Phone calls from home…

The glamorous life on tour:  Cleveland in January. 9 degrees. Ice, lots of ice. With the exception of the couple that lived in the building across from my hotel that left their blinds open 24/7 for the entire world to see “nature”…it was a really lonely weekend away from my family.

Hilarities at Pickwick and Frolic is one of my absolute favorite clubs in the country. That's the only reason I brave the horrific weather in Cleveland.

When I’m on the road, my cell phone is my life-line back to my family. I’m so thankful for its invention. When Mark and I first dated, there was no such miracle. We lived 2000 miles from each other for the first 2 years of our relationship and had to pay long-distance charges for each and every call. We would average $400. each most months.  Sure, that’s the “safest” our love-life has ever been but I think a 900 number would have been way cheaper.

Calls from my sons have changed along with their ability to talk. Teaching my boys baby sign language made for really challenging phone calls. Mark would hold the phone while Nate would sign, “want Mommy” and “I love you, Mommy” to the receiver. It would have been great if Mark had learned the signs along with the boys.

“What’s he signing, Mark?”

“Uhhh…umm…grab my chin. I think he’s saying, ‘grab my chin’ to you.”

“Really? Well, I’ve never taught him either of those words, so I’m guessing it’s something else.”

“Well, he’s pulling his two hands into himself then he touches his chin with the thumb of his open hand.”

“Yeah, he’s saying, ‘I want Mommy.’ Gee…I wonder why?”

I don’t know why sign language is so hard for Mark. He’s practically fluent in French (and English). During a beautiful symphony once, I gave Mark the short hand sign for “I love you” which is your palm facing out with the thumb, pointer and pinkie fingers up and the middle and ring finger down. He smiled at me and nodded. After the concert was over he said, “Hey, why did you give me the Spiderman hand?”  {sigh}

So now Zekey likes to hold the phone. He’s 2 so his conversations consist of him counting the numbers on the phone as he pushes them. When I hear the tone of the button being pushed, I yell, “AAAahhhh!” like he poked me. This makes him laugh uncontrollably and I get to hear his sweet little cackle.

Nate and I can actually have a conversation but it’s still hard to understand him sometimes. Thankfully, Mark is there to interpret.

“Hi, Nate! How are you?”

“I’m good, Mommy. I miss you. I got to eat sand at the park today.”

“WHAT? What did he say, Mark?”

“He said he got to meet Sam at the park today.”

“Oh! That’s nice, Nate. Did you have fun with Sam?”

“Yes, but I got sad because Daddy wouldn’t let me take the tick home with us.”

“Mark! Why are you letting him play with Ticks? Are you crazy?”

“Stick. I wouldn’t let him take the STICK  home because he threw it.”
“Oh. Sorry.”

“Mommy? We have to go now because Daddy bought a hammock for the dragon.”

{laughing hysterically} “Mark! It sounded like Nate said, you bought a hammock for the dragon!”

Mark bought a hammock for the dragon.

 

R.I.P. Spiny Back

Well, folks, I’m sorry to report… it ended badly. Spiny Back is no more. Mark peeled off his rubber gloves; removed his mask and scrubs and sulked into the waiting living room with the bad news:

“He’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

{with disbelief that I wasn’t pacing the floor, waiting for the news} “SPINY BACK! You know, the Bearded Dragon I’ve been trying to save for 3 weeks?  Yeah, he’s passed.”

“Are you sure? Remember how he likes to come back from the dead?”

“How can you make jokes at a time like this? I’m really upset.”

“Why are you upset, Daddy?”

“Well, Nate, I have some bad news. Spiny Back has gone to Heaven.”

“Again? Are you sure, Daddy? Maybe he’s playing a joke on you again.”

{sigh} “I’m going to give him a respectful burial outside…Nate, do you want to come with me?”

“Sure. Can we wait until after Phineas and Ferb, Daddy?”

Spiny Back's final resting spot had to be kept a secret from our dog, Dublin and our youngest son, Zeke and his new shovel.

After about 10 minutes, Nate came back into the house by himself. When he saw me he started crying uncontrollably.

“MOMMY! I don’t like funerals!”

“Aaahh, no one does, Nate. I’m so sorry. Funerals are very sad. Are you sad because you’re gonna miss Spiny Back? Is that why you’re crying? Because Spiny Back went to Heaven?”

