Happy Halloween!

Well, Napoleon and the Gothic Axe-Woman are now home, showered and cozy in their jammies while I am feeling the guilt from the 36 seconds of weakness in which I ate 2 mini Snickers, a mini Twix and a couple Hot Tamales.

They returned with smiles on their faces, icicle fingers, and fully loaded bags of candy.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.


Cowgirl Gracia, Army-guy Matthew, Napoleon Will, Luigi Danyan and Maddie the Goth

Matt, Skeleton Brendan, Maddie, Mummy Clare, and Will

Boys weekend at "The Shack"

You'd be amazed at how many inquiries I've had regarding the shack and Will's first trip there since this post a couple weeks ago. I'd thought I would just fill you in on their adventure:


Welcome to "The Shack". Is it everything you thought it would be?

And here is a view of the interior of this cozy little abode. It makes you just want to snuggle right up with an airplane blanket, a plate of smoked fish, and a shot of Captain Morgan, doesn't it?

Do you notice the writing on the wall? No, it's not a warning to get out before the winch in the attic (which appears to hold the whole house together) cuts loose; it's a hunting record listing the date, the time, the shooter, the shootee, and any relevant details of the hunt. If you look very closely you can see my dear husband's record form November 3, 1984 indicating that he bagged an 8-pt buck at 4:30 pm. Yep, I have a remnant of the proof laying on the floor in my basement work-out room.

There's my proud little hunter man.

Beautiful view, huh? Thank God we stopped at Walmart the night before and purchased a nice little pair of rubber boots...

Apparently Will was trying to shoot a squirrel in a tree with his little pellet gun. He said, "Mom, I hit it right on the head, he stopped eating his nut for a little bit, looked around, and then kept eating again."

In addition to all the exploring, shooting, and walking they did over the weekend, I'm told that they also got a lot of work done as well. They repaired the roof and built a deer stand.

And do you see the cute little building on the left side of this shot? You guessed it - the outhouse. But, hold on to your hats everyone...this is no run-of-the-mill outhouse. This one comes complete with a glass storm door and a skylight. Yep, you read it right. Hard to get that picture out of your head, isn't it?

So, all in all, the boys had a great time. In fact, Will informed me that he actually could have stayed 5 more nights. And next time, he thinks that all of us should go.

Ummm....I think I'm busy that weekend. Something about getting my nails done...

About my first born...

I found this on another blog and thought I’d borrow it! Thanks, Jenny!

But I think I’ll rename it: "About my first and only pregnancy with my twins…"

