To Be...Or Not To Be...?

That is always the question when it comes to Pal.

Pal has been a Cub Scout since First Grade, starting out in one Pack and then transferring at the end of 2nd grade to a bigger, better Pack with his best buddy. We had just moved here when Pal started Cub Scouts so we didn't really know that many people. This group of people - from the Cubmaster to the parents that are involved, have become some of our closest friends in this town.

So, when Pal was crossing over (or "graduating") from Cub Scouts as a Webelos II Scout on January 25th, the natural progression of scouting is for them to join Boy Scouts. There is a terrific Boy Scout Troop that is a continuation of our Cub Scout Pack, and it is all the same families that are involved. There were 6 Webelos II Scouts that would be crossing over. Except that Pal decided he doesn't want to be a Boy Scout. Figure in that Hubby is an Eagle Scout and credits his involvement with Scouts with keeping him out of trouble as a teen, (or most trouble, I should say!!) you can imagine that we were heartbroken. When your child doesn't want to do something that you've always dreamed you would do with them, a little part of you dies inside. I saw the utter disappointment in Hubby's eyes, but he had promised Pal that we wouldn't force him to do Boy Scouts.

Last week, things changed. Pal and Hubby were home (it was school vacation) and they decided to go shopping with all of Pal's gift cards that he got at Christmas. Pal had his heart set on a new video game system that cost more than the gift cards, so Hubby made a deal with him: I will front the rest of the money if you will TRY Boy Scouts. My initial reaction was "You just made a deal with the devil!". But, I could see how much Hubby wanted Pal to at least try it, with the hope that he will love it and stick with it. Unfortunately, this is NOT Pal's strength!

Last night was their first meeting and it seemed to go pretty well. I can only hope that the deal lasts and Pal doesn't try to back out of it. My sincere hope is that one day we will be at Pal's Eagle Scout Court of Honor and we will be telling everyone how he didn't even want to TRY Boy Scouts!

Wish us luck!
-G

This is the Crossing Over Ceremony for the Webelos II Scouts (Pal on far left)

Marathon Start

I feel like I have been running a marathon since I last blogged. (Okay, stop laughing NOW!). The last post was all about our Summer activities. Since then I have gone back to work, Pal has gone back to school, and it is now October. I didn't even have ONE post in September! I will catch you up as best I can:

Pal was at Cub Scout Camp during the week of my last post. He didn't really like it this year because they decided that the Webelos II scouts would go to an offsite Boy Scout camp instead of staying in camp with all of the others. So they would pile onto a bus for a 45-minute ride to the other camp every day. Then on the last day they brought them back into the camp with all of the other kids and it was (to quote Pal) "awkward". Plus this was the first year that I had to be back to work and couldn't go as the "Den Escort". I like to think he missed his Mom. =)

Back to work came early for me this year. Myself and 2 others got a promotion and this brought on a ton of new responsibilities, (it was a whole other job on top of our regular jobs), and boy were we in shell shock. I have never had so much work to do in such a short period of time before. I was EXHAUSTED at the end of each day! I would rather be busy than bored, but at this point I could have used enough time to take a bathroom break!! Especially since I was looking around and it didn't seem like the other 2 had as much work to do as I did. Thankfully they noticed, too, and everyone pitched in to help me when I needed it. When I got home every night it took all I had to keep my eyes open!

Pal started school before Labor Day. He seems to like his new teacher and isn't getting loaded down with homework, yet. This teacher likes them to get as much done IN school so they don't have to take it home. I love that theory, but I worry about next year when he goes to middle school and has to manage his work himself. This is not his strong point! He is also doing Karate twice a week and has decided to keep learning trombone in the school band this year. On top of all of that he has CCD and Cub Scouts, so we are always going somewhere.

In the same week that Pal went back to school, he turned 10! We had a "Lego Store" party with 3 of his buddies, with pizza and cupcakes after. Then we had a family party at the house, which was small this year. And that was just fine with me!! Here is a pic of the Lego Party:

Toward the end of September, one of my cousins from Arizona came to New England with his wife for a short vacation. I'll call them the "Carbs". This is one of my "long lost" cousins that our family never really knew until I made contact with one of them about 10 years ago through email. It was so great to see both of them, and this was her first time to the east coast. She just fell in love with it, and we all got along so nicely. Here are a couple of pictures from their visit: My sisters C & P, with myself and RCarbs


The Four R's
RCarbs, my Dad, my Brother and my Nephew)


My Dad and RCarbs (they kinda look alike, don't ya think??!)


