Happy Birthday, Christopher!

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet little boy!

You are such a joy and we love you so much.

Don't ever change.

(one of) John's (relatively) recent adventures

I finally confiscated my camera from John and downloaded some pictures to my computer of his more recent trips.

Okay, so it was a week or two ago, but whenever I think about it, he is out of town and I don't know what I am looking at.

I was going to include England and Germany in this post, but I think I've got enough material for more than one blog post. (don't you feel lucky?)

Also, as much as it kills me, I am doing my best to refrain from commenting on many of the pictures. I find many aspects of the pictures pretty humorous or weird, but in print I just come off sounding rude, obnoxious, and ignorant. (obnoxious I am used to, but I try not to sound rude and ignorant- yes, I realize I must fail miserably at times in my efforts)

So, here are a bunch from Tokyo, Japan-

A pretty park-

The famous Tokyo tower-

Not to be confused with that other tower-

The shopping center at the bottom of the Tokyo Tower.

View from the top of the Tokyo tower. John said the city "goes on, and on, and on.."

A Buddhist temple-

Another Buddhist temple-

Not a Buddhist temple-

Speaking of Buddha, apparently the image of his footprint can be found in this rock.

Tiny corner of the Imperial Palace. John said it is a huge complex and is only accessible twice a year. John had to be content catching glimpes of it from the outside.

Guard house (?) at the Imperial Palace-

Art in a museum.

A cemetery. John had no idea what the chopstick-like things were behind the headstones are.

"Cool Trees"

I could post more, but Zach is whining at me because he wants needs to watch some video he got from school for the four bazillionth time and for whatever reason, it only works on my computer.

Emergency Preparedness

At least one of us is prepared at a moment's notice.

Christopher keeps his lunchbox packed and ready to go at all times.

Sometimes he even insists on taking it with him when we leave the house.

I peek inside every once in awhile to see what he's toting around.

Today I found-

A diaper, wipies, a can of soup, bottle of water, granola bar, and a caramel.

Other items I have found are a fruit snack, bottle of root beer, cup of apple sauce, graham crackers, and sometimes 2 cans of soup. (He won't even eat soup at home, but I'm kinda impressed he always packs non-perishable food items)

Also the other day when I made him a sandwich for lunch, he insisted that I serve it in a baggie.

Just in case, I guess.

School's out!!! (sorta)

I won't leave you in suspense.

Nick did indeed fail math.

The story that I have been able to piece together was that he probably would have passed but he didn't put his name on this huge project that was worth a ton. So the next day he went back to school, saw his project taped to the board (where the no-name assignments end up) pulled it off, told the teacher it was his, and turned it back in. WITHOUT PUTTING HIS NAME ON IT. AGAIN.

A month later, after all the grades have been put in the computer, we get it all cleared up. (that is of course, not to mention the past few months of under performing before that. He had a very rough start to the semester before the project was ever an issue)

On the plus side, if you don't count the big, fat, ugly F next to Math, it is one of Nick's best report cards in years.

YEARS.

All B's and one A.

The A is in PE. He's proud of that A, because athletics has not been his strong suit, but he's worked really hard, and improved in nearly every area.

And the B's. Once we got his medication under control, he stopped getting 9th hours, and the grades started climbing. A month ago C's were the dominant letter on his progress reports.

So, technically speaking, school is over for the year, but we have another solid month of math ahead of us. Were just crossing our fingers that he can do it online.

~~~~~~~

Madison told me today that the last day of school is the saddest day of the year. She loved her teacher Miss Rogers.

I overheard her telling somebody that "Miss Rogers is one of only two teachers in the whole school who can play the guitar. Isn't that awesome? I'm going to really miss that."

At the end of the year, they had a little program for the parents and sang a bunch of songs they learned throughout the year, States and Capitols, sign language, math songs, the counties in Arizona, just to name a few. It was too cute.

I feel her pain. My favorite teachers in elementary were musical. I still remember singing "On top of Spaghetti" in first grade while my teacher, Mrs. Rustad played her guitar. And thanks to Mrs. Coleman in the 5th grade, I can still sing the song naming all the States. Believe it or not, that little song has come in handy from time to time.

