Fiesta Night 2009

Tonight was Ben and Joshy's school program debut. It was so strange to be the mom in the audience instead of the girl playing her violin recital on stage. I remember the plays and the Christmas programs and always having your parents there at the end, always proud. Tonight, sitting on the other side, I felt so...adult. You know, you get married and then have children and live in this fog of sleep deprivation and "If I have to tell you one more time..."s but in those moments the fog lifted. Holy crap. I have kids. I'm a grownup. Fortunately, the proud part came too easy to be affected by my panicked acceptance of adulthood.

I love taking pictures of Ben when he looks up at the camera and so I decided I would get one of Joshy sitting next to his star. Well, Reuben is in stage where he will not smile in a serious fashion for a camera. He either looks like a goof ball or like he wants to kill you in a dark alley. This time was sort of pirate-esque.

In addition to the program, the school had a book fair. The books were set up in the back of the auditorium for the kids to browse through and like a...a...well, I can't think of the phrase but basically something that hones in exactly on what it wants and goes straight for it without looking back, Joshy took aim at the "jedi" book. He has the light sabers that he and John received at Christmas and caught the Empire Strikes Back on television and the well illustrated cover made ease of the connection. For Ben I picked up a book for us to read, which came in handy as we all had to sit around for a good 10 minutes while everyone meandered their way in.

The kids (nursery through 3/4 year olds) sang five songs on stage. It was late enough that you were losing a good bulk of the kids, but they were dressed up in goofy hats and glasses and even if there was more screaming than singing, it was perfect all the same. Joshy's favorite was Skinamarinkidinkidink (sp). I remember it from when I was little so I, without thought, would start singing along whenever he practiced and one time, when we were singing, I caught Ben in the corner of my eye, doing the motions. He would shake his hand on the Skinama part and then point to his eye at the beginning of I love you. Of course, memories of that song brought back memories of the song that never ends. How clever I thought that was as a child. If I remember correctly, I even made up my own verse to spice up the never ending cycle. Still, better than the song, was seeing Joshy interact with his best friend Jackson. As soon as they see each other they are pretending fighting as red and black spiderman. They make for quite the team.

As I sat in the cafeteria of the church, eating my taco salad and waiting to head into the auditorium, nostalgia didn't sweep over me...it kicked me in the balls. It felt so much like CHA. Everything about it. Everything. The tables, the hallway, the artwork, the program, the parents. It was like a time warp, excepting this time I wasn't forced to wear a Mexican wedding dress bought at the street shop in Nueva Laredo. I loved CHA and my time there. I loved the ridiculous dinners and countless programs. I feel so fortunate that my kids are getting to experience those same things and see how proud their "grownup" parents are of them. It is not just a girl and three boys. It is a girl and my boys. Lucky me.

Cluster

Webster:
Cluster n. - A group of the same or similar elements gathered or occurring closely together.

Laura:
Cluster n. - Waking up in the morning, getting lost in Dallas, consequently taking FIVE hours to get home and arriving to find all the glass panels purchased at Ikea have shattered.

I have been to cities in Texas that I have never intended to be. Cities with Farm Roads and freeways with stop lights. I have turned around, cut off, and backed up for every exit or turn to be taken but closed for construction. My stories and pictures will have to wait for it has been a long day to cap off a long week. As night descends on all of us, I intend to close my eyes and sleep to visions of longhorns spearing the woman who clearly doesn't understand the meaning of "the quickest way to I-35"...

Note to Self

If you are going to try and play off that the reason you don't have your sister in your Fave Five is because you don't talk to her on the phone all that often, it helps if you actually have five faves and not an unfilled slot. Apparantly "not that often" is still more frequent than the unused "not at all"...

Bowl for Kid's Sake 2009

Thank you to all who supported me by donating to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl for Kid's Sake 2009. This year the event has raised over 11 thousand dollars so far and you were a part of that. I am pleased to tell you that I bowled a ROCKING 148 in my first game in over a year. I know, I'm just that good... The best part was one of my "bowl-mates" Jahbari. At the start someone had asked if he was having fun and he straight up said no. However, it didn't take long until we were high fiving and he informed me that "it was on". I, of course, replied, "on like Donkey Kong" and got the blank stare. You know...monkey...throws barrels... Never mind. He asked me to teach him how to throw straight so we talked about keeping your arm pointed at the pin you wanted to hit. After my detailed instruction, I proudly watched as he walked up and threw the ball at such an angle that it hit the gutter outside the bumpers, knocking the bumper over and losing enough momentum to stop half way down the lane. Clearly we got lost somewhere on the "pin you want to hit" part of the lesson. There is nothing better than being a loud bowling team, generous with cheers and "you were robbed"s. When he managed a crazy spare and the whole team erupted, you couldn't beat the expression on his face. Even his mom couldn't help but get sucked in to the cheering. The lack of coke products and my inability to successfully work that dumb bowling computer thing aside, I am entirely grateful that I was able to take part. Besides, it is not often that you get to show off your black and white snazzy bowling shoes...

