It's only been 4 days...

are any of you going through Peterson withdrawls? Sorry, I know how important it is for you to get your fix. Funny, I get a week off from school and I can't seem to find the time to blog! How does that work? So let's see, Easter was the last post. Honestly, not a whole heckuva lot has happened this week. I finished my class on Monday - only 2 more to go! Yahoo! Cannot wait. This next one is a profiling/forensic course, so I'm excited. It's busy at work right now, so that has also kicked my butt. I tell you what, I think this is the latest I've been up all week. Kind of nice to hit the hay before midnight! So I haven't posted much about Cam's Little League. Probably because his 2008 season has ended. In fact, it ended after his 2nd practice. Wasn't into it, and as much as it killed me to not go with the "you wanted to play, you made a commitment, you need to play, etc." speech, we just kind of let it go. I made it to his 2nd (and last) practice last week and can relate to some of the frustration he was having. The team was very unorganized, the league is brand new, the coach was new, and the kids LOOKED like they were forced to play. There were only a couple that had ever played. Granted, Cam has never played ball before, but knows the basics and was pretty good for what its worth. One of the assistants would tell him one thing, another would tell him the opposite, and they just didn't have it quite together. Not Cam's cup of tea. He wanted to get out there and "do work" and it wasn't happening. Figured why waste his time, and ours with it, so we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe next year...

Onto his REAL passion ... skateboarding. He is doing SO awesome. I finally got to see him at his lesson on Wednesday. Wow. So there's some skateboarding lingo here, but him and his instructor were in the "bowl" and he "dropped" in. It's probably an 8 foot drop, and the first couple of feet or so are straight down, so he practiced a couple of times. The look on his face when he hit it was absolutely priceless. I have to admit that I had tears in my eyes. Not because I was scared that he was going to hurt himself, but because he was pumped that he hit it. I was so proud of him!! I'll have to practice with the video part of my camera and see if I can post a clip or two on here. It's amazing. He's amazing. He's the littlest one in his class! But he loves it and would do it ALL day if he could. He ususally has his group lesson and individual lessons both on Wednesdays. So two hours are at the indoor skatepark. Sometimes after school on his "off" days, he and Bryan will hit a skatepark around here for a while. He made a new friend at the Queen Creek park, his dad signed him up also at the indoor park, and they have a great time together. They'll both be in the same summer camp so he's excited. At any rate, he knows that if he's got a lesson on Wednesdya, that he's got to plan his homework for the week. He's doing awesome at time management. He's 7, and probably has better skills than some of the people I've been in class with. He knows that if he doesn't have that homework done - he doesn't skate.

Nothing planned for the weekend. Glad for that. No homework to finish up, so I'll be able to relax a bit. (IE: I'll probably be bored without a due date hanging over my head.) I'm sure we'll be at the skate park for a while. Cam's got homework before his next skateboarding lesson! I could use some sun anyway - for an Arizonan I'm pretty pasty. Okay - that's it for now. Headed off to bed.

Happy Easter! (Updated w/ pics)

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter! We've had a great day ... Easter Bunny paid a visit this morning ... Shelby had to help Cam find his Easter Basket. Not sure what was so difficult with the hiding place. Who wouldn't check the dryer first? (On a side note, I accidentally found a cheap method of botox for my lips. While squatting in front of the dryer, I lost my balanced, missed grabbing on to the edge of the dryer for support, and smacked my mouth on the top part of the dryer. Hurt like a you know what. I had to keep checking in the mirror because I was SURE there was blood or a split or something. Nothing, but Bryan did continue to call me Angelina ... I'm just going to take that one as a compliment ... ! :) Met Mike and Denise for a GREAT breakfast at the Good Egg and then hit the skate park to work off that food. What kind of Holiday is it without skateboarding involved somehow? Then we headed back home and over to Theresa's for Easter dinner with the kids and Mom and Dad. More food! BBQ'd ham was great, asparagus, Uncle Steve's Mashed Potatoes, and then of course dessert! Strawberry shortcake and cheesecake. Grandma Eileen's recipe, of course, and it came out fantastic (if I do say so myself!) Even though we weren't with the rest of the family today, we were sure thinking about you all through your recipes! :) Have a few pics to post, but that will have to wait. Cam goes back to school tomorrow and I need to work on my final paper that is due tomorrow (our instructor was nice enough to extend the deadline until tomorrow due to Easter). Last week of class - thank the man upstairs - and then I have a week break. Guess that means I should tackle our taxes ... maybe. Anyway, Happy Easter!