1. Were you married at the time? Yes – about 3 years
2. What were your reactions? Really?? I didn’t quite believe I was pregnant – I always thought I’d have some sort of “internal knowledge” or “gut-feeling” about it…
3. How old were you? 28
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? We were on a weekend trip to Madison, WI for our friends’ Neil and Missie’s wedding when I realized that pregnancy might be a possibility. A few hours before the wedding while we were in the hotel getting ready, I made Bill drive to the nearest Walgreen's to buy a pregnancy test kit. He came back with a Valu-Pak of 3. I took 2 tests before the wedding and one the following day. They all had a very, very faint + sign appear. Even after that, when I went back to work on Monday, I had one of the other nurses draw blood and asked the lab to run a test. After all that, it finally sunk in.
5. Who did you tell first? My parents, then Bill’s parents, then our siblings.
6. Did you want to find out the sex? I did not, but Bill did. The night prior to our first ultrasound at 20 weeks, I laughed and jokingly said to him, “OK, we’ll find out the sex of the baby only if it’s twins.” Ha. That’ll teach me…
7. Did you deliver early or late? With the twins, my doctor didn’t want to let me go beyond 37 weeks. So, after some 3rd trimester complications, I became pre-eclampic and was induced right at 37 weeks – on the nose.
8. Did you have morning sickness? Just for the first 3 months. I had to snack continuously to avoid it. And I dreaded brushing my teeth…that was the worst.
9. What did you crave? 6-inch Cold Cut Combo on wheat. (We lived close to a Subway).
10. Who irritated you the most? Nobody.
11. What was your first child's sex? One of each!
12. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 64. I know!! But the most horrible part is that I gained 22 of those lbs in the last week!
13. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? I started having contractions at 31 weeks and spent a month in the hospital on bedrest. But it wasn’t actually as bad as it sounds – I was at the hospital where I worked so I got to see lots of friendly faces all the time, people brought me 3 meals a day, and I didn’t have to clean. Kinda like being on a spa vacation.
14. Where did you give birth? KU Medical Center in Kansas City
15. How many hours were you in labor? They started the induction at 6:00 am, but Bill and I just sat around watching boring TV shows all morning with no excitement at all. At about noon, they manually broke my water – but neglected to tell me that I might start having a little bit of pain associated with contractions. Hello??? It hit me like a freight train right out of the blue. It really took me awhile to figure out what was going on. I got my epidural shortly after that and we just hung out again. Around 4:00 pm I had to start pushing and Will was born 5 minutes later.
16. Who drove you to the hospital? My sister Jill actually went with me a routine appointment the day before. My BP was too high and I had gained a ton – so they just admitted me right then. I remember being so thankful for my Jilly being there during that time. She so kindly helped me shave my legs (since I couldn't reach them anymore) before my last doctors appointment, and upon my crazy request, she made a special trip to Kohl's to get me some small gold hoop earrings so I would have some type of birth-giving-appropriate earrings to wear for the big day.
17. Who watched? Just Bill. Oh yeah, and then like 2 OB doctors, a Neonatologist, a third year resident, a first year resident, a couple med students, 2 NICU nurses, 3 OB nurses, a respiratory therapist, and a few other random strangers that just happened to be in the vicinity.
18. Was it natural or c-section? Natural.
19. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? I loved my epidural. Although I’m not convinced it was actually working…
20. How much did your child weigh? Will was 7–4 and Madison was 5-12.
21. Did your child have any complications? On the day after she was born, they thought Maddie has a seizure so she was moved into the NICU and had a CT of her head, a lumbar puncture, lots of IVs and was started on antibiotics. Everything ended up just fine for her. Will and I went home on day #3 and Maddie joined us on day #5.
22. What did you name him/her? William Dais (after a long Gallagher family tradition – and my maiden name) and Madison Brynn (after the city in Wisconsin where we fell in love and years later found out we were pregnant – and Bill’s favorite name)
23. How old is your first born today? Nine. gulp…

Whew...that required actual thought!

Funny how certain memories around this time seem so vivid, while with others, I struggle to remember if that was actually me - or if I saw it in a movie...

Sea Devils Fun Meet

Tuesday night our swim team had a "Fun Meet". It simulates a real swim meet in that it is a great chance for the new swimmers to get a feel for the pace of the events and the official starting process, and also lets the parent volunteers figure out how to run the computer timing system, concession stand, etc.

We have several swimmers in the neighborhood this season. Gracia, Clare, Maddie, Brenden, and Will.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

We celebrated Bill's birthday tonight with a quick dinner of Breakfast/Brunch casserole before swim practice; and then carrot cake decorated by unsupervised kids before bed. As strange as this combination may sound to you...they are 2 of Bill's favorite things.

Well, not the unsupervised kids part...

Happy Birthday, Billy!

We love you!

I have to vent. Before I burst a blood vessel.

(Warning: if you don't want to get political, support the American Family Association, or are offended by homosexuality - turn back now.)

(Seriously. I mean it.)

Dear crazy nut-job lady across town,

After coming across your email in our in-box, I feel driven to respond. Personally, I take offense to this garbage. I believe the America Family Association is an extremist, so-called-Christian hate group.

