Our DAMN Tweets!
@alisoncook Try Colt & Gray, great brunch. Wynkoop Brewery is my old standby in LoDo - try Chili Beer, & defo TAG. All 3 w/in a few miles12 minutes ago
LOVE LOVE LOVE TAG. Had French Onion Soup Dumplings last time. Great cocktail program too. “@alisoncook: @ruthiejsf tell me about Tag.”16 minutes ago
my sweet ol Denver!!! Will be sunny and 65 tomorrow. “@alisoncook: It's snowing big fat flakes in Denver. Yesterday it was like spring.”17 minutes ago
#FF amazing peeps!! @livinlime @veggiechefmayra @savvyhost @simplyheavens @foodblogga @janetrudolph @olithechef @bridget_cooks34 minutes ago
RT @livinlime: #followfriday #limetastic tweeps @veggiechefmayra @savvyhost @simplyheavens @foodblogga @CathyWMDA @janetrudolph @Olithechef @bridget_cooks35 minutes ago
#followfriday #limetastic tweeps @veggiechefmayra @savvyhost @simplyheavens @foodblogga @CathyWMDA @janetrudolph @Olithechef @bridget_cooks39 minutes ago
Who’s in da DAMN House Wednesday? – Kevin Grossman
Published March 31, 2009 | 
Introduction by our very own Kristy Nuttall:
Today’s guest blogger is Kevin Grossman. Some of you may have heard his name mentioned here before. He was also our guest on Today’s Woman last month when our topic was on Facebook and Twitter. If you want to check out that segment it’s in the “Radio Show” tab :: points up: : I think it was a great show … well DUH … they all when you get Karena and the ladies from WMDA together *wink*.
Anyway, Kevin and I are definitely Facebook users. In fact, it’s Facebook that brought our paths together again. He and I went to high school together in Visalia, CA. I am so glad that I ran into him again in the virtual world. I think that he’s a GREAT guy (always has been) and I’m jazzed that we’re able to work on things together now to help each other grow and learn even MORE. He’s got a cool Daddy blog that I’ve recently started reading, he knows his marketing and PR AND he’s teaching himself to play the drums. I love that he’s found such a great balance of personal and business life online. Someday, when I grow up … I want to have a similar balance. WHAT? A girl can dream!!
I guess I should stop blabbing already and let him have the floor … sorry Kevin :: passes the mic ::
:: Kevin takes the stage ::
I was honored when Kristy from Where’s My Damn Answer asked me to be a guest blogger. I’ve known Kristy since high school and when we recently reconnected I was introduced to WMDA, which is high up on Google Reader list.
I launched my blog Get Off The Ground almost a year ago primarily with the mindset of promoting personal responsibility and to motivate other fathers to do something, anything, to make a difference in their own life and the lives of others – and to have a little fun along the way talking about becoming Daddy K.
Fixing a Hero Sandwich: Caring for Both Children and Parents
Two weeks ago one of my firm’s new marketing/PR verticals, SeniorCareMarketer.com, exhibited at the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging 2009 Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Besides being in Vegas – the most fun I’ll ever have losing $20 in less than three minutes while staying up way past my bedtime of 9:00 p.m. to watch others blow thousands – the conference was very informative for me personally as well as professionally.
Taking one of many strolls up and down the expo floor to talk with the vendors, I stopped to talk with one company that converted two-car garages into housing for mom and/or dad. Pretty sweet, even though we don’t have a two-car garage – we only have a long one-car garage.
I proceeded to talk to the owner of the company about my own personal situation (after she told me nicely one of my colleagues had already pitched her our marketing services) and the fact that at some point in the near future I’d be much more involved in the care of my parents – and the fact that my wife and I now have a six-month-old baby girl named Beatrice.
I’ve written previously about what’s it like (and going to be like) being an older parent:
When Bea turns sweet 16, I’ll be 58 years old. When Bea graduates from college (on time of course), I’ll be 64. You can see where I’m going with this…
All things considered we’re fine being older parents and are even planning kid number two, but we weren’t counting on big kids three and four.
