Thursday Thirteen Domestic Travel Tips

I've been on the road enough in my 36 years to have picked up a few tips and tricks along the way. So here are 13 tips I've gathered for domestic travel.

1. Carry on your luggage in something other than a roller bag if possible. Use a backpack or some other squishy bag that will fit in between the cracks of the roller bags to avoid having your bag gate checked.
2. Going for just a couple of days - pack several contact lens cases, each filled with solution. It doesn't take much solution, and you don't have to figure out the liquids thing with the carry on stuff.
3. Pack matte jersey clothing. It rolls up into a tiny, squishy ball, and doesn't really wrinkle.
4. Avoid the security lines with the old people. (Sorry old people) They can have trouble with the shoe thing and can often be seen complaining to TSA about it. This takes too much time. Follow a crew through if you can.
5. The key to packing light is in the shoes. Try to match all your clothes to one or two pairs of shoes so you aren't stuck with an extra set of luggage just for shoes.
6. Pack your belts, jewelry, etc in the front of your carry on bag. Do not wear it to the airport. Dress after security has cleared you and you have your latte in your hand.
7. When your stuff exits the x-ray belt, grab it and take it elsewhere to reassemble. It is quicker and less annoying to everyone else who has better things to do than watch you redress at the belt.
8. A small hand sanitizer spritz bottle is nice. Seatback tray tables and seat pockets are the germiest  places in the plane, and it's always nice to use after you're forced to shove stuff in those.
9. Bring your own bottle of water. Good luck getting a beverage, and if you do, good luck getting more than a few meager ounces amidst the clunky cylindrical ice pieces.
10. The hotel irons are usually terrible and sometimes stick to your clothes, causing big problems and should be avoided. But they are good to substitute as steamers. Just leave your clothes on a hanger and keep pushing that steam button.
11. Get an aisle seat within 5 rows of the exit. They're the safest places on the plane.
12. If you've missed your connection, ask the first airline employee you see where the customer service desk is and run, yes I mean run, to it. If you've missed your connection, so have a bazillion others, and you do NOT want to be at the end of that line of ornery passengers.
13. Sit at the bar in an airport restaurant. The bartender is usually quicker with getting the food out and will give you more insight on what is and is not worth ordering.

Wordless Superstar

A toast to Tuesday

It's Tuesday. And that's kind of nice. Mostly because it's not Monday. With the weather improved and as a result, my sleep improved too, it's a much better day today. So here's a toast to Tuesday! Bottoms up.

And... we're back...

It's Monday. I've got nothing good to say, so I'm going to not say it at all. That was somebody's mother's golden rule, I'm sure. Instead, look at my kid and his cute little rump roast and too-long hair sticking out of his hat. Eat him up cuteness.

Cinco de Me - the day after

After presents and a Yankees win, and an afternoon of lunching and frozen yogurt visits and lawn mowing and hanging out, we capped it off with a lovely dinner. (Well, Beerman was all hocked up on Benadryal since his eye was all swollen up from something allergy-related, so maybe it was lovely for 2/3 of us) And it ended when I got a candle in my creme brulee accompanied by no singing. Kind of perfect.

The moon was not super, as it was so cloudy we didn't see it even existed. I'm hoping we can see it tonight, but the blanket of clouds overhead isn't looking promising.

At 36, I've got very few real complaints. I'm going to make this year about remembering that - that my life is really, really good. I think remembering that takes you a long ways toward optimism and happiness, especially when others aren't.

Cinco de Me

While it's my birthday today, and I was in Dallas until yesterday evening (I got home just in time via an unheard of on-time, direct flight - Clearly the baseball gods were with me), the day started like all Saturdays between now and mid-July - we had a baseball game to get ready to attend. I told him I wanted a good hit for my birthday present. Can you tell by his expression that he delivered? Such fun.

So now I'm 36. Cool.

Homeward bound

Today's the day I fly home. I'm skipping out of a few hours of meetings so I can get home to my Yankee's first game of the season. Let's say a prayer to the air traffic control gods that the flight is on time, because I'm just going to make it.

It's Thursday, so it must be Dallas

Dallas bound

I'm off for Dallas today. It's supposed to be close to 90 degrees there. Not that I'll ever see it from a hotel conference room. At least I've remembered my knitting. Maybe this sweater will get knitted before its year anniversary after all. Maybe.