~~~~~~~

Zach's year can best be summed up with the thank you note he gave his teacher today-

Dear Mrs. Wood

Thank you for being my teacher.

I learned a lot of good stuff.

Your student,

Zach B.

We love Mrs Wood. She was Madison's teacher in 2nd grade, our neighbor, and my friend. But more than that, I think Zach really blossomed this year. He's gotten into more trouble, mostly for talking, something I never would have believed possible only 3 or 4 years ago, but I've loved watching him mature in other ways under her guidance.

I don't think it's my imagination, but I think Zach got a little teary-eyed this morning at the thought that this would be his last day in Mrs. Wood's class. He denies it, but I know my sensitive little boy.

Good news and bad news

The good news is my 4+ year old maternity swim suit is too big for me.

The bad news- only the top half. (It's a two piece- don't worry mom, I'm not showing off anything nobody wants to see, except perhaps my thighs- a modest two piece where the bottom half comes up to my rib cage, and the top half is more like a dress that pretty much covers the bottom half and then some.)

So the top half is way too big, but the bottom half fits perfectly. Apparently my butt and stomach are still the size of an XL pregnant woman, but my boobs have gotten smaller.

TMI?

Which of course means more bad news- I have to break down and go shopping for a new swimsuit. (I think I've only owned like 4 my entire adult life- I hate it that much)

It's still a good idea...

...In theory.

But I'm gonna work on it anyway.

I'm talking about writing something every day.

I just realized it's been like 4 days.

I'll try to make up for it by posting a few different things today.

But no promises.

I guess I've been too busy baking and/or feeding my face to stop and blog.

Chocolate, bread, Coke, steak, Cornish pasties, cookies, ice-cream, chocolate, English "chips" (fries), crepes, shoestring potatoes (my favorite way to eat potatoes), and chocolate.

Just in case anyone was wondering, the second batch of lemony blueberry bars turned out perfect.

I'm pretty sure they did anyway, I didn't get a chance to actually taste the finished product, but I heard they were good, and they disappeared pretty quickly. And I thought they looked pretty.

Tomorrow is the last day of school.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

According to snap grades, (an on-line program where you can check up on your kids) All three of my school age children have all A's and B's. Except for Nick- he has one F. (so far- we are praying for a D)

My plans for the day include making a bunch of caramels (the kids like to give them to their teachers) and catching up on silly things like dishes and vacuuming. (blogging wasn't the only thing I was neglecting while in my chocolate-induced coma this weekend)

And probably buying some fruit and vegetables. All that sugar seems to be catching up with me. I forgot how crappy a good binge can make you feel.

Catz week 8- final weigh in

So I showed up at Catz today with a bit of apprehension. The scale at home was not looking so good. I dressed in my thinnest, lightest clothes, shorts that I would have been embarrassed to be seen in anywhere but on a scale, and hoped for the best.

BClark was busy talking to someone else, so I stepped on the scale "just to see".

Aaaack! I was .2 pounds over my goal!!!! I'd gained 2 pounds in the last week! Luckily I was down so far last week, but still... and no, they won't round down. Point two pounds over is still over. I ran to the bathroom and let's just say I did my best to bring that weight down. Luckily I had Chelsa there- it was her idea to take off my glasses.

Thanks to her quick thinking, I was able to just barely squeak by and make my goal. The best news of all- I made my fat percentage goal as well, which means I made EVERY SINGLE GOAL!!!.

I am back to only a 38 pound loss, after telling the world I just lost 40 pounds. I wish I had the will power to stay on the diet and push for that 40 pound number again, but sadly I don't. There is a lot of chocolate calling my name. And a Tupperware full of lemony blueberry bars that I can't give away because I ruined them, despite the fact that they are still delish.

why baking and drugs don't mix

I'm doing better than I expected, for the most part anyway. The last time I had that tooth worked on, I was in a sorry state. Even with the drugs I was pretty miserable.