Four Generations

My Great Great Grandma Laura, my Great Grandpa Bernard, and Pop in the back. Aunt Kathy, Aunt Penny and my mom in the front.

Quote of the Week

“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.” - James Yorke (1941-present)

What you said?

In an attempt to give John a break, I let Joshy tag along with me to Target to pick up a few things we were running low on. He has had quite the burst of energy today, probably, in part, due to the Oreos someone let him have after lunch. When we get to the store we head over and pick up an icee before heading to the aisles. This is not because he needed any additional sugar but because getting an icee is tradition. Every time I have taken him since he was old enough to remember, we have gotten a blue raspberry icee for him to drink and distract him from wanting out of the cart. I had gone to the pillow aisle as when I buy sheet sets for our king bed, they always come with king size pillow cases and I never have gotten around to buying king size pillows. So, I am perusing my options and he has hopped out of the cart to "help me choose". As I am pulling out an extra firm I hear the sound dreaded by mother's world wide. Thud. Whoosh. "Uh oh". I told him that I knew it was an accident and ushered him back into the cart, telling him that I needed to go find someone to tell them about the mess. Upon hearing this, he acknowledges the plan and then at the top of his lungs starts yelling "SOMEONE... SOMEONE... WE NEED SOMEONE..." frantically looking to and fro. Completely taken off guard, I am shushing him, laughing and looking for the people who are sure to come running expecting some kind of medical emergency. Thankfully the only one in ear shot was a Target staffer who called for cleanup on aisle 17. The spill under wraps, we finished up our trip and headed to check out. Knowing that he likes to put things on the conveyor belt, I asked him to stick the toothbrush package he had already opened and the toothpaste up there. He sets it down and then pulls it back off stating that it isn't sticky. Not making the connection, I tell him to stick it up there. But it isn't sticky. Just stick it up there. It doesn't stick. It was then it dawned on me what the problem is, so I changed the phrase to "put". They are so literal, but that literality makes you rethink the meaning of the phrases and words you do use. I will never casually throw out "stick it up there" again...

Friday Morning

Today I was off with the boys and after wrangling them out of bed, feeding them 20% of their daily fiber needs in the form of a chocolate pop-tart and cleaning up, we just sat goofing around on the floor. Jessica is a picture fiend and she has so many pictures of her and the boys that if people merely knew my boys through pictures of their lives, they would think they were hers. She always takes them of herself and the boys, so I decided to do the same, but somehow, my attempts just never work out quite as well.

So I gave up...

I had went to pick up a pile of tissues that Ben had liberated from their box and on my way back, noticed that Ben had found Joshy's hat. Such a little thing, to put on a hat, but with my level of enjoyment as measure, he might as well have moved a mountain.

Joshy soon jumped in and illustrated how easy putting on a hat is (I can put on a hat, too!) and then showed little bro how to take the performance to the next level.

As I was taking pictures of Joshy in the hat, Ben was busy stepping back and forth between my legs. It is something he has done since he pulled up to stand. He loves to pull up using your pants and squeeze himself through. The best part is when he looks up with that face of accomplishment and toothy grin.

Next was watching Madagascar entirely too close to the TV.

And then Hungry Hungry Hippo. Here is a fluke shot showing Ben seemingly playing by the rules, using the lever to scoop up balls via hippo mouth. What actually happened was him reaching into the middle and scooping up balls via hand. What is the deal with the hippos? If you want the ball, just pick it up...

Tina had stayed the night due to the fires in Choctaw. Joshy was proudly displaying some artwork from school that had a picture of a seal he had colored green. Tina in turn explained to him that he actually picked the perfect color because seals like to wrap themselves in seaweed. Eh. Zoologists. Think they know everything...

I will say (this is where the trumpets blow in some annoying victory fashion) I did manage to wrap up the morning with a "not too shabby" pick of Joshy and me. When you wrap them in a blanket and sit on the end of it, they really have no where to go.

