But, MOM! It's the 21st of SPRING!

This was Liam's reaction (and his exact quote) to seeing all of the snow as we were heading out to take him to a friend's house on Friday evening. He was baffled by the fact that it was the 21st of Spring (OK, it was the 21st of MARCH and the FIRST of Spring and he just smooshed those two things together).

But I agreed with his sentiment completely. What in the world was it doing SNOWING two days before EASTER?!?! Yeah, Yeah, I know the last time Easter came this early was a bazillion years ago and the next time it will be this early again will be TOO SOON!

Easter is supposed to signify Spring and Resurrection.....not MORE SNOW.

But we didn't let a little white stuff stop us from having a spectacular Easter. We went to Grand Rapids for the weekend and since there was no room for us at the in-law Inn, we got hotel room at a nearby Marriott property (courtesy of all those Marriott points I've been racking up since August) where the kids had a blast swimming in the hotel pool.

On Saturday we dyed Easter eggs and on Sunday we celebrated with way too much food. But it was fun. Carol & Don spolied everybody, as usual. Our kids just LOVE going to "Gramma Rapids" (as Owen calls it). And Kev & I love it, too. We'd love it more if gas prices would come back down, though. :)

OK, Spring, you can spring ANY day now!

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

This was the first St. Patrick's Day in a really long time that either wasn't on a weekend or that Kevin and I didn't take as a vacation day to celebrate. I have to say, it felt really strange to not be perched on a bar stool in some Irish pub, decked out in green, at 10 am. (Although, I must say that I was decked out in a really cute green patterned dress, so I did have the spirit of St. Patty's going on at the office!) And since Mondays in my world mean having a 7pm to 8pm meeting each week, I couldn't really celebrate after work either (not that there's anybody here I would want to go out and celebrate WITH, but that's another post).

So, since we didn't celebrate exactly ON 3/17, we "got our Irish on" over the weekend.

We started on Saturday by attending our town's Irish Stew and Stroll where we could sample (for a nominal cost) stews from different local restaurants and then the kids went hunting for gold coins (handed out by some of the stores downtown). This treasure hunt, apparently was a race since there were prizes at stake, but we just strolled along and that was the perfect pace for us. At one store, Owen won a prize since his coin had a special color on it. He picked out a cool little tractor.

Later that evening, Kevin and I went to his brother Brian's house (and Tara's) for a Guinness kegger party while the kids went to my parents' house to spend the night. Although I don't drink Guinness, Kevin drinks enough for the both of us (and he kept blowing into the breathalyzer to see which of the Guinness drinkers was the tipsiest). Our friend Troy from Florida always comes to town for St. Patrick's day (or to Boston, or to whatever city in which the St. Patrick's Day celebration takes place). We played Left Right Center SEVERAL times, and luck was NOT on my side. But it was still fun, LRC always is!

On Sunday, we picked the kids up from my parents' house and my dad made corned beef and cabbage for lunch (at my request - he makes it every year for me because he still indulges me, his baby, in most of my requests).

So, we definitely got our Irish on. We just got it on before the 17th. Next year will be different, though, since I hear the party is moving to Chicago!!

Owen's Adenoidectomy & Tubes

So, as many of you know, Owen has snored like an old man since birth and frequently has to go to the doctor for this cold or that one or another. At the end of last year, we were referred to an ENT. The ENT thought he might need his tonsils out and he definitely needed tubes in his ears. It turned out that he didn't need a tonsillectomy (which is pretty serious) but that an adenoidectomy would suffice (much less difficult), along with the tubes (since apparently his hearing is impaired due to the constant presence of fluid in his ears).

So, yesterday was the big day for the adenoidectomy and the tubes. We got him out of bed at 5:30 am and went to the hospital since his surgery was scheduled for 7:30 am. He was so happy to be going on "ah-cation" with mom and dad (yes, for some reason, the day before the surgery, he started thinking he was going on vacation with us, and we didn't correct him...maybe it was because Kevin had said something about taking a vacation day for the surgery).

When we got to the registration area at the hospital, he was running circles in the waiting area, VERY excited about this vacation. Then we went to pre-op. He was still pretty excited but started to get a little apprehensive about all the medical equipment and the silly gown he had to put on. He was probably wondering where in the world the doggone pool was. But, the nurse, Linda, was extremely nice and put on some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle videos for him to watch. However, I think he's scarred for life regarding vacations.