This time was a little better. I even made it to Zach's and Maddie's piano recital last night. I was tired and really loopy, but I still enjoyed it. I didn't even think to bring a camera, (no surprise there) but luckily they had someone else taking pictures. I think I'll do a whole blog post on their piano recital when I get the pictures.

Today was actually worse than yesterday. I don't know if I over did it or what, but I wasn't up to much today. My biggest accomplishments for the day are that I took a shower, got half the dishes done, and tried to bake.

I need to take a dish to a baptism on Saturday morning. They sent around a sign-up sheet at church for people to sign up for donuts or milk. I want to help and contribute, but would you think less of me if I said I felt donuts were beneath me? Absolutely there are certain times when donuts are the answer. I LOVE a good donut, but if I'm going to sign up for a baked good, to help celebrate a special day in someone else's life, I want to bring something a little bit nicer.

I remembered my mom talking about these Lemony Blueberry Streusel bars and I thought that was the perfect answer to my dilemma of what to bring. (It's at 7:30 in the morning) So I thought I would make a trial batch to see how they turned out.

Unfortunately while the Percocet makes me feel better, it also makes it difficult to think straight. And so it is with that clouded judgment I attempted to make something I have never made before, and won't even be able to taste until tomorrow morning. (after my final weigh in!)

They mostly turned out okay, except I only put in half the amount of butter in the crust. (It calls for two cubes, I only put in one) I thought the texture was too dry, but proceeded anyway. I think the rest of it is okay- (I haven't tasted it yet) but the crust is definitely to dry. Too powdery even.

So tomorrow I think I shall sober up and try again. -you can look for the follow-up on my food blog if they're successful.

Apparently blogging and drugs don't mix either. I had typed this whole entry in my food blog before I realized that I was in the wrong place. I had to get John help me fix it.

Random thoughts

- I'm avoiding going to bed right now. As a mom, you'd think I'd run to it, but Christopher took a nap today, so I did too, (cause I was really tired) and now I'm not so tired. Mostly I just worry about laying in bed awake thinking about tomorrow morning. Just thinking about having something screwed into my jaw bone makes it ache.

- At least I'll be unconscious for it all. And I'll get Percocet. The doctor isn't stingy with the good drugs. And John is in town to take care of everything else. I'm not really worried about anything in particular, just really not looking forward to the pain.

- I take that back, I worry about being able to eat. Weird, I know. But I can't exercise, I have to weigh in on Friday, BClark yelled at me for not eating enough, and so I am worried about chewing on chicken or carrot sticks. I am worried that the combo of the pain and drugs will deprive me of any common sense and I will end up sending John out for chocolate shakes. I bought applesauce, but I am worried about protein. And then I am worried about how long it will take me to fully recover. I have an End of Catz Challenge Celebratory Dinner this weekend. What are the odds I am going to be able to eat steak if I want to?

-These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night. Ridiculous things.

-So I try to think of other things.

-School will be out in a little over a week. YIKES. Most of Nick's grades are good, I think he's been getting his act together this last month (knock on wood) but he still has an F in math. He thinks he can bring it up. There is a giant assignment that brought his grade down 10% still marked as "missing" on snap grades. He says he forgot to put his name on it, but that's all cleared up now, and the teacher is just in no hurry to update the online grades because it wasn't his fault in the first place.

- If Nick doesn't pass, that's an entire month of shuttling him back and forth to summer school. Ugh.

-Speaking of summer, is it crazy to hope that my maternity swimsuit still fits, despite losing 40 lbs, because I don't want to go shopping for another one, and I don't think I will be able to get out of taking the kids to the pool this summer? (I could probably count the times on one hand I took the kids to a pool last year- yeah, I am lame)

- John is most likely going to be heading back to Germany this summer. We are talking about me going with him. Or at least meeting him there. Nothing has been finalized. One week? Two? This week? that one? And then there's the "well as long as you're over there, mind stopping by this country, or that one? " I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but it's keeping my mind occupied fantasizing about different options- things I would do while he works during the day, places we'd go and see at night together, if we only had a weekend to ourselves (no work) in Europe, where would we choose? That's the really frustrating part about John's job, things change so fast. There have been days when his travel plans have changed with the hours on the clock.

