Rain, rain, go away

Enough with this stupid weather already! I need some warm and sunny, and I need it NOW!!!!!

I feel amazingly better today, although my sleep is a little wonky--from the narcotics or the steroids, who knows? I woke up feeling FABULOUS at 3:30 this morning. Seriously good, like I would have gotten up and vacuumed or something except that it might wake everybody else up. So I stayed in bed instead and fell back asleep at around 4:30 and slept off and on until 7:30 (our room gets a lot of traffic in the mornings, so there's always something to wake me up). Oddly enough, I didn't feel as terrific at 7:30 as I did at 3:30. Not bad really, just not that fantabulous.

Today has been run, run, run. Fred and I had to go down to E'town to get my car from the garage. It needed a new starter and will be getting new tires soon. If there is a less sexy way to spend money than car repairs, I can't think of what that might be.

I had a school board meeting for most of the afternoon. I had the good sense to skip the board luncheon that we do every month, as I am not ready for solids and I doubted the luncheon fare would feature my basic 3 foods: chicken broth, tomato soup, and lime sherbet. Lime sherbet is a freakin' wonderfood!

Tonight is Mike's honors assembly at the high school. While it's always fun to go hear how terrific your kid is, I DREAD going back out in this horrendous weather. I've already granted Annabelle special dispensation from attending, as she spent the day slogging around Kentucky Kingdom with her band and changed into her PJs immediately upon returning home.

Tomorrow is Mike's historical petting zoo that I told you about a couple weeks ago. I have to get up at the crack of dawn to help Mike powder his hair and then lug all his Beethoven-related stuff over to the school. The show starts at 9, and I guess I'll be there most of the morning, as parents are invited to watch.

Tomorrow night is Annabelle's piano recital followed by a dinner in honor of some friends of ours who are leaving. (I hope they have chicken broth, tomato soup, and lime sherbet!)

Saturday Fred and I will be at Kentucky Kingdom all day with Mike's school band. I can't even begin to express how much I am not looking forward to this. Normally I wouldn't confess such a thing publicly for fear of hurting my child's feelings, but in this case the only person dreading it more than I am is the child who we're doing it for. So, whatever. Where does one get chicken broth, tomato soup, and lime sherbet at Kentucky Kingdom anyway?

And then on Sunday we have to be in Lexington, which is 100 miles from here, by 7 (that is SEVEN! in the MORNING!) for Mike's swim meet. Let's hope they have chicken broth, tomato soup, and lime sherbet at the concession stand.

So I guess it is really good that I am recovering as quickly as I am, although at least if I were feeling worse I could pass the weekend in yesterday's pleasantly stoned Vicodin condition. Hmmmmm . . . is that a twinge I feel?

Please send milkshakes

Well, I survived! All in all, it wasn't TOO horrible, but the local is starting to wear off, so maybe it's about to get horrible. I just took a Vicodin to ward off the horribleness. Crossing fingers . . .

This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you

For the past few years--at least 10 years come to think of it--dentists have been urging me to take care of a pesky little area of gum recession that is over 3 of my teeth. I, however, am a tremendous wimp, so I have continued to live in denial instead of allowing somebody to cut a hunk of flesh from the top of my mouth and stitch it to my gum.

You know that old--OK, relatively new--saying about how hard work may pay off in the long run but procrastination pays off NOW? I think this is a classic illustration of that bit of wisdom. Over the years that I have been delaying this "procedure," the protocol has gotten easier and easier (or so they tell me in the glossy preoperative brochures). Rather than removing tissue from the roof of my mouth (OUCH!), the periodontist will simply "loosen" the gum tissue and then stuff in some sort of collagen matrix. Easy-peezy, right? Let's hope so.

I have been promised some good drugs, and I'm hoping I may lose a pound or 2 in the following days. I'm trying to reframe this in my head as kind of a spa vacation.

It would seem appropriate to end this post with a reminder about the importance of good oral hygiene, but unfortunately it wasn't sloppy habits that got me here. Instead it was my slightly obsessive-compulsive tendency to pick at any imperfection (squeezing blackheads and peeling sunburns are only 2 of my favorite things). It turns out that when you have something stuck between your teeth, you shouldn't use a seam ripper to remove it. Who knew?

Belated trip report

So . . . about that trip to Alabama weekend before last! We decided to go down so that Mike could attend a breaststroke clinic at Auburn. The instructor, Auburn alum and record setter Dave Denniston, was an enormously successful swimmer until a sledding accident robbed him of the use of his legs. Mike picked up a lot of great breaststroke tips and came away from the 2-day clinic eager to test his new knowledge in the upcoming swim season.

Fred and I joined Mike to hear Dave speak at the end of the first day. We had expected it to be a technical presentation on swimming, but instead Dave just shared his story with us. That alone was worth the price of the clinic! He's one inspirational dude--encouraging the kids to focus on the positive and worry about only the stuff they can control. He's also funny--speaking, for example, of his choice to shave his prematurely balding head ("if they can't play nice, NOBODY gets to play!").

