Tuesday, July 29, 2008

First Fishing Trip with the boys

We took a day trip to fish with Papa, Nana, cousin Billy, and Uncle Jake. We went up Fairview Canyon to Gooseberry and Huntington Reservoirs.

So, along with every other part of our lives that now takes 2x longer to do, packing for a day fishing trip took forever:

We were too tired and busy the night before to get everything ready, so at 5am I was cleaning toys out of the outside play pen. As I was walking up the cement garage steps with toy laden arms, the toe of MY flipflop caught the step and I fell UP the steps. I blame this directly on Bubba (not my inability to walk because I'm as graceful as a ballerina) because if her big 'ol sasquatch feet hadn't stretched out my flipflops, this never would have happened. I was certain that I had broken my toe, but it's likely just sprained. So, there go my plans of not running the 10K@10K race this weekend. (Again, not because I haven't properly trained or something. It's good to have someone else to blame for this latest batch of running inactivity.) I also skinned both sides of my elbow (how???) and bruised my upper arm. I guess I'm happy that I still have teeth! And, I managed to only drop two toys.

The baby stuff (play pen, diaper bag, food bag, toys, books) take up more room than even Bubba's six clothing changes that go everywhere with us.

We made SIX stops before getting to the first fishing hole (WalMart for food, Maverick for gas, Home Depot for an umbrella that they didn't have, Smiths for beer [since it was too early for WalMart to sell it] and an umbrella, Subway for more food, and Conoco for a potty break and a hot dog [barf]).

Upon arriving at the reservoir, I made at least five trips to the car to get everything for the boys plus another trip to get my book. Add sunscreen, bug spray and umbrella stabilization in the wind, and I read about three paragraphs.

Bub caught five fish in the first hour. Papa and Uncle Jake weren't very happy since they had been fishing the same hole for 24 hours.

After a snack, we moved to the next reservoir which meant endless trips to the car to pack and then unpack everything again. At this place, the boys actually got to wade in the water (which means sit down in it), so I made more trips to the car for dry clothes and jackets. No fish at this location, so we moved back to the original spot which means - you can see where this is going - more trips back and forth to/from the car.

The boys were surprisingly good sports for such a hectic day. I would post pictures, but we didn't take the camera. We took the camera BAG and FIVE lenses, but no camera. (And yes, I made three trips to the car to search for it.)

So, even with what felt like a broken toe, I'm sure that I got my exercise in for the day, and regardless of their challenges with [not] sharing toys and bottles and lap time, it was a GREAT day. I can't wait to fry up a couple of those trout that Bub (my special sasquatch) landed!

Difference #73: Walking

Not necessarily how long or who first, but the "style" with which the boys ambulate is what is interesting to me.

Peanut walks like a wet noodle - all loose and floppy with limbs flailing about. Despite the seemingly inefficient gait, he CRUISES! He is like a little rocket and propels that noodle body across the room like the house is on fire.

Meatball walks like a soldier - very determined and on course with great specificity to foot placement. He even clenches his fists like he is the drum player in a Civil War infantry marching into battle.

The differences never cease to amaze me. The fact that I have twins still amazes me!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A little too "blog stalker?"

So, last week, I was doing my monthly Meals On Wheels delivery when I drove past a house having a rummage/yard sale. (I love them. I rarely buy anything because - let's face it - I don't need anything, sometimes the items aren't in good condition, and I never carry any money with me. But, all of this is not my point.)

Anyway, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of a child in the yard and think "Hey! I've seen that little girl before!" I swear that it was the child of one of the lesbian mom bloggers that I anonymously read (although, IF by some odd chance she reads this and IF it was actually her house, it's not so anonymous anymore, it is?).

What a fun chance to sit and chat, right? Well, not really considering that
1) I've only met this woman one time and managed to speak to her long enough for an introduction and to briefly talk about running - combined total about 30 seconds,
2) I was on the clock (yes - my company pays for us to deliver these meals - another reason I LOVE where I work) and really needed to get back to my extremely important existence - after all, my system that maps processes just won't launch itself,
3) I wasn't entirely sure that it was actually the right kid, and
4) After actually driving around the block with intentions of shooting the breeze with her, I thought that it might be too BLOG STALKER for me to stop and strike up a conversation that might start with "I recognized your child from your blog..." CREEPY.
5) Oh, by the way, I SUCK at small talk. What the hell would I actually talk about? The weather? "Wow, f-in' hot today, isn't it?"

So, by the time I went through these five arguments in my head, I had circled the block and was quickly approaching the rummage sale again. Then, it hit me! I was driving the company's vehicle! ACK! For only the second time in my entire life, I was at the helm of A MINI-VAN. Even if I could get past issues 1-5, how in the world could I NOT look like a complete idiot pulling up in an empty Windstar? My stalking days were over before they even started. Oh well. With my luck, it wouldn't have been the person I thought, and I would have had to act like I was really browsing for something to purchase. My acting skills are about as good as my "small talk" skills.

For the record, the ONLY other time I've driven a mini-van was also for Meal delivery. Hopefully, it will never happen again. (Yet another reason that Bub and I decided that two kids was enough...)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Saturday without my guys

So, Bub and I went on our first fishing trip since the boys popped into our lives. We went out on our friend's boat like we do a couple of times each summer. This friend - Bruty's Dad - is so very generous with his time and conversation and laughter! All he expects in return is a sandwich (usually dry and boring) and a Mountain Dew.

We had a great time. Strawberry Res. was gorgeous and the temperatures were perfect. I don't have my license yet, so I just read a magazine while Bruty's Dad weighed the usefulness of the "long, flashy, thing" (he's such a gay fisherman) and Bub fished in her sports bra (Helloooooooo?!?! White woman?!?! Use sunscreen!!!) We ate, we had a couple of beers, we laughed, and Bub caught two nice trout.

Unfortunately, the boys are too little to go out on the boat. I'm not even sure that they make life jackets that small! So, it was a much needed day out for the moms, and although I had a great time, I missed the boys the entire time.

Being a working mom really sucks (for me). I only get to see them for a couple of hours at night before it's bedtime, so I really look forward to my boy-filled weekends. I'm grateful to Papa/Nana and Grandma/Grandpa for all that they do for us and our adorable tykes. I just wish that it were me, instead.....

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

What happened to the floats?

Our local July 4th parade tanked. And, not even "tanked" in the usual way since there weren't any tanks this year! I mean tanked in the completely sucky way. Apparently, if you take a few pieces of crepe paper and tape them to your company truck, you've created a piece of parade art.

We could have seen a better parade by parking on the side of I-15.

So, of the THREE (yes, three) actual floats, the one that really has me perplexed was submitted by a group that is working to prevent teen pregnancy. Good cause, nice idea, lame float: the no-teen-pregnancy group submitted a float with a couple that looked like a live wedding cake topper. Cute little bride and groom on top of a white round "cake" with a heart frame behind them - just like a cake topper. (Oddly, the bride and groom each looked about 15 years old.)

ANYWAY, the point of my rant: The theme of the entire parade was "Celebrating America's Independence." The group really tried to keep with the theme of the parade, but they completely missed it IMO.

Their individual float theme: Abstinence = Independence.

WTF?!?!? Are you kidding me? That makes NO sense - AT ALL. People: If you're going to take the time to make a float, don't make it a dumb one. But, at least they made one! They could have just taped some crepe paper to the girl's head as a veil and called it quits.