Making the Most of Mother's Day Weekend

After all of the health stuff that happened last week, having a day off on Friday to make up for my extra long work day the previous week sounded like a pretty good idea.  We had a busy weekend ahead, and I had barely wrapped my brain around preparations for that, so when the opportunity arose, I took it.  I wasn't sure how to spend my day, because I usually either cram in so much stuff that I never get to relax, or I end up laying around the house watching TV or flipping through social media and I feel like I wasted the day.  I didn't have anything specific that needed to be done, though I had a couple things in mind, so I just decided to see where the day took me.

I had to get up in the morning so I could get the kids' lunches packed and help everyone get off to school.  So, just a tiny bit of sleeping in compared to normal.  I ate breakfast and convinced myself to brave the warmish but wet weather and go to the gym for the first time in ages.  Between running outside and using our elliptical, I just hadn't needed to go.  But I didn't cancel my membership because it's a very low price and I should go more often.  The treadmill is actually a pretty handy tool when not overused, and I should be doing more weight training, honestly.  One of these days I hope to make it a weekly thing again.  But it had been so long since I'd been there that when I scanned in, the computer audibly alerted the desk attendant, who looked at the screen, chuckled a bit, and told me, "Welcome back!"  Oy.

When I got on the treadmill, I was shocked at how good I felt.  I ran a mile and a half, first starting at a 6 mph pace (a 10 minute mile, which is where I usually like to be), then bumping it up to 6.5, which is probably where I'd rather be.  It was tough to gut out that last half mile at that pace, but I did it.  Then I started doing intervals, which is why I wanted to go there in the first place, as that's the only thing that truly gets my speed and endurance up over time.  I once ran the 3.5-mile Corporate Challenge in 30 minutes (7 mph pace), and I could never have done it without intervals.  On this particular day, I ran as fast as an 8.0, but most of my high intervals were 7.0 or 7.5, usually lasting two minutes before a minute or two of walking.  Even with the walks, I did a 3.5-mile distance in about 34:30, which was crazy.  I felt amazing.  Sweaty, but amazing.  I finished up with two minutes of agony on the Jacob's Ladder, then some weight machines, abs, and stretching before heading home.  I was truly thrilled with how well I'd done.  Heading in I was a little nervous since it was my first run since the bruising incident, but thankfully there were no ill-effects so I don't think my issue had to do with my workout the day before.  And for the record, one week after it all happened, the bruises had completely healed without a trace.  So weird.

After cleaning myself up, it was time for lunch, so I headed out to Taco Bell.  Weird choice for a lunch alone, but I've been dying to try their new taco!  After that, my plan was to go to Highland Park (again), and just walk around.  The Lilac Festival was starting that day, but I really just wanted to go for the park, not the festivities.  It had been a rainy morning, but by afternoon it was in the mid-60s and breezy.  It was mostly cloudy, but while I was there, plenty of breaks of blue sky passed through.  With a hoodie and capris I was completely comfortable.  I decided to wear flip flops since I knew it might be a little muddy in spots.  I think it was a good call, but even my trusty old ones that have gone through super long days on my feet were giving me trouble by the time I finished all of my walking!  I can't imagine how far I walked, but it had to have been somewhere in the realm of five miles, I bet.  On top of my 3.5 from earlier in the day, my feet and legs pretty much reached their limit.  Just from where I parked to the edge of the park was probably a half mile alone, but then I wove through the park a number of times and took all sorts of detours I knew my kids would never have patience for if I dragged them there.  I knew this was my chance and anything I could cover now would be easy to skip if we came as a family this week.  I had such a lovely afternoon!

My first stop was the lilacs themselves, but unfortunately, the cool weather we were having (again) had prevented most of them from blooming.  I did find a few that were starting, though.

I'm not sure I'd ever been through the magnolia section of the park, at least not when the blossoms were still on the trees.  If things are a bit late this year and I've usually seen the lilacs at peak or just after, the magnolias had to be past peak.  They were actually starting to fade even then, thanks to a couple days of wind and rain, but they were still pretty!

Not sure I'd ever seen a creamy yellow one!

With all the petals on the ground and trees still blooming, it was sort of ethereal.

The bright pink was so pretty!

Daffodils have to be one of the happiest flowers ever.  I'm partial to tulips because of their color palette, but daffodils seem to last longer and they just sort of scream spring!  I was particularly fond of these...

I think this was another variety...and I'm not sure I'd ever seen an all white one.

I happened upon this one lone dogwood tree, and how gorgeous is the color of these blossoms?

