The Opposite of Short

Connor and I drove to NJ yesterday for a long Labor Day weekend with my mom, sister, nieces, and Aunt. We left Chantilly around 3pm and didn't arrive until almost 8:30pm. Dismal. Connor was FANTASTIC in the rental minivan with no DVD. He did Kumon mazes and letter cards, listened to music with me, and played L-Max for only a little while. Two or three times he asked me, "Mom, am I being really good?" Wow.

This morning we were talking to Nana about the long car ride up here when Connor walked in front of her, looked her in the eyes, and earnestly said, "Nana, we took the LONG CUT."

Went to Aunt Marilyn's pool today where I had to spend 30 minutes convincing Neurotic Nana to let go of those little girls in the shallow end of the pool when they are WEARING FLOATIES!! Apparently, they are both still clung to like infants. At one point, Elise got a taste of freedom and said, "Nana, LET GO OF ME!!!!" They are both water bugs and they loved it. Even more, they loved using my lap and legs as a waterslide.

First Annual Back-To-School Family Fun Day

The day was a blast. Not much to say---just lots of fun and lots of time together.

Mind The Gap

Today was the day
MY TOOTH finally fell out.
I wanted to jump
and laugh and shout.

Now, I can do the things
other kids do...
show off the hole
and let Jello SQUISH through.

My mom grabbed the camera
and started to cry
(It's bound to grow back
so I'm not sure why)

The best part of all is much later tonight
I'll hop into bed and turn off the light
Then, after I close my sleepy eyes,
the tooth fairy will come
and leave a SURPRISE!

Author Unknown

Hungry Little Fishies

Today I had an interesting life experience. The FISH Pedicure. That's right, FISH. You put your feet in a tub that's teeming with these little cream colored fishies and they nibble all the dead skin off your hooves. You can read an NPR article about the salon and the process here. Jaclyn in my office read an article about it and said it would be cool. I said I'd go. Kathy said she was not going to let us go alone. So off we went at lunch yesterday to Yvonne's salon. It took 45 minutes to get there from the office, but it was worth it. My feet are spectacular. Those little carp get in all the nooks and crannies and it feels awesome. Kind of freaky, but awesome. Plus, you've just got to love Yvonne. No matter what you say or ask she says "Yes, baby" or "Yes, Honey". It was cool. Check out the videos dated 8/8/08 here.

Wordle

I'm experimenting with Wordle tonite and I love it. I'm Wordle-ing everything.


Check out the Bye Bye Manny post for a word cloud of that entry. Awesome!!

Yee Haw!!!

Had a fun night tonight at the Loudoun County Fair where we enjoyed a professional rodeo with our neighbor, Danny. Squeezed in a few rides on the scary carney equipment, got some hot dogs, and settled in for the show which was pretty impressive. Barely avoided a major thunderstorm just before the show but got drizzled on a bit. Good times!!

Bye Bye Manny

Manny Ramirez left the Red Sox and is now a Los Angeles Dodger. Connor cried. His lip shook. He hugged me.

I didn't think that he would react this way, or I would have told him more gently. Or, I would have let Bob tell him so that he could explain it better.

I couldn't explain it to him in a way that would preserve his childlike admiration for the crazy haired guy. I was surprised by the reaction.

Manny, you're a kook but Connor clearly will miss you--or at least the idea of you that I think appealed to him--you can be different but still good at what you do. We'll just have to remind him that being different is okay---you just can't be a pain in the #$%.