H is for Hotel and Questions I Asked My Kids

If you remember from last year, I wrote about this place already. Except last year was mid-April. We were on H in the A-Z Challenge because H was for hotel (it was also for Hyper). If  you missed it or forget what happened last year, you can read it here. It was slightly embarrassing.

We weren’t able to get checked in until 3 today, but DW’s conference started at 11. This left the boys and I up to no good for 4 hours. We hit up Wal-Mart for a few forgotten items (my bathing suit being one). Then the mall. Then the park. Finally, we’re in our room and the boys are aching to jump in the pool, but we’re going to have some supper first.

Anywho, on the questions. We both know it’s what you came here for.

What makes you happy?

Crash: When you tickle me
Bang: Jumping on the tramperline (that’s how he says it)

What makes you sad?

Crash: When I get hurt
Bang: Hugs

What would you like to do tomorrow?

Crash: Go swimming, go for a walk so I can 11,000 steps, play tablet and hang out in the hotel
Bang: Go swimming

What do you like to watch on television?

Crash: The Gaming Show (In My Parent’s Garage)
Bang: Team Umizoomi

How much money do you have?

Crash: Only $10
Bang: 49 and 80

What do you do that is naughty?

Crash: Everything! Being mean to my brother
Bang: Whining (contributed by his big brother)

What is the best job in the world?

Crash: Being an engineer
Bang: Cleaning

What’s the best part about Truro?

Crash: Staying at the hotel
Bang: Swimming (I’m sensing a theme here)

What’s the best part of staying in a hotel?

Crash: Swimming and the restaurant in the hotel
Bang: Going swimming and going on the elevator

 

 

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Two Charities

I mentioned it before in one of my Sunday Shares, but I’m going to mention it again.

A friend of mine had just finished running 26.2 miles in Boston in 2013. He was in the medical tent being treated for dehydration when the bombs went off.

He was invited back to run in 2014. There, he became connected with a charity called 50 Legs.

Mission

The purpose of 50 Legs is to provide amputees with the necessary care and prosthetics that they could not otherwise afford and help them live a happier and healthier life.

This morning he was interviewed on a radio station discussing that terrible day and what he’s doing now to contribute.

Have a listen.

If you feel so inspired that you’d like to give, you can visit Jody’s donation page here.

 

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I’ve written of this second charity as well, but feel it deserves a mention, too. It’s my brother’s Ride for Roswell.

Roswell Cancer Research Institute in Buffalo, NY, provides care to patients and ongoing developments in better ways to battle cancers.

Funds raised through The Ride For Roswell support the cutting-edge research and patient care programs that benefit the 31,000 patients who turn to Roswell Park for hope.  Donations are further used to improve the patient and family experience, support new clinical treatments and procedures and educate the next generation of cancer scientists and clinicians.

This is the 7th year my brother has participated in this even. This year he rides in honor of Melina Selent. When she was just 10 months old she developed retinoblastoma, an eye cancer. Fortunately, it was just in one eye. Unfortunately, her eye had to be removed. That was in 1996. This summer she is scheduled to graduate with a BS in Biology.

My father is riding for the 7th consecutive year, as well. He rides in memory of my grandfather (my mom’s dad) and for a college friend of his.

Both have goals of reaching $1,000.

One is my brother. One is our dad. One is my brother’s in-law. 

If would like to donate to my brother, visit his donation page here.
If you would like to donate to my father, visit his donation page here.

Monday’s Music & Words Award #Music #MWA

Thanks Tiffany of “Sounds Like Life to Me” for this unique award nomination. This award is slightly different from the others I’ve accepted. This one has to do with music. Don’t worry, you won’t hear me sing, or play the violin. I can’t do either. I’m too tone deaf. However, I can strum a few chords on the guitar. Plus, this award gives me something to write about other than what I want to save for the A-Z Challenge that starts on Friday.

As with most awards, there are rules to follow. I’ll attempt to abide by them.

1. Link back to the person who nominated you – Done

2. Answer these questions with words AND music: See below

3. Pass the award to 5 bloggers who inspire you with posts about music. See below below

4. Tag your post with #MWA, for Music&Words Award so that we can all find you down the line. Done

5. Quote these 5 steps and the award icon in your post. You can display the icon on your sidebar as well. Done

WHAT DOES MUSIC MEAN TO YOU?

Do I listen to music to put me in a certain mood or do I listen to music based on the mood I’m already in? The latter. Fortunately, there are so many kinds of music that I always find something I want to listen to. Whether it’s the Celtic fiddle in Mull River Shuffle or the driving guitar and drums of the Stanfields or the old stuff like Zeppelin and Dylan and Tull or even classical. Yes, Beethoven and Mozart and Handel or Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman.

