I sort of dropped into a black hole

I've been neck deep in work and summer camp these past few days. Well, it wasn't really summer camp, but that's what they called it. It was really computer camp. Two looooong days of computer camp. Each day by mid-day my head felt like it was going to explode, but never fear I had some duct tape in my purse, just in case. I'm always prepared. Anyway, I signed up for this camp to learn how to better set up my new simulation/case study class. It turns out that the focus of the camp was more on making materials accessible to disabled students, then let's get in there and help you set up your far too complicated course. In fact, they made my life more difficult. I found out that my syllabus is totally unaccessible to blind students who use readers to read the syllabus. So the bulk of the first day was reworking my already finished, and might I had quite visually appealing, syllabus. When I asked for help in setting up group feedback forms, which is an important part of the students grades, they basically made me feel like it was going to be the equivalence of scaling Mt. Everest to set up a group feedback system. I immediately got on the phone to the administration to ask them to delay the start of school one more month so that I can have enough time to get done all that I need to get done to get this friggin' website set up (I really didn't call them, because you know they would have said....NO). Anyway, it feels like I've fallen into a black hole and it will be a while before I find my way out of it. I've got loads of pictures of Dan and Cody's highly successful fishing trip that I hope to post soon, but it will be a few more days. Oh, I almost forgot...through all of this I decided to go back on Atkins, so I'm in the induction phase, so I've been very cranky, which has only added to the fun the past few days. Back to work!

I miss my husband...and son too!

I'm feeling very sad and disconbobulated (is that how you spell that word????). Dan and Cody left about 4 hours ago to drive to the South Oregon Coast to go deep sea fishing with Dan's Uncle Arthur. I'm glad that they're going. These father/son excursions are important, but that doesn't mean that I don't miss them. The house is so quiet. Not that we talk all the much throughout the day. In fact, three of the seven days, Dan is gone all day at work. But there's something about knowing that his chair upstairs is empty and it will be so for the next two days that leaves me feeling empty inside. I hate sleeping alone. I usually leave the TV on. It helps somehow. Chelsea was gone most the day with her friend Alex and she informed me when I picked her up that they're going to get together again tomorrow, so I can't count on her to keep me company. I guess I'll go see a movie. I'm pitiful. I hate that I have such a strong reaction to the absence of half my family.

We'll be friends until we forget

Tonight Mona, Janelle (Mona's son's girlfriend), and I went to see Mamma Mia! This simply was one of the best movies that I've seen in a long time. There were times during the movie when I could see that Mona was feeling exactly what I was feeling...I wanted to jump into the screen and dance and sing with them! These three 50+ women in this movie showed that there's plenty of life ahead. I tried to find a picture of the beautifully horrid circa 1980's disco unitard outfits that they wore for a couple of the singing numbers, but couldn't find one. I would love to dress up in one of those outfits and belt one out like Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, and Christine Baranski did. It was the ultimate chick flick, and I know that if Dan had been there he would have felt like shooting himself in the head within 5 minutes of the movie starting. If you haven't seen it, please do, but see it with a girlfriend. There were times during the movie where the audience clapped, myself including, after the music numbers.
On the way home, Mona and I talked about how much it means to have close girlfriends to go through life with. Both of us agreeing that we wished that we had childhood girlfriends that we were still close to. But then Mona pointed out that we've known each other for almost 30 years. That's more time than I ever spent with my childhood girlfriends. So I said, "Mona we've got decades ahead of us to share. We'll be friends until we die." Her reply had me on the floor, "No Cindy, we'll be friends until we forget." I love the way you think Mona. Keep it coming dear friend.

We'll miss you Jen...Here's Bella

We've owned and loved our beautiful white and gold cat, Jen, for 13 years. When we first got her, she was an inside cat. In fact, she never stepped outside until she was over a year old. However, after a week vacation away, when we returned she and her sister cat had decided to show their anger at our leaving them alone by peeing all over the house. From that day forward, Jen became an outside cat. Jen was a very verbal cat. She sat outside our bedroom window and angrily meowed non-stop throughout the first night. She was pissed off and wanted back in. But my resolve was greater and eventually she adapted to being an outside cat. In fact I think she thrived outside. She was a cat that behaved more like a dog. She came when you called to her. She would perch on the half wall that is just outside our kitchen nook window and meow her good morning. Cici our dog would run over and put her paws up on the window sill and Cici and Jen would go nose to nose through the screen. They loved each other. I would have a short morning conversation with Jen. I'd say something and she'd meow in reply. I'm not exaggerating. My mom was here over Christmas for several weeks and she was witness to these "conversations." Jen would sleep every night in our garage. She had two favorite spots. One on an old beanbag and the other an old laundry basket with an old blanket in it. We also called her the "Kamakaze Cat" as she liked to play this game of timing it just right when I drove up the driveway in my car, as I raised the garage door to pull in, Jen would make a run for it crossing right in front of my car, narrowly being run over by me. I must say she had impeccable timing.

When all the evacuees came to stay, they brought with them their various cats and dogs. In all the chaos I neglected to think of how Jen would react to the invasion of the various pets. Apparently she didn't react well. She took off and we haven't seen her since. We've looked everywhere. About a week ago, Dan spent 3 hours on his mini-trail scouring the area for her. There were no signs of her. We visited the pound to see if she had been picked up. She hadn't. We have a pack of coyotes that live close to us and we can only assume that she wandered into their territory and was killed. It's weird how at the most unexpected times, thoughts of her some into my mind and I fill with this sadness. The worst is when I close the garage doors at night. I always checked to see if she was in the garage, if not I'd call to her. I still look up at the kitchen nook window in the morning wishing to hear her morning greeting. I guess it will take a while to get over the loss of her. She was a good cat and we'll miss her. Unfortunately I don't have a digital picture of her to share, but take my word for it, she was a pretty girl.

Last Sunday, Chelsea convinced Dan and I to go to the pound to see if we could adopt another cat. She already had the name picked out...Bellatrix. I call her Bella, Cody calls her Trix, and Chelsea calls her Bellatrix. As usual, Dan calls her KeeKee, as he does all of our pets, including the dog. Chelsea really took her time holding all the possible adoptees and settled on our new pretty little kitty, Bella.
She's been living most of the time with Chelsea in her room. We've been gradually introducing her to Cici. The first meeting did not go well, but Dan was there for the second meeting, and helped Bella calm down considerably. I'm convinced he's some sort of "Cat Whisperer." This picture was taken yesterday and you can see Cici's face and nose in the upper right hand corner and you can clearly see that Bella doesn't seem too bothered. We're still exposing them to each other in small doses. We're going to wait until she's a bit bigger before we allow her free reign of the house.

Jury Duty

Today I was summoned to the Butte County Courthouse in Oroville for jury duty. I was told to report at 8 am, which I did. After finding a park in an already very full parking lot, I lined up with the rest of the poor souls who had been summoned as well. We had to go through a security check that was more stringent than what you go through at the airport, and the bummer was we weren't going to end up at some wonderful vacation spot after being screened! I was overwhelmed with the number of potential jurors. Has Butte County seen a sudden surge in crime that I haven't heard about requiring such large numbers of jurors? I checked in and was lucky enough to find one of the few remaining seats on the hard benches that lined the hallway. The jury assembly room was completely full and the hallways, that were the length of about 2/3 of a football field, were completely packed. We sat there until 10 am (that 2 hours of waiting), before a gentleman came out and made a general announcement regarding how the day was going to proceed. Basically when your group number was called you were to go into the courtroom. About 1/2 later, 10:30 am they came out and gave the first round of group numbers. My number was not called. By this time my butt was really beginning to become uncomfortable. Thank goodness I had my 1200 page Diana Gabaldon book with me, because it was starting to look like I might just finish it before my group number was called. Well, we sat and we sat and we sat, and we sat some more and before you knew it, it was 12 noon and still no more groups were called. We had been told that our lunch would be from 12 - 1:30, but we couldn't leave until we were given permission. Let me say that I was not the only one beginning to feel quite testy. Everyone was becoming quite verbal in their disgust regarding how their time was being wasted. At 12:10 pm the gentleman who calls out the group numbers appeared and everyone believed that he was showing up to give us permission to go to lunch. My stomach was ready and making its need know quite loudly. But no, he doesn't excuse us, he calls all the remaining group numbers. I would say there were approximate 100 of us. We were instructed to pile into one of the courtrooms. The entire courtroom was filled with standing room only with all the remaining potential jurors. In the center stood a man in a pair of khaki pants and plaid short sleeved shirt. He proceeded to introduce himself as the judge and apologized for his casual dress (like any of us cared!), but he wasn't scheduled to hold court today. He then proceeded to tell us that there were three cases that they needed jurors for today. The first case had an enpaneled jury derived from the first group numbers that were called earlier. The remaining two cases were homocide cases, yes murder, pictures of dead bodies who have died probably a violent death. I immediately looked for the nearest exit as I tried to construct a reasonable excuse for not being able to serve. He then told us that for one of the cases, the person charged had gone a little crazy and was currently being restrained in the jail and he had changed his mind and wanted trial by judge. Okay, one down, one more to go. He then proceeded to explain that the reason why so many people were summoned because with murder trials it takes more people to find jurors who can serve on a murder trial.. He then proceeds to tell us that at the minimum the trial would last 2 - 3 weeks and at the maximum it would take 3 months. Yikes! I've got kids starting back to school in 3 weeks and my work starts shortly thereafter. I'm beginning to really worry. Then this a**h**e, after giving us all these details and making us believe that we were the jury pool for this murder trial, then said that the deputy district attorney had taken sick and was in the hospital and that we were all free to go and that we would be called again in a year. It took everything in me not to jump over the little half wall that separated me and him and strangle him!!!!!! Why couldn't they have sent the group number guy out to the hallway and simply thanked us for our time and sent us on our way at noon? Jury duty sucks and I'll never do it again. Dan said that he will gladly pay any fines if we get summoned again. It seems to me that it would make so much more sense if they would have groups show up at staggered times throughout the day. Why have everyone show up at 8 am and have over 100 people sitting on their rear ends on hard benches for 4 hours and 10 minutes! Typical government bureaucracy. They screw everything up and we want to elect people to congress and the presidency that want to increase government intrusion into our private lives. We are slowly becoming a country that is completely bereft of any common sense.

The Reese Weil Project

I've often said how important my small group of friends are to me. They are like family. So anytime that Dan and I have the opportunity to spend time with them it is welcomed and loved. I was informed by my sister friend Mona on Friday that we would be meeting for dinner at 5th Street Steakhouse Saturday evening followed by going to Monk's, a wine bar, to hear her youngest son Reese perform. Reese is a very talented, or should I more accurately say, gifted musician. He's a guitarist and we found out last night that he is also a very good singer, but more about that later.
We met Mona and her husband Greg, first at the bar of 5th Street Steakhouse. They had already ordered a bottle of wine and had the wine poured and waiting for us. I hadn't seen Mona for almost 2 weeks as she and Greg had just returned from their annual July 4th vacation. It was wonderful to see her and we immediately began catching up with each other. Soon thereafter, Mona and Greg's son, Seth and his beautiful girlfriend arrived, followed immediately by Brad and Mary. We were taken to our table and the evening of fun commenced.

Seth is the fantastic looking young man on the left, sitting next to his exotically beautiful girlfriend Janelle. Mona and Greg looked so rested and happy last night. I suspect that it was the horse back ride that they took earlier in the day. You see, Greg has a new woman in his life. Her name is Candy and she is the sweetest, most loving and gentle horse ever. Quite frankly Greg is smitten. When he came to pick Dan and me and the kids up to go see Batman, he told us again how much he loves this horse. Now he just has to break in that new saddle, a painful but necessary process.
Dan was not feeling all that well but couldn't turn down a night with friends. I think part of his not feeling well had to do with the stressful week he had at the office, but enough said about that. You can see that Dan and I thoughtfully planned out our clashing outfits. Mary showed up in a beautiful black dress and Brad showed up ready to play, which is typical. The party just doesn't start until Brad shows up. After a wonderful dinner at 5th Street, and might I add that I have never had a bad dining experience there. It is my absolutely favorite restaurant in town. Once dinner was done and we'd absconded with more than our share of Ande's mints (Brad went back into the restaurant after we'd left and took even more. I believe the hostess said to be sure to leave the bowl) it was time to head to Monk's to see Reese play.
I had never been to Monk's before and I was so impressed with how classy the place was. They had reserved a table for us, which you can see in this picture. They had chosen several different wines for us, kind of a wine smorgesborg. I was more in the mood for coffee so I asked the waitress there if they had coffee. She told me they didn't but she would go and get me one at the coffee shop next door! I couldn't believe it, now that is what I call service. The owner of Monk's, Kevin, was so warm and welcoming and by the end of the evening, Seth, Greg and Mona's oldest son, was hired by Kevin to be the new security. Seth is a very talented martial arts teacher and beside being a gorgeous hunk, he can defend any damsel who might be in distress.
We were immediately greeted by Reese when we arrived. He was busy setting up his equipment, but I was pleased to see that he'd finally arrived at a name for his group that highlighted him, instead some generic group name. He is officially The Reese Weil Project. I asked him to stand by his poster so that I could get a shot of the star of the evening. As you can see, the proud father Greg is peering through the window in the door. I swear this was not staged. I took the picture, looked up, saw Greg standing in the window, and better yet you could see him in the picture. It was totally accidental and unplanned, but a terrific shot!
Once we settled in and started enjoying the music I asked Seth to take a picture with my sister friend Mona. Not bad for a couple of broads in their 40's....okay our 50's. Don't they say that the 50's are the new 40's? So I didn't really lie.

When Reese began his set he performed alone, without his drummer and other guitarist. I decided that I wanted to video tape him and here it is. Unfortunatly, the sound quality really sucks and while his videoed performance is still good, it really does not begin to do justice to his singing and guitar playing talents. He writes everything he plays. He is highly entertaining to watch perform because this young man eats, breaths, and sleeps music. It truly is his purpose on this earth and I know that the more clubs he plays, the greater his following will be and I just want it noted here today that "I knew him when." Note to Mona and Mary, the uninitiated: to play this video click the little gray arrow in the bottom left (Sorry gals, I just couldn't resist taking a little jab).

Beck 08 Stage Show

Last night Dan and I attended the Beck '08: Unelectable stage show that was beamed by satellite to our local theatre. He was performing in Dallas and we saw the show live in HD. Because we don't get his radio show here in Chico, I assumed that Dan and I would probably be the only one's there, but I was pleasantly surprised. I brought my camera along because Glenn Beck on his radio show (which I download everyday to my iPod) urged those of us who would be in theaters that would be virtually empty to take pictures and send them in. So, I had my camera with me. There was a total of 40 attendee's. During the first segment of the show he focused on the "great work" that our politicians do on our behalf and we collectively dropped our jaws when he mentioned a piece of legislation that Chico's city council passed. About 8 years ago, our esteemed city council passed a law that it is illegal to detonate a nuclear devise within the city limits and any person in violation of this law will be fined $500. A definite head scratcher and shows the deep thinkers that sit on our city council. Anyway when the intermission started, me being me, I asked everyone there if they would be willing for me to take a picture of them to send in to Glenn. They all heartily agreed. Dan got the usher to turn on the lights and this is the picture he took. As you can clearly see there are not 40 people in this picture, but it was intermission and some had to tend to bathroom needs and others to hunger and thirst needs.
Even though we'd never met any of these people, we had the best time together talking and getting to know each other. What I love about Glenn Beck is that it's not about the political parties. In fact, whenever politics enters into the problem solving process, trouble and idiosy soon ensues. The second half of the show he gave the political speech that he would give if he was the presidential candidate. Keep in mind, he does not seriously see himself entering politics at anytime. Hence, the "Unelectable" portion of the stage show title. The speech was totally politically incorrect, which made it completely delicious. It was chalk full of common sense and I believe that conservative and liberal alike would find much that they would agree with in what he said. The bottom line of his message is that this is a great country, full of wonderful and resourceful people, and it is up to each of us, as individuals to take responsibility and do our part to solve these pressing issues before us. Government is not the answer. Taxing people into oblivion to bail out large corporations and individuals who make poor choices is not the way. What makes this country great is the fact that we have the opportunity to succeed, as well as fail. In fact it is important for people to fail. This is how we learn. I know this from personal experience, as you probably do to. I also believe that many of our problems are solvable if we use common sense and get all the special interests and political agendas out of the way.

Treating myself

Yesterday I treated myself to a pedicure. I figured I could justify it because of all the walking and the resultant stress that was put on my feet last Friday. When I was there, being massaged and soaking my tired feet, I saw that the girl next to me had chosen this hot pink color and was having flowers painted on her big toes. So I decided to copy her. It only cost $5 more. My crooked hammer toes aside, I think the flowers look quite pretty.

Sisters coming together

I discussed this blog with my sisters during our trip to San Diego last Friday. I explained how I really wanted this to be a way of keeping in touch because we live so far apart and we are all so busy. Quite frankly I miss them. Tere and Lynnie were quite open to this idea and so I've invited both of them to start posting on this blog. Regardless of their level of participation I'm going to regularly post as I find it to be a great way to document moments that can fade over time. I'm adding a picture of the three of us on the main page and hopefully each of them will fill out their profile as time goes by. Welcome sisters. I hope this little experiment in keeping connected works. I love you both.

There's nothing as good as a day with the girls!

On Friday, July 11, Chelsea and I arose around 3:30 am, that is 3:30 am, to drive to the airport to catch a plane to San Diego. The big day had finally arrived to celebrate Chelsea's 16th birthday and developmental passage into womanhood with her Aunt Tere and Caralyn, her Grandma, and cousin Kendall. Since taking her Driver's Education class, Chelsea spent the bulk of our drive down to the airport, critiquing my adherence to the laws of the road and I'm sorry to say that I cut more corners and downright ignored some of the laws. I realize that I'm supposed to be a good driver role model, but it was 4 am, with virtually no one on the road, so who cares if I don't follow every rule....like driving 20 mph over the speed limit. Suffice it to say as evidenced by the following pictures, we arrived at the airport in one piece, with plenty of time to wait in the terminal until it was time for our plane to leave. We apparently caught a tailwind because our plane arrived 10 minutes early. So as we head toward the pick up area I placeda call to Lynnie (Caralyn) to let her know that we were already here and it turns out that at that moment they were approaching the pickup area. We spent approximately 15 seconds waiting to be picked up. After hugs and kisses "hello" we headed for our first stop, a little french bakery called Bread and Cie where we were to meet my older sister Tere. I decided to throw caution to the wind yet again and order the lemon bread, which I haven't eaten in 3 years. Soon Tere arrived and the hugs and kisses were liberally distributed once again. We settled in to catching up with one another and Tere and Lynnie had planned a rather touching ceremony to celebrate Chelsea's coming into womanhood. Lynnie had purchased some henna and Tere who is an actively practicing Buddhist began to chant, who know what, but it sounded good over Chelsea as Lynnie proceeded to draw henna designs on Chelseas hands and forearm.

Lynnie began with Chelsea's fingers and worked her way down.
It looks like things are off to a good start. Unfortunately I failed to take a picture of the final product, but Tere contributed to the henna drawing process by drawing a very small "happy face" on the palm of one hand and a very small "sad face" on the other palm. It was quite funny, but you had to be there.
Chelsea was quite happy with the end product. Notice that we are wearing matching colors. This was not planned. When we arrived at the airport and entered the security checkpoint area, one of the security guards commented about our matching tops; we both looked at each other with horror and then broke out laughing.
Here she is with Lynnie on the left and Tere on the right after the sweet ritual that signaled Chelsea's passage into womanhood. She loves her aunts so much and it was clear that this was going to be a wonderful day! Our next stop was the San Diego Zoo. Chelsea really wanted to try out her new Nikon P80 that she got for her birthday present from me and her dad. Chelsea and Kendall rode with Aunt Tere to the zoo in her new Austin Mini Cooper, Chelsea's favorite car and heart's desire for her first car. Tere generously shared her zoo passes with Chelsea and I, so we got into the zoo free.
Chelsea took copious amounts of pictures and was excited to go to the petting zoo even though this is usually an area that the little kids only want to go to. Here she is getting to know one of the precious baby goats.
After the zoo we went to the Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park, but about 4:30 pm we all hit a very big wall that required relaxing with a view of the ocean and alcoholic beverages. So we piled into our cars, crossed the Coronado Bridge and went to a restaurant, that I don't remember the name of now. I think it was Peone's. We got a lovely seat that overlooked the bay, ordered our drinks, and enjoyed each other's company a little bit more. There was a musician there who was playing kettle drums. He could see how much Lynnie was enjoying the music and so he came over and asked if she or any of us had any requests. Lynnie chose anything from Bob Marley. A great choice if I do say so myself. Time flew and before we knew it they were calling our name for our 6 pm reservation. We hadn't met up with mom yet. She was scheduled to arrive at 6 pm and as she usually is, she was right on time.
Chelsea and Kendall ran over to meet her and as you can see, Grandma was quite thrilled to have such a welcoming and loving reception from two of her granddaughters. Mom looked terrific and was so happy to join us for the rest of our time in town.

Chelsea and Grandma had some time to catch up since her visit with us last Christmas. See the necklace around Chelsea's neck. Tere and Lynnie gave her that necklace. It is a silver bar that has inscribed on it, "believe in yourself." The silver bar is held on by a leather necklace. She loves it and hasn't taken it off yet. We had a great dinner of steak and seafood and Lynnie order ahead of time the dessert, "the volcano."
Here's the volcano, sporting a candle. We sang a rather pathetic version of "Happy Birthday to You." I think Chelsea's covering of her mouth is an expression of joy rather than repulsion at our singing.
You can tell that she's considering very carefully her wish before blowing out the candles. See the bay over Chelsea's right shoulder. It looks like ther are windows there, but from that metal bar in the background up is open.
I think she made her wish and the expression on her face indicates that she's fairly sure that her wish will come true. I certainly hope so as I want all my precious daughter's wishes to come true.
What a perfect way to end the perfect day. There is nothing like having sisters. We are all so different, while at the same time we share so much. We don't always agree with each other and that's okay, because underneath it all, we love each other; we support each other; we believe in each other. While the focus of the day was on celebrating another year in the life of my daughter, the day ended up to be so much more. It was a joining of women, who share blood and experiences that are uniquely and intimately ours. We toasted this bond and reveled in this bond. I pray that we will have more of these special days. This one will remain in my memory until the day I take my last breath.

We left for the airport at 8:30 pm. We got on the plane at 9:55 pm. Arrived back at Sacramento Airport at 11:15 pm and began the 1 hour and 15 minute drive home. We arrived home at about 12:30 pm exhausted, but sated.

The Mess Continues

A couple of months ago I posted about my messy office mate and how very soon I wouldn't have to deal with the mess anymore because he was retiring. Well, I was working on my syllabus and checked the class schedule for times and what do I see? I see his name on the friggin' schedule for next semester. So, I guess I get to continue to look at this lovely sight for yet another year.

The Fires Worsen

I knew yesterday morning when I took Cody to golf camp that it wasn't good news that there was ash falling from the sky, our deck was lightly covered in ash. The fires have been burning non-stop for the past few weeks and the smoke has waxed and waned throughout, but we've never had ashes. This new development clearly indicated that the winds had shifted in our direction. Now we are not in any threat of danger from the fire. All the action is up in Paradise, however our good friends, the Barbers and the Arringtons were. They live on the canyon that overlooks Feather River. The fire is actively burning on the other side of the river. I received a call around 11 am yesterday morning from Bruce, the son and brother of the Barbers and Arringtons, asked if his parents, the Barbers could come and stay with us as they were being evacuated. I immediately asked about his sister and her family, the Arringtons, regarding their evacuation plans. It was quickly determined that both families needed a place to stay. My sister in law, Jackie, who lives next door, also has family living in Paradise. I immediately called her to see if her pool house would be available to the Arrington family. She generously said that they could stay there. Soon thereafter she got the call that her mother and aunt would also be evacuating. By the end of the day Jackie had 10 evacuees in her home and we have a total of 7, plus Bruce drove up from the Bay Area to help out. This is the third time that the Arringtons and the Barbers have had to evacuate and it is clear that they are growing weary. My thoughts this morning are also with the firefighters. They have been working non-stop for weeks battling these fires through rough terrain, but they are like the Energizer bunny; they just keep on going. We are unsure of when it is going to be safe for the Arringtons and Barbers to return home so I'm mentally preparing for a long haul. The bright news on the horizon is that on Friday, Chelsea and I will be flying to San Diego for the day to celebrate her 16th birthday with her Aunt Tere, Aunt Caralyn, Grandma, and her cousin Kendall. She is so excited, which fills me with joy because, quite frankly, she hasn't had much of a birthday celebration yet. Each time she arranges to celebrate with her bestfriend, who happens to live in Paradise, she has to cancel because they have to evacuate. Yesterday, Katelyn was scheduled to come down to finally celebrate Chelsea's birthday and yet again, they had to evacuate. Hopefully Friday will make up for her repeated disappointment.

Obsession can be highly productive, really it can.

Have I mentioned before that I'm a bit obsessive. If I haven't, I am now. I've been reworking my Abnormal Psychology class to be a more engaging format. It turns out that this change in format requires A LOT of typing up of briefs and case studies. That's what I've been doing non-stop for the past three days. When I get started it is difficult to get me to stop. That's where the obsession comes in. It's good from a work stand point because I get quite productive, however this single minded focus means that when anyone tries to come into my office and try to engage me in any form of conversation they are likely to be ignored. I guess my kids are used to it. I often see them out of the corner of my eye approaching the door to my office, drawing in their breath to begin to speak, followed by a quick exhalation and a muttering of something like, "why bother?" Every once in a while I come to my senses, put myself in their shoes, and encourage them to say whatever it was that they came to say. Unfortunately these clear minded moments are far and too few between. In addition, my hands are slowly becoming unuseable. At the end of the day, they ache and are so swollen that I can't take my rings off. Of course, I would never listen to by body and alter my behavior. That would mean that I actually have some common sense when it comes to the whole mind body thing! Enough diversion, time to get back to work.

How Time Flies!

My son, Cody, turned 14 on Monday, June 30. However, with all the focus being on pulling off the baby shower, both of my kids kindly allowed their birthday celebrations to be delayed. On Monday we took him, along with his cousins, Tylan and Liam, and his Uncle Fred to see "Get Smart." What a laughfest that was. We loved it. Yesterday Cody wanted to be the day to actually celebrate his birthday with his two best friends, Thomas and Kyle. Cody always insists on a Baskin and Robbins ice cream cake for his birthday and it must be made with mint chip ice cream. So I dutifully bought him his requisite cake, picked up a pizza from his favorite pizza place, Celestino's. This was the sum total of party planning on my part. I remember when the kids were young birthday parties were these big productions. Now, it involves picking up whatever cake and food they request and then they just hang out with their friends and it usually ends up being a sleep over.
Cody was thrilled with my cake choice because it had these tiny individual ice cream cones. The boys immediately pulled them off and devoured them.
Cody didn't want us to sing "Happy Birthday" and so I pathetically attempted to do a rap version, which was immediately silenced. It was a tragic attempt, but at least I cared enough to try.
The boys stayed up all night....all night. So guess who also didn't get much sleep. Teenage boys tend to have tremendous difficulty staying up all night and doing it quietly. So I drifted in and out all night. See Cici hanging with the boys in her favorite spot on the couch. Cici loves it when Thomas and Kyle come over. They played Halo all night. I'm sure it is some horrid video game that teachs them to be aggressive and violent, but they were having a good time, so damn the long term consequences.
After devouring the pizza, they dove head long into the mint chip ice cream cake.
The boys are starting to look a little ragged around the edges after the all night marathon. They did however take a brief pancake breakfast break, but it was right back to the video game action. Kyle who is in the foreground is very close to losing his battle to stay conscious. All and all I think we can chalk this one up to another successful birthday celebration.