-And finally, something that made me laugh- I can't even remember the context, or who said it, or who they were referring to, but they said "Oh yeah, she's totally bat-crap crazy..." Bat crap crazy. I love it.

-I think I am tired enough to go to bed now.

-Hopefully I will be up to blogging tomorrow, but won't whine too much about my stupid mouth. The subject is already boring me.

back up your stuff!!!

I'd been having issues with my cell phone.

It works great unless I want to make a call, and then it can't seem to find the SIM card. grrr.

2 trips to the AT&T store, 1 trip to the Apple store and 3 hours later, my phone is fixed.

Actually it's a new phone. They couldn't fix it.

Manufacturer's defect? It got dropped too much? Who knows?

At any rate it was covered by the warranty. (hallelujah)

Any way, the very nice guy at the Apple store helped me convert all my files since I couldn't remember when I properly backed up everything.

Except somehow a huge chunk of stuff got lost.

Contacts? check!

Calendar items? check!

All my apps? no.

Pictures? no.

Music? no.

Fortunately nothing was permanently lost. The apps I can get back. Most of them were free anyway, and the ones that weren't are on my account, so I can put them back on my phone for free.

Same with music. It's all organized on itunes on my computer.

And thank heavens I did that car post yesterday. Half those pictures from yesterday's post came from my ipod, which I barely uploaded YESTERDAY. Granted, 95 % of them weren't that great anyway, but I still would have been sad. I capture the spur of the moment shots on my phone. I have a real camera when I PLAN on taking pictures, and then there's stuff like when I am saying good night to Nick and he's talking to me about something, and Christopher crawls in bed and is sound asleep in 2 minutes flat. I pull the phone out of my pocket and snap a picture.

And then there's the fact that my kids have figured out that my phone takes videos. I find random little video clips on it all the time. I just found one yesterday that Christopher made a little while ago, and as he panned around the messy kitchen, you can clearly hear his little voice say "My house." How stinkin' cute is that?!?! Future Steven Spielberg right there.

So all I'm saying is, while there was no real loss, there almost was. And so don't be like me and back up your stuff more than every once in a blue moon.

Christopher's cars

I started to notice a lack of pictures in my recent posts. Apparently in my efforts to "just write something" have left the reader without a lot of visuals. So here's a post I've been working on for awhile now.

I realize most of these pictures aren't the greatest quality, and the subject matter will probably get old pretty quickly, but beggars can't be choosers.

If I had to guess I'd say that Christopher's obsession with my ipod and youtube has had the direct result of his continued obsession with his Cars' cars. When he's not (and many times when he is) watching youtube on my ipod, he's playing with and arranging his Cars. I find them all over my house. Currently they are precisely arranged on the loveseat in my bedroom. But I find them all over the house in different rooms, different arrangements, etc.

Sometimes he lines them up in a long line,

Sometimes he positions them as if they were getting ready to race (I think).

Sometimes he separates his Lightning McQueens from the rest of the flock

I find them in all sorts of random places in my house-

On the kitchen table,

On the back of the couch,

On the bottom of the railing,

Carefully balanced across the top of the railing, although after spending no less than 30 minutes looking for it, I can't find that picture.

In the back yard lined up on the cement border (please ignore the ridiculous amount of grass in the rocks)

It's how he comforted himself when far away from home in a hotel in California,

And entertains himself at home by driving them off my counter top and crashing them all over my kitchen,

or lining them up and taking his own pictures of them. This picture is actually upside down. It was taken from his point of view, but it's the last picture and I'm done fighting with the pictures and getting them "just so".

