Sixty

Well, it's been a while. Too much "life" going on, I guess.

Seth's Christmas program at his preschool was Tuesday night, the roads were bad but since they didn't cancel we forged ahead. It was very cute. His class sang two songs, "Silent Night" and "Up on the Housetop." I'd post a video here but apparently they're both too big. Santa also put in an appearance. He and Seth had quite a conversation.

Otherwise, we've just been getting ready for the holidays. I'm pretty much done shopping, just a few little things left to finish it up. Work has been busy, have had to bring a lot of work home over the past couple months. But they've given us two nice bonuses this fall, so I can't complain about that. And just one more work day to go and then we have a nice break, I have off from the 23rd to January 2nd. Brian has that time off as well.

Tonight we're going up to Wendy and Andy's to have dinner and play cards and visit and spend the night, and then tomorrow we're doing Christmas with Uncle Phil and Mary, since they can't come up on Christmas day. Hopefully the 20% chance of light snow today stays 20% or below, and light as well.

Fifty-nine

Key West

November 1-8, 2008

Saturday, November 1: Travel. Lots and lots and lots of travel. A hotel stay, then a shuttle from the hotel to the airport. Two flights. A four and a half hour drive from Ft Lauderdale to Key West. Oy!

Sunday, November 2: Drove around the Key, took in some sights. Stopped and parked near Mallory Square, immediately starting buying things and taking pictures. (In the new encyclopedia coming out early next year, there's a picture of us next to the entry for Hoosier Tourists.) I did snag some Key Lime Lotion that is really great, and we bought some Key Limeade that was really great ... sensing a theme, are we? We went to the Aquarium, where they had a touch tank that I was armpit deep in within seconds of sighting it. Crabs, starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. Had some lunch, stocked up on groceries for the week, and went back to the resort and hit the pool.

Monday, November 3: Brian found a half-day chartered fishing trip to join (the boat's name was the Captain Conch), whereon he caught a 20 lb barracuda. I do not have pictures of this yet, he took the waterproof disposable and we don't have it developed yet. He also caught another large fish, I think he said a big mackerel. While he was doing that, my mom and sister and Seth and I went to one of the small beaches on the south side of the Key. There was no surf, the water was almost completely still. For someone who grew up going "down the shore" to LBI, with sometimes monster breakers, it was weird. Almost eerie. There was also lots of broken glass, so I, of course, spent my time looking for and picking up and grousing about bits of glass so Seth wouldn't cut his feet. He spent all his time running around like a crazy man. He does love the beach!!

Tuesday, November 4: My mom and sister went their own way, so Brian and Seth and I went on a glass-bottom boat cruise, out to some coral reefs. A pod of bottle-nosed dolphins joined us and swam with the boat for a while, I was excited to see that...so naturally the battery in my camera died right about then. I got a small bit of video and a couple shots where you can sort of maybe kind of tell that they're dolphins. The cruise itself was very cool, we saw some beautiful fish and coral while we were out there. Then we walked down Duval St and had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. Had our first conch fritters there (or, as Seth calls them, critters); they were quite good. Did not see Jimmy Buffett. After lunch, we bought some ice cream cones, bought some large matted prints from a professional photographer and had it shipped home, and then went to the Pirate Soul Museum, which is tres cool. Even the stuff you had to smell.

Oh, yeah, I went and found the house on Duncan St where Tennessee Williams lived. It's not a museum now or anything, just a private residence, so I just had Brian take a couple shots of me standing outside. I was dying to see the studio out back where he wrote but it's fenced and, of course, the yard is completely full of palm trees and other lush green things.


Also, Brian and my sister and I stayed up to follow election results and to hear the acceptance speech from Grant Park. I wept. I was so proud of this country!! (Missouri, not so much...) John McCain's speech was very gracious ... where was *that* guy during the election? The John McCain I liked a year ago finally showed up! I think if Obama had run against the *real* John McCain it would have been a tougher race.

Wednesday, November 5: The Big Day, the trip to the Dry Tortugas. Seventy miles west at 26 knots on choppy water ... Seth threw up before I could get him outside. Then two other people threw up. I thought maybe, just maybe, I would have to join them, but I stayed strong and did not ralph. Thank god, because the rest of the day was BEAUTIFUL! I have never seen water like that, so incredibly, perfectly blue. I could have put up a tent and stayed on that beach forever. Fort Jefferson was cool, also. Could use a few ghosts, some eerie noises in the dark corners would have spiced things up. But my god, the water.