Here are the pics I promised. Okay, they're not that great. In fact, they pretty much suck. I am either GREAT at taking pictures and will take a million, or I'll remember the camera but forget to take it out of my purse. Honestly, I think Cameron actually took most of the ones at Theresa's. Way to go Cam! I knew I could count on you. So pic #1 is at the skatepark. It would not be a holiday without getting a little boarding in. #2 was me looking for someting, probably a glass for my wine. #3 is mom, obviously hiding from the camera. #4 is Alex and Bryan all tuckered out. And #5 is Kailee, I'm assuming (since I didn't take this pic) that she was more than willing to smile for Cam!

Early Easter Humor

BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR ...

... DECADE, AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY.

Charlotte, North Carolina

A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire.

Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.'

The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.

The lawyer sued and WON!

(Stay with me.)

Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the 'fires'.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART...

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on …24 counts of ARSON!!!

With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

We're Back!

Sorry - the blogger was on vacation for a few days. :)

Well I left on Friday afternoon for Vegas and had a great weekend! I was so excited to see Cam! And contrary to my thinking that I was invading on his time with Grandma & Papa, he was glad to see me. I don't know if it was because he was gone for a week and I just missed it, or what, but he was absolutely hilarious this weekend and full of the most intelligent/misguided comments you've ever heard. We were playing the Wii, but conviced Cam it would be great to listen to the stereo instead of the game. The song Mexican Radio came on, and Cam says "I have this on my iPod. Authority Zero sings it - it's in a different "genue" then this one, though. The one I have is more Rock." It took us a minute to figure out that Cam was trying to say "genre". Amazing that he knew the song, and even more amazing that he understood what genre meant. He also wanted to know why Easter was always on Sunday. Well he knows the reason for Easter, and many of the details surrounding the day. Dad says, "It's the day that Jesus came out from behind the rock" ... and Cameron responds, "It was a tomb, Papa." We had to smile at that one! I'm pretty sure I'll post more later as they come to me, or as I think of them and have to relay them to Bryan. Cameron had an absolute blast with mom and dad. He and Papa Rick certainly did their share of bonding! Adventuredome for roller coaster rides was one of the first treats. Mom and dad looked on the website for height requirements and decided to have some fun with Cam. They said he might need a few more inches, suggested wearing his hat so that it rested on the top of his head, and maybe some higher soled shoes. Cam puts his hat on the very top of his head and says "Maybe we can just run over to Ross really quick and pick up some dress shoes; they always have kind of a heel on them." Well he was totally serious, and said he'd just "take them off once they were on the roller coaster." I thought mom was going to wet her pants when she was telling me that one. They also hit the skate park, played some baseball, Wii - A LOT of Wii!, excursions out "just" to look at cars and they got to meet the cast of American Chopper! Orange County Choppers built a bike for the Silverton Casino and unveiled the Bass Pro Shop bike last week. Dad bought him a model of the bike, and then they waited in line to have the box autographed. He got to meet Paul Sr., Paul Jr., and Mikey! He was so excited and could not wait to show me that bike when I got there!

Holding his autographed American Chopper Bass Pro Shop Bike

We went out to dinner Friday night at Sunset Station for the Buffet .. had some excellent shrimp and crab - all you can eat. Hard to believe this was Cam's first official buffet, but he could not get over the whole buffet "concept" - that you could just get up and get more, whenever you want, and get whatever you want! He had quirt the assortment of quesadillas & guacamole, pizza, fried shrimp, a clam (that's right - just one - but he liked it!), french fries, a breadstick, and an M & M brownie for dessert. Sitting there with all of that that crab and shrimp in front of us, I had to say, "Wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?" Mom told me a while back that was something Grandpa Kenny would always say to them. Love it.

Saturday mom and I had pedicures and Sunday we went and played miniature golf - something else Cam had never experienced. I know, I know. He truly leads a sheltered life. He LOVED it. Papa Rick won, and ... (sorry Mom) ... but he actually beat Grandma. (Good think they had that 6 stroke limit in place!)

Cam at "King Putt"

Had some burgers for dinner afterwards then headed back to mom and dads' for Wii. (Played a LOT of Wii - in fact when we got home, Cam told Bryan that I am AWESOME at Super Smash Brothers!) Sunday we hit the skate park to watch Cam show off his moves, then mom and I headed over to Sunset Station in hopes of some Luck O' the Irish. Nothing extraordinary to report, but we certainly did see our share of people in their St. Paddy's Day "costumes". Unbelievable. It was such a good weekend, and really nice to get away. Cam was a bit quiet on the plane coming home. He was definitely excited to see Daddy, but he did say that he didn't want to leave Grandma & Papa's.

Cam was a bit chilly one night, so here he is modeling one of Grandma's robes:




Showing off a few moves at the Skate Park