I wove through the park and ended up back at the tulips.  After getting my quick stop in on Monday, I was interested to see how things were holding up.  Some of the ones I saw on Monday were getting a little raggedy, but not all, and almost all of the rest that hadn't bloomed then were open this time.

A lot of those orange ones hadn't bloomed Monday

I had a picture of the corner of this bed with the two oddball tulips, but I didn't really take a beauty shot of these before.  So pretty!

This bed in particular, with the ragged-edge tulips, had a lot of buds Monday, and most of it was in full bloom this time.

I walked over closer to the Lamberton Conservatory, the greenhouse-type structure in the background of one of my pictures from Monday's visit.  I'd never been there, so I figured this was my chance to check it out.  I saw these flowers--probably another tulip variety?--out front, and fell in love with the sherbet-esque color palette!

When I saw the conservatory had a $3 fee, I paused for a moment.  I almost walked away, but then I was like a) when am I ever going to have the time and freedom to do this again; b) the kids will never have the patience for this; and c) if I ever do try to bring them, then we need to pay for everyone...so this was the day to do it!

I was so impressed with what was inside.  It was essentially a small but diverse botanical garden.  There were a bunch of turtles...

And tiny quail...

And how about that coleus in the background.  It's one of my favorites!

The tropical gardens and flowers were so pretty, and this waterfall was very peaceful.

There was a whole room full of cacti.  I thought these were particularly striking.

The petals of this flower were translucent, and it just looked so delicate.

These were also in the desert room.  They were so tiny and almost looked fake!

More turtles, and this room included a humorous story that was posted about how the one turtle is an escape artist.  Yikes!

Caught this guy with his mouth open!

Holy Hibiscus, Batman!  Huge!  And look at those colors!

Out in the courtyard there was another daffodil-looking flower that I've never seen before.  So cute!

There were koi in the pond and it seemed like a lovely, quiet place to meditate.

I really enjoyed my walk through--and there were so many other pictures I could have included!  I'm so happy I did it!

I continued my walk through the park, this time up to the reservoir.  The gate house there is stunning.

Around every bend was another stunning vista.

It was hard to believe how high I was at this point, to be able to see so far in the distance!

I was fascinated by this tree.  It had two colors of blossoms--white and a deep melon-colored pinkish red.

Someday I'll make it to DC to see the cherry blossoms, but I guess a few of them here will make do for now.

So pretty!

Eventually I had covered all of the various vegetation areas I figured I could manage for the day, and I wound back around to the festival itself.  I figured I'd walk through, just to see what was there and see if any sweet treat called my name.  Of course, after I did that I realized that it really put me in the worst possible spot to get back to my car, which led to a very long stroll on very tired feet and legs!  It was such a relief to sit down in my car (and have made it through the festival without eating every sort of tasty, fattening snack)!

On my way out of the city, I stopped at a nearby dollar store to snag materials for a little storage project in Carter's room, then headed home for a bit to change and rest before grabbing the kids from school.  After dinner we headed out to the mall to see if either kid had anything in the district art show (nope for this year) and grab a snack.  We finished off the evening with a detour to Target to get Craig a new beard trimmer.  Woohoo...exciting Friday night!

Saturday morning I made Carter try on some summer clothes so I could at least start organizing his closet and dresser.  I wrapped up some laundry, then finished packing for our trip to Buffalo.  We were excited for a special night out with Craig's parents and his brother and his wife, to a fundraiser for his old high school.  This was our first time going and it made for a nice excuse to get all fancied up--and bonus: no kids!  After consulting with my sister-in-law at Easter on appropriate attire, I decided to wear my bridesmaid dress from my friend Lois' wedding.  I had it altered ten years ago to be a shorter pencil skirt so I could use it to be a Deal or No Deal model for Halloween, and nowadays it's getting a little snug so I figured I should probably use it before it doesn't fit anymore!  Since the shoes I've worn with it previously have either bitten the dust or just weren't what I was looking for, I snagged a $7 pair of sparkly sandals at Payless a couple weeks ago.  It was so fun to feel all fancy for a night!