I tried snorkeling. If anyone reading this knew me as a child, you know I used to enjoy swimming. Loved to swim underwater; I was like a seal. Then I hit puberty and inexplicably lost the ability to keep water from entering my head through my sinus cavity. And one summer wearing a nose clip around your Jersey cousins will permanently cure you of wearing a nose clip, so no more swimming underwater for Jennifer. Anyway ... I put on the mask, got the tube or whatever in my mouth correctly, put my head underwater ... and hyperventilated. WTF?!? So now I'm AFRAID of going underwater? When did that happen?

Also, the captain of the catamaran we rode out pulled Seth and me aside to show us what was quite probably the biggest fish I have ever seen or will ever see up close, a 300 lb grouper, one of five or six that hang around under the docks and boats there on the island. It was huge. The pictures I took don't do it justice, there's nothing really showing for scale.

We doped Seth up with some dramamine for the ride home, and he slept the entire way. We had supper at Finnegan's Wake (complete with authentic swearing Irishmen in the front bar! Fookin' this and fookin' that! It was great!) and then hit the hay, we were thoroughly worn out.

Thursday, November 6: More shopping in Mallory Square, and a visit to Mel Fisher's Maritime Museum. If you're into underwater archaeology (shut up, Anne-Marie) and shipwrecks and gold, Google this guy. He found the wreck of the Atocha and brought it all up. It's quite something. I wanted to see more gold, but what the hell, it was still cool. In one part of the exhibit you get to heft one of the gold ingots from the wreck. Heavy! Later in the evening we went back for sunset at Mallory Square, when lots of street performers and artisans and vendors set up shop. It was neat. Seth was being a pill, really whiny and grouchy, wouldn't even smile for the pictures with Captain Wasabi, a very nice pirate who didn't make us walk the plank or anything.

Friday, November 7: Our last full day on Key West. Because I'm me, we went for some more shopping. I caved and bought a replica coin from the Atocha; it's a replica, but it's made from a silver ingot that was on the Atocha, so it's *almost* real. It was authentically expensive, in any case. Brian and Seth and I went to a restaurant for lunch called the Conch Republic Seafood Co., and I fully and wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant to anyone going to Key West who wants a fantastic seafood meal. OMG!! I had a dish that was ravioli stuffed with crab meat, paired with seared jumbo shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, and baby spinach, in a lemon-garlic-parmesan cream sauce. My basic reaction was "Holy Shit!" I also had a real mojito, which I *think* might have made the meal even better. :o) Later in the afternoon we went to our third beach, at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park on the west side of the Key. It was nice, but really rocky and full of shells. We traveled home the following day, landed at KCI around 10:00 pm, where it was SIXTY DEGREES COLDER than where we were all last week. That makes it rather harder to be glad to be home. Also, our furnace isn't working. Did I mention how cold it is here?

Fifty-eight

Sheesh! I lost track of this blog, didn't realize how long it had been since I posted. Life does have a tendency to interrupt the fun!

Let's see...well, we attended the rally in KC for Barack Obama. It was very exciting, not least because there were more than 70,000 people there. I think I might have gotten a picture of his elbow, but I can't be sure. We got nowhere near him. I've decided not to be disappointed about it; I'm sure security was an issue, and it really was thrilling that so many people were there, and it was such a diverse -- and happy! -- crowd.

Yesterday we took Seth to the Homecoming Parade in Warrensburg, just for fun. Seth C. and his mom Cindy (from preschool) met us there and while we were pretty damn cold, we had a nice time. Seth learned really fast to stand there and hold out his bucket and be cute; he got a lot of candy that way.

Now, this week will be spent prepping for the Key West trip. We're spending Friday night at my Dad's up in the city, and he'll take us to the airport early (EARLY!!) Saturday a.m. to catch our 7:00 o'clock flight. We decided (okay, I decided) to ship our largest piece of luggage down there ahead of us, to avoid having it get lost. We no longer have a direct flight; Midwest Air so kindly cancelled many of their Florida flights and forced us onto an AirTran itinerary that now includes a connection in Atlanta. I have read NO positive reviews of AirTran's customer service or baggage handling skills, so we're sending our luggage down by UPS this week and hopefully the folks at the resort won't throw it in the ocean. I'm trying not to dwell on the whole luggage issue, tho. I'd rather be excited about the trip. I've told Seth about going on a glass-bottom boat cruise and he thinks that sounds pretty cool. We're also going to do a day cruise out to the Dry Tortugas, to see Fort Jefferson and some blue, blue water. Maybe we'll find some pirate treasure!

