Yesterday at lunch I was talking to a co-worker about the fact that both Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett died this week. I speculated on who else would pass this week since I subscribe to the theory that celebrities die in threes. I started composing this blog entry in my head. But before I actually had time to get online and write it, Michael Jackson died. Thus ended the speculation.
Michael Jackson?!?! Wow. I mean, he was only 50 years old!! I was thinking Patrick Swayze, Liz Taylor, maybe even Liza Minelli. Not Michael Jackson. Granted, he's looked a little (okay, a lot) frail in recent years. Certainly odd. But wow.
I admit that most of my thoughts of Michael Jackson in the last, oh, 15 years have been about how odd he'd become; how he was painful to look at; how he wasn't making great pop music any longer. If I'm being honest, I actually didn't think of him at all unless his latest gaffe -- dangling his kid over a balcony railing, showing up for court in pajamas, losing his Neverland Ranch -- was being widely publicized in the worldwide media.
But he was a great and ground-breaking musician. You can't argue that. Back in the day, I watched the making of the Thriller video over and over so I could learn parts of the dance. I had a Michael Jackson poster on my bedroom wall. I knew all the lyrics to every song on the Thriller album. I know I was not alone in those "achievements."
Michael Jackson leaves a legacy. Hopefully the tarnished parts will fade with time and he will be remembered for his artistic accomplishments.
Perhaps the only person today who is thrilled about Michael Jackson's passing is the governor of South Carolina...
Friday, June 26, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Heard...
Sung to a sing-songy, unrecognized tune...
I am the ice cream man,
runnin' over fat kids with my van...
Go ahead... laugh and be offended at the same time. We were.
Where did we hear this, you might ask? J-Mav was singing it the other night as he got ready for bed. No, we don't know where it came from. Yes, we told him that it wasn't appropriate.
And yes... we came downstairs and cracked up out of sight and earshot of the kids because, while it was SO wrong, it was just so funny coming out of his little mouth. Goin' to Hell for sure...
I am the ice cream man,
runnin' over fat kids with my van...
Go ahead... laugh and be offended at the same time. We were.
Where did we hear this, you might ask? J-Mav was singing it the other night as he got ready for bed. No, we don't know where it came from. Yes, we told him that it wasn't appropriate.
And yes... we came downstairs and cracked up out of sight and earshot of the kids because, while it was SO wrong, it was just so funny coming out of his little mouth. Goin' to Hell for sure...
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Screeeeeeech...
The all-star team managed to play its game tonight through an annoying mist. It's always sad when officiating contributes significantly to a loss. Tonight was, unfortunately, probably one of those instances.
The boys contributed to the loss with plenty of fielding errors, but the ump (the LONE, large ump who didn't stray more than five feet from home plate for the entire game) blew two calls that definitely affected the score. One of our kids was called out at first when he was clearly safe, and a ball that was about two feet wide of the baseline was called fair in the top of the sixth, allowing the winning run to score for the opposing team. Terrible call.
Why there was only one ump is a good question. "Scheduling conflicts" was the official answer. All the other games we played had FOUR umps... a plate ump and one at each of the bases. And the officiating has actually been good. Not to say the kids would've won had those two calls not been made correctly tonight; however, we would've definitely had a better chance! The final score was 9-8, and Keeper Boy's all-star career for this season came to a screeching halt.
He has nothing to hang his head about. He had a GREAT post season. He was the team's leading hitter over the three games played. He'll tell you that tonight he batted for the cycle. He did have a single, double, and triple. The homerun is suspect, but we'll let it slide. He hit a solid single (maybe a double if the scorekeeper is feeling generous), and then kept running and made it home due to fielding errors. But hey, we'll take it!! :) He was SO excited!! That almost happened to him during the regular season one time. He hit a triple and the coach got caught up in the excitement and sent him home when he probably shouldn't have and he was tagged out at the plate. So maybe tonight made up for that. :)
Anyway, he also had some great plays in the field. He was the right fielder on this team. Not a position he is used to playing, but he has a great arm, so he is a strong outfielder.
