The update!

8-11-09

I am apparently a slacker since I haven’t written in forever.

It has been a crazy 2 weeks. I don’t even know where to begin.

So the book banquet went great! It was a little chaotic as we left because it was at this point that my overly sensitive Bobby got weepy. He was clinging to my leg for dear life, sure that he would die if I left him with the sitter. Dax, on the other hand, was showing her around the house, dragging her from room to room, happy to be rid of the parental units for an evening. If I didn’t know any better, he was actually a little smitten with her.

But luckily Bobby survived, and apparently despite his dramatic cries, he was chipper and fine all of 5 minutes after we left. Figures.

The banquet was at the Marriott in Manhattan Beach, which was good since it was close and we knew exactly where it was. It was very nice, looking very similar to a wedding reception. We were in fact, the only two white folks there. I am also glad I opted for the dress I chose instead of my original plan. I already stood out because of my whiteness, I didn’t need my attire to match the difference.

The best way to describe the evening was with two words: Holy Tourette’s. There was a lot of other ministers, and just various congregation members that had the podium and would talk about their love of Pastor and their love of God. Every one of these confirmations resulted in various audience members shouting out an “Amen” or a “mmmm hmmm” or just waving their hands in celebration of their own faith. It was actually very cool to watch. It was like one of those southern churches with lots of music and singing and just a joyous celebration.

I didn’t have to talk, thankfully. Tammy did introduce me, and I did stand up so everyone could take a look at me. That was a little scary.

During dinner, people were visiting, and Tammy introduced me to people, including Pastor and his wife. Both seemed happy to meet me, but clearly they were distracted by all the festivities. Pastor even called me Gina, but I chalked it up to the craziness of the evening, and the fact that even though he knew my name as Gena, he probably saw it written for the first time and pronounced it as he saw it. I could get mad, but I was just happy to get to write a book!

I had a set of twins each come up separately and kiss me all over my face. I was confused when the second one did it since I had already been assaulted. Both were lovely women and were just so happy I helped on the book. They are prominent members of the church, and clearly loved characters.

My favorite introduction was this lovely pastor who was so genuine in his affection for what Tammy and I had done for Pastor Metters. He was a doll.

We snuck out early. Around 10:30. We had to get up at 4 the next morning, and by the time we got the sitter home and into bed, it was midnight. Crazy!

The flight there was awesome. The boys loved every second, and it was a much shorter flight than I expected. Only a couple of hours. Not too bad. We had a little crazy with the car rental when they wanted like $900 for a deposit on the van. We opted to wait for Papa Brenan on that one. So we headed back to the airport and met up with the rest of the troops.

OH! So TSA folks have no sense of humor. You try to crack jokes, they just scowl more. I had forgotten that I had a canister of sunblock in my carry on. You would have thought that I was trying to blow up the plane. They took it with little fanfare, but the anger in the guy’s eyes was disturbing. On the way home, we were missing buckets to put our stuff in for the e-ray machine. At that very second, a guy comes up with a stack of them. So I say, mostly for the benefit of my children, “it’s the bucket man!” He looks at me like I was a demon. He then growls, “I am not the bucket man.” Holy fuck! He was actually mad that I was somehow demeaning his job by calling him the bucket man. Seriously dude, I think I am more worried about you nuking the plane then anyone else in that room!

We found the rest of the Brenans and headed to Holly home. It is beautiful. Just beautiful. It is like a slightly smaller version of the Brenan compound. Lots of trees, beautiful interior. I will say it. I am jealous!

Holy was out with friends, so we all hid and basically when she got home we each trickled out to show her that her whole family had arrived while she was at lunch. She was so happy!

Of course, there was the unfortunate trampoline incident. Dax, along with his brother and cousins were on the trampoline and Dax came down wrong on his left leg. At the time, we assumed it was a strain. There was no swelling, and even though he wouldn’t put weight on it, he wasn’t complaining too much. That night, though, he didn’t sleep. He just screamed all night. It was horrible. The next day, we went to get him some kind of leg brace. The knee braces were all to big, so we improvised with an elbow brace. It seemed to help him a lot, and he was less cranky. That night, though, he was still not sleeping. Tylenol wasn’t helping, ice wasn’t helping, nothing helped. So Monday morning we took him to urgent care. No hospital rule was still in effect, you see.

There still was no swelling, no bruising, and when Andy checked it, there was really not a lot he could feel that was off. We took him for x-rays and when we got back to the room, we noticed his knee had begun to swell. Seconds later, the doc walked in and told us it was broke. It took every ounce of strength to not burst into tears. I didn’t want to in front of Dax.

They put him in a splint, as they wanted to talk to the pediatric orthopedic before they did a cast. 15 minutes after we left, they called and scheduled an appt the next morning since they were adamant about him being in a cast for the flight.

