That was close

It's windy as heck but at least it isn't raining again. I had one sliver of the backyard and all of the front left to mow today. I just finished the front by the big tree and started to push the mower toward the gate to the backyard and CRRRRACK!



I was standing there 10 seconds before it fell.

Is there such a thing as a safety trim for old trees? I think we need one.

Lewis Black hits the nail

After playing the Today Show clip where Tom Cruise states so adamantly that "...there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance!", Lewis Black says, "Oh yeah? Well that what do you call what is happening to you right now?"

Pardon my French

But MERDE! It is storming outside tonight!!

6/30 Update: All's well. The network weather guys sure know how to get people all worked up!

Happy camper

tough guy.jpg
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

This little guy puts up a tough facade but it dawned on me today that I am asking a LOT of a five year old to get on a big school bus and ride to daycamp. He went to camp last year at the YMCA and had a wonderful time. 8 to 5 every day of swimming, toasting marshmallows, arts and crafts, archery, and general frolicking among the chicken-sized mosquitoes.

He was a little more apprehensive this year and after he got off the bus Monday afternoon, he refused to answer any questions about camp activities. Of course I assumed they must be beating him. But no. After supper he opened up about the kids in his group, archery (he got to shoot the arrow TWO TIMES!), swimming (you can't see anything but brown with the goggles on), and the mosquitoes (big, very big).

But in the middle of the day today I started thinking: It takes a lot of courage for a five year old boy to get on a bus with no one he knows, ride 45 minutes to get out and join a group of completely new kids and a couple of counselors he's never met before. Spidey, I am proud of you!

Tip to parents: An extra package of M and M's in the backpack goes a long way to quieting fears of the unknown.

Tikka speaks

"Oh Peggy I know you love me but you can't kiss me like that!"

Breaking away

There were a few tears a couple days ago because Spidey wanted his training wheels back on his bike but Gary was able to convince him to try riding again today. After about ten minutes of pushing up and down the sidewalk, away he went!

Sauce

We needed to clean the kids up good after supper at Davanni's tonight so we could go for a relaxing ride in our sweet minivan. I thought I was doing a sufficient job cleaning face, hands, and shirts and then I saw this:



That kid was enjoying his pizza!

Notes from Grandma's house

Among the many exciting and funny stories told by Tikka and Spidey about their visit to Ju Ju's house is this: According to Tikka, after dropping Spidey off at summer Bible school, Ju Ju took Tikka to the "doctor" who "painted her toes and put some powder on them." Grandma easily explained the "doctor paint[ing] toes" but we are all clueless as to what this mysterious powder might be.

Other highlights? Pooped in the potty -- twice. (Tikka, not me, thanks.)

Dear God in Heaven

I would like someone to provide an explanation as to how this came to reside in my laundry room. This disturbs me greatly.

Oranges at mile 23

A personal best for Mr. Bickerson but alas the oranges were all gone. It was the most beautiful day for watching or running a marathon.

These two were perfectly content to walk across the finish line 6 hours and 37 minutes after it started:



By no means would anyone ever mistake me for a fast runner, but when Mr. Bickerson and I finish a race together we always try to make it interesting for the crowd by sprinting and racing, or at least flailing the arms at the end.

Best wishes to all!

To my sister-in-law Dani, the Invincible Supermom and Poop Cleaner Upper: Happy Birthday! Run from your children for a day or six.

To my friend Mary, the Triathlete: Kick some hairdresser ass! And have FUN!

To my beloved hubby Gary, the Reluctant Marathon Man: You are gonna OWN the 11 minute mile, baby! And don't wear out your knee so much so that we can't cut the rug with Boogie Wonderland! Don't leave it ALL out on the course, 'k?

And to Mr. and Mrs. Bickerson: Happy Sweet 16th Anniversary to us! I never got a minivan as a present before. You know you're a mom when you can appreciate a sweet ride in a new minivan like that.

I think the dude got a job.

Remember The Dude? I think he's working in an office near my house. We live on the border of a commercial area and when the weather's nice we get a lot of walking traffic from people on break. I've seen this guy before and wondered about him because walks around the neighborhood topless (er, shirtless) at noon with business casual pants and shoes, long grey ponytail and a cloth (hemp) backpack filled with a bunch of frisbee golf discs. He walks, throws, picks them up, walks, throws, etc. It must be his way of coping with a cubicle. He really looks like the dude. I'm going to try to snap a secret picture of him next time I see him coming up the street.

If you were going to take your shirt off when you went on break would you do it in the elevator? On your way out the front door? On the street corner waiting for the light to change? I don't think there's a smooth way to do that around your coworkers.

Puppy love update

Look what I found today:

Peonies

Peonies
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

You can't kill peonies no matter how hard you try.

Ramblin' rose

Ramblin' rose
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

I failed to adequately winter protect two of the five rose bushes I planted last year. This is one that came through okay.

Puppy love

And they called it puppy love
Oh I guess they'll never know
How a young heart really feels
And why I love her so

And they called it puppy love
Just because we're in our teens
Tell them all oh please tell it isn't fair
To take away my only dream

I cry each night these tears for you
My tears are all in vain
I hope and I'll pray that baby some day
You'll be back in my arms once again

Someone help me, help me please
Is the answer up above
How can I, oh how can I tell them
This is not a puppy love

Someone help me, help me please
Is the answer up above
How can I, oh how can I tell them
This is not a puppy love

This is not a puppy love
This is not a puppy love (not a puppy love)
This is not a puppy love
This is not a puppy love

So my parents took my brother and me to the Iowa State Fair every year since I can remember. It must have been between 1973 and 1975, my mom and dad, detecting the passion I had inside for Donny Osmond, bought tickets to the Grandstand show with The Osmonds as headliners.