No offense to my dear parents of course. They are still fairly independent even though we’ve been helping them off and on for a long time because of various health-related issues. My father had a major stroke 15 years ago and has been on death’s door twice since with a severely infected lung abscess and a gall bladder gone really, really bad. My mother suffers acute episodic pain from a combination of Porphyria, Parkinson’s and Fibromyalgia; her body has taken quite a viral beating over the years.
Back to the conference: the owner of the garage-conversation company then told me my wife and I are what’s called the “sandwich generation” – when you’re taking care of your own children and your parents.
The wha?
I had some vague memory of that term but never really took the time to put it in context (because we were never planning on having children for most of our 12 years together).
The closest I had come prior to this was when my dad was sick with the lung abscess in the summer of 2002 and I actually moved home for a few months to help my mom manage life (I was freelancing at the time and was thankful for the flexibility). My sister helped but she had two children of her own and plus my grandmother lived with my mom and dad at the time, adding another layer of daily disruption. But even then I wasn’t truly the “sandwich” son because I had no children of my own.
According to a New York Times blog post I found titled How to Make a Better Sandwich (from The New Old Age, Caring and Coping blog)
Among women caring for their parents, none face the rock-and-a-hard-place choices of those in the so-called sandwich generation. Now, a new analysis estimates that there are 20 million Americans – the vast majority of them mothers – who are juggling responsibilities for their own children and their aging parents at the same time.
The analysis, commissioned by two companies, Christian Companion Senior Care and Presto Services Inc., both selling services to this group, found that 53 percent of those in the sandwich generation feel forced to choose – at least once a week – between being there for their children or being there for their ailing parents. One in five say they make that painful choice every single day.
Well, I’m a daddy with these choices on the horizon, and when I play it forward, I’m not looking forward to those painful choices. Our firm’s founder and my friend recently helped care for his mother who suffered from, and subsequently passed away from, Alzheimer’s. He had launched a site called ShirleyBOARD a few years ago (in his mom’s name), an online community for people caring for aging loved ones.
The good news is that out of all the moments of clarity I experienced while at the show, the three that shone the most light on the subject of caring for both our children and parents are that:
- There are a whole lotta senior care services available today, and the space is only going to get bigger.
- Sandwich folk should seek out friends, family and volunteers (church members, social workers, etc.) to help them with the burden work/life balance and keeping one’s sanity while caring for family.
- We should always take care of ourselves first and foremost – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually (in case the cabin loses pressure, put the oxygen mask on first before assisting others).
We’ve had only had recent short-term stress of caring for both baby and parents under the same roof, but the big gig hasn’t happened yet. I have nothing but the utmost empathy and respect for the 20 million heroes dealing with it daily.
The DAMN Question – Can you tell me how you define customer service please?
Published March 31, 2009 | ‘Cos obviously I have missed the memo…
Is it just me or has the customer service World gone to hell in a handbasket? Seriously folks, I pride myself as being a pretty open minded and fair individual. I don’t expect much. Just give me the service that I deserve as a hardworking, all American consumer. Well, okay, that’s probably taking it just a leeeeeeeeeeeeeetle bit too far, but you get the gist.
I give most people behind the counter the benefit of the doubt, because I realize that jobs that are laborious, can underpay. But where do these self righteous individuals come from? The ones that give me my drycleaning or my Sugar Free energy drink at the corner market? I understand the job market is tight, but that does not give you the right, if you work a minimum wage job or if you are a small business owner, to treat me any less than human.
Point in case, I dropped off about 25 items at the drycleaner the other day (not 5). I am not and never have been one of those drycleaner patrons that says I NEED THESE BY 5:00 PM. I take all of my articles in time to allow them to do what they need to do…next Tuesday okay? Sure…not a problem.
