More of YaYa's Art

Smiley and Junie

Here are two pics of my lil' ones at Denny's on Kids Eat Free night.

The Last Exorcism 2

Just finished watching "The Last Exorcism 2";a tepid, pointless waste of ninety minutes. Epic fail.

Girl Scout Camp!

We dropped the girls off at Girl Scout camp today. Maybe LuLu's "eew bug" screeches will be a bit more muted when she gets back LOL - Lisa 

Mommy and Junie

Congrats to the Heat

A belated FB congrats to the Miami Heat and the great Lebron James.  A lot of people don't like the guy, but blah - I love him and here's hoping for a Three-Heat next year!

Some pics of Junie

A Frustrating Update

You may remember that PNC cashed my mortgage check but applied it to the wrong account, then declared me in default and started hounding me. They admitted their error and took steps to correct it - they've moved the $ to my account & contacted teh credit bureau- but inexplicably they continue to harass me, as if one dept isn't talking to another. A sharp letter yesterday, a man *knocking on my door* today, all saying I have to call PNC to resolve my defaulted loan. Phone calls to PNC just end with them saying the problem is corrected. WTH?  

LOL

A day with Team Slap

Nothing exciting today, but busy? Busy I have. For starters, we took Junie to her College for Kids class, then decided to dine at a local eatery called Hi-Fi. It's a kitchy place with art all over the walls, and Smiley had a blast during lunch playing "I Spy". 

Me? I thought the food was overpriced and average (so overpriced Lisa & Smiley shared a lunch, and I abstained). In addition, a lot of the artwork on the walls had an anti-Christian bent - Pinnochio hanging on a crucifix for instance - and while they're entitled to their opinion it doesn't make it any more comfortable for me to give them my money. 

We then crossed the street and perused a used bookstore, and if you know me you know that was a great half hour. 

When we returned home Smiley and I went out for a jog, doubling back all the way to the restaurant we'd just left. 

Once we picked up Junie from school we went to the laundrymat (our washer is kaput) where Smiley read me the book we'd bought him at the used place ("Kids ask How?") cover to cover :)

Junie did the project below for one of her classes. It's a tic-tac-toe board made of popsicle sticks that folds up accordian-fan style when you aren't playing. The ribbon you use to tie it doubles as a holder for the two different kinds of beads you use as markers. 

What a neat project!

After that we ran several errands before returning home. Not an atypical day around here; Team Slap is nothing but busy!

James Gandolfini

My heart is aching. RIP the great James Gandolfini, age 51. Tony, you will be missed 🙁

Vince Flynn

RIP bestselling thriller author Vince Flynn, age 47

Junie's Graduation

June 6th was Junie's graduation from K5 to 1st grade, an event celebrated fondly for each of our kids. This year's event resulted in a fair amount of turmoil, but I will keep that out of this post and simply stick to the bright shiny parts :)

Here's the girl on her big day:

Here are water bottles Lisa customized for the event. She designed and ordered the labels off of Ebay, affixed them, and then decorated them with a ribbon in the school colors. 

Here are Smarties candies that Lisa rolled in paper marked "2013", tied with ribbon and sent in as "diplomas" for the snack table. 

Here's Junie again. 

The big moment arrives: 

A proud grad!

Afterwards we lunched at the Nite Owl. 

Congratulations Junie! We are proud of you and will love you forever!

Fantasy Baseball

The text I posted on my fantasy baseball league's page, protesting a trade-in-progress: "So you're in last place, but you give the guy in 1st a) Hardy, who's on pace for 26 HR and 80 RBI, along with b) a pitcher due to come off the DL next week, in exchange for Tulo, who's out for 4 to 6 weeks. The season runs for *7* more weeks. Are we in a keeper league? Cuz short of that, I'm thinking someone's on the grassy knoll."

Jogging - Day 3

Day 3 of jogging is under my belt. Went out with a reluctant Grace today and set a much faster pace. 80% jogging, 20% walking. Damn near killed my calves. It's not torture, but I'd much rather be riding a bike. Or watching TV. Either/or.

Jack Reacher

I rented "Jack Reacher" today, the first movie I've watched in five or six weeks. Based on the great books by Lee Child, I was initially put out by watching Tom Cruise in the title role. In the books Reacher is around 6'5 and built like a tank, and Cruise is what, 5'6"? In the end I was a convert. Cruise carried off the role, and while the movie was a bit long I enoyed it a lot. GREAT car chase btw.

