2017: A Year in Review

It doesn't feel like the end of the year without the Review!

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?

After many years of hemming and hawing, I got my first tattoo!  It's a heart on my right wrist, made up by the boys' fingerprints.  I love it!!  I THINK I may be a "one and done" when it comes to tattoos, though.  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm not a "New Year's Resolution" type of person.  I'm more of a "Make Plans and Goals" kind of person.  That being said....i made a goal of being healthier.  In some ways I did well--started drinking protein smoothies for breakfast and cutting back on the ice cream.  Then my stress-eating tendencies came out late in the year and well, My Fitness Pal shows me to be the same weight as I was last year at this time.  Turns out I'm a fantastic maintainer.  Goals for 2018?  Wag more, bark less.  Maybe get some more sleep, who knows.  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  I covered maternity leave for one of my co-workers, she had a baby in June.  

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Not close anymore, but one of the residents at my first property management job died in September.  We kept in touch for ten years after my leaving that job.  She was a wonderful person who dispersed fantastic advice, I'll miss her.  Traveling to that site will be weird, not stopping in to say Hi.  


5. What countries/places did you visit?

We had an AWESOME trip to Disney World in June!!  Can't wait to go again in a few years.  

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
Honestly, 2017 was a shit show in a lot of ways.  I'd like for 2018 to be a kinder, gentler year for my family.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?   On October 19th, my mother had a small stroke.  Things ended up being OK with time, but it was rough.  

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Instead of achievements, I'm going to call them lessons.  

A.  When it comes to your kids, it's amazing how strong you can be.  Especially when strength is all you've got, and what you really want to do is fold or crumble, but you stand strong.  

B.  I've always had a hard time asking for, and accepting, help.  I think it's because I'm usually doing to the offering and helping.  But when it hits the fan, you have to learn to let people help you.  And man, I had a lot of help this year.  I've had friends and family members flock out to help us get through stuff, and I'm forever grateful. 

9. What was your biggest failure?
I refuse to call anything a failure this year.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Nothing major.  


11. What was the best thing you bought?
For Mother's Day, Brian got me a cleaning service!  At first it was weird, but I cannot tell you how wonderful it is for someone to come to your house once a month and clean your bathrooms, floors, etc.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Skip.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Donald Trump, and many of his supporters.  Actually, the supporters were more appalling.   (this answer is too good not to keep)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Living expenses.  Pretty boring, right?  

15.  What did you really get excited about?

Disney World....and Universal Studios to see Harry Potter's Wizarding World.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? A big ol' mix of all of it.

b) thinner or fatter? Right about the same.  (BTW, I hate this question.)

c) richer or poorer? Both, rich in some ways and poor in others.  It all offsets in the end.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Read.  Knit.  Socialize.  Maybe not in that order....

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work.  I took on a second property in May, and I covered a maternity leave and a manager vacancy this summer as well.  At one point I was providing coverage for FIVE SITES, bringing work home often, working long hours, going back after dinner, etc.  I often wondered "just how in the hell are you doing this, Ginny?"  But I knew all along that it was just for the short-term, and the bonus at the end of the year was worth it!

19. How did you spend Christmas?

We had a big family celebration at my house a few days before, and then my parents came on Christmas Day.  

20. Did you fall in love in 2017?

I've been in love with the same man for 19 years.  NINETEEN YEARS, holy crap.  

21. What was your favorite TV program? 

Eh....nothing really grabbed me to be a "favorite."  Though I do love that Will and Grace came back with new episodes!  

22. What was the best book you read?

I read 26 books, which sounds kind of low for me.  I really enjoyed "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.  


23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pass.  

24. What was your favorite film of this year? 

The four of us recently went to the movies to see the reboot of the 90's film "Jumanji" and loved it!

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

For the first time in 12 years, I worked!  The residents had a cake for me, which was really nice.  I took the following day off so Brian and I could spend it together.  We ended up watching Wonder Woman and going out to lunch.  

26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress and worry.  Getting my son the help that he needed sooner.  But hindsight IS 20/20, and not worth it to dwell.  


27. What kept you sane?
My friends, that checked up on us, fed us, offered help, listened, offered advice when appropriate.  My mom, for being there when my husband couldn't.  My husband, for his shoulder to cry on, and his jokes to keep us both sane. 


