Ah, the stars, the campfire, the...country music?

Camping was good despite little sleep and hot, hot weather. Our sites were on a super slope but they were huge so we were able to find semi flat spots for tents. The fire pit we used was on a slope so you either fell backwards in your chair (Keith & many children) or forward into the fire (yeah that was me). It just added comic relief. We had no shade whatsoever but we used shelters over the tables and the many water sources to keep cool. We were right next to the shower house and 2 bathrooms so that was good. We are very used to the other campground we frequent with woods behind us and privacy so being packed in like sardines was a little weird but both neighboring sites had kids that played with ours so that worked out well. One turned out to be Sky’s weekend g/f and was at our site more than hers and went with the kids to the beach and movies. This, of course, brought on teasing from the other boys and resulted in Sky punching one of them in the stomach a couple times…camping brings out the best in that kid. We are not alone as all children around us got spankings and time outs that we witnessed…my theory is lack of structure makes them all go wacko for the weekend. We all did our fair share of yelling at children the whole time.

Mau & I escaped children by finding lots of trails to wander through. We heard rumors of a waterfall so we went searching. We found a very dangerous, steep trail that had a secret swimming hole at the bottom. It was awesome! Kali had a great time chasing the kids running to jump over the falls. We kept her on the leash until I talked to some of the kids down there and they said they would rescue her if she jumped. I finally let her go and she took the leap head first. I stood over the edge and her face was pure desperation as she realized she couldn’t touch and didn’t know how to get out by the edge (it was tricky). Mau jumped over the side and lifted her out. We had such a good time, we debated on telling our kids about it but we did. We all went down the next day. Kali was nervous this time about going over the edge so she would run to the edge and stop. I let her leash drop, she stopped for about 30 seconds looking over the edge, reached down in the water, grabbed the handle of her leash and handed it to Mau. It was so cute. It was one of those moments you wished you had the video camera running. We had a whole group of people watching with the “awwws” and laughing. I guess she decided she wanted to be held back this time and not have to swim for her life. We made it over to the doggie beach too. She enjoyed chasing a ball into the water for quite a while.

There was little sleep due to people not observing the designated “quiet time” of 10pm. At 2am, I was still grumbling over the smooth jazz coming from a couple sites over the first night. The 2^nd night we were lulled to sleep by loud *cough cough* country from the next site over. No better than smooth jazz…both are mortal musical enemies of mine. I did give a yell or 2 the 2^nd night because I was insanely tired after not sleeping the previous night and getting woken at the buttcrack of dawn by children. I believe it went something like this “Turn off your fucking music!”. Shortly after 1:30am, the music suddenly went off. The next day I found out the park ranger had walked into their site and turned off their electric. I wonder if he heard my “oh thank fucking god” when it went off. The country fans tried to blame others for calling the park cops but I’m not sure if they realized that the rangers can hear it when they are walking around. Last year at our usual campground, the ranger walked right up on us and told us it was an hour past quiet time and we needed to shut the hell up. It was so dark and we were being so loud, no one even knew he was standing there…scared the shit out of us.

The last morning there was a bit weird. I got woken up at 7am by a loud diesel truck. It turned out the garbage trucks were making their rounds after not being there all weekend. I know why they do it that early (especially on a holiday) but it was still rude. We all woke up pissed off then we found out a water main had broken so they closed all the bathrooms. Unlike our usual campground, we couldn’t just hop into the woods and take care of business. Like an idiot, I made a pot of coffee then ended up having to hitch a ride with the country fans to a pit toilet up the road while listening to country the whole way. It was a surreal moment like “Who the fuck are these people? Are they gonna dump me off in the middle of nowhere or worse?”. Luckily they didn’t, and as we got back, they were opening the bathrooms again.

Sky with trophies from last 2 tournaments...1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th...he says "one of each!" 

Getting away finally!

We had some good storms yesterday. The local news reports this was the worst damage equivalent to a tornado in 15 years and tons of people lost power. The lightning was very cool but all we got was a plastic porch chair being blown over thankfully. Through the weekend it is just supposed to be sunny and warm. Welcome to summer…um, where was spring again?