Fifty-seven

We lost Dodge this weekend. Hit by a car.

Fifty-six

Oh, damn. Damn, damn, damn!!!

Probably shouldn't put up a pic of him with a cig but it's one of my faves. Wow, am I going to miss him!

Fifty-five

Week 3, and I just took Seth to his last swimming lesson in Warrensburg. I was discontent two weeks ago, the first day. Too many kids, not enough instructors, very little actually happening. Last week, slight improvement, willing to keep at it. Today, Seth almost drowned.

Have you ever thought about how things can happen in a "split-second"? Literally, a heartbeat. The blink of an eye. A blind eye on a disinterested swimming instructor who has too many kids in the pool and isn't getting paid enough to be there in the first place. Seth let go of the side of the pool and slipped under. Thankfully, luckily, I was watching him. I had a book in my hands, I hadn't been watching a moment or two earlier, I was reading. Trying to take advantage of five, ten minutes of Seth not tugging on my shirt, needing something. But I was watching then, and was immediately up, on my feet, running to the pool, yelling at the instructors. They finally saw him, noticed, got to him, and he was fine. I waited a minute to be sure he was okay, then sat back down. He finished the lesson, we drove home. It wasn't until we were in the car that I started shaking, feeling sick to my stomach, scared shitless. A split-second. A heartbeat.

What are they called...helicopter parents? Always hovering? I don't want to to be one of those...but it's moments like these where it's easy to see how it comes about, how the impulse is born. Who can you trust but yourself sometimes? Certainly not the Red Cross swimming instructors at the community center in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Fifty-four

Is it just me, or do any of these things give anyone else a warm fuzzy?

Hot apple cider
Leaves changing to yellow, red, and orange
Getting to wear my favorite sweatshirt (a literal warm fuzzy...)
Hayrides and bonfires
Construction paper turkeys you make by tracing your hand
Five Little Pumpkins
Chili suppers and cakewalks
Making your own Halloween costume
Caramel apples
Buying school supplies (Trapper Keepers! 64-count box of Crayola Crayons! art gum erasers!)

The days and nights are getting cooler here in mid-Mo and I couldn't be happier. I love Autumn!! Love it!! And we're having a Welcome to Autumn party next month and I'm having so much fun planning it. Many of those things listed above will be featured. (Not the Trapper Keepers.)

And, show of hands -- who thinks I'm retarded for joining the PTO two years before Seth even starts kindergarten? I did it so I could start meeting other parents and getting to know the teachers. I'd also like to make myself useful and help out where it's needed, and I know teachers often need a hand with things. Brian expressed the opinion the other night that it's "weird" and basically a waste of my time. I'm curious what other people honestly think.

In other news...there really isn't any other news. Things at my job have finally slowed down to a normal pace. I'm now doing the work of one person, versus doing the work of five people, as has been happening the entire rest of the year. It has been psychotic there! But we're in the middle of a breather and I don't actively dread going in right now, so it's been nice.

And I've been trying to upload some pictures I took this past weekend but they won't. I'll try again later.

Fifty-three

Nashville, August 2008

Saturday: LONG drive down. Seth did really well. Got checked in at the resort around 6:00 pm, went and had a mediocre steak dinner, and called it a night, we were too tired for much else. Seth thought it would be cool to sleep on the sofa bed ... but I woke up around 11:30 and Seth was in bed with me and Brian was on the sofa bed, unconscious, TV remote clutched in his fist. He really watches too much television.