Birthday month

It's May Day. Which means it's my birthday month. Although I'm not sure that means much, since I've got to spend the next 3 days in Dallas and then Friday night and Saturday at baseball games. And since my birthday falls so early in the month, I always like thinking about the lead-up anyway. Once it's happened, it's kind of over. But I had a birthday event already, so hardly feel cheated. It just feels a bit weird this year - kind of like it's already happened.

I always like to set goals for myself for the coming year on my birthday. For some reason, it hadn't even occurred to me until right now to do that. Guess I should start thinking.

But one thing I am going to accomplish today is getting rid of the gray hairs popping out of my head. I'm not turning 36 and looking gray, after all!

Summer's coming...

Yesterday, C-man had an official uniformed scrimmage to start off the season. I'm thankful for it, because he was sooo nervous at his first up to bat. The little imp was already swinging before the ball was even halfway to home plate. But by his 2nd up to bat, he'd settled in and hit it pretty hard. It was amazing to watch this team actually play like a team - hitting the ball, catching the ball, and making real plays! Such a contrast from last year's young team. This summer is going to be a fun one. And it officially starts Friday at 5:45. Let the summer of bleacher butt begin!

Blogger ate my post. And my feet hurt

So for some reason, blogger decided to eat my earlier post. Strange. So let's try to recreate the magic.

Last night was the school/church dinner-dance-auction fundraiser. It was a lot of fun. We didn't win much, to C-man's chagrin. Beerman is going to the home brewers event (as a participant, not an entrant, because we didn't think that'd be very fair) and the K4 teacher roped me into a book club event. And we donated to the church hall refurbishment. We think we did that twice - Beerman donated via text, and while I wasn't noticing him doing that, I donated live. Oops. Oh well, there are worse things for our money to go toward.

I wore my chicken dress. It was predictably, the only red dress in the crowd. And definitely the only one with eggs on it.

We were in the middle of the dessert dash, and just missed the carrot cake and apple strudel I really wanted. We got a chocolate polka dot cake that was pretty good, though.

A good time with good friends. We laughed and drank and danced. My feet are reminding me of the dancing today. But now, it's time to put on our Yankees hats. Because it's game day. Whoot!

Racing to the weekend

Oh my goodness, the weekend is almost within my reach! And, of course, it's going to be a busy one with the school fundraiser (yea, chicken dress!) and a Yankees little league scrimmage game. C-man got his new uniform last night (a necessary size bigger than last year), and thankfully, he's still #9. (He was worried about that.)

I'm worried whether my new contacts will come in today. I threw out my old ones because they were, well, old. Except I never looked at the fact that I had no others to wear! (How did that happen? I always have spare contacts!?) So now I'm wearing glasses, which are decidedly unsexy. And I'm NOT going to this fundraiser in glasses. So let's all say a collective prayer to the contact gods that they get delivered today so I'm not blind as a bat Saturday night!

C-man is just thrilled he's going to have a sleepover on Saturday night. The child is a sleepover king.

I've found myself checking out plane flight prices for next Easter so I can budget appropriately for it. Apparently it's too far away to get accurate quotes. It doesn't matter much, though. I'm figuring it out now so when they let me book, I'm doing it. Blue macaws and white beaches or bust!

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend of cold, crummy weather. Ick. But hey, at least it's the weekend!

Living for a latte

It really should be Friday today. But I've been thinking that every day since Tuesday, which has made this week interminable. And I can't seem to get my act together, mostly because I keep thinking it's a different day than it is.

Come on, weekend. I need you to help me reset myself!

Wordlessly King of the Castle

Smiles and giggles

Sometimes the smiles of others is what makes me smile the most. Toothless ones make me smile so hard my cheeks hurt. And don't even get me started on how he prefers to style his hair now.

Early birthday bash

So today, we got together with my family and a few close friends to watch the Brewers vs the Rockies. It was great fun to have my whole family together.

 

But then the game turned south, and we needed our rally caps. Thankfully, we were still smiling. (Or maybe that was all the Mountain Dew a kid who rarely gets caffeine was drinking?)

So the game's outcome wasn't what we wanted, but it was so much fun to have everyone together. And then after, one of our friends had us over for a pizza dinner and for all the kids to play in the backyard.

What an exhausting and fantastically perfect weekend. Turning another year older might turn out just fine for me after all.

Making memories

C-man discovered a friend of his had never been to a sleepover, so he worked his magic and made sure to rectify that. (Once upon a time I was the kid who hadn't had a sleepover, and Traci Urban had me over. We went to see the Sword and the Stone in a theater in Stevens Point and giggled all the way home. Good memories I could never deny another kid.) They played Legos and Bionicles and ran around and raced bikes and made everything into a sword to fight with.

