Adventures in Shoe-Shopping

It all started with needing a pair of sneakers. You see, Ryan likes Converse (or Converse look-alike) sneakers. And to be honest, I like them on him too. They just fit his personality, his Ryan-ness.

But now, this blue pair is in a box ready to go to a new boy, still in good shape but too small for his all of a sudden growing feet. His other pair, the gray ones? There are not fit for wearing out-and-about any longer. I will say though that I was pleasantly surprised at the wearability and durability of these canvas shoes, especially on the feet of this particular boy. 

So yesterday, after a case management meeting during which he kept my sister company, I picked him up and we headed to Wal-Mart, just the two of us. I didn't think we'd find Converse but he really did need another pair of wearable sneakers and even though I could've just picked up a pair on my own, I honestly had no idea of his current size and what he would pick out. I've said it before, I'll say it again: My boys are pickier than my girls when it comes to clothes and shoes. 

I quickly decided that Ryan must not get out to Wal-Mart much as everything was a distraction, an attraction, a temptation. The infomercial products and the toys from commercials? A nightmare for me, a total fascination for him. But I let him be excited, I let him be 10 years old. Well, except when he got down on the floor at the cash register to look for dropped quarters because he only needed just one more to play the game where you drop the claw and never win anything. He was bringing up dropped chapsticks, pieces of paper and dust bunnies. That little quest came to an end rather abruptly. 

Back to our mission: He knew that new shoes were on the list, so he suffered his way through the allergy pill section, the school notebook selection, and the booorrrinngg grocery part. Finally we found the apparel for the feet section and the first pair he picked out were these:

Then he saw some high-top basketball beauties and just had to try them on. I was not impressed. My boy has biggish feet (Size 4 I found out) but rather skinny lower legs and ankles. The shoes did nothing to mask this feature but rather enhanced it making him look a little like a cartoon stick figure. 

I know this is one of his favorite books but he just doesn't have the hairstyle to go with the legs. I vetoed those shoes. The next pair was okay, but they basically screamed, "LOOK AT ME! I THINK MY SHOES ARE COOL!" Not that I am against cool shoes, but they don't have to scream. Hence, why I like Converse on him the best. Quietly cool. And he likes them too. Win-win. 

We went with the pair he had picked and was excited about in the first place. The gray ones with the orange. I think he likes them. At least if the way he was bouncing and jumping and trying to run in Springs Store with them on is any indication. He kept saying, "I feel so free, so light." He is so much like an infomercial that I almost went back and bought a pair for myself. 

In about 15 minutes, we are headed down to LaVale. I have an errand to run and as it's just me and him here today, he's going along. He's fed. He's wearing new shoes. He's calm. Calm that is, until I let him loose in Wal-Mart because you know, it doesn't matter if you were there just the day before, you always realize what you forgot to get as soon as you get home. 

Love, 

Dianne

Coffee, EGD, and Cookies

A couple of times I've thought about not drinking coffee. The last time I went cold turkey, I lasted until about 9:30pm and I was at work trying to cope with a caffeine deficiency and a rip-roaring headache. I still tried to go without the cup of joe and instead drank some Pepsi and took an Aleve.

The next three hours were a blend of nausea, sweats, and I still had a headache.
I blame the Pepsi/Aleve combination on an empty stomach.

So, I went back to my daily routine of 1-2 cups in the morning and if I worked, a travel mug full of brew accompanied me for the drive. I enjoy a good cup of coffee, I do. There is just something comforting about the perfect mug, the steam coming off the top, the heartiness of the drink itself.

But.

Oh, don't you just hate when there is a "but".

But then Leo started having some issues with heartburn and cut back on his coffee consumption. It helped. Then I started having some issues with heartburn and I didn't cut back on my coffee consumption. It didn't help.

He went for an EGD because of it. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy in case you always wanted to know what EGD stood for. It does not stand for Every Girl's Dream, especially not this girl. Of the two times I nearly passed out in nursing school, watching one of these being done was one of those times. I know they say you don't remember it and you won't feel a thing BUT somehow I think I would.