So last week, well past the date they were ready, I hit the place on the way home and the young lady hands me my 15 stacks of clothes. And then the bill. It seems outrageously higher than normal, so I decide to look through the itemization and there is an overcoat. I haven’t owned an overcoat since I lived in Denver. A blatant overcharge…so my first thought was “Did they try to throw in a few things?” cos the lady in the BMW will never notice that or was it like they used to pad my tab at the pub, after I had 15 cocktails and wouldn’t have known if my bill was $25.00 or $75.00 – but this, alas, is different…I wasn’t hanging onto the barkeep, singing Rocky Road to Dublin at 2:15 a.m. It was a Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., I was tired and hungry and this, my friends, is NOT a good combo (just ask Mr. G.).
I asked the lady her opinion and she basically told me that she just ‘worked there’. And so after a little cajoling, cos I don’t think it’s unreasonable at 5:30, for the BOSS to still be there if I could speak to him/her. This is what she said:
“He doesn’t like to do business when he’s not here…so sorry, I can’t do anything.”
Wow.
Now that I had this enormous bee in my bonnet, I decided to talk with the owner the next day, first thing…We went through my order, and he said that one of my suit jackets was too long to be considered a “suit jacket” and had to charge me for overcoat. As in wool. As in $10.00 more. Believe me, it’s not about the $10.00 – it’s the fact that I have taken this jacket to dry cleaners for the last say, 7 years, INCLUDING HIS…and I have NEVER.BEEN.CHARGED.FOR.AN.OVERCOAT.
I understand if someone keyed it in wrong…totally.
But this was the kicker for me. I asked him about the customer being right…and he blatantly stated, and I QUOTE. “I am not in the customer service business.”
So, the DAMN question is:
What would you have done? Anything different?
What has been your experience with customer service lately?
p.s. on the flip side of this, tonight the young lady at Macy’s gave me an additional 10% off of the shoes when I asked her about the sales over the weekend. She offered it to me ‘cos I had missed out. NOW, that is really sweet.
140 characters = why I will never be invited to a party there again
Published March 30, 2009 | I was at this party tonight with Hubunit and a bunch of people we don’t know. And they all knew each other and were the cool kids in high school. And yes, they were all wearing black and I was the only one there wearing hot pink. And no makeup. But it wasn’t tie dye, cause a girl has her limits, as I pointed out to a friend earlier in the day.
For some reason, we were talking about fixing something at our house, like changing out every door, I think. And Hubunit commented that we won’t be doing that all at once, but over the next fifteen years. Which is typical Hubunit. Cause before we moved into our new house, he promised me we could make all these changes soon after moving in. That has now evidently become the fifteen year plan. Some kind of male time vortex continu-um-whore-um.
Anyway, this led me to ask him if he’d read my last tweet on Twitter. Hub’s all, wtf is Twitter? But one of the cool guys in L.A. Black jumped in with ‘You Twitter?’ Like it was code for ’You eat your poop?’ And I was all ‘Yeah dude, on a skewer.’
And then this really nice woman in black asked me about Twitter. Like what it was and why I liked it and why not just use Facebook. ::needle scratches across the record::
Me: Twitter is limited to 140 characters. (Cause in my mind that explains alot. In her mind it didn’t.)
Her: But why use Twitter instead of Facebook?
Me: 140 characters forces you to be creative to communicate your thought.
Hubunit: Why not just send out an email with your thought?
Me: ?
Her: But why use Twitter instead of Facebook?
Me: Because Facebook is the devil. And yes, some people use Twitter to say ‘I’m going to the gym now.’ But that’s not really what it used to be all about. It used to be a cool way to send out a creative thought using only 140 characters. Just to send it out there and be, you know, creative.
Her: I was just asking.
And then the hip dude asked us if we were gonna take it outside or throw down right there and Hubunit mumbled something like, welcome to my world, and that’s when I realized I was yelling at her. In the middle of this nice party. With all these nice L.A. people wearing cool black outfits, with the right shoes and the hip hair and makeup. And I could see them looking at each other going, who is this dork in the hot pink?
So when we left, I told ‘em I was going right home to Twitter about them. And that it would be very creative.
