Be Ready For Anything

The boy and I went to the pool with some pals this week.
He was swimming; I was chatting.
When I looked up, he was dragging himself out onto the side.  Pulling and hauling his whole body out of the water with only his arms and upper body strength.
So I asked him what he was doing.

"I am practicing pulling myself onto shore in case a Great White bites off my legs.
I want to make sure I can get out of the water with no legs."

The boy has this theory that every time we go on vacation, something happens to him.  He is partly correct... he had a string of incidents and trips to the ER for a few summers in a row.  I think he thinks he's cursed.

He is definitely a "planner."  He likes to know what is going to happen and he likes to be prepared.  It makes him feel like he has some control.  I can't fault him for that.... I know exactly how he feels.  And I think I know where he gets it from.

So now he's training for an attack by a Great White.

I told him if  a Great White eats my legs off, I will just throw the rest of myself to the shark.
I also told him he was smart to train, but a little bit paranoid.  It takes one to know one.
I told him I was impressed with his upper body strength.  I wouldn't be able to haul myself out of the water like that... legs or no legs.
And then I told him we may skip Shark Week this year.

Does The Cone Come In My Size?

School has been out for almost 3 weeks, and we have turned into complete bums.
I am ashamed the poor old blog has been so neglected.
We've been catching up with Dan/Daddy - who was gone for work.
We have been spending lots of time with some old friends who came into town for a few weeks.
We have made S'mores and homemade ice cream.
We have slept past 5:55 am every single morning.
We have seen The Avengers twice.  I am not ashamed to say Thor and Iron Man are easy on the eyes.

But I would be a bad blogger if I failed to tell you all the story of the cone.

It all started innocently enough... it always does.  Rosie the Dog went to the vet to be spayed. 
I brought her home with:

1. an antibiotic for a skin rash,

2. a pain medication she would later have a reaction to,

3. a very large vet bill,

4. and a cone.

Somebody remind me again why I have a dog?

She should have "bounced back" to her normal self within a day or two, but she didn't.  We ended up taking her back to the vet... who determined she was not tolerating the pain medicine.  The vet stopped the pain medicine, and Rosie perked right up.
For the rash, I had to shove 2 huge pills down her throat twice a day.
The vet also recommended Benadryl. 

After 2 weeks of taking care of the cone-headed dog, I considered asking the vet if I could finish off the pain meds.  And wash it all down with Benadryl.

The cone was to keep her from scratching her rash or picking at her stitches.  It turned into a weapon.  I have scars and scabs on my shins that may never heal.

On the day she had her stitches removed, the vet tech asked if we wanted to keep the cone.  It was shredded in 2 places, and the hooks that attach it to the collar were gone.

I politely told the vet tech she could throw it away.

Since the cone came off, we've been back at the vet for another rash and a problem with her incision scar.
Somebody remind me again why I have a dog?


One of my friends sent me a great picture... I've seen it on Pinterest, but I wish I could take credit for it myself. 

I am praying we can all remain cone-free for the rest of the summer.

Long Live Buzz Lightyear and Woody the Cowboy

Here are the 10 for today!  Roots and Rings is the place to link up.

1. What is your favorite Pixar movie? Have you seen all of them?
LOVE them all.  The Toy Story series is my favorite. 
The boy watched the first two Toy Story movies religiously when he was a little guy. That's part of the reason I have such a fondness in my heart for Buzz and Woody.. They bring back memories of my chubby preschooler.
Toy Story 2 was on TV over the weekend and we stopped to watch the last half.
There's a scene with Buzz and Zurg (the bad guy) that was his absolute favorite at 3 years old, so I told him,
"You loved this part when you were little."
He said, "I still do."
Ouch... my heart.

2. Do you enjoy soccer?
Yes!  I really like it.  I didn't know a thing about it until the boy started playing a few years ago.
Now, I've been caught watching  it on TV.  I even know some of the international teams.

3. Are you musical?
Yes.  I can read music, play (peck) the piano, and I played the flute in high school.  Yep... a band geek.  I also sing, and I've been in choirs and ensembles.

4. How many push-ups can you do?
Putting down a specific number would require me to actually get down, do them, and count them.
Let's say 10?  5?  2?
I am overweight, out of shape, and I hate exercising.  It's the sad truth. 

5. Did you have braces when you were younger?
Yes, and it felt like I had them longer than anybody else I knew.

6. Summer or winter? Coffee or tea? Wedges or flats?
Winter.
Coffee and tea, but mostly coffee.
Wedges and flats, depending on the outfit or the occasion or what I have to do that day.

7. Do you buy new or used cars?
We've bought both.  We prefer new just because we are one of those families that believes in driving a car into its grave.  So we want to start out with a fresh one!

8. Are you afraid of needles?
I hate needles.

9. Do you get cranky when you’re tired or hungry?
Yes and yes.

10. Write your newest favorite recipe.

Layered Greek Dip
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups feta cheese, crumbled and divided
1 Tablespoon dried basil
10 ounces frozen spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 large tomato, chopped
3 green onions, diced
1/4 cup sliced black olives

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 cup of the feta, milk, and basil until well-blended.  Spread in the bottom of a 9" pie plate.  Top with drained spinach, then the tomato, then the green onion,  then the black olives.  Top all with remaining feta cheese.  Cover and refrigerate at least an hour.

