Friday, June 24, 2011

Sand in my eyes.

We all just got back from a week long trip to the beach.  We've been home for days but yet I still have a huge suitcase sitting in my hallway fully packed with sandy clothes, shells, flip-flops, and seashells.  I think I'm secretly hoping I'll just throw it back in my car and head right on back down for another extended stay.  Zeke loves the beach sooooo much.  I mean, all kids love the beach, but I really think my kid has saltwater in his veins.  When asked if he'd rather go to the boardwalk or the beach, he'll say the beach every time.  He loves to stare into shallow areas of water and find any signs of life.  This past stay, we collected about a thousand teeny tiny clams, a gazillion brine shrimp, and tons of sea hermit crabs.  Sadly, every single one of them died after a day in Zeke's yellow beach bucket.  There were BIG tears when he realized nothing was moving around anymore in his bucket.  How did I stop the flow?  We went and bought 3 land hermit crabs and a nice big cage to bring them home in.  The word "sucker" is written on my forehead...I know it and embrace it.

I'm a mixed bag of emotions with the beach.  I love relaxing on my chair and listening to the waves, but the water petrifies me.  There's so much unknown life in there.  Life that I don't want snapping hold of my toes if I'm swimming around in those dark waters.  So, I stay only ankle deep in the ocean and enjoy the breezes and salt air instead. 

For now, we're pool rats.  No more beach for a bit now that Zeke has started summer basketball.  I'm going to try to squeeze in a few more beach trips in between basketball games just so that the summer doesn't fly by in a big haze.  I missed my baby too much all school year to let these precious summer days whip on by.  And if you need to get in touch with us, call after 10 or 11 a.m.  We're on summer schedule baby...we wake up when we wanna'!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

It Snot fair

Summer is officially here...or at least unofficially.  Memorial Day pretty much signifies the beginning of the warm weather fun for us.  Zeke only has a few more days of school scattered out over the next 2 weeks, then it's down to the beach for a bit.  I'm ready to chill out and breathe in some salty air.  Problem is, Zeke isn't.  He's been battling strep throat for a month now.  He has been on 2 antibiotics and as soon as he's done taking the course of them, he gets sick again a day later.  Today he's fighting a fever of 101 which is completely out of the ordinary for him.  He's been lying around for hours now.  SOOOOO not Zeke.  I feel bad because he's most likely going to miss fireworks tonight with his cousins, the opening day of our neighborhood pool tomorrow, and then recover just in time to head back to school on Tuesday.  :(

Friday, May 20, 2011

Mustard and Ketchup Please.

I picked up Zeke at school yesterday, as I normally do.  He presented me with a fabulous hand-drawn piece of artwork complete with a tree, tire swing, a big yellow sun, and some birds and bugs.  I told him how much I loved it and how great it was.  He promptly told me that all of the other boys were allowed to paint theirs...but he wasn't.  I asked him why.  His response?  Because he said "wiener". 

:(

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

It is okay after all.

I don't write anymore.  And I'm not sure why.  There are still so many things to say, so many pictures to post.  But I guess the life stuff has gotten in the way.  I'll try to do better.  I'll try to keep you informed and updated on my insanely fabulous life. I promise.  I really do.

So, Zeke turned six since we last spoke.  Cue the waterworks folks, because I just can't handle it.  He's....so....old.  I remember when my nephew turned six and I just thought he was a big kid at that point.  MY KID IS A BIG KID NOW.  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.  I still try to pick him up and hold him on my lap like a baby on occasion...but his legs and arms dangle like jumpropes.  It's a shame.  It's a shame how fast it goes.  But what's the "it"?  Everyone talks about the "it" and how it's hard and fun and the best thing you'll ever do.  But no one can ever tell you what "it" is.  Here's my definition:

It is the smile on his face when he wakes up and knows it's his birthday.  It is the hand that still feels kinda' small in mine when he grabs for it as we cross a street.  It is the wiggly tooth that he's so proud of.  It is the wonder and curiosity in his face as he carefully inspects a smooshed caterpillar on the sidewalk and happily calls the guts on the ground it's poop.  It is the joy he feels as he counts down the days to his first real summer vacation.  It is the feeling of it being okay that I'm picking up dirty underwear, socks, shorts and shirts that he so carelessly tosses when he's getting comfy under his blankie.  It is the feeling that this child will always know that I'm the only mom he'll ever have.  It is knowing that my life has a bigger meaning, that I'm a role model and a teacher of life to someone who is a clean slate.  It is baking a vanilla pound cake on a rainy Tuesday just because he'll eat half of it that same day....and I'll let him.  And It is feeling unconditional love.  Love that will always be deep-rooted even when he has his own family to care for.  He'll remember that he had a mom who cared enough to hold his hand as he crossed the street, to bake pound cake for him...and let him eat half of it in a day, who picked up his dirty clothes with only the occasional yell, and who agreed that caterpillar guts on the sidewalk was actually caterpillar poop.  Or maybe he won't remember.  But I will.  And that?  That's what It is.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Ketchup

I like to make lists.  Without lists, I'd still be in the second grade trying to figure out what came after the soft pretzels at recess.  I need to know AND write down what comes next.  So, in honor of my love of lists, here are a few random ones:

Things that I'm obsessing over lately:

1.  trying to grow my nails to a length that I don't think is overly long and gross but long enough that I can peel a Band-Aid off a forehead quickly and effortlessly. 

