God Rockin' The Free Fridge Repair

Man, I love how God sweats the little things. When I see Him pull off stuff like He did today, I'm reminded that the big things like which dude will be our next president? He's got that, man. I refuse to get worked up into a lather about it.

So here's today's praise report. I just love this one.

When we last left our hero, she had a defunct fridge. Well the GE guy showed up this morning just as I was pulling in the driveway after dropping Pokemon Boy off for his first day of 3rd grade and tossing Lil'Bro back into preschool after 4 weeks off. [Isn't it amazing how I can totally go tangential in one run-on sentence?] SuperNice GE Dude got to work on my fridge (somehow getting past the millions of magnets) and I went up into my office (with a quick little prayer asking God to make sure the guy wasn't a mass murderer).

After a few minutes, the guy asks me if the fridge came with the house (it did) and when I moved in (Sept 2005). He said, "Oh good," and went back to work. A short time later, he said, "Ok you're all set. The fridge should be back to normal by this afternoon." He explained what he had done and which part he had replaced. But he was already heading out the door. I said, "So will you guys send me a bill or how does this work?" He replied, "No, you're all set. The part was covered under a 3 year warranty so you're set." "I don't even have to pay you for YOUR time?" "Nope, it's all covered. Have a nice day."

After closing the door, I turned around, threw my hands up in the air and yelled, "God you totally ROCK!" Because the GE people had told my mom it would be $79 just for the guy to walk in my front door. I don't have that at the moment. So it was going to be credit card. Blyeck. That's already straining after my 2 week vacation. But oh well. That's life and I was ready to suck it up.

But God totally rocked the free fridge repair!!! How COOL is that? I've been asking God to help me get my finances stable again. But I had bigger prayer fish to fry so wasn't really worrying about it. And BAM! He comes through like that. I LOVE that! LOVE it.

Seriously, with The Creator of All Things and my mom on my side? How can I go wrong?

Today's Side Note: Since my mom worked so hard to clear out my fridge & freezer, she suggested I take the opportunity to clean it out. Yah. Great fun. But since I'm 42 and supposedly grown up, I decided to take her advice. So today I cleaned my fridge. Something I have only done in the past when I'm either moving or I've had a huge food mishap in the fridge. I thought I'd show you what it looks like with only the bare essentials in there. Sorry for the darkness - my flash wouldn't go off. Note how "essentials" apparently include Corona Light, Diet Coke (w/ Splenda), eggs, a big thing of ice coffee, a cup of milk, a thermometer, and left over pizza. And my freezer has like 952 freezer packs. Ok, maybe more like 12. But still...

Raise Your Hand If My Mom & Dad Rock

All of your hands should be raised. So get 'em UP there, people!

Let me just tell you how much my parents rock.

While the boys and I were in New England for two weeks, mom & dad kept an eye on the house. They took in the mail and let my bug guy in to spray. When I got home, my house was picked up and vacuumed. That nutty mom.

After getting home, I did my finances and realized I didn't have enough money to pay for the boys to go to day care for the rest of August. I was trying to decide whether to ask for a loan from my parents or to just keep the boys home. The former means debt - yah, I'm all set there, thanks. The latter means the boys would spend a mind-numbing 2 weeks in front of the TV and distracting me from work. Yick. My mom must have sensed I probably spent much more than I intended in Boston. Because that same night she said that she and dad had been thinking. Maybe they could just take the boys for the rest of the month. Normally, I would poo-poo such an idea. But I needed the help. So I took them up on it.

So for the past two weeks, mom has come over to pick up the boys, fed them breakfast & lunch and entertained them all day. I'd pick them up and they'd have a fort built in the living room with chairs and sheets. Or they'd be watching TV (which means dad couldn't watch the news). Or they'd be getting computer time on my parents' computer. That's a lot for my mom to take on. And also, when I'm 80, I doubt it will be real easy for me to have my space invaded every day for 2 weeks. Dad was awesome about it but I think it was a stretch for him.

On top of all of this, my mom would call up on days where she could tell I was getting pounded at work. She'd say, "How about you guys all eat dinner here tonight?" I tell you, when you need the help and someone sincerely offers it? It's just the most amazing feeling. So, very frequently, I have had full on home-cooked meals. I mean, meat, veggies, a full salad, some kind of bread. That's like Thanksgiving every DAY to me, folks!