We had a great time.  Open bar, delicious food, and good company all help with that.  I got to meet some of Craig's old friends and we enjoyed wandering past countless auction items.  Although the foosball coffee table was tempting and there were tons of great items, we only ended up bidding on a few small ticket items--a gift card that we got for a few bucks under face value, a new carry-on suitcase (which we didn't end up getting--but that was okay), and a pair of concert tickets.  When I walked by the tickets a couple hours into the event, they didn't even have a bid on them.  I was shocked, because it was a pretty in-demand concert when the tickets went on sale.  When I came back a bit later, it had a couple bids but they were still really cheap, so I bid.  I got outbid once, but it was still pretty reasonable and time was ticking down, so I did it again.  When it came time for that part of the auction to close, Craig waited nearby keeping an eye on everything, and seemed confident we had won our two items.  But when all of the winning slips seemed to be passing us by, I got pretty nervous!  Finally, after much waiting, the tickets were mine!  The concert features NKOTB, Naughty by Nature, Salt-n-Pepa, Tiffany, and my favorite, Debbie Gibson.  It's a late-80s/early-90s dream!  Now I just need to figure out who to take with me, since Craig probably won't want to listen to screaming, middle-age women all night!  Anyway, winning that made the night extra fun!

Unfortunately, the boys were up late and despite a solid effort at giving us a good sleeping setup at Craig's parents' house, I was hit with another round of my peaceful but draining insomnia--much like I had the night before Thanksgiving and when I went to the concert in Pennsylvania with Mary.  I laid awake--comfortable and restful but definitely not even dozing--for hours.  And then Carter had an accident (still an intermittent issue even after his surgery--almost ready to bug the doctor), and then it happened again--so we were up twice with that.  I finally dozed for a bit closer to morning but it was definitely not enough sleep to function.  I spent part of the day napping (or trying to), and finally felt a bit more human by late afternoon.  We had a lovely steak dinner with Craig's family before heading home.  The whole drive home was spent listening to the Toronto Raptors' Game Seven playoff game.  It was a very tight, back-and-forth match, which was making Jacob crazy.  Philly scored in the last seconds to tie the game, and Toronto ended up with time for one more shot.  At first it looked like Kawhi Leonard's shot was going to miss the mark, because it bounced high off the rim.  But as time expired, it bounced again, and again...and miraculously dropped through the hoop to win the game!  The Raptors are now off to the conference finals, and I had a very happy child for the night, which probably made me happier on Mother's Day than anything else!

The boys did give me very nice school-made presents, which I will hopefully share at some point.  While the big day itself was a little iffy after my sleepless night, the rest of the weekend totally made up for it.  I had a blast.  Now it's back to the grind!

Medical Mystery

I guess I proved my own point about that last post, because I probably needed that little moment of refreshment at the Tulip Garden to help me get through a couple unexpectedly very stressful days!  When I got home that night--not only from the park but from a quick grocery stop--I noticed that my inner thighs were itchy.  When I looked at them, they were very pink and quite warm to the touch.  There were a couple spots that almost looked like bug bites, but not quite, but the itchy area was considerably larger.  At that point I assumed I was just experiencing some chafing, since I was wearing a skirt without pantyhose for the first time in months.  Or maybe it did have to do with a bug bite since I had been outside, but it seemed extreme for that.  I put on some aloe and some workout capris since Jacob was talking up a family basketball game, and aside from how hot and itchy they were and trying to plan a purchase of something to prevent that in the future, I didn't think much of it.  But by bedtime, I noticed that both thighs were really red.  I put on more aloe and continued to be confused about why I would have chafed so badly without feeling it, particularly since it wasn't that hot out.

By the next morning, my legs looked even worse, and by my first bathroom break at work, it was very apparent to me that this wasn't just a rash--it looked more like bruising.  It was definitely under the skin, deep red to almost purple.  On one side the worst patch was maybe only a couple inches long by a half inch wide.  But the other side was a solid four inch long by two inch wide hardcore bruise.  Oddly, it didn't hurt at all.  At that point I got a bit concerned that maybe I had some sort of skin infection (hearing way to much about strep and staph these days), but given the lack of pain, I dismissed that.  But that night, the more I Googled, the more concerned I became.  I found pictures of something called purpura that looked very much like what I had, and pretty much nothing that leads to purpura is a good thing.  The worst scenario was leukemia, the best was a clotting disorder.  Great.

So I called my doctor in the morning and got in around lunchtime.  Suffice it to say that the doctor was completely stumped.  She asked me dozens of questions about things I might have done--everything from biking or horseback riding to "crazy stuff" with my husband.  She asked if I had itched really hard, and I didn't think I did--and I realized after the fact that I couldn't have because it was already rather tender and rough itching would have made it worse.  She even asked if I had possibly drank and blacked out, which was a definite no...but I admitted that given the location of the bruising, I took a second to consider if there would have been any opportunity to have been roofied!  It just didn't make sense, so nothing was too crazy to consider at that point.  She wasn't worried (though I suspect she still thought I was forgetting something), but she sent me off with a bunch of blood work anyway--and thank goodness, as I don't think I could have had peace of mind without it.

