Boring Saturday

That's right; today is going to be officially "boring". Dan survived his first DQ campout last night. His only complaint was that the boys went to bed way after midnight and got up at 5:30 a.m. Because they got up so early, they made it home an hour early. Jonathan should be a joy to be around later this evening.

I started my day by running Nolan to baseball practice. Then I took a neighbor kid to swim team tryouts. The kiddo needs lessons instead of swim team. Then I went and got Nolan from baseball. I threw the 3 boys out the door for a day at Lagoon (thanks, MegaDiamond), and have spent the past hour updating trek stuff. Next, I get to hang out at the copy center for quite a while (I have literally hundreds of trek copies to make today) then I'm going to OfficeMax. After that I get to organize my copies, label them, staple them. Finally, I'll top off my day by burning 40 copies of the same CD. Sounds real exciting! Anyone want to trade days?

Our silly sprinkler system is still leaking. Already Dan has "fixed" it 4 times in the same area this year. I have no idea why he can't get it right (I think it has something to do with the gray pip he is using instead of normal PVC, but what do I know?). At least this time it didn't completely blow apart! I just want it working so I can water the lawn, flowers, and garden.

Okay, enough procrastination, I'll go to CopyTec now.

End of the School Year

Tomorrow is the official end of the school year for Jonathan and Nolan. They go to school for a whole hour and a half tomorrow. Yipee! Yesterday was 7th grade awards day at Oak Canyon. Jonathan received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the English department and was recognized for having a cumulative GPA of 3.95 or higher. Nolan today received the Academic Achievement Award for his third grade class! Yea Boys! Both boys survived the year in one piece. Actually, they both had a pretty good year, with the usual road bumps to go over. Now it's on to summer with swim team, cub scouts, regular scouts, golf, piano, summer band, and whatever they can pack into their day!

Oh, by the way, Beijing slipped and fell in the bathtub today. She was running along the edge of the tub while Nolan was bathing when, whoops! in she went. Nolan has recorded his first lifesaving! No harm done- he towel dried the kitty then used the hair dryer on her. By the way, this cat burps. Is that typical?

Introducing...

... Beijing.  Nolan's got to bring his kitten home today.  He picked her out a few weeks ago from an animal rescue.  She will be two months old in two days.  He named her Beijing because she is beige and "so that I can remember China".  Nolan has been asking for a cat for every birthday and Christmas for the past 4 years.  We finally caved. 

 

Jonathan's Birthday

It's official!  There is a teenager in my house.  Jonathan's birthday was on Saturday.  He celebrated turning 13 by sleeping in the backyard in a tent.  The next morning, he got up early (for him... 7 a.m.) and wanted his presents.  He got Mario Kart for his DS from Nolan and a set of golf clubs from Dan & me.  For breakfast he wanted doughnuts; I think he ate 5 for breakfast. After breakfast he checked out his new clubs and wasted time until he could head off to the links.  

Jonathan, Nolan, and Dan had a 12:40 p.m. tee-time.  The plan was that Dan and Jonathan would play 18 holes and Nolan would play 9.  However by the seventh hole, Nolan was having so much fun that he decided he would play a full 18 holes.  Jonathan had his greatest golfing triumph so far on the 12th hole.  He got par- a real par.  He was the only one to par a hole that day.  The pictures are of him making his par put and feeling triumphant.  After their round of golf, we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner.  After 8 slices of pizza, a bowl of Mac-n-Cheese, a ton of plain pasta, and a salad, Jonathan declared himself "full".  Yes, he definitely is a teenager!

Randomninity!

I got the last box of Gymboree stuff I ordered and just played the "price tag game". That's where I add up the retail price of everything in the box and compare it to what I actually paid. It makes me feel like a bargain shopper, but the truth is I would NEVER pay Gymboree's regular retail prices. I bought 2 one-piece winter toutfits, 2 hats, 2 pairs of socks, 1 baseball hat, 1 t-shirt, 2 t-shirt onesies, 1 pair of shortalls, and 2 one-piece summer outfits. Retail on that stuff was $202.50. Ouch! I paid $50.46, or 75% off retail! I could buy 40 gallons of gas with what I saved.

Nolan had an outdoor swimming "lesson" today. It was 46 degrees out there. It was a rude shock for him to get out of the 90 degree pool and dry off. I wonder how much the O'Neal's gas bill is. Their pool is always 90 degrees.