Sunday: drove around near the resort, found the Aquarium ... and here I should confess that my internet research failed me; I thought it was a real aquarium ... it's a restaurant called the Aquarium ... just a bunch of fish tanks! I felt like an idiot! But, there's a place just across the mall from it called Sting-Ray Reef with a big tank full of sting-rays and small fish and sharks, and then some other tanks with other critters (snakes, toads, piranha). You can buy a little dish of shrimp and feed the sting-rays. Seth wasn't interested so I did it. They're so soft! We also rode a carousel there. 'Cause, you know. Sting-rays. Carousels. Naturally! At 2:00 pm we attended Backyardigans Live! at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in downtown Nashville. Seth really seemed to enjoy it. Brian only fell asleep once. At 5:15 pm, we boarded the General Jackson Showboat for a dinner cruise down the Cumberland River. We mostly had a nice time ... I'll just say that it was a long time to be on a boat with a three-year-old, and leave it at that. I did snap some pics of a big sculpture on the banks of the river near downtown, a Google search reveals its name is "Ghost Ballet of the East Bank Machineworks." Seth thought it was a roller-coaster.

Monday: we'd originally set this day aside for driving up to the Land Between the Lakes and being all outdoorsy and stuff. It rained pretty much all day, so we changed our plans. At 10:00, we went to the Adventure Science Center, which is WAY cool. Seth had a blast. The whole middle of the place is one big climber with slides here and there; you can climb all the way to the top of the building and look out over the city; really, really cool. Seth scaled it twice. There was a small dinosaur exhibit; too small, really, but Seth liked it. We went to a show about stars and planets in the planetarium that was pretty cool (and narrated by Luke Skywalker), and the slide in the Small Intestines part of the body exhibit makes a really loud fart sound when you hit the bottom ... another highlight for Seth. It takes so little to make him happy. We left a little after lunch time, went and had some lunch, and then laid around the room for a while until we lucked out and got a small break in the rain, so Seth could go swimming. (The indoor pool had been drained the day before; some hoosier guest broke glass in it so they had to drain it and clean it out.) While at the outdoor pool, Seth scared the crap out of us by just jumping in and going straight to the bottom. I had just gotten out of the big pool and gotten in the little pool, and no sooner had I done so than he got *out* of the little pool and tried to drown himself in the big pool. Brian was only four or five feet away but it took him a few seconds to get to him. Seth didn't act very upset afterwards, but Brian was pretty spooked by it. Of course, Brian was *already* traumatized ... the first thing he did was jump in the pool with his cell phone in the pocket of his swim trunks! He's still trying to get it dried out.

Tuesday: long drive home. Seth watched his movies most of the way, and Brian and I were so glad we'd found an audio book to listen to. We're not finished with it, it has thirteen discs!

In any case, it was nice to get away, and nice to get home. Seth was worn clean out, I got him to bed at 8:00 tonight, which is early, with no argument from him. I'm about to go to bed myself!

Fifty-two

Answers

1. Working Girl
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. The Philadelphia Story
4. Young Frankenstein
5. The Breakfast Club
6. The Big Easy
7. Moonstruck
8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
9. The Quiet Man
10. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
11. Blazing Saddles
12. The Lion in Winter (probably one of the best screenplays ever written)
13. Indiscreet
14. History of the World Part I
15. Two Mules for Sister Sara

Fifty-one

The other day, my sister and I texted each other back and forth for about an hour, just with movie quotes. I thought it might be fun to list some of my faves and see (if anyone's even reading this anymore) how many of them people recognized...

1. Six thousand dollars? It's not even leather!
2. It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.
3. Dost thou have a washroom?
4. Ya little zipperneck!
5. Does Barry Manilow know you've been raiding his wardrobe?
6. Aw, man, now they're killing retards! (Then why ain't you dead?)
7. Old man, you give those dogs one more piece of my food, I'm gonna kick you 'til you're dead!
8. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!
9. He'll regret it to his dying day...if ever he lives that long.
10. Swine maid!
11. Somebody's going to have go back and get a shitload of dimes!
12. Eleanor, with one hand tied behind you.
13. How dare he make love to me and not be a married man!
14. Could you please step on the same foot at the same time! My tits are falling off!
15. Everybody's got a right to be a sucker once.

Fifty

Just a short post to put up a few pictures taken recently. Still nothing much going on. We've added a jaunt to the Land Between the Lakes to the itinerary of our Nashville trip next week. Brian wants to go on a canoeing excursion, I want to take Seth to the planetarium, and we both apparently want to spend a lot more money on gas than originally planned.