I'll also admit that I'm grateful that our health system processes that stuff fast, because the wait for the results could have been really awful.  But I had results by the time I sat down at my desk yesterday morning, and thank goodness, they looked fine!  Well, mostly fine.  All the important stuff was within range.  My white blood cell count was slightly higher than previous tests (except for one reading, which took me a second to realize was the day Carter was born--ha!), but still within range.  But the one area where I'm clearly borderline is my iron.  My red cell count was in range, but on the low side, as were my hemoglobin, iron, ferritin, and pretty much anything else that had to do with those readings.  I've known for a while I was on the low side, hence why I started supplementing around blood donations after I almost got denied once.  Lately I've been doing one pill every other day since we had Carter's stash left, but apparently that's not really sufficient either.  Interestingly, seeing my borderline low ferritin was a bit comforting since that's been Carter's oddball medical issue, dating back to his sleep study, so it makes me think that it's just a weird genetic thing for both of us, as the odds of that seem greater than undiscovered internal bleeding times two.  It's still a little weird and totally doesn't explain the bruising, so I guess both of those will end up in the medical mystery bin.  My doctor was fine with everything she saw but suggested supplementing or "eating some spinach."

Admittedly, I had myself sufficiently freaked out on Tuesday night.  When every sort of Google search sort of leads back to the same spot, and that spot isn't particularly encouraging, you start to wonder if your number is up.  I mean, it's easy to think that you'll be fine and like most other medical things we overthink, it'll be nothing.  But sometimes that's just not the case, and who's to say it couldn't be me getting an all-too-young cancer diagnosis?  Some people don't have other symptoms before they get some sort of tragic diagnosis, and I could absolutely have been one of them.  There's no magic spell to guarantee it wouldn't be me, at least.  It's scary.  As a parent I think you think about that stuff even more, because when you can barely keep it together with two healthy parents, what happens when one goes down?  Craig can barely cook, and our eating out options are very limited, so what would we do if I couldn't cook?  How would he survive if all of the parental responsibilities were on him?  How would we pay for private school next year if all available money ended up with medical bills?  Would I feel stupid for the (very cheap) things I picked up on clearance at Kohl's (or the many shoes I stashed away from the Payless liquidation) when I'm suddenly ill and wearing nothing but a hospital gown or pajamas?  I had all sorts of very real scenarios pop into my head that night, probably more clearly than they ever have.  It was sobering.  And I honestly don't think it was unreasonable to have those thoughts when I had completely unexplained, major bruising without a clear cause.  Something happened, and nothing else was explaining it, so the "crazy" stuff didn't really seem too crazy at that point.  No crazier than anything else, anyway.  It definitely makes you examine your mortality and consider what the world might look like without you growing old in it.  I know that's probably a little crazy-ish and morbid, but this was a very real scare for me.

But, the good news is that everything seems fine.  The bruises are fading pretty rapidly, so at least I'm not totally disgusted every time I visit the restroom now.  It's definitely a weight off my shoulders, though without a real explanation it's still nagging a bit.  I feel like I have to regain trust in my own body.  You think you know it, and then it goes and does something weird.  Particularly when there's no reason for it, you find yourself a bit skeptical about doing anything for fear it will trigger it again.  Could my hard run on Sunday have somehow done this?  Will another hard run do it again?  Am I allergic to something or was it some sort of odd, vicious bug?  If I go outside will it happen again?  Until you essentially work through all of those scenarios, you're always going to wonder a bit.  And that's where I am now.  Will the "near-death" mindset give me life-changing new perspective?  I don't know--maybe for fleeting moments until the usual "hard" stuff kicks in again.  It's hard to let your brain stay in that space without hardcore anxiety kicking in, so it's best to let it go when you can.  I'm grateful that my life didn't change in one weird 48-hour period, but pardon me for still being nervous.  So, on we go.  I'm enjoying a day off today (to make up for my 15-hour day last week), and while I probably won't get much physical rest, I'll take the mental break!  Happy Early Mother's Day to me!

Mama's Moments of Zen

Sometimes when you're a mom, you need to sneak moments for you when you can.  They can seem really insignificant, but sometimes they're just enough to keep you going and help you feel like "you". No matter how random, sometimes you just have to do it.

