Breaking down the wedding

~ How PERFECT was her dress?! WOW! She was stunning!! But...

~Pippa was just as beautiful. Are you kidding me? That's the first time I'd really seen her and known who she was and goodness gracious. Pretty girls!



~And I don't have time right now to look for a better picture, but THIS was a gorgeous dress too. Man, I wish I had had 2 dresses at my wedding. ;)




~ I loved the formality of everything. White gloves, ladies' hats, top hats for the men, tuxes, a red carpet aisle that seems to go on for miles, the pipe organ, a choir, the horse-drawn carriage, speaking like a King James Bible. "Willst thou take this woman..."

~ I also thought the things that were said during the ceremony were really great. I was surprised by how much I was interested in what the priests said.

~ I liked how Prince William would lean over to talk to Kate during the ceremony.

Side note: I think it's weird that she spells her name "Catherine" but spells "Kate" with a 'K'.

~ I had no idea how long William's name was. What was it? William Arthur Philip Louis? Something like that. I liked "Catherine Elizabeth" much better. :)

~ I liked how Diana was remembered.

~ I still hate seeing Charles and Camilla. I don't care if they are married now. Blech. Jerks.

~ I know the Queen is 85, but she never looks happy. I just want her to look happy. Smile a little.

~ How cute was this flower girl? It made the formal day seem more normal and real.



And I loved watching Kate smile and tell her to wave.


~ I like that they waited until they were both almost 30 to get married. I think that will prove to be a really smart idea.

~ And I liked that there wasn't an American celebrity in sight. HA! American celebrities can be so stupid, and after some time of being obsessed with the British monarchy now, I don't think I'll ever be able to care again what Reese Witherspoon is wearing.

Well, maybe I will. But it'll take some time. ;)

I told Elizabeth that I have the wedding bug now too. But then I remember that I'm already married, and that makes me sad. :) LOL.

If only I could do get dressed up and have a day like that....

What a GREAT way to start the day :)

Nothing like a royal wedding.

The DVR has never been put to better use.

Now when are they gonna have babies?? And will that be televised??

;)

Happy Birthday, Jason!

I'd have blown up 37 balloons, but I don't have that kind of lung capacity.




I'd have lit 37 candles, but that's a fire of substantial size.



As an aside: Let's take a moment to really dissect this picture. It's terrible (as most of mine are) because Caroline is tugging at my leg and I'm just trying to take it fast. The flash is reflecting off the picture behind Jason. That would be my sandal on the table down by Jason. ?? Yes, that's a box of matches near a sippy cup, a party hat, and a booster seat. Does that mean I had them near Caroline? Ummm, could be. :/ Easter eggs are stuck in vases. Why? Because I didn't want them hidden and broken but they wouldn't all fit in one vase. There's a bottle of water on the table because I needed to hydrate after my adult beverage. And if you look really closely at Jason's shirt, you will see brown spots where Caroline drooled Hershey's Kisses on him earlier.

Just another day... Anyway...

For his big day, all Jason wanted was a new pocket knife (ordered and on its way) and for me to get a babysitter so that he and I can go look at pick-up trucks.

Aren't men great about cars? Always the first to give up their own so that we can get something new. And then they're stuck with whatever it is we were driving. And if that's not the way it worked in your house, I still bet most of us got new cars before our husbands did.

This is the year of the pick-up for him. Will probably be a used truck for money reasons... and because they're gas guzzlers. If we get a good deal on a used truck then we can afford to drink a little more gas. It's what he's wanted for the last 6 years so I'm excited that he's gonna FINALLY get one soon.

He's not a big fan of birthday cake so we had his favorite dessert: peach cobbler.




Yes, it is homemade. (if by "homemade" you mean "bought from a restaurant") And it is fresh... as in, "made today". But these are canned peaches I'm sure. It's not peach season.

But it sure was good!!! ;)

Testing...

This video is just a test. If I can upload this, then my blogging world has just opened up! LOL.

(This is from last week when he learned how to work the wheelchair himself. Now he's running around on the cast. Not even using a walker. Kids are resilient!

And if I had known it was only gonna really suck for about 10 days, I could've gotten through those 10 days a lot easier. But you just don't know those things until you can look back on it. Isn't that always the way it is?)

Wheel! Of! Fortune!!!

Have I blogged about my love for "Wheel of Fortune"? If I have, forgive me.

I LOVE THIS GAME!

I'm thinking about one of my friends who spent several 30-minute slots of time, forced to watch "Wheel of Fortune" in my apartment. Came to spend time with me. Forced to watch WOF. Sorry. I'd do it over again and spend more time with you if I could!!

But WOF is an obsession with me!! Ob-ses-sion!!!

I love word puzzles. Word finds, crosswords, all of them. "Wheel of Fortune" promises the hope of money if you're good at word puzzles.

Hellloooo!!! I'm in! Sign me up!

But the wheel looks heavy and daunting. And I'm scared I'd freeze up like a moron if I went on the show.

Which is why I want to go on "best friends" week. So I can bring someone with me. But I want to pretend like Jason is my best friend.

(I mean, he is... in that whole "I married my best friend. I tell him everything. He's my life partner" kind of way. But let's get serious. I have an actual best friend.)

Why bring Jason on as my bff? Because I'm good. That's why. And we'd win. That's why. And I don't want to split the money. That's why.

I need him there to spin the wheel and keep me calm. Plain and simple. He can leave the thinking and solving up to me. I'll come through for us. I know it.

This post was inspired by the "Wheel of Fortune" Wii game. ADDICTING!!! FYI... :)

Cheeeeese!!

Washable? That's questionable.

FYI: The Crayola Colored Bubbles that the Easter Bunny gave the kids aren't the easiest to wash off of things. They were fun to play with. But don't buy them and hand them to your kids. You're asking for trouble.

This is leftover bubble stain on the fence and driveway from Sunday.

Fight, fight, fight!!!

