Glow in the dark bowling

Today Karrick was invited to his friend Danny's birthday party. It was a "glow in the dark bowling" party. For the second time this month I was asked to photograph the event.

I'm just posting the glow pictures because they are pretty cool and I guarantee no one got shot like these because no one thought to turn off the flash

My favorite being the shoes above

This little darling is the baby sister of a classmate...she is adorable and all personality. Baby A is at pick-up everyday after school. I snapped these beautiful candid shots in the bowling ally restaurant with awful lighting.

I can't believe how well they turned out. 

Easter

Easter was spent in long Grove complete with egg hunt and easter basket hunt...which I don't get. On the SS (south-side) of Chicago no one hid baskets, but the kids seem to enjoy it. Karrick was the clear winner of this years hunt...I think Grandma  confused the Easter Bunny with Santa....it happens

Tim's brother Brian brought his 2 adorable 11 week old puppies, a brother/sister duo. If they weren't going to be the size of small elephants I would has kidnapped them.

It was a delightful day with family.
 After 17 years of visiting McGinty Farm I finally climbed the tall ladder into darkness

Eggs eggs and some more eggs

Tim took Callahan and Karrick to spend the night with grandma and grandpa which left me with 5 1/2 dozen eggs to color. I recruited TJ and Alexis to help...I got a good 1/2 hr out of them. I had a good time by myself and decorated all different ways

these 2 eggs were heated in the microwave and then colored with crayons...the wax melts. My first egg exploded in the microwave.....what a mess!

straight food coloring drizzled on egg

God old fashioned Paas tablets and some creative mixing

A new boy

So this little boy had his tonsils and adenoids removed 2 weeks ago. He is officially better! My 48 inch child got down to 42lbs which means 50% in height and 8th % in weight...no mother of the year award for me. 

Time to fatten this skinny chicken into a plump turkey

We were at a joint birthday party for his 2 buddies Wednesday at Xtreme Trampolines and when it came time for pizza I had to force Karrick to take a bite. After 1 bite he Devoured the entire piece. Cake? My little cake hater couldn't get the fork into his mouth quick enough

really!? a cupcake and a piece of cake...not to mention frosting.

frosting had to of felt like tasteless paste going down before

"Mom, that was the best food I ever had!"

"Karrick that is the same food you never ate"

"No Mom it was soooo good"

I guess being able to smell, taste and actually swallow food makes a difference. Doctor said eating was just a chore for Karrick and that he has probably never smelled or tasted food properly, not to mention he had a chronic throat infection that made swallowing nearly impossible....but never complained because thats all he knew...OUCH

New foods that Karrick has eaten for the first time in his life

             1)  Cantaloupe

               2)  cutie orange

 3)  tacos

        4)  BBQ ribs

                5)  PBJ sandwich  

A cutie orange had to be like swallowing a giant snot...a tasteless odorless ball of phlegm

When TJ had the same procedure he put on 25 lbs in 1.5 years 

I'm hoping maybe Karrick will grow a little too. 50% is small for a McGinty kid...Cal and TJ are 97%...I don't usually grow than that little

Statue of Liberty

Karrick's in class project was to construct anything using cut out shapes. Tim gave Karrick a mini Statue of Liberty before school from his trip to NY on this day

TJ's Quest and a flood update

An update on TJ's quest

 TJ has another movie audition.... Hollywood is really taking an interest in him, our problem is he is the opposite of what a 14 year old actor is...TALL and mature looking. TJ looks 16, but can't really book the 16 year old jobs due to his age, a 14 yo is still a kid and usually small young adults play pre-teen and teen roles. I think he is too big for todays role, but experience will be gained and I have been told by casting directors how talented he is, not to mention his star quality looks. Even if he is too big and mature looking for today's role...you just don't know, at worst he will leave a good impression in the casting directors head. Plus this movie is under wraps...no info is given ie: title, synopsis, character breakdown, director, leading stars....usually we get all that info...we only got "boy 2" for TJ's audition info and a 2 paragraph monologue for TJ to memorize

 We are missing a HS ball game, but  freshman ball is not going to pay for college or keep his agent happy. TJ was called last week for a Adam Sandler movie audition, but Karrick just had had tonsils out and Tim was in NY...there was no way in Hell I was dragging that kid downtown, so I passed. They called back and said the casting director really wants TJ and will work around his schedule...with baseball games Mon, Tue and Wed I said during the day would work (miss an hour and a half of school) and everyone's happy....not so much.

