Falling Into Facebook

I have finally given in to the Facebook fanfare, face first.  I had been refraining for at least the past year and not because I thought I wouldn't like it.  In fact, it is the exact opposite -- I was afraid I would like it way, way too much.  And I was right.  (This doesn't happen very often, so I need to savor it.)  So anyway, I was afraid of it being a big huge Time Thief.  (Beware!  Time Thieves lurk everywhere posing as innocent moments of enjoying life.  Then they morph into the Time Suck of the Century, like installing a car seat, finding a pen that works, and making a "quick call.") So anyway, after twelve hours as a "member,"  I was right. Oh, did I already mention that?  Well, it's true -- dead on.  

I really haven't accomplished a whole lot today except search for people - old friends, new friends, neighbor friends, former friends, ex-boyfriends, the whole gamut.  So I did a whole lot of searching and not a whole lot else unless that includes checking back on Facebook a ridiculous amount of times to see if there were any new developments.  My friend Jamie just joined this week, too  -- and "poked" me into doing it myself.  After three days she has already had to whittle herself down to a mere half hour a day in order to preserve her family life, marriage, and stuff like that.  I think I need to do that after one day.  First, though, I need to finish my profile, look for a few more (hundred) people, and post a photo of myself looking radiantly happy, beautiful and fulfilled, preferably on a beach with my hair blowing in the wind. (To clarify the hair must be blowing OUT of my face, not into my face.  It is FACEBOOK after all.)  OK, I know what you are thinking.  So that picture may take a bit longer to "locate" than the other updates.  First I probably need to take a shower --after checking Facebook one last time that is.

And Twitter is tomorrow!  Do I dare?  Why not?  At least then I will be fully enmeshed in the hippest means of wasting time for our entire generation!  How could I possibly miss out on that quintessential pop-culture experience?  So look for my Twitters on your Facebook as well as Facebook postings on your email if you are my "friend," that is.  No, emails aren't on Facebook, silly.  At least something is sacred -- for now.

LibbY

Off to the Great Wolf Lodge!

Insert spooky howling sounds here.  Ah-ooooooooo!

The whole Mc-Family finally got to the Great Wolf Lodge this weekend to experience the legendary waterpark there once and for all.  I had a major hand in it, of course, since that is what I asked for as my birthday present.  It's not exactly what every forty-something woman wants for the anniversary of her birth.  Then again I am not every forty-something woman, just me, and it was my birthday after all.  So away we went, and it was good, very good in fact.

First of all the place is absolutely humungous, an entire world unto itself with a parking lot full of more minivans than you have ever seen in your life, unless you work out at ACAC that is. Basically you park your minivan (apparently) and then enter the realm of the Lodge with your bags and don't emerge until you are leaving, bags in hand again.  We lucked out because the weather was so dark and downright dreary this entire weekend (in case you didn't notice) that we didn't miss a bit of sunshine despite being inside so long.  It;s true -- the e=weather was just that miserable.   And thankfully we didn't get kicked off the premises for pulling up in a (gasp!) Subaru Outback without the requisite sliding side door.

Once we got checked in, we put on our suits in our cute mountain lodgy room and headed straight for the water park.  It was AWESOME -- I had been afraid that it wouldn't live up to all of the hype, but it did and then some.  There is so much going on in there it makes your head spin.  There are so many rides to go on that it takes a while to even find them all, and we probably missed a few, like the surfing one.  Seriously!  They had simulated big waves and people were actually surfing Hawaii 50 style.  

Among many other attractions and distractions, there was a beach with shallow entry and smaller fake waves that seemed so real it was uncanny.  And there was a canal will a current to it.  The toddler/preschooler area was surprisingly really good -- Sam had a grand ole time on the various slides, working his way up to the "rugged" one before too long.  Inside it was a balmy 84 degrees, which was great.  Although you get drenched from the get-go, you never actually get cold enough to even think about wanting a towel.   Daddy Mac and I switched off taking the "hard core" rides, in particular the "Howlin' Tornado" which was quite aptly named.  Holy moley!  And backwards was even crazier.

After a couple of hours in and out of the water, we were all smoked, headed back to the room, and innocently went in search of dinner.  We ordering a pizza at the main restaurant, decorated tastefully in the mountain lodge style like the rest of the hotel.  However, there we experienced the hands-down worst pizza I have ever had in my life -- BY FAR.  (In case you think I was overly critical, that was Daddy Mac's take as well.)  Here's a not-so-juicy tidbit for you - the tomato sauce on it was straight tomato paste, honest to God, and there was not one bit of spice on the entire pizza.  Anything should have tasted divine to us because we were so ravenous.  That's how bad it was.

