Raspberries!!!

Robert’s new favorite thing to do…

Weekend Fun

Jim is recovering well from his recent surgery. He learned (the hard way) don’t compare a vasectomy to a c-section… you won’t win.

Saturday Northland Animal Welfare Society was having a dog wash so we took Harley. She loved all the attention and we got to try a Furminator brush. I had seen them in the store but the $60 plus price tag scared me off… no more, I will have one! It was amazing the amount of fur we got off of Harley in a very short amount of time. We also found out that Harley won the gift basket they were giving away which included a stuffed Moose that she loves. The moose has a squeaker in it so Robert will dance when she makes it squeak.

After we dropped Harley back at home we headed out the the Great Lenexa BBQ Contest. We walked around for a bit, had some lunch, ran into some people Jim knows. Robert was wearing his safari hat which is always popular with the crowds. He’s so cute in it and he is at that stage where he smiles back and waves at people, quite the little charmer.

Last night he discovered a five iron that has been sitting by the wine bar for as long as I can remember. Why it was there I had no idea. Anyway, he thought it was the coolest thing ever and crawled all around the house with it until we decided it’s probably not the best thing for him to have.

Today we shopped for wedding clothes. A kid I used to babysit is getting married. He’s such an adorable guy. We needed sandals to go with Robert’s white linen short suit that my Mom got him and I needed something to wear. We found the sandals for him at Baby Gap… for $6.00! Yeah! He also got a new Hawaiian shirt at The Children’s Place. Jim and I put an outfit together for me at Coldwater Creek. He was so excited when I said I’d consider a skirt, which is what I wound up with. Now all I have to do is find shoes. Maybe I can run out tomorrow night.

The washing machine is broken again. I’m really not happy with the “repair’ guy who came last time but we’re stuck with them again until it’s fixed. It’s covered under our home owner’s warranty so they have until tomorrow morning to call us. Hopefully they can get here by Wednesday because I really don’t want to go to the laundrymat. Luckily one of the loads I got done was all of Robert’s clothes and the other one was underwear.

Even though there is a total fireworks ban in Kansas City meaning there is nothing that is legal to shoot off, neighbors all around us are already shooting stuff off at night. This is driving little Miss Harley absolutely mad as she tries to “protect” her yard and family. I wouldn’t mind so much if they’d do it just on the 4th and maybe the 5th but having to put up with it for over a week, every night, when it’s illegal to begin with is starting to grate on my nerves and we’re only about 4 nights in to it.

Robert’s new fun game… go to the sliding glass door and tease Harley. He could do this for hours, she’s not quite as impressed with the game.

What a day. Started out with a 7am meeting… ugh! I had planned to work from home today and it was a good thing I was here. Robert woke up coughing a LOT this morning and his nose was still running so we had to go to the doctor.

His regular doctor wasn’t in but our favorite nurse was. The doc wanted to draw blood to get a white cell count just because we’ve had so many colds. Robert is like me, he doesn’t give up blood easy. After an unsuccessful attempt to draw it from his arm I was holding him comforting him and looked over and saw that Melissa was almost in tears. I’m assuring her that he’s fine when I started to laugh and said to her, aren’t you supposed to be comforting me. It’s so great that she loves our boy so much. He is still the only picture on the bulletin board in the hall!

The washing machine repair guy came this morning (over an hour late) and then had to leave to get parts and wouldn’t be back until “sometime this afternoon”. Jim was scheduled to have his vasectomy today at 1:30 but it got pushed back to 3:00pm. Thanks to the washing machine he had to drive himself, luckily he was doing fine.

I’m happy to report at 8:00pm – Robert is asleep, the washing machine is running and Jim is doing well. Perhaps we’ll all get a good night’s sleep.

A big shout out to Kyra! I got my package the other day and love it! I promise I’ll get your package mailed soon.

I’m Back!!!

Wow! What a week. I’ve missed my blog!

The big fund raising dinner Thursday night ate up every minute of my existence from Monday morning on. The good news is it was totally worth the effort… we netted over $9700. When I went to bed Wednesday I was praying for $4500.

Jim was great taking care of Robert at night while I worked on getting things ready. Auction slips, programs, brochures, etc. Friday I called him and told him to feel free to go smoke a cigar or do whatever he wanted because I wanted some time with my boy! I swear he grew up so much last week. Both of his upper front teeth have broken through. He can chew food now. He is just so amazing!

