SHEW - I’m tired.

Jamin and I left at 7 a.m. to go water.

Josiah worked from noon – 4:30 p.m.

I baked bread – and it turned out good. I knew it was good when Arielle said, “this tastes just like the white bread you used to buy”. :::snort:::: I THINK what she meant is that it made big slices like she is used too. She likes the 7 grain bread I’ve been making and I used that recipe….so really it doesn’t taste different but it does look different. {G}

I got Stacia down for a nap after lunch. She’s cutting 4 teeth again. This translates to a solid week of sleepless nights. I was exhausted and actually fell asleep myself. Evidently several called and dropped by and were told that “mom is sleeping”. What a life of luxury I live. I told Tricia at the pool tonight that mom’s over 40 with infants deserve a good nap once a week! Other than the continual cat naps I seem to grab while feeding the baby, watching a family night movie, or reading a book. LOL

We had made plans to meet Debby and her boys out at the Lake Swimming Pool. We did that. Adrienne, Tricia and their families came along as well. It was fun to introduce my friends to each other. I’ve noticed that Josiah and Jamin have been reluctant to go swimming. This afternoon we talked and I began to see that yes, the lifeguards were being very, very picky with them. Tonight I watched. Sure enough – Josiah hadn’t been in 10 seconds when they blew the whistle on him. The third time in 30 minutes and he got out of the pool. The boys and Porshe went and played volleyball and the little ones continued to swim. We noted that the lifeguards didn’t blow the whistle on the younger boys when they did the same things the older ones were doing…… it’ s sad to me that authority would paint “all young male teens” with one big brush stroke. That seems to be what is going on because my boys are NOT rowdy….they were getting in trouble for PLAYING with the younger boys – who WANTED to play with the BIG boys. LOL

Zander has discovered that he can go down the slide. Wow. He gets incredibly excited. He’s fun to watch. He can swim all the way out of the roped area by himself – thank you very much. He also has discovered that he can paddle around the big pool and doesn’t need the life vest. This means that if the big boys are banned from the pool I need to take Stacia into the big pool instead of all of us playing in the kiddy pool.

Ah – and right before we left for the pool the UPS man arrived at our doorstep. A week or so ago I’d noticed that Debby had the perfect suit…the suit I have been looking for. Swim shorts and a tank top – she had gotten it at JC Penneys. I like my Lands End suit but the top is a few sizes to big and the shorts are a bit shorter than I wanted with my power thighs. When I went online to Penneys I found that they had put several suits on clearance. I ordered the only color pair of shorts they have (green LOL) and a couple of tops to go with it. I told Mike I’d found a sale online for suits and he said, “Did you buy a swimsuit sampler – one of each?” :::snort::: I WAS able to buy the size 6 tops and 12 bottoms this way. I should be set for years to come…and I can go up a few sizes too. LOL

That’s it for my exciting day.

My Zoo

I've always said there are days at my house that look and feel like a zoo. Those words must have been prophetic. The younger ones greatly enjoy the *Zoo Tycoon* game that Arielle received on her birthday. (The older boys prefer Ancient Civilizations). It's been enlightening to watch the younger three play Zoo. It's offered a microcosm to study various personalities. {G} Zander likes to mix and match animals and watch the ensuing confusion, Arielle likes to keep the babies and mamas togehter forever, and Nolan is known to say, "everyone has already seen that baby - let's sell it and get another for people to come see". LOL

As with so much of what we read, watch, or play, this game has entered "real life play". The kids were busy for a good solid hour and then I was called to come see. There was a note on the door announcing their zoo. The younger boys' room was lined with cages of various animals - all making appropriate (in some cases inappropriate sounds), they had a petting zoo set up and all sorts of animals and tanks and such. They've played this game a lot this week.

Below are some pictures of our zoo with a bit of interpretation.

The Bobcat Exhibit

The Bear Exhibit (note the clean closet 1 1/2 weeks post the great clean up day) The Dinosaur Exhibit

Baby Bobcat Makes her Great Escape

Mike's Father's Day gift

Other than Bike Accidents:

Hmmm….

I know we did something other than bike accidents, yesterday.