When Owen took the (and this is the technical term for it) go to sleep drug elixir (to which Linda added sugar so it wouldn't taste so icky), it was HILARIOUS watching him become "drunk". He would get this goofy slow grin on his face and his eyelids were partially closed like he was high(and they're heavy eyelids as it is) and when we asked him a question his response was extremely delayed, as if he was in slow motion. At one point, we were laughing at his goofy grin and I said, "Hmm, I've seen that same look on your dad's face once or twice before." The hospital staff thought that was pretty funny. Kevin, however, did not.

The procedure itself only took about 1/2 hour. And then it was another 45 minutes before we could go see him in the recovery room. I had been warned that he would be pretty crabby when he came to, but I thought no, way, not MY Owen. Sure enough, though, they were right. Poor guy, his lips were dry and cracked and bloody, one of his ears was bloody. He had an IV in his hand and monitors hooked up to his chest and belly. This is the saddest I think I have EVER seen him look. Even his new dalmatian Webkinz didn't do much to cheer him up.

He just wanted to go home. But, they couldn't discharge him until they saw that he was OK enough to take in liquids on his own in order to stay hydrated. During recovery, I was able to put him on my lap in a rocking chair next to his bed. I had brought along a big Dr. Seuss book - filled with a bunch of his favorite stories -including the Sneetches and Horton Hears a Who - and I read it to him cover to cover. This, did not make him HAPPY but it kept him occupied and quiet.

This is Kevin trying to make Owen laugh by showing him what his sad face looked like. Nice, dad, kick him while he's down. This did not make Owen laugh, but it made me wonder.

All in all, Owen did VERY well. The staff kept remarking on what a good patient he was. He may have been sad, but he was well-behaved. He was very happy (although it may not look like it) when they told us we could go home. We put him back in his own jammies and he was ready to go.

We were discharged around 10:15 am, and Owen fell asleep on the drive home. Then he and I slept together on the couch until 1pm. When he woke up at 1pm, he was happy as a lark, as if nothing had even happened. His energy level and happiness only grew as the day wore on. He was blessed with a get well goody bag from Grandma Carol and Grandpa Don, in which there was this puzzle that he enjoyed putting together (all by himself! He's so smart!), Nee Nee sent over a goody bag with pop-sicles and a Thomas sticker book, my parents & Aunt Dee stopped by with pop-sicles and ice cream, and my sister and her family stopped by to give hugs. Owen ate up all the attention.

I'm so proud of my little trooper.

Vascillating about decisions with out a moral core

Eat cookies while watching tv, or get my work out in (that I was supposed to get up early this morning and do)?

Work out with my beloved Shaun T, or eat cookies made by my beloved Bailey?

Eat cookies? Work out?

Eat cookies? Work out?

Eat cookies? Work out?

As you can see, I am vascillating about a decision that does not have a moral core and while this decision may not have a moral core, it will certainly affect my core.

Cookies. Two of them. Oatmeal Raisin. And a wee bit of TLC. Thanks Bay! I have you to thank for the 2 pound weight gain that I'll surely see on the scale tomorrow!

OUT of it...

Had to call the attendance lines at school this morning for Jordyn and Liam. They both have dentist appointments this morning and will either be in to school late or not at all today.

Well, apparently 7:50 am (it's really 6:50 am) is too early for my brain and the rest of my body to function in synch.

I called the middle school first since they had already started school. In my Outlook, I have 4 numbers listed and clearly marked for the middle school: Main, attendance, fax, and counseling. I dialed the main number first, then the counseling number (I have NEVER called the counseling office), and then I got it right with the attendance line. The only number I didn't try was the fax line. Geez, wouldn't that buzzing noise have been nice this morning?

Then I proceeded to call Liam's school, DA, but instead I opened the contact information for OES, and for whatever reason attendance line info wasn't listed for OES. As I was searching the entry, I realized I was looking at the wrong school's info. When I finally got the correct number for the attendance line at DA, it was like my brain couldn't formulate what it was that I needed it to say. He's got gas, um, anesthesia, oh the dentist. May come to school later. May not.

