The Post wherein Stef talks about the Comedy of Errors her weekend turned out to be

or, "How an innocent trip to the Redhawks game went horribly wrong".

Granted, it didn't go horribly wrong until after we got home, but still and all, it was quite an interesting weekend.

Dean had won an auction at Marc and Amalia's school for a block of tickets, in a box, no less, so all ten of us in the family, plus people that work for the medical group that Dean practises with to the Oklahoma Redhawks game last Saturday night.

We were in a corporate box, where food and snacks and sodas were provided, and we watched the Redhawks get beat by the Round Rock Express (the Redhawks left their pitcher in much too long, IMHO, and he got tired). It was pretty fun, even if Dean, Scott and Marc left in the third inning to meet up with a group of Boy Scouts to go camping in Colorado.

Scott got his learners permit, and he has this habit of not smiling in pictures (he got it from Jeff), and he looks more and more like his father every year. It's almost scary.

He's also getting a job this summer, so he's one of the throng of teenagers looking for work, but not until after he gets back from Colorado next Sunday (Father's Day).

It took us forever to get out of Bricktown after the game, and Daniel took me, Jeff and Mom home to Mom's house, and he went to Tori's because she had to go pick up Dean's Yukon from wherever it was parked. When Daniel got to Tori's, he somehow slammed the car door on his thumb, and the nail was getting black. Tori didn't think it was broken, but it hurt like hell.

Daniel ended up calling in to work, explaining that he may have broken his thumb and was going to have it looked at. Then he went back to my sister's to get his medical insurance papers. On the way there, he lost control of his car because his thumb was swollen by this time, and hit another car.

He eventually got to Tori's and she took him to the emergency room, where he found out that his thumb was not broken, and that his insurance only covered injuries suffered at work. The ER doc poked a small hole in Daniel's thumbnail to let the blood collected behind the nail drain out (which is why it was so sore and swollen). He was given a prescription for pain meds, and took one at Tori's and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, I had no way to get back to my apartment, so Mom said I could borrow the van if I stayed over, then drive back to my apartment to take a shower, change my clothes (because I was still wearing the clothes I'd worn to the ball game), and go to school. I have to return the van this afternoon, and Daniel, hopefully, will take me home this evening so I can go to school on Tuesday.

I have a test in math, so I have to be there.

So, that was my Comedy of Errors weekend. I should have read my horrorscope first, ya think?

miss you cowboy

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Feeling better about some things, not so much on others

I think I finally caught up with all the lost sleep from my unintentional all nighter last week. Amazing what making a fool of yourself will do, huh?

I feel much better, and hopefully will make a lot more sense to people than I did on Friday.

There's going to be a family dinner in honor of Scott's birthday. I don't know if that going to be today or on another day in the near future.

Over the weekend, I found out that my rent will go up by $15 a month starting in July. And, the news says that my electric bill will go down, so maybe that evens everything out.

Now, if I could just scrape up enough money to get the Beretta a new water pump.

Why does everything require so much money all the damn time? But, I have faith that I can make it through, so I just have to hang in there.

And sometimes, that's not easy.


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

And now, for the first time in his life...

Number 3 son, Scott, has to go to school on his birthday!

Usually, school would be out by now. But because of all the wacky winter weather we had, that's pushed the last day of school to June 1st.

Hell, when I was in school, many moons ago, we didn't even get out of school for the summer until mid-June. And the fall term started in the fall (mid-September), dammit!

These kids got it so good nowadays. I always had to go to school on my birthday, unless it fell on a weekend. Then again, my birthday is in February.

So have a great day at school today, Scott. Oh, yeah, happy 16th birthday! Love you --Mom



Scott shares his birthday with some impressive people... among them John F. Kennedy, Bob Hope, and Melissa Etheridge.

(For other well known folks who share May 29th as their birthday, go here.)


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

I'll never forget this day 16 years ago

Today, sixteen years ago, was my due date with my son, Scott.

He wasn't even close to being born at this point.

My doctors at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Virginia were kinda freaking out, because they knew he was going to be a big baby (and he was), and they didn't want me to go past my due date.

They tried this thing called separating the membranes to induce labor (hint-- it hurts!). It didn't work. No labor started and an appointment was made for me to come back on the 28th for a stress test.

So, I had the whole long Memorial Day weekend to wait for Scott to make his appearance in the world.

That afternoon, we went to the Pungo Strawberry Festival in Virginia Beach, with silly me thinking that I'll walk myself into labor, then go to the hospital.

Yeah, right.

I freaked out the DJ from a local radio station doing a remote there when I told her (after she asked me when I was due) that I was due that day, May 25th.

We (me, Jon, Daniel and Jeff, who were 7 and 5 at the time) walked around there for a good two or three hours, and all I got was exhausted, sunburned, and strawberries.

People who knew us were surprised that I was still pregnant on Memorial Day (May 27th). "Ain't you had that baby yet?"

The 28th comes and I waddle off to the hospital to have the stress test, and Scott is fine... just late. Then the doctor decides to separate the membranes again. Not fun. And he keeps telling me that if the baby is over ten pounds, that whoever delivers him will probably do a c-section, which does not thrill me in the least! I think Jon got a little green around the gills over that one.

So I go home and wait. That night, I was talking to my dad on the phone and he said that if the baby comes June 1st, that would be great because at that time, there was no one in the family born in June.

A couple hours after that, I feel the first pains of what I hoped was labor. I had gone into false labor on May 20th, and they sent me home after an hour. I was praying "please let this baby get born now..."