Today is Bona's birthday. Bona had a surgical heart procedure done earlier this week. It was one of those "via the vein" surgeries and not open heart. Anyway, she's been doing fine, but one leg has swollen up really big and she can't walk without assistance. This happened the last time she had a heart procedure done as well. Parley took her to the doctor's this morning, but we haven't heard anything since. Later tonight we're going over to see Bona and bringing her a birthday cake.

Apples are expensive right now! I know it's not apple season, but today at Macey's, they were $1.59 per pound. Ouch! I'm eating a lot of apples right now... so long as I have caramel to dip them in.

Jonathan got to play around on his new saxophone today. He got it a week early, but I thought he could use a pick-me-up after his disappointing day in extracurricular band yesterday. The only problem he has found so far is that the spit swab that I bought for him doesn't fit through the neck piece opening. I told him we'd change the bead on the end and then it would fit.

As of tomorrow I will have an official teenager in the house. For his birthday, Jonathan wants to play 18 holes of real golf with Dan and Nolan (notice, I was not invited; my job is to make him an Oreo cake). Nolan has agreed to play 9 holes and then I will pick him up at the golf course and rescue him from what I am sure will be a frustrating situation. I guess I better wrap Jonathan's birthday present tonight since he'll need his new golf clubs bright and early tomorrow. If he pulls the "what, only 2 presents" carp with me, I will be forced to sit on him. Maybe I should leave the price tag on the golf clubs.

Mad, Mad Mommy

Miss Ugaki can go to el diablo! That woman is driving me nuts and making Jonathan's life miserable.

Miss Ugaki is the band teacher at Jonathan's school. She is adored by all the students but is driving me mad. Last week she called to discuss a few issues she had with Jonathan. Jonathan was playing too loud, standing up at inappropriate times, picking his nose, and giving strange answers. We addressed her concerns with Jonathan and Jonathan said he'd try harder. Miss Ugaki said that without improvement from Jonathan he would not be able to skip Concert Band and go into Symphonic band (which is what Jonathan wants to do). Fair enough.

Well, I've decided that Ms. Ugaki has it in for Jonathan. This morning Jonathan had early morning Jazz band. This is not a class for him. It is currently an extracurricular activity. Jonathan said that he needed to shift his seat to avoid getting nailed in the back of the head by a trombone slide. Somehow in the process of shifting, he tore his sheet music. He told Miss Ugaki what happened and she lowered his band citizenship grade to a "Needs Improvement" What?!? He was responsibly dealing with what happened in a band session that took place on an "A day" and BEFORE school even started (his band class is on B day) and his citizenship grade gets hit when he's not even in class. Jazz band is not part of his schedule.

I don't get it. Any little thing Jonathan does wrong she slams him. If she treats every student this way then every kid in band ought to have a bad citizenship grade. Oh how I would love to get my hands on everyone else's citizenship grades...

Sleep, Sleep, Where Art Thou?

I can't sleep. Let me rephrase that- I can't sleep at night. Evidently I have pregnancy induced insomnia. No, it's nothing new... I've been dealing with it for about 3 months now, but I feel like I am reaching the end of my limit.

Two nights ago I slept like typical carp. I toss and turn all night and take a few catnaps in between. Yesterday I was dragging so bad that at 11 a.m. I lay down for just a minute and woke up 3 hours later. That nap felt amazing. I didn't think that nap would interfere with my sleep last night; however at 1:30 a.m. I was still wide awake. I did get 2 hours of solid sleep between 3 and 5 a.m. this morning, but that was about it. I had to get up at 5:45 a.m. to get Jonathan out the door for early morning band. He gets up at 6 a.m., but since time is so tight on early band mornings, I like to have his pancake ready for him as soon as his alarm goes off (he leaves for school at 6:20 a.m.). Anyway, here it is...12:42 p.m. and I am dead in the chair. The warm space heater by my feet isn't helping. I could fall asleep so easily right now, but I have to be at Nolan's school at 1 p.m. There is some assembly there today and he is getting 2 awards- one for reading and the other for fitness club. Maybe if I resist all urges to nap today I'll be able to sleep tonight. It's worth a try, but I'm not holding my breath that it will work.