Nature

My kids don't like many animals. Okay, really Brandon does not like them. So it's not surprising to me that when we visit my parents' he freaks out. The dogs, cats, lizards, squirrels, turkeys, cows, horses and various other living creatures, put him on edge. Today we visited Mom's garden while on alert for rattlesnakes. (Despite running all over my grandparents' and parents' acres my whole life and various jaunts to camping spots hither and yon, I have yet to encounter a rattlesnake in the wild or mild) We were fortunate to avoid any snakes today. Upon returning home, we planted some flowers in our containers in the front yard. We enjoyed ourselves and the kids were really loving that they got to plant the stuff they chose from the nursery. Until...

Attack of the Ants!!!!!!

About 20 ants crawled up my boy's leg and as usual, we had a crisis. Emily took this all in stride, stomped a few, eventually picked up an ant and made it her pet. Those two are so opposite at times and it's very entertaining...well until I stepped on an ant hill and got bit on the you-know-what for laughing.

La cabane de la radio. (Radio Shack)

I took the kids with me to pick up an I-pod connector for the car. I thought it was a routine errand until Emily said she needed the potty. Suddenly the memory of the hundred or so times my mom took me and my brother to Radio Shack just waved over me. It was a great moment, despite that I found myself in the employee restroom with the kids.
Mom's always been technologically inclined as is Eric. I never think of myself that way. (read: nerdy--ha ha) But like it or not, I have an uncanny ability with tech stuff. (I read the 'HELP' on the upper title bar of any window----"hello!?!") Anyhow, I got the kids some candy, we loaded into the van and I hooked up the tunes. We rolled out with our Backyardigans over the speakers. Great day!

Forgetful Jones

Forgetful Jones was one of my favorite characters on Sesame Street. When I was a kid, I thought anybody with the same last name must be related, even cartoons and ultimately my Uncle Indy. (Indiana Jones, of course)
Now back to the point of this post:
As an adult, ole 'Forgetful Jones" labels me more recently due to my new found scatterbrain. This week alone, I locked myself and the kids out of the house. Had I thought a bit harder, I would have remembered placing the house keys in the center console of the old SUV. Today adds more chaos, as I put the keys to the new van in my vest pocket. I changed coats and subsequently left the keys in the van, locked the door and trotted off the playground. 1 hour later I discovered the mishap. My new friend, Courtney, offered me the use of her car, mind you we've known each other a month and stayed at the park while I drove to procure my spare keys. It dawned on me as I turned into my 'hood that I locked my house keys in the van too. A quick call to the in laws got no answer, panic set in. I detoured to check their house, and much to my relief Dad was in the garage. Cheers to Courtney and Dad!!

I do so miss the driver door keypad from the Explorer.

A funny thing happened on the way to the...

dealership. The Ford did not always have issues. Though sometime around 2002 it gave me a sign of what was to come. The rear washer fluid was leaking into the interior. I decided to ignore it. A few years later the rear wiper no longer worked and soon began to loosen. The tires were recalled of course, due to the roll over scare. The transmission blew in 2006 and then the 4x4 sensors were replaced just a couple months ago. So Friday night as we drove to the Toyota dealer I was relieved and excited. We decided to take the Ford through the car wash. Just as we resurfaced from the wash bay I turned to see water gushing through the rear window and another surprise on the opposite side, where it was now leaking as well. The Explorer had it's last laugh.

The wheels go round.

12 years ago Mike and I bought new cars as unmarried individuals. We agreed to take a trip to Monterey to celebrate. It was a fun weekend but we had not returned until recently. Friday we bought our first car together and we took it on it's maiden voyage to Monterey. This time we had our kids and a got to see the aquarium with a new perspective.

When it rains, it pours.

Turning 34 was sort of blah and that was a bummer, I'm not sure why I don't vacation on Hawaii every March. So fate stepped in to ramp up the action in my life. March 25th, I left the house without my mobile phone and when I went to pick up Brandon at preschool, I found him wiht a broken arm. Again. This is the second time in 6 months that he broke his arm and the second time that I forgot my phone. It was an interesting trip to the ER. I had both kids on my own and had to hold down Brandon while they adminstered his pain meds. Which left Emily to scream in fright while Brandon screamed in fright. Meanwhile, I was laughing as usual at the absurdity of the situation. What the hell else can you do? Monday he got his new cast and the Dr attempted to push the bones together again without any pain medication. This episode made me sick to my stomach and yet, Brandon was a champ, he calmly said that it hurt a lot.