There was a fight outside our house last night. You could hear the screams over the noise of the TV.

The fight was on our roof.

I'm not sure what was fighting, but one of them tumbled off the roof. (At least that's what it sounded like.)

Did you ever have an outdoor cat that would kill baby bunnies in your garage and you would listen to the bunny scream as it was dying?? (No? Hmm. Maybe that's just a memory from my childhood.) A very "Silence of the Lambs" type of memory. Sorry. Anyway...

This animal (whichever one was losing) was screaming last night.

And then this morning, there were tufts of hair all over our yard. White hair.

But then one tuft appeared to be from a squirrel. So I don't know if it was a squirrel and a cat. Or if an owl picked up a rabbit and landed on our roof to kill it. Or what.

But here's some of the evidence that something went down last night. And not all parties were winners. :(

Will and Kate

I didn't care before, but I care now.

I watched this cheesy Lifetime movie about Will and Kate twice this weekend and LOVED it. :)

Now I feel like I know them (even though it was only inspired by true events) and now I'm sucked into watching "20/20" specials about them.

And I WILL be watching on Friday!!

I'm late to jump on the bandwagon, but to be fair, it is a SLOW-moving bandwagon so there's lots of time to jump on it. And I'm on now... big time!

Take it out of my paycheck...

This has been my attitude recently. (I actually said it out loud this weekend, and thankfully, Jason laughed.)

If I forget to fold a load of laundry... if I didn't make it to the store to buy that thing Jason asked me to buy... if the kids want to print something from one of their computer games but Mommy STILL hasn't bought more ink for the printer... if a toilet needs scrubbing... or Sarah is 5 minutes late to dance because the chauffeur couldn't get everyone into the car quickly enough... if the shower has mildew because "the maid" didn't show up this week... if an appointment is missed because it's the only one I forgot to write down in the calendar that everyone relies on... if dinner is burned or just not something you want to eat...

well, then take it out of my paycheck.

You're getting a maid, a cook, a driver, a personal shopper, a secretary, and a 24/7 babysitter for free. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

;)

Happy Easter from the McGlamerys

I'm stealing this idea...

In the jar... A Ziploc bag of 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs, 5 Bunny Peeps, 1/2 cup of M&Ms.

The attached note says:

1. Empty the jar contents into a bowl. Snip the bunnies into bits with kitchen sheers or cut up with a knife. Return the bunny bits the to mixture. Mix well.

2. Melt 1/2 cup butter; add 1 teaspoon vanilla. Pour this over the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pat into a greased 9" square pan. bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.


...........

So I'm guessing the bars will taste like Smores. And other than the idea of cutting the bunny up and calling the bunny, "bunny bits", the recipe sounds cute.

I thought it was just an Easter jar of candy that Jack's friend, Audra, gave him. But when I realized it was a recipe, I thought it was a really cute, simple gift idea.

Just wanted to share...

Hittin' the highlights

I'm heading to school with Jack today.

I want to see how he does on the walker, how much walking he actually does at school, if he can do bathroom things without assistance, etc. I want to see when recess is and how long it lasts so that I can send him with things to do while everyone is playing. I want to show Mrs. Lynette how little I do for him now that he's walking better... so that she doesn't feel like she has to cater to him on Tuesday.

I'm not being controlling. :) I swear! I really just don't want to be that parent that dumps her kid on the teacher and says, "Well, he's your problem now. See you at the end of the day."

So today is my day to be up there and help and see what I need to do to make the transition easier next week.

(And it could be that 9:00 - 2:00 is just a really long day and I need to modify it next week by picking him up early and dropping him off late. ?? We shall see.)

..................

I will not be wearing my Skechers today. They don't look so cute with my jeans. ;)

..................

Jason has the day off tomorrow. I didn't know that until last night. Wow! Good!

..................

I have one of those grabber thingies that lets you reach things off of high shelves. I was thinking that if I gave it to Jack, he could use it to pick up Easter eggs in his wheelchair. ?? Maybe. ???

..................

If he does use the grabber thing, we will be using plastic eggs this year.

..................

But if we do use plastic eggs, I still want to dye real eggs. It's just not Easter without the smell of vinegar in small cups of dye and the tips of my fingers stained for days.

...................

I don't think my kids believe in the Easter bunny. Do yours?

There are so many movies and books explaining Santa and how he comes into your house and that you have to be good etc. Nobody really ever tells you how an Easter bunny gets in your house. And my kids don't ask. As a child, I never did either. I think I must've always known my parents hid the eggs and bought the candy.

And in your mind... Is he an actual bunny or do you picture him standing on his hind legs and being about 6'4"?

And how random that a rabbit hides eggs. An Easter chicken would make more sense to me. But I digress.

...................

It's Friday for all intents and purposes so have a great day!! :)

Quick Skechers report

End of Skechers Day One

I can just see the cellulite on my thighs and glutes shaking in their boots. (Or maybe that's just because my thighs and butt shake. Hence the need for toning.) But things are getting firmer already. ;) I just know it.

I've worn them for the last 9 hours and I will say my calves are burning --yay!!-- but I can't feel my toes on my left foot---boo!!

But I will press on. Oh yes. I will press on. One step at a time in the shape ups.

I think it's crazy...

that we have to buy tickets for Sarah's dance recital.

Anywhere from $7 to $22 depending on where we want to sit.

Um, I think the $75 a month that I paid IS my ticket to the recital.

It's at the Eismann (spelling?) in Richardson. And so I know they've gotta pay for the venue and the lighting and the sound and the dressing rooms, etc etc. BUT we paid a concert fee for all that crap.

This is nuts-o, I tell ya!! And they go on sale online on May 1st. So I have a feeling that it's gonna be like registering for classes in college when you rush to get the ones you want. (Or maybe I'm the only dork who would rush to register for classes.)