I wonder if other parents leave incoherent messages on the attendance line or if I'm the only one. Right now, it feels like I'm the only one.

I just want to go back to bed....

My Mango Mandarin Bubble Bath

Sunday evening I decided to take a bath.

A bubble bath.

A very relaxing, rejuvenating mango mandarin bubble bath, to be exact.

With a bunch of candles lit and the lights turned off.

With an inflatable pillow with suction cups to hold it in place where I could rest my weary head.

With the spa jets in the tub turned on to relieve the scrapbooker's kink in my neck that I had gotten after scrapping at Amy's all day.

And, I don't take baths very often.

And then there was Owen who threw a monkey wrench into the whole relaxing part of this story. He was very excited that mommy was going to take a bubble bath and wanted to help me fill the tub, pour the bubbles, light the candles, turn out the lights, shut the door (open it, shut it again, open it, shut it again, etc.). Once I got settled into the tub, Owen wanted to know where he could sit (outside of the tub). As he perched himself on the edge of the tub, trying to climb onto the countertop (where apparently the best seat in the house was located), he nearly sent one of my GLASS candle holders crashing to the tile floor below. Then he nearly lost his footing and fell into the tub with me. Finally, when he started to dump out a basket of bath toys to play with on the floor, I said to him, "Owen, if you want to play with toys, go do it in the playroom. " So he left and then he returned 2 minutes later with a stack of books. He realized, though, that the candlelight was not enough for him to really see his books, so he started to turn the light on, "Owen, if you want to read books, go read them in the other room where you can see." And he did. I could then hear him mumbling/reading to himself immediately on the other side of my bathroom door in the master bedroom. Oh well, a few minutes of peace and quiet when.....

knock knock knock I hear a faint knocking at the door. It can't be Owen, he doesn't bother to knock. This time, it's Liam. He knows that he shouldn't be disturbing me, because I AM taking a relaxing, rejuvenating bubble bath after all. And so he WHISPERS, "Mom, I beat two monsters on level blah blah blah something something about one of his video games." Now, THIS is information that I NEED when I'm relaxing in my bubble bath. Good thing he whispered it, otherwise it may have interrupted my (as yet to be peaceful) time in the tub.

Maybe next time I take a bath, I'll do it when no one is home!!

Where did February Go?

I can't believe it's been 21 days since my last post! The longer I wait between postings, the harder it is to get back into it. I either feel like it would be too daunting to catch up with all the happenings over the last several weeks or I feel guilty about not posting every detail. I'm throwing the guilt out the window and starting fresh. If you want to know what I did this past weekend, just read Amy's blog (since we hung out Friday AND Saturday night). What fun!

I mulled over several titles for this come-back post:

1. "I've been too busy working and working out like a fiend to blog about my life" - Let alone live much of one, or have time left over to write about it. On the work out tip, I am still pushing play like a maniac and Shaun T of Hip Hop Abs has become my drug of choice. It's addictive and I can't get enough. Unfortunately, I still eat like a P-I-G so, my weight loss has plateaued at 10 pounds since Christmas. About a pound a week. I'm anxious to get into the next set of "10's" and plan to do a 2-day fast soon to cleanse my system and catapult me to the next level. YAY Tina for getting on the HHA wagon with me. You WON'T be disappointed.

2. "My fans miss me" - I was told several times this weekend that I needed to update my blog. Kim even mentioned, oh look, there's Heather and she's STILL in the city. OK, I'm so not in the city any more. It's fun, but it cuts into my Tilt Tuck Tighten time. Well, fans, I'm back....for now. I know I said I'd be back by Sunday, and it's now Wednesday, but better late than never. Now, I just have to get caught up reading all of YOUR blogs.

