Coolest or Most Pathetic Mom...I Don't Care!

Well, as some of you now know, the Princess was finally diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Suckfest.

We have had such a busy summer with the tutoring, the speech therapy for The Boy, karate, ballroom, and the big math exam...no time for vacation (except Therese, who got to sneak away to visit cousins and then a week trip to Quebec with grandma), and now we get this wretched news after all her hard work. We've been mad, we've been weepy, and now it's time for some rebellion. So I decided to indulge my inner teenager.

I am taking the Princess to her first-ever rock concert.

U2 and Snow Patrol.

There. I said it. We will dance and scream and sing like fools, just without the ganja or other assorted illicit "meds" that will be floating around. We will buy the t-shirts. We will be in BOSTON!

I am telling the school it's a college visit. :)

Laugh if you dare....we won't be able to hear you for a few days afterwards. We are in the 4th row just off to the side of the stage.

WOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Is it really almost May?

Greetings gentle readers -

It's been sparse on the blogging of late, between vacationing and having the post-vacation child-induced plague...this time it's strep. Only the baby, who has been the sickest the longest, had a negative culture. Go figure.

But I shall return, more on the house ghost(s) to come, as well as our regularly scheduled updates on the Princess and the Athlete, who - gulp - are currently attending a friend's school play somewhere near Syracuse, which is up the road quite a piece from here. Had anyone asked the Beloved and I if we'd allow this last fall when the romance (well, maybe it wasn't exactly a romance back then) began...the quick answer, "HELL no!" But the Tall Boy has weaseled his way into our hearts and has proven himself, time and again, to be extremely responsible, trustworthy and honest, often to his own detriment. (Him: "This girl in line at Target just randomly came up to me and asked me out...." Her: "WHAT GIRL?!?" Him: "...but of course I said no! I just think that's so weird..." Her: "WHAT GIRL?!?" Parental units: "D'oh!") But despite his boy-ness, he's a wonderful kid, and will be a fine young man.

We expect it to be a long, hot summer, fraught with romantic peril...I can't guess at how it will turn out when the countdown to college really begins. I'll keep you posted. First we have to get through being the only freshman at the senior prom....that should provide plenty of material.

This weekend is going to be a busy one - a day-long track meet with the Athlete tomorrow, followed by....Lord give me strength....a party on Sunday for the Boy's SECOND BIRTHDAY!!!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. Sniffle. Verklepmt. Shouldn't be going by so fast. Going to pour some shiraz, take my antibiotics, shut down all the electronics and read a dang BOOK.

Back soon -
xoxoxo,
Kit

St. Francis of Assisi

Late night out tonight, so I'm a little past the proper date, but it was 4 years ago today that we were in Assisi for the feast day of St. Francis.

Some of the banners from the various city-states
A Sister nurse looking across the piazza at the festivities from the hospital window
My dear girlies at the top of a "shortcut" to the nearest gelato shoppe
It was beautiful, moving, and best of all, my girls got to experience a 900+ year tradition, walk the same streets that St. Francis and Sta. Chiara (St. Clare) did, and they absorbed a lifetime of love and respect for their faith in 10 days.

La vida e bella!

P.S./Afterthought: I wonder how Fr. Francis Mary Stone (former EWTN personality) is feeling, how he is doing, and what his life is like on this first feast day of his namesake since he left the order. That whole mess still really saddens me...

Stay at Home Dad

It's been a bit light on the blogging due to work and some last-minute houseguests, so here's a little entertainment until they all leave on Tuesday - enjoy!

In, then back out

Well, we made it home last night after 11 hours in the car with a very nicely behaved baby, who (along with his carseat) acted as a perfect buffer to two slightly cranky female children.

Sadly, I must do a little [- gulp -] WORK tomorrow, then on Friday we are off to NYC to do something I've never done...a game at Yankee Stadium with the Beloved and crew. One of those things that must happen before the stadium is wrecked and replaced after this season. I've gotta get a picture of the Beloved and the Boy standing out front of the stadium for the sake of posterity.

It's almost as good for a Boy as going to Wrigley with his Mamma.

GO CUBS GO!

P.S. I just realized something else - this will also mark my first venture into the Bronx, oddly enough - I think I've driven through and/or at least flown out of every other borough. Digi, I will chow down on a dog and hoist a cold adult beverage in your honor.

A Day At The Races

Greetings from the road! On Thursday, we went to Arlington Park (a.k.a., "the track") to watch some good ol' fashioned horse racing. The fabulous Depression-era old wooden grandstand structure burned to the ground about 20 years ago, and despite the track being less than 2 miles from where I grew up, I had not been to the new facility since. Kinda like when they installed the lights for night games at Wrigley, but that's another post.

I was quite impressed by what we saw. The facility is absolutely spotless, wide open space, beautiful horses, abundant seating (and high-stakes boxes, which we did not inspect), and family friendly - as long as you don't sit behind dudes smoking cigars - cough, gasp - which they sell at $5 a pop, along with $8 packs of ciggies, at the concession stands. Worth a few bucks on a sunny summer afternoon if you are ever in the Chicago area.

Here we are, walking in to the park. What you see here is the waiting area for the horses - the grandstand is off-camera to the right. You can walk over and take a look at the contenders before you place your bets, and then the horses are walked/paraded around this inner track by the stablehands before heading through the tunnel, beneath the grandstand, for the races.

WOO HOO!!! I won the princely sum of $12.10 on a $5 bet in the fourth race on this horse, "Fashionable Time" (picked solely for the name, of course). He started at 8-1 when I placed my bet, but I guess he looked good over in the holding area, because the odds dropped precipitously in the 15 minutes before the start...and unlike in Vegas, the payout is on the odds at the start time...not the odds when you place the bet.

Ahhh yessss.....the Princess has caught race fever. Here she is on the rail at the finish line. She actually won twice - one on a win bet, and one on a SHOW bet that she made, via her grandmother. She had the race list ("green sheet") on her lap and was studying it assiduously all afternoon - once she ascertained that there were no horses named "Dover" ( so she could tell him/her to "move yer bloomin' arse") she got down to business. Good thing we don't live here...we had to drag her away with three races to go.

So that's the word from the Windy City (well, the NW suburbs, really). Hope you're all having a good time, and I recommend watching the Arlington Million today if you are not in the Olympic mood.