End of Summer already?

I know they say time flies when you are having fun, but geeze!!! I guess we had a lot of fun b/c summer seems to have just blown by. I figured I'd sit down for a few and update everyone on the Saban summer activities. You know, b/c our lives are so exciting that people just want to read about it.
June was a blur. We were in the throws of swim team. Henry's age group (6 and under) was absolutely hysterical to watch. When they would jump into the pool, it looked like lemmings going over a cliff. Then, these tiny little legs and arms would be going at what appeared to be mach speed. But they were only cruising at a snails pace down their lane. Don't get me wrong, there were some fantastic swimmers that were in it to win it. Then, there were the kids there just to have fun. Henry was in that group. We've got lots of 4th and 5th place ribbons to show for it. However, he figured out his backstroke and got 1st in his heat at the last meet. Nick and I almost cried! So, to the little kid on his team that said 4th place is no big deal....Take that! Jerk.
July took us up to St. Louis for a few days, then on up to Illinois to see the inlaws and cousins for the 4th of July. It's always a fun trip. Insane. Crazy. But, fun. My kids are amazed by my inlaws basement. It's like an underworld of childhood oddities that they can't get enough of. Glad I didn't tell them about monsters living down there. On the 3rd we headed to the Monticello fireworks. Small towns do a great job with the 4th, in my opinoin. Plus, it was some awesome people watching!! My favorites where the rural white guys that apparently thought they were inner city black gang members. The closest they have ever been to a drive by is having a combine pass them in the corn fields. The only tagging they've ever done was on a cow. I guess when you live in the middle of nowhere and are full of youth angst, you gotta let loose. That would also explain the pregant teenager smoking.
I also turned 36 in July. Ouch. That hurts to write. I really don't feel 36. I still act like a 13 yr old boy, so I guess that helps. I have high hopes of being an old lady in the nursing home, making fart noises every time a nurse bends over.
August has been hot. H-O-T! I think we are on day 19 of an over 100 degree streak. You can hear the plants screaming in the afternoon from the heat. The pools feel like bathtubs. The kids are bored. I'm bored. Luckily, school is right around the corner. Hud starts his senior year of preschool. I guess his big year will inlcude how to hold a pencil and not shoving crayons up his nose. Henry starts first grade. Wow! I'm not as emotional as last year, but I still can't believe I have a 1st grader. He's super excited. He's been wearing his Darth Vader backpack daily. I think I should put a rock in it each morning, to see if he notices it getting heavy.
So, as summer winds down, I hope you were able to do lots of summer activities....swim, sleep in, travel, or our favorite - media room campouts. Bring on fall! I can almost smell burning leaves, erasers and Halloween candy in the air.

Thomas, Hudson and day of cringing

As you all know, Hud is a Thomas junkie. Addict. Hard core. So, of course we had to take him to see the real life Thomas that rolled into town. We decided to not tell him, only for our own sanity. I couldn't deal with him asking me 100 x a day if it was the day. We packed up this morning and headed out. The boys knew it was a surprise, but no clue what we were doing. We were near the airport, so God love 'em, they thought we were going somewhere. Yeah, sorry guys, nothing that cool. We pull up and there was Thomas, sitting at the little depot. Oh, the look on Hud's face. It was priceless. The kind of look parents dream of seeing on Christmas morning! We finally find a parking spot, 3 miles away, but were greatful for shuttle service. We load up and sit down. And wait. And wait. Shuttle doesn't move. I realize the driver is waiting on the family of 8, standing by the bus, smoking!!! I'm thinking, please, please just shut the doors and drive! No dice. They load up, smelling like a nasty bar ashtray to give us all 3 minutes of nasal assault. P.U. We arrive at our destination and it is an all out Thomas carnival! Train sets, live music, bounce houses, meats on a stick..... Really cute. Then, the cuteness wore off. I realize I'm in a 1 acre area with about 4000 people. 4000 people that have screaming kids. Sick kids. Kids that don't know how to funcion in public. Yes, I'm in hell. The train ride was so lame. 12 minutes going backwards on a track through woods and the ghetto. Then 12 minutes going back the same way. Nothing like waving at the poor kids in the government apartments with their faces smooshed on a chain fence watching the fun go by. I dubbed it, "Thomas the Train Poverty Tour '10". On the train, kids were coughing, sneezing, blowing their stupid train whistles while their parents were obviously too busy pulling their heads out of their butts to notice. More of the same after the ride. Germs, snot and tears at every turn. I finally called it a day and we headed back to the shuttle. I was beaten. Grossed out. Tired. The kids were coming down from their cotton candy sugar high. The kid seated next to us sounded like a sick goose, his cough was so bad. Then, I hear his dad say, "are you ok?" I'm thinking, no, he sounds like his lungs are about to fly out there, genius. Then he says, "if you need to throw up, let me know." Oh...my...God! Get me off this bus!!!! The things we do as parents. I'd do it all again, just to see that smile on Hud's face. And with that, I need to go bathe in bleach to disinfect myself.