A Plea

A plea: sad to say, but after pulling the bikes out for the summer all four kids have either outgrown their bikes or need repairs that aren't worth the cost. The thought of paying full price for four new bikes right now . . . well, it ain't happening, and I''ll never see - or desire - a handout from kin. If you have any bikes available for a 12ish, 10, and 6ish girl or an 8 year old boy and are willing to part with them for a song, please comment here and (then) text me. Thank you!

More Jogging

Went jogging again today, this time with Smiley and Junie. Still horrendous, although the running was a little less so and the company much more irritating. Can we stop and pet the cat? Who lives there? Why we have to stop to breathe? Should we call 911? Bah - give me LuLu's quiet embarrassment any day.

Thursday (June 13th) was a good day for Team Slap.

Thursday  (June 13^th) was a good day for Team Slap.

It didn’t start out that way, as befits any good tale – where’s the drama in perfection? At the last moment I checked my calendar and found that LuLu and Smiley had a dentist appointment at 9 a.m.  Oops. That was bad enough, but it turns out I was wrong about the time, and we sat in the waiting room for an unnecessary half hour.

Both kids were there to have cavities fixed, and LuLu went first. Within a few minutes the dentist called back to the exam room, where Lu was steadfastly refusing to open her mouth claiming (and this was the first I’d heard of it) a fear of needles. After briefly resuming the argument the dentist gave up and recommended I take her to a specialist in pediatric dentistry.

Since I can’t afford this, I wooed Lu and convinced her to continue. She reneged on her agreement,  and was promptly removed to the waiting room. Smiley then went in and conducted his business with unflappable English resignation, although I credit this simply to wanting to show up his sister, as he is normally quite afraid of the dentist.

Lisa later expressed her dissatisfaction with my failure to convince Lu.

Lunch and a nap followed, and then we gathered outside to take our bikes out of their winter quarters in the shed. The news wasn’t good. Of the six bikes we have for five of us (mine was stolen last June), one had had  a bad chain, two had cracked tires that wouldn’t hold air, one had a front tire that was loose and later found to be leaking air, and the sixth was too small for anyone.

I fixed up the small bike by raising the seat and handlebars so at the very least Junie could ride it around the alley, but it won’t do long term. I fixed the loose wheel and tinkered with the others, but all in all it’s a shambles, and I don’t know where I’ll find the money to fix or replace them all.

Here comes the good news though.

Last week, when I took the mower Lisa bought me for Father’s Day 2012 out of storage, it refused to start.  I was told I’d gummed up the carburetor by failing to remove the gas over the winter, which in my ignorance I had no clue was necessary. Lacking the funds to fix it right now, I made do with the awful rotor mower I inherited from my Big Grandpa.  On a lark I tried the power mower again yesterday, and it started! Oh, it belched black smoke for awhile, but it came to life with vigor and I mowed the lawn, then, feeling inspired, took out the trimmer and finished the job.

Hot dog!

Then even bigger news – Smiley learned to ride a bike!

Lu took him out to the alley and had him practice on one of the bikes, and like the Mother Hen she is she was calm and collected as she instructed him. Then, to our surprise, she let go and he rode down the alley. Lisa and I both let our a roar and threw our arms in the air! We’ve been trying for two years to teach the boy, and he’s always been too squeamish to master it, which was directly at odds with Lisa’s insistence that bike riding is a prerequisite for childhood. Again – hot dog!

Feeling all warm and family-ish, I grabbed our mitts and headed to the alley for a game of catch with Smiley. Lisa joined us for awhile, and soon Junie had designated herself as the ball girl, running after each missed ball as it traveled down the alley, which relieved me of the worst part of catch. Lisa then went and played some volleyball with Lu, but once I heard the kid start to whine I knew it was time to pack it in and go inside.

After a quick but improvised dinner Lisa and I cuddled on the couch and watched Dateline.

To finish off the night, while in the car the radio provided me with perfect driving music: Nine Inch Nails, GNR, Black Sabbath, Van Halen (Hagar),  ABBA and One Direction.

All in all, a great day J

Jogging

I went jogging for the first time in my life today. It wasn't pretty, but Olivia and I covered a little more than a mile, alternating jogging/walking every other block. Will I do it again? Well, I didn't *die*, which was a good thing, but that's all I can say for it at this point :)

How Sweet is Smiley?

This first one isn't actually Smiley's work, or evidence of his sweetness, but rather a quick monogram I made for him on the paper tablecloth of a pizza restaurant. I rather like it, and so did he. 

Here's a homemade card he gave Lisa for Mother's Day: 

I will love you even wine [sic] I die. Happy Mom's day. I love you. 

Lastly, here is a giraffe made of clothespins that he gave to me as a gift after spending the weekend with his maternal grandmother. He was very eager to present it to me, and was quite proud when I displayed it prominently in my bedroom.