Fishing Dreams Come True

My boys dream of fishing. I'm not sure why but I think it has something to do with deep, primeval urges that they don't even understand. Well, when we moved to Arizona, we chose our house in large part because of it's location in a planned community that is beautiful and packed with parks, swimming pools and yes, TWO catch-and-release fishing lakes. Since August I have been asked at least 50 times a day, "When do we get to go fishing, Mom?!!!!" Saturday they got their wish. Our association sponsored a family fishing day and provided poles and bait to anyone who wanted to participate. I figured it would be a disappointment to them, but apparently it lived up to every expectation and fulfilled every subconscious need they had! Here are a few of the pictures from that perfect morning of fishing. I consider it perfect because I didn't have to touch worms or fish, nor did anything stinky or slimy come home with us (except Gid and Eli who got dog-slobbered along the way.) Next summer when I want to die of the heat, remind me of this idyllic day next to the lake.

Here's a far-away shot of Cody, Curtis and Jonah across the lake. They kept moving farther and farther around the other side, so I had a hard time keeping up with them.

Cody actually caught a "carp" that get's bigger everytime I ask him how big it was. I came after-the-fact so I didn't get a picture. Darn!

Jonah and Curtis, on the other side of the lake, AGAIN.

Cute Curty never touched the bait, he asked the volunteers from the Arizona Game & Fish Dept. to bait his hook everytime. I asked them to smile for me and only the volunteer remembered what a smile was! Curtis apparently caught a catfish too, but it got away before he could pull it out. He tells me that he used an earthworm dipped in catfish bait dip and it was REALLY stinky.

Hannah, Gideon and Eli hang out on the bridge.

Gid and Eli found some greyhounds and they LOVED them!

The dogs loved the boys too, notice where Gid is now. (but he didn't cry!)

The Hairiest Legs on the Band Bus (weird shower musing #1)

Sometimes I have weird thoughts when I'm showering. I find them funny (but don't people always find themselves funny?) and I've never had anywhere to explore them before. But NOW I have a blog, the perect place for my weird shower musings. I won't presume them to be entertaining to anyone else, but it's somewhat cathartic to get them out of my head. So, I'll apologize now if I must.

As a sophomore in the marching band (playing the tuba incidentally, which is a strange, gender-discrimination inspired story I may tell some day), I found myself roped into a contest while on a charter bus which was on its way to a long -forgotten band competition in San Jose, CA. Someone decided we should ascertain who had the hairiest legs on the bus (including guys)...and I WON! Lucky me. It just shows that even back then, I hated the feminine ritual of shaving my legs. What a major pain! I would avoid it for as long as possible and still do. Today though, I looked down and saw the hair was getting to be Orangutan-ish and since I just happened to have an extra couple of hours to get ready, I marched into the shower armed with my pink razor and an extra measure of patience. Sheesh! It just takes too darn long to shave your legs, not to mention the contortions and cramps and awkard angles involved in shaving in the shower. But, after many moons (no pun intended), I traded hairy legs for pruny feet. Even after all that time I still didn't do the thorough job that most women do (you know, all the zones), I just managed to shave from the knees down. Why oh why is this a girlie thing? Admittedly, I like that slippery-under-the-sheets sensation you get the first night after you shave your legs, but I find that the sensation is enhanced in proportion to the number of weeks (or months!) it has been since I last felt it. So forgive me world if I'd rather have the hairiest legs on the band bus. Maybe when I'm old and wrinkly, they'll be smooth because I'll have all the time in the world to devote to shaving. That and the prunies will blend in with the wrinkles.

Public Apology

It has been brought to my attention that I've been sub-consciously disparaging ogres in my new blog. I hereby issue a humble apology to specific ogres who may have taken offense and promise to hereby use in my personal analogies, some other non-human, cranky creature who does not frequent my blog, in the future. I publicly state that I find nothing wrong with Ogres (capital "O"), just myself turning into an ogre (lower-case "o"). I am so sorry.

What's going on in the universe?

