T-Ball With Kaden

Kaden at t-ball

I forgot to mention one tiny little event that occurred on my recent visit to Virginia. My son had pulled into the parking lot for my grandson's t-ball game. The tiny parking lot was surrounded by trees, so I was having a hard time imagining where the field might be. All I could see was a port-a-potty, other cars, and a bunch of trees.

It had to be behind the forest preserve, I reasoned. And it was. Unlike any t-ball field I've ever seen, this one was down a very l-o-n-g, steep trail that led to an open field. I was huffing and puffing by the time we got to the bottom of the mountain. The other team forgot to show up though, so we had to leave.



The weekend after my first visit to this field, I would return with my son's three children, because he and his wife were on a white-water rafting trip. With the help of GPS, I found my way to the parking lot and managed to get the ball, the bat, the cap, the helmet, the drinks, and the kids down the trail and on to the field. YAY! I could finally sit down.



Midway through the second inning (out of only three), Kaden came to me to tell me he had to go to the bathroom.

"Really? Now? You're going to make me hike all the way back to the parking lot where the port-a-potty is located? You can't wait? You'll miss half the game!" 



But he really had to go, so I asked Taylor to watch Zac while I trekked back up the mountain to the outdoor potty.



Out of breath and realizing I didn't have any tissue with me, but unwilling to hike back to the fields, I opened the door to hell and watched Kaden walk in. He froze in sheer panic and started to vomit. He had made the mistake of looking inside the port-a-potty.



"I can't do this!" he cried. 



"Just do it quickly," I suggested. "Don't look."



"I can't. It's too disgusting. It smells too bad."



I wanted to say I'd stay inside with him, but I couldn't. I know. I'm a horrible grandma, but I was almost vomiting too; the stench was that bad. 



We argued for a while: 

"I have to go!"

"So go!"

"I can't."

"Then what do you want to do?"


"I want to go."

"So go!"

"I can't."



After I realized the conversation was forming a circular pattern, I offered Kaden the ground outside the port-a-potty as an option.



But I had no toilet paper with me and Kaden was really concerned: "What if somebody sees me?"



So we decided he would tough it out. He hobbled back to the game, holding his stomach the whole way, and throughout the rest of that game and the next worked through the pain.

What a trooper my little Kaden was. If he ever has bowel obstruction problems, though, I'm blaming the people who are supposed to be in charge of cleaning the port-a-potty.

Christmas In an Online Bed/Bath Shop

Christmas is coming and while I'd love to tell you about gifts you can purchase for your loved ones, I'd really like to tell you about gifts you can give to YOURSELF! I have never seen bedding like the New Bedding by Veratex or the New Bedding by Triangle Home Fashions. These are some of the most beautiful comforter sets I've ever seen. And if you'd prefer Chenille & Matelasse Bedspreads, check out that link as well. The colors and selection are amazing.

This place offers far more than just bedding, too. You can also take advantage of their Slipcover Sale, their Table Runners and Place Mats, and even their Modern Stools and Chairs.

Just click any of the links in this blog and you'll be taken to the spots that sell the items.

And if you've ever wanted an Outdoor Fireplaces (perfect for this time of year and they are so beautiful), check out that selection. Gorgeous stuff. Too bad my daughter didn't know about this place when she was looking for a fire pit for her husband last Christmas.

OK, now for the "shopping for others" part of this blog (though I suppose you could purchase any of the items listed above for them too): If you have any sports fans, like Chicago Cubs or Chicago White Sox fans, check out their MLB Shower Curtain and Accessories. OK, I'm going to shop now – I mean stop now.

 Happy Shopping! You can thank me later.

What Happened This Halloween

Halloween 2010 Candy We'll Probably Hand Out Next Year

My daughter, son-in-law, two grandchildren, and I live together. None of us has any money, so when it came to getting candy for Halloween, all we could do was pull out the giant bowl of candy we still dig through from last year's take at Halloween.

I stayed home to hand out the year-old candy while everybody else went Trick-or-Treating. We still had so much candy and had returned so late from celebrating Audrey's 6th birthday at Chuck E Cheese, that we had only an hour left to hand out candy.

At one point, I decided I'd look for something good to eat. It wasn't until I got to the bottom of the bowl though, that I discovered some already opened candy (which I discarded), pennies (which I took out to save for the kids) and a bunch of cough drops.

Imagine the poor kids who came to our house going home and asking Mom or Dad to have ONE PIECE, PLEASE? and then discovering they had just thrown a cough drop into their mouths.

Sorry, little trick-or-treaters, but look at the stash you'll have for next year!

Little Sister Saves Big Brother From Scary Robber

As the oldest sibling in a family of three children, I am well aware of the "perceived" hierarchy that exists in families who have more than one child. My younger sister and I frequently picked on our youngest sister by telling her she was adopted (she wasn't) and that aliens, disguised as specks of dust, were following her in the basement ready to kidnap her and take her away to a distant planet.