At one point, I overheard this friend say, "Wow, you can do ANYTHING in this house! I love it here!" I had to giggle. A) Because we are indeed total suckers and not strict like his parents and B) He is the oldest of 3 kids coming into a house of an only child. Life is VERY different here. Anyhow, it was good to make a kid's weekend.

And now, it's time to make my weekend. My family is meeting me to all head to the Brewers game today to celebrate my early birthday. I haven't seen my family in AGES, so I can't wait. Well, that, and my name's going to be on the board. (Seriously, that's kind of awesome.)

A dime for your thoughts?

I don't have a lot of amazing thoughts to share today. It's day 3 of being rainy and cold, which means it's day 3 of being mostly worthless to the community at-large.

I finished 50 Shades of Grey and (spoiler alert) cheered that she left him. But since there are 2 more books, I'm guessing she goes back.

C-man was supposed to have a friend over tonight, but apparently we also have Cub Scouts. So now I'm waiting to hear if the kid is coming to Cub Scouts with him or sleeping over next weekend. I hate when I create unnecessary drama.

I just got notification that my chicken dress is in Milwaukee, which means it'll probably be delivered today. I'm so excited. It's a very funny dress. And being cherry red, I'll stick out like a sore thumb at this fundraiser. Go big or go home.

We got tile installed under the new fish tank 2 weeks ago. I've been chasing down the
carpet store since to get the carpet around it tacked back down. I finally got quite "firm" with the carpet store saleswoman yesterday, and lo and behold, someone is coming today to fix it. Hallelujah! It's so irritating that you have to pitch a fit before someone can do her job right. Needless to say, I will NOT be going back to them to do our whole house later on this year.

I planned on getting a new Gallardo jersey over lunch yesterday. (He's pitching Sunday and I desperately need a new shirt for the game.) But I realized that there was a day game going on, so called Beerman and went out to lunch with him instead. It was definitely the better option in the scheme of things. We just don't do that enough.

I am so thankful it's the weekend. And a good weekend it'll be!

Good thing (doo doo doobie doo)

Am feeling kind of physically drained, which makes me emotionally drained, this week. Sleep has been elusive. I'm blaming the slow moving low front. Plus, I just can't seem to get off a soul-sucking project at work, and it really weighs on me even when I'm home.

Which means it's time to play - What's Good in Jen's Life?

1. I keep quoting Charles Barkley's SNL sketch "White People Problems" because it makes me giggle. And now I've got people I work with doing it too. "It's just the worst!" It's a fun way to give a little perspective to things people make WAY more dramatic than they are.
2. I'm going to the Brewers game on Sunday - my first game of the season.
3. My trip to Southern California next week got canceled.
4. The red dress with chickens on it I ordered for the school dinner fundraiser just shipped. (I'll be sooo bummed if it doesn't work out, because I've gotten myself very excited about this silly dress and my sky high peep toe black heels.)
5. There was an enormous owl in my backyard last night. I love owls.
6. C-man didn't find the Lego set he really wanted at Mall of America, so bought a small one and then waited until he came home to buy the Bionicle he liked. I'm amazed at how quickly he can assemble this stuff now. He's really made huge leaps cognitively lately.
7. Since I wrote the title of this blog, I can't stop singing "Good Thing" by the Fine Young Cannibals. Awesome.
8. Tomorrow is Friday, which means Jack (Are all little boys named Jack these days? It's like being named Jennifer in the 70s. Oh, wait...) is coming to sleep over at the house. Apparently he's never had a sleepover, and since my kid is the king of them, he insisted we invite Jack over.
9. I got a thank you email from the teacher for giving Thunder and Sparky (the hermit crabs) all new stuff. She also told me C-man gave her a specific list on which treats each of them liked. Attaboy!
10. Ryan Braun hit a walk-off home run last night. Sweetness.

Wordlessly Spring

Randomly

Today is career day at school. With all the options of all the careers in the world, C-man, of course, went as the president. A shaggy-haired president who can't take a normal photo to save himself, but one who has decided that nobody should be homeless, everyone should get the medicine they need, and candy is free. I'd ignore the hair for that. Oh, and Beerman insisted he wear a blue tie, "Because this family doesn't wear red ties."