Slim4Life update, in case anyone's wondering. I've lost about 36 lbs, and 12.5 inches total. I've almost hit my weight loss goal, and almost hit my jeans-size goal, so probably just a few more weeks to go. Three, maybe four. I had to cut nearly all carbs and dairy out of my diet, so I haven't had cheese or milk or pasta or good bread for a very, very ... very ... long time. Oddly, the thing I've missed the most is the milk. I only drink 1% milk, I never thought for a minute I would be told No Milk, but there you go. No Milk. (I do take calcium supplements.) Hopefully once I move out of the Weight Loss phase and into the Stabilization phase, I get my milk back. Right now, if they said you could have milk OR pasta, hands down it would be milk. And that surprises me.

So, pictures. The Darth Vader costume was very kindly given to me by a coworker, whose own kids have outgrown it. She heard about the lightsaber and appeared at work the next day with the Vader costume. Seth wears it a LOT, especially the cape and mask. He's even taken it to preschool a few times. What a weirdie! The other shots are just random.

Forty-nine

Another long stretch between posts. Am I losing my enthusiasm? Or am I really just *that* boring?!? (That's a rhetorical question...)

Had lunch yesterday with my friend Jenny, whom I hadn't seen for some few months. It was really nice to just sit and talk with her for a while, get caught up. I'll admit I do spend some time every now and then wishing all my friends weren't so far away. Susan's up in the northland. Wendy and Karla are in Marshall. Kelly is in Florida. Trisha is in St. Louis. And I haven't made any friends in Holden, so there's absolutely no one local for me to talk to or hang out with. I know. Would I like some cheese with this whine?

What else. I already mentioned the Nashville jaunt. We've also now planned a week in Myrtle Beach for June 2009, so that's three trips to plan and look forward to. Nashville's just a couple weeks away now, I'm really looking forward to it. Even the Backyardigans thing!

Forty-eight

I see that it's been a little while since I posted. I have been insanely busy at work, and have had little time for my witless meanderings.

Let's see...uh...I'm drawing a blank here. Oh, the reunion! I knew there was something I meant to talk about. I went to my 20th high school reunion last weekend, sort of. By which I mean, we got there too late for the event in the morning, attended the midday picnic (during which it rained), and then skipped the party/dance in the evening. We were having too nice a time at Wendy and Andy's house and decided to just stay put. Yes, for that I paid $50.

So how was it? It was underwhelming. Very low turnout, very unexciting. Very not worth $50.

What else. Brian and I have planned a long weekend in Nashville, we'll be there in late August, and we're taking Seth. I bought tickets to see Backyardigans Live!, which I'm sure Seth will enjoy very much, and Brian and I ... will not. :o) I can just barely stand the television show. We're not telling him about it, so if you read this, don't mention it to Seth, please!! We're also going to try and book a spot on a nature "cruise" on the Cumberland River, and have a big breakfast at the Loveless Cafe.

I'm lobbying for a date night this weekend, so we can go see The Dark Knight. I hear it's quite good.

Forty-seven

We were in Marshall yesterday for a Fourth of July picnic. Brian, Seth, Lacey and I drove down and arrived at the park around 1:00 and went swimming at the "aquatic center" ... I guess they spent too much money on renovations to continue calling it a swimming pool. It's pretty nice, tho the water was a trifle chill. Seth's lips turn blue pretty quickly.

Headed over to the shelter close to 3:00, Margaret and Larry were already there and George and Dottie Bayne arrived shortly thereafter, about the same time as my cousin Tim. Mary Vale and Howard came a little later, and then George and Dottie's son Steve and his family (wife Katherine, kids Patrick, Danielle, and Julie) showed up around 5:00. We had burgers, dogs, all the usual fixin's , and a very nice time. Stayed for fireworks (a wee bit mediocre *and* behind a stand of trees), and got home around 11:30. A long day, but a good one.

Forty-six

Oh, man, the last two days have been interesting.

Yesterday, Seth got the Jeep we bought him. I found this used battery-powered Jeep on Craigslist for $80, couldn't pass it up. Even has a new battery in it. My dad and his wife very kindly picked it up for us and brought it down last night. Seth *loves* it. So far he's made a lot of Nascar-laps around the yard (big circles going left) and he's run into the swing twice, but he loves it. Even ran the battery down already.

