an adventure

i'm getting ready to embark on a great adventure. wow - those words terrify me anymore. back in my high school and college days, i was up for any adventure any time. dc, france, london - you name it. but i've become a homebody and somewhat of a worrier in my old age. i know it's because i've got so much to lose now. i'm so focused on living every moment to the fullest, it pains me to leave my family and my home for two weeks.

but that's what i'm getting ready to do. it's a work trip. but not just any work trip. most people go on a work trip and have to sit in a hotel conference room or an office building for the entire time and don't get to see the sights (if there are even any sights to see). i'm lucky enough that i get to see all the sights and then some! i have the privilege of leading 14 college students on a trek to Morocco. we'll be in Casablanca, Marrakech, and a small village in the High Atlas Mountains. omg.

i just finished packing. i think. now it's time for the OCD triple-check. i'm doing my best to focus on one thing at a time. baby steps. if i think too far ahead my stomach curls up into a knot and i freeze into place.

i'm so glad E has a more than capable daddy so i don't have to worry about their well-being while i'm gone. i found one of those modern-day men who can cook, read bedtime stories, grocery shop, and all that good stuff.

so here i go.
on a true adventure.
wish me luck!

artwork

E has really been into drawing and painting these past few months. here are some of his latest creations.

this one was right after we got back from cancun in march. it's the ocean and the beach.

he loves to cover full sheets of paper in bright colors. that's gotta be a good sign, right?

here's one he painted for rebecca's baby. it's a bridge over a river. i like the way he blends the colors.

he can write his name forwards...

and backwards (this is a little creepy.. REDRUM style!)

i love my little man's creations. can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

the ding-ding man

the ding-ding man is a favorite at our house. he drives his truck up and down all the roads playing his fun little diddy. for no reason at all, other than to make people smile.

alright, so i lied to my kid about the ice cream man. i didn't think it would work again this year, but this spring i held my breath as the first ding-ding man of the season rounded the corner. E breaks out into this hilarious crazy dance shouting "the ding-ding man's coming! the ding-ding man's coming!"


that's right, he has no idea there is ice cream inside that van. lucky for me, the ghetto-looking kansas city ice cream vans look nothing like what's fantasized about in all the kiddie books.

i'm not a huge fan of the ding-di... uh, ice cream man anyway. i mean, it was just a few years ago he ran over our mail box. preying on sugar-crazed children and hungry parents mowing the lawn with their overpriced thawed-and-refrozen treats in the shape of spongebob. he did buy a couple bikes from our garage sale one year, but had to ask for a receipt so his boss wouldn't think he stole them again. really. i can't make this stuff up.


but the last time the ding-ding man came by he went too far. he stopped and sat and wouldn't budge as E was doing his ding-ding dance. we weren't making any motion as if we were searching for change or anything. in fact, i was doing my best to glare and make "get-moving" gestures. i could see the look on E's face change as he started to look at all the small pictures covering the truck. i did my best to distract him but i fear it may have been too little too late. finally the truck mosied on down the road and E didn't say a peep about the colorful pictures of clown-shaped ice cream. i think we squeaked by one more time!

FOUR

It's official. My baby is now four.

grammy's pool

grammy's pool is a wonderful place. countless summer gatherings have been held here - memorial day picnics, family reunions, a few redneck luaus, parties for no particular reason, and one pretty kick-ass wedding.

one summer in high school i worked at smithville lake and i remember getting off at 8 after working all day in the sun and just jumping in the pool with whatever i had on when i got home. then there was that one summer in college when i was taking morning classes and working at a factory until 7 and getting home only to jump in the pool with whatever i had on. ahh.. the joys of living in the country. and having a pool.

grammy's pool is opening today! of course it'll be about another month before it's warm enough to swim, but it'll look pretty until then. i miss the days dad would make it as warm as a bath tub so we could slip in pre-season, but i'm sure mom doesn't miss the gas bill.

so we'll enjoy grammy's pool as much as we possibly we can this summer until we see this little sign pop up again...