Morgan's Wonderland

On Saturday, I took Jamie to Morgan's Wonderland.  It's a beautiful place with a beautiful message.  Rather than rambling on and on about how much fun we had, and how glorious it was to spend the day playing in such a wonderful, inclusive environment, I'll let the pictures speak for me.

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Only since living in Texas have I gone out on New Year's Eve. This year marks the third year (though not in a row) that I have gone out somewhere to celebrate New Year's Eve. This is the first year that Jamie will be able to go with me.

I've talked before on here about our good friends Jon, Julie and Spencer. Jon plays electric bass in a country/western band - Clint Taft and the Buck Wild Band. Sometimes, Spencer plays fiddle on some of their songs - mainly when the band is playing at a family-friendly place. Tonight, they are playing a New Year's Eve bash at Lubianski's Dance Hall & Feed Store in St. Hedwig, Tx. (Yes, Becca, I did say dance hall AND feed store. I guess it's a feed store in the front and a dance hall in the back. I asked if it was kind of like a mullet - you know, business up front and the party in the back... Yeah, yeah, I know, lame joke. But I still liked it!) Lubianski's has been a St. Hedwig, family-owned, family-friendly tradition since 1949. Another plus, it's smoke-free and kids under 12 get in free.

So, Jamie and I are going to go root for Spencer, have some fun, and have a good time with friends tonight. Oh, and our friend Michal (who also happens to be my boss' daughter) will be going with us, too. She loves country music, and she's a sweetheart (whom Jamie absolutely adores!), so we should have lots of fun while we're there. I doubt we'll stay until the ball drops and the doors close, but we'll have fun, anyway. Happy New Year, everyone!

Friday Freebies!

I gleefully stole this from Jessi, and am glad to post the same game/meme on my blog. The game goes thusly: The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me (either singly or with my son's help).

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations, so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I/we create will be just for you, with love.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It could be anything! It could be a short story or poem written just for you. It could be a painting, drawing or sculpture. It could be something knitted (good luck identifying anything either of us in this house tried to knit!) It could be baked goods, or something crafted. You don't know when you'll get it (other than it will happen sometime this year) or what it might be! It's for me to know and you to find out!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange or whimsical.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your note.

Please note that my responding to your game/meme does NOT preclude you from entering mine. I'd be more than happy to swap goodies with any one of yous guys! If I entered yours, or even if I didn't, feel free to enter mine! (Wait, that sounds vaguely naughty, doesn't it?)

IMPORTANT: This offer is null and void if I do not see you post your own note to pay this forward. So, there you go: You have been tasked. First five... And... GO!

Fourthly Fun

I'm spoiling the heck out of my kid this weekend. Tonight, we're going to the circus (see previous post). Since there is a chance they will be selling peanuts, Jamie has agreed to go wearing a face mask, and I have declared he cannot sit down or touch anything until I have wiped our seats down with antibacterial wipes to remove any peanut/nut antigens. He said he doesn't care what he has to wear, he's just happy he gets to see a circus. I think that's a fine attitude to have, don't you?

Tomorrow, we're going to make some banana pudding, work on the old house, I'm going to do some homework, and Spencer is coming over to play with Jamie for a few hours. We may also give both dogs baths, as Ziggy is turning grey and Buddy no longer has much visible white fur - although he is naturally half brown and half white.

Saturday, we're going to spend the morning with homework, housework and cooking, then we're going to go to the San Antonio Symphony's Fourth of July concert and fireworks show that evening. The symphony will be playing "Lincoln Portrait" (narrated by some local DJ), then after the concert is "San Antonio's largest Independence Day fireworks show". I had to purchase my ticket for $20, but Jamie gets in free. Also, coolers and picnics are greatly encouraged at this event. The city is also hosting a July 4th event downtown with fireworks that is free, but you are not allowed to bring in coolers or your own food. You have to buy it from the vendors who paid for the privilege of selling their wares there. Considering the fact that 1) the food is way overpriced, 2) I don't know how dedicated each individual vendor is to cleanliness, and 3) I don't know who uses what-all kinds of oil and/or nut/peanut products in their food - I think I'd much rather pay $20 for me to get in and be able to bring food that I know is safe for Jamie. Plus, as the vendors are so dang expensive, I bet you anything I'd pay a lot MORE than $20 for food for the two of us at that supposedly "free" event. Not to mention paying for parking.

