Happy Friday

It's Friday. Boom.

Thursday Thirteen Trivial Things

1. I got a new camera lens last night. It's nothing really special, and I went with a non-Nikon lens (my first one), but should fit as a really good all-purpose, any situation lens, which I've been needing. (Yes, needing. You heard me.) Now I shouldn't have to switch lenses all the time.
2. I'm driving to Stevens Point tomorrow for my nephew's graduation. I'm totally getting a delicious road trip F'real on the way home. C-man's going to be so jealous, because that's our road trip tradition now.
3. I have now called my rheumatologist's office 4 times with no response on getting the Orencia infusion scheduled. I think it's the lab that is the problem, not my doctor. But I am at hte point where I'm ready to jump ship to another place.
4. We got C-man's MAP scores in the mail. His reading scores are identical at the end of the year to the beginning. I don't know how that's even possible since he was really struggling at the beginning of the year and isn't at all now. It's making me question the scoring system.
5. I have been so tired this week. It seems like no matter how long I sleep, it doesn't feel like it's enough. My body is definitely not "right" lately.
6. Roof ball has become a full-on nightly game at our house. We race to finish dinner to get to the delight that is throwing a kickball on top of the roof and racing to catch it. I love warmer weather.
7. C-man has 2 weeks of school left. How time flies. I really am looking forward to summer. Because while I still work, and he's off to summer camp, it feels so much more relaxed. No homework to get to, no major overscheduled schedules to meet. Ahhh...
8. He has no uniform shorts that fit. We agreed he could wear pants for 2 weeks, though. I just can't bear spending money on shorts he'll grow out of before next school year.
9. My hammock chair is up, and I've spent some decent time in it. I'm hoping to do so again this weekend.
10. I also hope to get some geocaching done. We haven't done a ton lately, except for a few on Mother's Day, and a whole mess of them have been planted in our area. Could be a fun Sunday if the weather cooperates.
11. I still have a ton of plants left for the school plant sale. But I put them out as a "donate what you can", so they seem to be going more quickly. I'm going to post a "Free" sign on them for masses this weekend, and hope to never see them again.
12. I have a massage and facial scheduled this weekend. Sometimes, it's good to be me.
13. C-man often forgets things. When he forgets his lunch box, he needs to stay in from recess and write us an apology note. The other day he remembered it, and I complimented him. To which he responded, "No, the teacher gave it to me. She said she's given up on the apology note thing working." And there you have it. He's broken the toughest teacher in school.

Wordless City Dog visits the Farm Wednesday

Pitter patter splish splash

Farm day

We spent the day at the farm yesterday. A lot of driving, but great to see Great Grandma. Harry was super happy, albeit a tick transporter. The boys got to plant the chestnut trees they have been growing. (C-man named them Ivy and Bob - Ivy for Survivy and Bob because he really likes the name) And, of course, we had our gas station milkshakes on the way home. A nice, nice day had by all.

Weekend

No baseball, no judo, no work... This is going to turn out okay...

Junior Olympics goodness

At the school auction this year, the only thing I won was for C-man to carry the flag at Junior Olympics. Yesterday, he learned he got to pick 3 of his friends to carry it with him. So he picked 2 friends his age and a 7th grade girl. (She's his "buddy" for things and he adores her). It was adorable.

Then the games began. C-man easily won his first 50 m heat.

He had a couple of decent long jumps. (This jump earned him a silver)

But the most coveted competition is the 50 m dash finals. Everyone thought the kid in lane 1 was going to take it all, because he's notoriously fast. But C-man was ahead from the start and kept the lead the whole way. I was totally shocked. He's been telling me he's the fastest kid, but I sort of felt it might have been in the same line of thinking as he totally deserved the school concert solo, if you catch my drift. But he totally won it all.

"I'm so glad the girls were separate from the boys, or Ellie would TOTALLY have beaten me."

To add to the fun, Ireland won the whole Junior Olympics as a team. Fun, fun, fun stuff.