Yesterday, Grandma got sick and now has to have a gall bladder removal. So last night I headed to the hospital to see her and wait. While in the room of 3 patients (whoopee, neighbors!) my aunt almost tripped a nurse carrying a large bucket of urine. I warned her, even grabbed her and thankfully nothing happened. To top off the night, the surgery was pushed to today and so my mom and I went to say goodnight to Grandma. The hallway was blocked by a gurney, mind you it was 11 pm, and I decided not to squeeze by, so I remained in the foyer. Wise decision, as the gurney was carrying a deceased patient. The nurse commented to the security escort that she did not like going to the freezer. Yeah, you think?! So that was my exciting week, 3 visits to Kaiser, another today and many more to come in the following weeks.

The 2nd time around

In August of 2008, Brandon broke his arm. I was at Bunco and had forgotten my phone. It took forever to reach me. So, imagine the odds that today I would forget my phone (despite having vowed never to forget it after the Aug incident) and Brandon would fall and break the arm again in the exact same way?
My brain is fried and I wish I could roll the clock back to prevent the fall, or maybe even keep him home or just lock us in the house pad it with Nerf.
There were funny parts of the day though. I got to see my favorite ER nurse, who helped me when I had food poisoning after a Giants game 2 years ago. I owe my life to that guy, he gave me good meds to keep me from crapping my pants and barfing my guts out. Nice visual, eh? I told you this would be inspiring shit.
It was also funny when I pulled in the wrong way on a one way at the ER entrance. The valets flagged me down and I jumped out and ditched my car, grabbed the kids and trucked in to Kaiser in a fog.
I find the best coping mechanism is to find the humor in the worst of situations. I have done it for years and many times it is inappropriate, but hell, I gotta get through it somehow. So here's to 6 more weeks of doctor visits. I was starting to miss the cast bay guys anyhow.

Can't get it out of my head

I saw a commercial today that featured Fred Dryer, better known as Rick Hunter on TV's "Hunter" circa 1984. I was shocked that he looks GREAT, almost the same as 18 years ago when my favorite show, Hunter, ended. What a relief! Mostly relieved because I saw SNL 2 weeks ago and they had a cameo by Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver, and he is not looking so hot. (Though, that could be due to the mullet wig he was sporting) Anyhow, Mr. Dryer looks good and I am fondly remembering that show and all the great crime drama. He also had a smart female partner and the 2 of them inspired me to become a cop. We all know how far I got in that quest, but I digress.
This brings me to my new favorite show and a realization of why I love it so much..."Life". Ahhhh, that show is so great and I don't think many people really appreciate it enough or watch it enough for that matter. Where else can you find a cop, Charlie Crews, who is in tune with his spiritual side, has an appreciation of life and death and freedom? He carries a firearm, reflects upon philosophy and eats fruit. These combine to make him badass, smart and gassy or at the very least, 'regular'. Somewhere I am sure a writer for "Life" saw "Hunter" and was inspired. One caviat, Crews does have a fmale partner and at times she is smart, but the lingering conspiracy involving her retired cop father shows her as naive. Time will tell.
On another note, I turn 34 tomorrow. In celebration I drank quite a bit a couple nights back and had a raging hangover all day yesterday. While the drinking was fun, the recovery was a b*tch, not to mention that I hostessed a 3 yr old's birthday party. The party was good and I was laid back for most of it. Next time, I think I will commence drinking prior to the party and then have some more interesting blog fodder. My kids will love discussing that with their therapists in a few years.

switching gears

I was about to rant about my car problems when I noticed Emily painting watercolors on her self. She stripped about 15 minutes ago and was hinting about the paint. As I set out to update my blog, she quietly set about painting her belly--with 2 brushes. It's times like these that I appreciate the fun and silliness of the kids and how they seem know when I need a spiritual lift. On the other hand, Brandon just showed me that the Aquadoodle also works if you spit on it. So that's lovely and silly and down-right disgusting.
Well, I am off to research if the Aquadoodle may be laundered and hope my little girl is colorfast.

Brain Barf

Up to now I have considered blogs to be the brain barf of their authors. An outlet for idle rambling, gripes, or silliness. But I've been reading some of my favorite people's blogs and I think it is a great way to share, blow off steam and at times, be inspired/inspiring. If you are reading my blog, I hope that my words do those things too. Be warned though, it may be mostly brain barf.