Tuesday, August 25th.

Totally forgot to put the cute bib on her on Monday! Drat!
So much fun can hardly be described.

I spent 1 hr. 50 min. inside the Medi-Cal cattle-call center, dealing with THEIR error on Charlie's case being discontinued (which in turn makes him ineligible for IHSS, a BIG problem).

This meant that APC spent 1 hr. 50 min. inside the Odyssey with 4 crablets.

Misery all around.
The good news is that Steven Phillipshell is my new Sand Castle Hero as he retroactively repaired Charlie's case and saved my feeble sanity.

Since we were all suffering anyway, we proceeded to the Honda dealership to get the Odyssey serviced. Apparently, only after we paid our money for the service, I was reprimanded for bringing it in "too early". Kiss my shell-fanny!

And since we were clearly all gluttons for punishment, we then drove to the Regional Center to fetch a sheet of paper that updated Charlie's eligibility for a specific federal waiver and then delivered it to Medi-Cal.

Reward: APC's First-ever In n' Out Experience. Gonna lure her to So-Cal yet!

Could NEVER have done this without APC. Never, never, never.


Erin and Charlie-boy played "con-stwuc-shun".



If I were to have another crablet -- which I will not -- the naming game would be entirely lacking any drama or discussion: Erin Elizabeth Allbritton. (Aaron Kinsella Allbritton). I especially like that latter option -- what was I thinking missing the opportunity to have a child with the initials "AKA" ?!

Don't remember much about the rest of that day -- beyond reversing LLGA's seat to be forward-facing (and discovering, to my utter horror!) that the vehicle seat was not fully attached to the floor in 2 of 4 latching points -- as sheer exhaustion hit all of us, crablets included. Big girls see where the van is careening.

Oh, wait...I do remember that APC, LLGA and I drove up to Del Mar for take-out of Double Happiness. A blissful ending to an overall sandy day.

Lucypalooza photos.

Icing with APC

The best part!
She touched the cake, which apparently bit her...

No crying on Lucypalooza!

Charlie did not experience that reaction to the icing.

Jack found a candle, thankfully.

Mandatory cake sequence...but it didn't touch her lips.

Cake eyes without cake calories?? How can that be?!

Cause

and

Effect

The toy she's holding was absent a piece within minutes. After a frenzied search, we found the half-a-car inside the gray box false-bottom pictured here and, worse, inside the recycling container outside...in the dark, after the sprinkler had run. Oh, yeah.

Loves the musical color combination toy.

Aw, a dolly to attend a tea party.

My Very First Tea Party book.

Pj's.

Tea (TM) dresses.
Her bee-car is a favorite.
The Farmer Says...See n' Say is about 1/2 the size it used to be, back in 19-diggetty-five.
A card from cousin Alex...my favorite is the tall and skinny and affectionate parents.

How I love my niece!!!
Sipping tea with Jaime (hi-me).

Monday, August 24th.

Met with the Deputy (now-interim) Superintendent and another senior administrator to discuss the tragedy that is the elimination of Jack's bus to/from school. I truly have no idea how I'm going to fit in another hour-plus of chauffeuring duty daily but changing schools for his last year of middle school is a non-starter. My 11-min focus was on being "likeable." We'll see how successful I was.

Rushed home to deal with lunch and leave with Jamie and LLGA for Jamie's PT session followed by LLGA's 1-year shots.

But on the drive over to PT, I received a phone call telling me that Charlie's Medi-Cal case had been closed/discontinued. After an hour of phone calls, I learned that the reason was "failure to complete redetermination." After another hour on the phone (most of it on hold), I learned that the only way to resolve the matter was to return to the "family center". The place I HATE.

But at this point, we have to endure some fun. The doctor, Ben, and I decided to split up her immunizations and so she only received the MMR and the Hep A shots. I tried to dose her with Tylenol ahead of the appointment and she demonstrated exactly how much she Does Not Like It. In the parking lot. Charming.