“NO!” {crying harder}

“Are you sad because we have to tell all your friends and teachers at school that Spiny Back didn’t make it?”

“NO!” {beyond hysterical} “I’m so sad because when we went out to the woods to bury Spiny Back, I tripped and scraped my face on a tree branch!”

A Kindergartener’s mourning period is significantly shorter than that of the adult man that’s been trying in vain to nurse the lizard back to health. I know I have a tendency to exaggerate just a wee bit from time to time, but you be the judge and tell me if you think this was a bit on the excessive/obsessive  side:

$160. for a Bearded Dragon “kit” which included a huge tank, lid, UV light, day heat light, night heat lamp, food, bedding, food and water dishes, thermometer/humidity gauge.  (Please remember that the lizard came to us with a tank already. You should have heard Mark’s sales pitch on why we needed the new one.)

$128. for the FIRST Vet. bill. Yes, you read that right…there was more than one. This included a shot of calcium for his metabolic bone disease; liquid calcium medicine that had to be administered 2x a day with a syringe and we had to hydrate him with fluids. This is the same man who when I was sick on the couch for a week, threw aspirin at me from across the room.

$42. to have silk worms, wax worms and butter worms FED EXED here from California! (I reminded him at this point that a new, healthy Bearded Dragon could be purchased for $3. less. I know…but I was having a bad day.)

$31. for the final Vet. bill and he didn’t even see the Lizard…just his poop! Yup. Mark not only scooped up, bagged and labeled lizard poop but he drove it over 40 minutes each way to present it with pride to be analyzed. This wasn’t just any lizard poop. This poop was joyously received after 3 days of worry, coaxing and massage. Don’t believe me? I have photos:

First, Mark gave Spiny Back a warm bath. He's lovingly holding his head above water so he doesn't drown.

Then Mark gently rubbed his belly with a soft tooth-brush. Hey, wait a minute...I'm the only one that uses a soft tooth-brush in this house. ARRGGGRRR...

"Hey look...he likes it!" "Yeah, well I'm gonna leave you two alone, Mark. This just went way past creepy."

...and we have poop, Ladies and Gentlemen. Mark came out of the bedroom with tears in his eyes, "Honey, great news! It worked! Spiny Back pooped!" That was 5 more words than he said to our families when our sons were born.

And the results of the fecal exam? Lots of parasites. Poor little guy was infested with them. (OK, so I felt a little bad for him. No one should ever have to go through that. Ew.)

So, despite the anti-parasite meds, the high protein food fed to him through a syringe and the gentle words of encouragement from my husband, Spiny Back was laid to rest on Jan. 10, 2010. He is survived by us and the Celebration Montessori Coral room. He will be missed.

Think this is the end of the story? Oh, no my friend. Turns out this was an elaborate plot by my husband:

Spiny Back wasn’t in the ground 3 hours and Mark says, “Hey, did you know Repticon is this weekend?” “No, but I’m guessing you did.” My stomach did a flip as my mind raced back over all the seemingly random events that led up to this moment.

This weekend, I stood in the doorway of my home, saying goodbye to my husband and son who were leaving with an empty aquarium and 2 tickets to Repticon clutched in their fists.

Everyone...this is Spike. Spike...this is everyone.

 

It’s the thought that counts…

I’ve had my Oprah “Mommy aha moment” this Christmas season.

Karma. It’s all about life lessons, my friends.  I’ll admit it, my pre-mom days were filled with judgement. Everywhere I went I sat in judgement of my fellow “sistas”. Especially if I was with my best friends.

“OMG, what was she thinking when she bought those earrings?”

“Obviously she wasn’t thinking. Maybe they were on sale.”

“They could have been free and come with a matching car and I wouldn’t have taken them!”

“Maybe her seeing eye dog picked them out for her.”

Hard to admit but owning it is part of my redemption and warning to all you young girls out there. Learn from my mistakes…

Oh, Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree...here comes trouble times 2.

Christmas came with all the usual rituals. Tree trimming, house trimming and hair trimming.  Mark and I promised each other that we wouldn’t go overboard like we did last year and the year before that…and the year before that…infinity. I even arranged a toy swap with the other Moms in Celebration so we would be getting rid of the same amount of toys we were bringing in. It was a huge hit and so much fun.

