Famous people....

I was just enjoying my current favorite after-kid-bedtime/pre-my-bedtime lazy activity....watching Oprah on Tivo. They shot for a second over to Gayle King and it reminded me of the time I saw her live in the flesh and I nearly had a cow. I think it's so cool to hear stories about seeing famous people out and about in real life, so I wanted to do this post and invite everyone to respond about your brushes with famous people throughout your life. It does not count if you saw this famous person in their famous habitat. For example, I don't really need to know that you saw Billy Joel at his piano in concert. What I want to hear is that you saw Billy Joel in the back of a hay wagon in an Iowa Corn Days parade....or whatever. It needs to be one of those moments when you said to yourself (or out loud) "What the....???" "Is that.....????" "Oh my gosh!" You get it, right? So here are mine:

1. I saw Gayle King at the 2005 Men's NCAA Championship Basketball Game (between Illinois and North Carolina in St. Louis...North Carolina won, of course!! Yes!). She was in the bathroom at the same time as me and she also was seated about 4 rows in front of us. We had great seats. Also at this game, we (Richard and I) saw all sorts of various famous people from broadcasters, to coaches, to NBA players (like Carmello Anthony who was one row BEHIND us...did I mention we had great seats? Thanks Hansbroughs!) It was great. When I saw Gayle in the bathroom, I had an overwhelming urge to hug her. But, I refrained. Alas.

2. I once sat across from Naomi Judd in the airport. She was hiding behind gigantic sunglasses and a newspaper, but it was her, no doubt. She was about 5 feet away. She was also on our same flight to Virginia that day.

3. Same trip as #2, Richard and I saw Morgan Freeman get out of a black Lincoln in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.

Plant problems...

If any of you have seen the tragedy that IS the landscaping out front of my house recently, thank you for keeping your thoughts to yourself. When we moved in last September, this brown thumb girl inherited an overstocked plethora of annuals and perennials that would make a horticulturalist's head spin. As fall turned to winter, all I had out front of the house were piles of brown stick structures and dead leaves. I seriously had to call a landscaper to come over and pull out all the disposable junk (annuals) and leave behind the dormant (I thought, dead) perennials that I hoped would make a reappearance in Spring. Well, some of it reappeared. Some of it really was dead....and subsequently yanked when the weather warmed up. That left me with lots of bare spots this spring which I promptly filled in with nice little onesy-twosey annuals of varying color. That worked well until about mid Summer until it was evident marigolds (one orange, one yellow) were on a mission to overtake the entire yard. They truly were the biggest things that have ever grown under my care (well, other than my first and second born.....the plants ARE bigger than Richie). Meanwhile, all the nice little flowers died in the heat and weeds sprouted up everywhere. I couldn't keep them out. At one point I had weeds as big as the gangly marigolds. Grr.

So, at the inspiration of a landscapingly-gifted friend, I've decided to start afresh. Today, it began. I ripped out every single plant and weed save two that actually look decent. I got all of them out except for one. One particularly stubborn one at the end of the driveway. I first went after it with my shovel. But, it was attacking my legs with its thorny, overgrown limbs. So, I took the clippers (or whatever those giant scissor things are called) after it. After I had whittled back the tenticles I went after it again with the shovel. That crazy plant would NOT for love or money come out of the ground. I literally did not have the power to extract it. I hope my neighbors didn't see me because I was in all sorts of positions with that shovel that a girl really should never be. I tried standing on the shovel to get it to go deeper into the ground. When that didn't work, I jumped on it and nearly fell and broke my neck. I tried the backward push--leaning full force on the shovel in the opposite direction. I tried the see-saw, an incredibly unflattering pose in which the shovel was under the plant and my entire body was suspended in the air on the other end--all of my weight didn't make it budge. Now, I know I'm not a big person, but I would think that a full grown woman ought to have the power to uproot one medium-sized plant. I couldn't do it. It stands waiting for my super-strong husband to come home and flick it out of the ground with his pinky finger.

After that, I'll plant anew.

Carson's lip...

