Birthdays

I love throwing my kids' birthday parties. Each time one approaches, I ask them, where they want to have their party. As I'm listing off the choices (bowling, bouncy, skating, swimming, park), I'm very careful to make "home" the most pleasantly inflected and awesome sounding.

I can't help it.

I love having kids' parties. I love the silly games. I love the yummy food and watching them eat it. I love all the screaming and the excited ruckus. I love the special decorations. I even enjoy all the planning and crafting that I do before it. It's like a final exam that involves the research, the presentation, the visual aids, the Q&A afterwards.

The downside of my serious preparation is having to swat at all the sneaky fingers intent for the cakes, frostings, candies, and treats I'm making the week before the party, both mine and the boys. "Saturday" is said a lot. But it's so fun. It's worth it!

90 lbs.

A newborn calf

4 1/2 automobile tires

8 average housecats

Posh Spice

2 elephants' hearts

2 small bales of hay

A bald eagle standing on top of a gold brick

Three gas grill tanks

A bloodhound

Random notes

I like reading the 1000 Awesome Things blog. It makes me feel like I'm doing my part to look on the bright side of life.

Public education is not what it used to be. At least, when I was growing up, I don't remember the challenges that my kids face in public school now. I'm trying very hard to make the best of it, though. But since I'm not getting paid to do all this work, I can't help but feel sometimes like asking for some of our tax money back. Is there a provision somewhere in our constitution that allows people to penalize government if it fails?

Facebook has made high school reunion invitations way easier.

Last Wills and Testaments are creepy.

I need a female BFF. Loneliness isn't about not having someone around. It's about everyone around you being unavailable to share your experiences and understand you. My kids need BFFs, too.

Defumigating

Joel: "Excuse me. ... I keep farting! I'm going crazy! I wish I could take my tush off and put it outside!"

Life and death

Aging is not pretty, is it? So, why the phrase "aging gracefully"? There are wrinkles, thinning skin, blood vessels that seem to emerge, the gray hairs incapable of "going with the flow". Then there's the loss of memory, sight, hearing, movement, and so on. Much more "goes", but I've probably said plenty already. Who wants to talk about it, really? It's so depressing. I'm certainly not enjoying the many of signs of my youth diminishing. I don't see anyone else enjoying it. Is there any beauty in aging? Only the healthy ones who don't seem to have a lot of the major debilitating qualities of aging seem to be celebrating life and vigor in the golden years. Sometimes it's their hard work at self-preservation that gave them that happy ending, but more often than not, it seems to be luck, genetics, or divine providence.

Our sweet beagle Mabel died in January. She was 12. We'd been married 14 years. She was our family for 5 years before we had our first child. We miss her with every step that we used to take around her attentive little body. As sweet as she was (and not prone to complain), she didn't really make getting old look fun. It was sad and hard.

My grandmother passed away a week ago today. She was 90. That's what old is in my book. And she was a cranky woman many of her days, though I don't fault her for it, particularly. She tried to make the best of what she had, yet she didn't seem to have much. But she voiced her miseries whenever we spoke for as long as I can remember. Until the very last couple of weeks, so I'm told. In the end, she was at peace with everything, which seemed so out of character for her.

So, is that how I can avoid the slow, steady decline, assuming it's inevitable?

Was it my grandmother's time, once she came to her peaceful realization or did she reach that point because she knew her time had come? If I moan and groan less and strive to be at peace with one and all, will I be spared those agonizing days of physical and mental trial?

I admit that I don't have a lot of data, nor am I necessarily looking for it! I've lost a small handful of loved ones, but many are still very much alive and well, thank goodness. But I'd like to know, so that maybe, just maybe, I might get to influence the endgame a little.

Potatoes are awesome!!!!

We're taking the kids on a surprise trip to Disneyland and San Diego. Surprise, because we don't want days and weeks of "how many days until Disneyland?" and "Joel says Lightening McQueen isn't real." Surprise, that is, until Joel's teacher commented during a conference call on our being on vacation next week.

Still hoping last night to keep the location a secret, we let it slip that we are taking a family vacation to Idaho for potato picking. We thought we were kidding around. The kids did not. They got _so_ excited. "YES!" and "AWESOME!" and "We are going to bring home a car full of potatoes!!"

Just imagine how disappointed they will be when they see Disneyland... because picking potatoes is awesome!

Breakfast of Champions

Joel: [looking longingly at the cake I brought home from last night's baptism] Mom, can I have a piece of cake?

Me: Not until you eat, like, 4 vegetables.

Joel: Does eating 4 carrots count as 4 vegetables?

Me: No. One.

Joel: Ok.

[sits down with the bag of carrots and hummus]

OK, I ate 10 carrots! That counts as 2 vegetables, right?

Me: Sure. [...] What are you making now?

Joel: I don't know, broccoli, 10 of them, with cheese. You said 4 of them is 1, so after I eat them I'll be done with my vegetables, right?

Me: [feeling slightly manipulated] Yeah, ok.

Joel: Done!

Harlan: Hurray!

Joel: Cake? [with goofy grin]

Me: OK.