Terrible Mom Alert!
TWO missed birthdays! The boy. Above. Oct. 13. He is 16. The girl. Below. Nov. 21. She is 15.
Thank you Outback Steakhouse for having large mirrors and flattering lighting in your bathrooms, men and women’s, so that both of my children could, separately, but at the same time, go into the bathrooms the night we were there and take pictures of themselves without the other one knowing. They both came back to the table and were very excited about the selfies they got in the excellent washroom photo studio they apparently have there. Also, it’s good because I have no actual pictures of them with their cakes and mini-party celebrations we had here at the house. If I find any pics later, I’ll just post them randomly and you can guess what they’re from. Kind of a “Where’s Waldo?” but with cake. At least I only missed the girl’s by 2 days. And we are going out for a collective dinner tonight. An expensive, collective dinner. We really spend way too much on food in this family unit. Plus we get to dress up! But I need to finish this now quick, so I can shower, shave, and shine. The BF is yelling because he doesn’t think we’ll be ready to go. He’s walking around confiscating cell phones and electronic devices. This is serious business. But first, quick quick: Old mom alert! The boy has a driver’s license now and a vehicle. That he paid for. And the girl will be starting driving school soon. Here’s a picture of the truck that he bought:
It’s good for both kids actually, because now he can drive them both to school. And anywhere else they need to go! One of the only sophomores with a license, a car, and a parking permit. I knew he’d be ahead of everyone else in his class at something! Alright, I’m seriously getting a side-eye from the time police over here, so I need to go. Happy (late-internet) birthday, Mason and Stevie! I love you! XOXO. Later!
Last Day Of Football
This was actually the end of October. Sunny. Windy. Not warm. The usual.
Action shots. From various games. Mine is 71. White jersey, you can’t really see the number though. On the right, doing what the 70’s do.
Huddling. I’m not sure how he was looking this way, but it’s a nice pic.
Green jersey here, running in, tackling or something. I took a lot of pictures but only a few of them are clear enough or action enough to be looked at. Thank goodness for digital cameras. You can take 500, for 2 good ones. Then delete them all and start over. Hi-tech.
And that’s everything in my files this year for football, I think. If I find more somewhere, I’ll just post them. We are going into the city tonight for my daughter’s birthday so I prob won’t be able to get more of this exciting world news in; But I have to do some work tomorrow, and that means I’ll already be on the computer, and…I like to waste A LOT of time while pretending to do that work, so….Super Sunday! Football! Nurse work! Blog posts from the middle of nowhere! About nothing! Absolutely nothing! Stay tuned! Later!
Happy Birthday, Take 15!
This is from his Homecoming dance last week. Yes, he is that good looking. Period. I will take a break from the pink posts today (and yesterday and the day before, tsk tsk) so I can put up a picture of my handsome son on his birthday. My site. My rule. Besides I think I’m scraping a barrel bottom with some of these forced “pink” postings. Seriously. Cardboard food displays? Toilet paper? It’s getting kind of dry over here. Another picture. It’s just a big awesome face…
Anyway, he’s an easy birthday boy. He played football this morning. It was raining. It was windy. The ground was wet and getting muddy. A fight broke out between the teams 34 seconds from the end and everybody rushed the field. And we lost the game. Plus, there were 4 hardcore October bees buzzing around in the stands trying to sting a fan like it was their job. Isn’t it too cold for bees? Shouldn’t they be flying south for the winter? I mean, even when the rain really started pouring down, those bees hung out, hovering around our heads like we were going to forget they were there. At any rate, the game was over and the team had to wait , dripping outside, for the bus to come and take them back to school. Picture time…
At home, my mom (who did not sit in the cold and miserable rain–ya’ big chicken!) came over with a card and some cash, which is really the only way to go at 15. He got a few more cards in the mail. More cash. He requested a Pepe’s dinner with an XBox afternoon before and an XBox chaser after. So here we go. He’s showered and fresh and ready for the food part of his big day. I imagine the XBox part of tonight is going to be a long one, unless I can get him to curl up with me on the couch while I tell him sentimental stories of the day I birthed him. Yeah right. Sleep in Sunday. We can dig it. Alright, the natives are restless. And hungry. One last picture. Happy birthday my beautiful boy! I love you! XO Mom.