The topper came today. On Sunday, I noticed things in my fridge were rather cool. Not cold. Cool. I thought perhaps I had left the fridge door cracked open while I went to church. But I had a feeling it was more. This morning, after cranking the dial up to coldest all night, it was still rather cool. And the freezer was cold. Not frozen. ARGH.

Mom came to get the boys and I was already pounding away at work. I told her quickly about my lack of cold food. She offered to call GE for me. Honestly, if she hadn't called them, I don't know when I would have had time to. And I'd have a fridge/freezer full of tepid bad food.

Mom got the model & serial numbers, called GE, told them the issues and made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Then, she called to offer a cooler full of ice and freezer packs. While she drove over, I called my next-door neighbor. She's a wonderful person and a good friend. I was hoping to just get a smidge of fridge/freezer space for my most vital perishables. Well, she has a full fridge/freezer in her garage that she uses to hold bottled water for her walks & workouts! It was EMPTY. And since I care for her dogs while she's gone, I have the code to her garage. She said, bring over your food.

So who do you think brought all the food over? Guess. Yup. MOM. She got my laundry basket and little red wagon and brought it all over there, load by load. And she brought me the ice chest so I could keep some milk and juice here for the morning.

Who's got the best parents in the whole freaking world?! That's RIGHT! BOO yah!

Oh and on a side note? My neighbor and I have decided we've stumbled onto the perfect weight-loss plan. It's called, "Move Your Food Over to Your Neighbor's House". Because after only an hour of the food being over there, it kept me from having ice cream I didn't need and from putting heavy cream in my coffee. We were joking that we might just switch out all our food. I mean A) you'd want to look healthy so you wouldn't want to store Oreos and Lindt dark chocolate at your neighbor's house. You'd be all [ding dong], "Oh yah, I was just stopping by for, like, four carrots." B) Even if you did have no shame and kept all the junk food, you wouldn't want to bug them every 15 minutes when you get bored or frustrated at work. So you'd only get the necessities like twice a day. It would keep that evil snacking thing way down. Yah, we're pretty sure we're on to something here.

Slip-N-Slide Saturday

Oh my goodness. When is the last time you just blew off a whole day setting up and playing with a Slip N Slide? Hmmm? Personally, I have never played with one. Yes, I've lived a sadly lacking life. Until this past weekend, that is.

When my Lil Sis Mom visited back in July, she gave Pokemon Boy a giant, three-lane Slip N Slide for his 8th birthday. We just set it up this past Saturday. It's a pain to set up and break down but man is it fun! It's not for anyone over 110 lbs (or 50 kg). Pokemon Boy made sure to point out to me that I was well over that limit. Ah the honesty of unjaded youth.

I couldn't launch myself down any of the lanes. But I found that the middle lane had water spouting on both sides. And the natural slope of my back yard formed some nice pools at one end of the thing. So I just plopped my self down, beached whale style, and laid there in the spray and shallow pools.

The boys made up stories about a giant wave monster (me) that they had to attack with various planes (the inflatable body boards that come with it) or artillery (the inflatable flags that come with it). I was very happy to periodically flail my feet about to splash them. I nearly fell asleep on it a couple of times. Those things are very relaxing.

Anyway, here are some shots from our afternoon of slipping, sliding, splashing and almost napping.

PokemonBoy doing some kind of ninja move on me

Lil'Bro and a FreezerPop defining summer

Dork in hat

Very cute wet boy in sunglasses

Seriously, it's pretty hard to say no to this face

Oh man, this was serious amounts of relaxing!

Silly Putty, Get Thee Behind Me!

Our house is now a No Silly Putty zone. Until today, it was allowed but only in the kitchen, on the tile or counters. The boys knew it wasn't allowed on the rug since it got left on the upstairs carpet over night a while ago. But young kids being the literal beings they are, it never occurred to them that this rule also meant 'keep the stuff off my microfiber ottoman and anything else that isn't a hard non-porous surface'. Silly how they can't read my mind.

So tonight, I finally tried the Getting Silly Putty Out of Microfiber Upholstery remedy that I found on the interweb (thank you Google and to whomever figured this remedy out and posted it all over the web). The remedy only talked about carpet. But I have to say, it is probably easier to execute on microfiber than carpet. I haven't tackled the upstairs carpet stain yet for that very reason.

A little rubbing alcohol on a damp washcloth takes the Silly Putty right out. It seems to have taken a bit of the microfiber dye, too (based on the tiny bit on the washcloth). But when it dries, I'll know for sure. It was bright yellow - the Silly Putty. The stuff on the upstairs carpet is that classic kind of weird lifeless pink stuff. Hopefully it won't stain.