Saturday we were up early to go to the zoo with the preschool parent’s group. Robert was awake for the sea lion show and really enjoyed it. The rest of the time at the zoo he slept! Two hours of pushing the sleeping boy around the zoo.

After the zoo we ran home and tidied up the house a bit and then met up with Michelle. Michelle and I went to college together 15 years ago in Texas. She’s in Colorado now. Her dad was a minister and their KC church was having a reunion so they were back in KC for that. We did some shopping and catching up and then went to the house she was staying at to have dinner with her family. Her parents remembered me and we had a really great time. Robert was charming as all get out. Everyone thought he was just wonderful. Her Dad invited us to be his guests at church the next morning so of course we had to say yes.

Then Sunday night we took our contribution to help serve dinner at Ronald McDonald House with my Soroptimist group. It was one busy weekend!

Robert is really into being naked and taking baths right now. He’s so funny. He splashes and has such a great time. He’s almost too big for his ducky tub.

What A Weekend

What a weekend! The vet called about 11:30 on Friday, Cosmo came through his surgery with flying colors and will be good as new in a few weeks. Jim picked him up Saturday and he is now settled in to his new temporary home in the guest room.

Friday night after Jim got home I headed to Richmond about 40 miles away to the Super 8 Motel for a BBQ celebration that preceded the golf tournament Saturday. The group putting on the golf tournamet was CWA AT&T LU 6360. What a great group of people! Not only were they genuinely interested in the charity I represent who was the beneficiary of the tournament they were also very gracious in making me feel welcome. I hung out at the BBQ until about 10:30 and then turned in for the night. So for Brenda, Joe, Shawn, Nicole, Danny, Patti, Leigh Ann, Alan, Brad, Bob and all the others whose names I can’t recall right now… thanks so much! You are the best

Saturday I was up bright and early to be at the golf course at 7am. From 7:30am – 2:30pm I was manning a beer cart. I had so much fun! Driving the beer cart has always been a secret wish of mine. I was teamed up with a woman named Brenda and we had a great time. I got a LOT of sun.

When we wound up the day they had raised over $6000 for Triality and everyone had a great day.

I ran by Mom’s on my way home to pick up the baskets she made for my auction Thursday night and then ran to Hallmark to finish getting stuff for Jim for Father’s Day. By the time I got home at 6pm I was exhausted! And I had a whopping headache.

This morning Jim let me sleep in and took Robert to the grocery store. After they got back I got up and we gave Jim his Father’s Day present. He got two Dad t-shirts, a recordable picture frame, a book and cards from everyone. It wasn’t the hammock or the I-Touch I wanted to get him this year but when the cat has $360 worth of surgery, it really whacks into the gift giving budget. Jim loved it all anyway.

The rest of the day has been spent resting and spending time together. I know every night this week will be late ones for me with all the stuff to do for the auction so I’m trying to get rested.

Just Wondering

Cosmo was supposed to have his surgery around 7:30am and they thought it would take about 30 minutes. It’s now 9:30 and I haven’t heard from the vet’s office. At what time is it safe to call without being referred to as “that crazy cat lady”.

It stormed here last night and all I could think about was Cosmo locked in a kennel (which he HATES) and stuck listening to barkign dogs. Then it occured to me the tornado that came through a few months ago hit right over by the vets office. I was so close to going and “liberating” Cosmo more than once. I just want him fixed and home, where he belongs!

In happier news, Robert is 8 months old today. Where does the time go???

My Poor Kitty

I came home tonight and was playing with Robert in the living room. Cosmo wandered in and was laying on the bottom of the coffee table when I looked over and saw something on his leg. Upon further inspection he had a 1″ slit in the skin on his leg and I was looking at the muscle. No blood, he wasn’t upset but this could not be good. He didn’t mind when I picked him up or touched the leg. He had been running to the door when I came through it.