Okay. What to do. Cut back on coffee….have heartburn and need an EGD…cut back on coffee…EGD…

Maybe I don't need to go cold turkey this time. I can just drink less. Famous last words as I am reading a series of books where the main character works in a coffee shop, and there is a fabulous new Coffee Shop at the end of my driveway. Literally. I don't set myself up for failure much do I?

This morning I drank Pomegranate Tea and it wasn't too bad. It was in a mug. It steamed. Then I came across two books. One is titled, "I Love Coffee! Over 100 Easy and Delicious Coffee Drinks" and the other, "Coffee Indulgences". 

Avoiding the first book as it presented drinkable temptations, I thought I'd peruse the second book. I may have drooled on the pages. Just a little. Page 9 and the first recipe I came to was "Coffee, Macadamia, and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies." With a description that included phrases such as: chunky, chewy, subtly flavored with coffee, and studded with chocolate, how could I resist?

I didn't resist. Coffee, without drinking coffee. In cookie form. EGD: Extra Grand Deliciousness.
This may not be good for dieting however. EGD: End Good Dieting

Decisions, decisions. Drink less coffee vs. heartburn. Eat more coffee inspired dishes vs. good nutrition.
Coffee, Pecan and Maple Cake vs. carrots. Seriously, is there even a comparison?!? So, maybe my choice needs to be simpler. Just drink less of the java, and maybe avoid it in the evenings when heartburn tends to rear its ugly little head.  EGD: End Goal Decided

Love,
Dianne

A Post Cove Valley Camp Conversation

Under the guise of writing the blog, I interviewed Ryan, the recent Cove Valley camper who is 10 years old and not forthcoming with a lot of information. I figured if I interviewed him, he'd open up a bit. You be the judge.

So Ryan, did you learn anything about God this week at camp?
Yes. 

Well?

Grace, Faith, Knowledge and Beauty.(This is said as he burrows into his sleeping bag where he is pretending to be a groundhog. I am not kidding.)

What does all this have to do with God? (I am talking to him while making grilled cheese sandwiches, one for me and one for the groundhog. I figure if I act distracted, he'll talk more.)

Well, there were characters there every day at lunchtime and they were Bert, Gert and Kurt. Bert was buff and he thought you got God's strength from being strong, lifting weights and stuff. Gert thought being beautiful and walking down the street a certain way would get her strength. Kurt thought being really smart was God's strength. 

And did that work for them? Is that where God's strength comes from? 
Ummmm, no. 

Where does it come from then? 
From having faith and being given grace. (Now the groundhog is eating his cheese sandwich inside the sleeping bag. I pity the next person to use it; talk about crumbs in the bed.)

What do you think faith is? 
Errrr, ummmm, believing in God?

What about grace?
A second chance.

I sense I am starting to lose him at this point as his answers become shorter and I have to ask a few times to get a response. Silly groundhog. 

You also did arts and crafts, games and swimming, right? What was the best part for you?
Swimming because it's fun and you can get away from the bugs. 

Did you like going to the Trading Post?
Yes. 

The mother sighs. And what was the best part about that?
I got a Cove Valley hat. It's green. 

Was the food good? The best meal?
It was all good. I liked the macaroni. 

What? No vegetables?
Yes. Carrots. 

So maybe that's why you have a cold now. Not enough vegetables at camp. You know, you could eat more broccoli.
Broccoli is my enemy.

Hey, how about your cabin? Top or bottom bunk? Did anyone snore?
Top. And yes. 

Anything else you want to say about camp?
Well, Kohen had a baby sister born while we were swimming and he got to go to the hospital to see her. That was cool.

And then my little groundhog camper Ryan scampered off to play and that was the end of the conversation. Probably a good thing because I was a little worried he'd ask about a baby sister for himself and that was a conversation I didn't really want to have. I think I'll go play groundhog now. 

Love,
Dianne

Saturday Tractor Date

On a tractor that is becoming more rust than John Deere green

is where I found myself this past Saturday morn.

Sunny days and fresh mown grass means there is hay to be done,

and July 4th or not, it was time to seize the day.

