San Antonio (or as I like to call it the land of sunshine and free flu shots )

You may (or may not) be asking "Where have you been for the past two weeks Mrs. Crackers?" Well I'll tell ya, I've been in San Antonio, thank you very much. And so your next question might (or might not) be, "You mean you've been in San Antonio for the past 2 weeks?"

Umm, no..not really. I was in San Antonio for 4 days, I just kind of got lazy about doing another blog posting for the rest of that time. But, never fear! I am here to tell you all about my trip (and I promise that it will probably be just as interesting as it usually is when people pull out their vacation pictures and force you to look at them... umm. so sorry)

"Why San Antonio?" you might (but probably aren't) asking yourself. Well, Mr. Crackers had a conference that he was invited to attend in that fair city that just happened to coincide with the day I was cruelly evicted from my thirties and thrust headlong into a new decade (a.k.a. my fortieth birthday). Mr. Crackers had the brilliant idea that I accompany him on this trip & make it into a mini-vacation. My parents miraculously and generously offered to watch my two hooligans for a couple of days, so we jetted south.

Once I saw the convention center, I knew instantly that I had made the right decision to visit Texas. Not only was it beautiful, but it was also sitting under pretty blue skies without so much as a snowflake in sight. I was pretty sure we were going to have a great time (and let's face it, the obvious lack of snow also really added to the city's charm). And even though the city's temperatures were 15-20 degrees below normal, I wasn't complaining 'cause compared to Ohio, the colder temperatures in Texas still felt almost tropical. Plus, those cooler temperatures allowed me to break in my new $40.00 purchase from Marshall's. An "I can't believe it's not leather" pleather biker jacket...

I guess you can call it my mid-life crisis purchase. It's not something I would normally pick up, but I loved it. And after all, a $40.00 jacket seemed like a perfect welcome to your 40's present to myself.

Anyhoo...I spent my birthday wandering around the city's Riverwalk while Mr. Crackers attended hours and hours of (what I can only imagine) were somewhat mind numbing lectures...

Look flowers!




In February!

Yep, I definitely think I got the better end of that deal.

Don't feel too badly for Mr. Crackers though. Even though it was a "working vacation" for him, we still managed to see most of San Antonio's tourist sights together.

And I have to say that we also enjoyed the fact that while we were standing and getting our picture taken in a city with blooming flowers, that back home they were getting another foot of snow dumped on top of the foot of snow left over from the last storm. Not that I wished the snow to happen at all, I was just happy I got to avoid looking at the stuff for a few days. (And I would be remiss if I didn't take another moment to say a giant THANK YOU to Mom & Dad for watching the kids during a time when 2 days worth of activities/school were cancelled due to snow. Yikes!)

By the end of our trip, we managed to see almost everything that downtown San Antonio had to offer. I think we estimated that by the end of the day on Tuesday, we had walked about 10 miles that day. When Wednesday morning rolled around I was feeling all 40 of my years (plus maybe a few more). Which probably leads you to ask another question. "Are you afraid of public transportation Mrs. Crackers?"

Nope, we were just enjoying being outdoors (without having to put on our snow boots).

San Antonio was everything I expected: it was a place with beautiful scenery, friendly people and warmer temperatures. But, all good things come to an end and on Wednesday it was time for us to return to the snowy north. I was ready to come back though, I had really missed my two hooligans. So, we packed up our luggage, complete with all of the new souvenirs we purchased for the kids and for my brave parents who took those kids into their home during a snow filled long weeked and we headed to the airport.

On our arrival to the airport I got myself a souvenir too - my H1N1 vaccinne. That's right, not only do they have flowers blooming in February, but they give away free flu shots in the airport to anyone who wants one. Trust me, I'll remember more than just the Alamo.

White snow and pink eye

Like everyone else in the eastern half of the country, we've had some snow recently. While we've had nothing close to the 4 feet many parts of the country have seen, we've got about a foot of the white stuff on the ground.

Along with the storm came two snow days. Sadly, our first snow day was spent traveling between the doctor's office, CVS and (even more sadly for the kids) my hair salon. Poor C developed an ear infection the night before the storm, so we braved the weather and the snow covered roads and headed to the doctor so we could get him a prescription for amoxicillan. After a brief trip home for lunch, I bundled the kids back into the car so we could make the journey to my hair salon. I have been waiting weeks for this haircut and neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night would prevent me from getting my split ends trimmed off.


We got back home just in time for K to take her nap & for C to announce that "something was wrong" with his right eye. The thing that was wrong was that it was red and tearing and covered in green goop. Eeek! Pink Eye alert!

I quickly called the doctor and got yet another prescription for the poor child who now seemed to be riddled with infections. Needless to say, we spent the rest of our first snow day indoors (scrubbing our hands and spraying Lysol on every surface that C had even thought about touching earlier in the day).

By the time our second snow day rolled around, C was feeling a bit better & his eye didn't look nearly as gross infected as it did the day before. I spent the morning washing every piece of fabric that may or may not have come in contact with his face. Trust me, it was hard enough putting drops into the eyes of my mild mannered seven year old son. I planned to do everything I could to avoid having to put those same drops into the eyes of my medicine-hating 4 year old daughter.

By the late morning the laundry was done & C was no longer contagious. He had watched two Star Wars movies and was finally feeling up to a romp in the snow.

Although, Mr. Crackers & I had done most of the digging out the day before, my 2 kids decided to help me shovel the front walkway...

