It's Fun to Play at the Y-M-C-A

When I signed Bubba up for summer camp at the local YMCA, I was told he would either cry because he was having so much fun he didn't want to leave or he would fall asleep in the car on the way home from playing so hard all day.  After nearly two weeks at camp, Bubba still needs convincing.  Afterall, the only other place he's known since he was a baby was our church's daycare/preschool.  Thankfully several of his friends from preschool are at camp.  Everyone is so nice and welcoming at the Y (although very unorganized!), and after just a few days everyone knew Bubba's name.

Bubba posing in his official Y Camp field trip t-shirt.

It's hard to get details from Bubba about how his days at the Y are going, but so far he's been on a field trip to the Virginia Aquarium (the sharks were his favorite) and Hunt Club Farm (pony rides and petting zoo).  He likes the playground at school, and he's been in the big outdoor pool a few times - swimming lessons are coming soon!  Last Friday, they had a bunch of bounce houses set up and they according to Bubba were "totally awesome."

I'm hoping for more reports of "totally awesome."

Meet the Fur Children

I love cats.  I had one growing up named Tippy.  He was an outdoor cat and eventually went to live with my Nannie.  We had to put him to sleep back on Christmas Day in 1995 at the age of 19. So, I always said I wanted to have another cat when I moved into my own home.

Meet Prissy.

Prissy's first Christmas with us.

Honey gave her to me for Christmas in 2000 - about a month after I moved into my first house.  She came from a friend he was visiting over on the Eastern Shore.  He thought we should call her Twinkie.Um, she's black and white.  She's not a twinkie.  So, I told him her name would officially be Twinkle Priscilla. Prissy really has become more of a Daddy's girl lately.  She gets in his lap as soon as he sits down, even if he has something (like a wireless keyboard) in his lap. She "talks" to him and hugs him.  She licks his ear.  She wakes him up in the morning by walking on him and nudging him. Prissy loves drinking water out of the bathroom sink and flies down the hall whenever she thinks Honey is headed that way. She even paws at the door and cries sometimes when he's working in the garage.  She's spoiled!

In 2002, we decided that Prissy needed a friend to play with and keep her company.  My dear friend and former colleague, Lynette, lives on a farm and her barn cat had kittens. I went to see her and she let me pick one out - it's a boy!  I had always said that if I was ever to get another cat, he'd be lucky to have a good home.

Meet Lucky.

Lucky Noodle Brugeman Ritter Sutphin (the name is bigger than I am!)

Lynette and her kids delivered Lucky to us in August 2002.  She was calling him Noodle, so we incorporated that into his full name. Poor Prissy didn't know what to think about this little tiny kitten that just wanted to run and play with her.  She didn't want any part of it.

Lucky was the wild child who enjoyed climbing our Christmas tree for the first few years.  We could be sitting right there looking at him and he would just jump right in.  It's funny now looking back on it, but it just about drove me crazy back then.

Lucky is more of a "Mama's Boy." He likes to get in my lap and put his face up to mine trying to give me a kiss.  He's a happy cat with a loud "motor".  He's also the escape artist.  He longs for the outdoors and any open door will do.  "Luckily" he doesn't go too far when he does manage to get outside.

Today, Prissy is 10 and Lucky just turned 9 earlier this month.  It's hard to believe.  My babies are all grown up!  Oh to live the life of a cat - sleep (most of the day) on the end of our bed, eat and play.

Prissy - aka "Prissy Girl" or "Priss Tail" with her Daddy.

Prissy is our "fat" cat and she's pretty shy around other people. Lucky's tail is so fluffy it could be a duster and he's always reaching for a hand to pet him even from folks he barely knows.

Lucky - aka "Lucky Boy" or "Loo Loo" curled up in the clothes basket.

Did I mention I'm allergic to cats?

Put Me in Coach. I'm Ready to Play...T-Ball

Having a child really is opening me up to new experiences and costing me big bucks too! I signed Bubba up for T-Ball with SYAA back in January.  They didn't tell me much when I signed up and paid my $60, so I didn't know he'd need a glove, uniform and shoes too - cha-ching!  Thankfully, a friend of mine who has two ball-playing boys a little older than Bubba and who professes to being a "crazy ball mom" had some hand me down cleats and pants for me to try. The glove was a different story - Bubba is a lefty, so finding a right-handed glove just before practice started was a bit tricky. Thank you Target!

Practices were on Wednesdays starting in March.  Bubba's favorite part was the snack he would get when they were done, which is how he came to drink way too many Capri Suns.

Bubba warms up at one of his early practices.

Coach Courtney was so patient with the children. I realized right away that I needed to teach Bubba how to get into a line with other children and how to do jumping jacks. And it is so true what they say about the kids picking flowers and not paying attention out in the field.

Bubba models his uniform.  "I've got your curve ball right here."

The spring season started in April and ended June 11 with a game during the week and one on Saturday. By the time it was all said and done, Bubba played all the positions - we preferred him to play in field to lessen the chance for distractions.  He is so my child.  When he would get upset on the field, he would take his glove off and hang that little head and sometimes even sit down - during the game.

My little switch hitter. Hey Batter, Batter, Batter.  Swing Batter!