I walked out in the clear air, breathing deep as the sent of cut grass filled my nostrils. 

I would need a deep breath. You see, Leo was going to re-teach me the basics of Tractor 101. 

It's been awhile. Like "I-don't-remember-when-I-last-drove-a-tractor" kind of awhile. 

If how I climbed onto that JD 4010 is any indication,

 let's just say I was much younger and much more limber the last time I did this. 

After finishing up the field Leo was working on, with me perched on the tire fender soaking in all the how-to's and what-not-to-do's, I decided that maybe a mathematician should be doing this. Or at least someone whose brain is able to process, whilst driving a beastly tractor around a field, that the rake always pushes the hay to the left but if I am going up a row vs. down a row I need to decide which row to take next, so as to push the correct two rows together into one nice neat row. And I have to remember that the next row may not be the one next to the one I am currently doing because my tractor can't turn that sharp. So this means I have to count rows and picture in my head which way the hay will be pushed (which is opposite from the direction I am currently going) because I have to be ready before I get to the end of my row. Got it? I kinda thought I did.

I look confident, don't I? Somehow, with Celtic Thunder playing in my earbuds, the sun giving me a rosy glow (note to self for next time: sunscreen), and sometimes little flocks of birds swooping around the tractor treasure seeking in the mown grass behind me, I felt confident. Maybe it had something to do with actually driving a tractor. I am woman, hear me roar.

Or maybe it is because Leo is one field over (the one in which I accidentally raked an already raked row and hoped he didn't see because I was in the wrong field. I did try to fix it so he couldn't tell. Later, he said he noticed a row that just didn't quite line up right. Hmmm.). One can't help but feel confident when a dust devil comes through the field right in front of you, actually picking up the grass in a spinning spiral and setting it down somewhere else. I had never seen that before and it was amazing to see. Leo remembers trying to run through them when he was a kid. My dad said when he was young, the dust devils would mess up his rows, just like it messed up my rows, and his family wouldn't believe him. It was crazy; you could look across the field and actually see the path it made.










You know, I had other things to do on Saturday; I always have other things to do, but for this day I said "no" to all that and "yes" to helping Leo. You want to talk about setting up the scene for romance? Just drive tractor for your husband and the candles will light themselves. Honest.

Love, Dianne and the JD4010

P.S.  Don't tell my girls (this is often a job they get to do), but maybe I could be talked into driving tractor again. Shhhh.

Kentucky Ch 9: The End of a Good Thing

Kentucky Vacation Chapter 9: All Good Things Must Come To An End

Our Sunday finished out with some swimming at a nearby pool (brrrr),  jacuzzi time for the girls and then Ryan who actually skipped supper so he could play in the tub, homemade pizza and packing up. Our goal was to be leaving in the morning by around 10:00am and we actually beat that by 30 minutes. 

Not that we were anxious to leave, but life and the responsibilities that go along with it were awaiting. And we were ready, for we had spent a weekend at Shiloh, a Biblical place with a name

meaning "A Place of Rest".

Not that all we did was rest...

 In between the hikes, the windy roads, the theatre, the sky lift, and the muscle flexing,

we found time to harmonize...

…and eat…
(because food always tastes better when you are on vacation)


…and journal and someone gave his wife a manicure just because...

…and soak in the tub on a Sunday evening and 

I was nice and didn't post the picture with all three of my girls in there at the same time because 

somewhere out there is a photo of me just waiting to be posted on Facebook and

 I didn't want to take a chance...

 Stop!

Look!

                                             Or just relax…it's all good. 

So, if you've ever pondered a weekend getaway...

…and found the idea just a little bit laughable...

 .

…think again…

(That may or may not be Aaron's thinking face.)

…and dive right in...

…and remember…

1. A family vacation is about being together.

2. Whether a vacation is big or small, it really is about being together.

3. Kentucky is a great state to explore.

4. When given the opportunity, vacation with the grandparents, and not just for their Monster Van .

5. All good things do have to come to an end, but the memories can linger for a lifetime. 

Love,
Dianne                                                          


TheEnd