The Dynamic Duo

.........Hello Everyone!

I have been reminded by my eldest son that I have a responsiblity to my public, and I apologize for my neglect in posting. But you see, I have been busy having a BIRTHDAY, that largely went unnoted by my offspring. Said eldest son is now back in my good graces, however, after spending a delightful hour with me on the phone today (2 days late, but who’s counting?)
Okay, if you must know, UltraMom is a VERY youthful 49 years of age. I know that sounds like a “made-up” age, but if I was going to do that, I would pick 39, wouldn’t I? So, yes, next year will be the half century mark, and I shall expect lots of cards and letters and chocolate on July 11, 2004.
My birthday was actually VERY nice. Not as interesting as a certain boy’s 10th birthday, but, I think, just as pleasant in its own way. My sister Francie and husband Neil sent me a HUGE balloon bouquet to my workplace , so that EVERYONE knew that it was a special day. When I stood next to it, it was 2 feet taller than I was. My co-workers gave me a gift and bought pizza for lunch, and my Avon Lady even stopped by with an adorable framed print of 3 mischievous cats.
Birthdays seem to bring out the child in me, for good or bad. And in my family, we always made a BIG deal over birthdays. You were the QUEEN (or king) for the day, and woe to anyone who failed to do your bidding. Well, a little girl who came in the bank where I work asked me if she could have a balloon. Of course the mature, grown up thing to do would have been to say “Of Course, Honey! Which one would you like?” But they were MY balloons and it was MY birthday. I’m afraid the words that came out of my mouth were “No”. Short and to the point, right? But did the kid get the message? The next question she asked was “Why?” With childlike simplicity I spoke the truth. “Well, they are my Birthday Balloons, and I want them all to take home.” With a shrug and an “oh”, she turned away. I think it made sense to her, and she seemed satisfied with the explanation. But later, when I could hardly cram all the balloons into my car, and I couldn’t even see out of my rear view mirror, I thought that perhaps I had been a little hasty (and greedy).
My sister Debi (who lives on the Boise end of Idaho) and her 16 years old son Michael actually arrived at my home before I did, and Debi made me a delicious dinner of chicken, corn on the cob, baked red potates, and strawberry shortcake (AND chocolate!) She also had some really fun gifts for me, including a cute lemonade pitcher with 4 tall glasses and stirring sticks. My husband John did QUITE well in picking out the pedometer I had been asking for, and also picked up a good Audiobook on CD and some interesting herbal teas. AND I had phone calls from both of my brothers, and one of my sons. Johnny came home for Friday and Saturday, and that was the best of all. Really, a PERFECT day.
Saturday was lovely as well. We found a bicycle to borrow for my sister, and we took a 14 mile bike ride! We ended up riding into the town of Howe (about 7 miles from my house), where I had the idea that we should stop for a refreshing soda. Unfortunately, I hadn’t the foresight to bring any MONEY, but that is the beauty of living in a small town. Do you remember the old PopEye cartoons where Wempy (sp?) always said “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”? Well, that is the line I used, more or less, and we had our refreshing sodas after all. Hope I can remember to go back over and pay for them some day….............. Later on, my husband had the idea for us all (me, him, Johnny, Debi and Michael) to go on a little adventure to a place called Barney Hot Springs. It is way out in the middle of nowhere, about an hour + from our house. As the name would suggest, it is a small body of water fed by a thermal spring, where the water is always of a pleasant swimming temperature. But its main claim to fame is that years ago, someone emptied their aquarium into the water, and it is full of fish. Years ago, when I was first married, the fish were really neat; beautiful guppies, platies and swordtails, and I caught fish for my own aquarium several times. But now, they are all kind of ugly, greenish cichlids of some kind. You can see an occasional white one, but the variety of years ago is GONE. We brought bread and old cereal and enjoyed throwing in crumbs and watching the “feeding frenzy”. It is pretty mossy and scummy, and it doesn’t really appeal to me as a swimming hole, though I have done that in the past. This time, we just waded in a bit and sat on some logs that are all that remains of some larger structure that was there at one time. When we first arrived, there was an older couple swimming, who were camping in the vicinity, but they were just getting out, and left soon after. I grudgingly have to admit they had as much right to be there as we did, but I was glad when we had the place to ourselves. (It was still kind of my birthday, after all…..........) We also practiced our rock skipping, at which I am sorely out of practice. But my sister threw one that skimmed across the water 7 or 8 times. A properly skipped rock is really a thing of beauty! We continued on a scenic drive to the town of Challis, where we had dinner at Antonio’s Pizza and Pasta, and arrived back home after midnight. Whew! I am getting too old to have adventures like that very often, I think!
Today, all of my balloons except the mylar ones have lost their helium, so I cut the mylar ones free to roam the ceilings of the house. Now this is really interesting….. when the swamp cooler is turned on, those balloons seem to ride an air current that circles them around the house in a predictable pattern. One of their stops is the form of my sleeping husband as he lays napping on the day bed in the living room because it is the coolest place to lay down in the hot part of the day. The poor man would kind of stir and feebly bat at the offending balloon, but not wake up enough to really figure out what was going on. But, you know, out here in Rural America, we have to find our entertainment where we can…....
Okay, I know what you REALLY wanted were more embarrasing stories about my children, and believe me, there are a few more I can tell. But this is MY birthday (month), so until I am feeling a little more reasonable and not quite so self-centered, I will write about what I feel like writing about. And don’t even think about asking me for one of my balloons.
UltraMom