The urgent care there, btw, was FANTASTIC! Just the nicest folks, and they were very helpful. They have him some kick ass drugs (Oxy codone!) and really made sure he was content. It was nice. We did have to drive to like 10 pharmacies to get his meds, but it was worth it since he slept for the first time in 3 days.

The orthopedic doc was wonderful, too. They gave them both lollipops (Bobby came with us for the cast for moral support of his brother) and laughed when Bobby declared, “I have an idea! I will break my leg, too, so I can have a blue cast!” They were also shocked at how chipper Dax was. While they casted his leg in bright green (his choice), he was singing the alphabet.

We stopped at the Babies R Us to pick up an umbrella stroller as we knew that the airport would be hell without it. Turned out to be an outstanding purchase. We let Dax pick out the color and told him it was the new Diva Mobile. He has called it this since. YAY!

The rest of the trip was fun. In fact, the whole trip was fun aside from the leg. We visited with everyone a lot. There were times in which every family member was sitting at a computer, playing FarmTown online together. We laughed, we joked, we shared. Loved every minute of that.

Bobby’s cousins were outstanding. Evie and Daniel took it upon themselves to entertain their un-broken cousin. Luckily, Daniel had been a huge Star Wars fan and had a million toys from when he was younger. Holly had a whole giant walk in closet full of said toys, which gave the kids hours of play time. Evie had coloring books galore as she is a coloring fanatic, so the kids also got to color to their heart’s content.

On one of the days, Ken’s cousin from his dad’s side was there. Her son was also with them. He must be around Evie’s age, so I would say like 14 or 15? He was clearly smitten with my Evie. I was cracking up at his desperate attempts to get Evie to come and watch him do the zip line, or to bounce on the trampoline. At one point, Evie asks me why he is being so attentive. I pointed out that he is clearly digging on his second cousin. This produced a hearty, “Eeewwww!!!”

Evie and I got to chit chat a lot, too, so that was fun. I wish she was closer by. I adore her and I love being an aunt. We discussed her wedding, despite her not having a fella right now. It was nice and girly talk. Daniel played some of his music, which was fantastic! He needs a little more practice, but his sound is very KROQ, and I am anxious to hear more. He I shy about it, but that makes him even more charming.

Our trip came to and end and I did have my normal travel stress since the Brenans don’t get places as early as the Bowlby in me needs to. Luckily, even though we did leave a little later than I would have liked, the early helped when our checked luggage was too heavy, and we didn’t get there too early where we had to sit around for a long time.

Our flight did have a mini layover in Albuquerque. It was only like 40 minutes. We jumped off the plane, and sprinted over to the gate (which was like 100 feet away, but we didn’t know this) to find out that our plane had not even taken off from Texas yet. Big storm. We would be stuck in Albuquerque for a couple of hours. The worst part? We arrived just as all the restaurants had closed. Luckily, I had sandwiches packed for the boys, and they found a little friend, this little girl who had just turned 4. She and Bobby ran around as Dax watched, also giggling at the spectacle. They had a blast. Her mommy was nice, just a young girl of like 20. He husband was about to be shipped off to Iraq and she was off to see him before he did. She was in good spirits, but I wondered if she was just putting on a front for her daughter. Their plane, also originated in Texas, was delayed. Both of our planes arrived in minutes of each other, so this gave the kids tons of time to play. At one point, Ken got out his laptop and the Simpsons Movie, which settled everyone nicely.

On the flight, Dax and I were lucky enough to have a row to ourselves. I said to him that he could lie his head on my arm and sleep. He did this immediately and slept the whole flight. He did wake up for about 10 minutes when his ears popped, but he settled back in, so this was good. Bobby also crashed with Ken and both were just out.

When we got off the plane, Bobby was asleep while walking off the plane. Both boys were miserably tired and cried quite a bit getting to the shuttle and car. The plane got in late, and with being stuck waiting for a gate, waiting for luggage, waiting for traffic as the shuttle got out of the airport, we had delays of an hour or so. It was rough. This nice woman on the shuttle gave the boys a lollipop, though, and that was sweet.

We got home around midnight, and the kids crashed harder than I have ever seen before. It was so nice to be back in our own beds!

We got an appointment to see our orthopedic guy for Friday. This resulted in an even larger cast. They put one on, and ended up taking it off and putting another one on, with a more extreme bend in it. He dashed out happiness by telling us the opposite of everything that the last doc had told us. Waterproof cast? Nope, keep it dry because water can pool. Walking? Nope, keep him off of it at all times. Smaller cast? Nope, we need to have it even bigger to give it support. The only good news is he goes back in 4 weeks and since he is little, these kind of breaks heal quickly. So he might not be miserable for 12 weeks like the original assessment. Then again, Dax is so active, so I worry he is going to mess it up somehow. He rolls and drags himself around really well. His biggest issue is itching right now, which Benedyl, although is helping, isn’t something I want to have to give him too much of. We keep it for night time. The last two nights, though, he was up till midnight. He just isn’t getting out enough energy during the day. It is frustrating.