Sunday, I'll finish up homework and (maybe) study for my finals - they're next week. But mostly, I'm going to spend time with my boy. Maybe we'll order up a movie, maybe we'll do more cooking. I don't know yet. I'm just going to spend time enjoying my boy.

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Funny story: I'm currently teaching Jamie how to cook. Right now we're working on simple meals of the "one-skillet" or "one-dish" variety. Thanks to Tooz's link to "Depression Cooking with Clara" on R.O.U.S.-es a bit ago, I found Clara's recipe for "Poorman's Meal" (episode 2 of the series, if you want to try it). Apparently, they ate a LOT of potatoes back during the depression. For this recipe, you have to peel the potatoes before cooking. I was showing Jamie how to peel, and he was trying to peel them very gingerly. I asked why he was being so slow and careful. "I don't want to cut myself" he replied. I glibly stated, "Oh, you can't cut yourself with a vegetable peeler. Look, see?" At which point, I cut open my thumb. Now Jamie has learned the wisdom of not pulling the peeler toward yourself when peeling potatoes.

More Progress

Hired Pablo from work to come help us primer and paint the house last night. Everything that needed primering now has at least one coat of primer on it (minus edges that rollers can't reach). Several of the items that needed primering are now completely ready for a fresh coat of paint. Half the bathroom is painted. And tonight... tonight I am taking Jamie to the roller skating rink with his friend Josh. The rink closes at 9. Maybe we can squeeze in a couple of hours of painting after skating. There's no school tomorrow, so Jamie can sleep in some. Yep, I think some painting is called for.

As of 45 Minutes Ago...

I completed my midterm for one class, and the assignments for the other two. So, as of 45 minutes ago, I'm on SPRING BREAK! Tomorrow, I'm taking Jamie to see a double feature of Paul Blart: Mall Cop (if it's still playing) and Race to Witch Mountain. He (and I) was really bummed that I couldn't take any time off work last week on his spring break due to no one being available to cover for me. I'm going to try to make it up to him tomorrow. I'm also planning some surprise activities next week, such as hiking at a park nearby, a trip to the 1/2 price bookstore, and a trip to the railway museum (it even offers train rides).

An odd thing I've noticed, ever since it sank in that - after this semester - I only need five (possibly four, depending on how convincing I can be on the applicability of a prior clss) more classes to complete my major, I've procrastinated even more. I would have thought the opposite would be true and I'd be more motivated, but that has not been the case. I've never denied I'm fairly contrary by nature.

Eye Candy Friday

Being the scatterbrain that I am here lately, I couldn’t find my camera for Jamie’s birthday party. So, sorry, no pics of them bouncing in the bounce house, nor of them demolishing the piñata. However, Julie D., mother of Jamie’s friend Spencer and all-around SuperMom, brought her camera, in addition to baking this awesome cake. Jamie LOVES Mars Mission Legos. So she made this cake, crafting it to look kinda like Mars. Then they assembled and placed his Lego presents on the cake as the cake toppers. Pretty cool, no?

Until Today...

Until today, Jamie thought it was cool to run a few steps, fall to his knees and sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddddddeeeeeeeeee across a hard floor. Regardless of how many times I told him not to do it because 1) it ruins the knees of his pants, 2) he could get hurt, and 3) he could hurt someone else, he has insisted on performing this little trick at every opportunity on every possible hard flooring surface. Until today, he thought it was lots of fun. Until today.

I just got a phone call from Jamie’s school. It seems he performed his little trick in the gym during the after school program. He was going after a ball and decided it would be fun to sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddddddddddddddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeee across the shiny, slick, hardwood floor in pursuit of said ball. He then looked down and away from where he was going, as his body turned until he was going backwards. He wasn’t watching where he was going, so he couldn’t see that he was perilously close to the cinderblock concrete walls of the gym – until he crashed right into said wall and rung his noggin, so to speak. I am told by the afterschool program director that the knot on Jamie's head is quite impressive, as is the monstrous headache Jamie now has. He’s also complaining of dizziness. As Jamie is prone to a touch of histrionics in such situations, I told him I’d see him when I get off work at the usual time and check him out then (it’s only about 30 minutes from now).

Until today, sliding across the floor was great fun. I suspect it is not great fun anymore.