Life is like a jumprope

Been meaning to post this for awhile. Figured today was a good day to do it. It's the lyrics from the song Jumprope on my "gym" playlist by Blue October. It's a cute little upbeat song. I don't know if I like it cause I used to love to jumprope as a kid- regular, double dutch, chinese.. (why don't kids jumprope on the playground any more?) but it makes me happy when my ipod randomly plays it. Not that I'd normally suggest music from Blue October- I think several of their songs have earned the "Explicit Lyrics" warning, but this is a good one.

Remember how you used to say
You couldn't wait for tomorrow for a brand new day
No fuss when ya had to ride the school bus
You just add a little blush
to paralyze your school crush

Now you're older and the weight is on your shoulder
Make the world a little colder
No more hiding in the old day
Be strong
Don't you give up hope
It will get hard
Life's like a jump rope

Chorus:
Up down
Up down
Up down
Up down, yeah
Cause it will get hard
Remember Life's like a jump rope

There'll be a bump and there will be a bruise
There'll be alarms and there will be a snooze
There'll be a path that you will have to choose
There'll be a win and there will be a lose and

You gotta hold your head up high and
Watch all the negative go by
Don't ever be ashamed to cry
You go ahead
Cause life's like a jump rope

(Chorus)

I want to tell you that everything will be okay
That everything will eventually turn itself to gold
So keep pushing through it all
Don't follow, lead the way
Don't lose yourself or your hope
Cause life's like a jump rope


(Chorus)


You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound
Raise the bottom to the top
and now we're never coming down

Up down stomp your feet spin around
Clap hands to the rhythm
Then you slip down

You stomp your feet so hard you make it pound
Raise the bottom to the top
and now we're never coming down.

(Chorus)

Catz update week 7

I was worried, but my body finally caught up with all the effort I've been putting in the last 3 weeks, and I lost 5 lbs this week.

5!!!!

I hit not one, but TWO milestones with that number.

I've lost a grand total of 40- I'm at a weight I haven't seen in over 8 years. The last time I saw this number, I found out only days later that I was pregnant with Zach.

And secondly, finally for the first time in at the very least our entire relationship, I weigh less than John. Apparently he's been finding all the weight I have been losing. For the first time EVER, I am not the fat spouse! (Except I am cause he still has at least 4 inches height on me)

And so when he came home from his last trip to Europe, I had to pause for a moment to contemplate the meaning, if any, behind the pile chocolate he brought back. Let me just mention that of the two of us, he is NOT the chocolate lover in the house. (and PS, that is only my share of the king size lion bars. The kids have already confiscated theirs)

Disclaimer: No, I don't actually think John is vindictive or in any way trying to sabotage my weight loss efforts. He just knows my love of real European chocolate and also knew that he wouldn't be allowed in the house after his trip without any. And to prove my point, after his last trip to NYC where he stopped at the Hershey store in Times Square, the kids got this-

And I got these.

Chocolate without the guilt. Ü

mother of the year nominations

Once again I deserve to be nominated.

Zach puked his brains out last night. He informed me this morning. Really, I guess he tried to make it to the toilet, but that kid has talent. It was everywhere. A nice dried up puddle in the middle of his bedroom, and all over the bathroom.

I've never seen devastation of it's equal. Walls, doors, etc. Talk about your projectile vomiting.

Anyway, he says he feels better.

Naturally I didn't send him to school, but selfishly I didn't want his being sick getting in the way of my plans for the day.

I had an appointment to go to catz at noon. Currently the time is 12:33, so clearly I didn't make it.

It's not that I didn't try though.

He's almost 8, he can be left home alone, right?

"Pick out a movie and get your blanket and pillow, and I'll be home before it's over." I was going to drop Christopher off at someone else's house. He isn't showing any signs of sickness. I was just gonna cross my fingers and pray he doesn't get sick and I had passed along the germs to an unsuspecting family.

