Pick Up Basketball Game In the Driveway as a Thunderstorm Rolls In

C.J. actually made this shot falling onto his butt!

Zack loves his "ripped abs"Pretty impressive for a 13 year old who doesn't work out

It is so great to see them all together again.


Tomorrow we are heading up north for a week.

That Time Again

It's that time of the year again...


Fellow Oshkoshonians (I know I'm totally making that word up) know what I am talking about...the time of the year when our humble little city of about 60,000 becomes invaded with one million aircraft enthusiasts. (airventure.org)

One million additional people in our city cannot go unnoticed!  Also the constant sound of airplanes overhead are not unnoticed either!


For this week each year we have the distinct privilege of being the busiest airport in the world!

But, as annoying as the additional traffic can be, it is a huge boost for our economy and, as I remember from my days of being a waitress at Robbins Restaurant, the people are all so friendly!


It is also time for the airport pick-up tomorrow!!!!
At noon Zack and I will descend upon the Milwaukee airport to pick up C.J. and Jon.  C.J. will be here until September 17...Jon for undetermined amount of time.  Let the fun begin!

Glow Lady

For sure three times a summer I hear the echo of children calling 

"glow lady"  

"glow lady"

as they run towards me with money in their hands and a twinkle in their eyes...ready to pick out one of the many blinking, glowing, flashing objects from my cart.

However, the objects are not reserved just for children...several adults buy the flashing necklaces...and last night I sold a group of ladies 5  bunny ears.

S0...

Last night Zack and I grabbed our cart and headed out to sell our glow:

 

and watch the fireworks.

  

In addition to "glow lady" the other thing I hear multiple times a night is someone trying to make a deal for the items we sell.  I politely explain that this is not my business and I'm not authorized to set prices and people are respectful of that.  I don't blame them for them trying and they have appreciation for my position as the middle man.

However, last night...I made an exception...here is the story:

The evening was winding down...it was about 10:15 p.m. and we came across a man and his 2 year old son.

I could tell immediately the man was highly intoxicated b/c he was slurring his speech and couldn't even stand up straight.

So, he told the boy to pick what he wanted and the boy picked a $10.00 light saber.  Immediately I hear "how about $7.00?" 

This is no big surprise to me and I counter with me well rehearsed speech above.

ONLY...he acts like he never even heard me.  In fact, he can hardly even open his wallet he's so drunk.  He hands me $7.00.  

Repeat my well rehearsed speech.

He re-opens his wallet, turns it upside down, and slurs, "lady, that's all I got, take it or leave it."

Now, with his attitude plus the fact that he had probably spent $50.00+ on alcohol that evening 

I would have loved to have told him to take that $7.00 and shove it...back into his wallet (ahem..I'm a Christian).  

But I looked at that little tow-headed boy gripping that light saber with hopeful eyes and what choice did I have?  

My first thought was I could break this little boy's heart and take the light saber back telling him his dad didn't have enough money. (uh..no)

My next thought was I could just let him keep it and take the $7.00 and get the heck out of there as quick as I can. ( uh...yes)

My final thought was...I sure hope to God he is not driving anywhere with that little boy tonight!

An Oldie But A Goodie

My Favorite Picture of Zack

Itty Bitty 2 Day Old Baby

Picture Memories

On my agenda last week when I was visiting my parents was to peruse through their photo albums and steal pictures so that I could make a slide show for their 50th wedding anniversary.


Among them I found these two pictures.

Taken on January 1, 2003 they show how we spent our New Years Day that year - in the pediatric intensive care unit at Halifax Memorial Hospital in Daytona Beach.


In the top picture C.J. is receiving his life-saving pints of 0+ blood to replace the massive amounts of blood he lost after having a tonsillectomy two weeks prior. 


There is a whole story that involves visiting the ER a week earlier than this only to be told that the bleeding was normal (say what???) and not to worry about it...discharged after a whole 20 minutes...but I won't get into that here.  I also will not mention the doctor (and I STILL remember his name - will never forget it) who told us these words that nearly took the life of my son!


Nope - focusing on the positive...C.J. rebounded very quickly after this.

W.I.T.W. Part II

Banking on the allergy theory I took some antihistamine and snuggled up for a good nap.


However, when I woke up...I looked something like this:

So...a call  was placed to the doctor and off I went.


Doc confirmed that it was most likely an allergy and not an infection (whew) and put me on a dose of steroids (yippee) to tame this severe reaction to...well...whatever I'm having a reaction to.