The only positive to come from tonight is the knowledge that we now have our evenings free again! Woo hoo!
I think all around it was a great experience for him... and now we have yet another baseball cap to find lying around the house. Joy!
The boys contributed to the loss with plenty of fielding errors, but the ump (the LONE, large ump who didn't stray more than five feet from home plate for the entire game) blew two calls that definitely affected the score. One of our kids was called out at first when he was clearly safe, and a ball that was about two feet wide of the baseline was called fair in the top of the sixth, allowing the winning run to score for the opposing team. Terrible call.
Why there was only one ump is a good question. "Scheduling conflicts" was the official answer. All the other games we played had FOUR umps... a plate ump and one at each of the bases. And the officiating has actually been good. Not to say the kids would've won had those two calls not been made correctly tonight; however, we would've definitely had a better chance! The final score was 9-8, and Keeper Boy's all-star career for this season came to a screeching halt.
He has nothing to hang his head about. He had a GREAT post season. He was the team's leading hitter over the three games played. He'll tell you that tonight he batted for the cycle. He did have a single, double, and triple. The homerun is suspect, but we'll let it slide. He hit a solid single (maybe a double if the scorekeeper is feeling generous), and then kept running and made it home due to fielding errors. But hey, we'll take it!! :) He was SO excited!! That almost happened to him during the regular season one time. He hit a triple and the coach got caught up in the excitement and sent him home when he probably shouldn't have and he was tagged out at the plate. So maybe tonight made up for that. :)
Anyway, he also had some great plays in the field. He was the right fielder on this team. Not a position he is used to playing, but he has a great arm, so he is a strong outfielder.
The only positive to come from tonight is the knowledge that we now have our evenings free again! Woo hoo!
I think all around it was a great experience for him... and now we have yet another baseball cap to find lying around the house. Joy!
I thought things were slowing down!
Well, I thought things were supposed to be slowing down with hockey over and the end of baseball season being this past weekend. But that hasn't been the case. Keeper Boy was named to the All-Star Team, so that's been every night this week. It's a double elimination tournament. They lost their first game and won last night, so they're still alive. They're supposed to have a game tonight, but it looks like it will be a wash-out. Not sure what that does as far as the schedule.
To backtrack a little bit, J-Mav had his last baseball game Saturday morning. The kids did a great job, and we had a little party for them afterward. They each got a personalized baseball from the coach and a trophy. He had a great first season of baseball!
Saturday evening, we had the seasons end party for Keeper Boy's baseball team. It was a potluck cookout at one of the assistant coach's house. A good time was had by all. It was supposed to have taken place after the championship game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday at 3pm. However, the game was moved to Sunday afternoon after several games last week were postponed due to rain. So we had the party before the season was actually over because Keeper Boy's team made the championship game!!
They showed their opponent they meant business right from the start, scoring the maximum five runs in the very first inning. They never slowed down. Great hitting. Great defense. I think the final score was 13-4 or something like that. The kids got great trophies, and Keeper Boy got the game ball for being the game MVP!
The all-star tournament is to be over by 6/23; however, I don't know how rainouts affect that. We will pretty much be playing every night until the team loses another game. Then they're out.
I have been productive during my two weeks "off;" however, it is clear to me that I will not get everything done that I wanted to. Two weeks at home seems like a long time until you make a to-do list!
To backtrack a little bit, J-Mav had his last baseball game Saturday morning. The kids did a great job, and we had a little party for them afterward. They each got a personalized baseball from the coach and a trophy. He had a great first season of baseball!
Saturday evening, we had the seasons end party for Keeper Boy's baseball team. It was a potluck cookout at one of the assistant coach's house. A good time was had by all. It was supposed to have taken place after the championship game, which was originally scheduled for Saturday at 3pm. However, the game was moved to Sunday afternoon after several games last week were postponed due to rain. So we had the party before the season was actually over because Keeper Boy's team made the championship game!!
