It's a good kind of tired!

New York City.  Rockefeller Center.  Late '80s.  That was the last time I went ice skating - until yesterday!  Kyle had a cub scout outing yesterday so David and I joined in the fun.  And it was fun.  Of course by last night it hurt to get up, it hurt to walk, and I woke up several times during the night with my legs aching.  But, we'll go again.  Plus, Kyle was such a trooper.  It was his first time so he fell down a lot, but he didn't give up and was having a great time.  I think we'll sign him up for lessons since some of the moms were saying that the skating rink was a favorite place to have birthday parties for the older kids...he would definitely have a better time if he has some basic skills under his belt.  Heck, I'm even considering lessons - I figure it's good exercise and something we can all do together in the middle of the H O T Georgia summer!  Sorry there are no pictures - didn't want to chance falling and breaking the camera!  (But just for the record, I didn't fall once!)

  

Oh and Kyle placed 2nd in the Pinewood Derby!

Making progress!

So we started a half-bath remodel job several months ago (okay, August 25 to be exact) and stalled out.  Here are the before pictures. But now we're moving forward!  We had a neighbor put the tile down and hopefully this weekend we'll get the toilet and pedestal sink installed!  Of course this still leaves the upstairs hallway bath in complete disarray, but at least it's functional!

Now and latte

So, did you hear about this?  Every single Starbucks closed for three hours this afternoon.  Apparently for some sort of "come to Jesus" meeting about customer service, etc.  Starbucks...closed for three hours (5:30 to 8:30 pm local time) AND IT IS NEWSWORTHY.  Really?  I mean I love Starbucks as much as the next guy, but I really think I would have been just fine not even knowing that I was unable to get myself a double-shot soy vanilla latte at a time when I have no interest in buying one.  BUT when I found out I couldn't get one I was somehow heartbroken and wanted it even more!

Sorry -

I can't help bragging a bit on my kid.  Kyle's alien picture has been entered into the art contest at school - with 4th and 5th graders!  We'll see what happens.

And the winning numbers are...

One of my favorite things to do on a long drive is to imagine what I would do if I suddenly became rich.  I've been playing the game with myself for as long as I can remember.  And let me tell you, my idea of "rich" has certainly changed!  As a kid on the BORING drive from Nebraska to Utah (think Wyoming, wind and sagebrush), I would contemplate what I would do with $100 since that seemed to me to be a huge sum of money.  I'm pretty sure most of that imaginary money was spent on Barbie accessories and new roller skates.  Oh and of course pom poms to put on the skates!  Obviously as I grew older I started thinking about buying cars, clothes, and crazy amounts of music, but the amount of imaginary money was still not that big.  

Now, as an adult, I realize that I am just crazy-greedy in my mind!  I start out with whatever Powerball amount I decide sounds good and begin ticking off what I would do.  Initially I give my brother and his family like a million bucks, ditto for David's brother and his family.  I buy my parents a couple new cars (really, what else do they need in life?) and splurge on high speed internet for my dad (oy vey, that's a whole other post).  I also buy David's parents new cars.  Then of course I put money away for education, donate to some of my favorite charities, and pay off the bills.  Then the fun begins...but wait, do I really need to give my brother a million dollars?  Ditto for David's brother.  I mean I won the money right?  They should be happy with whatever I give them!  (See?  I'm already getting greedy in my mind!)  My sworn sisters, Carol, Peggy, and Angela - well, they'll each get money (in an amount to be determined at a later date) and my friends Daniel and Shonny who I have known the longest will also get some cash.  

So now I've divided up the money and I get what's left.  But wait, how will I know if I gave too much away?  That I might not have enough for all the life-changing things I want to do for me?  See?  Now I start all over and redistribute money in smaller amounts - leaving more for me!  Me and Italy.  Me and Australia.  Me and my dream house.  Me and that BMW 325i.  

I'm not sure why I do this to myself.  I mean really, it's all pretend and I won't ever win the lottery mainly because I don't actually PLAY the lottery.  The game never changes though.  I start out being all generous then slowly but surely I start taking back money for me!  Perhaps I need to talk with someone about this...know any therapists?

Imagination

Grandma Mussman sent Kyle a big envelope full of great art supplies for Valentine's Day: stickers, craft sticks, glue, a stapler, glitter construction paper, etc. and Kyle immediately constructed a robot with some of the items and an empty Kleenex box!  Let the battle begin...

GULP!

In my job we spend a lot of time defending corporations and insurance companies against people who do ridiculous things, hurt themselves, and then look around for someone to blame.  I've worked on it all: falls from balconies, accidents at water parks, idiots at railroad crossings and in go-carts.  I could go on and on.  Sure, there are definitely times when the company really is to blame, when a product is defective, etc. but so often it's just somebody doing something stupid.

All that to say, yesterday we met Kyle's cub scout pack to have Kyle's Pinewood Derby car cut out at a guy's house who had a workshop with all the tools, etc. - he also had a trampoline in the back yard.  I immediately went into panic mode, Kyle has not been on a regular, outdoor trampoline before and Kyle is an emergency room magnet!  I mean I was trembling with fear watching one of the other kids bounce around, do flips, etc.  Kyle could not get out of his shoes fast enough.  He was so excited and I was such a downer!  This trampoline was just so scary to me - it didn't have one of those net things around it, it wasn't that far from the cement of the basketball area and the other kid has a mom who is...uh...less attentive to what her kids do than I am.  It was a horrible situation to be in.  

I certainly didn't lead a life of ultra-safety...we jumped on trampolines, even jumped from the trampoline into the neighbor's swimming pool, rode dirt bikes, ran wild at the river and swam in sandpit lakes that we had no business being in.  But darn it all, this is my kid!  He runs headlong into every activity with such wild abandon then seems perplexed when things fall down or are knocked over.  I could just picture him landing on that concrete.

Sigh - I became the trampoline safety monitor.  I positioned myself between the trampoline and the concrete so I could stop any kid from flying off (right, like that would have worked!) and started spouting off rules about "no dog pile" and "hands to yourself" and I don't know how many times I admonished some boy to stay away from the springs.  BUT - Kyle got to jump and jump he did.  He didn't try any flips or fancy tricks - I think he saw I was really fearful of the whole situation and everyone survived.  Whew!

And the Pinewood Derby car is going to be very cool!