So there's your home remedy tip for the day.

Wish You Were Here - Part...uh...The Last One (I Promise!)

I shouldn't be up blogging. I should be putting my kids to bed. But it's the last of summer vacation so I'll be a bad mommy so I can share more pix with you guys. Because I know you're just dying to see more.

There is one last leg of our time in Boston. I think I left you with our petting farm experience in New Hampster, yes? Oh wait. I checked. When last we left our heroic vacationing family, they had just returned to Boston. The invasion of KimmyJo's condo had begun!

My junior year college roommate is one of the very few people I'm still tight with from that college. Our friendship was a total accident that can still make us laugh to this day. But that's another post entirely.

KimmyJo is brave enough to let us all crash in her two-bedroom condo. In all honesty, it was her cat Iverson who was brave. He is very shy normally but seemed to really enjoy having two exuberant little boys to play with.


Wed Aug 6th
Having just returned to Boston the night before, we did another late morning sleep in. KimmyJo had to head to work early so she tiptoed around the two inflatable mattresses and me on the couch. She left early for her 13+ hr nurse day.

We lounged around with Iverson and watched some TV. I figured the New England Aquarium would be less packed later in the day. I am an idiot. We got there after lunch only to wait a good 40 minutes in line just to get tickets to get IN! I asked the boys to let me just buy tickets for us to all go with KimmyJo the next day. They weren't having it. It was a rather expensive hour-long visit. But in all honesty, that's just about all the aquarium two young boys can handle.

After hemorrhaging money for the tickets, souvenirs and parking, we drove out west of Boston to visit my ex's cousins and their cornucopia of cute kids. They all rock. And one cousin had her first daughter the day before I had Pokemon Boy. I call them "Birth Buddies". They - both being eight - think I'm a dork. It was an awesome cookout and hang session. Their family rocks. I'm glad I can still weasel my way in via the kids. Hee!

We headed back to KimmyJo's pretty late. She was still wrapping up at the hospital. And, I come to find out, it's her birthday! 13 hour work day or not, we were getting her a CAKE. We stopped off at the local Whole Foods and purchased a small work of art there.

KimmyJo came home to find that Pokemon Boy had made a scavenger hunt for her - searching for little sticky notes with the names of Ben 10 aliens on them. I thought she might be too tired for such an adventure but she loved it. She's a good auntie! Lil'Bro presented her with her penguin magnet from the Aquarium. I presented her with a glass of red wine. It's the best I could do. And let me tell you, that cake ROCKED. KimmyJo told us that she doesn't often celebrate her birthday. So this was the best birthday she had had in a few years. That made us all feel good.

We all stayed up late talking and hanging out. A full and wonderful day.


Thu Aug 7th
KimmyJo took the next few days off. It was so cool to have her with us. We had another sleep-in morning. Iverson was in heaven with this many people hanging out. He would claim my bed (a made up couch) every time I got up. He's so cute, I couldn't displace him.

After dawdling as long as we could, we headed out to meet our friend Sue at the Boston Children's Museum. This is such an awesome place. When we moved to Austin, we couldn't wait to get to their Children's Museum thinking it would rock maybe even more - because, you know, they do everything big down here. Apparently, they don't do children's museums big...at least not in Austin. It was rather disappointing compared to the wonder we were used to in Boston. Come on Texas! Step it UP, people!

Let me tell you about the Ginormous Climby Thing! I have a bunch of pictures of it but they don't do justice to the absolute towering majesty of the thing. It's about three stories high, I think. It's hard to see in the pictures. But each platform is wavy and carpeted. The stuff that looks like cargo netting is that plastic coated cable stuff, all linked together.


Pokemon Boy went all the way to the top and back down, twice. And it takes a while with that many kids squirming through there.

Lil'Bro was just over powered by the bigger kids. He's not aggressive enough to shove his way through. So he made it about my height and then came back down.

But seriously, that Ginormous Climby Thing? I want one in my house. Which means I have to get a bigger house. Dang. I must work on this plan.

Here's a couple more shots from the Children's Museum:
Pokemon Boy in the Construction Zone.

Lil'Bro in the Construction Zone



Fri Aug 8th
Another decadent & luxurious late morning awakening. Oh how I miss those. KimmyJo had planned on driving us down to a place called Castle Island to give the boys a dip in the Atlantic Ocean. But alas, the torrential downpours that started about 10 minutes into our car ride derailed those plans. Fortunately for us, the heavens opened as we sat at a red light right next to the Boston Museum of Science. Alrighty then. Another museum it is!