Mr. & Mrs. Carbs and Dad

My family once again did the Alzheimer's Memory Walk as the team "Memory Keepers". Here is a picture of the whole team:

Now we are headed into Columbus Day weekend - at long last! It is also Hubby's 39th B-day next week! He will be spending the following weekend camping with the Cub Scouts (did I mention that he took over their den this year?) Look at how cute he is in uniform:I will be thoroughly enjoying some time to myself (in other words, the house will get cleaned and stay clean for longer than 10 minutes!!!). I have made some plans to hang out with the ladies and I am SO looking forward to it.

Mom's disease is progressing, and she now needs assistance with eating. She looks pretty good though and doesn't seem to be in too much pain. Here is a recent picture of her with 2 of my nieces:


I've caught you up on my life since August (not 100%, there isn't enough blogisphere out there to chronicle ALL of it!!!!). Pretty soon it will be the holidays and we will be saying, "Where did 2009 GO?"!!!

Have a great long weekend!
- G

Vacation Memories

This is the new version of "The Thinker"!


Our vacation was wonderful. How could it not be? We were on a 900+ foot luxury ocean liner, visiting gorgeous Caribbean islands, eating what and when we want, and meeting people from all over the country and world. There were a lot of New Englander's on this cruise because of school vacation week. We had the amazing opportunity to have dinner with the ship's Doctor - a very interesting man who was born in Australia but is an ER physician in Taiwan. Here is a picture of Hubby and Pal with our very own Adam Bricker:


He told us our cruise was one of the busiest for him - there were a few serious ailments, one man almost died but they were able to stabilize him long enough to get him off the boat in St. Thomas. We actually saw them taking him off the ship and into the waiting ambulance. I sincerely hope he was able to get the proper medical treatment in St. Thomas and is on his way to recovery.

The first place we visited was Samana, which is in the Dominican Republic. This island is lush and beautiful, but also one of the poorest places I have ever been. It was so disheartening to see the poverty, but we also used it as a teachable moment for Pal - he saw how other people have so much less than he does. I can only hope that the images of the dirty children and emaciated animals will stick in his mind the next time he whines about not getting the newest video game or toy! One thing that struck me about the children of Samana, though, was how happy they were - they always smiled as Pal waved to them as we drove by. They were happy with life, not because of what they had or did not have.

This was the waterfall we hiked to in Samana: Gorgeous, huh?

The next island we stopped at was St. Thomas. Hubby and I had been there once on another cruise. We loved the sight of Magen's Bay so much that we vowed to come back and swim there.
So, Pal, Hubby and I went to the beach at Magen's Bay. The water was so crystal clear, and the beach was incredible.

Next, on to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.
I may have even liked Tortola better than St. Thomas! The first thing we did was "Swimming with Dolphins". Expensive, but totally worth it. The dolphin we had was a 3-year-old male named Atlas. They are such intelligent, gentle creatures, and their skin is so soft and leathery. An experience of a lifetime. I have pictures, but have to scan them in so I will update this post with those as soon as I do it!

After the dolphins, we went to Cane's Garden Bay. Take one look and you'll fall hard:

Here is Pal on the beach at Cane's Bay:

After a full day at sea and nursing our sunburns, our next and final stop was Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas - which is NCL's own private island. They tendered you from the ship onto this little strip of land in the middle of the ocean. We were on the 2nd tender of the morning and there was already a race for beach chairs. The other thing that Pal really, really wanted to try was parasailing, but Great Stirrup Cay was the only place that Pal met the age/weight requirements. When we inquired about getting a reservation through the ship, we were told it was sold out. So, as soon as we arrived onto the island, Hubby went right over to the parasailing kiosk and asked if there was any availability. The guy told him that they could go on the next trip out! So lucky! So, before the age of 10, Pal has been swimming with dolphins and parasailing, not to mention going to Hawaii at age 5 and going on a helicopter ride over a volcano!!!

Here is the view of the ship from Great Stirrup Cay:


Here are a couple of pictures of them parasailing:



As you can see, it was quite the trip. None of us got seasick, there was no major travel issues and we came home with lots of memories and pictures. I'll leave you with one of my faves - it was just a comical moment at that kids pool.




Have a great weekend!
-G

But I'm NOT Bitter. Really!

