A Kid Funny

Watching a TiVoed episode of American Idol, the three of us were laughing, cringing, and feeling guilty for both while watching the auditions portion of the competition. They were recapping guest judges through the year and Sam quickly quipped, "Look, they didn't even use a real judge that time. That one's totally fake, like a mannequin or something."

Rewind, slow-mo, who could it be?

Victoria Beckham

We did a silent victory dance, high five, across the room with only the slightest of shared eye contact-- you know, that move perfected only by parents of middle schoolers who are constantly and eternally embarrassing.

Then we had to prove to him that, indeed, she is a real person. Well, partly. And then we I had to explain the partly.

No school tomorrow. Darren if flying out to California on business for a short jaunt. We'll miss him tons (I hate it when he travels!). Cereal for dinner!!

Eko Backen!

Part of Confirmation is making and nurturing relationships at church. The sixth grade Confirmation kids got to go tubing at Eko Backen last Wednesday. Only four of the kids in my class could attend, which was bummer, but they are incredibly busy kids. I was delighted that Darren could come along and help me chaperon. Even though his idea of chaperoning maybe was a little bit different from mine. :)

Eko Backen means, "Shirley we have to think of something else to do besides raise corn on the farm" in some Scandinavian language.

The wind was chilly, but the hot chocolate and smiles were warm. It was nice to see life marching on in full force.

Sam's first run.

Tube Cam aka Darren "chaperoning"

Tow Rope Cam

Turbo Tube

Date 3/52 A Fortunate Freebie

With all that is going on in Haiti, we decided instead of spending on ourselves, we'd get a free movie from the library or watch some TV and give a donation to Shelterbox with our date money.

Sam is having a friend sleep over. They disappeared into the Kid Cave (basement) and have yet to surface. I always tell this particular friend that he's a good babysitter. Either he's an Eddie Haskell or he's really the nice, smiley kid that he seems to be! I know it's definitely the second.

Nice relaxing evening. Just what we need after a stressful week. So nice to reconnect uninterrupted.

Date 2/52 Sleepover Sneakout

Sam's at a sleepover, so we've got a date night!

This has been a rough week. I've found myself grieving for my grandma just like I did with my dad. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the tears come. That smack, in your face kind of grief is awful. I've been looking forward to date night just to feel safe and comforted. Darren's had a busy and long week too. It was time to just rest and reconnect.

We needed a relaxing evening. So, we wandered the stacks at Half Price books, picked out a few Turbo Snails and a funky urchin for our saltwater fish tank, and grabbed an ice cream cone at McDonald's on the way home. A little couch time to watch something that's not Sam's choice.

Bliss.

A True Lady

My 98 year old grandma died yesterday afternoon. She was a real lady.

I remember when I was little, I used to watch in awe as she'd fasten a pin to her jacket, that matched the rhinestone earrings clipped to her ears. She had a heart shaped diamond necklace that Grandpa gave to her that I rarely saw her without. Grandpa would always warm or cool the car for her depending on the weather. This was what ladies did and this is what they got in return. My little kid self thought that was amazing.

She lived in a little house within walking distance to a zoo and a candy store. When she and Grandpa moved, they choose a condo with an indoor pool, an elevator (!!!), and a giant park across the street that had a lake you could walk around. I couldn't believe the luck of having a grandma that would choose to hang in such neighborhoods. I always won, hands down in the "my grandma is cooler than yours" competition. I usually saved the indoor pool for my last play.

She taught me that you had to wash dishes in really hot water because of Batterria. I wasn't quite sure what Batteria were, but I knew they must be really bad for grandma to risk the perils of hot water. I was about 5, I imagine. She wore long, rubber gloves when she washed dishes that she later cut into rubber bands when they were worn out. I thought she looked really elegant in those long rubber gloves. They came in great colors and I couldn't wait to get my own pair. I still think of her every time I wash dishes. I shared this with a class I taught about food safety and my students all laughed when I told them about how Grandma said the bacteria was gone when your Playtex Living gloves squeaked on the glasses.

She played with me. Got right down on the floor and would play board games and card games and games with dice and little men. She had a magic closet where she kept her games and I couldn't wait to slide it open. The best part about this? I think she actually had fun doing it.

She bought me candy that my mom always said no to. She always had lemon drops and would take me to Bridgeman's for hamburgers and ice cream. I loved that she ordered from the kid's menu too. She had a friend in an Iron Lung who I thought was part robot and she used to take me to visit her. She never got tired of holding my hand as I balanced on the curb when we went for walks. She had a cookie jar shaped like an orange that was always full. Her kitchen was like something out of the Jetson's with sliding drawers and spaceship oven doors. She collected bells and had one of those little birds that dipped into water over and over and over again.