Anyway, I'll be getting a sitter for Jack and Caroline because it'd be cheaper than buying a ticket for them to watch their sister.

I am now the (not so) proud owner of...

Skechers Shape Ups

The ugliest shoe known to man.

In related news, if you see my dignity lying around anywhere, please return it to me. Obviously I've lost it.

But I want to see if they work. My butt needs some help. And the gym isn't working. (Or I guess I'm not doing the right stuff at the gym.)

If you don't want to be seen with me while I'm wearing these beauties, I understand. I know Jason doesn't want to be in public with me and these things. But when (and if) my butt looks good, he'll be glad I got them!

I will report back on these in about a month. :)

Soooo

This week is super long and it's only Tuesday.

I have swim lessons for Sarah tomorrow. It makes things a tad more complicated when you have one on a walker (since I can't get the chair in and out of the car) and he can't get his cast wet. And the floor is wet and slick. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I am going to school with Jack on Thursday to see if it's possible for him to go back full time next week (meaning Tues/Thurs) without me. I am also working the Easter party that afternoon. I need to find childcare for Caroline.

Sarah doesn't have school on Friday. Three at home on a long weekend right now doesn't sound fun, but hey-- oh well...

Jason worked outside all weekend this past weekend and I guarantee you he will do that again on Saturday so that we can spend time together on Sunday. That makes Saturdays feel like every other day.

Also on Saturday I promised Sarah that I would take her to McDonald's for a lunch play date with one of her school friends.

I promised before I realized how hard it was going to be trying to do everything for everybody and how labor intensive Jack's situation would be.

I could use an extra set of hands, someone to cook my meals, someone to run my errands (since I can't get out with Jack right now), and someone to watch the kids so I can get a 30 minute break. That's all I really want right now. 30 minutes off.

Five more weeks, five more weeks, five more weeks....

Trying...

to upload a video from the camera but it requires software that we don't have uploaded.

And because Jason doesn't like to have things uploaded that aren't crucial (and we define "crucial" differently) because it slows down the computer when he has to crunch data for work, I am not sure I'm allowed to upload the software.

Frustrated.

I think I need my own computer. :) (OR at least the freedom to decide for myself what programs are worthy of being on here..)

Celebrate Recovery

So about this time every year, I do my Easter post. My one guaranteed spiritually based post of the year. For some reason, I don't want to blog about what I believe unless I'm asked. But Easter seems to be my time to let you know what my faith is, in celebration of what this week means.

I'm going to honor the crucifixion and resurrection a little differently though this year--- by exposing a secret.

I've been going to Celebrate Recovery since January. Have you ever heard of CR? They have the program at my church, but I've been attending the one at Watermark. A 12-step recovery program is not really something I want to do at my home church.

(I gave you a link to Celebrate Recovery. Click on it if you like and want to know more, but I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version.)

Celebrate Recovery is a faith-based, intense recovery program that takes about a year and a half to work through. People go for all sorts of reasons. Some are there for addictions that might quickly spring to mind... alcoholism, drugs, eating disorders. Others are there for anxiety, over spending, overeating. Others are there because they can't put the hurt of past abuse behind them, or they're still angry over their parents' divorce 20 years ago.

Honestly the reasons to be there are VERY diverse. I've met women with all different kinds of hurts, habits, and hang-ups. And I've got mine too.

But I believe that Jesus can heal my heart and fix me. I really, really do. I believe that He died so that I can be free. And not just free to spend eternity with Him but free from the traps of my mind. Free from my insecurity. Free from anger and unforgiveness that I carry around.

I don't want to go to church every Sunday because that's what I was raised to do but spend the 2 hours there going through the motions. Smiling and pretty on Sunday. Crying and broken on Monday. I don't want to be fake and I have a huge streak of that in me. So I'm coming clean.

Why do I feel like I have to have it all together at church? Shouldn't I be able to come in honesty and hurt if that's what I'm really feeling?

I don't want to be ashamed that I need a Savior every day. I'm a mess without Him. I need Him to save me from myself every. single. day.

And there's still a pride issue in me that hasn't allowed me to blog about it until now. There's still some embarrassment which is why I'm not doing the program at ParkwayHills (my church). But there's freedom in honesty.

My family (my parents included) knows I'm attending CR, and they couldn't be more supportive. My Sunday School class knows I'm going and is faithful to hold me accountable and ask me about my weekly meetings.

I'm so thankful for what this week represents. To me the cross and the empty grave represent hope and freedom. And not just hope for the future and freedom from hell but hope for today and freedom from the junk in my head right now.

So there ya go. The secret's out. ;) And thus concludes my one guaranteed spiritual post of the year. Ha!

I hope y'all enjoy the week in your own way and for your own reasons!!

Pictures from the weekend

I don't know about Jack but Caroline loves the walker!!




Took the kids to the library. The wind was chilly Saturday morning but the coats were an overreaction. :)

Sarah pushed Jack. I pulled Caroline.



I took Sarah to get our nails painted because I felt bad that Jack was getting tons of attention and Caroline always does.... because she's a demanding toddler...



And--the pic is not good--but... the nail technician put a Playboy bunny on Sarah's thumb.
What?! In what world is that appropriate for a 5 yr old?
(Really, unless you're in college and really cheesy, I can't think when is an appropriate time for that sort of thing.)

I told her it's the Easter Bunny. Thankfully, I can think up lies quickly. LOL!




FYI: It's gone now.

My "normal" child, maybe??

I'm sure Caroline is more "normal" than my other 2 were at this age. She climbs on everything, gets into everything, and pouts about EVERYTHING. The others didn't do this as much.

But Caroline wants to do everything the big kids do. She can't stand to be told no. She throws things and gives me a 21 month old version of a "Go to he--" look. Not even kidding. If looks could kill.

If I tell her not to do something, well, she'll just find a way to do it anyway. And she'll wait for the right moment when I'm not watching.

She's more verbal than the others were at this age. More mobile. More stubborn. More trouble.