Today, I had to go to Target after work to do some shopping, and Seth.... Have I mentioned that he's been watching Star Wars? The original three films, I mean. Not the "prequels" which barely count. I don't even own those ridiculous movies. Anyway, he likes Luke and he talks a lot about how Darth Vader is his dad and how they fought and that Vader cut off Luke's hand. So we were in Target and they had some lightsabres on sale. So we spent the rest of the time in Target with him trailing along behind the grocery cart going "I am a Jedi!" and swinging a purple lightsabre around. I'm sure they were glad to see us leave.

Oh, I almost forgot. In the car on the way to Target, Seth told me it was okay to eat boogers because they're green like grapes. That sounds *distinctly* like something only someone with a Y chromosome could come up with. Or admit to.

Forty-five

Not too much going on right now, hence the dearth of interesting blog entries this past week. My mother is planning a picnic at the park in Marshall for the 4th so Seth and I, at least, will be going up for that. If Brian isn't raking or baling hay, he and Lacey will come too. We took Seth to see Wall-E on Friday night, it was a very, VERY good movie, as was the little short that preceded it. For being a love story about a robot and a trash compactor, it was very affecting. Yes, I cried. Quite a bit, actually. I'm sure Seth thinks I'm a total loon.

Back to work tomorrow. At least it's a short week.

Forty-four

“Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that shit.”

I will miss this man.

Forty-three

We had our first play date today! Seth C. from preschool came over with his mom, Cindy, and we had a very nice afternoon. A few small scuffles (no sharing of favorite toys, thank you very much!) and Seth C. wasn't too interested in the sprinkler after all, but we'll definitely get together again.

Forty-two

Father's Day 2008

My daddy:

My baby-daddy:

My baby:

Best shot of the day:

Forty-one

Here's how effed up I am this morning.

My morning snack is usually an apple, which is usually just tossed in my purse before I leave home. This morning, when I got to my desk, I unloaded a few things out of my purse rather hurriedly, as I was trying to dive right into all the work I had to deal with first thing this morning. Threw my purse under my desk and sat down to get started.

Maybe...fifteen minutes later, I was sitting here reading some instructions on a job ticket and reached over to my right, without looking, to use my computer mouse. Rolled it around on my desk for a minute waiting for the icon on the screen to roll so I could get to where I needed to go. Nothing happening. I bang the mouse on the desk a couple times ... hmm, doesn't sound like a piece of plastic. I look at my right hand ... I'm holding my apple!

Which, of course, doesn't work on the PC.

Forty

Dodge gave me a bit of a scare this evening. I had noticed when I left for work this morning that he wasn't around, but didn't give it much thought. It was when Seth and I got home and he still wasn't around that I started to get a little scared. Since both Maggie and Boomer disappeared last fall I've been a little spooked, and got myself worked up a little about it by the time Brian got home. In the month or so that we've had Dodge, he's barely left the yard. (That I know of.)

So anyway, Seth and I both hollered for Dodge for about half an hour, to no avail. When Brian got home, we took the truck out in the pasture to check the fences and ponds in case he'd gotten hung up or stuck somewhere. No sign of him. We drove down the road to the nearest neighbor's ... and there he was, sitting out in front of their house, with their dog. Their *girl* dog. He could *totally* hear us yelling from there, I have no doubt of it. He was *blowing us off for a girl*!!!

I didn't think I'd have to put up with that until Seth hit junior high.

In other news, Seth was an Artiste this weekend. Originals for sale, prices starting very reasonably in the low 100s.

And...sometimes Seth falls asleep funny in his carseat...

Thirty-nine

Okay. I just watched the trailer for Kevin Costner's new movie Swing Vote, and I felt compelled to get on here and write that no matter what movie he makes, no matter how much of an Actor he tries to be, whether it's light or dark or something kind of gray (or watery) ... if he, at any point in time in the film (or even on a show talking about the film), giggles, I will watch it. I have loved Costner since Silverado, wherein he giggled quite often, if memory serves, and have stood by him through thick and through thin. Waterworld bedamned. I like Kevin Costner and I will continue to watch his movies.

Let's just keep him giggling, tho, okay?

Thirty-eight

Today was Seth's first swimming lesson. Before the lessons started, he decided to see how the water felt:

Then, when the lessons finally started, he was very brave about getting in the water, especially when Mama and Daddy weren't getting in with him. They did some very basic stuff, just some floating, kicking, going under a couple times, and jumping in. He wasn't too sure about floating on his back the first time, but was great on his second try. Now, only seven more to go!