Not off to a very good start

The past couple of days have been tough around here. There's a bit of a bug making the rounds. Mallory had it for about 24 hours, and though it didn't seem to upset her too much, it has hit Liam hard. The bug has been of the lower GI tract variety, and by last night all of the activity had given Liam a terrible, and I mean terrible, case of diaper rash (for lack of a better term). Of course this all happens... when? Well, right after we cleared the last of the diaper rash remedies out of the house, of course. (Mallory has never had a problem in that area, even though she is still in diapers.) So, the past 48 hours have been filled with multiple loads of laundry - if you get my drift - and last night I had to take to hosing Liam off in the shower with the handheld attachment each time he had an incident, because he was so sore that he would not allow anything on this earth to wipe him clean. And even the shower elicited a lot of tears.

[sarcasm] Gee, parenthood is fun. [/sarcasm]

If there is any silver lining to this at all - and I am trying really, really hard to find one here - it's that I think - I hope - I pray - he has gotten it out of his system now. Tomorrow is kind of a big day, everyone has new clothes to wear, etc. The last thing we need is multiple dashes to the bathroom. Or, worse yet, missed trips to the bathroom. If you catch my drift.

She means business!

I got my eyebrows waxed over my lunch hour. Hey, they needed to be done and it was the only time I could fit it in. Now... please tell me the redness will be gone in time for my 2 p.m. meeting??

(I'm sure it will. I am pretty thick-skinned.)

Not much else to say, except to thank Anonymous for what may well be my first public heckle. However... it looks like you're in the minority.

Sad, morbid and hopeless. Read at your own risk.

Last week I went to see My Sister's Keeper. Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, so I was anxious to see how the book translated to film. For those who haven't read it, the story follows a pair of sisters - the older one who has leukemia, and the younger one who was a test tube baby, conceived to provide donor marrow to her sister. She is now 11 and files a lawsuit seeking medical emancipation from her parents, just when her sister needs another transplant.

The older sister in the movie was played by an actress I have never seen or heard of before, Sofia Vassilieva. There is a scene in the movie where she gets dressed up to go to a formal dance with her boyfriend, also a cancer patient, and she floats down the staircase wearing this gorgeous dress with a full head of red hair (thanks to a wig). By this point she is pretty sick and you are getting the impression that things are not going to end well.

The entire movie is one big tear-jerker, the kind where with every gap in the audio you can hear snivelling taking place in the theatre around you as people are trying to compose themselves. And though this scene wasn't likely meant to be particularly sad or sob-worthy, it sent me over the edge (again). You guessed it - there I was, picturing Mallory an estimated 15 years from now. Though hopefully without the tubes sticking out of her chest.

When I sit back and compare myself to a lot of people I know, I have led a pretty charmed life. My family is healthy, we still have our parents, we have never known the tragedy of a big flood or fire or earthquake or car accident, no addictions (so long as Diet Pepsi doesn't count), no bitter divorces, no children falling into a pool and drowning, and on and on it goes. And the more years that go by like this, with everyone happy and healthy for the most part, the more certain I am that the other shoe is going to drop and when it does, it's going to fall in a big, big way.

Now that I have kids, of course, my worries are more about them than they are about me. I worry more than the usual amount, I think, that my kids are not going to survive into adulthood. At least, I worry more than someone who has not yet been given a reason to worry should. I worry that they are going to be the ones hit by a freak stroke of lightning or contract fatal meningitis or do something incredibly stupid when they are 16 that does not end luckily and happily, as it always did for my friends and me.

There is still the chance that something could happen to Chad or I, and in our mid-thirties, that would still be considered dying a young and tragic death, but I am more convinced, or at least more worried, that it will be the kids. Who's to say that Mallory won't be diagnosed with leukemia when she is four or five? What about this swine flu business that is going to decimate the population in a few short months? - my employer is providing Tamiflu to all employees, but if there's a real epidemic and a shortage of medication, my children might not be afforded the same privilege. And while death from the flu is pretty rare in most cases... statistically speaking... I feel like one of these days, I am going to be left without a chair when the music stops.

So there I was, sobbing, alternately picturing Mallory going to her prom/formal/whatever and just hoping that she is still here in fifteen years and able to go to her prom/formal/whatever, trying not to get sucked into a big impending sense of doom. It was hard to do, especially when sitting in a theatre watching a pretty depressing film. I don't really have anywhere to go with this post... no point to make or conclusion to come to. I guess this is what it's like to be a parent: one big worry-fest. It's not the part of the job that I like the most. That would have to go to Christmas morning.