1st annual toy swap...free, free, free!

Leapsters and t-balls and bears...oh, my!

Lots of snacks, wine and music by DJ Wendy. And did I mention the free toys?

I thought my Christmas shopping was done, then Nate left his “10 favorite Star Wars Galactic Heros” on the airplane when we went to Wisconsin to visit Mark’s family. When he sat on Santa’s lap, all he wanted was “My bag of my most favoritest Star Wars characters back.” Santa looked up at me and said with his eyes, “So what do you want me to say, Lady?” I was quite impressed with his ability to transport such an intricate message with just the twinkle in his eyes. I nodded, giving Santa the green light. “Don’t worry, Nate. I’ll put my Elves on it right away. They’ll find your missing Star Wars Guys.” {sigh} So the shopping continued.

And history repeats itself. Hello, excessive.

Usually, Mark and I will take Nate to the store separately and steer him towards a gift for each other. “Wouldn’t Daddy love this new ratchet set, Nate?”  “Nate, don’t you think Mommy wants a new aquarium to keep all the lizards we catch in?” eh, hem…

But this year was different. Nate told me that he wanted to buy us presents “all by myself, with my own money that I saved in my piggy bank.” Are you kidding me? I almost did an actual spit-take.  “OK, Nate. I have the perfect place for you.” I explained to him that I had read in our town newspaper that they were sponsoring a “Kid’s night of shopping” at the community center.  When we got there, I signed him in and gave him $20.

“You have $10. to spend on Mommy and $10. to spend on Daddy, OK, Nate?”

“OK, Mommy.”

“Do you want me to go in with you?”

“NO! I’m a kindergartener, I can do it all by myself.”

“I know, Nate. You’re a very big boy. I’ll be right outside this door, OK?”

“Mommy, go talk to someone…I need a little privacy.”

“What the…? {sigh} OK, Nate. Have fun.”

He turned and walked away from me with his head held high and a bounce in his step.  I burst into tears. I felt like I had just sent him off to college. It was the weirdest thing. I couldn’t stop sobbing.

“Are you alright, Maryellen?”

{through sobs}”Yup. Just a proud Mommy moment, I guess.  Either that or I’m suddenly bi-polar.”

Nate shopping for me. OK, so I followed him...he never saw me...I have a very strong zoom, people.

I overheard Nate telling this guy, "My Daddy likes gadgets. Do you have any gadgets?"

The next room was the wrapping room. Volunteers helped the kids wrap their gifts. I don't know what Nate was saying but this woman couldn't stop laughing. That's my boy!

Nate's shopping done in under 30 minutes! Including the cookie/hot chocolate break.

I can’t remember when I’ve ever seen Nate that proud and excited. He rushed into the house yelling, “Daddy, Daddy! I’ve got a present for you but you can’t open it until Christmas. You better be good for goodness sakes!”

Christmas morning and Nate dives under the tree looking for his presents for us. “Here ya go, Mommy! This is the present I got for you with my money from my piggy bank that I picked out all by myself and you were crying happy.” I was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see what my son had picked out for me. What does he think I like? How does he think of me?

He was so excited he ripped the package open for me.

Not one, but 2 presents!

So next time you’re at the grocery store and you see a woman wearing big, green-glass ball dangling earrings and a faux-silver ring with a pink-beaded elastic band on her finger…don’t mock. Be jealous…be very, very jealous. You can only hope to be loved so much by a little boy that he spends every last cent in his piggy bank buying you “the most beautiful ring and earrings in the whole wide world.”

I hope your holidays were as stylishly happy as mine were.

Looks like my dear friend, Julia is to be envied as well! Check out how much her son loves her!

 

We’re guardians of a Bearded what??

When I got home from performing on NCL’s ship, the Pearl, I was met with huge hugs and smothered with “smooches” from my boys. (Mark, included!) The kind of welcoming committee I was hoping for.  Little did I know I was being softened for the real surprise:

“Mommy! Guess what? We get to watch Spiny Back for the entire Christmas holiday that we don’t go to school!”

“Spiny who?”

“Spiny BACK. The Bearded Dragon that lives in my classroom that everyone voted and picked the name Spiny Back that I raised my hand to tell everyone that name.”

