It was a great party but I have no evidence...

Just one washed out photo from my phone.  My real camera battery died, and the charger is packed up in a box somewhere.  I've been using my phone for everything, and the memory is full.  It seems like I go in and erase 20 pictures, take two, and it's full again.

So all the evidence I have that Thing 2's birthday party was a roaring success is one photo.
And it's not of the 10 kids who came, or all the fun times they had... it's of the cake.  And I need to say the cake was even cuter than it shows in the picture.  It was just like a little stuffed animal on a tray.  Vanilla cake with strawberry filling. 

We went to Color Me Mine and the two girls there took care of us beautifully.  The other mom whom I'd asked to help out was pretty much my chatting companion while the kids all painted their little figurines.  Then had watermelon, carrots, and cheetos, then cut the cake and had presents.  It was glorious because it wasn't in my house.  All I had to do was show up and pay.

Which is good because I've come down with a nasty head cold.  I sound like a talking disposal and have a headache and am exhausted.


My mom and dad are coming tomorrow to help us box some stuff up to put in the 2nd POD that is now sitting in front of my house, POD VERSION 2.  The movers are coming on Tuesday, and Tuesday night we are out of this house and will drive north to stay at Grandma's while we wait for the closing of the Park City house.

Thing 1 is 9

Because of her birthday I had to write a quick bit about Thing 1 for church. Some of these went straight from Hubby's lips onto my keyboard.

Thing 1’s favorite color is lime green.
She loves dragons, and drawing, and drawing dragons.
She eats math for breakfast.
If she’s reading a good book or something interesting on the computer, she won’t hear a thing you say.
Thing 1 is NOT pink and frilly. She doesn’t like poofy dresses. In fact, if there is somewhere she is supposed to go that she’s supposed to dress up for, she would rather stay home.
Thing 1 likes raspberries, the kind you eat, not the kind you blow.
Thing 1 loves milk, and Kelso, but not together.
Thing 1 loves cheese pizza, apricots, german pancakes, and hamburgers, but not together.
Thing 1 likes playing on her DS, and on the computer, sometimes together.
She hates clothes that are scratchy or have pokey tags.
Thing 1 makes up her own games if there’s not something around she wants to play. But she does like playing games, especially Sleeping Queens, and Clue.
Her favorite vacation is just about anywhere she’s been, but London, the beach, and all the Disney parks are the first thing she mentions.
Thing 1 loves watching movies with her family, especially at home where you can hit “Pause” and then go get a treat.
Thing 1 loves her family. She is very very close with her sister, and they are great playmates.
Thing 1 is sweet, sincere, and a lot of fun. She has a darling giggle, and a glowing personality.
She is now nine years old.

We had her birthday party as brunch because breakfast is far and away her favorite meal. And even though having cake after breakfast is a little weird, everyone moved right from breakfast to dessert without complaint.
I had forgotten to get the pinata. Even though there were only going to be a couple kids, Thing 1 reminded me that morning that she needed a pinata. I had intended on getting one since Thing 2 had one two months ago for her birthday (we just happened to have one sitting around, long story) but I forgot. Thing 1 is the quiet one who would not say anything, she'd just be a little bit sadder on this day of her celebration, and I wouldn't find out how truly wounded she was and how unfair it is and how she grew up thinking that we like Thing 2 better until after four or five years of therapy. I was out anyway picking up the cake, so I swung by the party store and picked up a pinata.

The pinata was a black dragon, very fitting.


I have never had a pinata that required less than a full on assault with sharp kitchen implements to breach its interior. Those kids could flail on that thing for hours, unblindfolded and without anyone pulling on the string, using a real baseball bat (none of these little wimpy sticks) and the contents would still be safely tucked away in their impenetrable cardboard fortress. This one was no different. After the kids were getting tired, no one cared whose turn it was anymore, and the adults had lost interest and broken off into their various conversations, Hubby attacked the pinata with a pair of scissors. The kids whacked at it some more, and finally a few pieces came out. Eventually Hubby decided he'd loosen it up for them. He took aim and swung a grand-slam home run that would have made Babe Ruth proud, disintegrated the pinata and spread pulverized candy across our back yard. Hubby was stunned, but we got the danged thing open.

Hubby gave Thing 1 a few hitting tips before she gave up and he took over.


My brother kindly risked lighting his hat on fire, using it as a wind block while we kept the candles burning long enough to sing.

It was a very nice day.

He wears the Cone of Shame

Kelso had a big day yesterday.  I did too, but in a long-term perspective, his was bigger.

After I dropped the girls off at school, I took him to the vet for his vaccinations, dew claw removal, and neutering.  It is sad to turn this happy tail wagging little guy over to the vet and walk away, knowing that a rare kind of horror awaits him...

I had a very busy day planned as my folks were driving down to celebrate my birthday, which is on Saturday.  I squoze in a morning of volunteering at the school in Thing 1's class until 11:30, then came home and started working on my Christmas cards.  My folks showed up around 12:30.  Their original plan was to take me to lunch, but my mother always has other things on her agenda - like buying buttons for a couple of sweaters she knitted, and buying fabric so she could make some Christmas Pajamas for my girls.  (she's a fabulous seamstress).
We figured that between then and 3:00 when it would be time to pick Thing 2 from school (Thing 1 has an after school class on Thursdays and gets out an hour later) there wasn't time to do all that and go to lunch too.

About then I mentioned that I hadn't renewed my drivers license, which was up this year.  My mother looked shocked and said you have to do it before your birthday.  I thought I had until the end of the month.  We looked on line, looked at the letter, and finally figured that though the information was somewhat unclear, better safe than sorry.  I'd hate to have to take the test or something just because I waited three extra days.
The big problem was I couldn't do it today, Friday, as all the offices are closed.

So we ate lunch from what I had in the fridge and then Mom and I drove over to get my license renewed.  Miraculously, that only took about twenty minutes.  We raced through our other errands, had my dad pick up Thing 2 from school, and got home in time for me to run over and get Thing 1.
I usually walk over with the dog.  She had forgotten about his big day, and when she remembered she broke into tears.  She cried off and on the rest of the evening and lamented about how much she loves him and how much she misses him... my folks took us to Chuck-a-rama for dinner (not my first choice, or probably my 2nd, but with the kids in tow it's so much the easiest place to eat) and Thing 1 spent the dinner hour lamenting and worrying and tearing up.
We ran to pick Kelso up after dinner.  Thing 1 was wringing her hands, drying her eyes...  They put us in a patient room and gave me the post-op instructions.  Then they brought him in.

Thing 1 and 2 took one look at him and just busted up laughing.  He was a little stunned from the medication and everything, whimpering a little... and there they are just barely able to stand from laughing so hard.  So much for sympathy.

Notice the "workout sweatbands" as my sister called them.  My sister says when her dog was neutered he only wore the cone a couple days.  Kelso gets his for two full weeks.  Mostly it's to keep him off the dew claws.
Today he's doing great, and was bouncing around this morning like there was no problem in the world.  The girls were discussing that it is a little embarrassing to walk him to school with him in the cone.
He is such a pretty dog, and he carries himself so nobly...  it is such a contrast to see him wearing this goofy cone head thing.
His walking buddy, the bull mastiff named Winston, goes in for the snip today.  He's only getting the neuter job, not the dew claws as well.  Chances are he'll be out of his cone in a couple of days, while our baby Kelso will be sporting this thing until Christmas Eve.  Just in time for the Christmas photos.  Phew!