She has started climbing into our kitchen chairs to play with play dough or color. That's fine but now there's no going back into a highchair for meals. She wants to sit in a chair. (Which she does well and doesn't make a mess so I allow it.)

But my other kids were in booster seats til almost 3.

My other kids were in cribs until they were 3 as well (which I've told you before and I've acknowledged that that's a ridiculously long time) but it was nice because there was no freedom. They stayed until I came and got them.

Caroline is still in her crib, and I don't want her out just yet. I think it's kinda like one of my last areas of complete control with her. And I'm not ready to give it up.

But maybe this is normal. Maybe this is 2 yr old independence. And my other 2 were just easier on me or I had more of a handle on it then because I was so focused on them. Now my attention is divided between Kindergarten, preschool, and Caroline.

I've heard someone say that they're called "the terrible 2s" because they start at 2 and last for 2 years. We're not doing this for the next 2 years. I'll tell you that right now! ;)

I tip my hat...

to the educators and medical professionals who lift kids in and out of wheelchairs and assist them with bathroom stuff.

My back is already hurting (I'm trying to remember to lift with my legs), and I find myself not giving him as much to drink as I normally would because I just don't want to have to deal with it.

And how in the world does someone lift a wheelchair in and out of a car??? That thing's HEAVY!! We're stuck here until that boy starts using the walker.

Which... BTW... goal for this week: USE THE WALKER!!

(And learn to go to the bathroom unassisted.)

Everyone who chose a profession that deals with this stuff... I have tons of respect for you. I'm not very good at it.

Hey, whoa...

Where'd that storm come from last night??? Caught me completely off guard. All I could think about was "State Farm better buy us a new roof." ;)

...........

50 degrees this morning?? Well, Sarah's way underdressed. Oops.

...........

Easter is next Sunday???!! Ok, that snuck up on me (Snuck? Sneaked? Hmmm. Not sure.) The Easter Bunny better get busy and we're gonna need eggs and dye ASAP.

............

Pushing the wheelchair up to the kitchen table is waaaay easier than what we tried last night. (I won't take you through what we tried last night, but trust me--the wheelchair is easier.) Ha!

............

Today is Friday? That caught me by surprise too.

Well, good. The weekend is almost here! :) TGIF, everybody!! :)

"I'm glad to see ya, Jack"

We're baaaack!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you... to the greatest friends and family ever. Your comments here, on facebook, texts, emails, etc were so sweet.

Seriously.

I try to be pretty open on this blog, but mostly I do it from a grumbly complaining perspective, which I'm sorry about but, for some reason, it's just the way my mind works. (But you know that about me and laugh and accept me anyway.) :)

This week was a low week for me. I was not ok. And when I would check my blog or fb or look at my texts, it made me feel so much better.

There's a reason to surround yourself with people who love you and care about you no matter what. Because when you're down, they pick you up.

And ya'll did this week! Thank you!! Love y'all so much!!

:) xoxo

LIVE from scottish rite

Dad let me borrow his macbook to check email and blog... and let Jack play games. So I'm not cut off from the world here. Hooray!!

I told Dad not to tell anyone this... but I'll tell on myself... I sent Dad a text asking him how to open the computer. He was like, "What?? The Apple??" I said, "yeah. Is there a latch or something?" But by his response, I could tell that it should be simple. That's when I realized I had been trying to open the hinged side of the Macbook. Really. I'm such a moron...and stressed out.... And to be fair, as I said to Dad, the pic of the apple points AWAY from you on the side that opens. That would confuse anyone I think. Steve Jobs is the idiot. Not me. ;)

Jack was being strapped into a tiny wheelchair when I got here tonight. He had a fever of 101 and they were hoping that getting him to sit up would help. It did. Either that or the Motrin helped. But whatever.

The epidural is making his leg itch worse. I think a lot of us know that can be a side effect of an epidural. So he had an antihistamine today. They will not give pain meds until they turn off the epidural. We're shutting it off at 6 am. So please pray that there are no problems. The epidural has to totally wear off (which takes about 4 hours) for him to get PT and learn to use the walker and wheelchair. Plus he has to be able to manage his pain with oral meds..as I said before. So that would be what I would ask for if you're wondering how you could pray. I'd appreciate it.

Tonight he told me that he wants to take his cast off and he wants to go home. I agree. :)

Ending on a sweet note, Caroline and Sarah visited him today. And when Jack saw them, he wasn't doing well... fever of 101 and being strapped in a wheelchair as I said. But he looked at Sarah and she went to him.. not scared of the IV pole or tubes coming out of him.. and held his hand. And he started to cry and said, "I've missed you, Sarah. I love you." And she said, "I love you too, Jack. It's gonna be ok." I went to the bathroom so they wouldn't see me get teary eyed. Sweet babies.

Back again

I'm off to the hospital again tonight.

Jack's pain is terrible and oral meds aren't cutting it. So they've reattached the epidural.

They tell me it's kinda like when you go to the gym and stretch and someone pushes your back and makes you stretch deeper than you're able to stretch. And it hurts because you're not that flexible and you yell at your trainer to stop pushing you because you're gonna pull something. Ha.. You know?... That type of scenario.

That's the pain Jack is in. They're stretching his heel cord and forcing it to grow. And he's not naturally that flexible but he can't tell someone to stop. He can't back off of that stretch. His cast is holding his foot in a deep stretch for the next month. And until that heel cord grows, it's gonna hurt. We just want the pain to be managed with oral meds.

I'm going to take Sarah to swim lessons and feed the girls and then we'll make the switch. Jason will come home, and I'll go there.

Hospital stays are super complex with 2 other kids to shuffle around.

But this time I'll be prepared. I'm bringing an air mattress. (I dare them to tell me I can't use it.) I'm going to bring Jack's leapster to him. I'm buying some magazines for me. It would be nice to have a phone that had internet access, but now's not the time to complain about that. :) hee hee.