That place is all sorts of crazy huge. Honestly, you could spend one day walking around each wing of the place. We only went to one wing, really. The Blue Wing - the one with the life-sized TRex. Don't worry. It wasn't alive.

We accidentally hit an exhibit of New England native animals in the Green Wing while looking for the food wing. So Trish, I got to see a moose! Granted, it was dead, stuffed and behind glass. But it was a moose none the less!!! My pictures of said moose were blurry. So here are cute shots of my kids hugging the black bear.

Pokemon Boy hugging the friendly dead ol' black bear. Awwwww. What a cute dead ol' bear!

Lil'Bro trying to hide his laughter because he was mad at having to stand by the dead ol' bear. But I got him to laugh.


Sat Aug 9th
Time to head home. A sad moment because we're leaving everyone. But all three of us were ready to get back home to Texas. That towering lush greenery every where gets real old. (I kid!)

Once again, the boys enjoyed JetBlue's kid drugs (TV). I was a bit TV'd out so I did my Sudoku for most of the trip. Left lots of little eraser shavings on and around my seat.

Oh but here's the coolest part of this day! When we were boarding the plane in Boston, Lil' Bro looked in the cockpit and asked, "Is that the driver?" Yup, I replied. That's the driver. "Wow," he remarked. "They have a lot of buttons!" This got a chuckle from the pilot and flight attendant standing there. The flight attendant saw we were in the 4th row and told me to hang back when we get to Austin and they'd have the boys go in to see the cockpit. Sweet!

The boys were awesome the whole flight. When we got to Austin, we hung out in our seats while the rest of the place filed out. Then we went forward. I thought they'd just let the boys stand in there and look around. Nope. The pilot put each boy into one of the pilot chairs! He let them push any button they wanted and wiggle the joy sticks! He even let them talk briefly over the intercom. They were in heaven. I was so psyched because I thought they didn't do that any more. So what an awesome capper to our whole vacation!

My BigSis and her TallHubby were waiting at baggage claim for us. I had left my car with them for the two weeks. My sister was sad to return it to me - she had been spoiled having her own car for two weeks. But they had it washed (inside and out!) for me. AND filled it with gas!!! I told them I'll have to go away more often!

Then I get home, and my mom had cleaned and vacuumed my house!!! If I could just figure out a way to go away every week. Do I have the best family or WHAT?

Wish You Were Here - Part Deux

Now that I'm home, I can edit some pictures and regale you all with a very long winded account of more of our decadent two week vacation in New England. Ready? Actually, I have to go back and read where I left off. One moment...(insert Jeopardy music here)...

Ah yes:

Wed July 30th
No pictures for this day. Use your imaginations if you will. I dragged the boys to the car rental place and picked up our car. We got our things from the hotel, weeping a sad goodbye to the cushy luxury therein (sigh). We drove up to New Hampshire to my sister-in-law's house. I have to tell you, with all the rain they've been having along with the natural tendency for lush greenery, it was crazy towering green stuff. The tall green trees and soft grass were enough to make me start looking at all of the 'for sale' signs up there. Until - that is - I recall my sister-in-law calling me during our early Texas summer to complain about yet another 18 inch snow fall. Yick.

We got there safely and got to hang out with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. Which is odd - it's my ex's sister. And we're best friends. So she's really my friend. But she's my kids' aunt. And she's technically not really my sister-in-law any more. Either way, we're still family to each other. It was awesome being with her and her family. They rock.


Thu July 31st - Fri Aug 1st
On Thursday, the boys, my kinda-sorta-sis-in-law and I drove to the NH/VT border to meet my former mother-in-law. She was treating us all to a night at this killer gorgeous lakeside resort. She got us a big huge room with a balcony over looking the lake, the docks, and the little beach. Man, this place rocks and we're already talking about next year.

This is a view of our room. Two queen beds and a fold out couch.

Check out this bathroom! It was bigger than some hotel rooms I've stayed in!


It was rainy and overcast but it's so gorgeous up there, who cares! They have the lake, an indoor pool (which we used when it rained), an outdoor pool (which we never found), tennis courts, bikes you can sign out, canoes, row boats & kayaks you can borrow. You can rent a pontoon boat tour of the lake (which we did), rent a speed boat for skiing, tubing and/or wake boarding (we all went tubing - even my boys!). They have pails & shovels for the kids to use on the beach. You can borrow life jackets for the wee ones. They have a full golf course and a daytime kids activity camp type thing in case the parents are golfing (or just lame parents who don't want to really vacation with their kids). It really is an amazing place.

