Birthday party pictures

All the grandparents except my Dad, and our neighbors George and Billie.  We consider them honorary grandparents to Gabriel.

My brother and niece, Macy, with her awesome Beatles tee on.  My brother had actually ordered a pink AC/DC tee for her, and this came instead.  I call that Divine Intervention!  My Dad (aka Poppy) is playing ping pong against me in the background.  I was so proud to be winning our game until he told me halfway through that he was playing me left handed.  That's just mean.

The ping pong was SO much fun.  This is a vintage table we have now inherited from my Mom and Dad, and I hope we'll be using it often.  

The badminton was a hit too, even though it got a little steamy out in the sun sometimes.  

This was a good place to go if you got too steamy.  Andrew is valiantly guarding his balloons to the far left (even though the balloons are just out of the picture).

A few more

Singing Happy Birthday to very sweaty and overheated little boy!

What fun would kid's birthday parties be without Shiner?  I shudder to think.

I love that all the kids wanted to gather around Gabriel to watch him open presents.  

The Curious George pinata, before he met with his rather violent and untimely end.

The mad scramble for ooey gooey half melted candy.  Yum.

Herb garden...again?

I've tried to grow herbs several times over the last few years.   Only a few have been successful for a long period - rosemary and oregano.  All the others, especially the ones I use most frequently, don't do very well after the first month I plant them.  I need basil, thyme, flat-leaf parsley, chives, dill and cilantro.  Those are the ones I find myself buying in the produce section over and over, and then throwing away the unused portion (which always gets me thinking about growing my own).  I'm pondering the option of  growing them indoors this time, but I'm not sure if we get enough light in our one Southern-facing window during the winter.  I read a tip of putting aluminum foil behind the plants to get them even more light.  I don't think I want to try a grow light.   That just seems like too much trouble and I don't know where I'd put it.  And I just read that basil won't work indoors, it needs too much sun.  I guess it won't hurt to try a few, other than being out the price of the herbs.  Again.

Overseas infatuation

We're not really YouTubers at our house.  At least, we weren't.  One day I was searching for Beatles cartoons, and noticed a "currently watched" video called "Charlie Bit My Finger...Again."  I'm not sure why it intrigued me enough to click on it, but Gabriel was in a trance from the moment it started to play.  Apparently these little guys from across the pond have been pretty popular, but we are a bit slow to catch onto these trends.  We started watching all the Harry and Charlie spots, and after Gabriel saw Charlie Commando Training, he was hooked.  He wanders around the house chanting "Daddy" with his little English accent, and continually pulls us to wherever the laptop is so he can watch it again.  And again.  And again.  I find it fascinating, because we've since tried to get him to watch all sorts of spots with other toddlers, and none of them get even a wink of interest from him.  But for some reason, Gabriel feels some kind of connection with Charlie.   I only wish Charlie had said more words in his video.  Gabriel could use some coaching!

Sad day

The more I think about it, this man could possibly be my favorite actor of all time.  I had just decided last night to try to catch some more of his movies, and today I hear the sad news that we lost him last night after a long battle with cancer.  When certain actors pass away, it really feels like you've lost a friend.  It also seems to be when the human presence they had in real life outweighed the stage presence.  Paul Newman seemed to be a no-nonsense, giving, talented and private person who loved his family.  He used his celebrity in all of the right ways.  He will be very missed.

Where did this week go?

Well, Gabriel had a great birthday party.  We are so blessed to have so many friends and family that came to celebrate with us.  He was a little overwhelmed, but wandered around hugging all the kids multiple times while joining in on the badminton every once in awhile.  It turns out he was coming down with another cold, so had a reason for being a little loopy.  But all in all I think he had a blast, and figured out that all of the commotion was for him.  Our goal was to not have anybody get bored, so I hope we achieved success.  I have a few pictures, but am waiting for my Dad to send more before I post any.

I spent the week before the party continuing to do my Fall cleaning, trying to really spruce up every room in our house.  I lemon-oiled all the wood surfaces, cleaned the baseboards and doors, dusted and wiped down the ceiling fans, cleaned the plantation shutters and blinds, and shined up the kitchen really well.  That was all while he was at school Wednesday and Thursday.   Saturday I did regular housework and Sunday we were full throttle from sunup getting food ready, decorating and setting up all the stuff in the backyard.  We had to enlist our parents to help us (God bless 'em!) or we would not have gotten everything done in time.  And this was after careful planning for weeks!  Needless to say, we were completely exhausted Sunday night.  And I ended up with a cold, too.

Gabriel had a good 2-year check up, and made it to the 36" mark on height.  Jav's grandfather had a theory that as an adult, your height will be doubled whatever your height is when you turn two.  The theory rang true for Jav, his sister and cousins, and after I looked at my baby book, it's accurate for me too.  His checkup went well with only one concern about his speech.  He's not saying many words, and our doctor recommended seeing a speech therapist to get tips on helping him along.  I have been pretty concerned about it, because slow speech is one of the signs of autism.  But we filled out the questions regarding autism signs, and he doesn't have any other signs.  I think it's more about not having to say anything to always get what he wants.    Which will be a hard habit for the parents to break, but we will try.  

One really good thing that happened this week was that Gabriel is starting to get adjusted to his Day School.  It's hard when he only goes twice a week because he thinks we're not going back and then gets all upset again when we head that way.  When we left the house this week, he had what I call his "Kevin face", for all of you who have seen the movie Parenthood and love it like I do.    He was very worried from the moment we left the driveway, and started getting really upset about halfway there when his little sense of direction confirmed the worse:  We were heading back to THAT place.  I put my hand on his knee and started calmly telling him that it was ok to be away from Mama for awhile, and that he would have so much fun playing with the other kids and going outside and singing songs and working on art.  The little guy actually listened to me and did his best to put on a brave face, which made me feel even guiltier.  But when I picked him up, they said he'd had his happiest day ever.  And the next morning he actually walked into school instead of me having to carry him, and didn't get upset until I handed him over.  This was BIG for us, and I felt so much better about the whole thing afterwards.  We were considering pulling him back to one day a week, but I think we'll leave things alone for now.

Parenting can be such an internal battle at times. I want everything for my kid, but I don't want him to end up spoiled.  I want to push him to grow and learn, but I don't want to push so hard he feels like a failure.  I want him to experience all sorts of things, maybe even things I never got to try or do, but then I feel like I'm overwhelming him.  I think the best thing to do is just love him with patience, understanding and listening.  Listening to him and paying attention to my gut feeling about the right thing to do.   

Happy Birthday, my sweet little man!

Not a good way to start out your Birthday morning!

Things were considerably better by the end of the day!

Gabriel got to spend the morning first with Jav's Mom and Dad, then with mine.  (This also gave Jav and I time to finish getting the house spruced up for the party tomorrow.).  Then after a good nap we went to Mass and said lots of birthday prayers.  Then it was on to Campo Verde to eat his favorite meal (a cheese quesadilla), and watch the train circling the restaurant.  We had the best waitress, who had a sixteen-month-old at home and was close to having another one, bless her!  She brought Gabriel a little ice cream sundae when she found out it was his birthday.  Needless to say, she got a really big tip!  

Munchkin, I hope you had a fun birthday.  My heart just about bursts with love for you.

What we've been up to

Gabriel's first day of school (taken after he got home that afternoon since I forgot beforehand.

Path - Phase I.  Redone and now done.  My sweet autumn clematis is finally blooming at the upper right corner of the picture.

Gabriel started his Day School last Wednesday.  It wasn't so bad leaving him that morning.  He ran to the toys and never looked back.  But they said he had a pretty rough day after that.  The next day he didn't cry until I handed him off and told him a quick goodbye before practically running back down the hall so I couldn't hear him.  

Then, of course, he had a cold by Sunday night.  Damn germs!  

It wasn't so bad at first, and I even took him to school yesterday thinking he was a little better.  But after having a very short nap he was obviously going downhill yesterday afternoon.  So I kept him home today.  We've had a really fun day.  We've watched way too much public TV, read lots of library books (his favorites multiple times), worked some puzzles, and he had a really good nap.  This seemed to help because he was running around like a whirlwind, babbling his little baby words, chasing the cats, and generally acting like his old self again.  

I've already noticed that he seems more interested in the alphabet and counting, which could just be due to "getting" Sesame Street all of a sudden.  I really miss him during the day, but I'm trying to keep myself busy with Fall Cleaning.  I like to clean this time of year instead of Spring to get ready for the biggest party we throw all year - Gabriel's birthday.  I've cleaned all the eaves under the roof, washed off all the outside of the house (including all the windows), and cleaned off the front and back porch really well.  

We had Jav's family over for his Mom's birthday Sunday morning.  I've never done a breakfast/brunch before, and we had a really good time.  Then we went to noon Mass with her, which is the Spanish Mass and can be a little crazy.  Gabriel slept through most of it, making me almost pass out between his overheated little body and the fact that the chapel wasn't air conditioned.  

We've also finally finished Phase I of our path.  Phase I, II, and III actually turned into Phase I.  I hated the first one we had done.  I finally got my nerve up to tell Jav, and he was very patient with me and even helped me pull it up and redo the whole thing.  Next Spring we'll continue it to the back of the yard, probably only one side a year (of course, these interlocking pavestones were more expensive than the gravel and stepping stones we originally tried).  But I am so much happier with the way it's looking now.  

And finally, we're really gearing up for his party on the 21st.  We're going to pray it doesn't rain because we're setting up both a ping pong table and a badminton net in the backyard (if we can figure the thing out this weekend).  I originally wanted to do a Teletubbies party, but it's getting hard to find stuff for Teletubbies.  They are sort of on the way out.  So I switched to Curious George, a show that both Gabriel and his Mama are finding more and more appealing the more we watch it.  I'll be on total birthday mode for the next week.  

Why just today?

Hmm......  Why can't the presidential candidates stop belittling each other and focus on their own positive attributes on all days, not just this one?

Fun late summer evening

A few weeks ago, we had my niece Macy spend the night.  We had a delightful day.  She and Gabriel and I visited the Trinity Park duck pond before lunch.  Then after naps, she helped me decorate for my Mom and Dad's very small anniversary party that night.  It was just Jav and I and the three grandkids (Cade was spending the night with them while my brother and April attended a charity event that Pier One throws every year.)

We had a nice dinner, and were sort of wrapping things up when I remembered I wanted my Dad to see our new path (post to follow one day).  So we all headed outside.  The kids didn't even put any shoes on.  It was so pleasant, we ended up staying out there for about an hour.  The light was just right to take pictures, but even the pics don't show what a good time we all had.  And it was totally spontaneous.  It was one of those occasions I don't think we'll ever forget, it was so fun.  

Haircut day finally arrived.

Before shot.

During - at least the beginning.

The not-too-happy just after shot.

And even hours later, still not the happiest face.  But a pretty cool haircut!

Everything seemed like it was going smoothly.  Gabriel was happy in the little car he was sitting in, and watching the Elmo's World about birds.  He was fussing a little when some wet hair would fall on him as the woman cutting his hair was clipping away.  THEN he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and saw her scissors, and completely.  freaked.  out.  Stood up in the car, flailed his arms, arched his back, and screamed bloody murder.  I really never expected him to be afraid.  It caught us completely off guard.  As you can see, we have a few nice pictures at the beginning, and then Gabriel looking exhausted and, well, pissed off at us beyond belief while riding home in the car.  In between we were both holding him down and couldn't take any pictures.  The bad thing is he'll probably never want to get his hair cut again.  The good thing is, he still has curls!  

Molly sings the Big Dog Blues

Molly started limping two weeks ago.  I first thought she had just pulled something, because she seemed better a couple of days after not going on any walks.  Jav took her a week ago Tuesday night, and she was fine.  Then after he took her again the following Thursday night, the limp came back.  It remained all last weekend, and I started worrying about hip problems.  I took her Monday to see Dr. Norris, and he started thinking hip also.  They had to put her under on Tuesday to get good x-rays, though.  (Our girl is so playful she won't sit still that long).  

Sure enough, it's dysplasia in both hips, which we weren't expecting.  Her femurs should fit nicely into her hip joints, and be rounded on the edges.  The x-ray showed that the edges are rough and worn down, and so the bone isn't sitting very well in the socket on either side.  He said she was probably in some pain before now, but it must have just recently really started bothering her.  At this point in her life, he recommended a daily joint supplement, and some stronger pain medicine whenever she seems to be having a tough day.  We can still walk her; in fact we need to walk her every day, but maybe for shorter distances.  He said even long walks are ok, as long as it doesn't appear to bother her the next day.  The thing she should avoid is jumping and running, which means no more chasing down the ball.  

I never imagined how emotionally tough and expensive it would be to deal with having multiple middle-aged and/or older  pets.  I knew Rottweilers are prone to the problem, but I guess I was hoping because she was a mixed breed she had enough hound in her to avoid it.  This has been such a tough year on us, pet-wise.  But I'm thankful it wasn't something like bone cancer.  This, for now, seems manageable for the time being.

And we are still considering a puppy, believe it or not.

Thanks for the tent, Julie

Bones loves to curl up in it, as long as it's not too windy out.

Gabriel loves the tent, especially when Daddy squeezes in too.  There aren't near enough pictures of Jav in my blog.  I need to fix that.

Now, if I could only figure out how to fold the tent back up to put it in the nifty plastic thingie with handles, then I'd really be getting somewhere.  I've tried two or three times to follow the directions, but it never quite gets compact enough and ends up springing back up in my face at the last minute.  Hope the neighbors aren't watching, because I'm sure it's pretty comical to watch.

A banner day

I finally remembered to take my canvas shopping bags to Wal-Mart for grocery shopping today.  After forgetting them dozens of times at home, I had packed them in the pocket on the back of the drivers' seat.   I still forgot them a couple of times, but then one day last week walked back to the car after walking in without them again.  I think after today I have made it a habit and will not forget again.  Whether or not I can get the check-out clerks to use them in a friendly manner is another story all together.

Since I am now writing an ongoing short article for my neighborhood newsletter titled "Easy Tips for Going Green", and my last topic was reducing plastic bag use, it would be embarrassing to see any of my neighbors while I unload the car with tons of plastic bags!

Dreams of the Adirondacks

I have a new dream in life.  I want to own a cabin on a lake.  And ever so slowly, the place that has crept up to the pinnacle in my brain is The Adirondack Mountains.  Every time I see pictures of the area my knees go all weak and my heart skips a beat.  Then, yesterday, I read this article in Travel and Leisure magazine while waiting for a doctor's appointment.  I wish the online article had the pictures.  My teeny pictures I found above don't really do the place justice.  It just looks like one of the most beautiful places on earth to me.  

My ex-husband's family had a lake house on tiny Lake Weatherford, and I think my time spent there must have planted this seed in my head a long time ago.  The whole family (and their best friends who lived next door) would spend holiday weekends there.  The neighbors had a full-sized sand volleyball court by the water, and my ex-inlaws had a shuffleboard court, plenty of yard games like horseshoes, and a big old ski boat.  Occasionally we'd water ski or just putter around the lake in the boat, but this never held as much appeal for me.  I've decided boat owners are people who like to tinker with things.  I have some fond memories of my ex father-in-law with his head hanging over the engine, various tools scattered on the ground below him, scotch and water resting somewhere within reach, and weaving a string of curses as long as the Mississippi.  This would always signal the beginning of summer to me.  

But it's really just now hitting me how much of a lake person I really am.  I love to watch the cranes taking off and landing.  I love the sound of tons of insects and the frogs croaking during the summer nights.  I love looking up and actually seeing stars in the sky, more stars than you ever thought could be up there.  I love taking the dog for a walk around the lake.  I love seeing the seasons change on the water.  And if you've never experienced dusk while sitting on the dock sipping a beer, when the water is ultra-still and the birds are feeding everywhere, well then you haven't really lived, my friend.  

I also would really enjoy owning a second cabin to rent out, and thereby have some nice extra income coming in.  I think I would totally love doing this for a living.  I'm good at setting moods and creating comfortable spaces.  I don't really mind cleaning up after other people, unless they've just trashed the place.  I know it would be hard work, but when you enjoy something it doesn't seem that bad.  

Of course, we already own a rental property in Padre, but we are not very hands-on owners since it's so far away from us.  This kind of bothers me.  I know we would do a better job on the upkeep and could make the condo much more appealing to renters if we were able to maintain it more than once a year.  The people who are running things down there just do the bare minimum they have to do by law, if that.  Plus you have to worry about hurricanes, which just happened to us.  Our condo (which is on the fifth floor of the building) didn't sustain any real damage, but because the lower levels and outside property had some major damage they had to shut the whole building down for repairs for the entire month of August.  Since August is usually our biggest rent month this really, really sucks.  

Jav and I talk about retirement (a scary subject since I decided to drop out of the workforce to raise our child, and I'm old), and I think we determined that our combined dream would be to live at the Padre condo from December through May, then head north to our lake cabin from June through Thanksgiving.  That way you get the beautiful summers, fall and maybe even one or two early snows up north, then head south before it gets to be cabin fevered (picture Jack Nicholson limping around with an ax), winter time.  Then just about the time it starts to get really hot in Texas, (and before hurricane season really starts), we head back, leaving the summer months to tourist rentals, when we can make the most money.  Isn't that just the most lovely plan?  We could even have rental income coming in all year long.  The only hitch is that I'm not really crazy about spending Christmas at the beach.  Just something about cold weather that makes you feel all cozier about the holidays.  But besides that, it seems like the perfect plan.  And no matter how unobtainable they may seem sometimes, it's nice to have dreams.

A new tradition is born

Jav and I had a house project we worked on Sunday morning while Tia Sandy took Gabriel for a wonderfully fun morning at the park.  We had some time when we finished so we decided to go have lunch, something that can be a little hard on the nerves with Gabriel lately.  We needed to run another errand in the TCU area, so Jav picked a sandwich place just across the street from the campus called Potbelly Sandwich Works.  I may have seen one, but wasn't really familiar with them at all.  As I started eating my fantastically good sandwich (The Italian), and sipping my Key Lime bottled soda, I asked him where he'd eaten at one before, and he said he dined at one at an airport before coming home from our friends Mark and Chey's wedding last year.  I started thinking, and realized it was exactly one year ago this past weekend.  So the weekend nearest August 18th (their actual anniversary), has now been deemed the Annual Potbelly Weekend, where we will venture out for our once a year sandwich feast. 

And it will be a happy weekend indeed.

It might be haircut time

We're debating whether or not to get Gabriel's hair cut before he starts Day School in two weeks.  His curls seem as if they've become a big part of his identity, at least to me.  I've only had two people ask if he was a boy.  Everyone else knew he was boy through and through.  And most of the Moms we've had conversations with waiting in lines or shopping have said, "Don't you touch that hair!" whenever I mention that we're thinking about cutting it.   But it is getting really long, and sometimes hangs down in his face, and I promised myself I wouldn't let him look shaggy.

I know that besides starting school, his first haircut will probably be one of the most emotional things I'll have to go through.  The result will be such a visual symbol that he's growing up and not a baby anymore.  And I'm going to be so sad if the curls never come back.  But maybe it would be better to get both things over with at the same time.  

Shaggy all of a sudden doesn't seem so bad!

Bones: From crotchety to cuddle muffin

For some reason, I had a very sad Henry moment this morning.  I was watching Elmo with Gabriel and I got really sad all of a sudden and missed that big drooly purring lump in my lap.  I was crying, but trying to pull myself together so Gabriel wouldn't wonder why Elmo was making Mama sad.  Luckily he was oblivious, but I noticed Bones staring at me.  I asked him if he missed Henry sometimes too.  

Well, when we got home from doing our Thursday thing several hours later, we walked into Gabriel's room and there was the fishing pole with the curly ribbon tied to it.   I couldn't play with the cats using that fishing pole for about a month after we lost Henry.  Then I decided to switch out the little fish with the bell that I had custom made so Henry could hear it with some curly ribbon that someone had left after a birthday party.  I have been making a concentrated effort to play with Bones and Zoe more lately.  But, not only has the fishing pole not made it's way into Gabriel's room since Henry died, Bones has NEVER left a toy for anybody before in the house.  You really could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw it.

Then as soon as Gabriel was asleep, Bonesy came and curled up in my lap and let me pet him for the longest time.  I'm not sure if Bones was letting me know that he's a little more content now that there are fewer pets and I have more time to play with him, or if he knew how much I needed that little extra lovin'.  Either way, it sure did make me feel better.  And it just further confirms my belief that animals are instinctively so much smarter than most people give them credit for.

Small miracles

Today was a truly great day.  No, the future history books will not have any of the small miracles that I witnessed today recorded.  But in our little world - that I will admit revolves completely around Gabriel - this was a huge day.

Just before Gabriel's nap, we were reading a book together, and he made four different new animal noises during the course of the book:  horse, cat, owl and puppy.  He also started making a "whoo whoo" train noise every time he rides on his big indoor car.  I realized after witnessing Jav carry him piggy back around the house tonight that he is copying DaDa, who always makes a train noise during this expedition.  Then tonight, he turned on his old musical walker that he's ignored for a couple of weeks.  He was humming, clapping, and dancing to the songs that I have endlessly sung, even when I didn't think he was always paying attention.  There's one song that I don't know the words to, so I always just made this soft shoe noise and kind of hummed along.  Tonight he was bouncing up and down and soft-shoeing away, and although it took me about half the song to realize what he was doing, I just beamed with joy when I figured it out.  

We think he's not paying attention, and that we're just foolishly doing some of this stuff for no apparent reason.  Today it dawned on us that he is listening and watching pretty much everything we do, and we can't wait to see what he learns next.

Now, what did I do with that white ball gown?

In 1966, Truman Capote (I know, my second Capote reference in as many weeks-what's up with that?) threw what some people have called the Party of the Century.  It was called The Black and White Ball, and was thrown in honor of his friend and editor of The Washington Post, Katherine Graham.  Some attendees weren't impressed with the party, seemed bored and left early (including Frank Sinatra and his then wife Mia Farrow, pictured above); others claimed it was a huge success and would not be surpassed by any to follow.  As you can see, the mask element added an air of mystique and intrigue.

Why am I yammering about this?  Because we have an opportunity to attend our very own Black and White Ball, the Fort Worth Opera's fundraising event this year.  The invitation came attached to a mask, and the cheapest ticket is $350.00.  If you don't want to sit with the riffraff, you could spend $20,000 to sit at the Swan table.  Can you even imagine spending $20,000 and not having a new shiny automobile or some such afterwards?  

But money aside, I would love to go to a big, grownup party like this one day before I die.  One where it takes months to find the right dress, shoes and jewelry.  One where just the anticipation and excitement of what's to come can put you in a good mood.  One where it takes all day just to get ready for it.  I guess I've already been to one event that lives up to all three of those expectations:  my wedding, which was absolutely the funnest party I've ever been too.  But I'm sure the Black and White Ball would come in a close second.  

That's the signpost up ahead...your next stop, The Terrible Two Zone

Multiple screams of horror follow.  

My son has entered his next phase in life.  Boy did I have it easy up until now.  He has always been so good in every situation, whether it be a trip to the grocery store, eating out, or family get-togethers.  As long as I had snacks in my purse to satisfy him throughout the duration of a trip to the store, he's always been so happy.

Oh.    My.    God.    He now tries to stand up in the cart the whole time we're shopping.  We gave up on trying to make him stay in one at Lowe's one night (a horrible time to be shopping with a toddler, by the way).  We finally let him down and he proceeded to run up and down the aisles, making a noise similar to a recently freed caged animal.  Then he spotted the abandoned forklift.  His new goal in life was to touch it, then he wanted to move the knobs and push buttons, which would have involved climbing on top of it.  This was not going to happen, so multiple screams, sitting on the ground, and limping out of his entire body followed.  

The next clue that we have entered the TTZ was in Barnes and Noble, where we were browsing with my Mom and nephew.  Anytime I tried to take his hand, he would squeal in protest and run the other way.  If I happened to be too quick for him and grab it, he would sit on the ground, followed by me trying to pick up a limp-boned 33-pound dead weight.  I finally had to carry him sideways to keep him from bowing his entire body, all the while making his now very loud squeals.    I REALLY hate to be in a store while my child is causing such a ruckus, and of course told everyone we needed to make a hasty exit.  

Apparently I will have to get used to it, though, if I want to venture out in public for the next couple of months.  I'm hoping that eventually he'll mature enough so that I can use bribes and/or threats of taking Teletubbie-watching privileges away to make it through a shopping expedition.  For now I will just pack extra snacks, try to be patient and loving even though my child is acting like the Tasmanian Devil, and pray.  

Addendum to birthday post

I just found out about some people I missed.  If I had known Wayne Knight had a birthday on August 7th, this would have trumped the David Duchovny pic hands down.   "Hello Newman."

I also just found out I share a birthday with Bruce Dickinson, lead singer of Iron Maiden.  And you were so impressed that I knew his name, Julie.  Little did we know how much I have in common with him.

I'll be gone 500 miles when the day is done

My uncle comes in on the Amtrak train from Austin this afternoon.  It will be the first time he's commuted that way instead of by car.  What a lovely way to take a trip, at least in my opinion.  Time to read or just stare out the window.  Time to enjoy a cup of tea in the dining car.  And no stopping for gas!  

Coincidentally, there was an NPR story this morning on Amtrak and how much money they need to add, update and improve safety of trains and tracks.  The figure was 2 billion plus just for the northeast corridor.  Yikes!  Why don't we take some of the money that certain people in Congress are proposing for additional oil drilling and give it to Amtrak.  Hah.  

I would so love to be able to take trains everywhere, but it dawned on me while thinking about what it would be like that Texas is a difficult place to make this work.  No, not because everybody refuses to give up their vehicles (although that's true too).  It's mostly because it's so hot.  You would be a sweaty mess just walking a few blocks to a stop or station.  It's also because everything's so dang spread out.  This is not like countries and cities in Europe, where everything seems so neatly contained and compact.  

I heard that Fort Worth is thinking of reinstating a trolley line, and it would be a slight nudge in the right direction.  I know that I plan to ride the Trinity Railway Express to downtown and catch the bus to the cultural district, as soon as it cools off a little outside!   (I must admit that part of the reason for this post is so that I could post a train picture for my son.)

Update:  Amtrak needs more than just money.  They could use some customer service training.  I had to wait, holding 33 pound Gabriel the whole time, in a long line where people were mostly buying tickets, to ask where my uncle's train was.  It took them an average of 8 - 10 minutes per customer, which is just insane compared to how they get you through the lines in a European train station.  When I finally made my way up to a counter, they told me first that his train (supposed to arrive at 2pm), would be arriving around 4:30.  I was told that this really wasn't that late by Amtrak standards.  My Mom almost had several blood vessels explode and went back in line to give them a piece of her mind, and was finally able to understand that it would actually be 3:30.  We managed to keep Gabriel entertained the whole time we were there only by standing outside on the platform so he could see city buses, the Trinity Railway Express, and the big Amtrak trains to his hearts content.     It was a long, hot afternoon.

Attitude adjustment needed

Ok, so today is my birthday.  I usually don't have a hard time with birthdays.  Like my Dad says, celebrating another one is better than the alternative!  This year, however, finds me pretty down about some stuff.  The two biggest things are not being pregnant with a second child yet and my best friend moving away (post to follow in a few weeks).  Neither of which I have much control over at this point.  So, knowing how many wonderful blessings I have in my life, I'm trying to rally and move forward.  

Instead of wallowing, I'm going to talk about famous people I share a birthday with, along with some interesting things that happened in history on this day.

Notables born August 7th:

Two artists:  Grandma Moses and Andy Warhol, neither of whose works I enjoy all that much.

Two actors:  David Duchovny and Charlize Theron, both of whom I usually enjoy and respect their talent.

One historical figure:  Mata Hari, the spy.

Some interesting facts about this date:  Jack the Ripper committed his first murder on August 7th, 1888.

The Purple Heart Medal was established on this date in 1782.

And Peter Jennings died on this day in 2005.  

One more cool tidbit is that Lucille Ball, who I think is the greatest comic actress ever, missed my birthday by one day.  (She was born August 6th, 1911.)  

Scary

I think of all the things that frighten me about the effects of global warming, nothing sends a chill up my spine like reading about the disappearance of bees.  They are such an important part of our food chain, and scientists seem a bit baffled at why they are disappearing at such an alarming rate.  I know that even in our own little backyard ecosystem (which I try to keep as natural and pesticide free as possible), by this time of year we usually have at least 4 or 5 large wasp nests.  This year, there's not one.  They started out building them in the spring, and now, nothing.  

I seriously think we should heavily fine the pesticide companies, who in my opinion have tried to brainwash the public into thinking that all insects are bad and should be nuked off the face of the earth.  Maybe the money could go towards trying to reinstate colonies (with the understanding that they would be safe from future pesticide attacks), or at least towards more research into the problem.  Since they were part of what caused it.

A little dust never hurt anybody

I hate to dust.  I just finished cleaning my whole house in one 2-1/2 hour sitting.  But I didn't dust.  I hate dusting so much that I now only do it if I know I'm having company.  Or if I walk through a room and a little cloud seems to waft through the air.  I hate having to move everything out of the way - books, pictures, bric-a-brac, to dust.  That's why we have so few pieces of bric-a-brac in our house.  Dusting has become part of that specialized part of house cleaning only reserved for guests, like windexing the French door glass and storm doors, and sweeping the cobwebs off the porches.  I only do it if I absolutely have to.

It's a miracle we don't all have horrible sneeze attacks.  

To puppy or not to puppy, that is the question

My sister-in-law's boxer, (the one we thought was really sick with a liver problem), just had 7 puppies.  It turns out her distended tummy was not liver related after all.  The father is presumably a boxer/great dane mix.  I had talked with Jav about getting another dog early next summer, but I wasn't really ready to consider one now.  We've had a month and a half of relative pet peace since we lost Henry.  I've even had time to play with Zoe and Bones and Molly more, now that we're down to only three.  

And I know a puppy would turn our peaceful pet world completely upside-down.  It takes time and energy to train him (we would prefer a male at the recommendation of our vet), and to watch out that Molly doesn't get too jealous and "accidentally" step on the new addition.  We would probably also need to watch Bones and Zoe to make sure they didn't slip something into his food.  But there are pluses too.  Gabriel would be able to grow up with the new dog.  Molly could start training a new watch dog.  And, even if Molly doesn't realize it, she would probably enjoy the company of a scrappy little guy.  

We went to see them today, and everyone seems to be doing really well.  I've never seen puppies that new.  (they are 3 days old and so cute and tiny).  Jav and I both liked the male with the lightest color, a really light brown - the same color as the supposed Great Dane dad.  He also appears to be the longest of the puppies.  Sandra said she would give us first choice, but I'm still a little concerned about the health of Ruby, the mama.  Once we determine that she's ok, then we'll have to make a decision.  

 

The mean reds

In Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly talks of having the mean reds, which are much worse than the blues.  (At least she does in the movie; I've never read the book).  I think anyone who has to live through 100-plus degree heat day after day is well on their way to experiencing the mean reds.  I know I have them right now, and no matter how hard I try to think positively, I just keep sinking back down into them.  It's not a fun place to be.

More sadness

When I got home from the Girls' Trip, my former boss and friend Nannetta had called to give me news on my former assistant, Deborah.  I knew it must've been pretty bad since I haven't talked with either of them in over a year.  It turns out that Deborah's 21-year-old son (and only child), Curtis, had accidentally drowned over the weekend at Village Creek after jumping in and hitting his head.  Curtis had some mental slowness, and the maturity level of a 10-year-old.  But apparently he'd been insistent on leading his own life when he turned 21, and Deborah had been up many nights worrying about him before this happened.  The paper said that no one alerted authorities until he'd been under 10 minutes, and I wonder if earlier notification to someone might have saved his life.  But the outcome is still tragic, regardless of that.  

Some people just don't seem to have very good luck in life, and poor Deborah is one of those people.  She divorced Curtis's father about 10 years ago, and went through all kinds of legal and monetary battles with him.  The divorce left her with almost nothing, but at least she got a good job at Sunair, and if there's one thing I know about Sunair, they take good care of their employees.  She was very dedicated to caring for her son, and and trying to help him make his way in this world.  I hope she can find strength now to get through this.  I can't imagine the pain she's feeling right now, and it was hard to find any words of comfort when I spoke to her yesterday.  But I muddled through the best I could, and will be praying for her and her family.

First play date

While I was away in Lubbock having a wonderful time with my friends (post to follow), my son apparently was having a great time without me.  My sister-in-law brought her ex-roommate and her daughter, Lena, over to see Gabriel.  They got along splendidly and played and swam for two hours.  Needless to say, Gabriel was exhausted that night.  But happy!

A tough couple of weeks

The past week and a half has been possibly the hardest I've ever had to get through in a long time.  

My parents went on vacation, knowing that the remodel of their kitchen, den and bathroom was still going on.  They left my number with the general contractor, but didn't anticipate there would be any problems since they were supposed to be finished before they left on their trip.  Think again.  We had many trips where I had to grab Gabriel and head over there to deal with either the alarm going off, someone making a delivery and no one to meet them or some other crisis.  But, I would've done this and much more to ensure that my parents had a relaxing Colorado vacation.  They've taken care of our house PLENTY of times when we were out of town.  And because they're always doing nice things for us.  But I was very happy to see them back safe and sound.

Saturday we did our annual round trip drive to Lufkin and back to visit my sister-in-law's Godmother.  She is a cloistered nun and had her Silver Jubilee celebration a few weeks ago, but it was in the middle of the week and we could not go.  So we promised to visit her for the day.  This is always a nice day.  The monastery is peaceful and beautiful, surrounded by giant pine trees, and many of Sister Maria Rosario's fellow nuns always come to chat with us.  Gabriel gets used to their clothes after awhile and warms up and charms all of them.  But it's also a tough trip to do in a day, and we end up exhausted afterwards.  

One sad thing we're dealing with is that our priest is leaving St. Rita's.  He received a post going to St. Patrick's in downtown Fort Worth (a definite step up), so I'm happy for him, but we are so sad to see him go.  He did great homilies that Jav and I could always relate to because Father Richard is close to our ages.  And he did the most wonderful Baptism Mass for Gabriel that still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.  We had a big dinner for him Sunday night and EVERYBODY showed up, which I was very happy to see.  It was an emotional evening.

That day I also found out my good, good friend is most probably moving away.  I'm happy for them, but really sad all at the same time.  

Yesterday I found out Cobra, my former reading student turned friend, went to the emergency room for the 4th time in 6 months with congestive heart failure and irregular heartbeat.  It took them 2-1/2 hours to stabilize her because anything they did to help one problem kept making the other problem worse.  She is in stable condition now (Gabriel and I visited briefly this morning), but needs a valve of some type put into her heart to stop the irregular beating.  I'm praying she still has some fight left, even though two of the four chambers in her heart are damaged.  

And my sister-in-law's new boxer, Ruby, who I haven't met yet but is apparently one of the sweetest dogs you'll ever meet, appears to have a severe liver problem and heart worms, and probably won't make it very much longer.  Sandra's only had her for a month and a half, but of course has gotten very attached to her. There's still a small hope that the heart worm problem is causing the liver problem, and heart worms can be cured.  

And finally, Hurricane Dolly struck South Padre yesterday with 100 mph winds.  We don't know if our condo is damaged, underwater, or blown away by the hurricane.  All the power is still down on the island and Jav can't get in touch with anyone.  All we can do is wait until some order is restored, and he may have to make a quick flight down there just to assess what's going on.  

It's just been too much emotional news lately.  I'm ready for some fun and laughter, and fun and laughter I shall have this weekend on our second annual Girls' Trip with my dear high school friends.  It couldn't have come at a better time!

And who says cartoons can't teach you things?

I just learned something so cool from Curious George.  

Loosey lefty, righty tighty.  

Why didn't someone else let me in on this years ago?

The Tao of Teletubbies

My son loves the Teletubbies. 

I remember first hearing about them years ago, from parents of toddlers who thought they were strange, but knew how much their kids seemed to get into them.  I checked them out one day when I was home sick from work, and agreed that they were very strange.  A United Kingdom created show with lots of Japanese Anime leanings about 4 little aliens (?) who love to play and watch real kids play all over the world.  OK, somebody smoked one too many funny cigarettes over there across the pond.  But they did seem sweet and innocent, and I could see how babies and toddlers could fall in love with them.

So when it came time for Gabriel to start watching TV, the two shows at the top of my list for him to watch were Teletubbies and Sesame Street.  I just have trouble with Barney - not because of the dinosaur himself, but because of the over-enthusiastic and bubbly children.  They drive me crazy.  So, we started with an assortment of DVD's, with some Baby Einstein, Sesame Babies and Teletubbies.  He has since rejected all notion of the Sesame Babies, preferring to watch the grown up version now.  The Baby Einsteins still hold his attention, for now.  And I even kept one Barney video because the whole thing was filmed at the Ft. Worth Zoo, which I thought was pretty cool.   But the stars in his world are Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po.  We now own 7 hour-long DVD's and VHS tapes, which rivet Gabriel to the TV every evening while I'm cooking dinner.

Now that I'm an expert on this charming show, I can share why it's great.  They teach their young viewers about manners, saying "thank you" to each other when toys are handed off.  They teach about sharing.  They give each other hugs all the time, and I'm a big believer that you can never have too many hugs.  They love to dance.  They show real children playing and having fun from all over the world.  They also show cultural things like learning traditional dance in India or helping with chores like washing clothes in Africa.  It has taught Gabriel that there are children who may not look the same as him, but they are very like him in many ways.  Plus there are parts that are downright laugh-out-loud funny.  I'll never forget the first time I heard him belly laughing, and ran in to see him watching the part where their favorite meal, Tubby toast, sails out of the toaster and lands on each plate with an accompanying fart noise.  To a 15-month-old, that's comic genius.  

We decided to get him some Teletubbies jammies, and ended up having to order them direct from England.  They took forever to get here, then ended up being long-sleeved.  My Mom was sweet enough to transform them into short-sleeved, and we finally got to show him our surprise night before last.  Most of his reaction was saved on our video camera, but I managed to get a few stills.  They don't do his squealy excitement justice, although the last photo above caught him in mid-squeal.  

Give me weird but sweet over sugary and fake any day.   The Teletubbies ROCK!!    

Summer

The only way to enjoy the Dog Days.

The Dog Days of Summer are here in the state of Texas.   My energy level will continue to go down, slowly, until I'll just be a puddle of sweat by the time mid-September hits and brings slightly cooler weather.  I am stubborn about defending my plants and my yard against the heat.  I go to extremes to keep them going.  

I get up at six and start watering in between feeding the pets.  Because of the butcher job that Asplundh did to our trees last spring, the back strip of our backyard gets eight hours of full-on sun.  St. Augustine does not appreciate this much sun.  (Most living things don't unless they are thriving in the Sahara Desert.)  So in between sprinkler system waterings (every two days), I am moving our tiny portable sprinkler around.  I water all my backyard pots.  Every other day I get our flower beds in the back.  All before Gabriel ever gets up.  

We try to walk Molly three to four times a week.  In this heat, we have to be out the door by 7:45 at the latest or it's just already too hot.  This morning it was so humid I think I lost 5 pounds just by sweating.  Once it gets cooler, Jav can walk her two nights a week, which allows me to have the energy to mix up my workout a little with yoga or something besides walking.  We also move our walk time to later in the day once it cools down, which means we get to move a little slower in the mornings.

When Gabriel goes down for his nap, I fill up the birdbaths and various other water receptacles all over the yard, finish watering the beds in the front, and do any other ancillary outside tasks like spraying for bugs (organic, of course).  And then after doing the dinner dishes every night, I get the flower pots out front.  Twice a week I drag out the front hose to water our baby tree on a slow-drip all night long.   It still needs a little pampering since it's not two yet, just like Gabriel.    

Spreading out the yard tasks allows me to get it all done without getting total burnout.   But when the highs get into the hundreds, I start to get burned out anyway.  I have daydreams of pulling up all the grass on the backyard strip and putting in a lap pool.  I try to make myself like the way cactus looks in a landscape.  I determine that next spring I'm not going to plant ANYTHING new that will cause more watering.  

But by the time every spring arrives, I've blocked out the pain of the Dog Days, and can't wait to get new things in the ground.  I guess I'm a slow learner.  We're off to find a bigger backyard pool for Gabriel, one I can possibly fit it too.  Or at least my feet.

Reading

Even though Gabriel isn't even two yet, he already loves books and loves to be read to.  So I entered him into the Fort Worth Public Library's Summer Reading Program.  We got to log a day of reading in if I read to him (or if he looked through books by himself) for at least 20 minutes a day.  We quickly logged 15 days and the website told us to come by any branch and he would get a prize.  I lallygagged about this, but finally went by last Friday.   We were sent to the customer service desk, and when I told the library employee what we needed, she got this look on her face like, "Yeah, right, I'm sure he really read that much at his age." and I guess thought we were only out for the prize.  I could have assured her this was not the case, since I figured it was probably just some China-made little something or other.  It really made me mad, but of course I didn't say anything.  I mean, if she is skeptical and unenthusiastic about a child reading, what is she doing working there?  She seemed to lighten up when she saw how many library books we were checking out, and when Gabriel waved and said "bye-bye" to her in his cute little baby voice.  (Who wouldn't?)  Of course, when I found out one of the prizes was a free ticket to a Ranger Game, I kind of understood how people might take advantage.  But still.

I love how much he already loves books.  I brought our library books to Mass last night, and he spent almost the whole homily looking through them.  His two favorite books both have trains for the main subject - Puff Puff Chugga Chugga and Chugga Chugga Choo Choo.  He also loves both books I got at Half Price Books for him, which just makes me so happy considering how cheap they were.  We're going again this afternoon, and who knows what new adventures we'll find between the pages?