I went to Target and bought all this welcome home stuff for Jack, and I'm sad he's not coming home today. But I don't want to cry about it anymore. I should've prepared myself for something like this to happen. So I feel like it's kinda my fault for assuming this would be the easy day surgery that it was supposed to be.

Just please pray that his pain will be managed by oral meds quickly so he can go home.

I'll keep you updated :)

Quickie

The power went out last night from 12:30 - 1:30. Caroline woke up. Then she started crying. I got up because the house alarm was beeping. I called Oncor to report the outage, went upstairs to rock Caroline--for what ended up being 30 minutes. Finally the power came back on and everyone went back to sleep.

Really? Power outage on my night to rest?

But I still know that I got better sleep than Jason did at the hospital.

.........

I'm proud of myself for remembering that trash day is today. I took it out and wheeled both cans into the alley for pick-up. It's hard to remember things that aren't on my normal list of to-do's. But I think Jason will be impressed that I remembered and was willing to touch the nasty trash cans to move them to the alley.

It's the little things that make you appreciate your significant other. :)

.........

I threw out some of the kids Happy Meal toys and overlooked one card that went to a Wheel of Fortune giveaway from Wendy's. That ONE card was enough to spark their memories and prompt them to ask, "Hey, where's that Wheel of Fortune toy?"

Ugh. Word to the wise: When throwing away a toy, make sure you throw away ALL of it.

.........

Happy Hump Day!

In the hospital... And the events related to and surrounding that

Sorry. This will be a long one. I'm too tired to edit my thoughts.

Jack spent the night last night (Monday night) and is there again tonight because of his operation.

But let me back up...

I got in from New York at around 6:30. Jason picked Hilary and me up from the airport, and the kids hadn't had dinner. So we ran through a Mickey D's drive thru. We get home and discover that they didn't give us Jack's food.

So Jason went back.

I tell you that story, not because it's a big deal, but just so you know that it was those kinds of nagging, tiny frustrations that happened all night Sunday and Monday morning. And I had JUST GOTTEN HOME. Those things continued to happen and I decided to go to bed. I had tons of stuff I needed to do but too irriated and exhausted to do them.

Those tiny annoyances that add chaos to an already chaotic schedule add up. I know you understand what I mean.

Monday morning, I was up and at 'em. Showered and getting Sarah off to school. Making a grocery list and getting Jack and Caroline in the car so that we could run a thousand and one errands that I would've run this past weekend had I been home.

The countdown clock was on. We had to have everything done and have Caroline eating lunch by 11:00. That's when Dad was coming over to keep Caroline because Jack and I had-- what I understood to be-- a busy but uneventful day of pre-op stuff at Scottish Rite.

After talking with my dad and making the handoff, Jack and I were in the car headed downtown by 11:30. We ran through yet another drive thru and Jack ate in the car. Our appointment was at 12:00 and we had to hurry.

After seeing the admissions people, his orthopedist, the nurses, the room where he would stay while he recovered, etc etc, I was told that if we did not stay the night last night, we would need to be back at Scottish Rite by 5 a.m. this morning. AND Jack was to have nothing to eat after midnight. Even though his surgery wasn't until noon.

I can't wake him up at 4:30 and shuffle him into a hospital, running the risk that he would not fall asleep again. Then he'd be up from 4:30 til the surgery at noon and would probably have nothing to eat until 3:00 today. That's torture.




So Jack and I asked for permission to leave the hospital for a few hours. (An evening pass.) We had to sign papers and waivers and things to leave, but they let us. We ran home and packed bags. I made dinner as soon as I walked in the door so that the 5 of us could eat together. (And because at this point it was dinner time. That's how long we were down there for pre-op stuff.)

I told Sarah I would be leaving again and spending the night away again and she lost it. Lost. It. "You've been leaving so much. I miss you. Why are you always gone?"

**guilt guilt and more guilt**

I showered because I knew I wouldn't the next morning, and I showered Jack. Then we kissed everyone goodbye and told Jason to meet us at the hospital at 9:45 the next day (today).




So Jason was responsible for cleaning up the mess that I made making dinner, putting the girls to bed, making Sarah lunch, getting her up the next morning, making her breakfast, getting her dressed and fixing hair, getting her to school and dropping Caroline off at mom and dad's. That's a lot to ask. Especially morning stuff when Sarah has to be at school at 7:30. And especially of someone that I had just left with the kids for an entire weekend while I was in NYC.

Trial by fire, baby. And-- I should say-- he did great!! Awesome! Couldn't have asked for more. And as a bonus, he was very appreciative of what I do every morning and said this past weekend that essentially he respects what I do even more. :)




I slept horribly last night at the hospital. Does that surprise anyone? No. The chair was terribly uncomfortable, but Jack did so well. Once he fell asleep. And after he had played-- making the bed go up and down.. and up and down... and up and down.




This morning we got up and walked around to kill time before his surgery. I scrubbed his leg that they would operate on. Jason showed up right on time. We went to the playroom as a family of 3 and played Chutes and Ladders. Honestly it was a sweet time of focused attention on Jack, which he doesn't get very often.

At 11:00 they prepped him for surgery and started the sedation process.






The surgery started a little before noon and lasted about 90 minutes. They cut his tendon in his heel and forced his foot to flex and cast him.. in a fancy red cast. :) And they took him to the recovery room.



They had given him an epidural to numb him from the waist down. This was an excellent decision because when he finally woke up really well (after hours of sedated napping) he was very comfortable. And HUNGRY.

We started slow but when all was said and done he had 2 popsicles, a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich, chips, ice cream, and teddy grahams. He was in great spirits but still numb from the waist down. Still with the epidural in.

Which means... he has to stay tonight. I was worried that might be a possiblity and asked Jason to pack a bag and come prepared to stay so that I could go home. He did and I left around 6:00 tonight.