I learned something else from this experience.  Everyone wins at T-ball.  They don't keep score, so I couldn't tell you who technically won any of the games.

Registration - $60, Team Pictures - $50, Glove - $18, Uniform - $25.  Watching Bubba learn something new and have fun too, PRICELESS.

Beach Week 2011...The New Cottage

So as I mentioned in my last post, we had to find a new cottage for our annual OBX trip this year.  Mom found it through a friend, who I think found it on Craig's List.  Anyway, we were told it had a ground floor apartment and that a very quiet young man lived there.  Ok, that would be different, weird, but we decided the place looked decent.  It was only 4 blocks north of where we were used to staying, had the amenities we were used to and did not cost too much more than what we paid for the Beach Shack.  Shortly before we left to go down, the owner informed us that the downstairs tenant had moved out and that she (the owner) would be coming down for a few days.  Turns out she's the paranoid owner type coming to check up on us. At least that's how we felt.

So my first impression of this new place? Try stale cigarette smoke! Ugh. For someone who has been treated for bronchitis 9 times in 2 years, this was not a good beginning. The can of Fabreze that we had to buy helped, but we had to keep spraying all week.  Later on when Mom mentioned this to the owner, she said she doesn't allow renters to smoke in her cottage.  Well obviously somebody broke the rules. In addition to the cigarette spoke we also had smoky evenings due to the wildfire burning further south.

There were plenty of other rules too.  Was this a prison or a beach cottage for goodness sakes? The place was plastered in sticky notes with all the does and don'ts.  The first one I encountered was taped to the top of the toilet tank - "Septic - toilet paper only." Okay, that's a pretty reasonable request. Another one instructed us not to bring brown paper bags from the stores into the house because they bring roaches.  North Carolina's larger retailers (Wal-Mart, Kmart and Food Lion, etc.) have to use paper instead of plastic bags.

There was another sticky note that instructed us to leave the blinds closed during the day to keep the rooms cool and energy costs down, so I was cringing when my husband decided to open all the blinds and the windows one day.

Soon enough we found ourselves wondering about different things around the house and thought surely there's a sticky note for that!  So at least we eventually found some humor in it.

The highlights of the trip included taking Bubba to see Kung Foo Panda 2 - it was rather good and kept his attention. We also took him to play putt-putt for the first time at Jurassic Put - Bubba liked the Dinosaurs.  But then the next day he was begging to play at the place with the pirate ship.  I skipped this trip, and it was a cooler place with a train that Bubba and Honey got to ride to their course.

All in all we had GREAT weather - no rain until Sunday when we were packing to leave.  Unfortunately, when I got home I realized that we had brought that nasty smoke smell home in all our clothes - including the brand new ones I had purchased down there and my pillow!  This was not, as the sign on the dining room wall stated, "Best Little Vacation House in the Outer Banks" by any means, and we will probably be looking for a new place next year!

A Family Tradition Comes to an End

My family and I recently returned from our annual beach week vacation.  Before I can tell you about this year's trip, I have to give you the background. For the last 14 or so years, my Mom and I and eventually my husband and son have been going to the Outer Banks the week of Memorial Day.  We've stayed in the same cottage every year - the Beach Shack - and we've come to think of it as our home away from home.  The Beach Shack was nicer than my first house! 

The Beach Shack - our perfect little home away from home.

It started out back in the mid 1990's with a group of ladies - my Mom's friends from church and me (I was the youngest of the group!) We'd go to the beach, walk to Kmart, go out to eat, sit on the porch, shop, talk and laugh, and there was nothing like gathering around the dining room table for a good game of Liverpool Rummy and Dominoes.  Over the years we'd have as many as 7 or 8 people there at any given time, and the ages ranged from 20's to 70's.  Those were some great times.  In December of 2003, my Mom's best friend Jean passed away, so going to the beach after that was different, and every time we'd walk to Kmart, we'd think of Jean because it was one of her favorite things to do at the beach. Eventually, Joyce, the lady who rented the cottage for the group decided she didn't want to do it anymore, so Mom started getting it for us to go and Honey would come down on the weekends when he was able to get off of work.  Our son Bubba's first trip to the Beach Shack was in 2006 when he was 7 months old.  He loved the cottage, although the beach and the ocean took some getting used to.

Bubba's first trip to the beach - 2006

We knew this family tradition would come to an end after 2011 because Bubba would be starting Kindergarten, so we'd have to pick a different week to come down to the beach in 2012.  But we didn't know that 2010 was to be our last year at the Beach Shack.  Looking back, I am really bummed that my last week spent at the Beach Shack I was sick with what turned into pneumonia and Bubba was getting over Strep Throat. In December 2010 we discovered that the Beach Shack was up for sale. It broke my Mom's heart seeing that for sale sign in the yard.  She was so upset she even started to wonder if we could afford to buy it - at $285,000 fully furnished, it was a steal.  The owner said we could sign a lease for "our week" and the new owner would have to honor it, but as it turned out the new owners from Maryland wanted to live in OBX year-round, so we had to find another cottage at the last minute to keep our Memorial week vacation plans.

Our New Beginning for 2011...how will it compare to the Beach Shack???