Gone Off the Edge

The big news of today? Mom Jumped Off the Diving Board. Really now. The Catholic Youngsters have been getting onto me all summer for lounging poolside reading those favorite novels of mine but NOT GETTING INTO THE POOL. So today I actually took the plunge:

Not so bad after all! (Ok so I held my nose and had a tag sticking out of my bikini bottoms, but who said I couldn’t be a total dork while jumping?)

Gone All Loopy for Fall

Now is precisely that time of the summer when temps bust 90+ degrees for the gazillionth day in a row, pools are completely packed, kids get antsy to head back to school so they can reconnect with friends, and I’m all like:

I’ve had enough of this whole summer business! Bring on school! Fall! FOOTBALL! Heck, turtleneck weather even sounds good!

So glad that’s out. *whew* Feeling much better now.

That ‘Must Take’ Photo

After spending much of the day watching Michael Jackson’s memorial service on television and zipping across town to Catholic Son’s baritone lesson with Mr. George, we broke down and found ourselves at the pool for the 19th time this summer. And what would a pool visit be without a certain mom standing poolside ready and waiting to snap a photo of that classic CANNON BALL jump off the diving board? All empty-like, I know.

Frozen Surprises

Yes, today marks the 18th time we’ve visited the pool this summer. Only, guess what? Now we’re in on the big secret:
Free SLUSHIES & red tongues after 6:00 p.m.!

Gnashing of Teeth

Where in the world has this whole Sunday gone anyway? Oh yes, now I remember. After a late night of celebrating Independence Day, the Catholic Peeps and I woke up to Hubs’ Famous Breakfast Smörgåsbord of Belgian waffles (kids), bacon (girlie & me), veggie omelet (hubs & me) and english muffin (hubs). Then we spent the rest of the morning watching Federer beat squeak past a local favorite, Roddick, at Wimbledon. Last and probably least, the four of us enjoyed a relaxing frustrating afternoon at the pool, where we dodged 4-letter words tossed around the deep-end area by a slew of teens who received no less than 3 verbal warnings and scathing looks from nearby adults attempting to sunbathe peacefully beside the pool. *Ugh.*

Reminds me of a song, “Every party has a pooper that’s why we invited you…” (From movie: Father of the Bride)

All Washed Up

Plan for the Day: tennis, grocery store trip, lunch, bathroom cleaning, pool, dinner, free time.

Actual Events: tennis, grocery store trip, bathroom cleaning, lunch, pool shopping for water toys at Kmart, water play in backyard, dinner outside on deck, free time/instrument practice.

About that lost pool time? Well, we arrived at the pool as scheduled only to turn around and leave after learning that a swimmer had been sick lost their lunch in the pool, thus explaining Plan B: buying pool toys at Kmart and having our own water fun at home in the backyard.

Flexibility and Slip ‘n Slides are such good things:

Freaky Friday Jump

Simple pleasures in life sure do make the world go ’round, like doing a little twisty-spin-jump off the diving board. Summer fun.

Father’s Day: Part 2

Our plan for Catholic Hubs’ Father’s Day celebration went off smoothly right out of the gate with a homemade French toast breakfast complete with sausage, bacon, and juice. While the CK’s and I read the Sunday comics together, CH browsed through the rest of the newspaper and licked his plate clean, the sign of a fairly decadent meal. Then it was gift showering time with gifts that included a Gorillapod, remote cooking thermometer and NEBRASKA t-shirt. What a perfect way to pamper that guy – we’re that good.

But we weren’t done with his Dad Day Wish List yet. Oh no we weren’t. With an afternoon of swimming at the pool for burning-off-energy goodness, Hubs’ favorite Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que ribs meal awaited. We got that guy completely sauced, and he loved every finger lickin’ minute of it… as did nearly every other Dad/Grandfather in town by the looks of the line waiting for tables as we left the building. Carnivores.

Chlorine is SO Underrated

A big huge laundry list of errands awaited me from the minute I tumbled out of bed this morning, and I was bound and determined to get every single one of those buggers done, willing participants or not:

• Walgreens – need for Father’s Day gift cards, bar soap, and a box of Lactaid
• Bank – deposit client checks and essentially ‘getting paid’ for consulting
• Post Office – mail Father’s Day cards to Dads in New Mexico and Minnesota, along with a Junie B. Jones Paperback swap request
• Target – buy ground turkey, contact saline solution, Vic’s popcorn, Nesquik, cheese Bagel Bites, spinach & cheese Savorings, shampoo, conditioner, bottled water, cinnamon rolls and a frozen Boston Market Salisbury Steak meal.

Back home, again we found ourselves eating another one of our famous smörgåsbord quickie lunches before taking off to CG’s ‘tween’ pottery class. Catholic Son and I bonded over renewing his card at the library and shopping for printer toner at Office Max. The love was all around when the HPLJ printer spit out that crisp test page, let me tell you.

Then before anyone could ask “What’s for dinner?” I’d whipped up a full blown meal of Turkey Cheeseburger Helper with fresh sweet corn and Hawaiian dinner rolls. Amazing what a person can do with a box of Hamburger Helper when in a bind, isn’t it? Anyway, we filled up and somehow Incognito Mom walked away from dinner having agreed to take the CK’s to the pool for a late afternoon swim. Ah well, who could complain about some leisurely time beside the pool, sitting and watching kids expend some of that pent-up energy, hanging out with friends, throwing around a sopping wet pool ball and playing a game of Marco Polo for the umpteenth time?

It’s all chlorinated summer goodness.

Sleepy Sunday Swimmers

Is it really only the 2nd Sunday of June? Good Lord, we’ve been so busy that it seems like so much longer already. But nope. Summer’s still here and with plenty more to go. On the down side, this weekend found Catholic Hub’s manning the Corps office, leaving me to fly solo in the family breakfast-making department. But hey, no problemo, as I can bake a pretty mean batch of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, brew espresso and serve juice like nobody’s business. The Catholic Kids and I wolfed those babies down while reading the funnies together… wishing Hubs were there, of course. We’ll make up for it next weekend. (Father’s Day!)

So then what? Well, I made good on my weekend workout routine and hit the elliptical hard, burning 700+ calories in the process, all while the kiddos got involved with this new PC game called ‘Spore’ that CG purchased with her allowance. Keeping a close eye on that one after reading Common Sense Media’s review. It’s not exactly a G-rated game, but CG is fully aware of her limitations. Anyway, soon after my workout Hubs returned home for lunch to find me ready to actually eat the table — having an extra hand in the kitchen with Mom collapsing from hunger does a family (and table) good.

The afternoon spiraled right past us at lightening speed with meal-planning and grocery-shopping in preparation for the week. But then after finishing up several loads of laundry, I managed to strike a deal with 2 antsy youngsters: kitchen clean-up, instrument practice, bag packing, and only then will there be pool swimming, during which time my personal plan was to disappear into a good book and upload mobile pics to Facebook. Plan was a success, and that extra energy burned off sent people to dreamland totally exhausted tonight, the perfect way to end this summer weekend.

Tomorrow: Tennis lessons & more IT phone consulting for the Sistah-hood.