Monday, June 30, 2008

Wax Nostalgic

We were sad to cancel our plans for a weekend trip to Galesburg Railroad Days in order to buy 2 new car seats (OUCH). Instead, we found ourselves at a great American pastime. It has been 10 years since I've been to a drive-in theater and that was back in CF, IA (which has since been torn down & replaced by student apartments for UNI - my alma mater). Once upon a time there were 4,000 such theaters across the country. Now there are only around 400.
We were not disappointed in the Harvest Moon Twin Drive In. Its only a short ways from home, and even the drive was amazing. The skies were stunning. In one direction you could see the rain falling, in another, a gorgeous sunset. A rainbow and radiant colors in the clouds made the normally flat and boring IL landscape quite beautiful.
Although we arrived 90 minutes before showtime, the drive-in was already packed. They have twin screens showing 2 movies simultaneously. We opted for Wall e and are so happy we did. Pixar has never let us down. It was, as usual, a wonderful film.
After we found our spot, the boys enjoyed frisbee while Soph and I set up. Our bench swing mattress was the exact size of the back of the van (perfect). They have a free carousel which contributes to the warm family atmosphere. At intermission, vintage concession stand footage was shown as money made there is what keeps the theater in business. The menu is reminiscent of the golden era of the drive-in (chili cheese dogs, corn dogs, candy galore, chilly willies, ice cream treats, pizza, & even a burger barn) Although the lines were long, everyone was patient and kind. Alexander got a glow wand from a golf cart snack vendor, which Sophie enjoyed as well. We ate our weight in popcorn and candy and Mark even got a funnel cake. The owners have done everything they can to make sure you have an unforgettable experience.

Sunday was more fun as we caught up with RK, Braska & Muncher at El Toro.
Later we had a picnic at Hessel Park complete with an Irish band.


Someday we'll make it to Ireland. In the meantime, the Midwest is a pretty good place to be.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Hold Your Applause

DAD: "I didn't know Sophie could clap." (said indignantly, as if this information had been kept from him)
MOM: "Whaa?" (confusion mixed with excitement)
DAD: I was cheering for Alexander and Sophie started clapping."
MOM: "You mean, you were clapping and she copied you?"
DAD: "I was not clapping, just cheering. She started clapping all on her own."

It wasn't a one shot wonder either, folks. She's a clapping champ now.
11 months and 25 days old.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tasty

The Taste of Champaign was this past weekend. After gorging on various foods, the boys went to the inflatable jumping thingies area and Sophie and I strolled through the artists' alley. While looking at a booth filled with prism jewelry, I noticed a young woman (young adult age) with her (mom?) looking as well. She has Ds. I lingered in the booth a little longer; lurking to get a glimpse of what may be our future, listening to catch her speech, watching her walk, observing (out of the corner of my eye) as she interacted. I wondered if the mom would notice Sophie. Would she be able to "tell"? Would we have one of those conversations about Ds without ever actually saying Ds? Mom did not notice, or if she did, she did not comment. The young woman did, however. At least she noticed Sophie as...Sophie. She looked at her, smiled, said "she's SO cute," and then went on her way.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Buddies Helping Iowa Flood Victims

Please help the Iowa flood victims!
Mark, the kids and I are heading back to Iowa to visit the fam in early July and have plans to deliver some fun stuff to Amy. Are there any others who would be interested in a meet-up?

Amy from the Flege Farm wrote:
Jessica from over at Raising Joey wants to help the people of Iowa with the horrible flooding. So many people have lost everything so she came up with this awesome idea!! (see below from her blog.)

Amy from The Flege Farm lives outside Cedar Rapids, Iowa and knows many people who were affected by the Iowa River flooding. The local ARC’s office, the local library, and a friend’s medical office, who also has a child with Down syndrome, has been destroyed. The other day I was trying to think of a way to help out and again my online Usborne Book Store came to my mind. I am going to open up an eShow named as Iowa Flood Victims Book Drive. You can purchase Usborne Books for the flood victims and they will be shipped to Amy to be given out to people that have been affected by the floods. Just email me (Jessica, raisingjoey@gmail.com) before you purchase the books and I will give you Amy’s address if you don’t already have it.
Along with the Usborne eShow, Michelle over at Big Blueberry Eyes will be doing the same type of drive with her Discovery Toys Online Store. The toys will also be shipped directly to Amy.
Also, after talking to Amy, many families are in need of clothes and other items. If you are interested in shipping any extra items you may have around your house, you can contact me at RaisingJoey{at}gmail.com. If you have an online store and would like to add your business to this wonderful cause, please let me know and I will add you to this. Also, please spread the word about our book and toy drive. If you would like the coding for our button to post on your blog, please email me.
Buddies Helping Iowa Flood Victims
* Raising Joey’s Usborne Books eShow
* Big Blueberry Eyes Discovery Toys Store