Something so new and scary it has to have it’s very own post!
Mason won it at Indiana Beach. He would NOT leave it at his dad’s. We have it in our house. You get to see it close up.
Monkey In A Barrel. It’s red. It’s purple. It’s BIG.
And, it’s HERE!:
It scares the beejesus out of me when I walk into the room in the dark...but is it...kind of...cute??
Sad news from our aqua-world.
Something was wrong with Mason’s puffy-eye goldfish for quite some time now, but we didn’t know what. We could tell though, that it didn’t look good. And survival of whatever ailed it was not hopeful. After a hard fought battle, he struggled desperately this week to live, I am sorry to say, that he is gone. As of last night, I found it necessary to put him out of his misery.
And without even one bit of exaggeration or sarcasm, I really felt sorry for that poor fish. And I am not ashamed to say that I cried. In fact, I am crying right now typing about him. Watching him try to eat and breathe and swim was just awful. If you could imagine yourself ever wondering if fish have feelings or if they suffer at all, you would know that it could be true looking at this particular goldfish.
I watched him a few nights ago searching the water for food. I could tell he was having a hard time finding it. He used to have very big bags around his eyes when we first got him, that’s the type he was. Just recently, the puffs were beginning to grow again. Sometimes they do. Unfortunately his life was rough from the start. We didn’t know at the time that those kind of goldfish are susceptible to getting those baggy eyes punctured. Which happened almost immediately. The internet said he may die from it. But he didn’t. In fact, he recovered and looked better than ever.
Then a few of the other goldfish Mason had in his tank started to attack him. They eventually ended up nipping off one of his three, long, tail fins. Then just as abruptly, they stopped. The puffy-eye seemed fine even after that. He swam a little weirdly and not always straight, but he was very tough and endearing and had personality, if a fish can, and we really fell in love with him.
Let me just say here, that we have had A LOT of fish come through this house. I mean, A LOT, a lot. And we have dealt with many dead fish so it’s not like we are over prone to fish affection but, this one really did seem special. It’s weird until you own a really good one and then you see. At any rate these last few weeks we watched him suddenly grow bigger and bigger. His body started to get fatter and fatter as if he was going to burst. We managed to get one picture of him, looking pretty good for all his trouble. You can kind of see where he was becoming so fat. In the last 2 days his scales seemed to be lifting off of him and I knew we were close to the end.
Then last night when I went in to feed him, puffy-eye was laying at the bottom, kind of half-in and half-out of Mason’s decoration Colosseum. He was gasping but not moving. It didn’t look like he would be able to get himself out of there. So, I nudged him free and he floated helplessly to the top, just staring at me, gasping for air (?). I couldn’t stand it. He LOOKED miserable. I don’t care what anyone says, that fish was not without some kind of pain. So I ended it for him. And I cried.
I feel kind of silly for being overly emotional about a fish, but he was part of the Aqua-World that we have been creating all the years of my children’s lives. And I cried, because Mason and Stevie really loved that fish too, and they weren’t here to see him go. They knew when they left that there was a good chance he would be gone by the time they get home next week, but I was kind of hoping that little guy could have made it, or suddenly got better and been perfectly normal again. But it was not to be.
So this is my little eulogy to another fish that has swam in and swam out of our lives yet again. He was a funny, puffy, silly, lopsided little fish that we adored.
Rest in Peace.
And if you would like to read more about the love these little fish seem to invoke, please click here.
Thursday. $3.60 in the bank.
Another day of exercise is complete. That is 4 in a row for us!
We used various methods in order to get around the full Three Dollars and Sixty Cents worth of trail. (Please refer to the previous day for the money explanation on mileage)
I ran. Yay! 3.6 miles. Non-stop! Ooooh…impressive to the kiddies. (I dogged it too, but who cares, I did it.)
Mason rode his bike. He probably logged 4.5 miles or more going around on his own.
Stevie scootered it. She prob got about 4 miles circling back and forth around me the whole time.