Today is Labor Day. I spent my morning at Urgent Care. Carson and Avery were playing around and she somehow caused him to fall into the couch (while he had a blanket around his head and face) and he busted his lip wide open on the couch. He came running into the kitchen, blood dripping--that's a sight that will get a mommy's heart racing! The cut was deeper than what I thought might have healed normally by itself, so after a quick call to our friend who is a doctor, we decided to run up to Urgent Care. There is a new clinic in our town that we decided to try. It seemed really nice...friendly people...and we didn't have to endure the unfortuante customary 45-60 minute wait that doctors normally require these days. We were in within 10 minutes...paperwork and all! The doctor decided that Carson needed one stitch in his lower lip. And, since a shot to numb the lip would cause the same amount of pain as one stitch, we decided to forego any proper anesthetic and just go for it! Carson's did get to spend 5 minutes up close and personal with an ice cube to help numb it, but by the time the doctor came back, the cube was melted and his lip didn't feel cold to me at all. But, my brave little boy laid right back and took the stitch without any problem at all! No crying or anything. He is awesome! He got a sucker and a sticker and the doctor prescribed ice cream for later today. :) They didn't have the dissolvable stitches on hand, so we have to go back in a week to have this one removed. The kicker is that this little procedure cost us $226!!! I mean, can someone please explain to me how in heaven's name one stitch can possibly cost that much? Oh, and that was AFTER they gave us the 30% self-pay discount. And, this is AFTER we already pay hundreds of dollars a month for health insurance that doesn't cover minor sick visits such as this. Grrr. Oh well....such is life. Thankfully he was able to handle the ordeal without pain medication....goodness knows that would have probably doubled the cost of the visit! One of our kids is going to have to become a doctor so that later in life our family can get free medical care.

Silence is golden...

For awhile now, Richard and I have been making time for monthly date nights. We have a fabulous babysitter that is scheduled for a certain night each month so that we can get out of the house. We used to joke when we were dating and first married about how we could always tell which couples in restaurants were dating and which were married (probably with kids). The ones who are dating are smiling, looking in one another's eyes, engaging in meaningful conversation, perhaps even holding hands. The married ones are not talking, not looking at each other, spend most of their meal in silence and certainly are not touching....except maybe to accidentally bump hands as they simultaneously reach for their shared appetizer. We have officially become the latter! When we go out to dinner, we don't say much. If we do talk, 80% of the time it has something to do with the kids. Rather than gazing deeply into one another's eyes he is usually watching whatever ballgame is on overhead (yes, we seem to usually chose "those" restaurants) and I'm studying the menu or staring blankly out into space. It's so funny! But, the reason we do this is not because we're disinterested in one another. I think it's because we are genuinely welcoming the silence. To have a meal in which we have the pleasure of not talking...not chopping up someone else's food...not cleaning a spill....not negotiating the last few bites of cheese among the kids....well, it's rather refreshing. Now I can empathize when we see those other married couples having dinner together in complete silence. It's not that they're upset or completely bored with one another. Chances are, they're relishing the quiet of a dinner without kids! And, chances are, these same people will do what most other married people we know do for after-dinner date activities.....no, not that! We all roam aimlessly around Target/Lowe's/The Mall with no agenda, making no stops at the "potty" and not carrying another human on our hip! So, date nights may not be what they used to be 10 years ago for us....but in some ways, they are equally satisfying. And, somehow just being with one's spouse, whether we're talking so much or not, really is bonding in its own special way.

Kindergarten, here we come...

Well, this is it. That day on the calendar that I've been so looking forward to and also quite dreading. The one that marks the last day that Carson (our oldest) is home with me. Tomorrow, he starts Kindergarten. I'm thinking of all that I have to do between now and then--pack his lunch (will he be able to open the yogurt top by himself? don't forget to send a spoon!), iron his little uniform (did I buy the right size pants? are his shoes solid-color enough to keep him out of the principal's office? for heaven's sake, don't forget his belt!), show him one more time how to use his alarm clock, make sure the camera has batteries (and plenty of free memory), read "the kissing hand" together (and try not to cry) and most of all PRAY (for his protection, for his learning opportunities, for his friendships and for all the other things I might forget or not even know to pray for but somehow that God in his grace will cover them anyway).

When we went to orientation on Friday, his new teacher greeted him and in the sweetest and most sincere voice she said, "Oh, Carson! It's so nice to meet you....I have been praying for you!" Yep, my tears instantly welled up a bit. How blessed we are to send our child to a place where he will be loved and cared for. It won't be like home, of course, but it will good in different ways. Heaven knows the child is ready. He reads everything he can to me and he hasn't had a day of school yet! It'll be awesome to see how much he learns this year.

Thankfully, my parents are coming over tonight and will be here to send Carson off in the morning with us. They'll also serve as tissue fetchers for me and as some distraction while from 8:15 until 3:00 I watch the clock and wait to go pick up my baby.

