Saturday Plans

Yesterday I had planned to take the boys up to our swimming pool for the morning so Dan could get some stuff done around the house that has been itching to get done. It has been so hot and the boys love the pool so it seemed like a great plan, until it starting to rain around 8:30 a.m. Well, not really rain, but heavy misting. Enough to dash our plans of swimming the morning away while Dan finished painting the trellis in the back yard, planting two boxes of ginger on our slope and cleaning out the gutter.

Dan decided the clean the gutters anyway and the boys vegged on the sofa while I knitted. Not exactly what I had planned, but is it ever? There's always next weekend. I'll have to start making plans.

Dan cleaning out our neighbor's gutter

Daniel and Sammy watching 'George Shrinks'

Me working on one of my many knitting projects.

The two boxes of ginger that are still sitting in our garage.

The Games we Play

When I was growing up my sister and I invented all kinds of games to play to keep ourselves entertained. I especially remember three games that we played quite often and that kept us entertained for hours. Our favorite by far would have to be 'Waitress'. We would find as many toys and objects that could be used as food and one person would be the waitress and the other the cook. The waitress would go around to tables and write down orders on a piece of paper. The paper would then get handed to the cook who had to assemble the taken order. Then the waitress delivered the order. As the game progressed the orders came in faster and faster and the food came out faster and faster. I don't quite know why, but we loved this game.

Close behind 'Waitress' would have to be 'Spider Web'. Preparation for this game required a thorough search of our house for any string like items. Once a big pile a webbing was acquired we became spiders and began spinning a web all over our room. We would leave some space in the back that was our lair so that we could melt crayons on a lamp or do other things we didn't want our parents seeing. We made sure we could get quickly back to our lair, but made the web dense enough that an adult could not. Very cool game.

Another top favorite would have to be 'Blind Chase'. Now this sounds pretty dangerous, but actually it was quite safe. My Grandmother had made these little pillows for us that had a pocket on the front for putting stuffed animals inside. This pocket happened to fit over a child sized head perfectly, thus the invention of 'Blind Chase'. My sister and I would put these pillows on our heads so we couldn't see and would wander around the house trying to find/hide from each other. We would also carry long sticks so we could feel our way around. The pillows acted as a blindfold and cushioning in case we walked into a wall.These were just a few of our favorites, we probably invented hundreds.

Now that my boys are getting older they are starting to invent games of their own. I love it when they do this because not only it is fun the watch, they have so much fun doing it. Yesterday my bed was covered in three loads of clean laundry and the game 'Laundry Diving' was invented. Using colored pencils as diving sticks the boys would throw their stick into the waves of clothing and then dive in and retrieve the sticks. Who knew unfolded laundry could be so much fun?

It will be fun to see all the crazy and fun games Daniel and Sammy come up with in the future. Hopefully it won't involve any of my craft stuff. I will definitely have to keep the 'Spider Web' game under wraps. Since they are boys, I know that their invented games will probably lead to more bumps and bruises than my sister and I, but hopefully they will look back and remember these times with fond memories.

A Bike Ride

I am cruising pretty well. 22, 23 mph. Look out Tour de France. I like this stretch of road, not too many lights, mostly flat. I can really get some speed up and maintain it. Hey, there goes Suzy and the boys. On their way home from the zoo. I hope they had a good time. I'll see them at home in about four minutes at this speed. There's the new library, it is looking good, not too long now until it opens up. Lousy construction, blocking the bike lane. Have to go out in the street, check for cars. Okay, nobody close here I go. Alright, I am moving good. Bike lane is almost back, get ready to move on over. Here we go, oh, too far, oh, forgot they removed the gutter for construction. Uh oh, this isn't good. Stuck in here, can't get out, I think I am going down. Hold it for a little more, too late. No time for thought, just don't hit your head, why oh why are you falling face first. Ground coming up fast, can't do anything about it. Whip, crack, oh that is going to hurt. Hey, that didn't hurt too bad, ow, that did. Whew the worst is over. Okay, pull your bike onto the sidewalk. Sit and catch you breath. Anything broken? Doesn't seem like it. Too much bleeding? There is a lot from that arm, oops, that one too. Legs look pretty good. Drip, drip. What is that dripping? Oh, my face must be cut up pretty bad. They always say that head wounds bleed a lot, and it appears that they are correct. Drip. Drip. Alright, something is not right on my chin, but, it doesn't appear to be critical. Check out the bike. Handle bars askew, I can straighten them out. Drip. Right hand brake is bent up, test it out. Seems to work still. Chain is off the gears in front, I can pop that back on. Drip. Check out the helmet. Hey, where's the front part of the helmet? Oh, there it is in the street. Wow, the helmet has some good dents. Thanks God, for making wearing my helmet my obsessive/compulsive manifestation. Hey, where are my glasses. Drip. There they are, in the bike lane. Try to put them on. Oops, they seem to be pretty well scratched up and bent. Stuff them in your pocket. Drip. Alright. Suzy is probably getting worried 'cause I should be home by now. Take a deep breath, calm down a bit and get back on that bike, you gotta get home. Drip. Alright that isn't so bad. Test the break again before I get going too fast. Seems pretty good. Drip. Okay, not too sore, I can make it home easy. Drip. There is Hampton Place. Home sweet home is right around the corner. Suzy is going to freak out when she sees me. I wonder what my face looks like. I know this shirt is a total loss, blood and dirt all over it. Drip. Let's see what Oxy Clean can do with that! There's Suzy, she doesn't look good. No, I am fine. I need to get cleaned up. I don't know if I need stitches, I haven't taken a look yet. I am going to jump in the shower to clean some of these abrasions off. Hi Daniel. Yes, I fell of my bike. Sorry buddy, I can't play legos with you right now, I have to go stop bleeding first.

That was last Thursday. I am mostly fine now. A couple of hours waiting in the emergency room encouraged me that the triage nurse didn't think that I was dying. Eight stitches and a tetanus shot by the doctor furthered that opinion. I am a little sore still, and with lots of road rash on my arms, the stitches should come out at the end of this week. If I wasn't wearing my helmet I may not have died, but I certainly wouldn't have been able to ride away. Always, always, always wear your helmet.

Summertime Fun

I have been playing with Movie Maker tonight. Suzy asked for a movie of our summer so far. The file is a Windows Media player movie, so if you don't have Media Player then you are out of luck. Enjoy...

Summertime Fun

(Editor's note: we seem to be having some difficulty with the movie abruptly ending in the pool with Tutu and Papa. Our technical staff is working on the problem. Please excuse the mess...)

(Editor's latest note: after working all night our crack staff has proclaimed victory. The movie should be up. Let us know in the comments if you have any problems.)