“Wow. That’s awesome, Nate. ..um…where is Spiny Back right now?”

“In your bedroom.”

“mmm…hmmm…in my bedroom. Where is your father?”

“In your bedroom looking at him.”

Funny how this information was never mentioned in all the emails Mark and I exchanged when I was gone for a week.

My bedroom has been invaded! Notice my sewing machine just dumped under the table.

This is not the aquarium that Spiny Back came to us in…oh, no. This is a newly purchased, $180. setup that Mark and the boys had to get because, “Spiny Back’s feeling kinda low, Mommy!” Apparently, Nate’s teacher’s feel the same way about Spiny Back that I do. “Seriously? You have to feed them live crickets and meal worms? They need not one but three different kinds of lights on them and you expect me to reach into that cricket container and grab what???!!!”

How can I put this as gently as possible?  Spiny Back came to us with not many expectations that he would be returning. He was looking directly into the white light….Spiny Back was on his death-bed. He was laying completely flat with his arms and legs going the wrong way; his eyes were closed most of the time and he couldn’t lift his head. But that only made Mark want him to live more! We were in emergency, reptile-nursing-back-to-health mode.

Everything was cleaned with bleach and water and moved into the new deluxe bearded dragon habitat. I kept hearing the song, “Well we’re moving on up…!” from The Jeffersons. While Mark surfed the internet trying to figure out how to correctly “force feed a Bearded Dragon” I was stroking my sewing machine saying, “Don’t worry…it’s only temporary…”

Flash forward to Mark holding Spiny back in one hand and prying his mouth open with the other while I’m squeezing cut up meal worms out of a syringe, trying to aim them into his mouth.

“Mark, what did you use to cut up these worms?”
“The big kitchen knife, why”

“Where did you cut up these worms?”

“The cutting board, why?”

“I just wanted to know what we were going to throw away when we’re done.”

We got a little in him and he perked up a bit. Mark was thrilled. “I’m going to get him a cricket!” “Knock yourself out.” I told him. “I’m going to wrap some Christmas gifts. Remember Christmas? 3 days away…big holiday…family coming over?” After about 20 minutes, Mark came out of the bedroom completely dejected. “What’s wrong?” I asked him. “It’s just so sad. I put a cricket in with him and he just laid there. The cricket actually crawled up on his head and sat there, mocking him! Spiny Back’s self-confidence is completely shot. He’s humiliated.” “Mark, Honey…don’t take this the wrong way, but I think you may be projecting just a smidge.

Nothing was working. Spiny Back just laid back down with his head in the sand and closed his eyes. Didn’t look good. He was in the same position for over five hours and never moved.

Mark went to bed early, so I decided to check on him before I went to sleep. Still hadn’t moved. In fact, I couldn’t see any breathing. Uh, oh….was he gone? I tapped on the glass…nothing. I opened the lid (OK, so I was feeling a little bad for him.) and I nudged him with my pen. Nothing. I lifted him up with the pen and he was not responding at all. His arms were stiff, his eyes were closed and he wasn’t breathing. He was gone.

“Mark..wake up!”

“What?”

“Spiny Back is gone.”

“What? How could he get out?”

“No! Not gone…he’s expired…”
“What?”

“Dead. Spiny Back is Dead, Mark. He’s gone to that big Lizard aquarium in the sky.”

“Oh, no…. really? How do you know?”

“He told me he was dead.  What do you mean, how do I know?  Not moving, not breathing…survey says…dead.”

“Oh, that’s horrible…OK, I’ll deal with it in the morning.”

I turned off all the heat, UV lights and went to bed. In the morning, I showed Mark the corps. He was just laying there all pitiful. “OH, NO! We have to tell Nate.” I remembered. Well, this will be a life lesson. All things die eventually. “Do you think we should have a funeral for him? We always did in my family.” Mark asked.  “Well in my family, if you were dead, you got tossed into the trash.  I had to swear to my Grandmother that I wouldn’t let Mom ‘toss her to the curb’ when it was her turn to go.”

” I think you’re right Mark,  it would be good to have a funeral to teach Nate and Zeke about life and death.”

“We probably shouldn’t show Zeke where we bury the body.”