God is teaching me, though, that it is HE who loves Carson the most and it is HE who provides guidance, protection and who orders the steps of righteous men (and children). So, I'm reminded almost daily lately that even though he'll be out of my care, he's never out of our Father's care and I can rest and rejoice in that!

Back to the future....

Remember that part in Back to the Future where Michael J. Fox is standing in front of that giant tv screen and things pop up on demand? Or the scenes in Star Trek where people talk to the faceless whatever she is and ask for things and they appear? My house is slowly (or quickly) headed in that direction.

I have a degree in software engineering. I do understand a few things. But I am completely amazed at what Richard is doing in our home with the network. Somehow (and only he really knows WHY!), we have both DSL and Cable running into our house. We have servers that still do work for our business providing email and web hosting. We have cable tv (a recent switch from DirecTv). We have Tivo again (thank God because I hated that ridiculous HD-DVR from DirecTv). We have an XBox 360. We have our personal PCs and laptops.

Somehow he's engineered this place so that through our wireless network, we can share files across all of the devices. We can watch a slide show of our wedding photos via the XBox on the tv downstairs. We can download a movie off of the internet, store it on one of the servers and then import it into our Tivo box and watch it in the bedroom. We can listen to internet radio through the Tivo. It's unreal.

Pretty soon, the kids will be sending me video of their recess through their cell phones, I'll get a notification on my laptop and then send the video downstairs to watch it on the XBox! :) HA! Won't that be great.

"COMPUT--AH.....make my dinner, please!!!"

Oh, no she DI-IN'T!

I struggled with a title for this post because the story herein is so traumatic that I had trouble naming it with enough gravity. I think this one captures it....almost.

We took the kids out to the park tonight. It's a park that has one of those monstrous two-story ground-hog tunnel contraptions where kids can crawl hands and knees up to the top and slide down with glee. We were the only ones there and our kids were enjoying having the playground to themselves while Richard and I sat on a nearby bench in a rare moment of refreshing silence.

Avery came bounding over to us all cute with pony tail bouncing and skirt swishing around her knees. "Mom, I have to go pee." "You're gonna have to wait." "AWWWWWWWWWWW IIII CAAAN'TTTT" I've heard this before. Yes, she can wait. I responded with a sarcastic, "Well, I guess you'll just have to pee your pants then." She chirped a much too chipper "OK!" and ran off back to the playland. Richard was concerned that she took me seriously and I scoffed, "No she didn't! She knows not to pee in her pants."

Ten minutes later, Carson came running toward us and proclaimed...."Mom, Avery peed in the playland!"

It was one of those instants of maternal terror when you're worried not so much about what your child just said but if anyone in earshot was able to hear the horrific announcement. Seeing that we were alone with this jewel of knowledge, I probed for confirmation, "Are you sure?" "Yes." "Where?" "At the top of the slide."

Avery came out then looking normal as ever. I asked her to turn around and sure enough, the entire back of her skirt was soaking wet. Not only did she pee in playland, she didn't even have the courtesy to pull down her britches. I hung my head half wanting to laugh, half wanting to cry. I told her that I hadn't meant what I said, but of course couldn't scold her. It's not her fault she didn't get my joke.

I contemplated bolting. I mean, no one was there to see our little "crime" and no one would ever know. Heck, it might have evaporated before tomorrow! But, my conscience struck and so Richard went to the van to find something suitable to clean the mess. All we had was my swim cover up in the back of the car--not nearly heavy duty enough for this job, so my dearly beloved husband sacrificed the t-shirt off of his back and began approaching playland. I said, "No, this is my fault, I'll do it."

And I set my face toward playland and marched up to my fate...

Have you ever seen an adult in a playland? There's a reason why not. It was 95 blazing degrees in there, a claustrophobic, buried alive, grave-like experience...in which I could maneuver only on my backside and/or my knees. Carson led the way through the maze to the very top where I found it--a medium-sized puddle of my daughter's yellow pee spreading across the bottom of the hot green plastic tube. I started sweating and feeling very nauseous. I wiped up the pee with the t-shirt and slid out of there as fast as possible. Breaking free, I saw across the way my sweet husband (shirtless) bucklng my daughter (naked as a jay-bird) into her car seat.

They say that pee is sterile. I sure hope so. Because some poor, innocent kid is going to crawl around up there tomorrow and never know the difference. One thing's for sure....it won't be MY kid!

Why is it that the strongest displays of love between parent and child almost always involve some sort of bodily fluid?