3. "You can take the girl out of the city but you can't take the city out of the girl" - OK, this title warrants a little lengthy explanation. And there are 2 examples of how big city, fast paced manners (or lack thereof) are creeping in on me. EXAMPLE ONE: Last Tuesday I was running really late for my flight. (As I'm sure you all remember, I get up at 3:30 am every Monday morning to catch a 6 am flight, but this week it was on Tuesday due to President's Day). Well, the alarm went off 10 mintues later than usual, then, I felt really sick like I wanted to throw up - I think from the big meal I had had on Monday night so it took me a while to get motivated and I even contemplated calling in sick!! I got on the road and the go was slow. The roads were icy and it was really windy. I finally made it to the airport around 5:40 am. Remember, I have to catch a 6 am flight. Of course, the security line was longer than usual because they only had one of their two lanes open (Flint runs things on a much slower pace than other places). So, I'm about 15 people back in the security line when I hear "Final Boarding call for passenger Heather Youallknowmylastname". I started jumping up and down...."That's me! That's me!". Now, I hadn't even gotten to the first phase of security to give my ID and boarding pass to the boarding pass checker. I cut in front of about 5 people to give her my ID. Then, I cut in front of 10 people to run my bags through the scanners and whiz through the metal detector. Then, they had to check my handweights in a special machine for bomb residue as I'm standing there putting myself back together saying, out loud, "OhshitOhshitOhshit" and "ComeonComeonComeon". I get clearance and I RUN to Gate 1, the Gate we ALWAYS depart out of, to find the doors shut. "Oh no, is it too late to board?" Then I see the sign at that gate says Orlando. "LaGuardia, I'm going to LaGuardia, what gate is that?" The Northwest gate agent tells me it's downstairs at gate 8, so I fly, in heels - no less, down the escalator to Gate 8. So help me God, I did NOT get up at 3:40 am, suffer through nausea and bad driving conditions to MISS my flight!! I got there JUST in time. PHEW. Then (and here's where I tie into my title) as I'm sitting safely in my seat on the plane, I think back over the last 10 minutes. Oh my gosh, did I say please, or thank you, or excuse me to any of those people I just blew past? Did I say excuse me to the nice woman with the stroller telling her toddler to step aside because this lady is late? Did I say thank you to the gate agent that re-directed me to gate 8? I can't say for SURE that I didn't say please, excuse me, or thank you. But, I can't say for SURE that I did either. EXAMPLE TWO: On Saturday, back in my quaint midwest, nice-mannered town, I needed to go to the Credit Union. First of all, going to the bank is one of my least favorite things to do. I don't know why, I just hate it, can't explain it. Of course the Credit Union closes at noon and I depart from my house at 11:50 to try and make it there before it closes. So, I'm in the left turn lane behind another car turning into the same plaza as the one that holds my beloved Credit Union, and time is ticking away. And traffic clears with a reasonable amount of space for a car to turn. But the car in front of me doesn't turn. Are you kidding me? I have 3 minutes til closing time and this guy is waiting for a freaking engraved invitation to turn?!?! HOOOOONK! Yes, with my 3 kids in the car and my patience EXTREMELY thin, I honked. Finally, during the next break in traffic he and I both were able to turn when I realized, I just honked rudely at this guy, who is turning into the SAME parking lot as me and he's headed for the Credit Union section of the plaza. I was mortified at my rash honking, so I drove down to the Coney Island end of the plaza before retreating to the Credit Union side of the parking lot, after I watched where the guy had parked and saw him go into the tax place and realized I was safe. What was I thinking? Honking like that? For all I know, that could be my son's next soccer coach, or former soccer coach, or parent of one of his friends, and here I am making an idiot of myself HONKING at him. Honking in Jersey is so common place that I've totally gotten used to it as a part of driving. It's like using the wipers when it rains. It's just what you do. But not in our quaint little barn-boot wearing Midwest town.

4. "How many holidays in a row can I ignore posting about?" - I say this one because my dear friend and fellow blogger Mindy seems to post about everything from Ground Hog's Day to Valentine's Day to Target Day and everything in between. How fun is that?!?!

5. "I'm a good getter" - This was just something funny Owen said to me a couple weeks ago when he wanted to get a snack from an upper cabinet (requiring him to climb on the stool and perch on the edge of the counter top to retrieve it). When I told him I would get it for him, he said, "No, I'll get it. I'm a good getter." I just thought that was hysterical.

But, no, I settled on "Where did February Go?", because honest to God, it just disappeared in front of my eyes. At any rate, I'll TRY and blog more often and more meaningfully from now on. Just add it to the list of all the other things I'm going to do more often (work out, floss, get busy <