So every year, Hubby goes on a "guys trip" with my brother and his friend. They've gone to all different places: Florida, Vegas, Florida, Arizona, Florida...see the pattern? Their denial that they just want to go to Disney World without their children manifests itself with the statement "But we go with them, too....". My husband has even been known to mutter "Disney is no place for kids." This makes me laugh every time I am in Disney World and see parents of miserable children trying to assuage their overtired, spoiled kids with a Mickey Mouse shaped iced cream...OH WAIT, that was ME. Last year! And the year before that, and the year before that!!! Just kidding...it was a bag of popcorn...

But seriously, all kidding aside, I don't really care where Hubby and my brother and their friend go on their trip. I think it's great that they get a chance to get away and just be, well, guys. I think it helps them appreciate what they have at home a little more. This morning Hubby called to say hi and said he was ready to come home. I asked if it was because he was sick of my brother and his friend. His reply was "No, I just miss you and Pal." It was nice to hear that.

Although I have enjoyed my weekend too, I missed having our family unit together. Pal and I went out with my mother-in-law on Friday night, and on Saturday my brother's wife (a.k.a. My Fave Sis-in-law, D!) and I took our 3 kids to the movies and out to lunch - here they are at the restaurant:


After the movies, we were on the way home and Pal asked if he could have his Best Buddy over for a sleepover. I waivered between wanting to have a quiet night alone, and giving in to Pal because he's an only child and I have guilt for that (I lied down until that feeling went away again!!) So in true Mom fashion, the guilt won and we picked up Best Buddy on our way home. This was both Pal and Best Buddy's FIRST EVER "friend" sleepover! It went very well, they went to sleep about 10:45 and slept until 7:30 this morning. Can't complain for a first time deal!! Today Pal's Cub Scout group went to the Harvard Museum of Natural History for their geology requirement. Our requirement was getting in for free before 12 p.m.!! And lunch in Harvard Square of course.

So it was a crazy busy weekend, and the main thing I missed was having Hubby on laundry-duty!!! But now it's Sunday night and the laundry is almost done, Pal has taken a shower, the Red Sox are about to play Game 7 of the ALCS, Hubby comes home tomorrow and I am sitting in my recliner blogging for the first time in a week. Life is good.

Before I sign off, I'd like to ask that you keep Hubby's Nana in your prayers - she's 90 and was just admitted to the ICU. After losing Mrs. D last week I'm not sure Hubby will handle this news too well...thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Have a great week!

G

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

Today is Hubby's 38th birthday. I tease him because he is 3 months older than me, and I won't be 38 until it is already 2009. I love to rub that in.

Hubby and I have known each other since approximately 1983/84. Our mutual friend, T, (who is also the son of Mrs. D who I have been writing about) went to school with Hubby, but lived near me. Hubby would come over to T's house after school and we would all hang out together. Of course when you are 13 you have NO clue that you just met the man you will someday marry, but one thing I did know for sure back then was that I really, really liked who Hubby was (and still is). If it weren't for Hubby's knack for keeping in touch with people, we probably would have lost touch during those years that we weren't hanging out. But every so often I would get a phone call from him, just to say hi, or a visit to where I worked. But it was a terrible accident that brought us together once and for all, and that was when our mutual friend, T, who is now our brother-in-law because he married Hubby's sister, D, (I know, it's get really confusing and almost seems incestuous!), got hurt in a floor hockey scuffle. T was pushed to the floor of the hockey rink and the bones in his forehead were broken. He was hospitalized and needed surgery to repair the broken bones. It was during our visits to T that Hubby and I reconnected. At first we were just friends and enjoyed hanging out together again. But then it bloomed into love and there was nothing better than marrying your best friend. We will be married 13 years this coming December.

But more about Hubby - I meant what I said above about liking who he is. We can still laugh and have a good time. He makes me laugh with his goofy nature even though I tell him he's a dork/freak/fruitcake. He's a great Dad to Pal, even though I'm not sure Pal appreciates him just yet. But what kid does, right?

Hubby is a terrific husband, friend, brother, son, son-in-law, co-worker, boss, teacher, Scout, electrician, Christian, citizen, American. All around he is just a nice guy. He likes to think that he's tough and sometimes comes off as shy or cold. The man I love is nothing but a mushy teddy bear inside.

Happy Birthday, Hubby, I love you with all my heart. Love, GM