The big thing we did was go bowling with Debby and her boys. Her younger son, Mike, is now home from his trip to a friend’s. We hadn’t realized that anyone under 18 can bowl one free game (shoes included) each day. We can do this all through the summer. I was glad to find another thing we could do out of the heat. I’m learning that summer is not the glorious outdoor season around here. Jan – Apr would have been those months. {G}

Josiah had to be at work at 6:00 p.m. After bowling, we hurried and grilled some burgers and steak, I roasted some carrots and red potatoes, made a big salad, put out some fruit and homemade buns and we ate. Mike got home somewhere during dinner and had a few minutes with Josiah before Josiah jetted off to work.

We went for a walk after dinner and did find the car from the accident. I still am feeling terrible about filing a report and really don’t want to call the police officer about this. He made me feel that I was being frivolous to file a report as I “wasn’t hurt”. I must say I am stiff and sore this a.m.

Jamin got another call about doing a yard today (Tuesday). He and Josiah will leave in less than 2 weeks on their trip to AK. Bike took a day of leave so that he can drive them and Porshe to Dallas.

Another Accident Update
A police officer came out. He really did NOT want to file a report. He told me I was riding on the wrong side of the street. NOW….I don’t remember being taught how or where to ride my bike – it made common sense to me to ride so I could see the traffic. WRONG. {G} He told me “in TX cyclists follow the driving rules” and I said, “Well in most states you don’t leave someone you hit even if they were walking or riding in the wrong spot”. I told him I was wrong and won’t ride on the wrong side again – BUT she still should not have hit me and driven off with a wave. He asked if I thought that riding on the wrong side of the road had caused her not to see me. I told him that I thought she didn’t see me because she wasn’t looking…and she didn’t stop to look for oncoming traffic at all. He asked if I really wanted to file a report since I wasn’t hurt. He didn’t even want to look at the bike! I told him I don’t care if she pays for the bike…I want someone to talk to her about being careful and driving distracted and that it easily could have been a jogger or a child or another car. ARGH. He said he wasn’t sure they could do a thing because I was riding on the wrong side of the street. I don’t get that. I guess in TX you can hit folks if they jay walk etc. Mike drove home through the ally and said he is fairly sure he saw the car by my description. Now I doubt that I should turn the report in…the whole thing is very confusing to me. I don’t want her to get in big trouble…I don’t want to go to court….I don’t want to waste the police officer’s time…but it isn’t right for her to hit me and leave….even if I’m not hurt and bleeding.

Accident Update

I called the police and left a message. I'm waiting for the patrol officer to give me a call back.

I can't do much because I didn't see her license. I was righting myself and when I looked up she was waving and driving off - my eyesight isn't what it used to be!

Tonight, we are going to take a family walk up and down the ally and see if we can spot the car. We're going to try to get her license number and address and Mike doesn't want me to try to talk to them but to give the info to the police. I want her to KNOW that it wasn't just a mistake but that she needs to pay more attention when driving and really....it's against the law to drive off without stopping and exchanging info when you hit ANYTHING - or so Mike tells me.

I'm actually really feeling bad about turning in a report because I'm sure she feels terrible...but Mike is sure she doesn't feel terrible - just lucky at getting away. {G}

I GOT HIT BY A CAR THIS A.M. I can’t believe it. I was riding my bike. I was on Southwest – a busy street. I was riding carefully and watching traffic. I saw an older, light blue car with a blonde female driver approaching Southwest from the ally between Clearview and Grandview. I noted that I was in the traffic and she would be entering the traffic so I had the right of way. She continued to come….I was sure she was going to stop and she still had plenty of time to stop. I was already crossing the ally when I realized that she was NOT slowing down and she was NOT looking…..she kept coming and did not look up until SHE HIT MY BACK BIKE TIRE!!!! I was IN THE ROAD!!!! I was doing all I could to get out of her way. She entered a busy street without even LOOKING…..the look on her face when she felt the hit was total surprise…but then she waved and drove away!!!!! She didn’t stop to offer to pay for any damage, she didn’t stop to be sure I was o.k. and that I was not to rattled to ride home…she just waved and sped off. This was NOT a young adult. This was a 30-40 year old female. Good GRIEF! I tried to continue riding (I had done 5 miles and had 5 miles left to go) but realized my tire was wobbling. It’s warped, the brakes are pushed in against the tire, the mark where she hit is apparent…I hope her make up was applied to her satisfaction…thank goodness she won’t be late to work – what’s a little hit and run????? I have no idea what to do – I think I’ll write the editor of the local paper.