Stike one against the McGinty's

So the next day when this audition came about, I couldn't tell the agent no and keep getting future calls. So, my starting A baseball player had to tell his coach he wasn't going to make todays game...luke warm response Coach E in his mobster voice

 "but yer playin!"

TJ quick on his feet "yeah, but my mom didn't know and confirmed me..."

After thinking on it for 24 hrs  Coach E. came up to him and said 

"So, Mcginty gonna be in movies?" "I can see it, you do have those movie star looks" 'what's dis world comin to, when mcginty's gonna be a movie star"

 Love Coach E, possibly the funniest guy out there...says it like it is and always has the boys in stitches and all the boys share Coaches words with their parents...freakin hilarious

I have no idea where all this is going to go...at some point someone is going to get mad. All I can do is take it one day at a time

Thank God TJ wants to be a doctor and has something to fall back on...can the kid really have 3 harder dreams to achieve?

Well I was wrong, just received a call that Cal and TJ are auditioning for the Adam Sandler movie tomorrow at 3pm. And yes, I am going to shoot downtown, hope all goes quickly and I can get TJ back in time for his home ballgame...Crap, I dread the phone to the coach...there are 12 kids on the team...maybe they can 'bench" TJ for the 1st inning? Oh, did I mention it's tax week at work? Since karrick can't go back to school yet, I will go to the office 2 hrs early..

Notice to Universe: I am really doing the best I can and am not trying to take advantage of anyone...just let me make it through this week with my job intact, TJ still on the baseball team...is A team pushing it and my children still in good graces with their Agents

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THE ENDLESS FLOOD SAGA

This was the scene at the end of last summer, after the second flood in 2 years to wipe out our entire lower level. 3-4 feet of raw neighborhood sewage filled our basement. It happened the 1st time 2 years ago and we thought it was a fluke and used that gutting as an opportunity to redo the lower level to our liking.

It wasn't a fluke and it felt like a kick to the gut. We gutted again...family room went out the front window and hauled right away. Laundry room went out the back deck window and sat for 9 months. I mentally couldn't deal with it, it was late July, hot-hot and we were finishing up travel baseball season and the back was infested...AGAIN with hornets. I would stick a needle in my eye before taking those suckers on again, so our warped smelly, moldy, shit covered basement cabinets sat on the deck until this weekend.

Mother Nature gave us weary Chicagoans a weekend gift of 80 degree weather.  Tim was in NY for a week, so I slapped on my bathing suit, some oil, and some rubber gloves and got to work. Whoa, one would think the smell would be gone, but I was blasted back in time to 9 months ago by that smell.

I filled 12 large construction bags and filled many bins of moldy smelly wood and personal items. Hauled them to the curb. I need to buy many many sheets of garbage stickers and hope our garbage mans hauls it away.

When did garbage men become so uppity? What in the Hell did they think they were gonna do when they became a member of the Waste Management family? You are going to pick up people's garbage. Garbage being, the nasty crap that people no longer want or need. Some of it so nasty, smelly and disgusting that an animal won't go near it.

Seriously "GET THE FUCK OVER YOUR SELF"

I do have one guy that always takes everything w/wo stickers with a smile and I have tried to give him money during the year, but will only take it around the holidays. Then there is "the other guy" that gives me shit about taking extra stuff...God help me if each and every item is not plastered with a visible purple Lombard waste sticker. I have literally gone outside while "the other guy" was tossing stuff in the truck, mumbling under his breath about stickers and tossed in the non-stickered items myself. I'm sure there is some union rules about that and my patience has worn thin on the damn garbage situation.

Seen this sight before...once or twice I mean

It's a start, the deck needs a good power wash and a good sealant, not to mention some color.

No, not Callahan's Science experiment, just a close-up of what was once a laundry room cabinet.

The lower level is clean and has new walls and furniture ... again (paneling and a futon, no more top of the line stuff) the laundry room is frozen in a gutted state. We just can't get excited or attached to a new beautiful lower level...how many times can your heart be ripped out? Sure, we were insured  and FEMA came through financially again, but the emotional damage stays with you. 

Karrick

 Karrick got his Adenoids and Tonsils out today. He has had a chronic sinus infection for the last 4-5 years, I stopped even bringing to the pediatrician because antibiotics did nothing, even after 30 day doses. It finally came to the point where he didn't want to eat...just drink milk to fill his tummy.