28. Who did you miss?
My far away friends and family.


29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:
Never ask "Could this get any worse?"  And above all, be grateful.  



30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I don't know.

Well, Well, Well

....can we just pretend that I haven't been ignoring this blog?  I've honestly thought about not writing it anymore, but every time I click on "memories" and am awarded with pics of the boys and silly stories from the last ten years, I don't want to quit.  (SHUT UP....ten years???)  I know that I write mostly for myself, and my husband, mom and maybe a friend read, but really, it's just to preserve what I want to preserve:  time.

So anyway.....here goes.

1. I successfully said "no."  Mostly by non-action, but a "no" nonetheless!  I swiftly avoided the school fundraiser.  The kids came home from school all excited, saying "MOM!  We could win a Nintendo Switch!  We only have to sell like a million items in the fundraiser to win!"  Well bud, we have a small family and not a big need for cookies, wrapping paper and magazine subscriptions.  Mom does a great job ignoring the magazine subscriptions that she already has.  (Except the knitting ones, of course!)  So the deadline quietly slipped by and I triumphantly recycled the materials. 

2.  We're having a really weird Autumn.  No foliage, and warm temps.  I keep forgetting it's October.  Until yesterday, we were still using air conditioning.  Usually by now I'm bringing out the cooler weather clothes.  Not that this has stopped Sean from wearing long pants and a henley shirt every morning.  And no matter how many times I send him back to change, he's unhappy about it.  That boy is always freezing....he's the only person I know that needs a sweatshirt at the dinner table if the window is open.  My sweet, chilly boy. 

3.  Speaking of Sean, he had a great solution for being out of chip clips the other day.  He grabbed a toy wrench to keep a bag of frozen strawberries from rolling and spilling the other day.  Nice.

4.  In less than two weeks, I'm going to have a pre-teen.  That's right....Will's turning 11.  I wonder if he'll get a Hogwarts letter?  I'm prepared to be super jealous. 

And finally,

5.  I'm not knitting Christmas gifts this year.  Yes, you read that right.  I'm giving myself a gift of less stress at the holidays, and I'm knitting what I please instead.  Which turns out to be shawls for me actually, who knew? 

Maybe the next post will be about Halloween.  We shall see.

A House Divided

This weekend is the Superbowl, and it's New England Patriots vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

Now, I am not a huge football fan.  But I DID grow up in New England, and I do enjoy it when the Pats are in the playoffs.  But our friends know that Brian grew up in Philly, and is a fan of the Eagles.  And very much NOT a Pats fan, or admirer of any kind.  And his family.....well, his mom and one brother are pretty vocal about how much they don't like Tom Brady.

Anyway....I digress.  His mom bought us t-shirts a few years ago with the Pats and Eagles helmet logos that say "A House Divided."  Well, it's just gotten a bit more divisive.

On the way to the bus stop this morning, I was telling the boys that one of their schools had invited kids to wear Pats gear or Pats colors to school tomorrow in support of the Pats being in the Superbowl.  Now, neither kid is a football fan, any more so than me.  But Will perks up and said "It's probably my school."  He's probably right, I seem to get emails often about theme days and the like.  Naturally, he's no more interested in dressing in support of the Pats than he was interested in wearing a tie in support of the Great Kindness Challenge at the beginning of the week.  But then he surprises me, and his eyes brighten:

"Mom, what are the Eagles colors?"

I'm sure that his Dad, Uncle and Grandmom are all going to be super-proud tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Reading

We Need CSI in Here

My older son suffers from headaches, and if he doesn't get medicine quickly and lets them linger, they will make him sick to his stomach.  He saw the doctor recently and the doctor upped his Tylenol dosage and wrote an order allowing him to have Tylenol at school.  One issue is also dehydration--the only thing he'll drink is milk and he hates drinking water.  So the doctor suggested getting a water flavor enhancer, stating that the pros outweigh the cons and it's about getting the fluids in.  So Brian bought a little bottle of Mio Water Enhancer in Fruit Punch flavor.

Will decided this morning to "experiment" with putting it in a little water at home to try before putting it in his water bottle to take to school.  I said that I would mix it for him because I could just see him making a huge mess with it, and nobody's got time for huge messes on weekday mornings.  Hell, most days I don't have time for BREAKFAST before it's time to take the kids out to the bus.