I know Jason will not have a great night's sleep. They will be in every 2 hours. I am trusting him to listen to every single instruction at discharge. This makes me nervous to turn over that control to him and so I wrote a list of questions that I need him to ask so that I feel informed.



Jack was still unaware that he has a needle in his back and he's unsure why his hand is bandaged (because of the IV that's in). So he may freak a little tomorrow when they need to pull it out. But they have been so wonderful that I'm sure they have tricks and know exactly how to handle those things with kids.

I am hoping that they will be home tomorrow before dinner. Lots of people to meet with. He will be coming home with a walker to aid in stability and a wheelchair for us to use if we need to go somewhere that requires lots of walking. So that means Jason will have to meet with PTs, drs, nurses, etc. I hope he remembers it all. But I know it will take a while to get through all of those things.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful experience. Having taken Sarah to a hospital that doesn't specialize in children, I can DEFINITELY see a difference being at a children's hospital. And as always, I'm stunned by the service and care that we get when they know we're not paying for anything. They are so generous and caring.

Hopefully this will fix that pesky foot and we'll be done!!




OH-- And when I got home tonight, Mom told me that she was rear-ended while driving my van today. Not a big deal. We'll get it fixed. It's a tiny dent. Mom got all of the insurance info and the lady who hit her felt terrible. Of course these things happen when the week is already busy. Right????

Jack: Mom, Caroline said you were an idiot.

Me: Excuse me? And don't use that word. That's not ok.

J: I didn't say it. Caroline did.

M: Caroline doesn't even know how to say that word.

J [realizing he had overlooked that key detail]: Oh... Sorry.


..........

I'm a mix of being angry, offended, confused by where he would have heard that word, (afraid that it might have been from me), and wanting to laugh.

Girls' Trip

Friday morning Hilary and I headed off to NYC to meet Abby. We flew into Newark, NJ and took a train to Penn Station. It was the best deal and our hotel was just a few blocks from Penn Station.

After we met up with Abby we walked around and enjoyed the city. It was cloudy and cold enough for a jacket, but not so cold that we couldn't stand being outside. We went into a boutique for a little shopping and then stopped at a bar (I hate to call it a bar because it really wasn't. More like a tiny restuarant.) and got a snack and a drink. Then we went to the hotel and changed for dinner.

Dinner was in Union Square at Craftbar. Craftbar is owned by Tom Colicchio for any other Top Chef fans. :) It was great!! And we had, as Abby said, a "very complete meal". Drinks, appetizers, entrees, and dessert. (Cheese plates, salads, ravioli, fish, chocolate cake, butterscotch something or other that was awesome.) It was a really amazing meal.

Saturday was our best weather day by far!! SUNNY!! And no jacket required. We took a subway to Tribeca and had brunch at Locanda Verde. It's the restaurant affiliated with a hotel that Robert De Niro owns. I had their version of shrimp and grits.. which was shrimp scampi and polenta.. and it was unbelievable.

Then we walked around that part of town. It was incredibly quiet and peaceful. We thought we may have spotted Bethenny's apartment building... for any one who watched RHONY or "Bethenny Ever After". :) And then we made our way up to SoHo.

In SoHo, we shopped... and shopped.

On a side note, we also saw a protest march. Hooray! Just the kookiness of the city we were hoping to experience. It went on for blocks and blocks. Hundreds of people. Signs like "Stop the War on Terrorism" and "Israel must die" with people dressed in full Arab attire. Didn't worry me at all. ;)
Then there were signs like "Socialism is the answer" and "Down with Capitalism". Um, ok.

So we left that part of town-- haha-- and headed for a subway to Bloomingdales. Back to shopping. No more crazy protesters.

After a little shoe shopping, we stopped for a snack and a drink. Then headed back to the room to rest before dinner.

Dinner was in Chelsea at a place called The Red Cat. It had been recommended by Ina Garten on her Food Network Show "The Barefoot Contessa". In fact, it's also been featured on the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network. It was another great meal!

And what's so cool is that all of the places we ate had a totally different feel and menu to the one before.

Sunday it was another cloudy dreary day. I'm so glad we got great weather on our full day in the city. We walked to the Gramercy Park area and saw where Abby lived when she interned there. And then we stopped by a street fair before our brunch at ABC Kitchen. (A place frequented by Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise.)

This place is organic, local, fresh ingredients with a weird mix of urban and farm decor. Shabby chic. Ambiance-wise... I think it was my favorite place we ate. The food was also incredible. (Cinnamon raisin scones with apple butter, smoked salmon and creme fraiche, bellinis..mmmmm)

I don't think we had a single thing I didn't like.

Abby had done a lot of research on different places to eat, and as I said, that's what we wanted our trip to be. It was a foodie/shopping trip. Our schedule was an eating schedule. Clearly. :)

I probably gained 10 lbs except that we did so much walking that I didn't feel gross or too full.

We stayed downtown the entire time. Never went to Times Square. Saw the Empire State building at a distance all lit up on our way home from dinner. Never took a tour. It felt like we lived there. Like we were just enjoying the city.

I came home with some clothes and accessories... and gifts for the kids. It was a great weekend away! I can't wait to do it again sometime.

The Big Apple

Hilary and I leave TOMORROW to meet up with Brian's wife, Abby, in the city.

I haven't talked about this trip as much as I did when I went to Vegas. I think the 2 main differences are 1) I'd never been to Vegas, and 2) there's a lot of hubbub surrounding leaving the kids with the grandparents for a weekend.

But the truth is... I'm more excited about this trip in a lot of ways. This one will be familiar but fun. (Hil used to live in NJ and so I went to NYC every time I visited her. And Abby lived there one summer in college.)

This trip will leave Jason with the kids and that means I don't have to leave a binder of instructions like I did last weekend. I'm not gonna worry if the kids get sick or if they misbehave. There's a lot less stress with this trip.