“Yeah, you’re right. That wouldn’t be good…he’d definitely want to play the let’s dig up the box game.                              Here….what about this box, Mark?”

“He won’t fit in that…unless I pull a ‘Dexter’ on him.”

“Very funny. Here, use this one. It’s even black.”

“Nate…can you come here for a minute?”

“What is it, Daddy?”

“uh…er…um…Mommy wants to tell you something.”

“MARK! OK, listen Nate. You know Spiny Back wasn’t feeling very well. He was pretty sick, right?”

“Right. He was feeling low. That’s what my teacher said.”

“Well, Daddy and Mommy did everything we could to help him but his little body just couldn’t be fixed.”

“Did he die, Mommy?”

“Yes, Nate. I’m sorry but Spiny Back died last night.”

“Is he in Heaven?”
“I think he is. What do you think, Nate?”

“Yeah, he’s in Heaven playing with all the other Bearded Dragons! That’s fun, right, Mommy?”

“I’m thinking if you’re a dead bearded dragon…that’s the place to be! So, listen…we’re gonna have a funeral for him.”

“What’s a funeral, Mommy?”

{sigh}”That’s kind of a …er…um…a goodbye party you have for people and pets when they die. You say goodbye to them and then bury the body in the ground.”

“Why, Mommy?”

“Why what, Nate.”

“Why do you bury the body in the ground?”

“So we’re not up to our chins in dead bearded dragons, Nate.”

So Mark took Nate into the bedroom with the box. ..

Mark reached into the cage and gently lifted up his body. Just as he was lowering him into the box, Spiny Back  whipped his head around, opened his eyes and looked Mark right in the eye!

“Mommy! Spiny Back is alive again! He came back alive!”

“Yes, it looks like he’s definitely alive, Nate but he didn’t come back alive (I hope) he just wasn’t dead.”

“But you and Daddy said…”

“I know, Nate but we were wrong. Don’t worry, we have lots of money put away for therapy sessions for you later in life.”

I don’t know if he was playing possum or if he was in a coma or what but Spiny Back is alive, Folks! And actually doing really well. Mark bought some tongs and fed him 6 crickets. He gulped them up and licked his chops.

Mark preparing breakfast for Spiny Back.

Spiny Back eyes his "coffin" and decides to eat some crickets. Hmmm...do you think that would work on a preschooler?

Head up, eyes open and belly full of crickets...if only my life were that simple.

I think we should rename him “Lazarus”.

Thank you, goodnight!

 

On the road again…

I’m sitting in the bowels of a cruise ship right now. In the crew internet corner of the crew mess (That’s an adjective, not a noun.) I’m working on the NCL Pearl this week. I love you all and love blogging to you but I can’t afford what they charge per minute to write anymore than these few words. (I’m using that money to send my boys to college) Lots to tell you, lots of photos…I shall return on Sat. night!

PS Please don’t forget to check in with Jedi Noah…he and his family need your support more than ever and I feel helpless out here!

 

What time is it? What season is it? Where am I?

One of the hardest parts of my job is all the traveling. Although I get to go lots of fun places, it can really throw you off mentally and physically. Last week was Lake Tahoe, the week before that was Las Vegas and the weekend before that was Ft. Myers Beach, FL. One day we’re swimming in the ocean, the next day we’re fighting off frost-bite.

The Pink Shell Resort in Ft. Myers Beach, FL...livin' the dream!

The theater that booked me (The Purple Heart Theater) graciously put us up at this beach front resort…the boys (Mark included) loved it! Our room had a screened room overlooking the ocean:

How amazing is this?

The only problem is I have a very rambunctious 2 year old that would climb the outside of the Empire State Building if I turned my head. How could I relax with him running around, smashing into the railings? A loop of the Eric Clapton song, “Tears in Heaven” played in my head the entire time we were there.

The beach is the world's largest "Etch a Sketch".

We could only occupy Zeke for 2 1/2 minute intervals. Then he would run full steam into the water, get knocked down by a wave and come up sputtering.

How much salt water can a 2 year old drink?

The club was an adventure.  I had no idea it was an outdoor theater. Actually, it was the booker’s backyard!