Dessert before Dinner

Tonight was Joshy's very first ice cream truck experience. We had all just got home when we could hear that all too familiar music through the door. Without thought, John goes running from the kitchen and grabs Joshy along the way, yelling back at me to see if I wanted something. Three minutes later, there we all sat with our ice creams. Joshy was so excited. He kept making comments about how good his was. "The white tastes just like the red!" "You like this one too?" "If we didn't stop him he would have gone to the next house?" "Why?" Ben just traveled back and forth between John and me, taking a bite of mine and then a bite of his. John got a sno-cone. Well, Joshy got a sno-cone but wanted to trade when he saw John's Bomb Pop. It's a popsicle on steroids. I don't blame him. When John shared the sno-cone, Ben would just put his mouth on it and suck all the juice out, leaving John the hard tasteless ice. He should have gone with the gumball eye popsicle. You can't go wrong with gumball eyes. It was fun to see Joshy so excited. I want him to have the same excitement at the song that we all did as kids. I remember getting ice cream almost every day during the warm months. I can't tell you how many candy cigarettes I "smoked" and Bazooka comics I read. The best part is how, even now as adults, we still race out when we hear that song. There is something magic about the ice cream man. Well, as long as you don't look at it from the "strange man in a box van selling candy to children" angle.

Redbud 2009

I had worked to up my endurance. I had overloaded on carbs like the Race Day Expert said. I had stretched and hydrated. What I hadn't done? Train running up hill against 40 mph winds. You know, they don't tell you that running on the treadmill is nothing like running outside. They just write "run 30 minutes" on the chart and put the little happy face next to it saying you are ready for the 5k. The morning of the race had unbelievably cold winds, gusting hard enough to slam a door. Still, I had the nifty timing chip attached to my shoe and my lucky Iron Chef shirt (complete with pink race number!) on. Wind or no, I wasn't about to quit then. It would be like eating all of your sundae excepting the cherry because you were too full to eat it. You just ate 500 calories of brownie fudge sundae. Eat the dang cherry. Completely new to every aspect of a 5k run, I did a lot of wandering and attempting to look like I knew what I was doing. They had signs listing mile times so that the faster runners could start up front. The last sign was the 9 minute mile and as I look at the mass of people behind it, I am trying to figure where 11 minute would fit in. You are wearing a fanny pack. Probably faster than you. You are wearing pantyhose masquerading as pants. You are an idiot...but probably faster than me. When we finally took off, it was straight up a hill with the wind at our front. Again, so not like the treadmill. At the 1k mark they were yelling out times. As I passed he yelled 7 minutes and I thought, WOW, that is my fastest mile ever. At the 2k mark, I could hardly believe how fast the time was going. As I was tabulating in my head how fast my 3 mile time would be at this rate, it hit me. They are marking kilometers, not miles. Yeah...depressing. Fortunately, there was a water stop straight ahead because, as the canned recording clearly used every year said, "Heat kills but water saves". Wanting to experience the full racing experience, and now knowing I have 3k to go, I go in for a powerade. As I grab the cup, the guy hesitates to let go and I end up with powerade all down my sleeve. Then I, clearly no smarter than he, take a drink while still running. Now I have powerade all down my front. So, to recap, I am running in a cyclone, my 2 completed miles just became 1.2, I don't have my iPod (dumb race rules) and am covered in powerade. At this point, all you can do is throw the half full cup into the grass like you've seen on TV and keep going. The last k was actually easier in this setting than in the gym because you have the finish line in sight and the peer pressure of more and more spectators on the side. It is easy to walk when no one is looking. For a crowd...you have got to put on a show for a crowd. Although, when not breathing and the color of a tomato, I am sure you aren't pulling as much over as you think. So, okay, I haven't become a pro runner in three months. However, I did make it the 3 miles and before Jan I had run...never. Now I just have to keep at it until I finally can make it through a 5k with ease. Next race...May 9th at the zoo. Let's hope their water cups have lids...

(John came and cheered me on and celebrated my "medal that everyone got but I still was excited about" with me. It was so nice to have him waiting there and to hear him tell me how proud he was.)

Time Flies

Today we enrolled Joshy in preschool. Can you believe it? Preschool! Next thing I know he'll be married...

