Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Short Rendezvous with WordPress

Dear Blogger,

I was in the mood to try on a different blog provider tonight to give my upcoming grown up/adult only blog a new look. Needless to say my grown up/adult only blog never got made because WordPress has NO AVAILABLE domains to use and no filter to help you choose one. Stupid WordPress.

I cheated on you, ever so briefly, with WordPress and I'm back begging for your acceptance of my apology.  I'm sure you have some pretty nifty grown up templates I can make my own for my filthy 32 year old thoughts that I'll hide behind in some clever name like surrfergrrlintx.

Hmmm, wonder if that domain is available.

Forever yours - for now,

Cori

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Who Asked For Teeth Anyway?

Jake: "Harrison needs some ice because his tongue is bleeding."
Me: "Did you bite your tongue?"
Harrison: "Yeah."
Me: "I'm sorry, buddy. I bet that hurts."
Harrison. "Yeah, but its not your fault. Its my teeth's fault."

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Picture vs. Play

Took the boys swimming last night as a easily earned reward for having great days at their respective day care/camp locations yesterday. I brought plenty of entertainment items for the boys IN the pool as well as for me on the sidelines. This, I have found, is one of the benefits of the boys getting older - I don't HAVE TO get in with them to make sure they don't sink, drown or bust their heads open on the concrete edges. I read a magazine, played on my ipad and kept a close eye on their whereabouts while a small family of three arrived and claimed two chairs next to me. A teenage girl was flanked by her parents and she and "papa" immediately got in, while "mom" tried to do what I was doing.....hang out, restful and unbothered.

Her daughter begged for a solid ten minutes to get her to come in the pool and she eventually won. "Mom" reluctantly joined and although all she did was float on a noodle, just being IN the water apparently was enough for daughter.

It made me think about whether I should have put my suit on and joined the boys in the pool, but as I watched them, happy, easily entertained with goggles, floaties and bubbles, I had the opportunity to appreciate some things about them I didn't realize before.

Harrison is 5 and with the "right" goggles, he runs toward the pool and does a respectable cannon ball into the water. Just last year he hated getting his head wet and wouldn't swim without his life vest. Now he swims across the pool, unassisted and keeps up with Jake without a problem.

Jake is a great big brother. He blows bubbles for Harrison and always welcomes him in his activities. He encourages Harrison to race, but is careful to let him win sometimes. He takes him to the boys' potty when Harrison is scared because its so dark. When we leave, he helps to carry his noodle.

I took a quick picture with my iphone because its all I had on me, so now I have a documented memory along with the observations above that I made. Next time, I'll be like "Mom" and create some mental memories by playing.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Its Gonna Be Tough Living in China

Over dinner last night Jake explained that he believed it would be quite hard to live in China. I asked why he thought that and he proceeded to tell me:

Well, what if you were driving, but all of the street signs were in Chinese and you couldn't read them, so you didn't know you were speeding? And then, what if a Chinese policeman tries to pull you over but because you don't know you're speeding, you don't stop because you think he wants to pull someone else over? And then you finally stop and he gets out to talk to you, but you don't understand because its all in Chinese and he gets mad at you and sends you to Chinese jail where you don't know how long you'll be there because your lawyer is Chinese and is telling you what's going on in Chinese. 

I guess if that's what happens when you're an American in China, Jake might be right.

Father's Day 2010

The boys and I took a walk around the neighborhood this evening and happened upon.....


This poor guy was in someone's driveway and way too far from home, which, based on the layer of moss and wet gunk he was hauling with him, was the nearby pond. We checked him out, talked to him and he responded with an occasional hiss as he quickly retracted his head into his shell. I couldn't leave him in the 100 degree heat baking on the concrete, so I tore off some plastic from a Sunday newspaper bag laying in a neighbor's driveway and carried him the 100 yards back to the pond. He kept his head out the whole way, almost wanting to see where we were taking him and the boys and I found a spot level with the water line that was about a foot from the water. He extended his head, then his legs, looked around a literally sprinted toward the water. I'd never seen a turtle run so fast (or run at all for that matter), but clearly he was home and the boys were happy to see him "saved".

Jake gave me a long hug and Harrison narrated the event in great detail.

The boys did spend most of the day with their Daddy, but I enjoyed creating a nice Father's Day memory with them......that at least I know I'll remember.