The Purple Heart Theater

They cooked dinner on an outside grill, so I literally performed at a backyard Barbeque! The audience was gracious and the owners went out of their way to make us feel at home…probably because it WAS their home!

 

Comfort items…our “other” family members.

Legally, we’re a family of four…but Mark and I know that there are 4 inanimate objects that are more dear to our children than we are most days.

Daddy, Zeke, "Bi & Ra".

I found this colorful “rag” at a consignment sale right before Zeke was born. Some crafty mom had made it to sell. I don’t really know why I bought it…it was a gut feeling. Destiny, I guess. When Zeke was a few months old and his little body was racked with reflux, I would rub this on his little forehead and put the mojo on him. He’s been hooked ever since. The “bink” was a suggestion from the doctor to help with his reflux…Mark and I secretly call it “The Plug”.

Nate and "Baby Dolphin"

Nate’s become a little more flexible in his old age (5). He has a rotating cast of stuffed baby animals. They all have very ingenious names: Baby Dolphin; Baby Manatee; Baby Beluga and Nicolette the leucistic gator (don’t ask). His other must-have is a baby washcloth, folded into a triangle (with the point facing up) covering his eyes. I’m sure his future wife will get a kick out of that. That started out of desperation. When Nate was a baby, he would scratch his face and eyes so bad we were sure Child Protective Services was going to show up any second. I tried those little baby mittens, socks, I even thought about having his finger nails removed by our vet. One night I just grabbed a baby washcloth and put it in his hands. He used it to rub his face instead of his nails! Ha! I’m a genius! (Turns out Nate was scratching because of a slight allergy to our dog, Dublin…oops! There goes that “Mother of the Year” award.)

Now, the problem with these “loveys” as some families call them is when you either forget or (God forbid) lose them. When the airline sent us to a hotel because of late/missed flights from Tahoe, we didn’t have Nate’s gator with us. She was in our checked luggage! (please learn from our mistake) All I can say is, Mark gets the “Necessity is the Dad of invention” award:

“Daddy? Where’s my gator and my rag?”

“I’m sorry, Nate…it’s in the suitcase.”

{voice starting to tremble} “Where’s our suitcase?”

“It’s on the plane, Nate.”

{bottom lip in full bloom}”How can I go to sleep without them, Daddy?”

“Wait here…I’ll be right back.”

Mark disappeared into the hotel bathroom and came out with a face towel tied into a knot and handed it to Nate.

“What’s this, Daddy?”

“That’s Knotty. He’s going to sleep with you tonight”

{painfully long pause…}

“OK. Thank you, Daddy.”

In my head there was a standing ovation, confetti cannons and a choir singing “Hallelujah!” I gave Mark a huge kiss right on the mouth.

Nate and "Knotty" in La-La Land...

When we turned off the lights and settled in for a 4 hour nap (thanks, Delta) we all said our goodnights.

“Goodnight, Nate, Goodnight Zeke..”

“Goodnight Mommy, Goodnight Daddy, Goodnight, Zekey”

{long pause…}

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Nate.”

“You forgot to say, Goodnight to Knotty”.

Mark and I laughed so hard we fell out of bed.

 

Tahoe…be careful what you ask for!

Originally, we had planned this trip with the Larkins. Their kids have never seen snow and we thought it would be so much fun to take all the kids sledding. When they had to back out of the trip to take care of Noah, we were all so disappointed. (THAT’S the understatement of the century). It was so hard to go without them.

But things have a weird way of working out…they canceled their reservations and got their money back. When we got to Tahoe, there was no snow. Plenty of cold, but no snow. I called Amber and told her, “Hey, you guys are missing absolutely nothing but boredom.  If you had come on this trip with us, your kids would still be saying they’ve never seen snow.”

This is what the trees looked like the entire week.

Mark and I struggled to find things for the kids to do all week. Ice skating was a bust (see below post) and when we tried to take them up the mountain to go sledding, we were told there was not enough snow to sled! I practically signed over my paycheck from the Improv to the arcade attendant just to keep the boys happy.

We put enough money in this machine to buy it 3 times over.

Wednesday was windy and freezing, but it was sunny. That tricked us into walking to the Lake.  The boys were so cold their tears almost froze on their little cheeks. The bathrooms were locked up for winter (who would be crazy enough to be here now?) so I had to change poor Zeke’s diaper on a bench outside. I’ve never seen that look on his face before and I hope I never see it again.

