Weekend Plans

We are heading to Lincoln for the game. The kids are excited because Aunt Rhonda has some fun things planned for them. Hopefully Sam and I will be excited after the game!! Have a nice weekend everyone.

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT P

I apologize, in advance, to those of you whose sensibilties I am sure to offend (and my mom)over this post but it just has to be done. Over the last couple of months with Camden potty training and with Geordi becoming acclimated to his new home, (and actually since I had my kidney stones last December) I have been living in the land of urine. I'm sorry. I know it is a gross topic but I have to get it off of my chest. So here it goes.....

Things I have learned about P..........

10. The average output for an adult every day should be 1.5 liters.

9. According to my urologist, everyone should drink an 8 ounce glass of water before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up and everyone should have to get up at least once a night to use the restroom (for good kidney health).

8. According to Survivorman, if you are ever stranded in the Kalahari dessert, you can build yourself a urine still and drink the condensation that forms.

7. Dog P is very yellow!!

6. Fire hydrant is to dog what toilet is to 3 year old boy. They both pee all over it.

5. Dog P has a very strange texture.

4. For urine on carpet, spray area thoroughly and allow to set for 5 minutes. Blot area with a clean cloth. Repeat as necessary.

3. If your son p's on the carpet or the bathroom floor chances are your new dog will do the same in the very same spot.

2. According to Bear Grylls, if you are in the Australian Outback and you are very dehydrated you may drink your own urine. However you must do it within the hour or then it becomes unsanitary and gross.

And now....Drumroll please.......

1. If you get a new dog and he is p'ing on the carpet, the alpha male of the house may want to P on the dog to show his dominance. Did Sam do this???? See the evidence.

An Afternoon at the Park

The kids have been wanting to go our neighborhood park all week and it is such a beautiful day here today we went over after school. Usually the park is crawling with kids and parents. However, today there was only a youngish man, who seemed strangely out of place, with two kids. I figured that more people would show up soon and sent the kids on their way to play as I settled in to read a book. After a few minutes the man started watching my every move. Needless to say that creeped me out but I tried to stay calm. All of sudden he moved over to the section of the park that we were playing in and stood right in front of me still looking at me. Now I am starting to freak on the inside thinking what should I do now. I looked around to see if anyone else was heading to the park but our entire neighborhood seemed eerily quiet today. I decided to call Sam on my cell phone thinking that the guy would back off but still he stood there watching. I walked away from the weirdo and quietly explained the situation to Sam, who is 18 miles away in Bellevue and I'm sure feeling quite helpless. The creep again takes another step towards me as I say to Sam, "Now you are going to be here in about 5 minutes right." At that point the guy says to me as I'm on the phone, "Do you have any water?" I say no. He says, "They need a drinking fountain here. We are thirsty as hell (yes i have to use the word because I'm quoting)." I say, "I'm sorry I don't have anything with me." Now he just starts staring at my backpack which I stupidly left on the bench which he is standing right in front of. All the while Sam is saying, "What's going on? What is happening?" Sam is telling me to leave the park and I'm thinking how am I going to get my kids out of here without a total scene and them asking why are we leaving etc. My next move is to get the kids to the swings which are on the other side of the park. This seemed to be a good move because although he kept his eyes on us he did not follow us and then they soon left. Now you are all probably thinking, "Well that story sure was anti-climatic." And yes it is but I'm thankful that nothing bad happened because something just didn't feel right in the park today. I'll never know what was going on in that man's head. Was he thinking something sinister? Was he the pedophile who I know lives around here? Was he just a creep? Was he thinking I was one hot mama? OR Was he simply an uncle bringing his niece and nephew to the park trying to make small talk with another person because like me sometimes he's starved for adult conversation? Only God knows for sure. Tonight I'm very grateful that you all won't be reading about us in the World Herald tomorrow but I'm sad that the reality of keeping my kids safe in this world we live in means always having your guard up especially when there are strangers around.

Postscript

Right now Sam is upstairs re-watching the carnage that was the Nebraska game on ESPNU. I can't believe he is doing that to himself. He says he is only going to watch until the first USC injury. (By the way we won that battle 3-1.) I think he is trying to figure out what went wrong. I don't think I can relive it so I guess it is lights out for me!!

Out of the Darkness Walk

Today was the Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention and awareness. There were about 1,000 people there. It seemed to catch the organizers a little off guard as many of them had not preregistered. They had a little ceremony before the walk started and we did a balloon release while someone sang. Sam ended up walking with me and it was so awesome to have him there. I posted some pictures here with captions so you can get a better idea of what it was like.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who donated in Anthony's memory. The more I learn about the organization the more I like what they are doing. Maybe next year we can get a team together to walk.

Anthony was a very competitive person so in honor of him we decided to pass as many people as we could (even though it wasn't a race). It was a very nice day and we walked for a good cause, in memory of a great person, but tonight we find ourselves really missing him and wishing he were still here.