At Elmhurst Center for Health they made my little Karrick feel so special. I pretty much live at this facility in the pain center for my neck (I am the only frequent flyer under age 60, but Me, Gladys, Silvia and Marge rock, I can hang with the blue hairs. The registration lady gave him 3 pennies to throw in the water wall fountain. The nurse gave him a stuffed animal and even transported him by red wagon to the OR.  The balloon was all me..crafty, I know. Before his discharge, the surgeon came back and gave Karrick bubbles

 I just love this facility and a new Elmhurst Hospital Campus is being built on to the Center for Health, which is due to open this summer.

hospital pictures fuzzy due to camera on phone, couldn't make myself bring the big Canon

The Surgeon told me Karrick tonsils were so bad and covered in "gunk" that they were "stuck" to his throat. His tonsils were also  scarred from a chronic throat infection. Karrick never once complained about a sore throat...no wonder he didn't like to eat ( 4ft tall and 45 lbs) poor kid! The doc said Karrick probably never has smelled food, God only knows what he has tasted. Kinda breaks my heart.

I see a completely different future for Karrick. He will be able to sleep, smell, swallow, eat, hear and speak so much better....a new world awaits him.

When we arrived home Karrick had 2 bowls of yogurt, 2 pancakes, milk and some vanilla shake. I drew the line at the cheeseburger request. I was so tired that I set him up in my bed, hoping he'd fall asleep...NO, I did. I woke up to him building his metal erector set at his desk (in our room) then an hour later I woke up and he was in TJ's room playing XBOX 360 Black Ops...really!

Tough as nails this one

He just ate 2 more pancakes and I had to strong arm him into taking pain medicine because I could tell he was in pain....he probably has always been in pain...what the HELL kind of mother doesn't know her child is in chronic pain?

That is a tough pill to swallow...pun intended

I am keeping Karrick out of school the rest of the week and he gets to sleep with me all week because Tim is in New York on business

Karrick had his first baseball practice last night

Psssst: karrick is wearing a cup tucked into the tiniest cup pants ever made and I tucked in his jersey and sweatshirt into TJ's old baseball pants(8U Oak Park Travel) TJ was no chubbster himself at this age so you can imaging how tiny Karrick is. TJ put on 25 lbs in 1.5 years when he had his tonsils and adenoids removed at age 8 (same surgeon) different pediatrician and different suburb (Oak Park) confirms he was" the man"  Surgeon that is

Spasms , spasms and more spasms

   Once again I have been plagued by severe muscle spasms. It is a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone. A few weeks ago my lower spine has been bothering me (lumbar fusion L5-S1, 13 years ago) . My vertebra seemed to "pop" every so often, Tuesday, I sat on a cold cement built in bleacher, not my best idea. That night in bed I could not get comfortable and would yelp upon movement. I woke up for my nightly 2:30 am pee (gettin old's a bitch) and while sitting on the pot...POW! a giant spasm from tail bone to skull ripped through my spine. I seriously was like the image above...only sitting for a solid 20 secs. It stops your breath and you can't move. Almost like a seizure (never had a seizure so Im guessing) I was wondering what do I do if I can't get off the pot? So, I waited it out

The next 5 days were filled with tears, random outbursts of "OUCH" and a lot of grunting. I have been taking Hydrocodone and Baclofen which does help, but would require me to take well above the recommended dose to be pain free. Grunting through life it is. Night time is it's own nightmare....I can honestly feel where my hip joint ball and socket meet on both sides...the burning and leg numbness just sucks! Tim says I cry out in my sleep all night long...fun huh?

I had severe back spasms while living in Oak Park when Karrick was about 5 months old. I could not get out of bed for days. Using the bathroom was torture...just torture. I probably should have gone to the ER, but the thought of the paramedics moving me down our big spiral staircase and bumping me around in the back of the ambulance may have resulting in me eating a bullet

Last year I had horrible skull spasms where I couldn't get out of bed for 5 days...to use the washroom I would have to physically pick up my head with both hands while dropping F-bombs the entire way.

This too shall pass...sooner than later I hope. It is getting much better and if I get a spasm it is a baby one. Something is inflamed or swollen that is causing the burning and numbness. Is it possible to pop a screw in the plates that hole my vertebrae together? I don't think so, so I wait and walk around a little dazed and confused with huge bags under my eyes. Have I called the doctor? Not yet, I have the medicine left over from skulls spasms I had 2 months ago. I do have 5 bulging disks in my neck that may need to be addressed if this becomes "A thang"

Now I must walk like I have a pole up my ass to get my child from the 1st grade