This lake view is a panorama from 4 different shots I took from our balcony. It totally rocked.


On Friday afternoon, we said our goodbyes, packed up and headed back to New Hampster. But that short visit was one of the punctuation marks of our trip! Thanks Nana Linda!!!


Sat Aug 2nd
After our romp in Vermont, we were ready to do nothing. We spent the day running around barefooted in Auntie's backyard enjoying that soft soft New England grass. The boys fought over who got the hammock and whose turn had been too long. Five of my six nieces & nephews all showed up with their significant others for a cookout.

The men (and I use that term loosely) played horseshoes. My boys learned how to not run in front of someone hucking a large curved piece of metal. We relaxed in the myriad of outdoor lounge chairs.

Lil' Bro is a quick study when it comes to chilling.


One of my nieces has a 16 month old son with the same name as Pokemon Boy. So that was fun - calling for the Big or Little one. We made and ate way too much food and it was just an awesome time. I love that my boys got to see and be with so many family members.

Here's a shot of Pokemon Boy and Baby E. She one niece's first baby. Which is so weird because my niece was 4 when I met her and I still think of her as a little red headed 6 yr old!



Sun Aug 3rd
Good grief. I knew I should have kept a journal while I was up there. I honestly can't remember what we did this day. And I have no pictures from this day. Oh wait...it slowly returns. It was our first day with nothing to do. So we slept in. We got up late and took our sweet time getting started. More bare footed enjoyment of the afore mentioned soft grass was had. We drove...somewhere. Can't recall where. Man, I'm getting old in my old age.

We did stop at the cute little general store in the town center to visit a "kid" I've known since 1991. This kid is now like 23 and out of college and is about 37 feet tall. He's a really awesome guy. He was amused to meet my kids. And I was amused to think that he was about Pokemon Boy's age when I first met him. Phew. Things like that can make me feel old. Except for the fact that I refuse to mentally age beyond 23.

Sunday night, my nephew and his awesome girlfriend (keep her, dude!) came to hang with my boys. My sis & bro-in-law took me out to dinner. We had - get this - TexMex! In New Hampshire. And it was pretty good, too. I love enchiladas no matter where they were made.


Mon Aug 4th
We had another sleep in morning with a nice slow start. We finally had some clear weather (lots of rain while we were up there). So sis-in-law took the boys and me to a local petting farm. My boys love animals. As long as they're on TV or in a movie. When they see them up close and personal (and climbing all over you to get the bag of feed you have), they're not such huge fans. Lil' Bro spent the whole time in the chicken coop with his hands firmly planted in his pockets. He liked watching the eggs hatch (under glass). He wouldn't handle the young chicks that were there for handling. The roosters and chickens were ok because they were behind chicken wire.

The bunnies were petted by both boys. Bunnies are safe. They are too tired to jump on you. Or too traumatized by the other kids that just left, shrieking. And if they do jump on you? Come on. They're BUNNIES, for the love of Pete. So I was happy to see at least one animal willingly touched.

Pokemon Boy did actually pet one sheep through a fence. They are overly zealous in their greeting skills due to the afore mentioned bags of feed they give you when you enter the place. They hear or smell it and come running. And if a small child is between them and the bag of feed? Woe to the small child. Lil' Bro became a pinball between about 4 such hungry sheep. But he survived to tell the tale.

Here is Auntie/Sis-In-Law, Random Sheep, Pokemon Boy & Lil' Bro.



Tue Aug 5th
Everyone had to go back to work. So the boys and I slept in, did some laundry, packed up the car and headed back to Boston. I will save the last leg of our trip for another post because I have to get to bed.

Wish You Were Here

Have I mentioned that I have the best travel companions in the world? The boys have proven to be amazing travelers. I was stressed about this trip because traveling alone with two kids, ages 8 and 4, rather sounds like a recipe for disaster. Not so. They have been amazing and we are having a GREAT time!

I'll give you some tidbits from the first part of our trip. I haven't downloaded the pictures from our recent foray into Vermont. So I'll just hit our first leg in Boston.


