It’s Gotta Go Wednesday

If any of you avid readers are interested in earning some extra money, here is my offer: I will pay you $1 to total all of the posts that I’ve written about illness. Until that happens and wiithout the exact numbers, I’m going to guess that there have been about 20. Yeah. And I don’t consider us a terribly “sick” household. It’s call kids and school, and that = cesspool of disease.

This morning my slumber was interrupted a phone call from the ex, letting me know that during the night Ian got really sick, and he would not be going to school. When he walked in the door this morning, I could tell that this wasn’t just a regular cold. He looked horrible, like he would collapse at any minute. When I took his temperature, it was a balmy 104.3 degrees. The countdown until the InstaCare would open began.

Unfortunately it was pretty busy at the clinic, but after 1.5 hours, meds, exams, and a chest x-ray (the Dr. originally though pneumonia), it seems as the flu and a possible sinus infection are the culprits. So we left armed with a couple of prescriptions and a note to excuse his absence from school for the next couple of days.

Mix that in with the lovely gift my dog, who is obviously sick as well, left for me on the family room floor for the SECOND time in 24 hours, well, it’s going to be a super terrific day!

Days that are filled with tons to do already, and then pile sick kids and poopy dogs… ugh. They’ve gotta go.

It’s Time To Par-TA

This year Ian decided to have his friend party at Planet Play… a place that is similar to Boondocks or Classic Skating. I helped “encourage” him to pick this place because KSL had an amazing deal, which saved us about 70%. AWESOME!

I’ve never had every kid invited to a party show up, so this was a first. Eight 12 year old boys was an experience to say the least. The nice part is that the kids were old enough that we didn’t have to have our eyes on them at all times, and they were able to just sort of run around and do their thing.

Poor Ian wasn’t feeling well about an hour before his party began. We took all of our kids to Beauty and the Beast earlier that afternoon, so it had been a pretty busy day. He threw up when we got to P.P., but after that he seemed to feel better. However, he promptly ran into one of the arcade machines, and this was the result:

Good times. Luckily he laughed it off, and it didn’t require stitches :).

The boys played a game of laser tag, and took a turn around the track on the go-carts, which only resulted in a little whiplash:

They ended the evening by spending the $15 each had on their game cards playing the arcade games and picking out really lame cool prizes with the tickets they won. Shockingly (NOT), they all chose big inflatable hammers and proceeded to beat each other over the heads with them.

Prepubescent boys are pretty much all crazy, but I think they all had a great time, and that’s really all that matters.

12 Years?!?

At 8:50 p.m. on March 22, 2000, my life changed forever. It was that moment that I became a mother.

When he was born, I thought he was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. I have friends and family members that didn’t fall in love with their babies until a few days after the birth, which I get. However, I fell in love with Ian the moment I found out I was pregnant. I was in a constant state of “count down”… It was seriously the longest 9 months of my life. And when he finally made his way into this world, I experienced a kind of love that I had never known existed before.

Ian was a fun, sweet, adorable baby who was nothing but pleasant and a joy to be around. While there have been the normal growing pains as he’s become less of a little kid and more of a little man, he is still such an amazing part of my life.

A great sense of humor and wit, smarts, a passion to protect (and also tease) this family, and a tender sense of empathy for others are just a few reasons I love this kid.

Happy 12th Birthday Ian! I hope it’s the best one yet.

It’s Gotta Go Wednesday

Is it really Wednesday again?

Life must be going pretty well, because I’m running out of ideas. Oh wait, it’s because there is so much new information coming into my brain that all unnecessary information pretty much gets pushed out.

When I take Ian, my oldest, to guitar lessons every Monday, I always pass a house that has a dog out in the front, lying in the same spot. For years, I see this dog every week. Doesn’t matter if it’s sunny, snowing, or raining toads during the apocalypse… that dog is always in chained up in the same spot.

People who have dogs and use them as lawn ornaments… they’ve gotta go.

It’s Gotta Go Wednesday

I’ve posted about TSA before. But on a personal note, I’m sure glad I got scanned, patted down, AND my bag searched. I felt pretty special being picked out of all of the other people, but I guess I had a “I’m going to kill today!” look on my face. I felt a little better when on the return home, my cousin AND my mother got the same treatment.

What was very enlightening is hearing from a family member who works at the airport what pilots and other people on the inside think about TSA. It’s a bunch of bull#*&$. But I guess it keeps a bunch of people who failed at being in law enforcement, then night time security work, as well as fry cooks, some form of employment.

I do not believe that TSA keeps us safe with the current protocol. In fact, I think it’s gotta go.

California Dreamin’

Last Thursday as we boarded the plane for Santa Barbara, I felt the weight of responsibility lift a little. Leaving for vacation without kids can be tricky… there is a lot of juggling and planning involved about who’s going to watch them, take them to school, and make sure they survive. But after everything is arranged, getting away for a weekend with the hubby was a long time coming and definitely needed.

I’ll post some photos later this week, but Santa Barbara was absolutely beautiful! The weather was nice, the beaches amazing, and the sights interesting.