We are off for a weekend of camping, our long overdue vacation. Keith has decided to invite other people…ugh. That means more kids. We have trouble enough keeping the 2 we usually take quiet once it gets dark. Now we have 2 more under 6 and a teenager. Yes, you would think the teenager would do a lot of the “kid watching” but he’s disabled so it will be limited. He doesn’t have the stern parental voice kids fear either…I think if he yelled, the kids would possibly stop briefly to look at him, shrug, then continue their destructive behavior.

That being said, Mau & I plan on hitting the driving range and mountain bike trail. It is going to near 90 on Sunday so the lake will engulf me undoubtedly and I plan to get Kali into the “doggie beach”.

Disqualified! No trophy for u!

We spent all of Saturday in Louisville at a tournament. Sky got 3^rd in forms and 4^th in fighting. He got disqualified in weapons. There was a rule about weapons not touching the ground. Sky was not told this so he didn’t practice it without touching the ground. Usually it’s not an issue so it wasn’t discussed. The lady running the tournament started yelling at Sky when he was finished. He immediately burst into tears. Mau and Sky’s instructor ran over and listened as she blah-blahed about wood floors (the floor was concrete with a carpet over the ring area). She agreed to wipe his terrible scores and let him go again. Another parent from our school told Sky to “suck it up and try again”. Once again, his weapon hit the floor because that is how it is run and he doesn’t know how to control that so he got the lowest scores across the board, even though his form was agreed to be worthy of 1^st place according to the audience mumbles. Just for the record, this same form won him 2^nd place at the last tournament, which was in a school gym with WOOD FLOORS. In his fight, his opponent’s foot got wedged in between 2 of his ribs so he dropped to the ground in pain. After he regrouped, he was allowed to finish his fight. He was so pissed by that point, he fought the best he’s ever fought and won. He lost the second battle for 3^rd but he did really well. He’s happy and I will get a photo of him with his trophies when he goes to class next (they aren’t allowed to bring trophies home until Shi Fu says so, usually after the next tournament).

In the world of bowling, we were tied for 2^nd after kicking much ass last week. Between Mau’s 180 and my 149, we easily took the first and second games. We lost the third by 4 pins so we got the overall point. Whoohoo! This week we split 2 and 2. We won 2 but the other team got the extra point. We are currently tied for 3^rd and the next week we bowl is position week then it’s over for the season. Since most are gone for Memorial Day weekend, we are skipping this week.

Keith fucked up on the camping reservations, putting us in a site with no access to the restrooms. Mary Jo & I said “No way!”. I’m a high maintenance camper…with contacts and braces, I require running water and with the chigger incident of last year, I would prefer a real bathroom. We found a different site and Keith changed it. Kari told me they have a “doggie beach” there. I hope this is true because Kali would love that and the weather looks like it’ll be warm again by then.

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag zum Dementia!

A mouth so clean you could eat off it…

Yep, that’s mine. It didn’t come without a price though. A price paid with my pure sweat, tears, heart palpitations, gripping agony, sharp pains from hell, sexual jokes made by dental hygienists, lectures made by every person in the building with any sort of dental training and a “plan”. Yes, a fucking PLAN. The girl who once thought of herself as the poster child for dental hygiene has cavities…plural. 2 little cavities? Oh no, more like 5 fucking cavities! Most are class I, which I guess means little surface dealies but either way you look at it, needles have to be stuck into my gums to correct this issue. Couldn’t I just watch Mau suffer and be happy? Nitrous is an option at this particular office but it comes with a hefty price tag that insurance will not pick up. Hell, they won’t pick up the entire bill anyways. I have to shell out $260 roughly since this dentist is on the pricier side. I would simply go elsewhere but that didn’t turn out so good for me last time and I actually trust this guy with his state of the art dentistry. With my intense anxiety, I really think that is more important in my case.