Thirteen Things I'm Thinking About

1. Beerman's brewery will be on Jimmy Kimmel tonight, if you're watching.
2. The billing person from the rheumatic disease place I called to inform me of my upcoming costs of the $1200 infusions I'm going to start having. When I asked how many I needed, she didn't know. When I asked how often they would happen, she didn't know. When I asked how much would be covered by insurance, she didn't know. So why did she call me to go over the upcoming billing? Frustrating.
3. I had a distance reiki session the other night. I kind of thought it was a bit of hocus pocus, but figured what the heck, and totally trusted the person doing it. I don't think it did much in terms of pain, but there was definitely something going on during. Areas of my body were actually physically hot to the touch. Super weird. I think I will try it again, because it was kind of wild.
4. I've been looking at places to stay in New York for a family trip with my mom and sisters. I'd forgotten just how overpriced that city is. Seriously people, this isn't Zurich!
5. I'm not doing the plant sale again next year. Home and School had to cut 6 of its fundraisers, and that was one of them. It's too bad that people didn't support it better, because it was a low-work one in terms of volunteers. But I'm happy I'm ditching a fundraiser from my responsibilities.
6. I'm going to run the host family program instead. Not that I'm all that shmoozy and welcoming, but it'll be nice to not do something that's looking to raise money for once.
7. We have been taking nightly walks around the neighborhood. (Well, C-man scoots through the culverts and down ramps, etc.) We'd gotten out of the habit, and everyone enjoys it so, so much. I'm so thankful the weather has become nice enough to bring that fun back again.
8. C-man's baseball coaches canceled practice again, so he'll go to judo instead. He got scared at Monday night's judo, so getting him back tonight may be a good thing to get him over it. Or, maybe it'll destroy his love for the sport permanently. Who can tell.
9. I'm wearing squeaky shoes today. They were in my summer shoe bin and I'd forgotten how much I hate them because they squeak. These things are going straight to the garbage can tonight.
10. Right after I go to Zappos and order some new ones.
11. I need to get my camera in to get cleaned. It's getting all dust spotty and is irritating me.
12. I also need new shirts, but I'm having a hard time. I really would like something between "I hope he asks me to prom" and couch upholstery. And it's not been easy. It's made getting dressed in the morning a real event.
13. Tomorrow is C-man's Junior Olympics. He's carrying the flag (because I bought it at the school auction) and I'm measuring the long jump. Always a good day to not work.

Wordless Wednesday: Favorites

Too many things to do

Today is a day of too many appointments, not enough time to get to them all. While Beerman is off cavorting with a late night TV cast (don't ask - I think it's still top secret), I have to get Harry to the vet, C-man to the dentist, and me to the eye doctor. Um, yeah... probably not all happening. So dentist it is! And only because I already rescheduled that once. I could really use a nanny for me.

Weekend Wrap-up and Monday Kick-off

• C-man won his game on Saturday, lost by one run on Sunday. He went 5-5 on Saturday and 3-3 on Sunday. Not too shabby.
• We went out to eat on Saturday night at the local Turkish restaurant for our anniversary. C-man came with us. So awesome that we could walk around the restaurant, look at the pictures, and he could identify each of the places. The food was pretty great too, so all in all, a nice night out.
• Harry has been super duper slow lately. He had a tick on him, and I'm worried he has erlichia. Doesn't change his oppressiveness about going to the park each day, of course.
• The plant sale has sadly, not made much money yet this year. I don't think it's worth continuing with it, which is a shame, because it really had such potential. I'm hoping people buy more this week to boost sales. At least we didn't lose any money, because THAT would have been tragic.
• I think I agreed to organize the host family program for the school next year. At least it isn't VP of Home and School. Ugh. That would have been truly awful.
• I got a Nook for Mother's Day, and I am a bit embarassed to say how much I like it. I just pre-ordered the English Girl, and it's so much cheaper. Sorry, paper...
• A naturalist friend is doing distance reiki on me tonight. I have no idea if this will work, but nothing else seems to, so I figured it couldn't hurt.
• Someone won the lottery this weekend, so I guess it's time to start playing. My odds are better when it's lower, right?