Cold sand...AAAHHHHH!!!

Nate kept asking his new friend, the goose, "How are you putting your butt in that cold water?"

I kept asking everyone to make it snow so my boys would have something to do. Every night on stage I would complain that there was no snow.   Well….the last night we were there (The Larkins were scheduled to leave the day before) it started to snow. It snowed all night long. The wind was blowing so hard it was mocking me. It was almost 50 mph! We tried to take Nate and Zeke outside to play in it but we didn’t last 7 minutes.

Nate asked Mark, "Daddy, can you make me a snowball really fast so I can go back inside?"

Zeke and Nate hover near the doors. "Mommy, if you stand here when someone opens the door, you get some warm coming out!"

It snowed the entire night and never stopped. The last tally was over 10 inches! It took us 2 1/2 hours to get down the mountain to the Reno airport. (normally takes 1 hr.)

This is what it looked like as we were leaving!

Our plane was late, so we missed our connection. They put us on a plane to Atlanta then a cheap hotel for 3 hours. Back to the airport to catch a 7am flight the next day. It felt like we were transported into the movie, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”. We just wanted to get home. Somewhere in the middle of the trip, Zeke had a melt down. He was just verbalizing how we all felt. When I overheard a woman saying, “Sheesh!  I can’t believe that woman has no control over her child”…it took all my strength and yoga breaths to keep me from calling 911 and saying, “Hello…you need to come help this woman…she’s stuck inside her carry on bag.”

28 hours after we started…we pulled into our driveway still chanting, “There’s no place like home…there’s no place like home…”

 

Lake Tahoe with family in-tow!

One of the best perks of my job is performing in some of the most beautiful places on earth. This week is one of them. Lake Tahoe takes my breath away every time I’ve been here. Granted, it’s altitude accounts for some of my breathlessness.

The view out our hotel window last night.

“Nate…come look out the window! It’s one of the most beautiful sunsets i’ve ever seen!”

“I’ve seen a sunset before, Mommy. I’m watching Darth Maul fight young Obi-Wan Kenobi when he had the braid”.

“Nate, please come look at the sunset…it’s really amazing!”

“No thank you, Mommy.”

“Nate, I’m not asking you…I’m telling you…come look out the window right now!”

“But Mommy…”

“RIGHT NOW! I promise you will like it more than the Darth Maul fight.”

{sighs…fists clenched at sides, Nate looks out window} “OK, I looked and I’m sorry to say that you are very wrong, Mommy…Darth Maul is much better than a sunset.”

I sincerely hope I don’t run into George Lucas anytime soon. I can’t afford the amount of money I’d have to put into the swear jar.

Nate & Mommy time on the ice.

“Mommy, all I ever wanted to do all my life was to ice skate…can we ice skate?”

“Sure, Nate! That’ll be fun. Let’s get dressed and go!”

The entire family went down to the ice rink this morning and stood at the ticket window with our jaws on the ground. It costs $20. each for adults and $15 for kids to skate! It would cost us $70. to fall on our butts for an hour!

“Nate, Daddy and Zeke are just gonna watch us skate.”

“Why?”

“Because we want to eat the rest of the week.”

I’ve only ice skated once before…with Mark at Rockafeller plaza in NYC. That was romantic and fun. Nate whining, “Mommy, I’m falling…I can’t do this…I want to go back to the hotel and watch Star Wars…” was the opposite of romantic and fun.

Nate and Mommy taking a break from falling to pose for a photo.

Why are life “lessons” so expensive?

Tomorrow is sledding down the mountain. Let’s see what we learn for $80.

 

Helping Noah…

I haven’t blogged in a few weeks because I’ve put all my energy into helping our dearest friends. Nate’s best pal in the world, Noah, has been diagnosed with Medullablastoma. He and his family are in the fight of their lives right now so that means our family is, too.

Nate and Noah

Dennis, Amber, Landin, Me, Zeke, Mark, Nate & Noah using the "Force"!

Please visit Noah’s blog: jedinoah for updates on his victories.  You can make a donation at any Bank of America. Just ask to deposit into the “Noah Larkin Medical Fund”.  Thank you in advance for your generosity and your prayers.