Parkersburg and Football

I don't watch ESPN. Mark watches enough of it for the both of us. Sometimes so much so that it drives me a little nuts. Today he sent me a story (see link below) because he thought I may be interested in it. He was right.

It's about a small town's tragedy, their love of football, and coming together to rebuild their lives. It features a player who returns home from the Big Time to survey the damage to his high school and town. The revered Coach has celebrity status for his years of dedication and success with the team. For many years he has trained the boys to be men, not just football players. There are images of the field (the Sacred Acre) and the high school clock that stopped just as the tornado leveled the building at 4:56 - reminiscent of the clock tower in Back to the Future.

It is written like a Hollywood "for the love of the game" baseball/football/hockey film, and its a good read. Plus its nice for P'burg to have a warm-fuzzy story. I wouldn't be surprised if it did become a Hollywood movie. Maybe we could be extras in the bleachers?

That HALF of this town is gone, that people lost their lives, and homes, and businesses is something I hope isn't soon forgotten.

Iowa town turns to football to recover from tornado

Saturday, June 21, 2008

EMT Wishes Sophia Happy Birthday

When we went back to Madison to sell our house, we stopped by the fire house to see if we could meet the EMT that delivered Sophia. We learned that Che (the ambulance driver) was serving in Iraq and Bill (who delivered her) wasn't on duty. We left thank you cards with copies of her birth story and link to her slideshow with another EMT. I finally checked the slideshow tonight at OneTrueMedia (since its embedded on the blog I don't often check the original) and found this comment:

William - May 15, 2008 8:21 PM
Sophia, what a beautiful movie star you are! I am the EMT that told your Mom "Don't push!" You were the first baby I ever delivered, and I'm so happy it was you. I have four daughters of my own, and your birth reminded me of my joy when each one arrived. Happy first birthday Sweetheart!


I'm all verklempt! How beautiful was that? What a kind man.

Alexander Quinn, the 1st Year

So, I finally finished Alexander's 1st year slide show. It had been a long time since I'd seen some of these pictures. I am amazed at how much Sophie looks like her big brother and at how big he has gotten. Now, I've just got years 2 & 3 and Sophie's slide show to create. Enjoy!

Potty Blues (UPDATED)

My little monkey will be 3.5 in a few weeks. My 1st born, my little stubborn, brilliant, sensitive, train-loving little guy is growing up. Yet we are still working VERY hard on potty training. Yes, potty training. He knows the alphabet and can count to 15, but has REFUSED to be potty trained. Like many other parents, we've tried a million techniques. None have worked.

Yesterday out of desperation we tried 3 new things. 1. Alexander is only wearing a t-shirt in the house. 2. His potty is in the living room. He had a few "accidents" and then I pulled out my trump card. 3. Mother's Guilt. I threw a (fake) bawling Mommy, pity party extraordinaire. (Yes, I know I'll probably send him into therapy later). He was so concerned for Mom that he gave me his brand new favorite little car. He asked Mom to stop crying, "don't be so sad Mom." Nothing worked. Mom was too sad. Then a small miracle happened. He sat down on his potty and went. "Look Mom, I went pee. That will make you happy!" It did. So far, he's not had another accident and we may move into big boy underpants today!

I learned 2 things yesterday. He's perfectly capable of being potty trained (duh). It's just been an inconvenience to stop playing. Take away the pants or diapers and move the potty into the play room (for now) and we eliminate 2 big barriers to learning this skill. And, Mother's Guilt works.