Sat July 26th
We flew from Texas to Boston. JetBlue rocks because of the free TV at every seat. I like to call it "Kid Drugs". The only peep out of kids are usually from little babies who can't clear their ears during take off and landing. My boys were awesome while waiting at the airport. They were awesome on the plane. They were awesome getting from the Boston airport to the hotel. They are enamored with taxis. They want to take one back to Texas. Riiiiight.

We stayed in a schwank hotel in Boston where dignitaries stay. We were in a small room but it was awesome and we loved it. It was central to everything we wanted to do.


Sun July 27th
The wonderful Trish and her Prince Charming came to our hotel to pick us up for church. The boys and I got to hang and see the Awesome Rowing Couple and their Amazing Three Year Old Girl (I have requested to arrange a marriage already).

After church, our good friend Art picked us up and took us back to our old 'hood to hang with him and his wife Alicia and their 2 1/2 week old twins! The twins are such good babies and are adorable. The boys loved holding them. We got to hang with them all day.

Pokemon Boy holding Baby M (the girl)

Lil' Bro holding Baby D (the boy)


Kristen, her husband A and her son R all came over a little later. R and Lil' Bro are the same age. They haven't seen each other since before they were two so it was an interesting reunion. Pokemon Boy and R got on famously, making silly faces for my camera. They all alternated between playing and holding the twins.

Kristen, R & Lil'Bro reading a book:


This was an awesome day because Trish, Alicia & Kristen have been the main pillars of my support from Boston. And I got to see all of them and their families. Total awesomeosity!


Mon July 28th
On Monday, I had to stop by my work office to drop off my laptop for fixing. I brought the kids and basically disrupted quite a few people's work day. It was lots of fun. Except one of my best friends and former bosses was out sick. Boo! But she hears about them all the time and actually instant messages with Pokemon Boy periodically. So it's not a huge heart break for her.

After the work stop, we got some lunch at a very fancy Boston eatery. Burger King. Oh yes. We travel all the way to Boston to hit Burger King. But limited budgets love that slop fest. And so do my kids because they are currently giving out Pokemon toys with the kids' meals.

We headed down the street to the Prudential building. One of the two tall towers in the Boston skyline. We went to the Skywalk observatory there and spent a couple of hours admiring the view and seeing the displays they have up there. It's much more amazing for adults but my kids were extremely patient and more interested than I had hoped. We had a really clear day for the view so I got to see my whole city.

After the Pru, we walked back toward the hotel (a long walk for a 4 yr old). It took us quite a while and we stopped in little stores here and there. Of course, we stopped in a Ben & Jerry's for some ice cream because, well, it's a Vermont company and I like to pretend the ice cream tastes fresher when you eat it in New England.

We also stopped by the Hancock Tower to take some cool pictures. That building is a fun buildling to photograph. Here are a few shots of us and that famous landmark.

Pokemon Boy & Hancock Tower

Lil'Bro & Hancock Tower


That pretty much took up our energy for the day. We met up with the boys' dad for dinner, which we all enjoyed. Then it was back to the hotel for TV and bed.


Tue July 29th
Tuesday morning, Pokemon Boy and I had an appointment with some people that run a Harvard study. We have been part of this study since I was pregnant with Pokemon Boy back in 1999. It was a 3 hr appointment full of testing and measuring for both of us. Pokemon Boy had some blood drawn, too. He was very brave. Lil' Bro stayed at the hotel with his dad.

After the appointment, Pokemon Boy and I met up with my ex, Lil' Bro and my college roomate, KimmyJo. We all had lunch together and hung out. KimmyJo hadn't seen my ex since it all began and told me she had imagined all of these things to say to him but they all just disappeared when she saw us all. My take is, I don't waste the energy any more. I have those same fantasies but I'm sure they are much more detailed and mean. But I just deal with him as the guy he is at the moment. Plus, KimmyJo is a real God-person so she knows about grace and forgiveness. It was nice to see it in action and they both had a genuinely nice visit.

The ex had to leave. We walked KimmyJo to Park Street station and parted ways. Then I took the boys to the Swan Boats in the Public Gardens. Man, I lived there for 20 years and only rode them once. They are so pretty and so fun. I like being a tourist in my old home town.

Self Portrait on Swan Boat

Pokemon Boy on Swan Boat

Lil'Bro on Swan Boat


All the walking wore us down. We went back to the hotel for computer time, TV and a quick power nap for mommy. The boys and I dined by ourselves at a nearby California Pizza Kitchen place. It was a good day.


More about New Hampshire & Vermont later.