I was like a planet with my revolving moons…or was I the revolving moon with my planets jiggling in orbit while my shining stars hovered near by? According to my kids, my stomach looks like a water balloon and my butt crack was trying to eat my pants.
Here’s a picture of a giant globe from Art Chicago at the Mart last year. Seems fitting.
Today was kind of slow and stiff…and not in the good way (sorry)
The second day is always harder. You’re stiff, you’re sore, you don’t want to be outside…and it was nice and hot and sunny.
The sky was beautiful. I took pictures of the globe we were running in…but those will have to wait. Have something secret to do tonight. So I’ll be back tomorrow.
Know that Mason did good today. He made it all the way around (3.6 miles) and even ran about one of those miles!
And we saw some kind of weird looking frog. Kind of thin and sparkly, brown skin with gold pin stripes and black spots. He could jump far in a single leap. Picture below.
See you all later!
No rest for the wicked…no rest for the Warrior!
Back on the Trail! Next up is the Park Forest Scenic 5. (Five Mile Road Race)
It’s a good way to stay in the groove for the fall and winter season. One race every other month works for me. Keeps me less chunky and somewhat in shape.
I’m already thinking about how to modify some training for the Warrior Dash next year. Since, I had trouble at the Wall, I’m going to need to work on some arm strength and jumping to get me up and over WITHOUT needing a boost. Not that I didn’t appreciate the help! Thank you boosters!! You rock! We would have been there even longer without all your help!
And since it was on a lot of grassy, hilly, uneven, gravel, nature-trail-like course, I will be running at the actual Nature Preserve Trails that we have in our village. It’s almost identical to the course. Maybe less “spooly” and “walk-the-planky”, but similar just the same. I’m still excited. I can’t wait!! I’m not training for Mud Crawling or Fire Leaping though, I’ll just play that by ear.
I also noticed people on the internet comparing bruises! Hilarious! I just noticed a few myself last night! I have one on my forearm and one on each leg where I struggled to hoist my booty over the Wall! Next year I’ll do it gymnast style and never touch the wood! Yeah right. I did see a good suggestion for a springboard and THAT would be totally cool and fun! We could really get some air with something like that!
Alright. Anyway, back to today. My son was so inspired he wants to start racing with me and my sissy. I took him this morning and got him his first running shoes. Nothing fancy. Just the basics. The first race he is hoping to run is in December. Plenty of time.
We hit the Trail together. Run ¼ mile, Walk ¼, Run, Walk, etc. He managed to hang in there the whole 3.6 miles. There were moments. But in the end he managed to run One and One Half Miles, plus an extra tenth of a mile or so right at the end, out of the total!
So proud! Not bad for his first time. He even said he is ready to do it again tomorrow! That’s the spirit!
I took pics of this because he really gave it his all. Please check him out below and give him a positive shout out! I told him that the running people are the best people! They always enhance and never detract! Smile and say keep up the good work! You can do it!
This is for you Mason! XO. Mom.
One mile. Sweating and cranky, but still manages to flash the peace sign.
One and one quarter miles down. Sucking it in! Looking good!
One and one half miles! That was the goal! Nice job! Still have to walk another half mile + though back to the car.
Kickin' it out on the last tenth of a mile! Finish strong! AND he didn't throw up! ALWAYS a good thing!
One more day of crazy schedule…Video is coming
Hang in there with me. I’ll get the video up tonight, but I have family obligations that will take me away from the sweet hum of the computer all day.
Need to go get dressed, get my girl packed–her clothes are in the dryer as we type–pick up a champagne holder-thingy and drive to a party with my sister-in-law. Then go to my sister’s where Stevie will stay for a few more days. Mason and I will get our hair fixed, maybe grab a bite, and hopefully get home before it’s too dark and late!
My body is just a bit achy, and my ankle feels a bit sore, but other than that…not bad. The Warrior Dash was a good thing!
Check back here for video later, and definitely check out the Facebook Page for more comments and possible video and pictures. It looks so fun you know you are going to want to do it next year too!!
I just posted some random pics to keep the site visually interesting. That’s just me. Still from the dash, but not really about the race!
Mason Spectator
A couple more years and he can run too!
Baby frog on the field!
just shy of pretty 