A Walk in the Park

It's the end of July, and since the monsoon season is in full swing, the temperature over the last few days has been hovering right around 100 degrees.  A welcome relief, since that's about 15 degrees cooler then normal.  With monsoon rain for the last few days and total cloud cover it only hit 96 here today.  A perfect day for going to the park.  We haven't been to the park in a few months because of the heat.  I don't really feel like melting the baby.  Here are some pics...

Keep on Swingin'

Slide, Slide, Slippity Slide...

Yeah so what?

Keep on Truckin'

Ugh.  I can't hardly look at these.  She's getting so big.

I Gave at the Office

I finally did something I've been saying I was going to do for years now.  No, I didn't start my own 70's style variety show, but don't worry that's still on the back burner.  I officially became an organ donor.  I think it's something that you need to resolve with yourself internally before you can actually do it.  I think for a lot of people there is an initial gut reaction to not do it.  Thinking about your own mortality is hard enough, but then thinking about body parts being removed and scattered around is well, unsettling.  Once you get past the fact that that's OK (because you're, you know, dead and all) you can think about it more rationally.  So as I was renewing my truck registration online, I clicked the link to organ donation and signed up.  I'm pretty sure most states offer this via their Motor Vehicle Departments.  And really, what better place to troll around for body parts than MVD?  If they're not picking up organs off the freeway they're at least sucking out your will to live while you wait in those damn lines.  "Now calling A-34".  Crap I'm J-51.  Just pluck out my spleen and we'll call it even.

I don't have any religious convictions that would stop me from doing it (mostly because I don't have any religious convictions to begin with) so I didn't need to wrestle with that.  I know for some people that's a consideration but after my 20's (OK and 30's) I'm sure my liver isn't going to be allowed into heaven anyway.  I just keep thinking about the people I could potentially help.  Corneal transplants can actually restore sight to blind people.  That to me is amazing.  Could you imagine living your whole life without sight, and then waking up after what I found out is outpatient surgery and suddenly being able to see?  It must be what Lindsey Lohan feels like when she gets out of rehab.  The idea that your heart can keep beating or your lungs can still take breath and keep someone else alive once you're gone is incredible. 

Now that I'm a parent, I worry about not being around for my child.  If I had a chance to receive a gift like this from someone which allowed me to live and watch my baby grow, to just be there for her, I'd be eternally grateful.  I can't think of anything greater you could give another person.  Backstage passes to Cher come close...

Oh the best part--after they remove whatever they're taking, they do reconstructive work so you look fabulous in the coffin.  I've specified they can have my organs in exchange for killer cheekbones.  Imma look fierce in that casket!

To learn more about organ donation, check it out at Donate Life.

Be A Sport

Going to Water Day at Day Care

This kid loves the water.  Bath time is a whirlwind of excitement.  It starts by Sabrina pulling the shower curtain over so she can start throwing toys into the dry tub.  I'll turn on the water and undress her down to her diaper while it fills.  When I say "OK let's take off your diaper so we can get in the bath" she takes off to her bedroom for the one time of day when it's not a fight to keep her from jumping off the changing table.  As soon as the diaper's off I put her down, hand her a clean wash cloth, and off she runs naked and screaming that high pitched little girl excitement shriek that puts a smile on your face while it decimates your eardrums.  Move too slow on the wash cloth and she'll grab whatever garment happens to be in reach and takes that with her.  You better catch her though, because whatever it is will be tossed into the tub as soon as she's within range.  A one, two, three, and she's baby lifted into the still filling tub, where she claps her hands and puts her head under the running water. 

So, I'm thinking swimming.  We signed up for classes right before her birthday, but then she got sick so we had to cancel.  I think we'll sign up again to begin in August.

This got me to thinking.  Lots of times I see kids enrolled in sports that don't really seem to be enjoying themselves.  We want her to be active and athletic, and she's got more energy then...well then I have.  She likes playing with her ball, so soccer may eventually be a good fit.  Gregg and I are more sports watchers then players.  I'm hoping by exposing her to sporting events from an early age will help her develop an interest.  Some of the sports we like to watch are:

Basketball

Hockey

Football

We did watch some World Cup Soccer while America was pretending to care about it...

And an occasional Drag Race...

So tell me...how did you decide what sports to channel your child's energy into?  At what age did you actually enroll in one?

Jump in the Pool

Well we always said we'd have a house with a pool.  Somehow that didn't work out as planned, so the $12.99 Target special will have to do for now.  Gregg got her one that's a little nicer, but since the heat has put my backyard landscaping on hold there's not really a good place to put it.  So we're on the patio making due for now.  For some reason the hottest state in the union develops houses with backyards that are not big enough to put in a real pool.  Our crack (emphasis on crack) legislature allows the builders to make the lots and the streets smaller and smaller to cram more houses in each development increasing profit margins.  Not that I'm against profits, but geez come on give us some breathing room.  Once our standout immigration law goes into effect there won't be anyone to build them anyway.  If you don't live here, you've heard all about our attempt to de-Mexican the place, but the secret is when economic times were better everyone looked the other way while they built our houses, pools, resorts, and anything else we needed.  Not sure how I got here when I just wanted to show off a cute girl in a pool, but I digress...

In other news, we received Sabrina's birth certificate in the mail today.  The last piece of the adoption puzzle is put in place.  They told us it would take ten months, but it only took four.  So it's finally over.  Not much room to breathe, because we decided we're going to start again after the holidays.  The stress was so much fun the first time, without it I guess I'd feel like a fish out of water.  Unlike the fish below...

Happy 4th From the Firecracker

Firecracker dress for a Firecracker Girl!

Three cheers for America!

With Papa getting ready for Grandpa's pool.