Last week I worked a 15-hour day for our big Day of Giving.  It was a very long day--a good one, mind you--but LONG.  It went relatively quickly, fortunately, but it took me (and all my co-workers) days to recover.  It was actually a pleasant day outside aside from some intense rain showers from time to time, and we could merely just watch from a conference room table.  But then...a fire drill!

Feeling the pleasant day outside, even just for a moment, was blissful.  So I took a picture to remember just how lovely that moment was.  Back inside, at one point I needed a mental break and snuggled our little mascot for the day, Groundboi.

He's a stuffed version of a campus-favorite groundhog who has an entire marketing plan centered around him...so snuggly!

 After one of the rainstorms, we happened to see this...

A rainbow!

It was cool that it looked like the rainbow was ending on campus, since we were raising money all day and creating our own "pot of gold"!

On Monday we finally had a truly gorgeous day!  It was in the 70s and sunny.  I knew rain and cooler weather was coming so after work I ran over to Highland Park, home of the Lilac Festival, to check out the Tulip Garden.  I love tulips but they're so short lived!  I was nervous about missing them, so I desperately wanted to take a few minutes to see them.  It was well worth the stop, even if I was only there less than 10 minutes!

I was sort of bemused by the two "oopsies" on the corner of this bed of yellow tulips!

I had a friend post a picture of tulips like this in their yard, but I'm not sure I'd ever seen them in person!

Tulips for days!

They were truly stunning!  Even though it was a quick stop, I was very happy I did it.  The sight of those pretty flowers (and how much I've enjoyed these pics in the subsequent days) was well worth the extra few minutes it tacked on to my commute.  Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get another chance to see more, if the weather decides to cooperate at any point in the next week!

So, anyway, just a reminder for moms (and busy-non moms) that taking a few minutes for yourself, no matter how random, silly, or speedy, is a great thing.  Who can't use a little extra beauty (and fun) in their life?

Unexpected End of an Era

Late last week we received a letter from our pediatrician's office.  At first I thought it was just another copy of an outstanding bill for one of Carter's strep tests that I just hadn't had a chance to pay, but when I opened it up, it was a letter explaining that our pediatrician is leaving the practice to join one in another town.  A wave of dread crept over me immediately, because I really do love our pediatrician.  She's been with us since day one (and actually before, I guess), and she's been so sweet and encouraging.  She's a great listener when we have issues, maybe to a fault as I think a couple times she's probably let us go down a worm hole we probably didn't need to, but she has always heard our concerns and had me walking out of the office feeling like I'm doing a good job.

And given that she's known my kids since birth, it's always been comforting when something has come up that she has their full medical history in mind, rather than just taking an educated guess without having that prior knowledge.  So, for example, when Carter was having belly pains a year or two ago, it didn't take a fight to get a Celiac test added to his blood work because she knew about Jacob.  Or even when Carter was a baby and his reflux started, we didn't need to go through lots of tests because it seemed to be following a similar pattern to Jacob's reflux.

For about a split second I considered switching practices to stay with her, and even though we'll be over that way a lot since it's in the same town as Jacob's new school, pretty much nothing compares to the convenience of our current practice.  It's close, has great hours, and their policies are good.  The thing is, as Jacob has gotten older I've realized that eventually the female pediatrician thing might be an issue.  After all, I went through the same thing as a kid.  When I was little, we had the best pediatrician who had her office in her house, shared with what I believe was her husband's dental office, if I recall correctly.  She had cared for my dad's family for years.  When I was probably around Carter's age, she retired, and we switched to a nearby office with multiple doctors, including her son.  I don't think I had a dedicated doc at that stage, but just took whichever one was available.  I actually really preferred her son, but sadly he passed away suddenly, very young.  One of the other doctors there I did not like at all as he wasn't particularly gentle, and as I got older I found the annual genital check super awkward with any male doctor.  Fortunately by the time I hit puberty I was able to convince my mom to keep me with the female doctor there as much as possible, which was much better.  And now, as an adult, even though our doctor has kept the boys' genital checks very light-hearted (there's one...and yup, there's the other!), I've figured that sooner or later that would get weird for them--weird with anyone, but weirder with a woman.