A dozen years of bliss

All Fives

It's full swing of baseball season, and C-man's wrist was back in action enough to play today. He went 5 for 5 with 5 RBIs in an overall crushing of the Indians. And it totally kills me to not quote Major League incessantly when the Yankees play them, but I've decided saying F-You Jobu is probably not 6-8 year old appropriate, so I keep it to myself.

Up to my eyeballs in flower petals

I have been up to my eyeballs in plants the last couple of days, chairing the school plant sale. It hasn't gone nearly as well this year as compared to last year, and that's kind of disappointing. I think the weather has a lot to do with it. Hopefully we'll sell a bunch of them off this weekend after masses. The good news is it's meant I wasn't at work the past two days. That's always a good feeling! The bad news is I kind of need another manicure. If, for nothing else, to get the immobile dirt out of my nails!

And now, let the real weekend begin...

Sad clown

C-man had his school's Spring concert last night. It was a circus-themed concert, and he got to be a magician. He was supposed to have a big opening line, but the older kids got in his way and crowded him out, so he unfortunately couldn't deliver it.

He tried out for the solo in Sad Clown, and didn't get it. Again. The child inherited my singing ability, that no amount of voice lessons will cure. But we have decided that he has his whole life to get beaten down, so aren't sharing that news with him quite yet. And the kid who did get it most definitely deserved it.

The hula hoopers went about 2 minutes too long. And I'll never understand why any music teacher needs to share the assault that is the recorder with the world. But other than that, it was super, super cute.

Complaining again

Whew, the pain has been rough lately. Crushingly bad. And I have to run the school plant sale later this week - hauling hoses and plants. Somehow, it'll happen, I suppose.

Recapping Mom's Day

C-man is pointing out the magnetic geocache on the electrical box - the silver box hidden in plain sight.

In true Mother's Day fashion, we decided to go geocaching after mass and lunch. (We ate at the crepe place in Cedarburg. They definitely weren't French crepes!)

We found 6 geocaches, although only 5 counted since I'd found one of them already way back when we'd first started geocaching. But that one was in a warm coffee shop, and you had to put a puzzle together to get an answer, and it was a great one for us to do to warm up.

After that, we headed home, had dinner, and held our first family book club where we discussed "The One and Only Ivan". It had some definite emotional parts in it, and both Beerman and I were pretty impressed at the depth to which C-man understood the book and could discuss it. Our next one is scheduled to be on "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane".

A perfect, perfect way to spend my Sunday.

I would have rubbed some dirt on it

C-man had a baseball game this morning. He has been complaining of his wrist hurting for the past week. Before the game, he was playing catch with Beerman, and they decided it was hurting him too much to play. So resisting my urge to roll my eyes and tell him he just needed to rub some dirt on it, I remembered being put back in a game to play after I broke my own hand at the exact same age "because it was nothing", and was looking at Beerman's look which said, 'This is not going away', we went off to urgi-care. Some x-rays, and I'm sure way too much money later, we confirmed it is sprained. He has no idea where, when or how this happened, but there you have it - one week of rest. But not stress fractured and no problems with the growth plates or anything else. Of course, now I immediately think he has arthritis, too, so my mind is going crazy.

He probably should have just rubbed some dirt on it.

A day of butt...erflies

I spent  the day at the public museum with 20 kids and some butterflies. Specifically, I had 5 boys to watch over. As if I needed further proof that I am not cut out to teach little kids... One kid sobbed because there was a shark painting and it scared him. My kid was getting upset because the dinosaurs freaked him out. So when the super duper smart kid said, "I really want to see rocks and minerals," I said, "Rocks and minerals it is!" It was a great day, though, and I was glad I got to go along.

