Red Rock

After working everyday for about three straight weeks, Pat finally has some time off. So this is our week of fun. Today I ask him if he wants to take a trip somewhere...California maybe? There are no words in response, just an audible groan. I guess traveling loses some appeal when you have to do it all the time for your job. OK, next idea...RED ROCK!! It's only a half hour away and it's like our own little slice of the Grand Canyon. This is easily agreed to so off we go.


















On the way there, making sure Daddy doesn't miss the turn and Mommy has her seatbelt on

We get out of the car and it's a bit windy. Harrison says, "Told (cold), Mommie! Told! Swea'shirt on! Be Warm!" I start to worrry that we'll have to turn right around to get him out of the elements but Pat assures me that once we get down in the canyon, we'll be warmer and out of the wind. We sprint down. Luckily, he's right. Pat climbs over huge boulders with the babe in his arms pretty quickly. I step on some loose gravel and start to slide down the mountain with one leg at eye level. "Honey, this is making me nervous," I call out. An older lady hiking just behind me says, "Me too!" As she looks at us. It was funny. Nothing like the voice of a non-biased party to get Dad to see it my way. He slows down. At last there are some big rocks for Harrison to climb up, (much safer than him trying to navigate steep down slopes) and he loves it. Confidence starts to grow and I look over from my picture taking to see him launch himself off a boulder into Pat's arms. Hi, heart attack. He just giggles.

On the way back out of the canyon, Harrison is so sure of himself that he climbs on his own. I keep my arms out behind him like a net that he can't see so he doesn't get mad at me for not letting him, "Do it MYSELF." We pass by an older gentleman that we had seen on the trail earlier bundled up in a big, black puffer coat and hood. Harrison smiles at him and says, "Hi, Tractor Man!!" I have no idea what that's about, but it's cute. Then he says, "Go! Animal! GOOOO!" Pat can't help but be proud of his brave little man. Harrison, the adventurer and traverser of rock!


Wind + My Hair = :( Blog Pictures

If you shimmied through this crevasse you'd drop to the foot of the cliff about eight stories below. My foot didn't offer the perspective I was hoping for, but there you go

M0N0POLY!!!

OK, first of all, let me just say I totally jinxed myself...Pat read my blog and I'm in trouble for going to McDonald's.

In my defense, I have spent the last two years pulling my hair out trying to get Harrison to eat ANYTHING. Usually I cook up and offer like four or five things...He spits out one, I offer another. It's like a buffet at our house. Everyday. I don't know what to do, I can't let him starve. Also, I am tired of Harrison's shorts sliding off his butt. I'm forever chasing this kid around with his pants around his ankles.

Anyway, I discovered that he likes McDonald's. Nay, LOVES McDonald's. He can say chicken nuggets very clearly. He also loves Grilled Salmon with basil, mint and dill, a side of mashed potatoes and some peas. But this is a time consuming and expensive dinner. I can't buy wild-alaskan sock-eye every night of the week. So, I add a little fast food to the mix. He could use a few more pounds anyway. Pat says, No! NO! It's packed with cholesterol. He's probably right, but so are the Sam's Club hotdogs HE feeds Harrison when I'm not, a-hem, available to cook.

Besides, we can play M0n0p0ly! Which I am doing! I am playing online, in-store AND via text. Are you playing too? What pieces do you have? If you are not playing, please send me your game pieces. PLEASE don't throw them out! Send them to me and I will offer you absolutely nothing in return because the rules of the game expressly state that there be no trading, bartering, sale or purchase of game pieces online or otherwise. But I am one property away from a cash prize. Yay MickieD's!

We're Back!

We're back and our brains are a-buzz! Hoorah!

I am loving Las Vegas this month. Mom always says October is the prettiest month anywhere, and right now, I have to say it's true for our little town. It's been in the 80s outside, sunny and clear without any of that miserable wind that blows sand into your eyes that's so characteristic of dessert Septembers. I feel like we're finally getting our summer...I'm off work and I (finally) have tan lines. Harrison and I have made a triumphant return to our favorite activities: namely, anything outside. We've been making up for lost time when it was 118 out and too hot to do anything but be in air-conditioned buildings. Last week we had our very first swim at the Bellagio pool. Thanks Judy for visiting and inviting us. That's a long time dream fulfilled! For anyone who's wondering, the pool was beautiful and cooler than expected, and there was no shortage of beautiful people. Too bad Pat missed it because he was stuck working in Boston. But we're so glad he has a good job again, so no complaints.