Home to frantically excavate the Medi-Cal paperwork previously submitted (and do some emergency Tylenol-related laundry). The blog paid off by documenting in my trademark excruciating detail my last trip to the "family center" on Monday, April 27th. Humph! Printed that descriptive prose out in case I needed a nuclear option.

Then it was time to celebrate LLGA's b-day. She didn't try the confetti cake that APC and Charlie had lovingly made, but she sure did enjoy unwrapping her presents. Still in denial that Pa Crab missed the first b-day, but APC pulled an otherwise pity-party-for-one day out of the dumpster.

Note: This was a day of busts...
1st: My brand-new Eddie Bauer pants split near the waist -- not from stress of my waistline, but rather from stress of my cinching the inner tie.
2nd: APC pointed out that my b-n EB pants had also split in the fanny. Wonder whether others at the Naval Medical Center got to notice that before APC.
3rd: My favorite nursing bra's underwire snapped. That, my friends, is really a BUST!

Sunday, August 23rd: Addendum.

St. Anthony works in mysterious ways.

Within 6 hours of Pa Crab's departure, and following about 30 minutes of CQ ranting, Jack approached me -- not with the missing cleats he was supposed to be locating -- with Ben's wedding band. Found at the bottom of the coat closet and now installed on my ring finger.

Of course, Pa Crab had just bought a new, cheap-and-cheerful version to proclaim his wedded-weddedness to all potential crab-stealing Newport trollops a couple days before departing the Castle pattern.

By the way, St. Anthony delivered on the cleats, too. Right outside on the front patio, in plain sight upon the bench.

APC and CQ Boogie-Board (Body-Board) & More

Friday found the J-crabs, Charlie, and APC in La Jolla enjoying the LJ rec center.
Some photos available at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031685&id=1475913643&l=6faddf0e83



The afternoon was a little lame with a UPS run to ship more boys' clothing to the Midwest, a Costco trip for Operation Eyeglasses-Before-School-Starts, and Ben holding down the 12-4 p.m. delivery window for the Castle's brand-new chest freezer. Did I mention we had thunder, lightning and even precipitation (which, in any other region of the country aside from desert, would be called heavy humidity)?





Jack selected unisex plastic frames (think Mo Rocca) by United Colors of Benetton. I went with the dramatic-look preference, thinking that a. maybe if he likes 'em, he'll wear 'em and b. they are so obvious that maybe his teachers and mother will notice if he fails to perch 'em on his bridge. Jamie went with adorable wire-rim (flexon/flexible titanium) glasses with the marketing magic of teeny-tiny Spongebob Squarepants decals on the inside of the temple. $218 total for 2 pair seemed pretty reasonable. Love that Costco.





The CQ also scored an automatic manufacturer's rebate on a girly-pink iPod, replacing the one stolen from the unlocked Odyssey. My planet that requires theme music is re-aligned.





So then APC and I happened upon the woman-hour sink-hole known as the middle clothing section. APC had a bona fide feeding frenzy between a couple of tables of marked-down, already great-value, brand-name apparel. I joined her because shopping sharks like to feed in groups.


So when the J-crabs asked if they could go sampling within eyesight (not that our eyes, as LLGA snoozed were anywhere but on our prey), I grunted affirmative sounds and continued pawing through the merchandise.





A minute later, Jack was back, reporting that he reached for a 1/4 of a cookie and had his claw smacked by the hair-net-bedecked hawker of samples.


"She smacked your claw?" I gasped.


"Yep, I have to have a parent with me."





I walked to the outskirts of the apparel department, directly across the corridor from the alleged assault and continued examining items, with one eyestalk on the J-crabs. My attention span did not endure the duration of the EZ-bake oven-type cooking cycle, however.





A few minutes later, the unattended J-crabs returned, reporting that "Mommmm, the adult has to be "right" next to us." He told the claw-slapper that "I'm not sure I even want one if it's going to be this much effort." NICE.





While I was chortling over my son's smart-alec/Cost-benefit Analysis, APC slammed down her pile and strode off with them, fully thinking this was crab-sand.





