My Daughter. A gift that just keeps on giving.

Tonight, while we were out of the room she took a really strong magnet and touched it to the television screen in, like, a smiley face pattern.

How did we know?

Because now there is a big greenish or multi colored PERMANENT smiley face as part of our viewing pleasure. Only you can't really see the smiley face until the screen goes all one color so mostly it looks like patches of green and dark.

Sweet.

• With fingers crossed for a breakdownless day we are heaing to the beach. You're right bb...optimism is key.
  

• When the post office fellow found out my package had been 'en route' from Springfield, Massachusetts for about a week he told me that it was because it was being schlepped across the state in the slowest possible way.

My response: By foot???

His response? Unamused look over the top of his reading glasses.

• I heard from that interviewer from a few posts back. The job is mine. Which means I'll be working four days a week, total. I am ill-equipped for everything this will entail. Except spending the paychecks.

• Must remember to make it over to the boy's school to check the bus schedule. Must remember. Must remember. Also, must stop procrastinating.

A Silver Lining

Well. Let's see.

When it rains it pours. Literally.

The camping trip started off strong...even though on the ride up I had an eerie premonition about car trouble and when I went to get the change out of my cup holder at the toll booth and it was scary hot...I relayed the info to my husband and shrugged it off.

Setting up the tent in ninety degree heat with two kids? Not too bad. Ice cold pool with two wicked awesome waterslides? Perfect. Laughing so hard around the campfire that you fear you may never breath again? All good too. Leaving the tent, foam mattress in tow, to sleep in the back of the 4runner in the middle of the night because you saw a mini-tarantula that escaped from under the flipflop of death? Totally do-able. Especially with a fan. Tubing down a river with great friends, THE BEST TUBE and a few icy mixed drinks? Perfection.

Hearing a distant rumble of thunder and rolling up the windows of the car on a whim on the way to the bathroom? Smart. Staying in the bathroom during what seemed to be just a passing thunderstorm? Not such a bad decision. Seeing your friend, soaking wet and a bit stressed come walking through the door? Kinda funny. Driving up to the camp store with her to find out that the passing twenty minute thunderstorm was actually a mini-monsoon/cyclone that ripped our tarp from its grommets, collapsed our tent with rainwater, blew a tree down next to our site, blew numerous trees down all over the campground (crushing some trailers in the process) and knocked out power to that entire side of town? Not so great.

And so, with that we packed up our wet things and we all came home. I was planning on staying until Tuesday so it was doubly depressing but y'know...whatever.

The nagging feeling about the car revisited me on the ride home. I sort of knew I couldn't ignore it but figured I'd be able to wait until the kids were back in school before I had to deal with it. I made some tentative plans to go to the beach today. The same beach I was planning to go to this very same week last year. If you can't remember, check the link...this can wait. And why can it wait? Because it IS THE SAME FUCKING STORY.

Well, not exactly the same. There were no bike accidents, no refusal to toast and no loud clunk and I didn't even get as far this time as I did last year. Plus, y'know my car stays in gear (unlike last year when it wouldn't stay in park and they had to ratchet it down to the tow truck). But still. The week before school starts, car trouble, on the way to the beach for a last day of sun and sea glass.

Again.

Cripes.

So, I'm trying to figure the bright side of all of this...more down time at home with the kids? The chance to drive up to Maine with the kids crammed into the back of my husband's extra cab? An excuse not to go shopping for school shoes? The light headed feeling I get knowing that a big car repair bill and the last hockey payment will fall in the same week?

Some Random

• A big shoutout to the gigantic black dodge truck I was following this morning....your awesome tailgating skills made those slow folk actually pull off the road. Love you.

• And to the BFI dumpster truck we got stuck behind a few miles later... What's your nickname? Karma?

• Mr. Interviewer: When the welcome letter to your company tells me I can make personal phone calls, send faxes and order whatever I need and then you also mention that you supply drinks, a gym membership and if it's slow I can browse the internet and chat with my coworker. And I can work, sort of, which ever days I choose... Plus paid holidays (and over a week off at christmas!). Um, pleeeeeese call.

• To the engineer who climbed on top of my chair to get a file (while I was out using the copy machine) and knocked a picture frame off the shelf, shattering glass everywhere: Two weeks later glass shards are STILL falling out of my keyboard. Thankssomuch.

• Hockey season is creeping up on us...husband is head coach this year. I'm not looking forward to hearing the gripes from other parents about playing time and second guessing his decisions. He has ten days to get 14 random kids ready for their first game...oye.