They showed their opponent they meant business right from the start, scoring the maximum five runs in the very first inning. They never slowed down. Great hitting. Great defense. I think the final score was 13-4 or something like that. The kids got great trophies, and Keeper Boy got the game ball for being the game MVP!
The all-star tournament is to be over by 6/23; however, I don't know how rainouts affect that. We will pretty much be playing every night until the team loses another game. Then they're out.
I have been productive during my two weeks "off;" however, it is clear to me that I will not get everything done that I wanted to. Two weeks at home seems like a long time until you make a to-do list!
Accountability...
Not a banner week for me. Kinda slacked off on exercising this week... Hopefully starting my new job on Monday will get me back into a "normal" routine... that and getting the treadmill serviced on Saturday so we can actually use it again!
Hubby reached goal this week!! Now he has to maintain for six weeks and then he'll achieve lifetime status.
TODAY'S STATS
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Change from last week: +1.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -31.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 10.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hubby reached goal this week!! Now he has to maintain for six weeks and then he'll achieve lifetime status.
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last week: +1.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -31.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 10.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Drugs are good...
This morning I am thrilled that Keeper Boy still has three days worth of antibiotics left to take from his strep throat diagnosis. Why? Because this morning I found out that one of the kids on his baseball team has been diagnosed with what is likely the swine flu! While it's not likely that he would've passed it along to anyone on the team, I'm sure the concentration of penicillin that's currently in Keeper Boy's system can't hurt in helping to ward off the possibility!
Bad for the baseball team, though. The team has it's first playoff game on Friday night, and (if they win) the championship on Saturday afternoon. The kid with the flu is one of our best pitchers. That's gonna hurt.
Oink!
Bad for the baseball team, though. The team has it's first playoff game on Friday night, and (if they win) the championship on Saturday afternoon. The kid with the flu is one of our best pitchers. That's gonna hurt.
Oink!
Stanley the Caterpillar
I am sad to report that Stanley has met his demise. He was picked up by the trash collectors on Monday as he waited patiently in the garbage bin with our discarded bits of food and Lord knows what else. Poor Stanley.
It seems that once the journal was turned in, J-Mav was not as interested in Stanley. Sure he sprayed him with water most mornings, but usually not unprompted. I think Stanley just lost his luster. As he continued to grow, despite (or in spite of) the lack of attention, his hair got kind of mangy and sad looking. Last weekend we asked J-Mav what he wanted to do with Stanley. He said "keep him forever." I explained that Stanley looked like he wasn't feeling too well, but that unlike the antibiotics J-Mav was taking, there was really nothing we could do for Stanley. He said, "OK. You can throw him away." Just like that.
Then I felt bad.
I asked J-Mav if he wanted to say anything to or about Stanley before I tossed him. He waved and said "Bye, Stanley" and then bounced off to play.
Wow... I shudder to think of the send off I'll get when it's my time! ;-)
It seems that once the journal was turned in, J-Mav was not as interested in Stanley. Sure he sprayed him with water most mornings, but usually not unprompted. I think Stanley just lost his luster. As he continued to grow, despite (or in spite of) the lack of attention, his hair got kind of mangy and sad looking. Last weekend we asked J-Mav what he wanted to do with Stanley. He said "keep him forever." I explained that Stanley looked like he wasn't feeling too well, but that unlike the antibiotics J-Mav was taking, there was really nothing we could do for Stanley. He said, "OK. You can throw him away." Just like that.
Then I felt bad.
I asked J-Mav if he wanted to say anything to or about Stanley before I tossed him. He waved and said "Bye, Stanley" and then bounced off to play.
Wow... I shudder to think of the send off I'll get when it's my time! ;-)
Accountability...
Still going in the right direction this week!
Hubby was down another three pounds and is ONE POUND from goal with one week left in his WW at Work program. He has done AWESOME!!
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last week: -0.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -32.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 9.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hubby was down another three pounds and is ONE POUND from goal with one week left in his WW at Work program. He has done AWESOME!!