Hilarity ensues though, even with me at the helm of this experiment.  See my text messages below for proof.  Just another day in my life of luxury, folks.  It was pretty funny though, got all over his shirt and the nice, clean kitchen floor.  We did laugh, and luckily it wasn't too bad to clean up.  Just some damp paper towels while I ate an English muffin.  As for CSI....perhaps they're not necessary, because I CONFESSED.

That bus is later every day

Good news: will likes the water flavor enhancer and put some in his bottle today.

Bad news: it's not drops. It shoots off like a cannon and makes your kid and kitchen look like a grisly murder scene. We had a good laugh about it. And luckily will was wearing 5 shirts so we just took one off. (Not I'm not kidding....they took your layering advice very seriously, making the laundry epically awesome for the washerwoman.)

Well hopefully we get our regular bus driver back soon

I'm glad he likes it and we'll have CSI figure out who did it later.

Suck it up, Cupcake!

Finishing soccer practice with Will and Sean on a Friday night.  (Soccer practice on a Friday night=bad idea. I unplug my brain at 4:30pm on Fridays.   But I digress.)

It was a busy night and we were headed to the Relay for Life to support the karate school.  And Mom had to pee.  There was a porta-potty in the school parking lot.  I gave it a sideways glance and decided I'd rather stop at home.  Even though stopping at home means a possible derailment of said plans.

 Kids are bickering in the car.  (Shocking, I know.)  I announce that we're stopping at home first and naturally, the boys want to know why.  I said "So mom can stop to use the bathroom."  Will points out that there's a porta-potty.  I said yeah, but I'd rather go at home.

Then out of the blue, in a nice deep voice he says "Suck it up, Cupcake!"

I wasn't sure how to react.  So I laughed.  Hysterically.  And sucked it up.  Hey, I'm washable.

WW: First Day of School!!

Wearing Many Hats

 

 

 
 

Summer is Here!

Last day of school today.  Bittersweet, as I no longer have a third grader and a kindergartner.  Here they are on their last day:

It's been a really great year for both boys.  Will had a great team helping him be the best that he could be and it looks like fourth grade will continue to be great!  Don't get me wrong, it'll still be hard sometimes.  It just feels so good to be supported.

And kindergarten....man, Sean hit the jackpot.  The teacher sent out an email yesterday to all the parents saying thanks for sharing your great kids with me, that it was a pleasure.  One thing that she mentioned is that this class really accepted each other for who they are, that everyone genuinely liked each other, was one of the most polite and respectful classes, etc.  One kid summed it up:  "There are lots of good friends with good hearts."  It warmed this mom's heart.

On to summer:  tonight is the boys' last karate class for at least two weeks.  Because they are headed to a fun-filled week with Grandmom and Grandpop on Saturday! And after that.....vacation with us!  Summer's full of fun plans--robotics camp, karate camp, trips to Six Flags, etc.  We'll make it a great one.

Wordless Wednesday: EarlyHoliday Pics

A Big Mashup Holiday Post

Yep.  I haven't posted once in December so let me sum up.

1.  I have a love-hate relationship with the month of December.  I love the holidays, but I hate the chaos.  Plus it's difficult to keep any sort of routine, so the kids suffer a bit.  This is Sean's first year having Christmas at school (they didn't celebrate holidays at his preschool) so the crazies are strong there.  Lots of frustration, stomping of feet, slamming of doors and remarks like "this is the worst Tuesday of my life" and my personal favorite:  "It's not even time to go to the bus yet and I. Already. Have. A. Frown. on. my. FACE!!!"  It was tough not to laugh, let me tell you.  Lots of extra snuggles and patience.  I'm great at the snuggles, but patience is not a strong suit for me.