When I was in college, grandma used to pick me up in her car and drive me, while peering through the spokes of the steering wheel to a little Italian restaurant. I'm sure from behind, it appeared that no one was driving that little brown car! I had my first Chicken Marsala with her. It was kind of like having a surrogate mom when I was away from home.

Grandma's smile could light up a room. Her last smiles to me will always be treasured along with the private moments we had before she died. She always made me feel loved and truly listened to with interest and concern. There could be no greater gift than that.

I can't wait to see her again.

Paper Cuts!

An amazing artist, we just had to share.

Peter Callesen.

Date 1/52 New Years Eve with a Couple of Crabs

You gotta love restaurant supply! Call it a retirement benefit from our business. I should really go more often. Restaurant supply is like Sam's Club or Costco, but cheaper and no sample ladies. The one I go to has the largest walk in cooler I've ever been in. In our glory days, I would wear several layers, a hat, coat, mittens, and gloves just to shop-- and this was in July!

Back to the date. We bought a 10lb box of crab legs for $33 or maybe it was $42, either way, cheaper than going out on New Year's Eve. Sam was at a friend's for an almost a sleepover. We baked up some legs, shared a bottle of wine, and spent the evening cracking crab and chatting.

We also watched The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. Cute, but there wasn't much to it that wasn't already shown in the trailers.

Great night, relaxing, I almost made it to midnight (but not quite). This was the perfect start to our date night challenge.

It's a Date!

We've been parents for 12 years, hard to believe! We've never been good about taking time away just for the two of us. Maybe that's an only child problem. Maybe when you have more, you need to escape more!

Sam is such a good kid and we know that our time with him living at home is very precious, so it always seems right just to take him along with us. Plus, we really like him. But, we've found, that as he gets older (and we do too) that he doesn't always want to hang with us anymore. This is somewhat more shocking to me than I will let on. Having been told by a couple of his friends that we're "cool for parents", we assumed that he would feel the same way.

"Yeah, well..." he said when he and I talked about this. Point taken.

Normal preteen behavior. And, although my apron strings keep getting shorter, he needs me more now than he did when he was little. Just in a different way.

(On a side note, when his first friend, unprompted, told me we were cool parents, I blushed and thought he was just an anomaly. The second kid who told me was barely out of the room when I "John Travolta Saturday Night Fever" strutted across the family room. I turned around just in time to see Sam dumbstruck at my appaling behavior. "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhm." Thankfully, his friend was nowhere in sight. Sam was saved from humiliation.)

This Christmas break, our house was a revolving door. In Sam, out, in Sam's friends, out...repeat. He and his friends are doing more and more things just on their own and so we have a lot more time on our hands.

Finally, after 12 years of saying we're going to make the time more often, we're having date nights. Our neighbors, who are inspiring to us in so many ways, have had date night every Friday night for many many years. Our goal is to get at least one in a week. Or 52 this year.

Darren has already figured out that we'll have to cram in a date a day starting on November 11 in order to fit them all in. He's a procrastinator and good at math, not a great combination. I refuse to do the math and instead am challenging him to be accountable here on this blog. Feel free to remind him that daily dates might mean rationalizing what a date actually consists of. No, a trip to Home Depot does not count, nor does folding laundry together.

So, we'll take pictures when we can. Not THOSE kind of pictures, come on. And we'll try to keep track. I think once a week or as Sam's schedule allows is a pretty doable goal.

Here's to date night!

Good News, It's Strep!

Sam was very sick over the weekend. It came on suddenly Saturday evening and I knew for sure that it wasn't Back-to-School-itis because he slept from 8 pm Sat. until 3:30 pm Sunday. Monday morning, we headed to the doctor because he was complaining of all the symptoms of meningitis. Terrible headache. Stiff and sore neck. Lethargy. High fever. No appetite.

No sore throat, no typical strep picture.

His doctor confirmed that my suspicions were valid, but I decided not to go all worst case scenario and wait until a strep test came back negative before I flipped out.

"Congratulations, it's Strep," she said as she came back into the room.

Thank God.

I was warned to continue to watch him for meningitis because of his neck symptoms and after two more sleepless nights, he's back on track and back to school.

I hated to send him, but I knew last night when he was "bored" and getting the sillies again that he was on the mend. Still, I wanted to keep him inside and away from the negative temps outside. I always find this one of the hardest parts of parenting, sending him back after being sick when he really could use a few more days of rest. But, that's life and my job is to teach Life 101.

So, on we go.

Time for me to play catch up. So, it's a pot of coffee in a commuter mug and off to run errands, clean the house, prep for confirmation, do laundry. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

One of our neighbors had a terrible house fire yesterday. Our hearts and prayers go out to them. Hopefully we can find some way to provide some help. Our entire block was lined with emergency vehicles from all over the area for several hours yesterday and there were plumbers, electricians, and carpenters there until late in the night to secure the house. I can't imagine.