Summer of '09 Roundup

Since a few days of rain has transformed us into a spring/fall feeling (green grass out all of a sudden/cool temps and windows open) it is the perfect time to reflect on our summer, aka our "Minnesota winter" (we hole up inside because it is TOO HOT outside.) Who would have thought I'd be HAPPY to see 90 degrees?! Bring out the courderoy!

[Pour yourself a Pimm's Cup, this is a long one.]

Just as my momentous triathlon was complete, thus began my next adventure of having company! Yeah! My cousin D is one of my first cousins (I only have 2) amidst the array of significantly older second and third and once removed cousins that I am blessed with. Sadly, I have no good pictures of D to slide in here for good measure, but know that we swam in Barton Springs, ate bbq, went to our most famous state attraction.



Some were impressed with this:


notice the proud arm draped on the cold metal.

After we sent D back to his moderate-temperature locale, which is utterly lacking in BBQ, we got ready for the Cool House Tour. There was one project that Smith and I wanted to have done before the tour, but it just so happened to be the one thing that we could never agree on. We had been back and forth for the last year about the backsplash for our kitchen. I don't know how we ever agreed on this:



But we did.


Midway through the installation, I realized why the tile looked so familiar: it is the exact same pattern and color from the kitchen backsplash at my grandma's house. Ours is glass tile, while hers was ceramic.


And so we are cruising along to tour day and I think I have everything under control when Smith drops a comment while we are brushing our teeth:
"By the way, I think John Dromgoole will be here tomorrow morning around 8 or so to shoot a segment in our garden for some tour promotion."

spit.

gasp.

choke.

John?

yes.

Dromgoole?

yes.

tomorrow at our house?

yes. he liked the look of our raised beds.


For all of ya'll not from around here, John Dromgoole has what I fondly refer to as garden mecca. He is the go-to guy for organic gardening know-how, products, and all things growing. It's HIS dirt in my beds. It's HIS mulch all over my house. Most of the landscaping plants were from HIS store. And he was going to be at my house. And I hadn't weeded yet (today), because I've been dealing with this weed:

[From my "Texas Gardening The Natural Way," by Howard Garrett:
Nutgrass... There's only one guaranteed way to control nutgrass: Remove all the plants and nutlets by sifting the soil through wire mesh. Put this material in the driveway, soak with kerosene and burn to ash. Put the ash in a sealed concrete container, take it to the coast, ship 200 miles offshore, and dump in the ocean. No other techniques I know will work...]

It's as if Martha was at my house for dinner and I hadn't bothered to vacuum.
He was very nice. And he didn't know what else to do with the nutgrass either.


The tour itself was fine, if not exhausting. I think we had over 700 people in our house, and they were all very very nice. They were curious and asked lots of questions. It's like a pop quiz at times...
Why is there a window here?
How many eggs do you get from your chickens?
How does the solar affect your electric bills?
So how many square feet of bookshelves do you have?


I had to refer him to Smith for that, and he had an answer.



So with it being so unbearably outside, what did we do inside?
We tried to grow tadpoles into toads. Our creek had an abundance of tadpoles and the boys gathered them for rearing. Out of 10, only 1 was released into the wild.


we had fancy sandwiches



a tape project



playmobil! pirates! arrr! sushi?


- let's find some saltier salmon eggs!

- yeah, and crunchy seaweed to wrap around them!

- we have plenty of seaweed, now let's suck up those eggs!

- can you hear me captain?!








piano in pajamas



another instrument...



Smith worked.



made martianmallows



they were wonderfully fun to make! and beautiful! and tasted like. well. Nbear just had one. We built things with the rest before we tossed them.



Took apart a rotary dial telephone




Hey - we made it OUT of the house, all the way to Houston for my 20th high school reunion. which rocked. Here's me avoiding the camera for the "prom-style" photo.




And summer also sees a birthday or two.
Here's the cake of my 4 year old.







And the 40 year old. We even got to reuse the 4. The "0" we had to be a little more creative with.





the greatest show on earth! in glorious black. and white.


It was the boys first circus and they LOVED it. Also the first taste of cotton candy. They had seen it for sale in the grocery store (how wrong is that!) I told them it had to be eaten either a) at a circus b) outside at a fair.



And ah. the First Day of School.


and so far, they are still smiling.

End of Year BLURRRR - The Kudos

There are Kudos all around at our casa, and some have the trophies to prove it. (me? I have a medal, but no one will tolerate me wearing it. sigh.)

The end of the school year had a piano recital. I swear there was much more enthusiasm displayed during the recital. He was confidant and eager to play.




Then there was the culmination of an entire season of 'black tiger' growling. Not much of a growl here, but you can just imagine it at every game.



the action shot!




Our youngest got to jump around at places other than his bed and the sofa.



He is also an expert head stander, which he also practices on the sofa, yelling at me to "get off the ceiling mom!"






And then there was me. I did it! My goal was to finish the Danskin triathlon without dying. I admit, not a lofty goal, but mine nonetheless. Don't I look all fierce here?



I'm looking a lot less fierce at the here, just red-faced and sweaty, but hey! notice the not dying!



