What a DAY!

I spent a good part of the day today amazed at how mean and petty some people are. I was a little surprised to find that the little corner of the blogosphere I find myself in is actually a teeming pit of drama, nastiness, potshots, and otherwise uncivilized behavior. It's a lot like middle school, actually. I got drawn into it, though, following so-and-so's link to a blog about nothing, then clicking on another blogger's profile and following that never-ending trail. What absolutely kills me is that there are "cliques" or groups of bloggers that look down on other types of bloggers, either for their topics, their writing style, their motivation, and just the fact that they had the NERVE to start a blog at all. Definitely like middle schoolers. And even though it's two hours of my life I'm never getting back, I'll probably keep reading...what else would keep me occupied until I have actual middle schoolers to deal with? I may only have 11 followers, but at least none of them are psycho, like some of the bottom-feeders out there.

After all that excitement, the little guy woke up from his nap, the big guy came home from his job, and we headed out for a big night on the town--one that I had been promising for months and that Andrew had really been looking forward to. We were headed to see Up, which has landed at the cheap theater in town, and which Andrew has wanted to see since before it was released. The movie times were listed in the local paper as 4:30 and 8:05, and knowing 4:30 was out of the question, I made sure my little guy was well-rested and ready for a late night.

We did have one long put-off errand to take care of on the way: my car needed to be dropped off at the garage for diagnosis and repair. Tobye, at The Warrior Pose, recently posted about the brand new Tahoe she got and how happy she was to get rid of her mini-van, and I seethed with jealousy. Because, you see...I drive a 1986 (no, that's NOT a typo) Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. Yep, 1986. Really. (This one's not mine, but it looks just like it---only cleaner.)

Anyway, I'm not complaining (much), because it's a good, solid car, and I really don't drive much other than back and forth to school, which is really close. And the car only has 70,000 miles on it, amazingly enough. Oh yeah, and it was FREE, sort of an heirloom passed down to me a couple of years ago. So, I don't bitch about it TOO much. (P.S. to Tobye: I really AM happy for you!)

Anyway, there's a sensor or something that's gone kablooey, and the car sputters and stalls now and then, so it needs something. We loaded up, James driving the crapmobile and Andrew and me in the other family car. All went well...for a while. We got within 2 miles of our mechanical destination, and the car lay down and died in the middle of the street, in a left turn lane at a busy stoplight. Cuss. words. As I nearly died from embarrassment as my husband stood in the middle of the road waving people around us, the "idiot" light on the gas gauge in our car went on. Andrew and I were out of gas, and surely if we sat there helping/supporting him, we'd be stuck too. I'm telling you, I was in near panic attack mode at this point, but with no other choice, Andrew and I deserted James, and left him to fend for himself as he tried to call a tow truck. We gassed up and returned to the intersection to find a state trooper had stopped to help, and he pushed James and the Olds through the intersection to safety with the patrol car. The tow truck finally arrived, and with relief, we realized we had just enough time to grab a bite to eat and make the 8:05 movie.

After a quick bite at the local 50's throwback drive-in...actually, it's not a throwback, because it was actually here in the 50's (picture the Arnold's from Happy Days and you've got it)...we headed to the quaint, ancient downtown theater I love from my childhood, everyone looking forward to popcorn and the movie. Smiles on our faces, we arrived at about 7:50, only to see that the posted times for the movie are 4:30 and 7:05. 7:05. Seven-oh-five. There aren't enough cuss words in the English language to express what I felt at this point, but I optimistically opened the door to double check with the kid working the candy counter and to let him know politely that the #%&*@*&#% newspaper had 8:05 as the start time. His response? "Oh, that happens all the time." Clearly they have not witnessed the heartbreak of an almost 4 year-old who doesn't understand why they won't let him watch the movie I promised him, or they would be more effing careful, because it was brutal for a few minutes.

He got himself back together pretty quickly, and we decided to try the mall theater to see if anything appropriate was playing. The backup plan (which is now in place) was to return tomorrow night at the RIGHT time for the movie. But the big surprise at the mall was that it was National Night Out, and the parking lot was full of rescue vehicles and personnel, all there for the visiting. I think I've mentioned A's obsession with being a fire fighter? Well, there couldn't have been a better consolation prize, as you can see below. It's a shame our local newspaper didn't see fit to publicize that adaquately, either. (By the way, I'm a staunch supporter of the local paper, and hold on to daily deliveries in spite of the fact that I'd like to save the money...but today, they just SUCK.)

I can only watch Andrew climb in and out of so many different fire trucks, but THIS was pretty exciting--two firefighters from a local company simulating drop rescues (I made that up, but it sounds good, doesn't it?) from a crane about ten stories high...into a parking lot. No net. No mat. Scary sh*t, huh?

Long story short, thank you to the state trooper who rescued my husband and my car from the middle of the street. Thank you to the gozillions of EMTs, firefighters, conservation officers, school resource officers, sheriff's deputies, etc., that gave their time tonight just so my little guy could pretend for a few minutes, and that give their time every day and night to protect and serve. Well done, and we appreciate it.