She claimed she didn't believe us, but we knew she was lying – I mean, we were so obviously superior to her. And like most kids, we always made sure our parents weren't around to hear us taunting her.

Which leads me to...

My daughter-in-law, Michelle, and I were talking earlier today about our shared fear – basements – when she remembered the time her big brother, Mario, woke her from a sound sleep to investigate their scary basement.

Mario was in junior high at the time, three years older than his tiny (even now, she barely hits five feet tall) sister, when he sent her downstairs with a bat and a knife to investigate sounds he heard in the basement (remember – she's afraid of them).

He thought maybe a robber had broken in and he had a plan, so it seems, to save the entire family from the dangerous robber by sending his LITTLE sister downstairs with a bat and a knife.

Michelle's job was to bang on a pole with the bat every ten seconds and to swing the knife around so she could slash the robber in case he crossed her path, which was probably smart of Mario, because at her height, she probably would have cut him in the groin.

If ten seconds passed and Mario didn't hear any more banging, he would know a robber truly was roaming the basement, because when the banging stopped, Mario would know that his little sister was dead – killed by the robber.

Mario's job? To call the cops when the banging stopped.

I can't explain to you why this story cracks me up so much – maybe you have to know these two people to understand the hilarity of the situation, but I really would have loved to have seen this scenario played out in person, so I could have watched mini-Michelle slash and bang and slash and bang and slash and bang (one-two-three…ten – bang) while Mario stood upstairs – phone in hand (probably counting in his head) – ready to call the cops when the banging stopped.

It never occurred to Michelle at the time that maybe her parents were better equipped to deal with potential robbers or sounds emanating from the basement – her big football-playing brother needed her help and she was going to face her fears and protect her family by wielding a knife and banging on a pole.

OK, I need to stop laughing right now and take a breath. But what I really want to do is to send a bat and a knife to Mario so he can save it for his son in case he and his wife ever have a daughter. That way his son's little sister can learn how to protect her family.

Blurry photo of Mario and Michelle was "borrowed" from their sister, Vicki (thanks, Vicki).

Emotions Connected with a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Since September 2009, when I was first given a breast cancer diagnosis, I have been chronicling my breast cancer journey with details of the initial diagnosis, chemotherapy, and radiation.

The first four parts of my journey were very technical and clinical. This last journal entry talks about the emotions I experienced during my first year after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis.

I invite you to read Diagnosis: Breast Cancer – Part V,  I welcome your comments, and I thank you for reading.


October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Please do yourself and your family a favor by giving yourself monthly breast exams. It could save your life and prevent your family from experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Understanding 3 Year Olds

"This time never never again say that thing to me."

Here's "that thing": My daughter and her family have the movie, The Cat In The Hat. I have the same exact movie.

A couple of weeks ago Nolan wanted to watch MY Cat in the Hat movie. I told him that my movie was the same as his movie and that since we were watching it on HIS TV, we could watch HIS movie, which was right next to HIS TV.

He didn't want to watch HIS movie. He wanted to watch MY movie. So I got MY movie and held it next to HIS movie.

"See? It's the exact same movie," I said convincingly.

"But I want to watch YOUR movie."

"Nolan, look," I said holding the two movies side-by-side in front of him. "It's the same movie."

That's when he started crying. That's when I wondered, why does it matter which movie he watches if I have the same movie?

Dinner was ready, so we all ate dinner and he forgot about it.

Until the next day.

That day Nolan wanted to watch MY Cat in the Hat movie. Not his. Mine. And just when I was about to argue with him about how MY movie and HIS movie were exactly the same movie, he said, "This time never never again say that thing to me."

"That thing" apparently meant pointing out the fact that my movies and his movies were the same movies.

Recently, in order to downsize, I put all of my movies into a portable carrying case, ridding myself of all of the plastic cases. It saved me a lot of room. Now Nolan and Audrey enjoy leafing through the movies to find one they want to watch. What's perplexing about this ordeal is that they have HUNDREDS of children's movies. I have less than 20.

Despite the fact that they have so many more movies from which to choose, it looks like we will be watching MY movies from now on. Why?

If anybody out there can understand the thinking of a three-year-old, please explain his reasoning to me, because while I pride myself on figuring out the thought processes of toddlers, this particular toddler has me stumped.

In the photo above, Audrey and Nolan sit next to their plastic cup and paper plate creation. Behind them sits just a fraction of their movies.

Goodbye

When I told Audrey yesterday that yesterday would be the last time I would see her, she said, "And then you're gonna die?"

That was my laugh for yesterday. Actually, as soon as I find out from "All About Eyes" if my new glasses came in, I'm leaving for Indiana where I will spend the night with my sister before driving to Florida with my youngest sister, Kathy. I will also meet Chris, my pen pal since I was in grammar school. We have NEVER met.




I am looking forward to this trip for so many reasons. So to my family, I say good-bye and I love you, and to my Associated Content friends I say, CLICK HERE.