2.  Have I mentioned that I am the BIGGEST HYPOCRITE EVER??  Yes, I am.  Sean was so sad that there's no Elf on the Shelf at his house that I caved and bought one last week at the mall.  Will's been so sweet to his younger brother, helping him name the Elf (Chippy) and coming up with ideas.  So we have an Elf, but I said that Chippy is a trainee, having shown up the week before Christmas.  Brian and I don't believe in the whole "The elf is reporting back to Santa" thing so it's just a fun thing in our house.  As soon as the kids go to bed at night one of us moves him. Brian watched me set up a Connect Four game between Chippy and Will's favorite Pokemon, Oshawott last night.  He remarked that I seemed to be enjoying it, and honestly, I was.  I love whimsical things.  I also will NOT be putting up a daily photo on Facebook about what Chippy's up to.  If Chippy wants to be on FB he can get his own account.

3.  You saw that Will is helping with Chippy, huh....  Well, Will pulled me aside at Thanksgiving and said "I have a suspicion that Santa Claus is really you and Dad.  I really need you to tell me that's not true."  I can't lie, it breaks my heart a little bit that he no longer believes.  But now he's excited about the magic of it and is encouraging his brother's belief in Santa instead of telling him.  It's sweet to watch.

4.  We had two Holiday concerts this year, Will's was last week at night at the high school and Sean's was this morning.  Both boys were adorable!  Now we have karate graduation tonight and I think that's all the obligations.  Wait no.....both boys have holiday parties in class tomorrow and I need to buy donut holes for one of them, I just can't remember which kid.  Hopefully I figure that out by tomorrow morning!

5.  Two things that have gone WELL this year....the holiday knitting is DONE and I won't be spending all day Christmas Eve wrapping gifts for my extended family.  However, I need to learn my lesson and weave in ends and block finished items sooner.  And next year, I think that I'm going to do the same item for all knit gift recipients, like an infinity scarf for everyone.

Well, that's pretty much all that is going in our world.  Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!!

Birthday Madness

Another year has passed and my older boy is now 9.  NINE!!!  Seriously, it blows my mind.  How did that sweet little baby grow up into this tall, handsome third grader?  This kiddo is tall for his age and almost fits into my shoes.  In another year I can borrow his sneakers if I want to.  (Probably not.)

We celebrated with a family dinner on his actual birthday, and then had a birthday party with his friends yesterday.  Man.....having a party with ten 3rd and 4th graders running around the house for three hours is INSANE.  Some of that is planning on my part.  I'm not the greatest at party-planning.  I mean, I went shopping for the goody bags only three hours before the kids were due to arrive. Pinterest Mom, I am not.  You can't put together a great goody bag on that kind of notice.  But "Last-Minute Lisa..."  that's how I roll.  So instead, it was a straight-up candyfest.  Hey, we're just prepping those kiddos for Halloween!  They loved the idea of an ice cream sundae bar instead of a birthday cake.  And who wouldn't!!

By time everyone left I just dropped into my comfy chair, exhausted.
The birthday boy had a good day though, but was bummed that not all of his friends got along.  He really is a peacekeeper, and watching two girls fight because they didn't like each other was tough.  It probably doesn't help that he's admitted to me and his grandmother that he's in love with one of them.  (Dear Lord....and with nine brings puppy love.)

And I Didn't Cry....Much

The big yellow bus came today and took my boys to school.  My younger one for the first time.  And I didn't cry.  He was a bit apprehensive and needed a "Go ahead!  You've got this."  for encouragement.   He was excited right up til that point.  The big kid, well....he was anxious to start a new school but was taking solace in the fact that it's a new school for EVERY kid there because last year it was a middle school and not elementary.

 Here they are, and yes, if Big Bro is wearing a Minecraft shirt then you can be sure the Little Bro is wearing one as well!

Right after the kids got on the bus and we walked home, Hubby grabbed his bags and headed for a work conference in Texas.  There may have been a couple of tears.  And they MAY have been that I don't have my own ticket on the plane, and am running the show this week.  Nah....I'll miss him.  That's the first reason.  The second is jealousy of his nice hotel room all on his own.  I had my turn in Vermont last May, though.

So it's "Friday Night Fun Club:  The Extended Edition" until (you guessed it) Friday.  There will be lots of pasta, school fundraiser, karate class, etc etc.  Oh, and that pesky thing called Work.

Our Two Ninjas

Saturday was summer graduation for karate school.  This graduation was a big one, because A. it was Sean's first and B.  Will did his black dragon testing!!

We are so incredibly proud of Will and Sean!  Sean learned so much this summer and he looks like he's having a lot of fun out there.  I'm still a bit surprised how much he learned in eight weeks of camp, but he had it down.