Them:
Cause the cool kids never talk to girls like me. And I’ll be damned if I can think of anything clever to say on Twitter right now. Maybe later. After I get back from the gym.
On the plus side, while undressing tonight, I did find that big, glow-in-the-dark star Monkey was looking for earlier. Yessss. It was stuck to my ass.
Posted in Mirror Mirror on the Wall, The Land of Confusion, Wine-Whine-Bitch | 
daily life, facebook, friends, humor, husband, love, party conversation, twitter, Wife | 
7 CommentsFun Facts about Marshmallow Peeps….
Published March 30, 2009 | 
In honor of Easter I thought I would share some fun facts about what has become an Easter Tradition that is more popular than Chocolate!!
It takes 6 minutes to make one Peeps Chick
Original Peeps have a shelf life of 2 years {{ just think of what it does to your insides 
}}
More than 5 Million Peeps are produced EACH DAY.. Sh*t that is a lot of Peeps!!
Peeps have been the most popular Non-Chocolate Easter candy in the United States for more than a decade. {{Take that, Jelly Beans}}
Yellow is America’s best selling color
Peeps have ZERO fat grams and are Gluten and Nut Free
They have their own web site and over 200 “fan type” web sites http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/
Peeps now comes in many flavors, Chocolate Mousse, Strawberry Creme, Vanilla Creme, Pumpkin, Peppermint and cookie flavor to name a few….
I know as a kid these were always in every Easter basket!! Good to know that an Ol Favorite is still alive and well!!
It was an ordinary Thursday morning, ma’am.
Published March 27, 2009 | My house has turned into Dragnet.
Or at least monkey’s bathroom has. He has taken to jumping off the toilet after he, um, drops a deuce, throws his hands against the wall, spreads his legs and arches that little brown butt up in the air. I swear I don’t know whether to wipe him or strip search him.
I keep trying to get him to take care of this little chore by himself. I mean, he does almost everything else on his own. But for some reason, mama has the butt touch and he’s not willing to give that up. Maybe I need to start using sandpaper. That might be an incentive for him to handle his own bidnez.
Oh, and completely off track, but I feel the need to get a few things off my chest about the creatures who live in our house. I used to think I was Dr. Doolittle when I was younger. Now I know that was a dirty dream.
So, anyone else feel like their fish is channelling Van Gogh? Honestly, every time I walk past the fish bowl, that little golddigger is pressed up against the glass, with his/her mouth gaping open in a silent scream and it’s friggin’ creepin’ me out. What, little creepy fish? Are you in pain? Are you gender confused? If only you had fingers and I could teach you sign language. Listen, try morse code – eventually someone who knows morse code will come to visit and then they can interpret for us. And if the final answer is that you just really need a shot of tequila, I can help. Anything else, you’re on your own. That’s all I can think as I quickly avert my eyes and rush out of the room.
Oh, and did you hear about the Firefighter who ran into a burning house to save a man’s cats? Three of them didn’t make it, but the fourth one he resucitated by doing mouth to snout cpr. Seriously. Cat Whisperer. Take that, Cesar.
When I heard that story, I looked at Hubunit and commented that, with our luck, the one that would be rescued would be Elivs, our cockroach cat. For those newer readers, I will tell you that we pray every day for our eighteen year old, loud as hell, annoying to the point of head explosion, cat to please die. But he’s evidently made a pact with the devil to live forever. So of course, he’s the one that would draw sweet new breath into his twisted black lungs in our alternate universe. Meanwhile, we’d be in the background screaming, No, Oh No. NONONONONONONO. For the love of all that is holy, please help let him go into the light. What? He made it? Hey, thanks fuckin’ cat whisperer Firefighter dude. Spawn of the demons, unite.
This post has no logical end. Maybe because my day isn’t over yet. Plus, I think there’s a bunch of typos in here, but I have no time for spell check. It’ll eat at me, but whatever, take a number.
Earth Hour – going green for 60 minutes
Published March 27, 2009 | The World Wildlife Fund , normally tauting its motto of conservation of nature – all creatures great and small – is doing something a bit different this Saturday, March 28th, 2009.