Another day, another tie lost

• Thursdays are school mass days. And since the 2nd graders had their first communion last weekend, they got to dress up again and go first. Super cute. Then we had a breakfast made for us after.
• I have no idea where his tie is. He took it off between first communion and dinner, and it hasn't been seen since. We tore apart the house. I'm going to have to go with "the dog ate it" because I have no other solution as to where it could be. I wish I could say this is the first tie he's lost...
• I'm chaperoning the class to the butterfly exhibit in the museum tomorrow. Sometimes I make rash decisions I later regret. 20 8 year olds and a big yellow bus... This may be regret that I'm feeling.
• Still no ruling on the Orencia. I'm about ready to go beat down my insurance company's door because I can barely function lately.
• I got in a fender bender about a week ago. It was totally my fault, but so minor - at probably 5 mph, it didn't even scratch my car. Now the guy is claiming damage to his car and injuries. Puh-leeze. Anyhow, my insurance company came to look at my car yesterday to make sure I wasn't lying about the no damage part. The inspector called me back to let me know he didn't see any damage either, but I think the real reason was to find out if I liked the car because he thought his wife might want one. That made me laugh.
• Two baseball games this weekend. We are in full baseball stride as long as the rain holds off. At least there's no game on Mother's Day!
• The good news about being a chaperone tomorrow is that I have the day off work. Ahhhh....

Wordless Bazaar

Vicious cycles

I really need to make a lifestyle change. I have been hurting a lot lately - that deep, dull, mind numbing ache. I totally lack energy. And my gut has been awful. I am really believing that so much of this is gut-related, so I've made an appointment with a crazy naturopath (although I can't get in to see her for ages).

I know that my biggest issue is that I just lack total inertia. I'm always tired and achy which means I get more tired and achy because I don't want to do anything. I know I need to do more, but actually DOING something about it often just feels impossible. It's vicious.

Now that the weather is better, it's time to do better. I just can't continue to live in a state of gritting my teeth.

So it was my birthday

With all the first communion stuff happening this weekend, it was also my birthday. I kind of uneventfully arrived at 37. So after the family left after a nice breakfast, we all looked at one another and started to talk about going geocaching. And then we remembered the Brewers played at 1:10. So I took Harry and C-man to play at the beach while Beerman got us tickets and loaded up the car with C-man's new game of bags.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we had lovely tickets. It was too bad the Brewers stunk it up, but there's little I can do about that. (Or is there? It seems my birthday jinxes the Brewers...)

I usually get more philosophical about my birthday than I have this year. I think I've just been too busy lately. Or maybe things have really been so good that I'm not feeling like I need to change a whole lot. Or maybe I've just giving up feeling I can control anything at all anymore! Whatever it is, I kind of like this new laissez-faire attitude I am having. So here's to 37!

Catcher to Communicant: A Day in the Life

And now, I am going celebrate my birthday.

More random things in my life

• C-man had his first baseball scrimmage last night. He caught for the first time. Which also meant he wore a cup for the first time. Thank God for dads, because I would have had him put it on upside down. Seemed right to me, at least, but apparently I was very, very wrong.
• The first real baseball game is tomorrow night. As they say, let the games begin!
• There are 7 new kids, as in never played baseball before new kids. We are not going to have an undefeated year like last year!
• I have tomorrow off. It was originally to set up the party tent. Now, it's just going to be for me. Well, after I pick up the house a bit and do some laundry, of course. Then the rest is all mine. Until the baseball game of course.
• We have to go to a funeral visitation tonight, and I realized I'm wearing bright pink. I may have to stop at home and get something a bit more subdued before going.
• This morning, I ate the last packet of the Turkish version of Nutella with some toast, and a side of cucumber and cheese, and dreamed I was going to leave the house to go for a walk on the Aegean. Yeah, that didn't work out so well for me.
• How do I get a job as a travel blogger?

Wordlessly Sweet Wednesday