I wouldn't have been so determined to work out except I have to weigh in tomorrow. I need to lose 3 more pounds to meet all my goals, and next week is gonna be rough. It's my last week, but I'll be having surgery Wednesday morning, and so I'm not allowed to exercise for a few days afterwards. (I asked) Add that to the fact they will be screwing in a titanium rod into my jawbone, and although I've never experienced that before, I am guessing that chewing isn't going to be on my list of things I'll be wanting to do. Last time I had any invasive procedures done in my mouth, all I wanted was the cold, numbing comfort of a chocolate shake. And those are so NOT on the catz diet.

I can't reschedule for later, the classes are full, and besides, Nick has his end of year concert for orchestra tonight.

So noon was my ONLY option for getting in one last good workout. As they would say on Biggest Loser- my "Last Chance Workout." I got my gym clothes on, cleaned up Christopher, grabbed my purse and a water bottle, said my goodbyes to Zach, and headed for the door. At which point he burst into tears. I should have known. This is the same kid who can't handle being alone upstairs for 5 minutes. Alone in a whole house for an hour and a half? Impossible!

So I tried to bribe him- I pulled out a fresh $5 bill and said, "You be brave and stay home alone and I'll give you this." He cried harder.

I ended up cancelling.

An hour later he's still crying.

Now it's because I won't give him the money anyway. It's not often I give my kids the opportunity to earn easy money. He was gonna earn $5 for watching TV for an hour and a half. He only makes about $3.50 a week doing his chores, and that's IF he gets the Saturday chores done before noon. (which has been amazingly impossible lately.)

slurp, slurp.

It's nearly 10 o'clock at night. I'm sitting on the couch in the dark, laptop on my lap, American Idol is playing on the TV, and I am struggling with something to write about. My brain isn't working.

I type, I delete. I type, I delete.

Maybe it's the TV.

I read once somewhere that if you want to be a good writer, you need to turn off the TV. Unfortunately about that time I discovered the DVR. Nowadays, I put the kids to bed, then turn on the TV and catch up on my favorite shows without commercials or other interruptions. American Idol, Biggest Loser, The Office, Glee, Chuck, Castle, Bones...

You know those Hulu commercials where the people's brains turn to liquid from watching too much TV so the aliens can drink up? I can practically hear the sloshing between my ears.

Like I said, I'm watching American Idol. It's results night and they are down the the final four. I'm rooting for Lee. He's got this cute, shy, rocker thing going on. Even Harry Connick jr said he was a younger, better version of him (I don't know about that- my music crush will always be Harry)

Christopher is my only offspring who isn't a TV addict as well. Unless he can get his hands on my ipod touch or iphone. Cause he's a youtube addict. He watches the most ridiculous videos mostly of other little boys playing with their cars. It's weird.

We started showing him those Mater's Tall Tales videos when we were desperate for a distraction and he's got the thing figured out. Now he steals my phone and drains the battery. I've had to get creative where I charge it. He believes the ipod touch is his personal property. If I manage to hide it, he follows me around "Where's Initer's (what he calls himself) ipod?"

Somedays if he's really lucky he'll get his hands on both. Then he can watch two different ridiculous videos at once.

Write Something

John and I went out on a rare date the other night. My diet seems to put a damper on the things we can do, and he was pretty tired from his recent globe trotting adventures.

With nothing better to do we ended up at what my friend calls "Book Heaven" aka Barnes and Noble.

After finding next month's book club book, we wandered around and found ourselves in familiar territory- the travel section. Oh, how I have the travel bug. I've gotten a small taste, and I want more. I'm trying to be patient. I try to have faith that someday I will get to travel to my little heart's content.

Until then, I peruse the travel book section. I don't buy anything unless I know for sure I am going there- Seattle being the last book I purchased. But then I found a book by my favorite travel author- Rick Steves- Postcards from Europe. It's really just a collection of memories and experiences from different trips he's taken. Ramblings, thoughts, tidbits. Not your average travel guide. But it's a page turner for me.

