to read and understand. So I'm all bent out of shape over a dollar. But it was more than that. I read the damn coupon before I walked away from the display of sunblock. The coupon says $1.00 off, limit two. Does that not mean that that coupon is good for 2 bottles? Because every other coupon I've used that is for cents off and has a limit of 5, that means I can buy 5 of that item for that much off per unit. Right?

And besides the fact, if I'm wrong, why do I have to haul myself and 2 children across the damn store? Can't a courtesy clerk do that? Isn't that their job? Fuckers.

Sunday

Spent most of the day gutting my dresser and all that ultra-organizing I do. When I go to clean a room, I can't just simply pick up the clutter. I must empty each drawer and re-load each thing properly. It's a lifelong problem. But I did create a big black garbage bag full of items headed to Goodwill. And 2 baskets of toys. And a small bag of trash. And I put away 3 baskets of clean laundry. So I didn't do too bad.

Got to talk to Jackie and Carly today, they helped keep my spirits up while I stayed home while Larry was gone to Darrington rock climbing (this is starting to become a sore point...)

When we all re-convened, we went and had dinner (picnic style) at Zuanich park. There are some pictures of me, but I've decided to keep those as a motivational tool for weight loss. Denial is quickly laid to rest when you see a photograph of yourself.

Enjoy the rest of my family: