It’s lonely out in space, on such a timeless flight...

Yesterday was a rather exciting day...first we found out The Princess got into the performing arts high school that she auditioned for a few weeks ago. We are so thrilled and proud of her, although I do admit to a bit of trepidation about driving her downtown each morning in rush hour traffic. Now, apparently, I need to start working on a carpool!


Yesterday was also the last launch of the space shuttle Discovery. The Boy and I had our cameras ready as we watched the television to make sure the launch was still on.

It was...

We waited to make sure that the ignition sequence began...

It did....

And then we ran out to the dock to see the launch...

And we discovered clouds. 

Lots of clouds.

Stupid clouds.

And so we were only able to see a little bit of the contrail before it disappeared behind the clouds.

There were people out on their docks all along the lake. Everyone was peering at the clouds looking for another glimpse of Discovery when I heard the people on the dock next to us say, "Oh - there it is! See, honey?" I squinted my eyes and looked all around but I still didn't see it. I looked at The Boy (whose eyesight is far superior to mine) and gave him a questioning look. He looked where the man was pointing and started to smirk. "Do you see it?", I asked him. He started to laugh and then told me that they were pointing at an airplane.

His eyesight really is far, far superior to mine. Apparently, so is the old people next door's eyesight.

I never even saw the airplane at all.

And now, I need to stop procrastinating and go vacuum and make beds before our realtor comes to take a peek at the house and talk about the terrible real estate market and dismal home prices.

Oh joy.

Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow?

Last week The Boy started training for Taekwondo. While sparring with another competitor, he was kicked in the ear. It wasn't a bad kick - he was just tagged a little bit - but apparently he had a cyst in that ear, which burst when he was kicked. 


His ear was very painful and looked like a big purple grape. Mr. Wonderful took him to see Dr. L, our ENT, who should probably be on permanent retainer with our family! He's done surgery on Mr. W's burst eardrums twice. Yes, twice. Once in each ear. Don't ask. He performed The Princess's tonsillectomy. And The Boy gets swimmer's ear. A lot. I am the only one in the family who has never been a patient of Dr. L, which is kind of ironic because I had chronic ear infections as a child...but, I digress. Again. The point is that he went to see Dr. L who said that we should watch his ear over the weekend and if the swelling didn't go down we needed to bring him back in.


The swelling didn't go down.


Apparently, by the time he went back to Dr. L yesterday, his ear/cyst/grape thingy was very infected. So Dr. L drained it. 

My poor boy's ear REALLY hurts now. And he was embarrassed to go to school with a bandaid on his ear. 

I hate it when my kids are hurting.

In other news, we have been busy little bees spring cleaning, and rearranging, and fun stuff like that. Mr. Wonderful finished the repairs to the creek-side bulkhead and is now busy spreading mulch. I have been making piles all over the house - to keep, to toss, to give to charity. I am in full-blown purge mode. In cleaning out a closet yesterday, I discovered old magazines from 2006! 2006! Seriously! I know, I know - we're gross. In my defense though, I must say that while the magazines were extremely old, they were wonderfully organized in little magazine files in the closet. Apparently I got all organized way back in 2006 too. 

I try. I do. It just never seems to last around here!

Ten things on Tuesday: The whiny edition

1. We had a 4 day weekend...and now it is over. I am so saddened by this, because I wanted to relax and be lazy and wallow in my shallow, self-indulgent laziness. Instead, the weekend was another crazy, busy, running-here-and-there-in-a-life-of-bedlam-kind-of-a-weekend. The kind of weekend that is not so relaxing.


2. It was bedlam around here for several reasons. First, we have decided to list our house again in a few weeks - so we are trying to restore order where chaos has reigned supreme for several months. As you might imagine, I am simply overjoyed at the prospect of venturing into "no man's land", otherwise known as The Boy's bedroom, and trying to wade through the toxic teenage waste that is currently inhabiting his bedroom. Simply, freaking, overjoyed.


3. Also, The Cousin came back for another 24 hour visit before returning to the arctic wilderness that he calls home. He and The Princess tried to set up a telescope...

And he and The Boy went fishing...

4. And also The Girlfriend came over for a while...

5. While all this was going on, Mr. Wonderful was still hauling cement bags to fix the bulkhead by the creek and I was cleaning out closets and trying to sanitize the house...while trying to chaperone, take care of my poor mostly-bedridden mom, figure out the kid's summer schedules and order pizza at the same time!

6. In addition, I was perusing the internet in search of good deals on bathroom faucets and a new shower curtain for The Princess' bathroom.

7. I finally gave up on accomplishing anything substantial over the weekend and just tried to remain sane...the family watched Anchorman together Sunday night and The Boy got a haircut. I had a glass of wine.

8. Then yesterday, when I was in the middle of scrubbing and sanitizing our tile floors and purging closets of the detritus of my crazy family, we had some unexpected visitors which threw my carefully planned little day all out of whack! The Princess missed ballet (again), my grout is still grungy, my closets are still chaotic and the clock is ticking.

9. So today I am DETERMINED to make some progress. I. Am. Determined. 

10. I WILL find affordable bathroom faucets. I WILL finish cleaning out at least one closet. I WILL finish cleaning my kitchen floors. I WILL buy some flowers to celebrate the fact that it is finally, finally springtime!

However, I WILL NOT tackle The Boy's bedroom today. I'm just not feeling that strong today. As Scarlett would say, tomorrow is another day!

Spring is in the air and the moon is made of cheese. Really.

I know...I've been missing in action the past few days. I don't even have a very good excuse. I can't say I've been busy learning to skydive, or that I've been writing a novel, or learning to make creamy ganache. I can't claim that I've been learning a new language or learning to play the harp or taking ballroom dancing lessons. I also have not been reporting on the events in Egypt or working on world peace. 


Instead, I have been cleaning my house...and cooking.


I'm sorry. My life is just boring. What can I say?


OH, but one exciting thing has happened around here. It got warm. It is spring. Well, anyway, it FEELS like spring! And I searched and searched and I found proof that spring really is right around the corner...

 The redbud tree is blooming...

The dogwood has buds on it...

And so do the Azaleas...

The Loropetalum is blooming too.

In addition to the aforementioned ridiculously boring cooking and cleaning and searching for signs of spring, we had a quickie visit with a cousin visiting from out of town.

The grandmother was happy...

The Boy and The Princess were happy.

The Cousin seemed to be happy too!

They told lots (and lots and lots) of jokes.

(Hey mom...did I tell you about camping?

It's IN TENTS (INTENSE)!! Bwahahahahaha)

The Princess and The Cousin tried...

to explain The Grandmother's new iphone to her.

They tried.

But then they gave up and played Monotony. Err...I mean Monopoly.

Whoops.

Freudian slip.

And in even more thrillingly scintillating news, about a year ago part of the ancient cement bag bulkhead along the side of our little creek fell away...

Hence, everytime a big rainstorm came along a bit of the bank would wash away...this pics are of what's left of the original bulkhead.

So today Mr. Wonderful and The Boy worked up a sweat building a new one...

The Boy would bring over the 60 pound bags...

And then Mr. Wonderful would put them in place and pound the rebar in with a sledgehammer...

And then I would take a picture.

I love to help my menfolk.

And I am sure they appreciate my efforts too.

We've also been seeing an Osprey hanging around...

And also, just for the record, I can't begin to tell you how angry I am at myself for clipping the tips of his wings off in that photo above. 

And finally, the coup de grace of the past few astounding, amazing, electrifying days...without any further ado, I give you...

THE MOON!

But not just any moon.

Oh no.

THIS moon is special. It is amazing.

You see, it is made out of cheese.

Really.

See?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day, plus a recap of the weekend

Our weekend was quiet and boring, yet still jam packed with a motley assortment of stuff!


The Boy spent quite a lot of time on his computer working on his science project.

He also started a blog. He wanted me to tell you all that he especially hopes that those of you who appreciated his jokes (which I have occasionally shared on this blog) will stop to visit. Then he asked me if he had to be "politically correct" on his blog. I said that he had to be at least a little bit politically correct. Who knows how he will interpret that though - so beware!

The Princess also worked on schoolwork...

While Lucy took a lot of naps and shed a lot of hair. I predict that a visit to the groomer and a haircut are in her future...

Gus also took a lot of naps. He also shed an enormous amount of fur. Methinks he might also be getting an unattractive summer haircut. Because Mommie Dearest is completely and unequivocally sick and tired of cleaning up pet hair!

And Jack just followed everyone around and wanted to jump into our laps so we could pet and admire him constantly.

He has a very high opinion of himself...and he thinks everyone else should too!

The weather this weekend was beautiful, albeit a bit chilly. We had brilliant blue, sunny skies and highs of around 60 degrees. The Boy decided that it was a veritable heat wave and decided to work on his tan.

He took off his shirt, grabbed a book and went to lie down...

in the middle of the driveway!!

Then he acted all surprised and offended when I (naturally) grabbed my camera to record this incredibly strange teenage boy behavior...

"Jeesh! Can't a kid even lie in the middle of the driveway with a book without someone taking a picture?! What wrong with you, Mom?"

My mom had a reunion with her dogs. Lucy was fascinated by them. She was also confused...they smelled like dogs. But they looked like guinea pigs!

The Princess helped Mr. Wonderful get the TV hooked up...

while simultaneously checking her text messages.

Multi-talented, she is.

The Boy also went shopping for a Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend.

Aaaawwwww.....

And me? I took my mother's advice and ordered some large prints of some of my photographs. I also bought some (large) frames. Now I am so excited for them to arrive so that I can hang them on the walls.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For better or worse

Twenty-one years ago Mr. Wonderful and I were married. We have endured financial challenges, health issues, and family member's deaths. We have moved from Colorado to Michigan to Washington and to Florida. We have two children that we love dearly, although they often drive us crazy!

We have argued and laughed and cried together.

Even after all these years, Mr. Wonderful is still my best friend. He still makes me laugh. There is no one in the world I would rather have by my side.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Wonderful - I love you!

More teenage boy humor

Just in case you were thinking my life was anything close to normal...


My son, my formerly sweet, innocent, precious boy came into my room earlier and asked, "Hey Mom - Do you know what has 325 teeth and holds back King Kong?"

I looked at him quizzically and asked, "What?"

He smiled and said, "My zipper."

Then he laughed hysterically.

Oh boy. I think it's going to be one of those days.

The Star

Today's post is brought to you by The Princess. This was a school assignment for her, and in my completely unbiased opinion, I think it's pretty good!

Between the Earth and the Sun lived a star

He wasn't the biggest or smallest, by far

He was a medium star, with no real potential

Lacking all but the raw, bare essentials

"I want to be bigger," he said with a frown

"I want to be glowing, and wearing a crown.

I want to be great, and mighty and strong."

"I think," he said, "I want to belong."

So the star set out to complete his mission

For this little star wasn't lacking ambition!

He sailed from one great galaxy to the next,

stopping only to ask directions on his trek.

After traveling all day, he wanted only to rest

"But how," he cried, "will that help me be best?"

"Well, I can help you there," said a voice from above

"Just hop on my back, here - I'll give you a shove."

Soon they were stopping at Station Number One

The shadow kicked him off with, "You weigh a ton!"

The sign on the door read "The Aging Machine"

The star turned the knob, his face sickly green.

"Welcome to the haven for all tiny stars.

Here we'll make you grow, so you're bigger than Mars."

"You can do that?", he cried, his face glowing with joy

"Yes, of course - but beware - there's a warning, dear boy."

"A warning?", the star said, with a roll of his eyes

"Yes, a warning, and I really advise

for you to listen well, for this is no laughing matter,

For the consequences, I fear, there is not a thing sadder."

"Are you sure you want to grow up, so to speak?"

"It seems to be that you are just at the peak

of adulthood, little boy, for that is what you are.

Are you SURE you want to stop being a star?"

And so the star became angry, and crazy with rage

"YES! I want to stop being this silly, dumb age!

I want to be happy, not wearing a frown,

I want to be glowing and wearing a crown!"

"All right then, if that's your decision,

Doctors, please make the first incision."

And so it began, the aging of the star

The process leaving an invisible scar.

When the surgery was done, the star was no more.

"OH!", cried the sun, "I've never felt like this before!"

"I'm big! I'm mighty! I glow like a king!

I'm so happy I think I might jump up and sing!"

"Be careful now, Sun, for there are still things by far

so much greater than you are."

"Well, make me bigger! And stronger and better!"

And so the day went, with the star/sun growing weaker and 'better'.

Until the star became so big, and as bright as could be.

Until he collapsed into a black hole, smaller than me.

"The cycle of a star", said the sad voice from the wall,

"Should be respected and cherished by all."