Now how could a girl who brushes her teeth 5 times a day, flosses daily and uses a proxy brush like a madwoman get cavities in 6 months time? I refuse to blame this on the poor, innocent gummi bears I consume daily (hey, I brush after indulging). I blame some of this on the crack ass place I went to 6 months ago. I believe the dentist overlooked some of these cavities with her 30 second once over. My new dentist used a fancy tool that beeped for trouble. The asshole hygienist at the old place also did a half ass cleaning. As my teeth moved upright, unslightly tartar was revealed in several spots that must have been right under my gums. Either he was unable to get to it without a deep cleaning or he just didn’t care. He did say something about “we’ll get it better next time”. There would be no next time since I swore to never set foot in that office again. Now, with a new hygienist, she really cleaned it up. I mean, my teeth look awesome now. If I catch a mirror in the right position, I nearly blind myself. I was very pleased with the office and staff, even though they gave me terrible news. I see it as sort of a bizarre blessing…I would much rather have this taken care of at the new office than at the old place. I fear that would have been an experience that would have scared me away from dentists for good.

I was in there for a long time. I pictured Mau waiting impatiently, pacing with worry about his precious wife, the woman who selflessly pushed an 8 lb human out of her for 2 hours. The woman who caringly washes his stinky socks and undies and puts them away. I kept that wonderful image in my head until I got into the car, moving aside the Skyline Chili container so I could sit down. I guess he was worrying while downing his cheese coneys.

What's going on this week?

We went out to the driving range to hit some balls and were pleasantly surprised to find an old friend working there. Back from when we were living on Ohio and a friend of James’ and an old co-worker of Mau’s…small world once again. We got the hook up now…all the balls we could hit, instruction for all, Fritos for Sky and all I spent was $10 on a driver that fits me. Good deal. I did much better this time, hitting over twice as far as my first try. That was the rule for Mau & Sky as well.

In the park world, I helped a scarce cop bust some too-frequent prostitution and helped Kari rescue a dumped off dog. Kali really played more of a role in the latter but I assessed the status of the dog and Kari came back the next day and took her home. Super sweet dog but she is trying to find her a permanent home by fostering her.

My 150 score in bowling helped win us one game this week but we lost one by 4 pins and the other by a shit load due to the other team member’s 181. I guess we will be losing our 2^nd place position next week.

To add to Mr.Smartypants’ (AKA Skylar) school resume, he has qualified for the gifted program in math. He is off the charts…it’s crazy. He’s listed at equivalent to 6^th & 5^th grade in 2 areas and “post high school” in the other. Wtf does that mean? POST high school? Post is after right? Pre would be before? It might not be as dramatic as I am thinking. The letter said something about him being involved in academic clubs. Mau’s response to Sky was in a robotic voice and said “Hehe, math club, chess club, computer club…you’re a geek!”. My response was more logical and selfish: “Wow Sky, you’re gonna get a good job when you are older.” Then we discussed engineering and taking care of your parents when they are poor, old and in diapers :P

Sky with his 1st place medal! 

Sky running Short Staff 

Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting...

On Saturday we went up to Dayton for a martial arts tournament. I demanded HellaKitty’s presence since she lives right there. She showed up with her b/f, Steve. The tournament started later than anticipated so Steve had to leave for work before Sky had competed. HellaKitty was able to see all events though before she had to get to work. We giggled uncontrollably at the strange noises the karate competitors make…we attributed it to being in a high school gym again, the ambiance of it turning us back into little kids. They really do make funny noises, in our defense.

Oh most important? Sky got 2^nd in weapons running Short Staff (Pan Long Bien Gan or Coiling Dragon Whip, according to Sky) and 1^st in forms running Dragon Fist (Long Quan). He did not place in fighting. He got to the required 3 points but the judges gave the other kid another chance for some reason and he won. I don’t understand it and it happened nearly exactly to a classmate of Sky’s in the next fight making their instructor drop her jaw but I guess you can’t argue with the judges like in baseball LOL. I have never seen Sky look so proud as when he got the 1^st place. It’s his first, and his second 2^nd place so he was very pleased with himself. He’s got a couple weeks off before the next tournament, which is a considerably larger one.

On our way home, we stopped at the state of the art DC Skate Plaza. I let the doggie stretch her legs while the boys enjoyed the park. It was quite crowded but they got their time in. It was pretty impressive. HellaKitty says it is the first in the US. It looks like a normal park, not a skatepark with various numbers of stair sets, low, wide handrails, grass gaps and sidewalks. Very interesting.