Over the course of the weekend, Dave brought in several of his pals from the swimming world. The names meant nothing to me, but Mike was very excited and took a Sharpie with him the second day so that he could collect autographs on his camp t-shirt. He also had his picture taken with Dave, once in a normal pose and once doing the obligatory MySpace thing:



On Sunday after we dropped Mike off at the pool, Fred and Annabelle and I took off for Georgia to meet my invisible friend Dawn and her invisible daughter who is one of Annabelle's friends. (I refer to my Internet buddies as "invisible" until I've met them in real life.) We had a wonderful lunch and then cruised around Barnes and Noble browsing and chatting:



Sunday afternoon was beautiful (after a rainy Saturday), and after we picked Mike up from swim camp, we all went for a ride on Lake Martin in my father-in-law's new boat. Mike got to drive for a little while:



We had a great time and are looking forward to our next trip down in early June. Mike will be swimming his butt off at a 5-day swim camp at Auburn, but the rest of us are going to kick back and enjoy the lake.

Working like a mother

I spent a nice, quiet Mother's Day. My day started with blueberry pancakes and ended with barbecued chicken, and everything in between was fairly peaceful. I didn't have to go anywhere, which was wonderful, especially considering the cold, rainy, blustery weather that Just Won't Stop.

I worked on my freelance indexing project all morning, which probably doesn't sound very fun. I have had a real procrastination issue with this project, however, so it felt really good to get a lot done and finally see the end in sight.

I had hoped to get even more done this afternoon, but Mike was having some serious technical difficulties with the slideshow he was doing for extra credit for his language arts/history class. He had his music, all his pictures, his video, everything. But he was using 2 different video editing packages (Pinnacle's Studio and Window Movie Maker), and they were BOTH acting stupid. At one point with WMM, he was literally opening the software, making a couple changes, saving it, and then closing out the software and opening it again after it froze up and refused to budge. This happened over and over and over again! So I wound up spending more time than I had expected just helping him make the programs work. He had hoped to make it about a minute longer than what he wound up with, but by this point he was ready to just be done with it. It came out really nice (WARNING: It's a holocaust theme, although it's not especially graphic as far as that sort of thing goes):



I think I am going to finish off Mother's Day by having a nice soak in a hot tub. Here's wishing a happy Mother's Day to Mom and Grandma and all the other cool moms I know!

Driving my life away

I just got back from my fourth trip to Louisville in 3 days! Thursday I took Annabelle up there for her bassoon lesson. Yesterday I went with a friend to pick up some stuff for the baseball team and to make a Whole Foods run. This morning Annabelle and I went up to get our hair cut, have lunch, and do a little shopping. And then this afternoon, she and I and Fred went back up for a farewell party for some friends of ours. Very fun but exhausting!

New developments

This morning I took a little video clip of the babies through the door because they were just sitting there looking so darn cute. They didn't really do anything during that time though, so I'm not going to bother posting the video, but here is a still shot from the clip:



I'm glad I got it when I did, because I walked to the door a little while ago just in time to watch them both fly out of the nest and into the trees across the alley. Now I have empty nest syndrome:

The daily birdie

A view from above:



This is a blurry picture from yesterday, but look! it's Mama Bird (or maybe Papa Bird--they're hard to tell apart):

Baby birds enjoy a game of Twister

And then there were two

Well, as it turns out, Tuesday's bird is NOT full of grace. Tuesday's bird is, instead, somewhat of a klutz. Every few hours today the poor little guy would wind up in the laundry basket underneath the nest, and I would go out and pop him back into the nest:



By this evening, however, he was strong enough that when I lifted him up to his family, he simply ran across their backs and dove out the other side of the lattice and dropped 7 feet or so to the hard pavement below.

I called the wildlife rehabilitator for advice, and she told me that in the wild (as in Not On My Back Porch) a robin would never be able to get a group of 4 babies to maturity. She suggested that I grab 2 and bring them to her.

You can see how crowded the nest was getting. As my friend Deana so poetically put it, it's like a "teacup full of condors":



The reduction was a lot less Sophie's Choice-ish than you might think. The basket bird was an obvious selection, and Fred just reached into the nest and grabbed the one that he could most successfully grab without disturbing everybody else. We took the 2 little guys to the rehabber, and she said they looked great. The nest sure seems a lot more comfortable now:

Monday's bird is fair of face

OK, actually Monday's bird is fair of butt. We got home this afternoon, and I couldn't wait to get a new shot of my babies, but they all had their little rear ends pointing in my direction:



I have the sweetest friends! Laura called me today to let me know that she had checked on the birds while she was feeding Eddie and that they are all fine. She also told me that my neighbor Tammy had been checking on them regularly and built an addition to their nest. Apparently little birds are starting to fall overboard with the quarters being so cramped, and she was concerned that Mama Bird didn't have a place to sit. So she built this cool new wing (ha ha, get it? "wing"?!) for their home:



Here the babies are enjoying some supper:



We got home about a half hour ago. We've got another hour to unpack and unwind and then we're taking off for the middle school for Annabelle's induction into Junior Beta Club.