BOO! The Halloween highlights...

Friday night was Andrew's first Halloween where he was fully up to speed on trick-or-treating. Last year, it was just a few neighbors and his babysitter. This year, it was ON!!

The costume was an obvious choice. The firefighter costume took almost a month to piece together. The hat, hatchet, and inflatable fire extinguisher were from Glen's Fair Price in Harrisonburg. The shirt and pants were from J.C. Penney. The "big rubber boots" were a last minute pickup from WalMart.

We had several stops on the agenda. First, we headed next door to see Mr. Lamb. Mr. Lamb is a card carrying member of the Andrew Fan Club and was happy to see us on his porch. Next up was a zip south to pillage a sub-division. Our third and fourth stops were back in Fort Vegas. Mrs. Baker, Andrew's old babysitter, was due a visit. Aunt Sharon and Uncle Silvio also requested a few minutes with a few minutes with the big boy.

Here are the highlights.

Here is Andrew with Mr. Lamb. The Twix whole wheat honey stix were TOP NOTCH! We'll be on the lookout for these at the store.

We were invited to trick or treat with our friends over in Verona. I promised Ali she could be on the blog if she donned the Darth Vader mask. Here you go! I'll also throw in a shout out to Amy, who was also promised a mention on the blog.

Next stop was Mrs. Baker's house for a quick visit. She was surprised I was taking pictures.

The last stop on the Andrew '08 express...no, wait, this isn't Election Day, this is Halloween. We headed to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Silvio's for a late snack.

And now it is Sunday night. Welcome to another week of hell. ---J

A very busy weekend!

Where to start?
Let's start with the weather. This is a shot of the kitchen thermometer before dinner on Thursday. Yes, that is 77 wonderful degrees in downtown Fort Vegas. It is hard to believe that I was outside in shorts. I tried that Saturday night while grilling steaks and almost froze my ass off. Wait, I digress...

First, my sister Katie and her boyfriend Danny swung by to visit on Thursday evening. I am such a moron that I took no pictures of the visit. Andrew was really happy to see his sandhole digging partner. He wanted Danny to help him dig in the sandbox!


Friday was a "fun night" for the kids at Tamara's school and she was signed up to work the event. Andrew and I had dinner at Burger King in Verona.

Saturday was beautiful except for the cool temp. We headed down to the Golden Kernel in Grottoes to enjoy a hayride and a trip to the pumpkin patch. Here is an interesting looking squash that they discovered just steps off the hayride. I am not exactly sure what you do with a squash that big. Do you fry it? Do you club someone over the head with it?

Anyway, we ambled through the fields looking for THE ONE. This field had pumpkins as far as the eye could see. There were also green pumpkins and more of these wacky squash.


Here are Andrew and Mommy after locating THE ONE. It was so heavy that Tam had to switch off with me to get it up the path. Yes, I know you are looking at that picture and asking yourself how big that bad boy really is. I am going to throw in a plug for anyone who lives around here - the Golden Kernel is great. The folks are nice, the pumpkins are GINORMOUS, they have a play area for the kids after the ride, the ... okay, I am rambling, but if you haven't gotten that pumpkin yet (or even if you have), go ahead on out and enjoy yourself.
We rode on to Harrisonburg to get Andrew some firefighter gear for Halloween (Thanks Glen's Fair Price!) and then rode around getting the Big A some shuteye. Saturday night was cold (30 degrees at one point in our neck of the woods).

Sunday was the long awaited open house at the Weyers Cave Fire Department. As many of you know, Andrew has spent the past few months becoming obsessed with anything having to do with firefighters. This is from watching "Fireman Sam", a show on Noggin. An opportunity to interact with real live firefighters was one we couldn't pass up.











Andrew spent the afternoon climbing on fire engines, talking to the firefighters, impressing the fire safety lady with his acumen, looking at the firefighting gear, taking a tour of the Fire Safety House, and generally absorbing the vibe. Every corner was something he thought was cool - it was really fun to watch him take it all in. While we were eating our free lunch, there was this low rumble approaching the fire station. Tam and I knew what it was, but the Big A had no idea his dream was about to come true.


The low rumble was coming from the local air rescue helicopter. It was flying over the building and heading for the field behind the station. For the boy who spends hours using any of his various toy helicopters to simulate the aerial exploits of Tom from "Fireman Sam", this was indeed a dream come true. The dream had to wait as the crowd seemed to multiply as soon as it dropped from the sky.



Yes, here he is, mission accomplished, goal met, lifelong dream fulfilled...he is sitting in the rescue helicopter. Okay, so he was only there for less than five minutes, but you could tell he was just taking it all in. He was also getting very sleepy, so we loaded up and headed for a little nap to get him some shuteye.

As for life in adult-land, the thermometer is going to go under 32 degrees again for sure. What happened to my 78 degrees just 75 hours ago? UGGGHHHH but it doesn't matter because Andrew had a wonderful weekend. ---J