Quote of the Week

“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh.” - W. H. Auden (1907-1973) English poet

While the Rooster's Away, the Field Mice will Play

While we were playing on the coast, the boys got to spend time with Nana and Jessi. They were spoiled in that they got a fun packed four days with all attention given entirely to them. Between bowling and the science museum, they had no time to miss us, and I am quite grateful for that fact. Knowing that you have people who will show your kids so much love and laughter while you aren't there allows you to really relax at the times you have set aside to do so. Here are some pictures and videos from their time with Nana and Jess:

Bowling

Park

Science Museum of Oklahoma

(The downside of wearing a shirt the same color as the green screen)

(I have to say, Jess impressed me by this.)

When I saw him jump the first time, I very much expected a different ending. He had more skill than I gave him credit for. Clearly taking after Uncle Ross...

Nana's House

(Jess ran in their to take a picture thinking they were playing together only to find that Joshy was actually laying and hovering over all the cars so that Ben couldn't play with them.)

Galveston

Last week our first three days were spent at a treasury conference in Galveston. My last time there had been merely a pass through on the way to our port of departure, so it was really a first time there. We stayed right on the sea wall and could see the gulf from our window. I had been hoping for one of the rooms with the balcony but the plush chair by the window view would do. The first night there we went to an early dinner at Landry's Seafood while waiting for our rooms to be ready. We sat on the patio, favoring the sun to the sleeting weather we had left behind, and it seemed a good choice in theory. Of course, that choice was not educated with the knowledge of scary crow like birds that sit on the chairs and stare you down. The beaks were long and they were sharp and each one of my senses were sensing malcontent. When not being taunted by death birds, you were sitting enjoying some loud splashing, gurgling noise from the Rainforest Cafe's outside attraction. Still, nothing outweighed the fact that we could hear the ocean crashing (in-between squeals) and that just being in a place where restaurant's had signs stating swimsuits must be covered felt like vacation. Circling back around to the Rainforest Cafe, we decided to eat there the second night. I have heard plenty people mention it from time to time and I must say, great for if you have kids, insanely wrong if you have any serious conversation in mind. When in the restaurant, a certain set of animals will start making noise, loud noise, every ten minutes. Every thirty minutes, the thunder storm rolls in which means the lights flash and all the animals freak out at once. It was novel the first time but by the fourth or fifth, I was tired of ceasing conversation so that the elephants could finish their trumpet song. The best part was this desert called a volcano. I ordered it based solely off the description of a mountain of chocolate brownie, completely skipping by the part talking about the sparkler on top and the entire waitstaff yelling "VOLCANO" as it is walked to your table. It is like Jake's and the whole restaurant singing Happy Birthday all over again. I so love those moments when the eyes of an entire restaurant shoot towards you.
John and I took some time one evening to walk along the sea wall and soak up as much of the ocean as we could. It was too cold to swim sans body suit but it was fine for a stroll. The winds had picked up and so the waves were crashing against the rocks. I wanted to get that perfect "wave crashing" shot, so I must have stood there for ten minutes wasting what would have been multiple rolls of film in the 35mm days. The lack of an amazing wave crashing picture in this post will attest to how I fared. John was the winner of the "most interesting thing you find on the beach" contest with a dead puffer fish. My bottle cap inexplicably took second. As a final treat before we left, my corporate cohort Laura and I decided to go and get massages from one of the nearby spas. I have more than enough tension in my shoulders to ease but I still get wary of the whole stranger touching your back thing. I spent most of the morning praying that it would be a girl and most of the time in the locker room questioning why anyone would take off their underwear. They are what I cling to as my last defense against feeling "naked". Everything in your entire body tells you that "naked" and "strangers" do not go together. My masseuse (female...Thank God!!) had the best of intentions for my knots, but unfortunately confused me with an understudy at the contortionist academy of China. In my head, relaxing has never involved my heel being pulled up towards my thigh and then bent over the other leg or her hanging off my arm while it dangled from the table. At one point she was bending my arm so far back I seriously thought through how the scenario would play out if it dislocated, only to be followed by her turning my head as far as possible and going at my jugular with her knuckle. All I could think was that I was a sneeze or wobble from death. The best part was when we had finished and she utters, "Relaxed?". I, of course, said yes, but I wonder if she could see my eyes screaming no.

It is always nice to have a break, especially with good company. Laura, John and I ended up talking the most of each night away and I enjoyed showing her the ropes of her first official conference. Come for the lectures, leave with the swag. Well, and the scheduled meetings you agreed to so you wouldn't feel bad taking the wood playing card case...