UPDATE:
Mommy's Guilt DOES NOT in fact work for more than 5 minutes and then Mommy is left feeling guilty for-ever.
Do they make toddler sized boxers? Little boy underwear just doesn't seem to be working (too hard to manage I suppose).
Commando IS an option.
Parenting is hard.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Random Questions, Response

In Response to Random Questions from RK

The Random Questions process~Choose one or all of the questions to answer.~Either respond with a comment to this post with your answer or put up a post on your own blog for a full response.~Don't forget to include any funny or interesting story to illustrate your answer in action.~Be sure to leave a comment on this post to let us know where to find your post so we can come check it out!

1. Are you a snapshot or portrait person? Let's see your current favorite pic!
Both. But as snapshots are free, we have tons of those.


2. What's the craziest thing you did last month? (You define crazy for yourself.)
Sold our house. Daughter had eye surgery. Began wearing shorts in public.

3. What is your current must-have food or drink?
Fat Tire (beer) & strawberry Häagen-Dazs®

4. What is the last movie you saw and what did you think? Give us a review and rating.
Kung Fu Panda (for Father's Day. Both kids sat through the entire movie!) Awesome flick. Just one word--Skadoosh!

Floodgate '08 pt. 3 Cedar Rapids


Cedar Rapids, IA flood. Wed. and Thursday. June 11-12, 2008.
Posted on YouTube by hawkfan428

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day




Dale & Mark, 30 years later...Papa and Alexander, Parade


For Daddies Everywhere ` Happy Father's Day




Friday, June 13, 2008

Car Accident (but for the Grace of God)

A young man was racing down our street late last night when he lost control of his car. If he had not struck the neighbors car, he would likely have plowed directly into our house and into my son's bedroom. His bed is directly behind the window that would have been struck. Mark witnessed it all. Here's his account:

Last night around 1:20am I was taking the garbage to the curbside in my bare feet. As I was walking back to the house from the curb, I heard a car engine revving from the west. First, I thought it was a car or motorcycle racing down [a cross street 3 blocks down], but it immediately became clear that it was a car heading eastbound down [our street], toward me. Remembering that our neighbors had mentioned that people used to use [our street] as a “drag strip” before the installation of the “pork chop” traffic island at the corner, I stopped at the back bumper of our minivan, with one foot up on the bumper, to watch the car (or I thought potentially cars) heading my way.
What I saw was one car (with only one headlight intact, so far as I could see) barreling down [our street] at a very high rate of speed. I am not great at estimating speeds, but I figured that it was moving perhaps upward of 50 miles per hour, which is quite fast, given the rather short distance of three blocks from [the original cross street to the corner of the accident]. The car then jumped the curb at the corner [3 houses down from our house], crossing the front-yards of our neighbors, in a general trajectory that would have led it toward our house, very near where I was standing. (How it did not hit one of the trees, I do not know.) I do not remember hearing the screeching of brakes. I instinctively prepared to duck behind our van, as it looked as though the car would continue to head in my direction. Fortunately (for our family, at least), the car crashed into our neighbors’ gray 1999 Oldsmobile, parked in their driveway, spinning the car almost 180 degrees, and bringing the red car to a full stop.
I immediately ran toward the car to see if anyone was injured, as I assumed that someone naturally would be, given a collision of that magnitude. The only thing I heard as I was running toward the car was the driver attempting to start the engine. Fearing that the driver might try to run or drive away, I first tried to check the license plate number, which is when I noticed that they were temporary tags, which is also when it became clear that the car was in no condition to drive, and the putrid smell of an overheated engine made me worry that the car might catch fire, so I helped the driver out of the car. He was the only one in the car, and was (surprisingly, in my opinion) quite able to stand. He did not smell of alcohol, but he did seem disoriented. He tried to get back into the car, which is when I physically picked him up from behind and dragged him a reasonably safe distance from the car, imploring him to sit or lay down on the grass. He kept insisting that he was fine, and able to stand.
By that time, our neighbor from two houses down, (who I had never met until that point), came rushing-up to us, while dialing 911. He initially thought that I was a passenger in the car, and knew the driver, as I was trying to get him to sit or lay down on the lawn. He was shouting at both of us, and seeing the confusion, I said, “dude, I’m your neighbor over here—I don’t even know this guy,” at which point he apologized that he was (in his words) “in military mode,” and that his wife was in labor, so he was (understandably) a little on edge. [He] and I both tried to get the driver to sit down, for his own good, as I was still holding him from behind, as the driver was trying to get closer to the car. At some point, [the neighbor] smacked the driver to (in my opinion) knock some sense into him, that he had just gotten into a major accident, and was not about to get back into the car. At that point, I tried to get between [him] and the driver, the latter was insisting that he was fine, and was able to stand. I eventually released the driver, as the reality of the situation slowly began to sink in.
“Oh my God,” he kept saying, “I hit a car.” He repeated this a few times. I think he was still rather disoriented, as he did not seem to realize that the car that he hit was a parked car, indeed parked in a driveway, some fifty feet from the road! At this time, [the neighbor] was still on the line with 911, calling for an ambulance and police. After that, [the neighbor] kept questioning the driver as to whether he was drunk or not. I was trying to calm the driver down, and he was talking about what happened, as I tried to be empathetic. He said something about the clutch sticking. His words seemed coherent enough, but I could not quite make sense of his rationalizations. I kept telling him that he should be grateful that no one was injured or killed. Translation: he should be grateful that he hit an unoccupied car, rather than continuing on his trajectory which could have led him to crash into our front bedroom where our three-year-old son was sleeping.
At a moment like this, time seems to lose all meaning, so I do not exactly know how long we stood there in the neighbor’s lawn—it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two—when suddenly the driver started dashing away, eastbound from the scene of the accident. I took-off after him, and tackled him from behind in my front yard near the front lamp post, which is where I held him down until the police arrived. [The neighbor] hovered over us, which was reassuring to know that if the driver got away from me, that he would have my back.
The driver kept pleading with me to let him up, to which I repeatedly simply replied: “no.”
“I lost my shoe,” he said a few times, “at least let me get my shoe.” By that time, my wife, who was asleep at the time of the accident, had come outside, and she got the shoe, and returned it to the driver. He claimed that the way that I was holding him—face down—was causing him pain, so I eventually relented and let him sit upright with my hand on his back (just in case he tried to bolt again) as the police were now pulling-up to the scene. Before, the police apprehended the driver, he tried to convince me a few times that he was fully cooperating, and actually was not trying to run away. “No,” I said, “dude, if you weren’t running, I wouldn’t have had to tackle you, and you wouldn’t have ended-up in my yard.” Still, he continued to convince me that he wasn’t trying to run away.
By that time, the police officers approached us, asking “who’s the driver, here?” That was the first time I felt confident in taking my hands off of the guy, and I pointed with both hands to the kid. One officer led him away, while I gave my statement to another officer. My voice was admittedly trembling, as I couldn’t help but think of how things would have ended much differently, were it not for a matter of inches—a few inches one way, and the driver would have hit a tree, which would have been much less forgiving than the car that he hit. And if it was not for that car, he may have very easily have wound-up in my son’s bedroom, with even more disastrous results.
After giving my statement and contact information, we were able to assess the damage and meet with our neighbors. We took pictures, and some video of the accident scene, and tried to recreate what happened, based on the tire marks in the street, the impact on the curb, and the divots in the neighbor’s lawn. What was most striking to me were two things: one, that from the curb to the divot point, there was absolutely no wear on the lawn, which means that the car must have been airborne for quite a distance; and second, that the neighbors’ silver car was actually facing the house when it was parked, meaning that it had been spun almost 180 degrees—and quite a distance—from where it was originally parked.
It was during this time that my wife and I were to become more acquainted with our neighbors [2 doors down] and our immediate next-door neighbors, whose car thankfully saved an even more tragic outcome.

It was a horrible - loud sound. I got up and found the lights were still on in the living room. The tv was on but Mark wasn't there. I turned the tv off and it was then that I looked out into our front yard and saw Mark on the ground with 2 other people. I knew then that the sound Was an accident, and that it was bad. I ran in fear, terrified to find out what happened to Mark.