So, here we are.  I guess this was the push I needed.  The practice just welcomed a new male doctor, so I guess we're going to start there.  I really, truly hope we like him.  Our practice only has one other man, and he has been there for ages.  He's funny and energetic, but definitely old-school.  You may remember him from the time I asked about taking Jacob off milk to potentially help his behavior issues, and I was shot down almost immediately.  Here's the thing--and I've said this for my own medical care as well--I don't want a doctor to feed into unnecessary B.S., but I want them to consider what I'm saying for more than a moment.  If it's not good medical science (like, if I were an anti-vaxxer, for exampler), then fine.  But if I'm genuinely looking for a solution and it's possible there could be some validity (even if you're not personally aware of it), please look into it before you immediately dismiss it.  It's the entire reason I changed doctors for myself many years back.  My PCP, who was an older Indian woman, dismissed my lack of smell as an allergy issue, no matter how many times I insisted that it shouldn't be.  She didn't bother to look into other things that might be causing it, and that pissed me off.  I feel like younger doctors are a bit better about that stuff (sort of like my theory that younger teachers are less likely to turn to crappy old-school techniques to deal with kids like Jacob), and while that's probably a terrible generalization, it's just the sense I've gotten.  So, long story short, I'm hoping this new guy is a good fit because we don't have many other male options.  We'll find out in July with our next appointment, if not sooner.

But I'm still pretty profoundly sad to lose such a wonderful doctor.  To have someone know your kids from the beginning is something special, because they seem to enjoy watching them grow almost as much as you do.  And as a parent it's so nice to have someone you trust to share all of your random, over-thought, hypochondriac theories with, without fear of condescending judgment.  It reminds me a lot of how it felt when our first daycare shut down, or when the mass exodus happened from our last one.  Our connections to those teachers who knew the kids for so long were so important--not just to us, but to them as well.  I selfishly wish I could connect with the doctor on social media, just to keep that connection alive and let her see the kids grow up from afar.  I'll probably write her a note, regardless, because when someone has been in your life like that, you sort of need the chance to say goodbye.  And now that Carter's tonsils are out, the odds of that happening in the next 10 days before she leaves are a lot slimmer than they used to be!  And I'm not about to go wishing for a doctor visit, right?  I'm not quite sure how to go about thanking someone for all of their support over one of the most challenging periods of my life, but I guess I'm going to give it a try!

I know we'll be fine, but it still just feels odd to be losing that constant in our lives.  It's a little disorienting and just a little scary to not know what to expect in that realm moving forward.  Your kids' health care is so important, and any disruption to a good status quo is jarring.  Kids are resilient and hopefully we can be too as we go through this transition.  We will miss her so much!

Three Sport Weekend

This weekend we had what I would consider a "normal" weekend.  Just busy enough to keep us occupied, but still with a little downtime--enough to nod off on Saturday afternoon and have a lazy Sunday evening.  But otherwise we had a bunch of stuff to do!

Saturday morning we had our monthly therapist appointment, which of course meant more discussions about Jacob's allowance and chores and cell phone wishes.  Ugh.  After a quick lunch at home, it was time for Carter's first soccer practice!  It's going to be an outdoor soccer season, but the weather stinks right now so it meant indoor practice, on one of the same fields that Jacob has played lacrosse on all these years!

Carter had a blast.  He looked pretty good out there.  He did a good job dribbling, and while he tended to get tempted every time he passed by the net, he did well.  He also had a tendency to chat up his teammates, but what else is new?

He also had a tendency to stay in goal during the scrimmage, even though they weren't using goalies!  He'll probably need a million reminders to listen to his coach and stay in position, and this will definitely be typical little kid soccer all around, so I'm sure it will be an interesting season.  But he was even more excited about soccer after practice was over, so hopefully this will be right up his alley.

After the rest of the afternoon at home (with the aforementioned catnap), it was time for the last Knighthawks game of the season.  We haven't been to many this year because Jacob is anti-lacrosse and Carter gets bored.  But with all of the changes coming up for the team, I insisted we go.  The team as we know it is moving to Halifax, Nova Scotia for next season.  A new team will be in Rochester in its place, with the same name but new ownership and players, and most likely a different feel.  It's a long weird story.  We're all bummed to see so much young talent go, and no one's very happy that the history (including all five championships) technically go with the franchise.  But obviously you can't change what happened here.  It's still Rochester lacrosse history, and could even still be considered part of "Knighthawks" history since the team name will be the same, but it does create some awkwardness.  The good news is that Craig will come out of this just fine--more on that soon.

But before the game he was honored for the first time with a team award!  He won the 7th Man award, which goes to a non-player who goes above and beyond for the team, as voted by the players.  He had multiple players tell him he should have won it sooner, but at least it finally happened!

It was hard to get a good shot, but I didn't think to get a shot of it on the scoreboard.

But at least I got this one!