They are asking people from around the world to ‘…turn off their lights for one hour, 8:30 PM Local, to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions…’, hence the name Earth Hour.
http://www.earthhourus.org/
This is a really cool concept and it will be interesting to see what the level of participation will be. On their website, they have downloads for individuals and business.
Here are 10 suggestions from the WWF you can do in the dark (BE QUIET LINDALOOHOO…I can hear your wheels a-turnin’):
1. Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner with someone special using organic or sustainably grown food items.2. Invite friends and family over for a “lights-out” party and serve green-themed snacks and drinks—green tea or apple martinis anyone?
3. Turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone. Use the quiet time to take a break from a “plugged-in” world by meditating or resting.
4. Take a bubble bath by candlelight.
5. Use the hour for practical tasks that you never seem to have time for. Test essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios, and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Think about how you would evacuate your house in an emergency in the dark.
6. Read a book set in an era without electricity. Marvel that the Romans conquered much of the world without a single cell phone and that Shakespeare wrote masterpieces without a laptop or the Internet.
7. Turn off the computer and write a letter by candlelight the old-fashioned way using pen and paper.
8. Invite friends over to play charades or Scrabble by candlelight.
9. View the night sky via telescope–the reduced “light pollution” may make some stars more visible.
10. Take photos of how you spent Earth Hour and upload them to the Earth Hour pages on Facebook, Myspace and YouTube. Keep it clean please!
I could be snarky and add a few of my own, however, I will just leave this as an FYI type of post…and you can D.I.Y. (or not) Have a great weekend!!!
Posted in Check This Out | Climate, Earth Hour, global warming, green living, Light Pollution, World Wildlife Fund | 4 CommentsWhat’s Your Damn Question? Answered
Published March 26, 2009 | One of our lovely readers sent us a DAMN question through our website . : :pointing at tab above::
Since the beginning of WMDA, we have invited our faithful readers and/or lurkers, to send us questions that we could try to tackle with the help of other trusty readers. We said to our public – Fire away! We’re not psychologists, hell, we may not even really have the answer…but we’ll DAMN sure try and we have faith in you.
Lovenia writes in:
“When your man drinks white wine and doesn’t know when to stop. What can I put in his wine to make him sick… So eventually he’ll stop drinking so much. Thanks so much I can’t seem to get my man to stop drinking white wine once he starts. He acts like an idiot and totally embarrasses me. I just want him to stop without me having to make a scene or asking to stop drinking so much. Any ideas would be great. I don’t want to hurt him just make him feel physically bad. Thanks so much”
All 4 of us took the time to ponder the answer to this question and this is what the gals at WMDA have to say:
Cathy says “Hmmm, short of not drinking, I’m not sure. They may want to have hubby tested to see if he has allergies to wine or one of the components. Make sure he is not mixing with any drugs!!!”
Kristy weighs in with this, “My first question would be … he drinks white wine? Really? I don’t think I’ve ever known a man who drank white wine as his drink of choice. I guess it’s better than White Zin with a pinkie sticking out … but still … white wine? But on a more serious note, I used to be married to an alcoholic and I learned that the only way to have a discussion was when he wasn’t drinking. My advice is that you have a talk with your man when he’s not drinking … if he’s not receptive … well … then maybe you should find a man who drinks whiskey or vodka and knows how to listen better?”
Lindaloohoo, our resident smart ass, chimes in saying “I wonder if she could just wrap a sleepeeze pill in a hunk of raw meat and throw it to him before they leave for the bar. Allegedly, that works for dogs that bark a lot. Or (she) could try putting a few drops of Visine in his glass of wine. I think that causes vomiting and diarrhea. I don’t have even alleged first hand knowledge of that one, but I think my source is good. It’s used in the movie ‘Wedding Crashers’ and I don’t think they would lie.”