Monday rant

Where do I begin??? Seriously, today was one of those days where everyone I encountered got on my nerves. Henry started in with his 1000 questions as soon as his feet hit the floor. What's for lunch? What's for dinner? When do I graduate? Is tomorrow summer? Will I be a dad next November? OMG kid, my coffee hasn't even kicked in yet! Hud and I then head out into the 36 degree thunderstorm to head to the gym. I always laugh at the irony of the people driving around for a close spot...AT THE GYM! For Pete's sake, walk. So, Hud and I hid under a giant golf umbrella and made it inside. Now, I love my Monday morning class, but man is it full of weirdos! Olivia Newton John is there, always in a flippin' half shirt. Next to her is Joe Cool who is in desperate need of a full torso wax, but insists on wearing print tanks w/ the gigantic arm holes. Chatty Cathy the cell phone girl is still there. There's also a group of old guys I dubbed the Grumpy Old Men, although they don't seem grumpy.
Next, we head back into the crappy weather to the grocery store. Last week, at the deli, I got some middle Eastern guy, fresh off the camel, God love him, who had no clue how to operate the giant slicer wheel. Took me 15 minutes to get 1/2 a pound of turkey. Painful. Well, of course, guess who I got today. Apparently, he only worked last Monday, because that damn slicer got the best of him again today. Head to checkout and the crazy single cat lady saw my bag of cat litter and got all excited, literally squealed, and asked what kind of cat I had. I really thought about telling her it was for my kids b/c potty training just didn't work out for us.
This afternoon, the boys had their martial arts class. It is always a nightmare. I guess it's a great place for all the parents that don't believe in discipline or even just looking at your child like to hang out. There are so many kids that need a boot up their butts, it's unreal! I was also reminded of a very important lesson for all you parents out there. Watch your kid. Even if you just glance their way every 30 seconds or so. Why? Your kid could have been the one today, standing next to my kid, digging up his nose and eating boogers!!! Barf! Where was his mother? Why didn't she give him a snack before class???? Kids are disgusting little creatures that must be watched for this exact reason.
What does that bumper sticker say? The more people I meet, the more I like my dog. There are days, like today, when that couldn't be more true.

Did ya miss me????

Greetings cyberspace. It sure has been a while. I'd pretty much given up on my start up blog, but when my father in law mentioned he missed, well, I figured I'd better get back on it. So, so, so much has happened since my last post (still really missing Big Fella!). I guess we'll go back to October 9th...
Nick took a new job! He's still with Shell, but has taken the leap from HR to Sales. No longer will he be complaining about idiot employees that can't seem to perform their job functions. Now I get to hear all about idiot customers that can't follow the process. I'm really happy for him and I think it was time for a career change for him. I mean, there's only so many times you can repremand an employee for driving on a suspended liscense before your head explodes. With the new job, came a new city. On Nov. 20th we moved into our new home in Frisco. Moving from Houston to Dallas was a nice change. We obviously miss all our friends back in Katy and if I could scoop them all up and bring them here, I would! Dallas is soooo different. It's nice and shiny here. The people are nice and shiny. The buildings are nice and shiny. There is more shopping than a girl can dream of. It's insane! Less humidity also means much better hair days! We got a great house, in a great neighborhood, next to a great school. I've met some fab ladies and am now starting my new social circle here. Again, sure wish I could bring the gulf coast ladies up here!!!
So, we had a crazy holiday season, to say the least. Before I knew it, Christmas was upon us. Oh, and it was a white one! I had spent 2 weeks explaining to them that it doesn't snow at Christmas here, and really not much of anywhere. That's just a trick on tv, I told them. Well, thank you Mother Nature for making me lose all street cred w/ the boys. Geesh!
Henry is doing great. He had a bit of an adjustment period to his new school. His class here is mostly boys and a few of them really need to be sent off to military school, already. I don't think Frisco ISD likes to enforce discipline as much as Katy ISD did. Too bad. I have lunch w/ him every Thursday, then volunteer for an hour w/ his class. There are several kids that need a boot up the butt, and I'd be more than happy to do it. He does have a lovely teacher and has made some nice friends. He's in mixed martial arts as well. He loves it, but all it does is re-enforce the fact that the child is not atheletic. At all. Like, so bad, that my job will be to keep him from being the "goofy kid that fights invisible Star Wars characters in his room" while all the other kids are at sports practice. Actually, I digress. The boy can swim. So, we will for sure try swim team this summer. He's also pretty darn funny, so maybe stand up comedy will be his thing. If not, he'll always be my little Mathlete.
Hudson is doing much better than he was in Katy. I don't know if it's the lack of toxins and smog in the air or what, but he's doing sooooo great. He loves his preschool and hasn't had a bad day yet. He actually likes going! He's also in gymnastics and is quite the little tumbler. Don't get me wrong, he's still mean as hell and we hope to get him into little guy wrestling in the fall to help him channel all that energy.
The pets are all good, in case you were wondering. But, we did lose another 4 legged family member. Bizzy, our beloved, obese orange tabby ran out of the front door one night before Christmas, without us knowing. Well, that was his demise. You see, we moved into the wild woods of north Texas. Our neighborhood apparently has coyotes, bobcats, great horned owls and someone mentioned a mountain lion. Poor baby didn't stand a chance. But, in true Saban style, we quickly added another cat into the mix. We adopted a gray and orange tabby girl. She has a really scratchy voice, so we named her Bea Arthur. So that's 2 cats and a dog that are all just barely a year old and Sophie, that's 8 and a half. Feel sorry for her. She's like the old lady that took the bus to Ft. Lauderdale on Spring Break thinking it was headed for Branson.
That's about it. Same insanity. Same hillarity. Just a bit further north. Now that the dust has settled, I look forward to getting back to my normal posts of Dooterisms, Deuce Bits and my rants on the things that drive me insane. Like the lady at the gym today that actually took a call during our cycle class! Not only did she answer, but she started a conversation! OMG! I seriously considered getting off my back and whacking her in the head w/ my water bottle. I guess she could tell by the look I shot her, b/c she quickly ended the call. Idiot.
Well, see y'all soon!
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