Random Cacophony of a Few Weeks

So I got a bit cocky in my last post. I apologize, but can make no promises that it will never happen again. My brain took care of the retaliation for any of you who may have felt jaded. Let me tell you how much fun it is to stop, drop, and roll in front of your in laws. After attempting to convince Mark that no further action was required after the seizure, Mark promptly ignored me, called my mother (what a snitch), and took me to the ER. They did nothing but add some new meds. I'm now on Keppra 500mg BID (2xs a day), and Depakote 250mg BID. I pretty much slept through the two days following.

I have now voluntarily removed myself from all driving activities for the sake of everyone on the road. This is not such a bad thing. I no longer have very valid reasons to ignore the growing laundry pile, the starving children, and the crap which multiplies daily in the house. I have learned that neither of the kids like the following: Cod, London Broil, Spinach, Lemon, or Lamb Chops.



Later on in the week, we developed a leak in out water line which runs from the well to the house. A quick "two or three" hour job turned into a two day job, coupled with a 200+ foot trench which crossed the driveway and ended behind the house. Just like state highway workers- there was one guy working while all others stood and "managed." I was no exception.










Also of note during last week: my debit/credit card numbers were stolen. Some chick, who lives in San Angelo, Texas had a great time in Salt Lake City, Utah. She stayed at a hotel, went clothes shopping, and even did an online background check on me first. So, naturally, I did what any sane person would do. I canceled the card, contacted the bank about the purchases, contacted each place where she had charged, and reamed out the managers for not requiring the actual card to make a purchase, and found the girl's MySpace. In one day, she charged the equivalent to one month's worth of meds. In clothes, she racked up the same amount that I spend on one week's groceries. I know who she is now, and so does the bank and Visa. Who's laughing now, biatch!

On Saturday I went on a bus trip to the Big Apple with Mark's mom and sister. We went to see the Broadway show: Mary Poppins. It was nothing short of phenomenal. The three bags of M&M's (yes, I shared) which I purchased for $12 were made up for completely when Mary flew over my head at the end. And no, I couldn't see her underwear- perverts. Before we got into the theater, we had some (limited) time to tour parts of the city. We rode the subway, took a rickshaw ride around Central Park, walked past Times Square, the Naked Cowboy, St. Patrick's, Strawberry Hill, and Tiffany's (where I'm still looking for "Cat" the cat).



So, what's better than one musical? Two in a row! The next night, my grandfather, aunt, uncle, and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar. I've never seen the movie, but due to my upbringing, I am pretty educated about the story behind J.C. The actor (Ted Neeley) who played Jesus was the actor from the original movie. He was great and all, but I couldn't get past the fact that he sounded like a hybrid mix of David Bowie and Barry Gibb. Coupled with some disco-type music, I was half expecting Jesus to start singing "Ziggy Stardust" on a lighted disco floor with Travolta. I think I was missing the idea. During the encore, I was clapping wildly for the actor who played Judas, Corey Glover, when the woman sitting next to me leaned over to my ear and said, "Can you believe that the colored guy is getting the standing ovation?!" If the strobe lights could have stopped for a moment, I would have hit her in the shin with her own cane.

On a lighter note: Mark and I finally gave into the persuasive and persistent marketers for the Nintendo Wii, and bought one. Dylan would have to be a natural at it, wouldn't he. While I can barely move my arms today from playing baseball, he's always wanting to play. I will give $100 to the person who can beat him at boxing. The kid is undefeated.

Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to go wash my hair. More droppings later on...

Are We There Yet?

Flash Slideshow

It was forecasted to be a hot day today. So, instead of being hot at home, I thought it would be better to take a trip to the zoo. The trees in the zoo cover the majority of the paths, making it feel at least ten degrees cooler there than at home. The only bummer? My AC doesn't work in the car. We can deal with it though. It's a two hour trip, but with the DVD player, the kids barely notice.

One hour into the trip, I realized that I have not packed the correct DVD equipment. The kids started to squirm. I panicked and started handing out pretzels. The salt makes them thirsty. We hit traffic, and were stuck in it for over an hour. It was 97 and humid.