Anyway, today when Harrison wakes up, the first thing out of his mouth is, "Go play kids uh park!!" I said, "OK!" So we stop first at McDonald's for Bacon Egg and Cheese McGridles, (good thing my husband doesn't read this blog, he's very against giving Harrison fast food, and recently I find that I am very much FOR it.) tumble out of the car and Harrison makes a run for the big slide. As I'm calling "Wait for Mommy!" after him, I look around and see the Texas Sage bushes so covered in fragrant purple flowers that you can't see their leaves. Next I notice the sweeping blue sky with wispy white clouds painted across it and the dark red dessert paths that circle the park and think, "It is so beautiful here. I am happy." You really savor these moments after 90 plus days of triple-digit weather. We didn't leave until 2, and on the way home we stopped at McDonald's again for chicken mcnuggets. Seriously, Pat would kill me if he knew! Twice in one day! And I can't explain this newfound obsession either, because I swear to you that I could count the times I went to McDonald's all last year on HALF of one hand. Anyway...If you are reading this and you need a park fix, or a McFix, text me and I'll meet you at Paseo Vista. We'll bring the fries. You bring extra sweet and sour sauce.


Is it a plane or a whale? This is an on-going argument between the 2-4 year olds at the park. (It's a plane, with a big whale like smile, if you ask me.)

Favorite Fuzz Words and Phrases

and their translations....

Neen = green
Boo = blue
Puhpoe = purple
Bleh-bla-bla-bla-bleh = yellow
Bla-m-bla mummie = yellow bunny
Mump-cuck = dump truck
Catpoop = ketchup
Titi = favorite stuffed lamb (pronounced tea-tea)
Mommy, Fisk It! = Mommy, fix it
Ya-Ya = Grandma Gail
GranMama = Grandma Alice
Tampon = Grandpa (Bob)
Animow = Animal (as in my nickname for Pat!)
Big Digguhr = Big Digger / Tractor
Consuckshun Sown = Construction Zone

So cute. I love it when he's on his little soap box going on and on. Cutest baby-jabber ever.

Milestones

Post-op smile


Watching (memorizing) Mamma Mia!


Ssssssssssss...the sound of Harrison finding the tiny hole in the rice bag.


Sleepy...


Saying goodbye to cousins before they move to Alabama. Brunettes = friends or people who married into the family.


Devising a strategem to get close to Piranhas.







This week Harrison counted to five (outloud, in sequential order, for the first time), helped me organize the food storage, sung most of the words to "Take a Chance on Me" without prompting, decided he wanted to start dressing himself, almost got his hand into the piranha tank at Shark Reef, sent his cousins off to Alabama and single-handedly took out a recovery room nurse when she wouldn't take out his IV. (OK, not exactly. But he did make it through surgery and was very brave.) It's been a big week.

The Bachlorette...

I can't help but love this show. Even if Chris Harrison is a dork and they were clearly feeding Jillian lines, I never miss an episode. Here's a picture of Harrison and I being riveted by TV.






























We're happy Jillian picked Ed.

K-Fed and Me (this post is rated PG-13)

What do we have in common you ask? No, we are not pregnant, but we've both been packin on the pounds during our recent hiatis from the public eye. I have gone up two dress sizes. This doesn't happen to me very often. I'm lucky to have a really skinny Dad and a super fit Mom...especially considering that said parental units are both in their late 60s / early 70s. So I blame the Carls' Junior Kentucky Bourbon Burger and my job at Co@ch. The burger because it has these delicious crunchy onions and this amazing sauce that reminds me of an alcoholic beverage despite being 0 proof, and Co@ch because there's nothing to eat out there 'cept Carls.

I also blame my newfound breakfast pancake ritual. And the brownies for dessert ritual. Also the fact that I have not worked out at all in 8 months.

So you know when you gain weight gradually, you don't realize it at the time that it's happening. Then all of the sudden you can't zip up your jeans. And you notice that old photos of you are way cuter than recent ones. And your shirts don't "hang" the same way and your bra feels tight. Then something wierd happens to your face. My eye-lids get puffy. Yep, I had all the symptoms, but I was still blindsided. I can not afford to replace all my clothes either. Time to take action.


Fat on the Fourth

I joined LVAC. I've been three times in the past seven days. That's really good for me. I figured out how to stay motivated, too. Wanna know my secret? I don't work out to keep up with everyone else in the class/wieght room, which is what I used to do in my 20s. Now that I'm a bonafied 30-something, frazzled, tired, taxed out Mom, I don't care how pathetic I look. There was a grandma in my pilates class today who could do the hundreds better than I could. Ya. Don't care. She could also do that thing where you lie on your back and use your stomach muscles to sit up with you legs still on the floor. I can't, I have to bend my knees and pull up against the backs of my thighs. Still don't care. Determined to fit into my Diesel jeans. I figure if my heart is pounding and I'm sweating as much as all the people around me, it doesn't matter how bad I look. Group classes really highlight how uncoordinated I am too. Whatever. I'm a girl with a mission. I'll let you know how it goes!