My rheumatologist upped my meds to weekly. It is good that I get more juice, but bad because the shot hurts (yes, I'm a weenie) and makes me feel crappy for 2 days. Today is the 2nd day of not sleeping and feeling crummy. I'm hoping tomorrow will pick up again. I may have to do this every 10 days.

I got on the 50 Shades of Grey bandwagon. I understand why people are reading it, but honestly, it's so poorly written, I almost can't bear to keep going. They are supposedly in Seattle, but regularly use phrases like, "above the pale," "besieged," and "looking smart." Also, in the first chapter, she says she's at school in Vancouver, Washington, but by chapter two, she's at school in Portland. Huh? Maybe I'm just not far enough into the trashy part of it to be willing to ignore how poorly written and edited it is.

Beerman has always joked that the UPS man and I are best friends. Which is why I'd like to point out that Beerman's latest package deliveries puts me to shame. Every day I arrive home to at least 5 enormous boxes at the door that I'm not strong enough to lift. Apparently the fish tank is in full build mode now.

I have been getting a lot of dress deliveries, though. I really hate shopping for clothes, but need a dress for this upcoming school fundraiser/dinner. So I've been ordering all kinds of dresses online and sending back the bad ones. But I think I finally found the right one. I sure hope it fits, because it looks super fun.

The sweet coffeemaker Beerman got me for Christmas has never worked quite right - the pump isn't right on it. So I finally sent it back to the company. They said I'd have a new one in 14 days. This is going to be a long 14 days.

I sure hope I get some sleep tonight. The exhaustion is almost overwhelming.

Because all things do come to an end

Our Spring Break 3-day getaway to the Mall of America in Minneapolis was a good time. We bought Legos, built a bear, visited an aquarium, got some new Crocs, found a new Avengers hoodie, bought some perfume, and swam with some cousins. I wasn't all that impressed with the mall itself. Partly because I'm not really much of a shopper, but also because it's just filled with chain stores I can go to 2 miles from my home. Beerman didn't like that there wasn't even a single cooking store in the whole thing. We did eat at Rainforest Cafe one night, which is kitchy, but fun. But the drive is about as boring as it gets. And if I'm not the worst car rider in the world, I'm definitely a strong contender.

On the way home, we saw Nana and Grandpa for a few hours, which was great, too.

Overall, while it wasn't camping with llamas like last year, it was really nice to get away as the 3 of us and see some family, too.

And now, we're working on getting back into the swing of it for tomorrow and hoping to avoid some of the nasty weather headed our way. Ick.

I know we need new windows and a new car this year. But next year, we're going somewhere really good again.

Ask me a question

There's been a big cognitive leap forward in our house, and let's just say it isn't me. We're constantly playing, "Ask me a question so I can answer it." It's like you can almost hear the sucking sound of knowledge being absorbed. Which is kind of cool.

Since he's really liking to read to himself now, we went and got him his very own library card. He though the was such big stuff signing his name on his own card. It was really cute.

We also finally opened a savings account for him. The child was Mr. Moneybags, so it was long overdue. Who knew a weekly allowance and birthday could make you so rich.

Beerman, after COUNTLESS hours of research, is now starting the buying phase of the fish tank set up. (Cough, choke, sputter.) It's a good thing I co-signed on C-man's savings account, because we may be living on that after this!

And me - besides non-stop sneezing from this spring, and biking with C-man, I mowed the lawn for the first time, and it was heavenly. I even beat the meticulous lawn lady next door to it.

I really love vacation.

Staycation Day 1

The first official day of vacation has been pretty nice. I got a pedicure, went for a nice bike ride with C-man, shopped for dresses for this upcoming dinner dance we're going to (If color is in this season, why is everything still black?), hugged my dog, did some yoga, gave the hermit crabs some fresh water, and watched the Albanian tile guy install tile while his dad watched him do it. And now I hear the lawn mower going, which means Beerman has it running again for the season. Guess it's time to do one of my other favorite things and go cut the grass.

I love not working.

Happiest of Easters

Harry had no interest in a rabbit coming in to HIS house. So the basket was found hanging on a brand new bike (that actually fits C-man better than the hoodie he keeps wearing!) outside this morning. Even the hermit crabs are happier today with their new crabitat we've built.

May your Cadbury Eggs be liquidy, the sun warm on your face, and the Brewers beat the Cardinals.