We got over it after spending some time in the fabulous arcade and getting some "magic ice cream," namely to get the taste of tomato paste out of our mouth.  Then we went and got a "real" magic wand at the Magi-Quest shop.  Armed with this hi-tech wonder, we set off on a Harry Potter-esque adventure although we really couldn't quite figure out the directions.  Maybe when get solder, he can teach it to us.  We got the picture to light up and talk when we waved it, so that was good enough for this visit!

Nighttime -- now it gets ugly.  (I will strike any profanity before posting this.) Two words can explain it all -- cheerleading conference.  That translated into lots of late night shouting and acrobatics resulting in no sleep for the weary.  The noise travels in that place like I've never heard before.  We also discovered at about midnight that a family with four young boys was directly above us.  They too had lots of acrobatics and general noise going on.  When we called the front desk about five times, they were extremely helpful but that didn't change a whole lot. Thankfully the Saminator slept through all the ruckus.  we and almost gave up and headed home.  Moral of the story:  If you ever go to the Great Wolf Lodge, request a room on the TOP floor, maybe even on a corner.  And leave your cheers and acrobatics at home!

LibbY

What? No School AGAIN?

Say it isn't so, send me to the funny farm, or send me Supernanny!  Heck, while you're at it, I'd like all three STAT -- please.  I guess if I am trying to teach good manners, I have to have them, too, that whole consistency thing.

Sam has had no school at all this all week because of the snow.  All I can say without bursting into a string of profanity (this is a family-oriented blog after all) is that it has been one really loooooooong week.  Some highlights (or low-lights depending on your viewpoint) include Sam scolding me for scolding him, "That isn't nice.  Tell me you're sorry."  We both had to laugh at that one.   Then there was the other "precious" gem, "You're mean to me!"  Now where did he get that from?  I suspect that whiner Cailloux is the culprit.  I think it's time to phase in the Berenstain Bears and leave Cailloux in the dust!  At least Sister and Brother are respectful to their parents despite whatever predicament they are in.

Sam has developed into quite the budding painter, so we made a few trips to Walmart and Michael's to stock on up on paper, brushes, little white figurines, and lots of paint.  (Sounds really mean, huh?)  While we were at Walmart with the rest of humanity also supposedly "snowed in" and looking for some retail therapy, we happened to pass by the shower curtain aisle.  (There is an aisle there for everything, you know!)  Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted this really cute one covered with yellow rubber duckys, which he has always loved practically since Day One.  When I showed it to him, he took one look at it, and his mouth curled up in disdain.  ''That's for BABIES!" he exclaimed.  And that was the end of that, so needless to say the rubber duckys did not come home with us.  Instead we came home with one covered in tropical fish, much more fitting for the macho preschooler he is.  "I am preschooler, hear me roar!"

I don't know if I have ever looked forward to the Monday morning carpool line quite so much. I'm tempted to start packing his bag now just so we can be uber-ready to go come the Day That School Reopens.  I am Mommy, it's my turn to roar!   Is that so mean?  Don't answer that!

LibbY

Let It Snow!

Walking in a winter wonderland!

No snow here all winter and then, just when we thought winter was coming to a gentle close, we get a powerhouse on the the 1st of March.  About nine inches, right?  Fun stuff, except for the poor people who lost their power and still don't have it back yet.  (You definitely know who you are and are justifiably bitter.)  So March has definitely "come in like a lion" with a deluge of snow as its mighty roar.  Stay tuned to March 31 to see if it actually "goes out like a lamb" in keeping with the saying...

This was definitely the biggest snow I've experienced in Richmond in my eight years here.  As a Boston native, this snowstorm reminded me of the long Northeastern winters, hearing the scrape of snowplows in the early mornings and crunching on snow everywhere you walked.  It was quite nice to have a dose of it all without having to live through an entire winter of it. Instead we got lots of surprisingly balmy days!  The novelty of snow in large quantities wears off rather quickly, I assure you.  Here in Richmond, though, it's been a magical time to enjoy the novelty.

This was Sam's first "real" snow, and he was in awe.  (I say "real" because the others were too small to count.)  Daddy Mac and I were in awe, too, having forgotten how dazzling a thick blanket of snow can be.   Everything is made clean again, at least for a while.

Thankfully Daddy Mac optimistically gave into an urge to buy a neat-o sled at Bass Pro Sops on Sunday afternoon before the first flakes began to fall.  Of course he figured the storm would probably pass us by and the sled would end up sitting in the garage along with our mountain of other unused sporting equipment.  Alas, that was not to be, thankfully so!   The sled sure got a workout.  However, our yard is flat, as in no slope whatsoever, usually a good thing but not when sledding is concerned.   You naturally ask, "Where did the sled come into the picture?" Well, Daddy Mac ingeniously tied a string around the front and pulled Sam all over the yard, around and around again, pretending they were dodging penguins at every turn.  So Daddy Mac got a workout, too, not to mention shoveling that long suburban driveway, which all of a sudden seemed to grow even longer.

LibbY