It was a great honor for him--and definitely well deserved after nearly 20 years with the team and 18 as the broadcaster.  He's almost always mentioned in the thank yous of Hall of Fame inductees, so he's been long respected by the players.  He's definitely gone above and beyond for a very demanding owner most recently, so this was really nice to see.  We also got to see the team's long-time #1 fan get an award for his service to the team, which made for an all-around great night.  I helped him and his wife get engaged during a halftime promo when I worked there, so my memories there will always be linked to him, too.

The team had a horrible first half, scoring only one goal, but luckily mounted an exciting comeback in the second half that made the arena sound like the old days for a while.  The comeback ultimately fell a couple goals short, but it made for an exciting ending.  But then it was time to say goodbye, which was definitely a little sad.  The players huddled in the center of the field for a minute...

...and then saluted the fans.

Then our best player addressed the audience, which got me a little choked up.  Of course, it lightened the mood when he accidentally dropped an f-bomb (and immediately caught himself) :)

The new era will be an interesting journey with memories all its own, but it was hard to say goodbye to this one.  It's been one heck of a ride.

On Sunday we went to Buffalo for my cousin's little girl's first birthday.  For all of my fun cakes that are passably decent, I have to share this one.  The woman who made this cake (and all of the cakes for that branch of the family) actually made our wedding cake, too, and they are soooo good.  But this one was incredibly adorable to match the Baby Shark theme!

It even says, "Baby Shark Do Do Do" on the side!  It was so amazingly beautiful and completely adorable!

Emmy did a great job all day--but apparently this cake was serious business!

Jacob spent most of the party sulking because there was a gym attached to the place where the party was, and he wanted to go play basketball.  I told him that if the opportunity presented itself to ask any of our family members who were members at this club, I would ask if he could play.  And finally it worked out, and he was thrilled when he was allowed!  Carter wanted to run around like a maniac as well, and he and Craig got in a couple soccer games.  By the time I went in there, all three of them were sweaty messes...but both boys were thrilled!

Of course, sweaty Carter stripped off his shirt when I got in there, and when I tried to take a picture, he ran.  You can see him peeking in this one.

Jacob loved shooting, particularly since our weather has been crap lately, including snow on Saturday.

At the end of the party, Emmy got to watch them play, and I guess she loved it!  Little kids always love watching big kids!

All in all it was a good weekend.  More tiring than expected, but fun overall!  And the best news is that we have Craig back on weekends for a while!  Now if I can just make it through a crazy work week and the weather could improve, we'd be in business!

News & Notes, Easter Hangover Edition

My mom emailed me yesterday, in advance of them going on vacation, and mentioned she was surprised she hadn't heard from me this week (mostly because we had a pleasant surprise in our Easter card from my parents).  I realized that this week has flown by abnormally fast.  Yet aside from one late night at work from me, it doesn't seem like it's been exceptionally busy, particularly since we are currently sport-free.  Yet most nights this week I didn't sit down until about 10pm.  Some nights it was dinner, a workout, and bedtime, one night it was a late run to Wegmans, and Wednesday Craig was on the road (his last weeknight in Canada for this season) and I spent some time doing laundry and detangling cords in our reorganized office.  So, by the time I finally sit down and maybe have a snack, I'm struggling to even keep my eyes open long enough to watch a show.  It's sort of a pathetic existence, but I suppose if it gets me to the weekend faster, so be it.

I never did get back around to Easter.  We came back from my parents on Saturday night.  I took Jacob shopping at the outlets in Niagara Falls, which ended up frustrating for him.  I actually found myself a fabulous Toronto Raptors shirt on clearance at the Nike store, which was perfect timing for the playoffs.  I was never able to find one in Toronto last fall, so this was a big find!  Jacob had a hard time finding reasonably priced clothing, and while he tried on some shoes for when he moves up another size, nothing really stuck.  He ended up really wanting this $15 headband at the Nike store, but I blocked him from buying it because Mr. Big Spender needs to rein in his budget a bit.  Of course, he later admitted he didn't want to spend his own money on it, but he doesn't seem to get that that should be a clue to him that I shouldn't need to spend my money on it either!  More on those struggles in a minute, but suffice it to say that the stupid headband became the poster child for the rest of the weekend for everything that's frustrating me with Jacob right now.  After the shopping trip, I spent a couple hours with my oldest friend Heather, just catching up on life!  Amazing how much conversation you can have without two kids interrupting every five seconds!  After dinner we packed up and headed home.  Craig was working that night so it was pretty much just getting the kids in bed and doing a whole lot of Easter prep!