Quality time

I haven't been feeling the best the past few days - all achy and listless and sleepless and hivey. Despite that, C and I have still managed to play a bit. After heading out for breakfast at our favorite place and finally picking up the saltwater fish tank to go on the base we picked up ages ago (the Albanian tile guy is FINALLY coming Monday to lay the tile so we can set up the tank), we left Beerman at home and went to Raptor Saturday at the local nature preserve.

It happens every Saturday. But even though I've lived here going on 11 years, I've never been to see it. And since the Easter Bunny had to assemble a brand new bike, C-man and I went. We got to see and learn about some owls and falcons and hawks, and then walked around the preserve and climbed the tower to look at Lake Michigan from 60'.

Once we got cold, we went to the local frozen yogurt shop to celebrate. (Which was a good thing, because apparently the Easter Bunny needed every last minute of that for assembly time.) I do love me some vacation. I just wish it weren't so itchy and hivey!

That sneaky, wily Thunder

We continue to be on full hermit crab watch around here. When I got home yesterday, I couldn't stand to go near the tank, it was so stinky, so took my hermit crab expert's advice and gave them a salt water bath while we washed out their tank. (C-man said he doesn't think it's ever been washed. Ew.) Thunder tried to escape the bath repeatedly. Sparky, did what Sparky is best at - he sat there. Hermit crabs are so lame.

And with that, it's time to take the dog to the park and see what kind of mischief we can get ourselves into.

Tridium

Easter starts today. I love Easter a lot. Thanksgiving has never held much of a spot in my heart. Turkey isn't tasty, and I've never done a family sit around the table kind of Thanksgiving, but a stand and eat wherever you can. Ick. Christmas is nice, of course, but it often involves a lot of travel. And there's the commercial aspect to it I don't really enjoy.

But Easter, to me, is just nice.

It's always a quiet holiday I spend with my husband and son. While the past few years we've been out of state on vacation, we still don't travel to hell and beyond to see people to eat ham on Easter. And, of course, we don't have to buy and wrap presents. We hunt for a basket (which will be hanging on a new bike so C-man doesn't look like a giant on a tiny bike this year), we eat breakfast, and then we go to church. The fact that it happens in spring, my favorite month, doesn't hurt either. It all feels hopeful and fresh to me. And I like that.

So have a joyous Tridium. And if you're heading into Passover, happy cleaning to you. And if you celebrate neither, then just have a great one.

Randomly Wednesday

We won the hermit crab lottery, and they are now sitting on my kitchen counter. The instructions that came with them were vague. "Feed and water daily." Um, how much? Thankfully, my hermit crab expert has been helping me out. After hearing my friend tell me she killed the school duck last year, I'm kind of nervous about the whole thing. Thankfully, Beerman is good at keeping things alive, so I'll be depending on him!

Last night I asked C-man if he'd rather go to Legoland or a real jungle next year on vacation, and he responded, "Legoland."

Some friends convinced us to go to the church and school dinner dance this year, which is held later this month. Which means I need a new dress. Have you tried looking for a new dress lately? They don't have sleeves and barely cover the necessities. And after this past winter, I have a lot of necessity that needs to be covered. This is not going to be an enjoyable search.

I'm so unable to focus this week. I think vacation is going to be a really important step in the right direction.

Sluggish

You know how some days everything just seems easy? Today is not one of those days. Neither was yesterday. It's nothing in particular, really. It has just felt like everything has taken more effort to do - thoughts are slower, ideas aren't as creative, my focus isn't very intense, and usually I run 5 miles on Monday nights whereas last night I couldn't seem to get past 4. I'm hoping it's just allergies and I'm not getting sick.

Getting to Friday

Spring has sprung just in time for Easter break. Starting Friday, I will have 10 whole days off in a row. Wait, let me write that one more time. 10 days off in a row and I'm not even planning on thinking about work once.

I'm so, so excited. It's the first year in many that we aren't planning on going away somewhere really good, which is sort of disappointing. Well, to be fair, we have 3 days planned within driving distance, but beyond that, it'll be C-man and me hanging together at home. (There's a new car to buy and windows to get, after all. Ugh.) I'm predicting we'll see everything Milwaukee has to offer at least once, since he's one of the few of his friends not doing some great, wonderful, getaway. (He's deprived, for sure.) The bonus (that's sarcasm) of being home is that we get to put our name in the hat to get the stinky hermit crabs for the week. (Please, please, God, let some other kid get the hermit crabs!)

But I do love the whole Easter week thing. And next year, I'm hoping to do it somewhere really good again. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the sounds of the spring birds and smile - because vacation is coming!