WHAT IS YOUR FIRST MUSIC RELATED MEMORY?

The first one I can remember dates back to 4th grade. My parents either bought me a trumpet or borrowed one (I can’t remember that part). I took some lessons, practiced on my own and joined the elementary school band. Normally kids weren’t allowed to join until 5th grade so I got in a year early. I played until 7th grade.

However, my first music memory of music not created by me was my first concert. Lynyrd Skynyrd circa ’93 with my parents. I loved it. My second concert happened a few years later (’04 perhaps) when DW and I went with my parents to see Great Big Sea. I didn’t get to many concerts.

WHAT’S THE FIRST ALBUM YOU’VE PURCHASED YOURSELF?

Good lord. I have no idea what I bought. That was a long time ago. I remember buying an “AC/DC Live” cassette that got wrecked and I had to buy it again.

WHAT’S THE LATEST MUSIC YOU’VE PURCHASED? (NO ONLINE STREAMING OR FREE DOWNLOADS, I’M TALKING ABOUT CASH HERE!)

The most recent was one I got because Crash said he liked it. Shaggy ft. Pitbull “Only Love”. I also got the new Walk off the Earth album, Zedd’s “Beautiful Now”, X Ambassador’s “Renegades”, and Andy Grammer’s “Good to Be Alive” all thanks to an iTunes gift card.

WHAT SONG DID YOU LISTEN TO LAST? (NO CHEATING, COME OUT WITH THE DIRTY PLEASURES!

Unfortunately, it’s not a guilty pleasure. It’s not even a pleasure. It’s a song Crash and Bang like thanks to the YouTube. They’ve been listening to song parodies. The exception is that the songs are all about Minecraft. The latest fave is “Friends with a Creeper” (instead of Eminem and Rihanna’s “Friends with a Monster”. There’s a whole playlist on our cell phone of such songs.

Otherwise it was probably something from the ’90s like Verve, No Doubt, Nirvana, or Barenaked Ladies.

Lastly, those I know who can inspire us more with music and words are:

Erika Kind who has her “Song of the Day” when I either find something we have in common or discover a new to me artist.

I Could Be Batman who I believe is a Weezer fan (not Hanson)

 

Sunday Share 22

I hope the Easter Bunny found everyone this morning. I certainly don’t want anyone jipped out of their share of the chocolate.

If you’re like me, you’re going to be super busy. So I’m only leaving a few links today. Happy Reading!

Heather Needs A Nap
The gas we pass. It’s hysterical! So what if we only think we’re 10.

Opinionated Man
Don’t steal!

That’s What Anxious Mom Said
It’s all about that crap…

Properly Ridiculous
Trust Trump?

Riddle From the Middle
Will Smith and scary funny movies

If you have a great post to share, feel free to leave it in the comments whether it’s yours or someone else’s. All links are welcome!

The Island People

PHOTO PROMPT – © Ted Strutz

Read chapter 11

Chapter 12

Dempsey found us. I assume he managed to access my credit card transactions. That black car followed us clear to Cheticamp where we stopped to go whale watching. I was scared shitless, but I had a plan and I was counting on this island’s people’s willingness to help.

And help they did.

Brogan and I were now hiding in Whale Cruisers repair shop while some guys took my car to St. Peter’s church. With a little luck that black sedan was going, too.

As a fishing town I knew they used lobster traps creatively, but this took things to a knew level. I knew my situation was shitty , but those flowers gave me hope.

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Read chapter 13

This is a continuation of an experiment. It’s hard to believe this is the 12th week! Each week there is a 100 word short story photo prompt challenge posed by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. My challenge to myself is to connect these photos into one seamless story. Click the blue frog to read other stories inspired by this photo.

Go Ask Your Father: Eclipses, Milk, Sloppiness and Watching

Easter weekend is upon us. The Easter bunny is not prepared here. No worries. He still has tomorrow.

Last year the Bunny hid their chocolates. The boys had to follow clues all over the house to find their clutches of eggs.

Here are their clues. They were written, of course, in poem form. Each clue was left in the clutch of eggs and chocolate to lead them to the next place to look. Easter Bunny Hide and Seek. Chances are good this will happen again!

1. What’s a solar eclipse?

Not to be confused with an Eclipse of the Heart (and those creepy Brighteyes). That was Bonnie Tyler back in ’83. A solar eclipse is when the sun gets blocked by the moon (not by a big head). They happen more frequently than people think. Once source says they occur roughly every 18 months. So there would be two total eclipses visible from somewhere on Earth every three years. The next one will occur on September 1st of this year. If you’re in Africa you’ll be the lucky ones who get to see it. The next one visible in the USA and Canada isn’t until August 21st of next year. I won’t go into penumbras or umbras (not to be confused Umbros, the best soccer shorts ever).