And Will....ridiculously proud.  He's kind of a perfectionist and one of the things that the Dragons had to work on this cycle was accepting criticism.  NOT one of his strong suits.  If you watch the video though, in his second form he started doing the wrong one.  He was corrected and quickly jumped into the correct form, without a fuss.  This is something that he worked really hard on, practicing his forms EVERYWHERE:  our bathroom, in the yard, at Target, at a birthday party.....everywhere.  His dedication is admirable.

Now Will moves up into an older group of kids and has three or four buddies moving up with him.  You've got this, Buddy!

My Two Ninjas

Look out World....there's a new karate student in town!

Sean is enrolled in Karate camp with his big brother this summer.  So far he loves it!  The only drawback is that it feels like his growing up has hit warp-speed.  I think it comes with hanging out with all the older kids.  He's the youngest in camp, and kids kind of fawn all over him.  And who can blame them, this kid is adorable.  (And I'm not just saying that because he's mine!)  Will's been happy to have someone at home to practice with, and even play "instructor."  

We're past the halfway mark on Summer, and soon the next karate graduation.  Will's going to try for Black Dragon, which is a special designation.  We're very proud of him!  

Thursday Ramble

I've been wanting to post and have been busy!  So Let's just settle into a random ramble for this Lovely Thursday....

1.  I misplaced a sneaker.  Yes, the ones that I just bought a couple of months ago to replace the old, crappy, unsupportive ones.  I'd gotten more serious about exercising and losing weight in the last six months or so and this is part of what's derailed me in the last couple of weeks.  Anyway, I figure the best way to find a sneaker is to buy a new pair.  I brought home a new pair from Kohl's last night and now we wait....

2.  Oh yeah, I guess I did brush by that quickly.  Have I told you that I've lost sixteen pounds?  I have!  Before you ask "How did you do it" I'll tell you:  I eat less, and move more.  It seems to work, and I don't deprive myself of the occasional ice cream or whatever.  I'm wearing jeans a size smaller, and today I'm wearing a summer skirt that was tight on me last year.  It's the most progress I've made in a very long time and I couldn't be happier.

3.  School's out for summer!  Last day of second grade was on Friday.  It's really hard to believe that next year I'll have a third grader and a kindergartner.  The boys are in Pennsylvania right now, having a great week with the grandparents.

4.  And despite having to work....we're having a great week with just Brian and I.  So far we've gone out for sushi, stayed up late watching movies, laughed and talked a lot and just enjoyed being together alone.  It's good to rediscover "us" once in a while.

5.  That being said, the house is eerily quiet and it feels a little like the Twilight Zone occasionally.  Kind of like this is an alternate universe.  I will say this though:  it's much easier to clean a kids bedroom and get rid of stuff when they are out of the house!

Just You Wait...

Conversation in the car on the way home from school tonight...Will and I were talking about our neighbor who's his age.  We'll call him Jimmy.  Jimmy is allowed to do things like watch R - rated movies, drink Mountain Dew by the liter and stay up til the cows come home.  We all had a "Jimmy" in our circles growing up, right? 

Will mentioned that Jimmy ' s seen the movie "Titanic" and is obsessed with it.  Will knows the story from the Magic Tree House books and wanted to know why he's not allowed to see it.  I said, "first of all, it's too old for you.  And you're a pretty sensitive guy, more sensitive than Jimmy.  (Yeah Mom, way more sensitive!)  I said that it was a sad story and he'd likely cry. I also mentioned that there's a questionable scene.  Of course he asked me what, and I told him that there was a love story put in the movie to make it more exciting to viewers.  (Anyone my age or a little younger knows about the scene where Jack is drawing a nude Rose, right!)

Then....Will informs me that Jimmy told him that there's a naked lady in the movie.  "Ummm.. yes, there is, I confirm."  And the best....."How does the naked lady make it more exciting then??  Unless she's running around naked, screaming that she needs to get dressed before getting in the lifeboat??"

That would certainly make it more entertaining.  As for the excitement...talk to me in a couple of years. 

Brownie Lesson

Usually food posts go on my food blog, Blue Plate Special.    This is a little more than that.

These are not just brownies.  They're a lesson in cause-and-effect, and chemistry.