Since we've all been, we decided we just wanted to enjoy the city without doing touristy things. So we're eating at already-selected restaurants that we've either read about, heard about, or eaten at before and had to go again. And we're shopping. That's it.

Girls weekend all the way.

We considered doing a Broadway show but since we'd done that before, we decided we'd rather spend our time and money on an extra something in a store or dinner somewhere.

The only thing we have to keep in mind is what time our dinner reservations are. Other than that we are footloose and fancy free.

Ahhhh... Can't wait.

What's on my scattered mind...

I kinda think calling Good Friday "Good Friday" is a little like saying "Remember the Alamo".

I know why it's called Good Friday, but I would think the day He rose would be referred to as "good", not the day He died. Similarly, we remember the Alamo because we lost. ??? I understand why that was the battle cry, but still. Shouldn't we remember a fight we won?

................

Soccer balls come in different sizes. Just a little heads up to any of you ladies who are athletic morons such as myself. I thought a soccer ball was a soccer ball. Apparently this is not true.

................

Also-- when buying a soccer ball, be sure you don't accidentally grab the volleyballs that are close by. They are not the same thing.

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Sarah is really good at T-ball. (And by "really good" I mean "better than I thought she'd be". And by "T-ball" I mean "hitting a plastic ball with a plastic bat off a plastic tee on our driveway".) But I might just have to sign her up to play on a team.

I can relive the glory days of my own T-ball career. ;)

.................

Jack has zero interest at all in sports. None. I'm ok with that, but I don't know if it's a phase or if it's just who he is. We'll see I guess.

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Caroline is still sleeping and it's 7:45 am. Unheard of. Yippee!!

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I need to go to Snip-Its today with the kids. $13 for a kids' cut but so worth it.

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I paid $13 for my last hair cut. I went to one of those walk-in places called Great Clips. I did it right before I left for Vegas, which was stupid, looking back on it. If it had been a terrible cut, I'd have been so upset the entire time on my trip.

It was a little scary. And not so clean. And instead of washing my hair, they just sprayed it with a water bottle. And their English was broken at best... which would be fine if they were doing my fingernails but made me nervous when explaining what I wanted them to do to my hair.


But my hair is simple. I don't color it. I have a boring style. Why pay $70? So I tried this place, and it worked just fine.

...................

I really want to get a Maltese. How cute are they!! But then I remember that I need another thing to take care of like I need a hole in the head.

But maybe someday.

...................

Alright-- enough procrastinating. Off to fold laundry.

Getting back into it

I kinda feel like I'm a teacher who has just come back after a substitute has been in my classroom, and I'm having to remind my "students" that they can't get away with whatever crap they tried to pull while I was away.

My kids have been all kinds of sassy. They better not have been that way with Mom and Dad, but I have a feeling that they were. Part of surviving with the grandkids is letting them do whatever they want (within reason), and I can tell that they're coming off of a weekend of fast food, fun, late(r) nights, and all kinds of undivided attention.

I've been told more than once that Sarah will do something "in a minute". Jack has told me that he doesn't "want to do that". Excuse me??? Do it now, Sarah. And Jack, I don't care if you want to; I told you to. I win.

Caroline has a double ear infection. I knew she was sick-ish when I left but I thought that she had kicked it. Apparently not.

Jack's surgery is scheduled for 1 week from today. So that's kinda on my mind as well.

There was a stack of mail, new preschool calendar, a field trip permission slip, and take home readers waiting on my kitchen counter. I'm still afraid I've missed or forgotten something important.

I told Jason that we need to be sure that when we go on vacations from now on that we try to get back on Saturday at the latest so that we have one full day to pull it together before being thrown back into the chaos.

Did I have fun? Yeah, but we're old...

I think that, because I wrote my last post when I was absolutely exhausted (and because my sense of humor tends to focus on the negative sometimes), some people wonder if I even had fun this past weekend.

YES! Yes, I did. BUT... :)

As I was telling Elizabeth yesterday, I felt old in Vegas to be honest. I was in bed before midnight when other people were just heading out for the evening. Drinks hit harder and hangovers hurt more than they did when I was 21. I can't eat everything in sight without consequences on the scale. The slot machines were loud and the noise was bothersome. :) I just felt really really old.

Not to mention that most of the people who work with Jason are those fresh-out-of-school 23 year olds who don't have kids and have no problem partying. In my head, that's still me, but I learned this weekend that it is NOT me. Jason was seriously tired and his back hurt from the walking around. We both took Advil every single day. He wore his shirt untucked with dark jeans in an effort to keep that youthful appearance :) but we're not spring chickens anymore (as the saying goes). Kids have aged us and going to Vegas with 20-somethings magnified every aging bone in my body.

Elizabeth was saying that she'll be taking another trip to Disneyworld with her BF at some point, and I said that's where we should've gone because everyone feels like a kid at Disneyworld. HA!

I am SO glad that I went on the trip. I am very grateful for the experience. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go. I just wish I had done it 10 years ago. Ya know? Because something really terrible is happening to me... I'm getting old. :)

Vegas Vacation

Holy moly this is gonna be a long post. But I'm gonna spit it all out and then I'll be done with all Las Vegas talk-- I PROMISE!! Because I'm over it. It was fun but I'm over it.

And I'm exhausted and want to get this done so I can go to bed... in a comfortable bed. Yall, my bed was so soft and squishy that I'm considering sleeping on the hardwood floors tonight because I think my back would appreciate the support.

I don't know the best, most organized way to do this so I'm just going to type like I think. Scattered and probably with 100 words when I could have used 1. Stick with me and I'll throw in pictures here and there.

THURSDAY

Bullet points of what I saw/learned/experienced on Thursday:

~ $25 to check a bag???!!!! If that doesn't tell you that it's been a loooong time since I've been to the airport, then nothing will. I haven't been since they started charging me to travel with luggage. What the heck??? I hope my suitcase got a snack and a pillow for the pricey ticket we had to purchase for it.