And my humble jodycakes opinion? I have experienced alcoholism in all it’s forms through the years, in my family and in my relationships – from the happy, fun drink to the mean, fighting drinker. You have to step back from the person and look at it like it is a disease. The person that drinks and does things not deemed normal, acting out and such, may need professional help. And you cannot be the one to do this. Just as if he had cancer, he would need oncologists and other specialists. And there is not an easy way to help the person with the problem, but by gentle coaxing and suggestions, along with tons of support. If the person that drinks is not willing (or sometimes even able) to seek professional help, then it may, sadly, be time to move on.
You can do things for you, in the meantime…Al-Anon (http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/) is a GREAT place for you to get help, in understanding that it’s not him, it’s the alcohol and the disease that makes him do what he does. That is one of the first things they teach people – that it is NOT YOU. You are not the one responsible and you deserve support too. You can find a meeting here.
Good luck Lovenia! Hope with a little humor and a little luck you can move forward to be happy!
Love, The gals at WMDA
So here’s where we turn the floor over to YOU … our loyal, trustworthy, sarcastic, funny and SMART readers.
Give it to us … your best advice/response … What’s YOUR Answer to the DAMN Question?
What are the right words?
Published March 26, 2009 | I just found out that a very dear girlfriend of mine will be filing Bankruptcy in the next few weeks and I am so heartbroken for her as well as at a loss for words. A little history – She owned what seemed to be a great business with incredible potential, they sold a product and provided a service that was in high demand. Over the past 4 years she paid her bills on time, she was not reckless or irresponsible and she was careful not to over extend.
{{Now fast forward to present day}} Economy in the sh*tter and so is her life. Sales hit an all time low and her hopes for a good holiday season were shattered when the customers did not come. She started to get behind on her bills, was forced to lay off most of her small staff and there was not enough left at the end of the month to pay her bills let alone her mortgage. When she told me that the creditors were on her ass and the mailman has just delivered a foreclosure notice my heart broke. She is trying to file BK but that takes money too. (now that is a business!)
I am not sure how to approach or comfort her. I cannot seem to find the “right” words and that old cliche time heals or this is only a bump in the road of life is crap right now. I cannot even imagine what she is facing. One minute you are on the top of the world and the next the world is on top of you. Not only is the business gone – the house will be gone – their girls lives will change so much and her husband works as a teacher and well in California that does not mean a whole lot in the land of “pink slips”! {{He is just waiting for his}}
I need help ~ What do you say?? I love you and I am here for you just does not seem enough. I wish I could help financially but I too am working hard just to stay above water. So that being said I really am at a loss for words ~ Thoughts as to what the DAMN RIGHT words might be??
Posted in Prozac & the Padded Cell, The Damn Question | bANKRUPTCY, California, Education, finances, FORECLOSURE, Pink Slips | 8 CommentsWho’s in da DAMN House Wednesday? – MeAndMom
Published March 25, 2009 |
Introduction by our very own Lindaloohoo:
OK. Let’s see if I can manage to introduce the sweetest woman on the face of the planet, without pissing her off. Because it’s meandmom in da house this week and mostly, nice people don’t like me very much. But because she is so sweet, for some reason The Mom manages to put up with me on a limited basis. I mean, it’s not like she loves me the way she loves Jenny On The Spot (that alchoholic, bra wielding, foshizzle temptress we featured last week), but I have low expectations, so I’m pleased with whatever love I can get. But wait, this isn’t about me. It’s about a mom who describes her twelve year old daughter as ‘the kind of gorgeous you can’t even hate.’ Damn, that’s powerful. If you don’t already read her blog, please check it out. It’s the kind of stuff that makes me hate my crazy mom even more. And I mean that in a good way.
:: turning the floor over to MeAndMom ::
Hey there WMDA group! Thanks for inviting me to play over here today!
I’m glad you called, because, actually I have a bit of a dilemma that I could use your help with. Here’s my deal-io…..
I’m a 40 year old single mom of 2 great girls. For the past 4 years I’ve been dating a wonderful guy….we’ve been calling him S.O. – Significant Other – but I HATE that name. So, what are my options….