Will came home from school a few weeks ago, telling us about an assignment.  He had to write a recipe for something, and he'd written one for brownies.  And he wanted to take the recipe to the next level...he wanted to make them with Dad.  Dad is the primary (I am hardly even the secondary!) baker of the household.  So they made it a Wednesday "Guys Night" project while I was at knitting group.

The first step is to melt butter for fifteen minutes.  Hmmmmm, even I as the "secondary baker" know that if you melt butter for 15 minutes, you aren't going to have butter anymore.  You are going to have a scorched mess and a sad kid whose brownies have already taken a death blow in the very first step.  So with a little tweaking (i.e. more cocoa, balance of ingredients) a pan of brownies materialized.

Surprisingly, they weren't too bad.  Not the fudge-y, chocolate treat you usually have, but they rose in the pan and had some chocolate flavor.  And my little scientist wants to keep tweaking the recipe, until it is worthy of The Notebook.  The Notebook is a small notebook that I received as a shower gift, in it we copy any recipes that we really, really liked.  We put a lot in it the first five years of marriage, now we're a bit more discriminate on what goes into the all-important Notebook.  What Will doesn't know, though,  is that his recipe is already Notebook-worthy.  Just not in the way that he thinks, but in terms of preciousness.

Fun Stuff!

Big things this week.

First--this guy went to kindergarten screening.  In his own words when I picked him up from preschool, "Mom, I'm half excited and half terrified."  Poor kid was worried they were going to ask him things that he didn't know.  It went well, and it still amazes me how two kids with the same parents can be so completely different.  No anxiety, just "OK, let's go!" when the teacher came to take him to the classroom.  This is really bittersweet, sending the "baby" to kindergarten.  Which is surprising as well, considering I dreaded sending the big kid.  This just feels natural.

And then last night was "date night with this handsome fella.  The school puts on a "Boys night" every year, this year was a dance and a comedy show.  We grabbed a quick dinner at the Golden Arches and headed over.  The dance was what one would expect with a bunch of boys ranging in age from kindergarten to fifth grade:  little kids dancing with their moms, middle kids hanging around with their friends, and the bigger kids causing a ruckus.  Still, we had a good night and I love this time with Will.

My (Almost) Waterloo

This sweater.  It's called the "wonderful Wallaby" and I've been working on it since June.  I remember starting it while binge-watching the second season of Orange is the New Black.  Every time I came to an intimidating part, I'd put it down and fret.  The first spot was the pouch.  But then I just pushed through and did it, and the construction was fun.  A little unorthodox but fun!    Then came the fusing of the top of the pouch, and I hid from that for a little while.  I was hoping to finish it in time for Will's birthday in October.  That deadline whooshed by and then I was caught up in Christmas knitting.

 Finally I determined that this thing needed to be done before my big kid grew out of it.  I picked it back up and cast on the sleeves, and carried them everywhere until they were done.  Each sleeve was thirteen inches long, so this went on for awhile.  I joined them to the body with much fanfare, and started to make the yoke.  Everything was going great!  I wasn't even worrying about the kitchener stitch for the underarms.  (Kitchener stitch,  for the uninitiated, is a way of joining stitches together in a bit of a daunting way.  It's also how you finish the toes of a pair of socks.)

Then the big roadblock came.....ready to rib the neckline and make the hood.  That's when I discovered that I had 54 additional stitches on the needles.  And naturally, I had removed the stitch markers that were showing where the decreases should be.  Ahhhhhhhh!  Brian gently suggested I put it down for a couple of days instead of ripping out rounds like a maniac.  And a bit of a pleasant surprise....I listened.  Two days later, I was ready to take action.  It took an entire evening in front of the TV, but I managed to rip out a couple of rounds and re-place the markers.  This is a testament to how far I've come, because there was a time that having to pull out several rounds would've been my undoing, I've put projects in permanent time-out for less!

You didn't beat me, Wallaby.  I beat you.  And now Will has a great sweater that goes with everything.  See that smile?  That's what this is all about.

By the way....Will wanted to make sure everyone saw the pouch, so he used his two favorite stuffed animals to illustrate.  That's Brownie on the left and Oshawott from Pokemon on the right.  And nope, he's not photogenic AT ALL.  :)