I got out the cat carrier and put him in it.. he hates the cat carrier. I picked it up, grabbed Robert and we headed to the vets office. On the way I called Jim and told him to meet me there. The doctor told me that it was over four hours old and generally they wouldn’t suture it but since it was in a bendy part on the leg he wanted to sew it up. So, Mr. Cosmo is at the animal hospital tonight…. he hates being away from home. And tomorrow morning he’ll have surgery. Then he’ll have to have a bandage and take it easy for 10-14 days and wear a cone… he will really hate that. Hopefully he will be able to come home Saturday. For the life of us we can’t figure out what happened to him. We’ve found no blood. Harley was penned up in the bedroom so it wasn’t her. Cosmo is a strictly indoor cat so it wasn’t another varmint.

I think for his recovery we’ll make the spare bedroom his. He’s not supposed to jump a lot or run so he’s not going to have full run of the house. We’ll make him comfy and give him lots of love. I’m ready for him to be back home.

Too Much To Do

It’s been a tremendously busy week and it’s only getting busier. Monday Robert was sick and I had some car problems. I have a meeting tonight out at the retirement village my Grandmother lives at so I’m taking Robert along so she can see him. That’s going to make a long day for him but he loves being out among people.

The auction is 8 days away. The caterer won’t return my phone call. I’m waiting for sponsor checks that have been pledged for months to come in so that I can pay said caterer. I have a ton of photos I need to take today so I can do the slide presentations and the take away materials. Friday night I’m at the hotel with the golf group partying (ugh) and then 7am is the start of the golf tournament. Then I have about 100 miles of errands to do (at $4.00 per gallon). Father’s Day is Sunday and I know what I want to make for Jim so that will probably be up late tomorrow night to finish. Is it the 20th yet???

Love this picture of Robert & Jim… Robert loves snuggling with his Dad.

I swear he knows how to say “mama” and just prefers to laugh at me when I try to get him to say it.

We had a super busy weekend. Saturday Robert was up bright and early at 7am. So much for him sleeping in. While he was taking his morning nap Jim, Erika and I played in the pool. Of course, Harley had to join in the fun.

We finished our pool fun and it was time to start getting ready to go. After everyone was showered and dressed we headed out to the Legends for some lunch and shopping. Robert thought he should order off the big people’s menu.

At about 3:30 we met up with my Mom, Donald, Bob, Sherry, Ann & Ward to bet on the horses and wait for the Belmont. We had some small wins but no real big winner. The building was HOT but we had a great time. After the races we headed over to Ann’s for a BBQ. Robert was totally exhausted but woke up the minute he saw his Granny. He put on quite the show.

We got home about 8:30 and he was finally asleep by 9:30. Today he slept in until 8. Today was housework day — yuck! But it has to be done. Of course, the minute I swept, vacuumed and mopped the hardwoods Harley went and laid down on them. Grrrr. The amount of fur that can build up in this house in a short amount of time is incredible.

The next two weeks at work are going to be incredibly busy. Next Saturday I have a golf tournament in a small town about 30 miles from here with a pre-party the night before so I’ll be staying at the Super 8 — yee ha. I hate that it will be time away from my boys but it’s not economically feasible to kennel the dog, plus it will be too hot for Robert to be at the golf course.

I’m thinking of surprising Jim with a trip to a steakhouse an hour or so away for Father’s Day. More on that later. Gotta go catch the rest of Ice Road Truckers… I love this show!

A Great Night

I picked up my niece after work today. It seems like every time she comes to spend the night it’s always crisis mode, she’s had a fight with her mother and comes here to cool off. When you have no notice that you’re getting a teen age guest for the night it’s hard to plan fun stuff. Her brother generally plans better and we go and do fun stuff. Since we knew she was coming we planned a night!

First stop was Target, of course. Needed a whole slew of baby stuff as usual. Then we headed to Roxanne’s Cafe for dinner (we let Erika choose). Then we headed to Parkville to play miniature golf. I forgot the the course, which is built on a hill, is all steps, not paths. So, we hauled the stroller up and down steps. It was quite a work out!

We finished up with the golf just in time to get to the gelatto store before it closed. Parkville has the best gelatto! Erika hadn’t had gelatto before and neither had Robert… they both really enjoyed it! We got home at 9:15 and Robert who had slept in the car was wide awake. It took about 30 minutes to get him out again. The poor kid had only taken one hour nap today so I have a feeling he may sleep in tomorrow!

Tomorrow we’ll go to the races and Erika will go home with my Mom who hopefully she’ll spend a lot of time with this summer.. they both need it.