2. Can dogs have milk?

Like Crash and Bang and all us other mammals, we get milk from our mothers as infants (or puppies). Thanks mom! (I’ll spare you the breast feeding rant until another day). Anyway, puppies get milk. But what about dogs? In short, some can and some can’t. Like people, it depends on how they digest lactose. Some people can drink it by the gallon with no effect. If you’re like me then a glass of milk will give you enough gas to supply Exxon Valdez and it peels the paint off the walls. In others, it causes even more distress and can induce diarrhoea and/or vomiting.

I deeply apologize if you’re reading this while eating. I should have warned you.

3. Why does it say “sloppy”?

This was in reference to Bang’s “homework”. Thanks to this site I have an endless supply of dots letters for him trace. He was supposed to be practicing writing his letters by tracing the dotted lines. This has the added practice of holding the pencil properly. His brother’s “homework” was solving five subtraction problems with borrowing regrouping. However, the two of them working at the kitchen table together only created two class clowns. Apparently we’re better teachers of other people’s kids than we are of our own. Crash poked holes in his paper. Bang decided he’d scribble instead of trace.  Mind you, he still made his letters. But it wasn’t even in the same area code as neat. Even by a 4 year old’s standards. (Unfortunately, I forgot to keep the sloppy copy)

This is a neat one. The sloppy one wasn’t legible.

Note: Their homework was assigned by their teacher parents, not their teacher teachers. 

4. Watch this!

Not a question. I know. But it’s the toddler equivalent of “hold my beer”. You know something hysterical (or stupid) is about to happen. One day it was Crash attempting to snowboard down a 14′ snow bank. One day it was Crash attempting to ride his bike down the front porch steps (I put a stop to that one). One day it was bang jumping off the 6th stair. One day it was me sledding off the neighbor’s garage roof (that was many years ago). Today it was clever. Possibly funny, if you’re 4 or 8 years old. Imagine. One Matchbox car (a dinky). Four feet of race track. Two launchers just to make sure the car is up to speed. Then it slams into a wall of Jenga blocks. I slowed it down for your viewing enjoyment.

10 Questions I Asked My Kids

Thanks to Five Little Doves who did a 30 question interview with her kids. I borrowed some of her questions here and I’ll be using more of them in the following weeks. If you have a moment, pop over and have a read. You’ll be smiling and chuckling and perhaps LOLing your way through it.

1. What do mom and dad do after you go to bed?

Crash: Eat chips and do whatever they wanted to do because we’re not there
Bang: Eat breakfast

2. What would you do if mom and dad went to bed and you stayed up late?

Crash: Stay up all night, eat everything, play video games
Bang: Eat chips and junk and make a mess

3. If Dad were an animal, what would he be?

Crash: Shark
Bang: Elephant

4. If Mom were an animal, what would she be?

Crash: Walrus
Bang: A Camel

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Crash: Engineer
Bang: A Firefighter

6. What is your favourite food?

Crash: Ice Cream
Bang: Fish and broccoli

7. Who created the world?

Crash: God
Bang: Me

8. What did you dream last night?

Crash: You woke me up, I was 14 or 15 years old, and said “Give me your monkey, you’re too old and don’t need him any more.” The I was being loud and mom made a magic door with her magic wand so she couldn’t hear me. Bang tried to help me get monkey back. He said “When mom and dad go to bed, we’ll get monkey out of the garbage.”

Bang: I dreamed about a cat sleeping on the ceiling. He fell off the roof and onto my bed and he purred in my face and I said “What’s that noise?” and he said meow meow meow. My other one was a cat was driving a train and coal was falling out and he didn’t care.

9. Where does the tooth fairy live?

Crash: Up in the sky
Bang: In the North Pole

10. What makes you laugh?

Crash: When you tickle me and a line from PJ Masks:
“Whatch where you’re going you goof”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing”
Bang: Flopping backwards on the trampoline

This is really what Crash and Bang think is hilarious. They laughed until they cried when they caught this on a commercial

 

Blogger Recognition

A huge thank you to Sandra over at A Momma’s View for nominating me for this. I managed to trace this award back 10 generations. I’m honored that it has come my way. It’s given me Tuesday material without having to use my A-Z Challenge topics.

The Rules

• Thank the person who nominated you and give a link to their blog. Done
• Display the award on your post and write about it. Done
• Give a brief history on your blog itself. See below
• Offer a piece of advice to new and upcoming bloggers. See below below
  
• Select 10 other bloggers you wish to nominate. See all the way below

How it all started

April 25th, 2013 was my introduction to the blogging world. I started at Blogger via Google. I posted only a few times a month while there. I think the most ever was seven in one month. I certainly wasn’t a prolific writer. I wrote there until January of ’15. However, I was having trouble finding other blogs to read and making connections with other bloggers. Then a friend posted her blog to Facebook and I discovered WordPress. 45 posts and nearly two years later I made the switch.