Frisbees and other flying objects

Why do three-day weekends fly by even faster than two-day weekends? Enquiring minds want to know. We hit the public pool on Friday, had the guys over for dinner (and a Frisbee tournament) on Saturday after they spent the afternoon golfing, and lazed about yesterday trying to recover.By 'recover' I mean 'drink far too much Diet Pepsi in order to stay awake and running on Sunday.' Which means I slept horribly last night and am in an even worse position this morning. So much for my plan. The kids were difficult to get going this morning, too. Partly on account of the late nights they have been putting in lately. We let them stay up a bit on Saturday when we had company, and I think they have taken that as free reign to stay up every night.
At least, Mallory has. She was up til 10 last night, singing away. I'm sure that comes as no surprise though, right?We let them eat out on the patio with the guys - they very much enjoy being part of the action.
There were a few near-misses, but nobody got clobbered in the head with a Frisbee.
Hey, did you know the Space Shuttle is supposed to launch tonight?
*If* it does - the launch has been scrubbed 4 times already on account of the weather, so I am not holding my breath - and you live in the same general vicinity as me, then you can see it in orbit, too. The earth is at the right angle, or some such thing.
In fact, the shuttle will be docking at the ISS, and as it approaches the ISS you'll be able to see it chasing the ISS across the sky. This I have to see. The link I posted a few days ago gives all the relevant dates and times, but they are all subject to change based on when the thing actually blasts off. There might be a few late nights ahead of me this week if it all syncs up, but they will be worth it. It sounds like it would be pretty neat to see.

Last night's entertainment

For the astronomy geek in you :)

There's some universal phenomenon going on right now that makes it possible to see the international space station flying over us this week and next. Even in broad daylight. I am kind of a sucker for astronomical phenomena like that, so here's a date/time list to show you when sightings from Chatham are possible. I have plans for tonight and am not sure that I can be outside at 10:21 p.m. to watch for it, but I am going to try. Tomorrow is supposed to be overcast, and I think this is one of those laws-of-diminishing-returns deals where it will get more difficult the longer you wait.

Those of you in other areas can follow this link to find dates and times for yourselves.

THE FOLLOWING ISS SIGHTINGS ARE POSSIBLE FROM WED JUL 08 TO THU JUL 23
SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Wed Jul 08/09:56 PM 5 51 10 above SW 12 above ENE
ISS Wed Jul 08/11:32 PM 5 23 11 above WNW 10 above NE
ISS Thu Jul 09/01:12 AM < 1 11 11 above NNE 10 above NNE
ISS Thu Jul 09/02:44 AM 4 21 11 above NNW 10 above ENE
ISS Thu Jul 09/04:19 AM 6 62 10 above WNW 10 above SE
ISS Thu Jul 09/10:21 PM 6 49 10 above WSW 10 above NE
ISS Fri Jul 10/00:00 AM 1 14 14 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Fri Jul 10/01:36 AM 1 13 13 above NNE 10 above NE
ISS Fri Jul 10/03:08 AM 2 40 10 above NW 40 above N
ISS Fri Jul 10/10:49 PM 2 22 22 above N 11 above NNE
ISS Sat Jul 11/00:25 AM 1 13 13 above NNE 10 above NNE
ISS Sat Jul 11/01:58 AM 1 19 11 above NNW 19 above N
ISS Sat Jul 11/09:35 PM 5 47 12 above WSW 12 above NE
ISS Sat Jul 11/11:13 PM 1 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Sun Jul 12/00:49 AM 1 15 15 above NNE 12 above NE
ISS Sun Jul 12/10:02 PM 2 22 22 above NNW 11 above NNE
ISS Sun Jul 12/11:38 PM 1 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Mon Jul 13/01:12 AM < 1 11 11 above NNW 11 above NNW
ISS Mon Jul 13/10:27 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Tue Jul 14/00:02 AM 2 15 15 above N 11 above NE
ISS Tue Jul 14/01:36 AM < 1 10 10 above NW 10 above NW
ISS Tue Jul 14/10:51 PM 2 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Wed Jul 15/00:27 AM < 1 21 20 above N 21 above N
ISS Wed Jul 15/09:40 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Wed Jul 15/11:16 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NE
ISS Thu Jul 16/00:49 AM < 1 16 10 above NW 16 above NW
ISS Thu Jul 16/10:05 PM 2 13 13 above N 10 above NNE
ISS Thu Jul 16/11:40 PM 1 23 20 above N 23 above NNE
ISS Fri Jul 17/10:29 PM 2 15 15 above N 10 above NE
ISS Sat Jul 18/00:04 AM < 1 29 19 above NW 29 above NNW
ISS Sat Jul 18/10:54 PM 2 24 20 above N 18 above ENE
ISS Sun Jul 19/00:27 AM < 1 12 10 above WNW 12 above WNW
ISS Sun Jul 19/09:42 PM 3 16 14 above N 10 above NE
ISS Sun Jul 19/11:18 PM 1 51 29 above NNW 51 above NNE
ISS Mon Jul 20/10:07 PM 3 24 21 above N 10 above E
ISS Mon Jul 20/11:41 PM 1 23 10 above WNW 23 above WNW
ISS Tue Jul 21/10:31 PM 2 54 30 above NNW 29 above E
ISS Wed Jul 22/10:55 PM 2 45 15 above WNW 45 above SW

(I got this shot this morning before I headed out for my run... the moon was still high in the sky.)