I'm getting to my point-

He was talking to some lady who was grilling him about being a travel book writer. He gets paid to travel the world and write about it. Talk about your dream job. Anyway, his advice to her was to just write. He filled volumes of journals, especially during his travelings, and never ended the day without writing something down.

I used to be like that. When I was a teenager.

Anyway, I was struck by that. Not that I aspire to be a travel writer (although I think it would be totally awesome) but that I just simply need to do better about writing regularly.

Something.

Anything.

We'll see how that goes. It is currently 11:26 at night, I am 1/4 the way through mopping my kitchen, and my goal is to try and get more sleep at night to see if that helps with the whole weight loss issue and yet I stopped to blog because the moment struck me. Obviously the sleep thing is losing tonight. We'll see what wins tomorrow.

Catz update week 6

so, uh, no change.

I weigh EXACTLY the same as last week.

1??.1 pounds

Still on track as far as goals go, but I get a little discouraged when I don't see my hard work pay off.

Especially since I had a couple really hard workouts this week and sitting on a toilet was once again pretty difficult.

BClark says I'm not eating enough.

He asked to see my diet. "A handful of almonds and pineapple is NOT a meal!" "You need more lean proteins!" "Where are your vegetables?!?"

So the plan this week is to eat more.

I confess to being sick of this.

Sick of low sodium turkey. Sick of salad with diet dressing. Sick of egg whites. And so I am probably not eating enough because I can't get too enthused about what goes on my plate or in my mouth.

I'm not saying I want a hamburger or anything (gag, barf) but a piece of toast with homemade jam and a glass of orange juice would be nice.

2 more weeks.

Except, I'm not even halfway to my long term goal.

35 down, 45 to go.

That is a lot of low sodium turkey over the next few months.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that 2 days before my final weigh in I will be having oral surgery to have that titanium rod screwed into my jawbone. I think I have to make my final goal by next week, because I am pretty sure I won't be driving myself to the gym all hopped up on percocets, and I have a sneaking suspicion (judging by how much fun I had the last time at the oral surgeon) the only thing I will be eating for a couple days are popcicles and chocolate shakes. Sadly, I don't even think I will enjoy it. That much sugar sounds gross. (yes, I just said that)

Forget something?

We all forget stuff. I seem to forget more than my fair share some days. Towards the end of the school year my brain feels a little fried from trying to keep every one's schedules/projects/etc straight.

Last week I forgot to take the last load of clothes out of the dryer. We ALL looked for Zach's baseball shirt for over 20 minutes. He was late to his game.

I totally forgot Nick's viola recital on Saturday. The one his teacher made the comment only the day before about- "I'm so proud of Nick. He's worked so hard. I think this is the first recital he's really ready for."

Nick seems to have more than his fair share of forgetful moments though. He asked me NOT to blog about this but...

Sorry, kid. Just show your therapist this blog.

That phrase, "I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached", was written with Nick in mind.

Every morning it's the same thing-

Did you brush your teeth? Put on deodorant? Do you have all your homework? Are you sure? Are you 100% positive? Can you check for me? Is your name on everything? Do you have enough pencils and pens? Back up pencils and pens? (He tends to lose them) Where's your viola? Do you have your phone? I need to see you take your pills. (We had to resort to this after he had only taken 5 in 2 months but was so sure he had been taking them each and every school day)

This morning he stood at the door, back pack on, viola in hand, and said "Bye, mom. Love you."

"Are you sure you've got everything?"

"Yep."

"You're positive you're not forgetting something?"

"Yeah" (said more as a question than a statement)

"Ok. See ya." (My lack of gushy "love you, have a good day," etc. did not mean I didn't care, I just KNEW he'd be back real soon)

I waited for about 5 seconds before running to the door, because I couldn't let him get too far, at which point Nick burst in, "I forgot to take my pills!"

"You also forgot your shoes."

He looked down at his feet to realize he was just standing there in his socks.

Apparently he forgot his phone too.

Nick either needs to be really wealthy so he can hire a personal assistant, or have an incredibly amazing wife. Or Both.