There is a strange deja-vu-ish vibe happening in my universe right now--and NOT in a good way. Nine years ago, we lived in Rochester, NY and in late October, Ren left town to go to a conference in Seattle. While he was gone, one-by-one everyone came down with the stomach flu, starting with the twins who were babies and continuing on until all of us were laying on the floor in varying shades of green. Fast-forward nine years...Ren left town Monday to go to...Seattle for a conference. Should I have seen it coming? Well, there was no precedent, so I guess I didn't really have a warning that Tuesday morning I would wake up with the stomach flu. Actually, most of the kids had it over the last two weeks, but I thought I was safe! I've been laying in bed or running to the bathroom for two days now and vowing that I won'd let Ren go to Seattle in the fall again! Mercifully, he planned his trip to be short and came home this afternoon. The Littles (Eli (2) and Gideon (1)) are so happy to have an adult who cares about them again!

The other deja-vu was a bit less depressing...last week Ren traveled and when he came home he'd forgotten where he parked his car in the airport parking lot. So, he thought he'd be extra careful this time and make a note in his blackberry of his spot. When he started perusing the blackberry he found a file from two months ago when he'd traveled and had made a note of his spot...and he'd parked again in the exact same spot as he did in August! (Twilight Zone Theme Song: doo Doo doo Doo, doo Doo doo Doo) It was just weird!

Obviously, there are no appropriate pictures to post for this momentous, cosmic experience (I don't want to gross everyone out!) So, I'll just sign off green and tired in Arizona.

Just kidding...my life is now a crime drama!

There are those life rules that you have to learn the hard way. Even though I've learned this one many times, I guess I must have forgotten today's iteration. It is: NEVER start a blog and leave your two year-old unattended. While I was typing my first post in Ren's office, a little criminal was hard at work in the guest room/my office (where I thought he was watching a Dora the Explorer DVD). Here's what I found when I finished and walked down the hall to discover the guest room door CLOSED.

First, I saw the CRIME SCENE!



Sharpie marker EVERYWHERE and destruction evident all around. Then I screamed. Then I watched Eli hit the floor on his tummy, tucking his head into his arms as if to hide from the banshee coming at him.

Luckily for him, my life was still a sitcom at this moment, so I thought, "Hey! This will make a great blog entry!" and started snapping pictures!

See, my earlier post still applies, instead of spanking him, I just took pictures of him. So much less damaging than abuse I'd say. So anyway, even in a crime drama, the culprit is caught and there's a smug resolution. Now I'd better go see what my next post is going to be about (because I don't know where the 1 year-old OR the 2 year-old is!)

My Life is a Sitcom

Most people who know me know that over the years I've kept a notebook of funny things my kids have said. Well, recently it seems, we've just been very funny -- or very full of ourselves -- because the kids keep saying, "Mom! You have to write that one down!" I find myself listening ever more intently to everyone's conversations so that I might have material for the "Book of Funny Sayings". And, I had to admit to myself the other night, that I've even tried to be funnier than usual so my kids would say to me, "Mom, that was funny! You've got to write that one down." I started thinking about this phenomenon early yesterday morning, and in the midst of this philosophical moment, I had the thought that my life is turning into a sitcom. I'm actually trying to be funny so I'll get a laugh from the audience! How embarrassing...and yet maybe this isn't as pathetic as it sounds. Because, if I'm trying to be funny, doesn't that mean that I'm less likely to be the ogre-mom I sometimes turn into when life gets crazy? What if all of us, all the time had the attitude of, "living with me is a whacky, hilarious, up-beat experience" and "at the end of this episode all problems will be resolved and we'll all love each other"? Frankly, I just think that it's a new way of saying the glass is half-full, only now what matters is what the glass is half-full of (think of a funny liquid...is there a funny liquid? Maybe that can be another topic to post on...please feel free to comment.) So, this is my new angle on life: My life is a sitcom and it's up to me to make the writing of it funny, memorable and ultimately have a great ending to every episode. I'll still keep listening for the great things my kids say, but I won't have to be self-conscious of my own witicisms if they happen to make the cut because that just means we had a good day.