Can an 8 to 12 year-old lust after Donny Osmond? Oh, yes she can. And how! My babysitter, Tina and I used to sit in the living room after my brother had been put to bed and we would fantasize about The Osmond Brothers. We would imagine their tour bus breaking down on 6th Street in Chariton, Iowa right in front of my house. All of the brothers would come in and we would fix them popcorn and give them some pop while they waited for a tow truck to come and get their bus. Sometimes the tow truck was really busy. Sometimes the tow truck wouldn't arrive for HOURS. The Osmond Brothers would bring a keyboard and guitars in the house (and/or use my piano) and sing some hits to help pass the time. They would let Tina and me harmonize and sing some solos. They all thought we were great singers and frequently they would invite us to go on tour with them. Then we'd watch Sonny and Cher. Oh, we would have a good time.

(Tina was an awesome babysitter in general. I always had short hair as a kid and one time it had grown to a relatively long mid-neck length. Tina decided she could put my hair in a bun one night and she did! Oh, man I thought she was cool.)

Back to the fair. So the concert was awesome. Donny played a white upright piano with -- get this -- a realistic police light and siren/cherry thingy on TOP of the piano. Can you imagine how awesome it was? Non. Ce n'est pas possible! Suffice it to say it was tres awesome. It was so awesome that I went right home and purchased (by mail order) a replica of the hat Donny wore for the duration of the show.

Behold the hat.

I know. You're all speechless. And you're ready for this story to end, but wait! There's more!

Flash forward to 1994. My best grad school buddy and fellow Donny fanatic, Andrea and I treated ourselves to a day trip to Chicago as a graduation present to ourselves. Show? Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Star? None other than Donny Osmond himself!

Click on Donny's handsome face in this link for a real treat!

Hero

Napoleon Dynamite fans take note.

Testosterone

There was a lot of it on the deck this afternoon. It was a sample of what life might be like with four boys.



I am impressed with the amount of fighting that goes on while boys play. There was squirt gun shooting, plastic bat sword fighting, crying, yelling, wrestling, running, and furniture dismantling.



Strangely, nobody asked for crayons, play do, or paint.



I hid in the screened porch where, eventually, Tikka joined me.

Smile of the day, Part 2

Smile of the day, Part 2
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Mr. Bickerson always has a medium butterscotch dip cone at the DQ. Spidey likes variety so he tried the red, white, and blue star treat tonight. It was delicious. He said, "Dad, you're really missing out!"

I guess he was.

Smile of the day

Smile of the day
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Bickerson.

Weather scenes

Cumulonimbus
Rainy roadtrip to Starbuck's

The best babysitter in the world

Our first and most frequently used babysitter graduates from high school this week. The graduation fiesta was today. Living away from family, we were concerned about finding a good sitter when Spidey was on the way. I joked that I was ready to pay an RN to babysit to be sure we would have someone capable. Luckily my coworker and friend, Jean, has three daughters and she assured me early on that she could provide me with adequate babysittage. Julia has been fantastic.

That first night out in 2000, Spidey was almost five months old, and Mr. B, his mother and I went all of a half mile from home to eat dinner. I think we were gone only 45 minutes because I was so nervous about leaving my little guy. Came home; everything had gone well, and here we are five years later and it just feels like it was yesterday. Julia's mother warned me that time flies even faster when both kids are in school. I want to slow things down. It's already going fast enough.

Brush with comic greatness

There was nonstop laughing tonight at the ACME Comedy Club. Not only is Jim Gaffigan very, very funny, but he was very nice to allow the photo.

Mr. Bickerson and I had to stop on the way home to pick up some Hot Pockets.

The crappiest firepit in the world

We saw this on our way to the start line for the Gold Country Run this morning in the heart of the University of Minnesota's off-campus student housing. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, this one is good for two: Good times.


This was the house next door with the theater seating on the porch.


As for the run...here's Tikka working on her hammies and gluts:


And three of the cutest Bickersons:

Therapy for you

1. Enjoy!
2. Next on my list of bands I need to see: Trampled by Turtles
3. This one's for my bro: Brian Regan

Speaking of doing your duty

WARNING: Potty talk ahead.

Spidey has been taking care of his own business for several months now but tonight he requested my assistance in the bathroom. He wanted me to wipe him because "the last poop that came out was kinda hot and soury."

Do your duty

Went out on break tonight from dog training with my fellow puppy owners and their puppies. We have a scheduled break and we're supposed to encourage our dogs to relieve themselves in the designated area. It feels so demeaning to bend down and tell one's pup to "do your duty!" or "do your business!" in a cutesy voice. Isn't it bad enough I have to carry my dog's poop around in a plastic bag everywhere I go? I will not say it and give oodles of praise for my dog taking a dump. I'll do a lot of things but I will not stoop to that one. If Peggy has to poop or pee she can do it without me making a fool of myself.

As far as the housetraining goes, Peggy's got it. She has not had one accident inside since the second week I had her. Now Tikka, on the other hand, runs around most of the day with many verbal prompts from me and her brother to go sit on the toilet.

"I don't have to, Mommy! I SAID I DON'T HAVE TO PEE!" (She wants to tell me to f@!$-off; I can see it in her eyes.)

And, of course, there's Tikka pee all over this place.

None of my business

I don't know why I'm spending time reading about this story beyond the reason that Tom Cruise is in the entertainment business and he's suddenly become very interesting in a train wreck sort of way. I think the thing that bothers me most (again, why should I care?) is that he's being so public about his new relationship. He has kids from a previous marriage. I think that would stop me from going on Oprah and gushing about my new main squeeze. Wouldn't that make the kids feel bad? Or just weird? Or maybe that's just showbiz.

Picture of the day

Taken by our neighbor, George:

You can see that this puppy playtime is just about to come to a screeching halt.