They are a closed-minded group of individuals fixated on a homosexual agenda which promotes discrimination and radical views. They are people who regularly campaign to exclude gay persons from the civil liberties and freedoms that you and I enjoy. They promote a message with which I absolutely cannot condone.

The problem here is that the Boy Scouts of America does discriminate against homosexuals. Why should an exception be made for The Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council? If they cannot comply with the anti-discrimination policy set by the city of Philadelphia, it may be feasible for them to find another location that has cheaper rent and doesn’t mind intolerance. Unfortunately, the national leaders of the Boy Scouts of America cannot set an example for what, in 2007, we would expect in a modern civil society: Acceptance.

I feel sad that young boys are being caught in the middle of this political and totally unnecessary debate. Perhaps a better served “Action Alert” (instead of the one you suggested) could be sent to the Boy Scouts of America in effort to persuade them to acknowledge the importance of such character qualities as tolerance and acceptance.

So, in my open, liberal and (oh, yes) Christian opinion, please feel free to send the attached letter to your own friends and family - as that is your constitutional right. But please, know that in my “American family”, we are trying to teach our children lessons of equality, broadmindedness and consideration for all individuals.

Regards,
Tammy


If you want more information - you can Google it...

Deep breath. OK. I feel much better now.

Boys weekend up north

As I'm writing this, my dear husband is enroute to "The Shack" with my sweet little baby boy. They're heading up north to spend the weekend with Uncle Brian, Great-Uncle Paul, and Grandpa's Cousin Ricky. Will is so excited for this "Gallagher Manhood Ritual", he's hardly been able to contain himself and I think he's aged at least 6 years in preparation.

Last night I heard Bill and Will discussing their plans. From what I overheard, this is what they'll be doing:

1. Walking in the woods in the mud
2. Driving by the neighboring lake
3. Looking for bugs in the woods
4. Looking at the tree where they dump the contents of the outhouse
5. Playing Monopoly and Chinese Checkers
6. Searching for bears
7. Watching flies get zapped
8. Shooting clay pigeons
9. Watching mice drown in a bucket of water
10. Eating lots of eggs

This morning Will packed his own backpack full of stuff suitable for a boys weekend: pocket knife, Dragon-Rider book, MP3 & headphones, air-pistol & target, GameBoy, and his cozy, cuddly airplane blanket. What more could a nine-year old want?

Well...maybe some Purell. After breakfast, Will thoughtfully asked:
"Do you have a sink and some soap up there?"
Bill's response: Nope. No running water.
"So...if we touch something's guts, we just have to eat without washing our hands?"

My sweet little germophobe. I hope he does OK.





As they left, I gave strict instructions to be careful, don't fall down the stairs, don't get lost in the woods, don't get shot, don't get in a car accident, and return with lots of pictures and detailed stories about everything you do.

And in response, Bill said to me (as he says to me every other time he goes up to that mouse-infested, stinky, falling-down, man-heaven shack), "What happens at 'The Shack', stays at 'The Shack'."

But as they turned to leave, my wink to Will was returned with a cute little one-dimpled smile.

I'm not worried. I'll get the whole scoop.

Who you gonna vote for?

My friend Liz forwarded this link to me a couple days ago. It's a list of several questions that you answer, which are then matched to the US Presidential candidates' viewpoints.

Very interesting...

Select a Candidate

I still don't really know who I'm going to vote for, but I never really took myself for a Rudy Giuliani supporter before...

Back in the saddle...er, starting blocks

Well, we're back at the swim-thing again. This time, both Will and Maddie are in the SeaDevils Swim Club. Maddie absolutely loves swimming, the club, and all things concerning it. Will seems to really like it as well; but some days I'm not sure if he's really into swimming, or just thinks that having his own pair of fins is the best thing ever. We'll see...

Maddie had her first meet of the season this weekend. She improved on most of her previous times, and had a really great meet (despite a couple of DQs). Oh, well...