I found this recipe on the Kraft website, but there are a million more like it out there.  I used fresh basil, and I added a seeded and diced cucumber to my layers.  I also drizzled the top with olive oil.

Have a great Tuesday!

I'm on my way to pick up a happy kid from school... we are headed for ice cream to celebrate the end of the year!

The Final Countdown

There are so few days left of school that I have lost the will to rise at 6:00 am-ish and pack a lunch. I actually lost that desire around Halloween, but I muddled through.

Our kitchen chalkboard has been a source of comfort...

Well that 21 isn't very comforting, but it's where we started counting.  It felt like 121.

19 days... a tiny bit better.  2 days better.

Now 6.5 is lots better.  I know you're wondering about that half day that appeared.  It was there all along; I just hadn't been counting it as an actual day of school.  The boy?  He wanted it in there.  He's a stickler for details.

This was sometime last week.  The summer fever is so bad around here, I can't even muster the strength to update the chalkboard.

So the end of the first year of Middle School is upon us.  By the middle of this week, I will be the mom of a 7th grader. Wow.

Bring on the lazy mornings, the popsicles, the fire pit parties, the beach, the movies, and the freckles.

Just leave out the snakes and the 99+ degree weather.

Please.

To Cheer My Soul

Phew.  It has been one of those weeks.  Everything that's happened will make a great blog story, so I am only posting a picture today.
It's a picture that cheers my heart, and I hope it will cheer yours.

I think I mentioned the cat has been getting piggyback rides.
I think I may have even posted a picture last week.
Well that ol' picture just didn't make the experience come alive like I needed it to.
So I took another one, and oh my word...
I cannot stop laughing.

So I made it my screen saver, and I laugh every time I look at it.
Her face just says it all.
Her face is saying how I feel today...

So, enjoy.

And yes, I am worried she may come to kill me in my sleep.

Brunch, Soccer, Bad Pizza, and Mother's Day

Well the weekend's over, and it was a busy one. Getting up this morning was so unpleasant.

I hosted a brunch Saturday morning for some of the other Chaplain wives.  We were "farewell-ing" one wife and "welcoming" a new one.  We do that a lot in the Army.
When the last gal was out the door, I cleared the dishes and we zoomed to the last soccer game of the season. 

I'm usually pretty happy to see a sport season end, but this time I was sad.  The boy enjoys soccer so much.  Even practice makes him happy.
He tied up the game with an awesome goal, and the whole crew went out for pizza and trophies.

The pizza place is one of those places where the pizza is cheap and yummy when you're eating it, but later you regret even going in the door.  Dan/Daddy says it's like ant poison, and we are the ants.  It looks good, it smells good, it tastes good... but then when we eat it, we crawl back to our anthill, curl up, and die.  I didn't die, but I did have a stomachache.

Mother's Day was rainy and gray, but the boy treated me like a queen.
He wanted to make me breakfast in bed, but I got up too soon.  So he made me breakfast on the couch.
He gave me a new charm for my bracelet, and after church, we went out to lunch.

The weather couldn't have been better for doing absolutely nothing, which is what we did.  I tried to squeeze in a nap, but the dog had other plans... like eating my blanket and licking my toes because she was trapped inside also.
The boy played some video games, read a book, watched some Nickelodeon, and ate 2.5 boxes of cereal.
For dinner, we drove to Sonic.  We wore our comfy "lay around the house" clothes, and we took the Sunday paper with us.  We ate our ice cream and read the comics... it was probably my favorite part of the whole day.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the Mommas out there. 
We are all under-paid.

Things My Dog Has Eaten

I keep asking Dan/Daddy when "owning a dog"  is going to start being fun. 
I do love animals; I really do.  This animal, however, makes me tired.  My cat does not make me tired.  My dog makes me tired just watching her... not to mention taking care of her. 
I chase after her, I pick up after her, I feed her, I clean up her messes, and then I get happy when she takes a nap.  I didn't work this hard when the boy was a toddler.
I should also mention that the boy is the primary caretaker for this dog... I'm just on duty when he's at school.
My least favorite dog activity is taking stuff away from her.  I spend 99% of the day removing things from her mouth.  Non-food things.
These are the things my dog has eaten in the last few weeks:

1.  a Lincoln Log
2.  a snow globe Dan/Daddy brought me as a gift from Ireland
3.  2 cat toys
4.  another Lincoln Log
5.  2 lava rocks from the gas fireplace
6.  a wooden figurine of a wolf that the boy put together and painted
7.  a wooden figurine of an owl that the boy put together and painted
8.  a collectible sea turtle that I bought on vacation

We take her on looooong walks.  The boy plays (hard) with her... until they're both about to have heart attacks.  She gets plenty of exercise.
She has 284 doggie toys, chewing toys, and bones.  We swap them out and hide them and try to keep her mind busy.  She gets plenty of mental stimulation and chewing fun.
The house is - to the best of our ability - dog proofed.  We are not "knickknack" people.  We own 5 and she's eaten 4 of them.
If she weren't in her crate at night, she would have eaten us by now.

My dog, I'm convinced, exists only to drive me nuts. 
She doesn't have to drive far.