gingerandjohn.com

With the help of his new Thomas DVD, Paxton has now completely succumbed to the Thomas virus. This insidious disease has meant that "Thomas and His Friends Help Out" and "Thomas's Sing-A-Long Songs and Stories" have been on continuous loop in the Cooper household. It hasn't helped that Paxton's had a cold, so he sits and watches with one or more of Thomas, Peter Sam, Gordon, Henry, or Toby clutched firmly in his hot little hands.

The unfortunate corollary to this is that Thomas songs have been on continuous loop in this Cooper's head. Currently playing is that pereniall favorite, "Let's have a race", but this can be replaced at any minute by "Gone Fishin'", "Toby's Song", "Thomas's Song", or that ever-popular sentimental paen to Thomas's home, "Island of Sodor".

So much going on! The best news is that Chance is back at school. He started back last Friday, and had a great day. He's been doing very well ever since (all three days), but it bodes really well. His appetite has finally kicked back in (actually around New Year's), which Ginger claims is due to this protein additive she's been giving him in his milk. Whatever works, I say.

The tough part has been living with the in-laws for the last two weeks. John's completely taken over the den (now populated with his laptop, two phones, three briefcases, a fax machine, approximately three linear feet of miscellaneous papers, and the latest stanza of "I don't see how anyone could use a monitor smaller than this one", "I don't see what good all this fast processor speed does for me", or the latest, "Seems to me like this guy had [the effect of carbs on controlling blood sugar] figured out years ago, and he wasn't an MD!"

This weekend was a nice preview of what life holds for us three or four years from now. On Friday night, my mom had the kids, and Ginger and I wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch together and watch a movie. Kind of difficult when the aforementioned father-in-law is already in residence on the couch, so we decided to go to dinner at Stonebridge Tavern. Prepared to sit at the bar and wait for a while, who do we see but neighbor Clay, already in fine form! Turns out it's his birthday, and as his gift to us, we get to sit with them! An awesomely fun time was had by all, with conversation centering on the South Beach diet (I was the only one of 7 who wasn't on it) and Janet's new boob job. Apparently the girls got a view on a trip to the ladies room, while Clay filled us in on how well Janet was filling out her swimsuits. I already told Janet I'd be posting pictures here, so stay tuned come this summer!

Saturday night was just as nice, but in the opposite way. We had sour apple martinis and chili (it's better than it sounds) at the Litrel's, and Mike gathered mucho material for his column. We actually decided that he really needed to write an adult-themed column for a magazine that was a little more liberal than the Townelaker. Hmm, maybe I'll offer him a guest spot here!

The whole weekend felt so civilized, so sophisticated, so... much like before we had kids. Don't get me wrong, my boys are one of the best things that's ever happened to me. But it's sooo nice to be around grown-ups, and not be at work, and be with Ginger.

Tags: No Comments