2.  Gum.  Trident has this new gum out that I love.  But as I said to McMahon, there just aren't enough pieces in the pack.  I wonder if candy.com carries it yet so I can buy it by the case.  It's nice...it's like a white tea/mint gum...very smooth and nice.

3.  My feet.  I need to get them flip-flop ready.  I've been soaking, loofahing, Vaseline-ing...all the proper pampering techniques for getting a soft foot.  Soon, I'm going to treat myself to a mani/pedi and unveil these wheels of mine...

4.  Our basement floor.  We had a lot of water come in our basement a few months ago.  I decided that it was time for the carpet to go and for a new flooring option to be discovered.  After some thought and research, I decided on stained, decorative concrete.  It's an unbelievably cool look if you have a concrete floor....but the floor prep and staining process has been grueling.  It's almost finished, I love the look, and I can't wait for it to be totally dry so I can arrange my furniture again.

NEXT LIST...

Things Zeke is obsessing over lately:

1.  Basketball, tennis, and skateboarding.  He is devastated that our basement has been out of commission due to the fact that it is his basketball court/tennis court/skateboarding floor.  It is because of his obsessions that I had to make sure our flooring choice was "sports friendly".

2.  Chocolate milk.  Still.  To the tune of 2-3 gallons of milk/week.  :(

3.  Buttery rye toast.


NEXT LIST:

Things on our weekend agenda:

1.  Friday = going to take Zeke to see Rango with a school friend while trying to fit in a trip to my girlfriend's house to celebrate her birthday.

2.  Saturday = Pauly and Zeke going to a special Sixers event where they are allowed to practice with the team.  Saturday afternoon will be Zeke's basketball game at the Y where Pauly and I are the winningest coaches the YMCA has ever seen.  GO NORTH CAROLINA (Zeke's team)!!!!!

3.  Sunday = my Dad's 70th birthday party.  Can't wait for some good company and good food for a very special celebration!



Check out my recent pix.  Trying to keep my kajillions of followers caught up...

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Pasta for one.

I find obituaries shockingly fascinating.  I mean, how can a person live an entire lifetime then be summed up in a 6 sentence paragraph on page 17, section B of the local newspaper?  Fascinating, but sad.  And even sadder when the departed only gets a sentence or two.  Is that it?  That's where we end up?  Smooshed into a column with a Dave & Buster's two-fer advertisement glaring underneath?  How terrible.

I dwell on this today because it's been one year exactly that my friend Shari passed.  She left this world way too soon and left a barrage of friends stunned, sad, hurt, angry, and maybe finally believing.  Shari being gone reminds me to believe in life, believe in family and friends, and believe that I will be remembered once I'm gone.  I don't think I ever believed so strongly as I do today.  Is it Shari working some sort of magic on me?  Is it the fear of a 5 sentence life summary that makes me believe life must be lived before we die?  I'm still not sure, but each day I think I get a little closer to knowing.

Shari probably deserved a whole newspaper to herself when she passed.  She was complicated, graceful, loving, devoted, and beautiful.  She was a woman who was loved by many and who will never be forgotten. 

I thought of you today, S.  I was wishing I could meet you at Bucca for some spaghetti and chatter.  It's not the same without you here.  And I hope that makes you smile up there.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Strangers in the night.

The first week of the year is strange.  I have all these things in my head that I want to accomplish...but I have the same energy level as the last week in December.  Blah.  How does one get motivated and energized without ingesting near-toxic levels of caffeine???

This week has begun lots more homework in Zeke's world.  Homework for Zeke = homework for me.  How do people do it that have more than one kid???  I mean, where's the time?  Here's how our night went last night:

1.  3:15 - pickup from school
2.  3:45 - get home, get snack, watch tv in underwear (Zeke, not me)
3.  4:10 - start getting dressed for tennis lessons
4.  4:20 - leave for tennis lessons
5.  4:22 - do a U-turn and come back home to get forgotten tennis racket
6.  4:50 - run into the gym for tennis lesson
7.  5:40 - leave gym
8.  6:10 - get back home and try to figure out dinner
9.  6:30 - slap a dinner of soup and grilled cheese on the table and hope for the best
10.  7:15 - get zeke's homework and bring it down to our home gym so he can do it while I'm on the treadmill
11.  7:30 - I'm on the treadmill, zeke's homework is sitting on the floor next to me, but he's playing basketball with Pauly
12.  8:00 - I freak out b/c it's 8:00 and homework hasn't been done, lunches haven't been packed, and teeth haven't been brushed
13:  8:05 - we go upstairs and start homework
14.  8:40 - still doing some online homework
15.  8:50 - shut down computer and force Zeke into the bathroom for teeth brushing and bed preparation
16.  9:05 - put Zeke in bed with t.v. on for "15 minutes" while I pack lunches and watch a little t.v.
17.  9:30 - was so involved in the Real Housewives rerun that I didn't notice it was 9:30 and my kid was still wide awake on a school night watching Spongebob Squarepants.
18.  9:35 - turn off all electronic devices in Zeke's room, say goodnight, and roll on into my bed
19.  9:50 - hear a noise, walk down the hall, and realize that Zeke has logged into his laptop and is playing Club Penguin under the covers
20.  10:00 - back to my bed after confiscating the laptop
21.  10:30 - check on Zeke and find that he's FINALLY asleep
22.  11-ish - somewhere in here I fall asleep
23.  3:22 a.m. - woken up by Zeke holding 4 teddy bears and a king-sized woobie...he wants to sleep in my bed.
24.  3:23 a.m. - let Zeke and his entourage in my bed, try to curl myself up into the tiniest ball of human ever so I can fit in between 3 dogs, the hubs, a 57-lb kid, and 4 teddy bears.
25. 3:30 a.m. - everyone is asleep, I think I'm drifting off myself....and the doves all start cooing. 
26. 3:31 a.m. - I'm still awake and start thinking about "stuff":  is it considered a murder if I flush all of the eggs that the doves keep laying?, should I try that laundry-thingy that lets you put your colors and your whites all in the same load?, did Zeke eat his lunch that I packed him or did he buy Doritos in the cafeteria and call it a day?, I really need to dump out that huge bag of unmatched socks and do some matching tomorrow, if it snows will the snowblower finally work?, am I getting enough fiber?, blah, blah, blah, blah....
27:  6:10 a.m. - start all over again.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Post of the Year

It's January.  Already.  How'd that happen?  Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.  Done in an instant.  Notice I rank Black Friday right on up there in "holiday status".  Can't go a year without it...

Our holidays were nice.  I promised myself I'd NOT get sick and I pretty much accomplished that.  I may have lived with a headache for a few stretches of time, but the Lupus didn't get the best of me.  I'm grateful for that.  And for family that seems to understand my limitations.  In the new year, I am determined to be healthier and more conscious of each day. 

In the spirit of the new year, I want to do a repeat of something I posted last year.  It's interesting and thought provoking.  Here goes:

2010:

Best Day:   the day we flew into the Bahamas to celebrate my 40th birthday.



Worst Day: the day I dropped Zeke off for his first full day of Kindergarten.


Best Decision: to send to his current school and to allow him to do full time Kindergarten



Worst Decision: to ignore the water problem in our basement after a heavy rain.  That ignorance led to a problem with mold and caused us to have to rip up carpeting, have a mold specialist come in, and tons more work that is still ongoing that I don't even want to talk about because it still annoys and tortures me to this day. 


Best Realization: that I want to start my own business


Worst Realization: that the new Lupus drug that has been approved by the FDA won't be too much of a benefit to me.


Biggest Hope: that I actually get a paying gig this year with my new business


Biggest Fear:  getting sicker.  But I'm not going to let that happen and will be responsible and timely about all of my doctor's appointments to be sure of it.


People I can't live without: Paul & Zeke



People I can live without: dead weights in my life



Best Fashion Find: a great pair of jeans that I can dress up or down and the uber-fuzzy gloves that Pauly and Zeke gave me for Christmas.  Oh, and my new socks.  I love socks.  And scarves.  And purses.

Worst Fashion Find:  a bracelet that I thought I loved and now I think it looks ridiculous.


Fashion Obsession:  Still purses but moving into socks and jewelry too.


Fashion Hate:  tights with Uggs

Best Food/Drink Find:  Coke Zero which I desperately want to stop drinking.

Worst Food/Drink Find: - Cici's pizza.  The. Most. Disgusting. Food.  Ever.


Food/Drink Love:  sauteed spinach and artichokes at Bertucci's



Food/Drink Hate: any food with meat and any drink with milk



TV Love: Bridezillas, Jersey Shore, Big Brother, Real Housewives


TV Hate:  golf.  BORRRRRRRRRRRRING.

Internet Love: petfinder.com


Internet Hate: Twitter (don't waste your time telling me that you're about to take out the recycles. I'm not about to care.)


Best Development:  Getting a part time job for about 5 minutes.


Worst Development:  realizing that the part time job I was so in love with was a complete waste of my time.



Best Investment: my Tiffany necklace .  Love it and wear it most days.



Worst Investment:  Most of the toys we've bought for Zeke this year.  All he wants to do is play basketball in the basement.


Best Travel:  Bahamas


Worst Travel:  none.  I love travel.


Personal Empowerment: turning 40 and not really giving a crap.


Personal Struggle:  letting Zeke grow up.


Best Accomplishment: Zeke and my marriage



Worst Failure:  trying to get Timmy healthier.  His poor little heart is still really bad.


How I'm Ending This Year:  hopeful, scared, determined. 


Happy 2011 everyone.  May your year be filled with love, laughter and light. 

England Slideshow

Fall Fun 2009

I got a lil' bored and started playing around with Zeke's pic...

Check out my slideshow from our trip to Cherry Crest Farm on 11/1/08!

Check out my slideshow from Tyler Arboretum's Pumpkin Days - 10/19/08

A Visit to the Petting Zoo at East Goshen Park - 7/29/08