1). Boyfriend….I know but I always feel like I am totally like in High School and like it like sounds like totally disgusting hearing my kids say it. I mean, gag me.
2.) Partner…..Hmmmm……So amgibuous there I mean….are we operating a business together? We don’t even live together. Is my partner a man? a woman? Not that there is anything wrong with that *ahem*. I just don’t want my girls feeling like we should be shaking hands instead of hugging.
3) Companion……meh. Didn’t Jackie O have a companion before she passed on? I mean, I love being in the same club as the ever-glam Jackie but she had a companion toward the END of her life. I don’t think I’m old enough to have a companion. Right? I mean just cuz my knees make crunching noises coming down the stairs and I’m beginning to have to hold print farther away from my eyes in order to read it, doesn’t make me old enough to have a companion. I mean, 40 is the new 30 right? RIGHT?
4) My Man – not working for me either. I always feel like he should reach over and start dragging me around the cave by my hair after saying that. Me man – you woman – Let’s do it animal style in the cave! OK….well, maybe that last part….uhhh never mind…I mean we don’t know each other that well…I just met you!
5) Guypanion….This suggestion came from S.O. himself. It’s cute….a twist on words. Kinda funny. A little close to Companion though….see above.
So….to the wonderful folks at WMDA…. What is the DAMN answer?
Can you help a girl out? What is the most appropriate moniker for a 40 year old to term her lover/friend? (that one would really sound weird coming out of the mouth of my 8 year old and would completely mortify my 12 year old)
-The Mom
Does this wind make my face look thinner?
Published March 24, 2009 | Zac turned 14 years old last week – doesn’t seem like “I” should have a kid that old, but whatever.
We asked him what he wanted to do this year for his birthday and he told us he wanted to play golf with his friend Zach and then wanted to do a sleep over and include one of his best friends, Kevin.
Pretty mellow … right?
Well Ron and I couldn’t just leave it as THAT *wink*. We had a very busy day. We got up and did our chores, I went to pick up the other Zach and they went to warm up at the driving range. Then we picked up Kevin and headed south to the golf course where the 9 hole tournament was. After that we had to run to Pasadena for the last half of basketball practice and THEN … a surprise. They thought we were just going out to dinner.
We took the boys up to City Walk. We secretly made reservations to do IFly. It’s basically indoor skydiving. As we were walking through the crowds I pointed up and said, “Zac … look up”. He looked up to see people skydiving on the big screen and then saw that we were in front of a big plexiglass tube where people were skydiving inside with the help of HUGE ASS fans. I said … “that’s the surprise … we’re ALL doing it.”
Needless to say … the boys went NUTS. They totally DUG the idea and you could totally FEEL their energy. Here are some of the images from our time in the air …
Zac's first flight - he was grinning the whole time!
Zac's second flight - the instructor took him ALL the way to the top and spun him around a ton.
Kevin's flight - he had crazy spins going.
The other Zach's first flight
Ron's first flight - he did great from the get-go
This is ME! Yes I got in there too. This was my second flight and I had the instructor take me ALL the way up - not to be outdone by my 14 yr old.
After we got our feet back on the ground, we went up to the food court and had a quick bite. It was already after 9:30 pm so we headed home to hang out. The other Zach’s parents came to get him and we were left with just Kevin and Zac. We let them wind down playing video games until a little after midnight. This morning they were STILL talking about the indoor skydiving. Zac said it’s easily one of the best birthdays he’s had.
At first I was a bit nervous about going in there. They tell you to remove everything … including your wedding rings and I thought … What the F? Once I stepped into the tube, I understood why. No need for a face lift after a couple minutes in there … or maybe I have that backwards … after being in there and having your face pulled THAT far back you DO need one.
It was pretty incredible and I’m SO glad that we decided to do it. With the family pack we got a DVD and it was cool to look back and see each one of us grinning from ear to ear the whole time. I wish the quality was a little better (obviously – look at those pictures) … but I guess it does at least remind us of what it was like a little. It was an awesome surprise.
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