Game Day

It was such an exciting week around here with everyone talking about USC coming to play. Sam always gets so pumped up for the games, especially the big ones, and he almost always has me convinced that we are going to win. As a realist I knew that our chances were slim but I also believe that on any given day any team can beat another. We headed to Lincoln on Friday night (after dropping the kids off at the grandparents in Fremont. Thanks Jerry and Helen!). We picked up Rhonda and then headed for her company's tailgate party. On Saturday morning we set the alarms early and headed down to the stadium for the gameday broadcast. (Yes! for those of you wondering I did get my Lamar's fix.) We had gone back in 2001 when they were here for the Notre Dame game and remembered how fun it was so decided to go again. We weren't alone as I guess they are saying there were about 15,000 people this time around. Not the record but like the 2nd most people ever or something like that. People were pumped and primed and there were lots of signs. I have posted pictures here if you want to take a look at some of them. I tried to type in captions on most. Anyway, some of the signs were funny and some were pretty R rated as you can imagine due to the name of USC's mascot. We didn't take a sign but we did take some newspapers and were prepared to take part in the "let's ignore Herbstreit by reading our papers when he talks" protest but it didn't really materialize. At the beginning and during breaks the guys did talk to the crowd a little bit. Fowler said they were excited to be here and that it was a great turn out. I think Corso also said something similar at one point. They did a story on the USC kicker who died last year and the crowd was quiet and respectful for the most part and when it was done everyone clapped. When they went to commercial Fowler thanked the crowd for their response and Corso clapped his hands to us. Herbstreit didn't say much but there were lots of signs slamming him for the way he acted during the debate last year of which college football team is the greatest of all time. During the broadcast Fowler acknowledged that and said wow these people really hold a grudge. At the end of the broadcast, Fowler said, "OK people, you have a long day ahead of you. Pace yourselves." Anyway, it was a blast to go and be a part of it.

We got to the stadium right when the gates opened. You could just tell everyone was excited. It was fun to "star" watch on the sidelines. We saw Will Ferrel, Larry the cable guy, Keanu Reeves, Rush Limbaugh, and the guy who is from NE who was on Survivor. When the tunnel walk and game started it was SO loud and so much fun. After we scored to tie it at 7 everyone was jumping around and giving each other high fives. That was one fun game for about 22 minutes. I guess you know how it all turned out. Anyone want our tickets to Ball State??

Just kidding!

SATURDAY SURPRISE

I woke up this morning (late, because both kids decided they needed to be up from 1-3am last night) excited to read the game day sports section but instead was surprised, pleasantly I might add, by what I saw on the front page. According to several sources who talked to the Omaha World Herald, Chuck Hagel is resigning on Monday and will not seek re-election to the Senate or make a run for President. I respect the man for his military service BUT listening to him for the last few years has just been painful and infuriating. I'm all for politicians who want to speak their mind but he just went too far in the things he said, especially about the war. It always felt like he was speaking out of turn and just trying to get himself on TV and of course he always had willing accomplices in the media. They never turn down a soundbite from a republican who is speaking out against President Bush. When I would see Hagel blabbering on TV, I definitely didn't feel like he was representing me, a member of his constituency, at all. Some of you may ask, "But what if a democrat gets elected to his seat?" To that I say well then at least we will know what we are getting instead of some "poser". Of course some of you may say that all politicians are "posers" and you may have a point, but that will be debated on another post!!

Out of the Darkness

Sherilyn, Sam, and Anthony watching the National Championship Game in Jan. 1996

On September 16, 2007 I will be participating in the Out of the Darkness walk. The purpose of this walk is to raise money for suicide prevention and awareness. As many of you know I lost my cousin, Anthony Grothen to this several years back.

What I like about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is that they are doing reseach to get a better understanding of the psychosocial, clinical, epidemiological, neurobiological and genetic aspects of suicide. They are trying to determine why suicide occurs and how best to prevent it. They are also publicizing the magnitude of the problems of depression and suicide, advocating for polices and legislation that can help prevent suicide and working to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and suicide. In addition, they work with survivors of suicide.

I feel it is a worthy cause and certainly one that means a lot to me. Please feel free to view my webpage or the Out of the Darkness website for more information.

Anthony was one of a kind. We had many great times together. We were so sad to lose him but we know that he fought as hard as he could against his illness. We also know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we will see him again someday!

COUSINS

Last Sunday the kids and I traveled to Kearney

for a gathering of my mom's family. My cousin Kristina is home from China for a while and my aunt and uncle from Tennessee also were here to visit we Nebraska folk!! After I told Claremarie that we were going she was so excited all week to see her "cousins". Actually, they are her second cousins, my cousin's children. Every day during the week she would say when do I get to go see my cousins, I can't wait to see my cousins, etc. For her birthday her Uncle Troy gave her a tie dye craft kit. We decided to make some shirts before school started and right away she said, "Can I make one for each of my cousins?" I thought that was so sweet of her so of course I agreed. I'm posting a picture of them all in their shirts. Anyway, the point of this story is that they all had a great time together that day. I know Claremarie and Camden especially enjoyed it. However, I feel sad for them that they may never have any first cousins (NO! Rhonda I'm not giving up hope!). My cousins (12 on my mom's side and 57 (yes first cousins) on my dad's side) have always meant so much to me that I really want my kids to experience the cousin relationship too. I'm not sure that Claremarie and Camden are as important to their second cousins as their second cousins are to them but I'm glad they are in their lives to give them a taste of how special "cousinship" is. I'm so very thankful for each of my cousins!! The definition of a cousin is one who is "a child of one's aunt or uncle". I have found my cousins to be so much more than that. Throughout my life they have been my childhood and adult playmates, people who I have looked up to, confidants, and most of all friends. What a blessing to have people in my life who have so many of the same life experiences (and weird relatives :-)) that I have. I'm not sure that I have ever let them know the way I feel so.....COUSINS this post is for all of you. I love you guys!!

The Taylor Cousins are the picture on the top of the page. The Holmes Cousins are the picture on the bottom of the page. Please see the pictures on the right also!!

NEBRASKA SPORTS WEEKEND

The big day finally arrived. We got up early and headed to Lincoln. The game was great. Who knows what it means for the year but it was definitely fun to see some scoring again. Sam only got the defense cheer started once so he has room to improve on that during the season. The kiddos and Geordi stayed at Aunt Rhonda's (thanks rhonda).

Today, Sunday, we went to watch the Nebraska volleyball team (#1) play Penn State (#3). The Huskers made short work of them in three sets.

It was a great weekend to be a Husker! Go Big Red!!!