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last week: -0.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -32.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 9.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Heard...
We were eating dinner tonight and talking about some movies that are out or are coming out...
Me: Hey! Daddy and I can go out to eat and see a different movie every night while you guys [meaning Keeper Boy and J-Mav] are visiting all the grandparents this summer! That's two weeks worth!!
Keeper Boy [without missing a beat]: No way, Mom. You wouldn't spend that much money.
I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult...
Me: Hey! Daddy and I can go out to eat and see a different movie every night while you guys [meaning Keeper Boy and J-Mav] are visiting all the grandparents this summer! That's two weeks worth!!
Keeper Boy [without missing a beat]: No way, Mom. You wouldn't spend that much money.
I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult...
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Accountability...
Back on the right track. Exactly 10 pounds to go...
Hubby was down two pounds for a total weight loss of 30.8 so far. He's almost at goal. And yeah... he's lost as much weight in less than 12 weeks as it's taken me almost three years to lose!
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last week: -0.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -32.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hubby was down two pounds for a total weight loss of 30.8 so far. He's almost at goal. And yeah... he's lost as much weight in less than 12 weeks as it's taken me almost three years to lose!
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last week: -0.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -32.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
I spoke too soon...
So Keeper Boy's overnight strep test came back positive today. Now he and J-Mav are BOTH on antibiotics. Oh, and did I mention K-dog is on antibiotics for a UTI?
Keeper Boy looked at me like I was on drugs when I picked him up from school and told him he has strep. He feels completely fine other than a little congestion and a hoarse voice. I'll take that... usually when he has strep, he throws up.
Anyway... it's a crazy drug house around here right now. J-Mav has six days left, Keeper boy has nine days left, and K-dog has -- I don't know -- at least ten more days left. She had to take her meds for like three weeks. Poor thing.
John and I are washing our hands often...
Keeper Boy looked at me like I was on drugs when I picked him up from school and told him he has strep. He feels completely fine other than a little congestion and a hoarse voice. I'll take that... usually when he has strep, he throws up.
Anyway... it's a crazy drug house around here right now. J-Mav has six days left, Keeper boy has nine days left, and K-dog has -- I don't know -- at least ten more days left. She had to take her meds for like three weeks. Poor thing.
John and I are washing our hands often...
Monday, June 1, 2009
Love it...
Maybe "Love it..." will become a new recurring theme (like "Heard..." or "Accountability" or "Seen"...). We'll see...
Friday night, J-Mav was extremely whiney and didn't want to eat his dinner. He asked to go to bed, and did so at about 7pm. Unheard of! Saturday morning, he woke up complaining of a headache and a sore throat. He didn't want breakfast; just wanted to lay on the sofa under a blanket. Didn't want to go to his baseball game or the birthday party he was supposed to attend that afternoon. (?!?!)
I drove over to the baseball field to inform J-Mav's coach that he wouldn't be there, while Hubby called for an appointment with the pediatrician. You see, our children tend to not have any symptoms other than a sore throat (no spots) and lethargy when they have strep. We figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry.
While at the field, the coach's wife told me about the Minute Clinic at CVS. No appointment necessary. Usually no waiting. Licensed Nurse Practioner. Takes insurance, so it's just a normal doctor visit co-pay... without all the sick kids hanging around in the waiting room, the long wait to see the doctor, or the resistance on the doctor's part to give the child the dang strep test (yes, I KNOW he doesn't have the normal symptoms, but trust me...).
I decided to try it, but I kept the 11am doctor's appointment just in case something didn't work out. We arrived, signed in on the electronic kiosk, and got called in to the exam room immediately. I told the nurse why we were there and she didn't bat an eye. She took J-Mav's history, did the throat swab and took my co-payment while we waited two minutes to see if the test was positive.