Tiptoeing through Sunday

The dog is washed, the new cleats are purchased (he's jumped two sizes to a size 2 now!), the floors are vacuumed, the groceries are being bought, the snowblower was siphoned of its gas, and C-man is playing with a friend in the back yard. In other words, it's a typical Sunday in Jensconsin.

Boringness

Last night was the welcome to the season baseball party. There are only 2 new families to the team this year, so it's like the gang is all back together again. And the gang is a pretty fun one, so that's a good thing. The kids stayed up too late, and I drank too much (read: drank 3 whole beers), so it was a pretty big success overall. Tonight, we are going to the Cub Scout awards dinner. I think I would do just about anything to get out of going to this. At least I wasn't the one sewing all the patches that had fallen off C-man's uniform back on all morning. (Despite my mother's greatest wishes, I will never be a proficient sewer.)

So in all, not a lot to report. Guess that's okay, though.

Miscellaneous gobbeldy-gook

Today was the due date for me to turn in the big school plant sale fundraiser order to the greenhouse. I'm sick to my stomach, I'm so nervous that I screwed something up, it being the first time we've done this. Right now, I'm not clearing a ton of money for the school, because you have to buy things by the flat. In other words, if only one person ordered one plant out of the flat, I've got to buy the whole thing regardless. I'm really hoping I can make up the rest with a sale on pickup days, because then I could clear quite a bit.

Tonight is the Yankees start of the season party. I was supposed to make a dessert. I didn't. Guess I'll be buying that on my way home.

I did remember to buy my lottery ticket this morning. Well, "remember" might be overstating it a bit. I had to fill up my gas tank because the light went on, and when I got to the pump, it said, "Are you going to be a millionaire?" And I thought, "Why yes, yes I am." (Even if the odds of getting killed by a vending machine or asteroid apocalypse are greater)

I've been eating like crap lately, so am whole hog back on eating well. Dr. Oz says you need to take in 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of being up. So I've started chugging protein shakes in the morning. Ugh. I do have to say, though, I wasn't even hungry for lunch. So maybe it'll help.

I also went to see my rheumatologist today for my regular check-in and blood work. He's doubled my dose of the toxic nonsense to see if it'll help. I think I've got a better shot at the $500 million.

Oh, come on, weekend. You can't get here soon enough!

Find the Missing Object

While I was away, C-man pulled that other top tooth out. In my absence, the second string Tooth Fairy paid $5. C-man was pretty pleased with that. All I know is if he keeps this up, he's going to have to get a job in a Florida fruit stand.

On the road. Again.

I'm hanging out in Ottawa, Illinois these days. Yeah, I wouldn't know about it either if it weren't for work. Just imagine brown fields, windmills, and chain fast food restaurants in the middle of nowhere. Come on, you know you're jealous. I'm going to try to see the Hunger Games tonight, though, so at least it's good for that.

Since birthdaypalooza is done, it's time to start planning my birthday month. (she says while rubbing her hands together anxiously) My birthday is actually the start of C-man's baseball season, so I don't know who I'm kidding. But it's good to think about anyhow.

I started a plant sale fundraiser at school and was bummed that I wasn't getting any orders. True to form, a bazillion of them came in on the due date - today. I'm so thankful. It would have sucked for that to fail, because I would have been sucked back into that rummage sale again. Speaking of the plant sale, I should probably figure out what I'm ordering!

Moving on

Partypalooza is over. And that means the kid's birthday festivities are officially done. And I'm totally exhausted. Although I think the exhaustion part is more from wicked allergy season kicking in than little boys. (Achooo!) Beerman was feeding them all waffles when I left for work this morning, and said they all left with smiles on their faces. Even the grumpy kid who hated everything asked to stay longer. And that's saying something!

Now that the birthday fun is over, it's time to think about summer camp registration. He's going back to the same one as last year, but we still need to fill 4 weeks. (Can someone explain why the summer camps don't go the whole time kids are out of school?) I think we'll fill those with our own vacations and the Jewish kid's camp. It's crazy to me that it all has to be figured out now.

It's also time to kick this fish tank into action. We have the Albanian tile guy coming later today to tile the floor so we can put the thing in place. Beerman has the floor braced up for the additional 1600 pounds it'll add to the floor, holes drilled for the pumps and filters to go in the basement, and he's figuring out how to use our old pool filter in the mix for additional water overflow. Go big or go home is the appropriate phrase with this project!

Unfortunately, I'm so tired, all I DO want to do is go home.