Thought I'd share a couple pictures and videos:

Maddie in Lane 1

SeaDevils cheering on a teammate

50 Freestyle (Maddie: middle of screen, black goggles, yellow cap)

100 Backstroke



And regarding the new fancy camera thing...give me time. I promise the quality will get better! (After I buy a zoom lens or two, purchase PhotoShop, take a couple classes, and figure out the meanings of aperture, ISO, exposure and flash compensation...)

Just wait...you'll see.

And then I'll have to work a second job or win the lottery to pay for it all.

Ahhhh...the memories

I heard an old KISS song on the radio yesterday and it got me thinking about how songs from the past can bring back old memories. Like the strong, take-your-breath-away, oh-my-God-that-feels-like-just-yesterday memories. Funny how it all comes rushing back: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just thought I'd share with you...

“Baby, Baby, Don’t Get Hooked On Me” by Mac Davis. This could probably go into my Earliest Memories file, as we were still living in our old house, meaning I must have been about 4 years old. My mom and dad had just returned from a shopping trip to Aberdeen (about 75 miles away, but the closest town with any resemblance of shopping). They unloaded all their purchases, and one in particular caught my eye. It was a record album of Mac Davis. It was all white with just the outline of his face and features on the back cover. And it was just screaming to be colored in. I clearly remembering taking the album and a blue pen and stealthily heading for the dining room. To be precise, I was actually heading under the table in the dining room. Let’s just say that Mac Davis was my parent’s absolute favorite. And they were not happy.

Anything by ACDC reminds me of 1987, bitterly cold Saturday nights in January, and peach schnapps.

Phil Collins “Sussudio” reminds me of my first car: a bright orange 4-speed Dodge Omni with a cool spoiler of the back and white vinyl interior. This was the first cassette tape I played in that car. The second one I played was a copy of the“Eliminator” album by ZZ-Top with the song “Sharp Dressed Man". Can you believe they let you get a license at age 14 in South Dakota?

“Melt With You” by Modern English – My family had just got satellite TV back in 1984 and I stayed up late one night watching a show called “Valley Girl”. Anyone remember that? To this day, I remember this song being in it, but don’t remember anything about the plot of the movie. But I do know, however, that I probably wasn’t supposed to be watching it. (Totally unrelated to the movie, but if I had to name my favorite song of all time - this would be it.)

UB40 – “Red, Red Wine”. My first night at college, in August of 1988. There were about 5 other kids from my hometown that went to SDSU. As freshmen, we moved in 1 day earlier than the rest of the dorm residents. Since we were all new, we had no idea of where we should go, what we should do, we didn’t know anyone else, and hadn’t quite figured out the “college thing” yet – we all just sat in one of our dorm rooms and listened to this CD. What a pathetic bunch of losers.

James Taylor, Cat Stevens, and The Doobie Brothers all remind me of the summer I met Bill back in 1991. Hence, the Birkenstocks…

J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” and Prince’s “Party Like it’s 1999” reminds me of my parents’ Couples Card Club. The other kids and I were probably in 5th or 6th grade, and getting to that stage in life where we were much too old to “play” as we had done monthly during the past 8 years of our lives. So instead, we would just listen to music and try to memorize the words so we could show off our knowledge in school the following Monday.

Randy Travis – “Forever and Ever, Amen”. All I can say about this is: Old college boyfriend. Thank God it didn’t last forever and ever. Amen. And, hallelujah.


Any that you’d like to share?

Woo Hoo for me!!

I'm so freakin' out excited! I feel just like a little kid on Christmas morning!

Except that it's October.

And it's not morning.

And I'm 37 years old.

But otherwise I feel just like that...



Here is my new toy:

...and I look forward to eventually torturing you all with my new hobby.

Childhood choices at a chinese buffet

I guess this is what you get when you turn a 9-yr old loose at a chinese buffet.




And can you guess whose plate this is?

(Here's a hint - I hate sushi, mussels, and shrimp mixed with other food or sauces...)