When the timer went off, she went and inspected the test (like a pregnancy test... red line for positive) and said, "we have a winner, Mom." She zipped the prescription 15 feet over to the pharmacy over the computer network and we followed to wait for it to be filled. Altogether, including waiting for the prescription, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes -- a full hour before we were scheduled to see the pediatrician. We cancelled that appointment. The nurse at the Minute Clinic was amazing with J-Mav, and it was just an overall pleasant experience.
And after a 2+ hour nap and a dose of Amoxicillan, J-Mav was a new kid!!
Keeper Boy had been congested and couging a little and complaining of a sore throat the past few days, too. This morning he said his throat was really sore. While I suspected that HIS sore throat is just a result of drainage and breathing through his mouth at night because of the congestion, I took him to the Minute Clinic this morning, too. Again, better to be safe than sorry. He has several important baseball games this week, plus the last two sessions of his hockey tryouts. Not to mention the fact that school is winding down and they're trying to cram everything in before the end of the year. His quick test was negative, though they'll send it out to the lab to fester overnight and make sure it doesn't come back positive tomorrow. I don't expect it to. But for $18 and 30 minutes of my time, I have peace of mind.
Love it!
Friday night, J-Mav was extremely whiney and didn't want to eat his dinner. He asked to go to bed, and did so at about 7pm. Unheard of! Saturday morning, he woke up complaining of a headache and a sore throat. He didn't want breakfast; just wanted to lay on the sofa under a blanket. Didn't want to go to his baseball game or the birthday party he was supposed to attend that afternoon. (?!?!)
I drove over to the baseball field to inform J-Mav's coach that he wouldn't be there, while Hubby called for an appointment with the pediatrician. You see, our children tend to not have any symptoms other than a sore throat (no spots) and lethargy when they have strep. We figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry.
While at the field, the coach's wife told me about the Minute Clinic at CVS. No appointment necessary. Usually no waiting. Licensed Nurse Practioner. Takes insurance, so it's just a normal doctor visit co-pay... without all the sick kids hanging around in the waiting room, the long wait to see the doctor, or the resistance on the doctor's part to give the child the dang strep test (yes, I KNOW he doesn't have the normal symptoms, but trust me...).
I decided to try it, but I kept the 11am doctor's appointment just in case something didn't work out. We arrived, signed in on the electronic kiosk, and got called in to the exam room immediately. I told the nurse why we were there and she didn't bat an eye. She took J-Mav's history, did the throat swab and took my co-payment while we waited two minutes to see if the test was positive.
When the timer went off, she went and inspected the test (like a pregnancy test... red line for positive) and said, "we have a winner, Mom." She zipped the prescription 15 feet over to the pharmacy over the computer network and we followed to wait for it to be filled. Altogether, including waiting for the prescription, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes -- a full hour before we were scheduled to see the pediatrician. We cancelled that appointment. The nurse at the Minute Clinic was amazing with J-Mav, and it was just an overall pleasant experience.
And after a 2+ hour nap and a dose of Amoxicillan, J-Mav was a new kid!!
Keeper Boy had been congested and couging a little and complaining of a sore throat the past few days, too. This morning he said his throat was really sore. While I suspected that HIS sore throat is just a result of drainage and breathing through his mouth at night because of the congestion, I took him to the Minute Clinic this morning, too. Again, better to be safe than sorry. He has several important baseball games this week, plus the last two sessions of his hockey tryouts. Not to mention the fact that school is winding down and they're trying to cram everything in before the end of the year. His quick test was negative, though they'll send it out to the lab to fester overnight and make sure it doesn't come back positive tomorrow. I don't expect it to. But for $18 and 30 minutes of my time, I have peace of mind.
Love it!
Heard...
J-Mav talking to Hubby on Sunday afternoon as we were getting ready to go to the pool for a little while:
"I'm gonna ask mom if we can ride our bikes [to the pool] because the more we drive the more dirty air comes out of the pipes and then the birds can't sing as well. I know that."
"I'm gonna ask mom if we can ride our bikes [to the pool] because the more we drive the more dirty air comes out of the pipes and then the birds can't sing as well. I know that."
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