A Pirate's Life For Me

This is a coworker and myself out on the lake yesterday. It was sooo relaxing and wonderful to spend the afternoon out there, that I thought about selling my house and buying a boat, just so I could live on the water. Never mind that this is Chicago and I'd freeze to death in just a few short months. The *extremely* German hired hand on the boat informed me that the boat, small as it was, cost more than my house. And the gas for it, well let me explain it this way... Big Bertha (our Jeep) gets roughly 17 miles/gallon. The boat gets 6 gallons/mile. No, that's not backwards. It's insane.
So, another dream shot to hell.
On the bright side, I'm on vacation again next week to spend time with the kidlets before school starts on Thursday. We've got a full schedule including:
Omelet station in the kitchen (hope they don't choose Oreos)
Make your own pizza
A trip to Go Bananas (Like Chuck E Cheese, but the games actually work)
Trip to the beach, weather permitting
Lots of movies and games

Yeah, I Am Kind of a Big Deal

Two people made me coffee this morning, reinforcing my belief that I'm special. Unfortunately, one of them was my mother, so maybe that doesn't count. Then again, you must understand that my mother was never the kind to say, "You can do anything, you're special, you're smart, you're the best." Maybe this is her way of making up for that.

Today is our summer outing for work. We'll be cruisin a big boat on the lake, nomming on apps from a high end restaurant (owned by the company, of course) and watching the planes practice for the Air & Water Show. As I tell Hubs, it's a tough job I have, but someone's got to do it.

Foster Dogs and The Wisdom of Tupac

Here's one of the foster dogs, Ilio. I thought his name was Greek, but it's actually Hawai'ian for "dog" - kind of like calling him Spot, just in a new and interesting way. He's hamming it up in the back yard here, he thinks the camera is a toy.

I've been thinking about the efforts of the Save Abanonded Babies Foundation, and the goal of child advocates everywhere. Wondering if there's more I can be doing, if I could/should get involved with another organization. I was thinking that maybe Safe Haven has gotten the word out as much as humanly possible, in schools, on street signs.... Then my ipod started rockin out to Tupac's old, old song "Brenda's Got A Baby" and the line that got me was, "That's not our problem, that's up to Brenda's family/Well let me show you how it affects our whole community." Sometimes you just need the wisdom of a slain rapper to remind you that what you're doing affects more than just ONE thing, one person, one aspect of life. The question I often ask myself is, "Where can I do the most good?" Let me tell you - that's not an easy question to answer.

Well, Belly has an answer for it. I left for work this morning before he woke up. Upon waking, he cried to Grandma that he only wanted Momma. So he called me and told me he wants me to come home. I asked him what he'd like to do when I get there - go to the park, read a Charlie & Lola book? He paused, then said "I want to do nothing. I just want you to come here with me."
The moral of this story is: Never underestimate the power of just being there.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

So... I agreed to foster not one, but two dogs. All the original plans got axed at the last minute, and I drove out to some south suburb to pick them up. Okay fine. Then we get them home and the little one has fleas! Now we have to treat every animal (and lemmetellya, there's a lot in the house right now!)and all 3 levels of the house. Stupid good deeds! See where it gets you? Aside from that issue, both pups are absolute angels. Sweet, friendly, happy.

Last week I was on vacation from work. Nine glorious days at home with my little guys. Get back to work this morning just in time to deal with a huge problem with our biggest customer. I. Am. Not. Happy. I'm just dreading explaining this to the owner when he gets in.

Right now I'm reading Christopher Moore's "The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror" Oh, how I love a good laugh. And today, I surely need it.