• Am enjoying The Wire. Just finished season one and am a few episodes into season 2. Good stuff.

• Husband's boss was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal lockup and fined $150,000, the VP was sentenced to 1 1/2 years and fined $10,000 and the company was fined three million dollars (to be paid in installments). A memo was sent home in his paycheck a few weeks ago where the boss was promising that the company would continue to work and there was new leadership in place. New HONEST leadership I'm assuming, but whatevah. He also said he looks forward to getting out of prison (uh, not even IN yet) and enjoying another thirty years in the construction industry. *shakes head*

I love bullets but they do fuck with the formatting when you try to retrofit them in, don't they?

So nevermind with the bullets.

Have I mentioned how much I hate watching Sox games at the Trop? No? My husband was monkeying with the contrast buttons on the remote until I showed him that the warning track and on deck circles are really not clayish but RED turf and that no we do not need to adjust our tv. Never mind the folding chair setup they've got going on there for the bullpen. And the horrible mike they make Remy use and the silver color of the turf. Yeah, um, never mind all of that.

And doesn't Gagne look like he should be guzzling Yoo-Hoo, eating straight from a pizza box and playing PS3 instead of sucking it up on the mound? Maybe that's where he will be if he doesn't start pitching better...he's just gearing up for his future.

Supposed to be going camping this weekend...but the husband (and kids) were invited on his friend's yacht for a day, y'know to travel over to the Vineyard and hobnob. Well, not really with the hobnobbery but seriously, a yacht with bedrooms and bathrooms (PLURAL!). His wife isn't going so it's just the men and kids. The boy has visions of butlers, the husband has visions of beers and steaks...but they are just that - visions. Because we're heading up to New Hampshire, sleeping on the ground in our tent with two rooms (PLURAL!) and walking to the bathrooms (PLURAL!). Such luxuries await.

The 'broidery bug. It has bitten.

And now I'm seriously cursing myself for never learning how to sew. Not that I can't learn. But I am sewing machineless and even if I did have one...I don't even have a place to sew. Is it wrong to move one of the kids into the pop-up camper? Yeah? Thought so.

The boy, seeing my delight in making the girlie a book bag for the library, immediately asked for his own. He's a ten year old boy with a huge love of sports and outdoorsy stuff. No cute puppies, spaceships or flowers for this kid. Which, damn, is what I really want to do.

I am also fairly patternless. I mean, I don't have any books or anything...except for one and there are no hockey playing owls (or whatever is sporty and naturey) in them. I was at some store or other, perusing the threads and looking at some patterns and I came across something I thought he might like. Out of the eight or so choices he picked the fish:

I have to say... not crazy about the fish choice but it's his bag, not mine and I have a feeling that he's going to be getting the least benefit out of my new found love of stitching. Please excuse the lack of ironing.

Close up of the cattails. Did you know you can eat the stems and use the inside of the fuzzy brown part to line your clothes if you were say, stuck in the Canadian wilderness? Also, it's flammable. So says Les Stroud.

Dragonfly about to meet his untimely death.

The reverse side...the boy's name is edited out (that is NOT some jumbly mess of stitching below the pocket thankyouverymuch). I threw in some pine trees for good measure.

Star darn. I love this stitch.

And there you have it. Project Numero dos.

TFHIM. M?!?!? Yes, M.*

My boy, a slave to hockey fashion, had outgrown last year's skates. Last year's very, very nice skates. He's got feet that are all flatish and kind of wide (which has earned him the endearing nickname of Paddlefoot) and has trouble fitting into a lot of skates. My problem was this: How do I know the difference between a truthful "it doesn't fit" and a lieful "it doesn't fit"? The lie based on not liking the particular color/brand/blade style/lacing. Picky much?

The hour long drive to Mecca, a.k.a. Pure Hockey, was for a HUGE sale...a sale that didn't include many college age, hockey playing employees to help with the skate fitting... and ended up being a huge success. If you consider skates that are a half size too big (according to my husband this. is. an. ISSUE. - which he punctuated with at least two sighs and one shake of the head) a success.

Parking area for the hockey sale - A local cow farm.

The week just flew by... a week long hockey clinic on the Cape every night, work, sleepovers, Vacation Bible School for the girlie (I know, I KNOW) and plus...my first blog meet-up.