Once we got to the zoo, the mood did not lift. None of the animals were moving around because of the heat. We stopped at an eating area to revive the troops. Dylan happily munched on his orange, while Jordan grew oddly scared of his beloved birds while eating his pretzels, so insisted on keeping an eye on them at all times.

We had been there for a half an hour, and I wanted to go home already. We let Dylan look through one of those huge binocular things, and was pissed when he pulled his face away to find some chick before him had left glitter on the eye piece from her face painting.

Now that Dylan was thoroughly upset, isn't that a perfect time for take a family picture to document such a wonderous day? Yep. Some guy graciously offered to take our picture which ended up looking like me, the kids, and the floating head of Mark.

After a couple more miscellaneous pictures, we got some blue Icees, and called it a day. The drive home was quiet, as the kids were roasted into a good nap.

A total of five hours of driving for an hour of hot, smelly animal, walking. I did get a token photo of Dylan (in the top photoshow.) While he passed the polar bear exhibit, I got a good shot of him.

life in floods

Flash Slideshow

Picture #1: The bridge (or lack there of) that we drive over to get to Dylan's school.

Picture #2: A view of the road that leads to the playground.

Picture #3: A crop field of tomatoes ruined.

Picture #4: Another road undiscernable from the river.

Picture #5: One of the luckier ones by the river.

Picture #6: This waterfall should be more of a trickle.

Bean people

Flash Slideshow

We took my sister back to Boston when her too-short trip came to an end. The weekend in a nut shell:

We left Saturday morning. It rained all day. I ate an egg sandwich, M&M’s, Doritos, Chinese food, Tiramisu, one cannoli, some pizza, and drank many, many beers.

Lauren apparently slept in her roommate’s bed. I woke up in Lauren’s bed at six o’clock Sunday morning- hungry.

We did a bunch of walking, site-seeing, and unfortunately on Sunday, more driving. We got home Sunday night.

I caught a cold (as Mark said I would with flip flops and a skirt in the rain) and miss my sister dearly, but I did manage to get some pictures. I had to be choosy because I never printed the previous pictures (211 of them in all) and my 256 MB card was screaming full.

Well, go ahead- poke him

I bet you'll never guess where we went today.

It was a spur of the moment trip to the zoo. We have a year-round pass- free parking, free admission, two guests admission, and all the pony, camel, swan boat, and balloon rides you can handle. We plan on wearing it right out this summer.

Dylan really had a good time, but seemed to go through the park like he was on a mission. "Monkeys, check. Now, lets' go see the polar bears." At the end of the day, he commented, "Okay, so we saw the flamingos. Next we go on the balloon, and we are done. I saw every animal."

Jordan was quite taken with the birds, roosters, chickens, peacocks, and pigeons which were roaming around freely. They didn't seem to be afraid of anyone, so they would walk right up to us. You can tell we aren't in the city much when Dylan sees a pigeon in the eating area, and asks, "Mama, what is that called?!" (Like it's another exhibit from the zoo) When I told him it was a pigeon, he replied, "A PIGEON?! Oh my Gosh! I LOVE pigeons! Hey little buddy." (Please take a moment to envision the expressions on people surrounding us)And it only got better when he saw one go into the garbage can, obviously looking for food. You could've heard him laugh a mile away.

So, let me explain some of the pictures.

Mark and Dylan took a ride on the huge balloon. I was certain that Dylan would throw up, or become terrified once he got up high enough. To my surprise, and delight, he loved every second of the ride.

For some reason, Jordan thought it was funny to walk around and look at birds with a piece of a granola bar hanging from the corner of his mouth. Maybe he was trying to lure one in, and keep it in his pocket until he got in the car for the long ride home. Obviously, it was funny.

Dylan's pose in front of the beautiful flowering bush- he's so bad ass with his sign language "I love you" pose. It's his biggest thing now.

All the other pictures are pretty well explanatory, except for the dead donkey. (My favorite) No, he's not really dead. But, all the kids at the zoo thought he was....

"Oh no, Daddy! That big dog is deaded!"
"Mommy, what's wrong with the horsey?"
"Poke him, dad"