Thursday, July 28, 2011

In which I get stung & do not swear in front of my children

I thought it would be a great idea to take the kids hiking today. You know, because it's hot and muggy and they are not addicted to all things with electronic screens. E was not down with this at all, voicing various concerns to me while also asking if he could bring his DS. I reassured him of how much fun it would be, nixed the DS and packed us a picnic lunch.

So we head out to the park, and I'm all, "This will be so much fun" and "We can keep track of what wildlife we see!" I spray us all down with the gnarliest smelling bug spray, you know the kind that makes you sticky but keeps away all vermin large & small, and off we go. We get sidetracked by the seventeen kid's day camps that have been bused into the park, but continue on our way. I manage to keep the boys from stepping in horse poo most of the time, while taking fanciful pictures.
About 15 minutes in, we are hot, sweaty & getting eaten alive. I don't know if it was all the rain the past few days, but that bug spray didn't do diddly. I called uncle and we turned around. I then felt something bite me on the back of my thigh and I yelped like a little girl. Whatever it was must have been up my pant leg, because I never found it, and it managed to nip me two more times before I killed it or it flew off in victory. Either way, it burned like heck, so maybe it was a sting and not a bite. I have an awesome first aid kit in my car that has bug sting wipes in it, so that helped, but I was all for going home at that point. I did go through with the picnic part, which was nice but short-lived. We went home and A and E both worked on their math packets with way more enthusiasm than I find natural. Perhaps the air conditioning was so wonderful to them that they were just glad to be indoors, even if it was to do summer homework. Which gives me an idea on how to get them to do chores more efficiently in the future....

Monday, July 25, 2011

The Death of Amy Winehouse

I was incredibly sad to read of the death of Amy Winehouse. She became famous with her 'Rehab' song, and flaunted her refusal to go to rehab herself. She did, in fact, go to rehab four times, but each time checked out after a very short stay. She could clearly not get through Step 1 and it ultimately killed her.


Could Amy Winehouse have been saved? There are always accusations that the family or friends of a famous addict enable them rather than help them, in order to keep their own gravy train moving. If everything in this article is true, then this was not the case with Winehouse's entourage, in fact quite the opposite.

Russell Brand - "We have lost a talented, beautiful woman." I was very impressed with what Brand had to say here. I wish his sobriety had been an example that Winehouse followed. I liked what he had to say about the need for addicts to be treated not as criminals but as sick people who need care. Not that we shouldn't answer for our crimes, but that if the goal is to make someone a productive member of society, then jails & institutions are not the answer.

The 27 Club - I don't think I was ever aware of how many celebrities had died from their addictions at the age of 27. Oddly enough, I got sober just a month before my 27th birthday. Why that age is a turning point for so many of us, I couldn't say. It may be the amount of time that our bodies, minds or family can tolerate our disease. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful every day that I can live a sober life.


Sunday, July 24, 2011

Overheard

We have a LOT of road construction going on around our town lately. Yesterday I was nearly stuck on how to get back home, with one road being closed and another being a traffic jam.  As I muttered to myself in the car about how in the world we were going to get home from WalMart, A quietly said, "We could apparate."

At a diner for dinner with the family.  E ordered lemonade but the woman brought root beer by mistake
Me: E, do you want to have root beer instead?
E: Mom, I can't drink root beer! It has alcohol in it!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Hoggy Warty Hogwarts....

I just bought tickets to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Discovery Museum in Times Square for this Sunday. It's A's birthday present, but I don't know which of us is more excited!



















Heather and I are taking A and her girls on the train (I told A she could pretend it was the Hogwarts Express) up to Penn Station and then walking from there. Tom and I just saw the last movie on Monday morning. A went with Heather to see it when it opened at midnight last Thursday. I'm sorry to see the series end, but I loved the way it concluded. I love a huge battle of good & evil, and it didn't disappoint.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Overheard

TC: Look, Mom! I got a new silly band!
Me: Excellent, I look forward to vacuuming it up.

E: Mom, I can speak Australian.
Me: Oh yeah?
E: Yeah. G-day mate! Throw anothah ship on the bobby!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Soooo tired.....

My friend Janet just posted a list of reasons why you know it's Thursday of Kidz Kamp week. She is so on the money with this. I'm so tired! It has been non-stop action all week, in addition to normal mom stuff, plus running A back and forth to skit team practice. The kids are pretty excited for the last day. We have a huge picnic after we close Kamp at 12:30. There'll be about 650 hot dogs cooked, a bounce house and a water slide, in addition to other activities.We have it easy on Snack Team tomorrow, I just have to fit 408 popsicles into the teeny tiny freezer in the church kitchen. We'll be there to help the Picnic Team cook & wrap the hot dogs, but it'll be nice to not be in charge of it.

I'll be back in a day or two with pictures!

Married Life

{See the first Married Life post for explanation.}













Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gram

The kids and I spent a week in the country visiting family over July 4th. I hadn't been out there for 2½ years, which is way too long. It was good to see my Gram, but hard too. Alzheimer's sucks. Having her taken piece by piece is gruesome to watch.
That said, the visit was really wonderful. She's in a much more peaceful place now, and everything is new for her. Every sunset is the most beautiful she has ever seen. There is a childlike innocence to her life now, one that is oddly reassuring.
















Gram with seven of her eleven great-grandchildren.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Kidz Kamp

Man the spelling on that title hurts my head, but I'm not in charge of publicity. I'm in charge of snack this year, which sounds cute & fun, doesn't it? Yeah... umm..... If I volunteer for this again I may need my head examined. Or at least get a co-leader!

Our curriculum this year is Son Surf Beach Bash by Gospel Light.So far, so good! A is old enough now to help out, rather than attend. She's on the skit team, and also in the kitchen with me. The boys are exhausted after just one day. TC slept the last two hours on the couch and just woke a few minutes ago. He glared at me when I asked if he'd had a good nap, rolled over and went back to sleep. I'll have pictures to share in a few days.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Overheard

TC: I'm a scientist of worms.
Me: Great. Now be a scientist of your lunch please.
TC: I am, I already activated it.


TC, talking about his big brother: E is my funky junk brother.