After they checked me to make sure I was really in labor, I was admitted. They were just as anxious as I was to get this baby born, as he was now 4 days overdue. The longer he waited, the bigger he'd get, and then I'd really need a c-section.

At about 1 or 2 am, a nurse comes in with the epidural. I'd never had one (it wasn't even offered to me when Daniel and Jeff were born), so the nurse explained what it was, and that I had to be very still while they did it or I'd have the worst headache in the known universe.

In no time, I couldn't feel anything from the waist down. I figured that if I did have to have the c-section, I'd be all set.

Then I slept for about four hours, until I could feel the pains again. The doctor came in, broke my water, announced I was ready to deliver and wheeled me off to the delivery room with Jon hot on my heels.

About an hour later, Scott finally arrived! No c-section. He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds and 11 1/2 ounces!

And I won't even tell you about the baby who arrived the same day with a full head of long hair...

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

I gotta quit sleeping during the day

because I won't fall asleep when I'm supposed to at night.

This afternoon, I fell asleep on the couch after taking a shower. Mind you, I had a towel on my head and pretty much nothing else. I sat for one second, and next thing I know, it's two hours later, I'm in my birthday suit, and the front door is unlocked! Anyone could have walked in!

I really felt naked at that point.

So I go and get dressed, dried my hair, went out to get the mail, hang out outside for a few minutes, then come back inside and think about making dinner.

I almost can't wait for school to start again in June.

Oh, and for the first time in his life, Scott will have to go to school on his birthday (May 29th). Because of all the snow days in December and January, they have to make them up at the end of the year, which is June 1st. Usually, school would have been over for about a week before Scott's birthday. Not this year!

He's going to be 16! And he's getting his learners permit the day after his birthday. Scott? Driving? I still get nervous driving with Jeff, and he's had his license for 5 years!

Time sure flies...


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Mother's Day and studying for two finals Monday

This is my Mother's Day card from Daniel and Jeff. Scott and Marc drew cards for me, but the pix didn't come out :(

Didn't really do much except study. Mom wasn't feeling well so we didn't go anywhere. I spent a good deal of the day here:

in my mom's van, running errands.

Then I put my part of the presentation for the English Comp project from hell together, read a little from my notes in my editing class, some US History stuff (that final is Wednesday), a bit from my English text, then went out and got Mom and me some dinner.

Daniel came home from work and brought me home.

I'm hittin' the hay. Wish me luck tomorrow!

(i'm gonna need it!)

hey, cowboy, ya wanna get tweaked tomorrow?

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Well, my weekend included a lot more than doing my laundry and washing my car...

That is to say, I did get the laundry done. The car will just have to wait. Again.

Friday, Scott had his Confirmation. It was the longest Mass I had been to in a long time. The Archbishop of OKC was there officiating, and he tended to draw his speech out. The Irish priests in the parish I grew up in did the same thing, but I think they did it just so we could understand them with their heavy accents.

Ironically, the parish here (or rather in Edmond) and the one I grew up in have the same name. Maybe there are a lot of Catholic churches named that.

Anyway, the Mass was three hours long!

Compared to the Mass for Amalia's First Holy Communion Sunday morning (about an hour). Amalia looked so cute in her white dress, tights, shoes, and the veil (I think Tori made it, I didn't think to ask). Afterwards, we went to TGIFriday's near Quail Springs Mall for lunch.

Then I had to wait for Daniel to get home from work to bring me back to my apartment. And he kept telling me, "give me an hour" (half hour; in a while, etc). I finally got here about an hour ago. Now I have to go to bed so I can be bright tailed and bushy eyed for school tomorrow (um, later this morning).


That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Happy Easter...

Daniel finally came to fetch me about 20 minutes after the last post.

I dragged the laptop to Mom's, and I can't even get a wireless signal there. So I messed around on MS Word 07 and watched a couple of old cartoons on DVD that my sister had left there.

Easter was good. Joe is talking better now, but he's still not going to be able to go to Pre-K in the fall because he's still not completely potty trained. He's just now, at just past his 4th birthday, grasping the concept.

Jeff, Scott and Marc were climbing trees and generally goofing off. Daniel had to work :(

Dean brought home yet another new computer a few weeks ago. He got a Mac! I swear that man collects computers like I collect pens. And I have a lot of pens... but the draft of this post is being written on it, after I asked to have the parental controls removed because Google is blocked.

Hope your holiday was grand...

That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

Stocking the larder

This time next week calls for a "major winter storm", including, I'd assume, snow.

Well. That's just... great. As if winter couldn't get more bizarre this year.

We're getting Boston's weather and they're getting rain. Perhaps, just this winter, it's just as well I'm not there. Let them be jealous of me for a change. Unfortunately, there isn't anywhere to ski here in Oklahoma. Most people go to New Mexico and Colorado for that.

Even though I'm sure I've bought enough groceries for the entire month, I still have a little money left over to stock the larder, um, my pantry. I wish I had a big dutch oven to make some stews and chili in. Those are great cold weather foods.

Daniel and Jeff just better not get any ideas about going to Barnes and Noble next Friday night. Jeff really needs to save his pennies and buy a car of his own, instead of having Mom or Daniel take him everywhere he can't walk or bike to.
===

It just dawned on me that Scott will be 16 in May. Scott... driving? Help?! (just kidding... he hasn't had the driving course yet, so he will have to do that first. It's only offered during the summer, though). I'm sure he'll be a good driver...



That's all from where I sit.

--MorelaterZ--

do you ever peek from home on the weekends?