...for about 3 minutes until I was told that shoveling the sidewalk was "boring".

I finished the rest of the walkway and then was told that my shoveling services were needed in constructing some snow forts.

Since the snow was so deep, "construction" of a snow fort just required me to dig a small hole in the snow so the kids could sit in said hole. Voila! A fort!

Once the kids had their fill of sitting in holes, we went on a short hike to the pond in our neighborhood. And by hike I mean that C walked ahead of me while I tried to pull my 40 pound daughter over 3 foot drifts of snow on a sled that was also weighed down with all of the snowballs that C was collecting for "later".

I have no idea what C is doing in this shot. We milled around like this for about 10 minutes until K decided she was "tired and done". So we headed for home and the exciting conclusion of our time in the snow: a snowball fight!

Since tears & screaming ensued within seconds of the snowball fight between the two siblings, I decided it would be safer if all snowballs were directed at me.

Thankfully, almost all of K's snowballs either missed me completely or hit my feet.

C on the other hand has quite an arm (and a terrific capacity for aiming at moving targets). After getting hit by about 6 snowballs, I declared the snowball fight over & we all headed in for some hot chocolate and another round of eyedrops.

Forty

It's official... we are now 1 week away from the date when I will be turning 40. Hmm... I don't really feel forty (it seems less scary if I spell it out) so I'm not really filled with a lot of anxiety about it. Although I should admit that I quite enjoyed my thirties & I'm not really looking forward to checking the box 40-45 years old on any future questionnaires that come my way.

A couple of weeks ago Jen, who writes the blog Absolutely Bananas, did a tribute to her husband Jay who was turning 40. She posted 40 things that were worse than turning 40. I liked the idea, so I've decided to use her list as a jumping off point, but change a few items to better suit me (I mean honestly, I fall down the stairs all the time).

Here for your enjoyment are 40 things worse than turning 40 forty by Jen (& Karen):

1. Being eaten by wolves
2. Getting a leg caught in a meat grinder
3. Poking your eye out Developing an allergy to chocolate
4. Running over a baby bunny or duckling Running a daycare in my home
5. Finding a finger in my soup
6. Irritable Bowel Syndrome A week long migraine
7. Losing the winning lottery ticket
8. Mullets
9. Being chewed up by hamsters, rats or cats Living with a long haired cat (oh, the allergies!)
10. Bed bugs
11. Falling down the stairs Walking around all day with my skirt tucked into my underwear
12. Stepping on a rusty nail
13. Kevin Costner with webbed feet Working at Toys R Us
14. Lice
15. Drinking lumpy milk
16. Taking the red pill. Having to get braces again
17. Getting eaten by a shark
18. Teenage girls and boys
19. Filet-of-Fish sandwiches Developing an allergy to baked goods
20. The stuff Mike Rowe does
21. Having gas on an airplane Riding home on an airplane after a week at Disney World with an exhausted, screaming 2 1/2 year old on my lap (again...)
22.The Real Housewives of Orange County Watching Ann Coulter on TV
23. Comb-overs
24. Trying to figure out how to sync your iPhone to a new computer without losing all your music Listening to New Age music everyday
25. Taking your baby to get his shots Having another baby
26. A root canal
27. Anything by Paris Hilton
28. A runny nose when you don’t have a kleenex Another allergic reaction to penicillin
29. Catching my hair on fire
30. Windows XP If the only station on TV was Fox News
31. Paying taxes
32. Accidentally brushing your teeth with hemorrhoid cream
33. The 80’s… back in style
34.Having the pilot of your airplane pass out from bad fish and all the other people pass out too and you have to fly the airplane but you don’t know how
35. Aliens that come to Earth to exterminate humans
36. Throwing up in your mouth
37. Dropping a baby
38. Stepping on dog poop. With bare feet.
39. Lower back pain
40. Falling down and you CAN’T GET UP! Turning fifty

Is it just me, or did about 5 of those items deal with allergies?

Honestly the list of things worse than turning 40 would take years to complete. I realize that it's just another number. And for the most part it's one I'm happy with (or at least not too scared of). I have been very blessed with a great family and a good life. Happy Birthday indeed!

Not exactly a dead ringer part 2

With my 40th birthday just two weeks away, it is becoming more evident than ever that I am losing brain cells at an alarming rate. As my Mom correctly pointed out (and Mr. Crackers seconded) I was wrong in my last post when I said that I have never been told that I look like anyone famous.

A few years ago on vacation, my Uncle George & my Mom decided that in both appearance and personality that they thought I resembled Samantha Brown of Travel Channel (& Champion Door and Window television advertising) fame...

I will agree that our hair is very similar in color (apparently neither one of us was happy with the color we were born with). We both also have a rather large set of teeth - although truth be told I think I've got her beat. Pale skin? Yep, it looks like she is rather fair, but if I'm not mistaken it appears in most of her photos that she does have a bit of pigment to her skin. I'm not sure that she'd qualify as "fish belly white" like yours truly, but I think our skin color is close enough.

But even with this new information, I'm still not planning on changing my Facebook profile picture to Samantha Brown...

or Tilda Swinton . Nope, I'm just not participating in Facebook's "Doppelganger week".

I don't even have this picture on my profile anymore.

Instead, I've decided to go with something a little more classic...

Because you can never go wrong with a Olan Mills Wagon Wheel portrait circa 1983.