I started the whole event nervous, apprehensive and overwhelmed. There were TONS of people. Where is the buoy I'm supposed to swim out to? Am I standing with the right group to get started? Did my family make it here yet? Do I see anybody I know? Are my goggles gonna leak? Will these new shorts work for the swim and the bike? Look at how many cancer survivors are here today, how can I be fretting about goggles and shorts when others have made it through so much more?

I was alone in a swarm of people, all preparing to do something amazing. It was a little emotional.

And then I swam. It was a good swim. I don't think I ever got a good sightline of the buoy I was supposed to swim to, but I followed the herd enough to get there. It's hard to swim with so many people all around you, on top of you, under you, but I managed. In the pool, I can swim the half mile in 15 minutes easily. With the swarm I finished in 20. I emerged in great spirits to get ready to ride - still scanning the crowd for anyone who might be there to cheer me on -- and YES! there was Jesse! Can't even describe the boost I got just from seeing the glimpse of his face and hearing him cheer. It was awesome.

And then I had to pee. Which seemed to take forever and a day (and with a timing chip strapped to my ankle I know just how long forever and a day really was - 6 minutes.)

F i n a l l y on the bike I pass my family on the way to the event -- passed them too quickly to even see them, but I heard them. Hey! This is fun. I feel like I'm going really really fast! WHEEEE! (Thank you Uncle Tommy for loaning me your fast bike!) There were two tricky hills on the route and they slowed me down, but not as much as I feared. Then came the run. And this is where I took stock: the swim felt good and it was fun. The 12 mile bike felt good too and it was fun. But this 3 mile run? Not feeling fun. It was work. I do have to thank the heavens for answering my prayers with a decent bit of cloud cover and a breeze; it could have been A LOT hotter. I ran as much as I could and walked whenever I felt like it. People passed me whether I was walking or running. But I did it.

And this is my favorite shot of all, courtesy of my friend Anthony. I like it because it shows some of the happy faces I got to see at the finish. The friends who gave me hugs, words of encouragement, advice, a hand drawn sign urging me to "TRI HARD!" and a great big cheer at the end.



Thanks Ya'll. See you next year!

Well look at me!

[I know. the link is now gone. I'll post a picture soon.]

Here!

I'm An Aunt! An Aunt! An Aunt!

Today there are 3 more beautiful babies in the world and they are directly related to me! I can't believe it either. I am the proud aunt of 2 nieces and one nephew. Uncle Tommy & Auntie Lynne are doing just fine. I'll post pictures as soon as I get my hands on some. And hopefully I'll be hugging those 3 peas in a pod very soon!

****note: must finish knitting hats!****

Deep Throat: The Conclusion of The Neck Files

You may remember my throat/neck thing? Bring yourselves up to date here.

Long story short, I'm a huge gray area. On one side are healthy people. On the other side are sick people. Then there's this huge gray area in between where seemingly healthy people have a sick person's symptoms; yet are not really "sick." (nor "healthy" if you are a glass half empty sort of girl.)

Here's what my doctor, "Mr. Nosey" (that long scary scope) and I have been up to this last month: Steroid treatment? no changes. Antibiotics? no changes. Allergies? no symptoms. Acid Reflux medication? no changes. A CT scan with a iodine contrast? no tumors (but several bruises from the attempted blood lettings and a mini IV.) A pre-visit to the hospital that took 3 blood techs to get a blood sample? (The first checked my right arm, then my left arm, then my right hand, then my left, then said "I'll be right back with John." Then she distracted me by asking about my pets while John poked around for his attempt. Then John disappears to get the next guy. The next guy taps a vein in my forearm, remarks "Wow, look how slow it's coming out" and "This one's gonna bruise.") A biopsy that required full anesthesia and six hours in the hospital with an IV attached by tape strong enough to bond the tiles to the space shuttle for takeoff? Thankfully not one sign of lymphoma.

Yes. A huge exhale of relief. I am blessed. I am lucky. I am... well. My body is just weird I guess.

Today at my follow-up visit with my doctor we talked at length about the gray area I'm in; thankfully Mr Nosey stayed in the drawer. He was also really surprised that I didn't end up taking the painkillers he prescribed for the the biopsy. I didn't even glance at the tylenol; honestly, I've had more painful throats with a cold. He remarked "I don't know what it is about women!"



*****And Now for Something Completely Different********

If I am a freak of nature with abnormally large lingual tonsils, don't we all wish I could whistle like this?

Houston, We have liftoff!

My friend Lisa has described the feeling of leaving the house, leaving the children, being off on one's own as being like a helium balloon - once let go, one drifts up and away feeling lighter and lighter.




Today as I bid both boys adieu at the gates of school, the feeling was more like a rocket had launched from my chest. and e x h a l e . I had been looking forward to this very moment often (remember this gentle reader?)

I now have some time and space alone for myself. Before now I could probably count the number of times I've been in my house alone on one hand (and Smith clicking and gabbing away in the home office is going to be ignored right now for sake of argument.) It feels good.



I ran into another person who was having the same feelings, but she was feeling guilty too. Somehow I am not. It can be painful to watch them grow up and away from me, but I am happy for my kids - they are going off on the next adventure of their lives (albeit with much less ME in it.) It is good for them. And I am happy for me, for I too am going about the next adventure in my life!