Luckily, my folks were home, so I did take them there both Thursday and Friday. This gave Ken some time off including allowing him to go see a movie with Aaron on Friday. I am taking them there tonight, too, so hopefully that helps tire them out.

In other news, layoffs are scheduled at work. My sources tell me my name has not come up on the tentative list so far. The rumors are that it will happen by Sept 2nd, and that most of the people are in other warehouses across the country. But one in my department is being axed. It is still scary since I can’t assume I am safe. Plus, I just hope the right person goes.

Ken has my car till Thursday. He has to drive really far for this class he is teaching. Although I am happy to have him comfortable, I am not thrilled with the dirty that is the Blazer. I am putting him under strict orders to clean out the car this afternoon while I am at my folks. I have become accustomed to luxury with my van, and now I think his car should be nice, too.

Ken got me a new radio for my desk. The volume actually works on this one. Woo hoo! The sound isn’t as great as the speakers don’t just face forward at me. However, it is super cute, still plays my iPod, and has a remote! I know, I am odd, but the remote is all kinds of happy making. If only I can figure out how to make it stay on for longer than an hour at a time…

Finally found a Bolt stuffed animal. Of course it is only a few days away from me giving Dax one that talks, but I am ok with this. He has been so happy with it, carrying it around like it was a real dog. Bobby picked out a giant Wall-E (they were 1 for $15 or 2 for $20) and both have enjoyed their new friends. Of course, they had to go into timeout.

Last night, the boys were on a mission to drive me batty. They wouldn’t listen, despite us going to Toys R Us to get Dax’s free prize for the birthday club. It was a little wooden Thomas the Tank Engine (which worked out wonderfully since he has been train obsessed lately) that was a $13 toy that he gets free for his birthday. We ran around the store, and both just whined the whole time. So annoying. When I asked them to be quiet, they got louder. So finally I started taking stuff away. At one point, the threat on the table was letting Lenoard out into the backyard, leaving Bobby lizardless. This shut him up pretty quickly.

The good was short lived. He hit Dax, which Ken saw, and when Dax told Ken that Bobby had hit him, Bobby lied about it. Not good.

I had a talk with him, trying to explain that he needed to be good. He promised to be better, and I then told him if he was really good this week, he might be able to spend the night at Grandma’s. This sent him into a spiral of tears and fear. He thought I meant that I would leave him at Grandma’s forever. Not good. He has been out of sorts from the whole trip, the whole Dax thing, etc. I calmed him down, and he fell asleep soon after. It is tough to be a 4 year old.

Up is finally playing at the cheap movies. The plan as of right now is to go see it Friday afternoon with Stephanie and Sabrina. That will be fun. This will be the mini birthday party for Dax since he really can’t run around. They liked seeing a movie there, before, so I am hoping that they enjoy it again.

I got a note from beyond the grave! Ok, not really, but tell me this isn’t like a way freaky cool thing. Ken pulled out a couple of things from behind the couch cushions. One of the items was a respond card from our wedding! Random! Not sure how it got there, especially since all the replies are somewhere else. Anywho, it is from my great grandmother who just passed! In it, it tells me how she loves me very much. Can we say freaky?!?!? I am taking it as a cool thing, like a ghost coming to tell me that she is at peace now. My mom says when she finds coins that they are from Robbie. I like that, too.

I have managed to get my iPod to work on the new radio, so I am happy. I am really enjoying the remote. It is much easier to listen to the iPod, too, since the volume isn’t hard to use anymore. I can listen to albums I have been craving without worrying about turning it down, then up, then down, then up, then down, then down, then up, then up all because it won’t get to the right volume with one push. I have found myself going to do that, though. But now, it isn’t a dial, but a button. And a button on a remote!

Perhaps I need to pamper myself more if a remote for my radio that is another 12 inches away is so happy making.

Is it wrong that I get gobs of pleasure from using the giant lighter as a blow torch on a pile of ants?

I have another question about ants. So we got home from the vacation to find a pile, and I mean like a huge pile, of ants in the freezer. Like on the lip at the bottom. I can’t see how they got in. I can see how they couldn’t get out. But what I don’t understand is, ok, fine, one got in, or maybe even a trail, but a pile of little ant corpses? Did they all huddle up for warmth and then die? Do you think any of them resorted to antabalism?

My day has been dragging. I have gotten a lot of things done, but it just seems slow today.

I have such a craving for the chicken soft tacos at Taco Bell. I may need to stop there for dinner tonight. Either that or I will just be good and make dinner.