I really can’t say why I started blogging. I enjoy writing and have for the longest time. So I guess it was only a matter of time before I started writing for the internet. Unfortunately there isn’t a wild and crazy or inspirational story behind my blog. Unless you count Crash and Bang. They’re wild and crazy enough. So I decided to write about my joys and frustrations with them. From calling windmills “giant fans” to doing chores (or not doing them). From heart check-ups to igloos to bath times.

My tips for new bloggers

WordPress is about community. Sure we all like to watch the numbers go up because it means people are reading and sharing what we write. The easiest way for that to happen is to ignore the numbers and join the community that is WordPress and the blogging world. Want others to read your posts? Read theirs. Want others to comment on your posts? Comment on theirs. Want others to share your writing? Share theirs. It’s a two way street here in the bloggosphere. Plus you’ll meet some great bloggers and make some virtual friends.

My nominees

As always, if you don’t do this award thing, no worries. Consider this shout out to be a virtual high five.

Grubbs-n-Critters
A Texan’s View of Upstate New York
Bumbi’s Mom
Coach Daddy
Dramatic Momologue
Kismaslife
Ah Dad
Single Family Asylum

Theme Reveal!

 I hope everyone enjoyed the first day of spring yesterday. It’s Canada here, so naturally, it snowed. And it’s going to snow again today.

Anyway, today is the day I’m to reveal my theme, assuming I have one, for the April A-Z challenge. I do have one. Mostly. Last year I said,

I feel I should stick with kids and parenting (dads) since that what my blog mostly focuses on. However, I’m going to broaden it a bit to include running.

I reneged  on the running part. I just did my kids and parenting. What’s it all  about this year?

It’s all about that bass, bout that bass, no treble.

Just kidding.

It’ll be all about my kids again. I’m doing it again! I’ll use different words this year though.

I promise.

Kids are an endless source of blogging material. They are pure joy and pure frustration wrapped up into one not-so-neat little package. Like an over-stuffed soft taco.

You’ve already read so much about Crash and Bang. Wait till you get a load of April. You’ll either be thanking your lucky stars they’re not your kids or you’ll be laughing yourself to tears wishing they were. Or if you’re DW you’ll be saying, “Thank for passing THOSE genes to your children.” Or, if you’re my mom, you’ll be saying, “You were the same way, kiddo.” At least that’s my goal.

Don’t worry, for those of you who look forward to Thursday’s “Questions I ask my kids” and Friday’s “Go ask your father” and Saturday’s “Photo prompt” or Sunday’s “Sunday share” I’ll still be doing those. Unless I can find a way to incorporate it into that day’s letter. (Except Sunday. No letters on Sundays)

If you have any fun ideas about the challenge feel free to leave ’em in the comments!

Sunday Share 21

You know those parents who say, “I just wish I could be sick for them” referring to their sick kids feeling miserable?

I don’t believe them.

I’m not saying I don’t feel bad for their kids. Being sick sucks. Whether it’s a cold. A man cold. Or the flu. Being a parent is difficult enough. There’s no need to be sick with a fever and chills when the kids are begging to be fed, making messes all over the house, and being their usual monkey selves.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Anyway, on to the good stuff. Happy Sunday. Happy last week of Lent for you fasters.

Becoming A Wild Family
The frustration and joys of Geocaching. Something we enjoy doing (usually), too.

Revisions of Grandeur
Kids say and do some funny things!

LISAPOMERANTZSTER: ARE WE THERE YET?
When kids learn the power of persuasive writing.

Grubbs-n-Critters
Because even normal conversations with kids can be funny.

Lipstick and Laundry
Getting a new room mate… sort of.

Bradley Wood
Help my brother reach $1,000 donated to The Roswell Cancer Institute. This year he rides in honor of Melina Selent who, at the age of 10 months, had retinoblastoma, an eye cancer.

Jody Mattie
A friend of mine, a running buddy, had just finished running 26.2 miles in Boston in 2013. He was sitting in the medical tent recovering when the bombs exploded. Because of his location at the time, he saw most of the victims prior to triage and being taken to hospital. Please visit his page and, if you can, help him reach his goal of $5,000 to 50 Legs, an organization working to empower those without. He’s running in honor of Celeste Corcoran. Her extremely inspirational video can be seen here.

Lastly, check out Crash’s YouTube channel. Show it to your kids. He has some new videos up. As does his comical little brother, Bang. If you already know DanTDM you’re ahead of the game.