The (very young & uninsured) driver was on the ground (as was Mark) and was out of it. He did not slur or smell of alcohol or drugs, but his speech was strange. I asked him if he had been drinking. He said "No, no, absolutely not" (in an odd, drawn out speech pattern). I didn't notice the smashed cars until after the police arrived moments later as I was too focused on Mark and the driver. The neighbor (who had been in the military for 10 years & served a year in Iraq) was yelling at the driver, "Dude, I'm sorry for hitting you but you have no business trying to run away from the scene of this accident. You could be hurt and you need to sit down! My wife is in labor and I don't have time for this nonsense!"
Mark gave his statement to the police and I heard what happened for the 1st time. I've Never seen Mark so shaken. It took some time to wrap my brain around all that happened, or could have happened. The neighbors were leaving for the hospital as her water had broken and they were preparing to have their first baby. Had they left a few minutes earlier, it would have been their car struck. The neighbors (whose car was struck) said that they do not normally park that far back from the house. If it hadn't been parked there, it would have been our house to put an end to the out-of-control car. I can't even think about that. If Mark hadn't been outside at exactly that moment, this kid would have taken off. There were trees that Should have been hit. There was No broken glass but 2 totalled cars. No one was injured. There are too many ifs and thens and close calls.
I Should be thankful that it was the neighbor's car that was struck and not our house or my son. Right now, I'm angry. I'm angry at the young man for doing this. I watched the field sobriety test and overheard the officer ask him if he had a medical condition that would cause him to have trouble keeping his balance. He was cuffed behind his back and taken away in the back of a police car. I don't know if he was drunk, high or just young and careless, disturbed, or just in shock. He had been checked out in the ambulance for some time prior to failing the field sobriety test. He was shaken, but not crying or resisting the police.
I Should be thankful for what Didn't happen, and I'll get there. You believe that when your kids are sleeping in their beds, that they are safe from near-death encounters. Weather or medical conditions may touch them, but not a speeding car. I'm shaken. I'm tired. I stood in my son's bedroom last night and watched him sleep unaware for a long time. It was all I could do to stop myself from waking him up just to hold him in my arms.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Floodgate '08 pt.2

Here's a slideshow of pictures that my sister took with my other sister and her 2 kids.
Photos are of the flooded creek behind the dike at my parent's house, flooding of Hope Martin Park, and the W4th St. area of Waterloo, IA.
More updates forthcoming.

Floodgate '08

WANTED: Ark
My hometown (Waterloo, IA born and raised) is in bad shape. The flooding of the Cedar River is the worst it has ever been. In Waterloo, the flood stage of the Cedar River is 12 ft. It is expected to crest at 26 feet, a record. In our neighboring town of Cedar Falls, the river is yet to crest and when it does it will be 103 feet, also a record. Flood stage there is 88 feet. It has been declared a Presidential Disaster area with access to help from FEMA.

Yesterday in Waterloo, the little island in the Cedar River of San Souci was evacuated and is now largely under water.

This afternoon at 2:45pm, the Union Pacific railroad bridge (near the 6th Street bridge) over the Cedar River in Waterloo could no longer stand the pressure and broke. A large piece of the bridge washed down river slamming into the 18th Street Bridge.

The downtown and surrounding areas are being evacuated in CF and downtown Waterloo as well. There is a call for volunteers to report to the UNI-dome in CF and also in Waterloo to help with sandbagging throughout the night.

Many roads and highways are closed. Navigating in and out of town is difficult. The National Guard has been called in to help. Residents are stocking up on bottled water and non-perishables.

Its too late yet tonight to do more than mention that other areas near by like Waverly and New Hartford are flooded or that IA City and Des Moines, and on and on are facing similar fates.

There are too many amazing pictures and videos to link them all. If you're interested in seeing pictures or video, just visit KWWL (especially viewer submitted photos) or the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

My sister Katie snapped a bunch of shots and I'll get them up tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few to ponder.
Waterloo 4th St. bridge (potter 2617)

Cedar Falls Boathouse (croberts001)
Cedar Falls, corner of Lincoln and Main (croberts001)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Cure for Dental Blues


Friday was Round 2 of 3 in the root canal saga. (I have to go back to get the permanent crown put in). I was at the dentist for 2.5 hours. yadayadayada, gross details skipped here, I went home and convinced Sophie to take a very late nap with me. Alexander and Mark crashed too. We all awoke at 7:30pm very hungry, but I was unwilling to cook, so we went out for dinner.

Then, as all of our sleep schedules were out of whack, we decided to go mini golfing.
So what that we didn't finish until 10:30pm? We would have been up anyway, and this way it wasn't crowded or too hot and sunny, though Mark did run into one of his students.
"OK Tiger. This is called a putter."

"The ball goes here, HERE!" "No thanks Dad. I'll toss it and get it there faster."

This is the way to go to take your mind off of crazy expensive dental work.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

I Know Some Good Games We Could Play

Oh how the sun shone?
It was too hot to play.
So we sat in the house
All that hot sticky day.