We spent most of Friday in Solvang, which is about a 45 min. drive from S.B. My aunt Kathy lives there and owns a small book store. I have loved this little town since I was a girl, and I was excited for Greg to experience it as well. I think that he enjoyed it (especially the wine tasting).

Friday evening we met for what really was the purpose of the trip… the annual foundation meeting of which I’m on the board. Originally we had planned to break up the meeting and have it go Friday and Saturday night, but we pushed through and got it all done on Friday, which was nice because it freed up the net night.

Once again the organization that is near and dear to my heart is the one that I brought a proposal for, and… we got the $!!! It’s my last year on the board, and very well be my last chance to bring in some serious cash for this group, so I was thrilled that I got the full amount I was hoping for! I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served with my family members on the foundation board, and also thankful that I can be a part of “my” charity that helps families of autistic kids. Great cause!

I don’t love traveling (TSA will definitely be the topic of tomorrows post), but getting to spend 4 days with the Mr. and my family in a beautiful town in a great little beach-side Inn… totally worth it.

It’s Gotta Go Wednesday

The problem with people who are “luke warm” and can often argue either side is that we sometimes don’t PICK a side. When it comes to politics, sometimes I lean more to the conservative side, other times I’m more liberal. It very much depends on the subject (and whether I watched Fox News or Jon Stewart more recently).

But here’s something I feel pretty certain about… the rampant stupidity of subjects being debated in the political arena makes me want to hit my head against a wall. Or hit someone elses head against it.

With the very grim situation our country is in financially, how is it that we are debating contraception? Really? For those in the political media, calling a woman a slut because she is fighting for her right to have contraception covered by insurance just makes you look like a bigger idiot than everyone already thinks you are, and hurts your cause rather than gets people to back you. It also proves that contraception IS necessary (and should have been used by your mother).

99% of women in the United States have used birth control at some time. It’s not a religious, political, or social issue. It’s a personal issue which has absolutely NO PLACE being debated anywhere but in the home. I don’t care if you are religious or not, if you believe contraception is wrong or the best thing ever created, or if you’re single or married. It is no one’s business. It’s OK if you disagree with me… come on over and I’ll punch you in the baby-maker.

And frankly, with the current economic issues, not only for our country as a whole but for individual families, I think a baby boom is probably not the best course of action. I don’t have any figures, but I’d be willing to bet my uterus that contraception is a whole helluva lot cheaper for insurance companies, the government, and individuals than having a baby. Politicians men, stay out of my vagina and I won’t mention the Viagra you just had prescribed and covered for your erectile dysfunction.

The bigger picture for me is this… why are we allowing discussions about subject that are so peripheral to the REAL problems? Kids, we’ve got bigger fish to fry than worrying about this stupid crap. Taking a stand on subjects that just make you look like a total D.B., it’s gotta go.

This has been brought to you by me, my 15+ years using contraceptives, and my now (thankfully) sterilized and barren womb.

 

Shout Out

I’m trying a new thing here in this forum. I’ve done it on a b-day, or other holidays, but this is going to be slightly more random, and TOTALLY MIND BLOWING AND AWESOME! Because it’s in caps, you know it’s true.

Every once in awhile, I’m going to do a “Shout Out” post… recognizing those people in my life who inspire, entertain, and make this world a better place.

It’s in no particular order, except for the times that it is.

The first on my list is Greg, my main man and truly amazing husband.

When we first met, Greg’s “situation” was different than most men I had dated. He had his girls ALL the time. OK, except for every other weekend, but there were no week-day breaks, which even I had with my own kiddies. Our dating consisted of a lot of group dates, with us and the girls, or us and all of our kids. I think that was one of the many reasons I feel in love with him. He didn’t see his children as a burden, and didn’t complain about having to juggle being a full-time dad, working 40+ hours, running a household, and courting a woman. He figured out how to make it all work and genuinely enjoyed it.

While I know most parents love their kids, with Greg, me and the kids come 1st. ALWAYS! He’s constantly thinking of and looking for things he thinks the kids will enjoy, whether it’s searching high and low for a hard-to-find movie from his past, a fun craft, a new hike, a weekend trip, or a shirt he thinks one of the kids would like. He’s the hands-on kind of dad you don’t find that often anymore. He is the one reading to (and being read to) the kids each night. He takes one (or one-hundred) for the team and plays the really lame board games that the kids love (and I dread). He’s the one on the floor, wrestling with the kids until someone cries “mercy”. He never misses a school function, parent teacher conference, or a game. He’s the dad who’s out there coaching the team, giving up Friday nights and Saturday mornings to make sure the kids are prepared and having fun. Greg’s time with his kids is precious to him. He is very “present” in our life and the life of our kids.

He’s the kind of guy that brings me flowers just because. Or sends a random text just to let me know he’s thinking about me. I love that when I’m cooking, he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, and we’ve never gone a day without a kiss. He is more worried about us than himself or what he wants/needs. He’s made and continues to make sacrifices for his family, and his level of commitment is impressive.

Guess what I’m saying is that I married an incredible person. So let’s all give a round of applause to my main man.

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