We were going to check 3 bags but the company would reimburse us for only 2 checked bags. So we checked the toiletries bag (since you can't carry on any useful amount of liquid) and we checked Jason's bag. I made Jason asked Jason if he would please carry my suitcase--- which was full and poorly packed. That's what husbands are for love to do for the women they love.

I think I'm the girl who thinks I'm low maintenace but I'm really not at all. I always grab the small duffel bag and pack that puppy so full that it's obnoxious to carry. And if I had just been honest with myself and pulled out the larger suitcase on wheels, it would have been more manageable... for Jason to handle. :)

~The airport is REALLY close to everything in Vegas.

~Las Vegas is literally a city in the middle of nowhere.

~Drinks are EXPENSIVE.




So we took this picture after we checked in and before Jason's first meeting. $24 for 2 drinks. Wanted to die!!! I was thinking that drinks would be cheaper because they wanted you to spend your money gambling. Not so much.

I was also thinking that they gave free drinks while you gambled. I later found out that's more if you're sitting at a table. Not so much when you're playing penny slots. :)

~I went to the pool (everyday) but Thursday was the first day I noticed a couple of things:

1. I really think some people don't look at themselves in a mirror before deciding the swimsuit they've chosen is a winner. I can't imagine how some of those people could have possibly thought they looked good.

2. Really old ugly men were with really young pretty women. I have a guess as to how those men were able to score those pretty girls.



My view at the pool. Maybe I should've moved to where I was actually looking at the pool instead of the bin where you return the towels.

~Jason had a meeting from 3 - 6. I had fun anyway.

So much fun in fact that I crashed at 9:00. "Crashed". Not "passed out". Passed out implies irresponsibility. Crashed, to me, sounds more like an exhausted mother who went to bed early on night #1. But tomato, to-mah-to. ;)

FRIDAY

Bullet points of what I saw/learned/experienced on Friday:

~Jason's company provided breakfast starting at 7:00. Normally that would be early except that (a) Moms are used to waking up early, (b) it was free and I'll wake up whenever I need to for free food, and (c) I had been asleep since 9:00.

~ J had another meeting from 8:30 - 12:30. So I ran on a treadmill, hoping to undo all the calories from the night before ;), and went to the pool.

~At 1ish, we walked the Strip with another couple. It was HOT outside this weekend. Record-setting heat as luck would have it. 93 degrees on our walking around outside day.

~I was surprised how a hotel that seemed so close could take so long to get to. And I started to get a little annoyed with the zig-zagginess inside the casinos. There was no "cutting straight through" a hotel. You had to whirl and twirl around every table and pass by every restaurant. I understand why they make you do that, but it made distances from point "A" to point "B" extremely deceiving.

Good thing I brought my tennis shoes. Jason didn't and was hating life.

~On our walk around the town, we stopped at The Mirage and I took pictures of the dolphins and tigers to show Jack and Sarah, in case they wanted to know what we did on our vacation.

I thought pics of dolphins and tigers would be better than pics of some of the ladies we saw walking the streets or the flyers Jason was handed with a number he could call if he wanted a "hot a$$ date".




See, kids, Mommy and Daddy saw animals in Vegas. It's a family place. haha

~Which--brings me to-- there were a lot of kids in Vegas. I mean no disrespect if you have taken your kids to Vegas or you were taken as a child to Vegas, but that's one of the LAST places I would ever take my kid.

If they're too young to talk, they're still inhaling all of the secondhand smoke in the casinos. If they're old enough to talk, then they're old enough to ask questions. And I don't want to answer questions about Vegas.

~That night we went to The Bellagio and saw Cirque du Soleil's "O". The company randomly assigned tickets and ours just happened to be 4th row, dead center.






The show was O-mazing. O-my-goodness was it ever good. It was sens-O-tional.

It was also very interpretive artsy fartsy stuff that I don't really understand. Jason and I both desperately tried to make "O" make sense and have a plot... because we both SERIOUSLY lack that creative, interpretative, artsy gene... But basically it was the crazy gymnast/contortionist stuff you'd expect-- except with water. It really was very very cool and I'm really glad we went.

~ I gambled on Friday. Penny slots as I mentioned on Thursday. I won $2.31. I put $5 in and got up to $7.31 and cashed out!! I didn't want to press my luck. I don't like to lose.

People laughed at me, but all I know is that some people lost more than $600 this weekend. I came home a winner. :)

~We also took the kinds of pics you have to take while in Vegas. For example, something like this...





SATURDAY

~Same morning routine. Jason had a meeting from 8:30 til 1:00. Sucks. But I went to the pool the whole time. So woo hoo for me!


I'm thinking, "This is me... NOT in another boring meeting." Poor Jason. It wasn't much of a vacation for him at all.

~We hung out all day. Got the kids gifts at the gift shop. Ate way too much. Etc etc.

~Saturday night we had Jason's 20th Anniversary Celebration dinner from 7:00 to 10:00.

3 hours of the already rich and powerful people of the firm congratulating each other on being rich and powerful... We are not those people so we ate our dinner quietly and enjoyed our free drinks.

And we took our picture in the room before we left. :)




SUNDAY

Our bus left at 6:00 this morning to take us to the airport. Exhausting!! But I'd much rather be getting up that early and hightailing it to the airport without the kids.

I really enjoyed the trip but I was really ready to come home too.

And on a more serious side note... I do want to say that I'm proud of Jason for being with the company for 13 years. Not many people stick it out with the same firm for that long and we've been really blessed with his job there. I'm very grateful for the company he works for.
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I had a great weekend away!! And the kids had A LOT OF FUN here too. It's good to have time apart like this, but I missed them.

Now time to gear up for NYC with Abby and Hilary. Flight leaves Friday morning! :)
This will be so much fun and a totally different feel. Different weather. No agenda. No meetings. Just FUN!!! :)