With APC's presence, the J-crabs became overly mannerly and kept letting other patrons snatch their sample rather than snagging one as is the cultural more of Costco Sampling. APC hissed at them, "GET ONE NOW!"





A half-hour later, she noted wryly (after Jamie sucked down an unattended sample of VitaWater and turned to me, "Mommmmm, can we buy a case of this when we run out of Gatorade?"), "That's why you LET the CHILDREN sample!"











At some point, I may reveal the latest-and-greatest IHSS cluster. Suffice-it-to-say, I had one respite and one APC (or 66.66667% of the scheduled childcare). Reduncy paid off, as the Naval Crab and I dashed out to Lamont Street Grill for our first "date night" in 1.5 years that did not include an infant carrier. It was so relaxing and, frankly, awe-inspiring to rediscover how much conversation can occur in an hour and a half when we're not continuously interrupted/distracted. Thanks to APC and Albert (aka, The Enforcers) for that gift of peace n' quiet. And, because the CQ is a qualifying jello-eater, we were there precisely at 5:30 p.m. and scored the fireside outdoor table, winning us many envious glances throughout the evening (although perhaps the other patrons were just admiring our Heath Bar Brownies).











On Saturday, the skies cleared by noon and we packed up the crablets (no small feat!) and headed to Law Street Beach.





Sadly, there are no photos of the CQ riding the waves. It was pretty darn fun.


Aunt Patty Cake enjoyed several awesome crests befitting her overall awesomeness.





Many photos are available for viewing at:





http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031621&id=1475913643&l=661c167984














We had a DARRIN SPOTTING.
He joined us for Ben's self-homemade steak dinner and posed, as is now customary for guests of adult beverage age in the Strategy Sombrero (TM).

And, Pa Crab is now aloft en route to Newport, RI. Sniffle.

My blog's gas light is "on"....

Sadly, blogspot has limits. I have reached the 80% full point and so will be extra-selective (what? can the CQ really define that term and abide by it?) about photos posted from this point forward.

Hopefully, my verbosity will not need to be curtailed!

I will provide links to Facebook (that do not require a FB account to view) where appropriate.



GMK and Grandpa Crab sponsored a Night at Petco for select family members to cheer on the Cubbies Wednesday night. The J-crabs, Ben and APC were at the park for visiting team BP in hopes of snagging an autograph, but every transplanted Chicagoan was there with the same thought. Still, APC had unprecedented line-of-sight for #2 (and my camera bears the evidence with no fewer than 46 shots of the object of her gaga-ness). The group enjoyed the 5-for-$5 snackies and some even partook of a fermented adult beverage. Cubs win, Cubs win!

A hold-over activity that we didn't get to fit in during Mikey's visit made it onto today's agenda: Boomer's. The J-crabs, Ben and APC went to the mini-amusement park this afternoon. Rave reviews from the J-crabs and a lot of U/V exposure for APC. (Alas, LLGA's failure to keep breakfast where it was intended rendered Plan A (for all to go this morning) into Plan B (a select group to go this afternoon) but it all worked out for the best as I tackled our DVD/VHS mess...will the excitement ever cease?)

Cut and paste the following link into your browser (GMK, that's that box at the top of your screen) in order to view photos from the game and the park as well as some extra-lovely bonus ones of crablets & APC c. 2000.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027462&id=1475913643&l=9f02b1206f

Jackapaloosa!

PARTY ON!
He's seen this for 3 months, waiting....
Supposed to be the next Harry Potter/Twilight series.
Jack loves a good old-school TV show.
Hip, hip, hooray! Jackie's 13 today!
Jamie is eager to grow into Jack's b-day t-shirt.
This "Etnies" t-shirt was a big hit. $5 at Marshall's w/ Patty LT.
"This is mine, as in for me, as in not for you."
Aping the ape.
Scarily elated ... has already spent hours telling us about the most inappropriate plots.

Pretty darn delighted :-)