Snippets of Our Lives

Why is he so mad? His caterpillar shaped cookie broke into 2 pieces.

Scary Baby Growling!

(These videos were especially for my sis, by request)

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Wordless Wednesday




Gutter Cleaning

Ride'n the Storm Out

As if recovering from a root canal wasn't enough joy for the evening, our area is in the middle of thunderstorm and tornado alley (with about 4-5 waves of bad storms coming our way). Right about bedtime for the kids we heard the sirens and the tv confirmed that we should take cover immediately. In my youth I've been known to LOVE good storm, stand outside in it and wish for strong (but not destructive enough to hurt anyone) forces to show themselves. After the destruction of half of Parkersburg, I'm - shall we say - gun/storm shy.

The kids DID NOT understand our decision to have a slumber party in the basement. Alexander protested LOUDLY and Sophie simply hung in till nearly 11. Thankfully we have plenty of space in our basement. It's fully refinished and has a spare bedroom, living room, storage area, extra fridge/storage room, laundry room, and bathroom. It has never flooded in the past 60 years till yesterday. Tonight Every room is wet.

Shortly after the sirens went off, friends of ours called and then came over with their cute little puppy to seek shelter. They do not have a wet basement to go to, so ours was a blessing. We decided to make the most of it. We uncorked my fav bottle of wine and the guys had a few brewskies. We popped popcorn and watched local tv so we could see updates on the weather.

So far tonight, at its worst, the lightning and thunder were more than constant, but overlapping. It was pouring AGAIN. We finally got both of the kids down (Sophie in a pack-n-play and Alexander in a twin spare bed- but not HIS bed) but our friend's puppy wasn't having it and shivered and tried to escape.

We shared stories to pass the time. Ironically our friends had heard of the story Tom recently shot in Brasil (please check out his blog as his is one of my favs and is the 1st blogger I followed after being introduced to the blogging community- having a son near to Sophie's age with DS and being a very interesting guy and an AMAZING writer). I had heard of the story because of Tom, and our friend had simply - heard of the story. Folks, it is a small world.

The storms let up just as MORE water poured into the basement. With the help of our friends, we moved even more stuff out of the path of destruction. The kids are sound asleep and that's good because we are right in the line for 1-2 more waves of this band of storms. It's going to be a long night.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

My Photos Made the News

Update on the flooding story:
WAND-TV posted my photos of the flooding at Hessel Park as viewer submitted storm images. Wow. I didn't expect such a quick response from both local stations.
updated as the images have been removed :-{

Help! I Can't Find My Flood Pants!!

It's POURING rain again, and that's a very bad thing as our basement is WET. Not standing water wet, but squishy, 6 fans blasting, had-to-pull-out-all-of-our-stuff from the many wet areas, including 2 wooden bookshelves and a 1880 steamer trunk that has a wet bottom - wet. It looks like a bomb went off down there. This house does NOT have a history of flooding, which is one of the reasons WICD-TV wanted to come over today and film it.
huh?

Ya, brilliant me sent an email to the local tv channels with a story idea. Actually, my idea was about the park just a few blocks from us. As a way to introduce myself I made a comment about my wet basement and then went on to attach photos of the flooded park that I took this morning.

30 minutes (or less) later I get a call from WICD-TV asking if they could come over and film my basement and interview me as a part of the story they are going to do on the park flooding. (How neighbors in the Hessel Park area are affected, etc.)

If you are what you eat then I guess I'm a chicken. Heck No you can't interview me or show anyone what my basement looks like! Show my photos of the park, give me credit, that's fine. But show the woman Behind the lens? Nah. Not today. They thanked me for the story idea and photos. The story should be on tonight at 5.



ROO CANOW

OK. It's triple overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a thunderstorm is moving in so I should shut down the computer. I'm exhausted, but not as tired as the hockey players must be by now. Jeezy Kreezy. Somebody (Red Wings) score already!

Tomorrow I am scheduled for a root canal. I'm wholly freaked out. 1 & 1/2 hours of removing a nerve in my head while I'm awake! Maybe I'll get lucky and they will decide that my dentist was wrong and it was all a big misunderstanding. In the meantime, enjoy one of my fav scenes from the West Wing (CJ got a root canal).