Mini trip report

Greetings from Alabama! We've had a really nice visit. Mike had fun at his swim camp, and Annabelle, Fred, and I went to Georgia today to meet up with my previously invisible friend Dawn and her daughter. We're driving home tomorrow and have to get out of here early in order to be in Kentucky in time for Annabelle's induction ceremony into Junior Beta at 6. Give me a day or so to get my act together, and I'll post pictures.

Back to the future

OK, it's really Friday, but if this works the way it should and publishes as scheduled, you're reading it on Saturday. How weird is THAT? And what is it like in the future anyway? Do we have those little hovercrafts yet like on "The Jetsons"? With any luck, I'll be able to get on tonight (tomorrow night?) and tell you all about Mike's swim camp. But just in case, here's my blog post for today (tomorrow?).

Bye bye, birdies (until Monday)

I'm going to miss their sweet beaky faces while we're in Alabama this weekend:



This morning I got a brief video clip of them enjoying their breakfast:



That will have to tide you (and me) over until we return on Monday! (Mom and Jenny--and any other bird-worriers out there--I am putting a laundry basket lined with towels underneath the nest, and my neighbor Tammy will be checking on them daily.)

Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Today is Fred's birthday. We will be celebrating by driving to Alabama so that Mike can attend a swim clinic at Auburn this weekend. That's kind of a lame thing to do for one's birthday, but yesterday there was cake!

We had Fred's office over for an Anti-Law Day Picnic. I had this picture (one of the very few I have of Fred as a kid):



put on a cake (thanks, Walmart!):



He got a kick out of it:



Here he is blowing out the candles on the cake that has a picture of him blowing out the candles on a much older cake:



Happy birthday, Fred!

The final chapter of the trilogy

I give you "Beverly Hills" by Weezer:



Farewell, Fiesta Day 2008!

Outstanding musician

Tonight was the middle school band concert. Annabelle came home from school today reporting that her oboe was inexplicably flat so she would be playing her duet with her friend Kari on my old flute instead. I was in band for 5 years, and it never dawned on me to play more than 1 instrument. She, on the other hand, has gotten quite good on oboe, bassoon, flute, and piano--all since September and now she's teaching herself guitar.

Hmmm . . . think her band teacher knew what she was doing when she chose Annabelle to receive the award for Outstanding Musician for the seventh-grade band?



Here is the video for their duet:



Way to go, AB! (You really should go read her thoughts on the evening!)

School of rock: Part deux

Here is the second clip of Mike's performance yesterday:



That's "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, but I like to drive Mike nuts by calling it "Crazy Bus," the earworm song that was so popular with the younger sister of cartoon aardvark Arthur. Just one of the simple joys in my life!

Bird report

Today's picture of the little cuties:



WE INTERRUPT THIS REPORT TO TAKE A 2-DAY OLD BABY ROBIN TO THE WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR. Seriously. Here is my list of Stuff To Do On Thursday:

Morning: Clean house in preparation for Fred's office party here at the house
1300: Host said office party
1630: Annabelle to school for band concert
1700-1800: Attend said band concert
1830-2000: Annabelle to first rehearsal for summer theater show
2000-???: Pack for trip to Alabama tomorrow

Do you see "2100-2200: Take baby bird to wildlife rehabilitator"? Do you? No, you don't. But no sooner had we gotten home from the play rehearsal than a couple of girls from the neighborhood showed up on our doorstep with a naked baby robin that was tiny enough to fit in a teaspoon.

Thank heaven for Woodland Wildlife Rehabilitation! Monica Wilcox runs the program out of her home here in Radcliff, KY, and she has taken several orphaned birdies off my hands over the past couple of years. Tonight Fred, Annabelle, and I hopped in the car and took the latest foundling to her. She estimated that the little guy was a couple of days old. She fed him and popped him into a warmer with a bunch of other robins and a nest of baby bunnies and predicted that he should have a fairly good chance of making it. Let's hope so!

A trip to Woodland Wildlife Rehab is always an education. While we were there, we saw a kitten so young it still had the umbilical stump attached, and Annabelle got to hold a baby raccoon.

(I know I sound all grumpy about being the go-to Bird Lady here in my neighborhood. But I really would rather that the kids bring their foundlings to me so that I can get them to Monica--as well as a check, because wildlife rehabilitation does NOT come cheap and she relies on donations--rather than have the kids try to "help" the critters on their own.)

Is it true what they say?

Must you really fight for your right to party?



Yesterday was a HUGE day for Mike. He got to play 3 songs with the Army rock band when they performed for the school's annual Fiesta Day. That is just the first video clip with more to come plus photos!