I named it "Pidgee"

If I see an animal in need, I help it. This has always been my nature. I'm not much of a bird lover, but they're animals, none the less, so I feel I am required to help them too.

On Memorial Day, I spotted a pigeon standing on my neighbors' drive-way. It was one of those pigeons you see on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago. We don't normally have those hanging out in our subdivision. I walked up to it and noticed it had bands on it's legs. I figured it belonged to someone, but I know nothing about pigeons. Hoping it would fly away, I left it alone. Later that day, it was in a different neighbors' backyard (next door to us). I decided to capture it and keep it in a cat carrier overnight. I was a little hesitant to catch the bird since I didn't know what it's reaction would be. It turns out that it had an injured wing, so it was pretty easy to capture. I put it in a carrier, gave it some bread, and named it "Pidgee".

The next morning, I started out by calling our county's animal control. I have very little respect for them due to previous experiences, but I figured I'd see if they could put me in the right direction. I mentioned the bands that were on the bird's legs and the guy told me it must be a racing pigeon. I almost fell over. I had NO idea there was such a thing! He told me I had to get the number off the band and look it up online to locate the owner. Seriously.

After I wrote down the number from the band, I found the pigeon union online. Yes, there is a racing pigeon union! They're located in Pennsylvania. So I made a long distance call and was told I had to call the supplier of the band. They gave me the "owner's" name and number. These people told me that they no longer owned the pigeon and it belonged to someone else. After I had this injured bird for 24 hours, I decided to contact the pigeon union. I was concerned not only because I didn't know the extent of Pidgee's injuries, but he also wasn't eating. I was referred to a member of the union that lives near me that would probably help me out. When I talked to him on the phone he sounded like the oldest man that ever lived! He's been racing pigeons for 50 years! He was very nice and helpful and came to rescue Pidgee. He said Pidgee probably ran into the power lines across the street from us and assured me he'd be okay.

The whole ordeal still seems unreal to me. I still can't believe people race pigeons! To each his own, I guess.

Kyle's news

Last night after the party, we came home and Jason went to bed (he has to turn in early on Saturdays since he gets up at 4am for work on Sundays). Shortly after that, Kyle decided one of his teeth was ready to come out. He's had two that have been pretty loose for the last week. Kyle has never removed his own tooth, I've pulled the last four. He told me it hurt when I moved this one so he wanted to do it himself and he did! When it came out, he showed it to me in the tissue. I told him I was proud of him. Then the drama came (typical for Kyle). He said, "I'm so happy I'm gonna cry!" He sat on the couch crying his eyes out for a minute. But there was no crying this morning when he showed me the $5 the tooth fairy left.
The new hole in Kyle's mouth is the on the bottom on his right side.

Justin's new high score

Saturday night we celebrated my father-in-law's birthday with Jason's family. Sarah, the eldest granddaughter, threw out the idea of a bowling party. So, we all met at the bowling alley and then went back to Jason's parents' house for cake and gifts. Everyone bowled except for my mother-in-law and me. Justin had an awesome time! He wound up with a 166 game. That's his new high! He was really excited. I guess he was just having a good night, because his next score was a 157.

Justin also had his state parade at school on Friday. I just wanted to mention that his grade on the float was a 28/30. On his written report he scored a 98%. (Only 10 more days of school left!)

Making Arizona

Every year at the boys school, the fourth graders have to research one of the fifty states. They are required to complete a written report and design a float to go with it. There is even a parade during school hours where they drag their floats through the halls. Since Justin's in fourth grade this year, it's his turn to be a part of this experience. Justin wanted to do California, Florida, or Hawaii, but those were taken. He wound up with Arizona.

For those of you that think this float looks good, I thank you. I personally don't like it, but that's because of all the stress it caused Justin and me. Justin's teacher sent home directions for the project which I read several times. After the completion and having to ask a neighbor for help with this thing, I can tell you that her directions were crap! It took me a while to get the right size box from work, so even though we had more than enough time to work on this, we just started last weekend. I figured once it was started we'd get it done pretty quickly (at least I was right about one thing).

Justin is imaginative when he's writing, but not a very good designer. I came up with a plan for his project after looking at pictures of Arizona online. I found a pretty picture of a sunset desert. Since we were told we needed a box that couldn't be a shoe box, I figured we were making a large diorama that could be seen by the parade spectators (even though it's called a "float"). When someone tells me I need a box, I automatically assume stuff is going IN the box, not ON it!

Late Sunday morning, Justin and I had everything prepared for the project - he painted all the scenery and I made the cacti. I told him we'd break for lunch while our things were drying and then we'd assemble it afterwards. That's when he tells me he thinks we're supposed to turn the box upside down and put our display on it. I won't type the words that went through my mind at that moment. Here I am thinking this thing is coming along great and we're almost done! He was aware of my plan the whole time! Weeks ago, long before we started, I told him what I had in mind for this! Poor Justin began crying at the kitchen table while I'm running around FREAKING OUT!!! I didn't even mention that had to go out and buy $20 worth of supplies for this thing, which I think is wrong, but anyway...

Thankfully, Justin is good friends with a boy down the street who is also in fourth grade. Better yet, his sister was in fourth grade last year. I often talk to their mom, so I got her on the phone to find out the truth about the float. Yes, our display was to be on top of the box. She came over to look at what we had done and helped me adjust it so we could still use everything we had already made. I couldn't thank her enough!

This is the finished product. Justin seems to like it. The parade is on Friday afternoon. Jason will be attending, but I'll be at work. After all the hatred I've felt for this project, I've decided it's probably better that I won't be able to go.

My sons and I on Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to the mom's in my life! I hope you have a delightful day. I know this day may be difficult for some. I have a couple of my followers in mind. You're in my thoughts and I wish you well.

The chairs in which we sat

Friday was a sad day for my mom and I. Our favorite Starbucks was closed for good. It was one of the older stores and didn't have a drive-thru. We were told they weren't bringing in enough money. Well maybe they shouldn't have opened so many new stores a couple years ago. There is a new one that opened a little over a year ago about a mile from our old one with a drive-thru. My mom and I were all excited about it at first, but after going there once or twice we went back to the old one. We missed our chairs and familiar faces.

This is a picture of our favorite chairs. They were kind of gross, but very comfortable. This is where we sat on most Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for the last two years. And this is me with "T" (Taneshia) our favorite barista. Her smile brightened up the whole place. We know the location she's being transferred to, so we'll be going there to visit her on Tuesdays!