On Sunday morning we started off pretty lazy.  Of course, when Jacob woke up at 8am, he had to wake up Carter so they could find their Easter baskets and eggs.  The early wake-up call was not particularly welcomed (since Craig and I had both been up late--me doing the Easter stuff, him working), but we got up and let the kids do their thing.

Carter found his basket tucked under blankets under the end table, but Jacob took a bit longer to find his.  He's in the middle of looking here as Carter checks out his loot.

Carter got some different candies (Robin Eggs, a chocolate-PB dinosaur from his Gertrude Hawk fundraiser, and a bag of Cadbury eggs), a Hot Wheels vehicle that looks like a toaster, a book, a Playmobil Ghostbuster to go with some stuff he got at Christmas, and some Squigz, which are suction cup-based building toys.  He had begged for them when he saw them at Wegmans, because they used to have them at daycare.  When I looked for them online, they were more expensive than what Wegmans had them for, and when I went again, they were on clearance!  He was with me, though, so if you could have seen me trying to hide them in the cart and distracting him at the register...it was ridiculous!

Jacob finally found his in the dining room (inside a cabinet that used to house our photo albums), and he was happy with his selection of candy and a golden egg full of cash.

I had good intentions of making a fun breakfast, but I realized I didn't have what I needed so we made do with hard-boiled eggs and other easy stuff.  I made a pie for our time with Craig's family later, and then it was time to get ready for church at noon.  Despite that late time we still ended up getting there a minute or so late, which did not make me happy.  And after church there was more rushing around and packing up and grabbing snacks to tide us over until we got to Buffalo, which got us on the road at least a half hour later than planned.  I was so frustrated!  Luckily, it ended up working out fine, but it's frustrating when no matter how much you plan, nothing seems to go right!

We still had a great time with Craig's family.  Far too much food, as usual, but so good!  The boys participated in the annual Easter egg hunt with their cousins (indoors this year, since it was cold!) and picked up a bunch more candy to fill their baskets.  It was a great time, but boy were we all tired by the time we got home.

Now that we're past Easter and looking forward to Craig's job transition and the end of the school year, we've been battling Jacob on his cell phone status.  He, of course, wants unlimited data, but if I can make do with a TracFone plan, so can he.  He was sort of promised (not by me) Craig's phone when he gets a new one--mostly because he was supposed to get Craig's last one, but right before he was trading up it took an unexpected swim in the pool--but I'm not super comfortable with testing out his maturity with one like that.  I think we've finally convinced him he'll have to deal with the TracFone plan for now, but working out the logistics of that is harder.  How will he listen to music if it's not streaming?  How much restraint will he have to not watch YouTube videos on the bus next year?  How will we handle social media?  It's all very complicated, and I don't know that I'm ready for it.  But being able to communicate with his friends is important to him, and apparently we're on the losing end of his friends' parents' generosity.

Another part of this is trying to figure out the allowance situation.  He is willing to do chores, but admittedly it's hard to trust him to do them--like to not break stuff in the process (like my beloved Shark vacuum or any knickknacks I'd have him clean around), or to simply do a good job without it turning into one more thing for me to nag him about.  I read a blog post about an allowance setup where you pay them a significant amount (although in that case it wasn't directly tied to chores--but in our case, per the therapist, it probably needs to be), but they need to use that money to pay some of their expenses.  In essence, it's taking money you'd probably spend on them anyway, and giving them the opportunity to learn to manage their own money.  If they choose to get a lesser cell phone plan and save, or foolishly spend it and not afford their expenses, they'll learn valuable lessons.  Jacob doesn't seem to understand budgeting or spending within your means (oh, the maddening conversations we've had), so I think he definitely needs those lessons.  But handing over cash to him makes me very nervous.  I have suggested a probationary period to see if he can be trusted to do chores, where the payout is lower until he proves himself, and then we'll see where it goes.  We do need to figure it out soon.

Suffice it to say that I still don't feel qualified for tween parenting...but then again, I don't feel so hot with little kid parenting either right now, because Carter is turning into a serious handful.  Not only does he instigate stuff with his brother, but he has a pretty smart mouth on him.  On top of that, reading is still a struggle with him.  No concerns from his teacher yet, but reading a book with him is painful at home.  Getting him away from screens is a struggle unless he's explicitly banned.  Unless you're planning on spending one-on-one time with him, getting him to just play like a normal kid is hard.  Jacob wants them to be friends, in theory, but they have nothing in common and just seem to trigger one another constantly.  It's hard right now.

We have a couple exciting things happening this weekend, though, so stay tuned...