Okay, so the pictures suck and I have virtually NONE of the adults but Jen was here! With Adam, Connor & Megan. On Monday, I was nervous...first meet-up, I'm bound to be a disappointment, ACK! must clean the house, she doesn't like sarcasm...that's my main form of communication - she will hate me, will the kids get along?

But Tuesday, after I talked to her and knew they were on their way I remembered that Jen was one of the first people to ever comment here and that we've "known" each other for three years now. And that, out of the many bloggers I've read over the last three years, it seemed to me that her site stays very true to who she really is. She's down to earth, with two beautiful kiddos (even more beautiful in person, just so you know) and a great husband, y'know...like you read about.

So, while they were enjoying their family trip to the shores of Massachusetts, they came by for the day. I won't pretend there isn't something a bit surreal about meeting people you already sort of know because there totally is but somehow they all were so familiar that it was easy. Jen & Adam? Couldn't be any nicer. Really. And their kids? SO well behaved and completely adorable. The kids played (except for my boy who had a friend over and pretty much kept his own counsel) and swam and played and swam. We talked and time flew by and too soon they had to go. After they left, I hoped she didn't think I was a spaz (because I have those tendencies) but I realized that the old blog cliche is true....it would be nice if they lived closer.

I dragged Jen away from her family on Thursday night for a drink and some mexican (just what everyone wants to eat when they visit the ocean) munchies. We talked about blogs, gossiped not at all (disappointingly true) and when we tried to figure out the time, found we were off...by a long shot. Whoops.

They stopped by on their way home Friday, my kids were elsewhere (the aforementioned VBS & Sleepover) but once Megan climbed into my lap I thought I might keep her. It was a quick visit, a see you later of sorts...as I'm waiting patiently for her return to blogville.

The rest of Friday and all of this weekend seems a blur of children (our and the neighbor's), errands, birthday parties (two for the girlie), a last minute cookout, a fishing trip (for the boy), hockey and life in general.

Oh, and did I mention that my blog, which used to be completely top secret (as in my husband didn't know it existed for maybe a year or more) well, I accidentally outed myself to someone I know in real life. Brilliant, I know.

But she had left a comment on another site about how she grew up spending summers on my this pond. So, curious to find out more, I emailed her. Never did I once imagine it would be someone I KNEW. Okay, kind of a lie - There aren't a whole lot of houses on this pond and she crossed my mind as being someone who might actually have a blog but only for a millisecond as I was convinced it was someone from 'the other end'. But no.

She emailed me back and funnily enough I didn't totally freak out. Well, maybe a little but not totally - I recovered nicely after I picked my jaw up off the floor. And her blog? I like it (you would too). Although reading it reminds me that she's reading mine and then I get a bit wiggy still but mostly? I don't care. Not that I'm outing myself to the book club or the hockey/soccer moms. Uh-uh. Small steps, small steps.

*TFHIM = Thank fucking hell it's Monday. This weekend was just chaotic and I'm not at all minding my six hour work day today.

The theme this week is BUSY.

Today we are partaking in an annual pilgrimage. Mecca? For hockey lovers it is.

And to Fairly Odd Mother: Lose his teeth? Again?!? Hopefully you didn't jinx him. Because if you did - I know where to find you, well...on weekends and 95 degree days anyway.

And to Anonymous: The bonding's only for protection, to keep the tooth alive (it would die off easier with the root and dentin exposed, plus he's got a bonus added risk of infection) - it's temporary but has to last for at least four more months. Once the nerve is exposed the root canal is pretty much a gimmie. He's braver than I give him credit for... I know I'd be scared if I were him.

And to everyone: Thanks they do look good, don't they? I still love seeing them.


Askatepurchasing we will go....

There was a dental crisis here last December.

Hockey Stick vs. Teeth.

The hockey stick (an odds on favorite) was the victor and his opponent, my son's two front teeth, exited his mouth shattered and dejected and fell into a storm drainage grate.

There's been more dentist and endodontist visits than I care to count, although my insurance company has been doing a stellar job on that front. (Five endo and Five dental - I think)

The latest and greatest info is that we should wait six more months to let his teeth grow as much as possible before doing the root canals (which, effectively kills the teeth) and to have his exposed dentin & such(read: the inside of your tooth and nerve endings) surfaces rebonded (the original work fell off in June).

And so:

December: The day after, before the dentist visit.

Yesterday: Before the rebonding thing

Yesterday, after the dentist's office.

I almost cried. He just looked, so familiar to me, I felt like I recognized that smile.