The thanks I get for doing them a favour

Late yesterday afternoon, I had to leave work early to get my health card renewed, and by the time I had that finished (picture the exact same scenario as a visit to your local DMV)... I decided that it wasn't worth it to come back to work, and I went to pick up the kids a little bit early. It's summer, it was a nice day, we could either play a bit before dinner or at least get through the dinner hour in a more leisurely manner before then doing something fun after... whatever.

Except that as soon as I set foot in the door at Cindy's, both kids started to cry.

Now that it is summer, one of Cindy's regulars is off rotation (her mom works for the school board) and two school-aged kids who used to be her charges are back in her care. These two are a brother (7) and sister (5) team, and let it be said - Liam adores them both.

When I got to Cindy's yesterday, everyone was out in the back yard. The 7 year old was running around shouting that he was going to eat Liam's eyeballs, and Liam was on the ground laughing so hard that he could scarcely catch his breath.

Boys. [eyeroll]

I stuck around for a good 15-20 minutes or so, trying to ease them out the door, but by the time we left there were tears all around. I tried to reassure the kids that the other moms would soon be coming to get the other kids, but that was little consolation to them: they did not want to miss out on a minute of it. In fact, despite the fact that he has not been napping at home for the past six months, yesterday was the first day that Liam told Cindy he did not want a nap at her house. And it was because he didn't want to miss a thing.

This was a first for Liam, this fussiness at getting out the door, though Mallory has been crabby at pick-up time for the last little while. No idea why and no ability to fix it. (We tucked her into bed at 8:30 last night and she was still talking to herself at almost 10 p.m. How on earth do we fix that??)

The silver lining in this is that it reinforces what I have suspected all along, which is that Liam is ready for school. He is ready to enjoy the company of older kids and move onto new things. There is some solace in that.

Anyway, the next time I am out of work half an hour early, I will go run an errand or something and then pick the kids up at the normal time. No more of this early pick-up business that makes me the bad guy. I get enough of that on my regular bath-taking and vegetable-eating enforcements at home.

(Chad organized a charity creek clean-up event last weekend. Here's Liam swimming in his t-shirt and thrilled about the work gloves he got to wear... that he didn't want to get dirty.)

You have reached the end of the internet. There is nothing more to read.

Yesterday, I took some heat for not having posted anything lately, but what can I say? - even I run out of things to say from time to time. There will come a day when this blog will cease and desist. There will come a day when my kids will keep the details of their lives private from me, let alone me keeping them private from you.

Anyway, in an attempt to appease the masses - ha! - here are a few photos from our Canada Day celebrations. Not only have I been slacking on the posting lately but I have also been slacking on getting my photos uploaded/edited/sorted. And that photography website I started last month and haven't updated since? Don't get me started on that. Much. To. Do. No small-town celebration would be complete without a couple of things: number one, the travelling snake show. Seriously, this is so NOT my thing. Did anyone see the story on CNN about the python who killed a 2 year old sleeping in a crib last week? (If not, don't worry, I understand that world news has been completely overshadowed by Michael Jackson these past ten days. I mean, North Korea fired seven missiles this week, but I'm sure most people don't know about that, either.) That's the only thing that keeps me at arms length to the snakes at these types of shows: the ability to clobber said beast if they go after one of my kids.And then there is the ubiquitous cow train! How many times has Liam ridden this thing now?? One... Two...Three... I will stop there - partly because you get the point and partly because the other photos are on my XHD at home and I don't have access to them.

Anyway, this was the first year that Liam really enjoyed the bouncy castle-type activities. We had gotten him to try them in the past but he was totally not into all the kids bumping into him and the jostling. This time, he loved it all.So did Mallory. Big surprise, right? She has always been a little bit tougher around the edges than Liam. It's a good thing when you are 2, but I have visions of her hanging out in bars with bikers when she is 16. It won't always be a good thing.
The lines were not too bad at these events since we were there in the morning and the parade was not until late afternoon (damn misprint in the paper!) So I guess it's good that we got out early, after all.

Hello, stranger's bum.Of course we went back to the parade later that day. How could we not? The kids are totally into the police cars that start and finish the parade and, of course, the candy that gets thrown. I snitched a piece of bubble gum from their 'loot bags' this week, and it was awful. It actually stuck to my teeth, and I spent two hours picking bits of it out. Not that they are allowed to have gum, but... I have started to question all of the stuff they picked up now. All these suckers were probably made in China and they likely have melamine in them.

Oh well. The kids have tough stomachs. I'm sure they will survive.