Texting Fool

Is it just me, or has this been the longest week ever?

Never mind. I know the answer.

YES, YES IT HAS.

In a good way, though.

The past week started with Alexis and I driving to Tennessee so she could visit with her grandparents. I stayed there for a couple of days and then ran away to Milwaukee. Without Alexis. For multiple days.

Prepare yourself to judge internet. Ready? Soooo ... Alexis has never been away from both me and her dad for more than probably 12 hours. Does that make us terrible parents? Possibly, but we're terrible parents who really like hanging out with our kid. We have talked about taking a vacation without her, and every time we don't do it because when we start to think about places we could go, we can't imagine not sharing the experience with her.

We really do like spending time with our kid.

Which is why I was a wee bit sad panda about leaving her for three days, but I knew she would only sort of care because she was with her eight bajillion cousins having a fantastic time.

While I was gone, the crazy little monster with the curly hair had possession of my old iPhone. I had to get a new one last week because the location services on my first one had completely died. I kind of needed GPS to make the drive to Tennessee. There was also a problem with the battery lasting approximately long enough to sneeze, and you better believe I wanted a working phone with me while Alexis was cavorting with cousins. So I stripped my old one down to just a few apps, connected it to the wireless network at my in-laws house, and left it with Alexis.

One of the apps I left on it was Kik. It is nothing more than a text messaging app, but it's one that doesn't use data or call time. It works just fine with Wifi. I set it up so that Alexis could text me and I could text her back, spent three minutes showing her how to use it, and expected that she would never touch it.

But HOOBOY did she touch it. Girlfriend started out by texting me every ten seconds while I was still in Tennessee. In fact, we had a complete conversation via text while sitting on the couch together. We are just like an old married couple, right? That's what they do?

And then I left and the show REALLY began. I started getting texts at all hours of the day and night. Somewhere along the line the kid started to figure out punctuation and she learned how to make autocorrect her friend. It was actually pretty fun to watch. I got probably a dozen texts that simply said, "I love you momma!"

Don't tell Alexis, but if she were trying to convince me to let her have a real cell phone of her own, that's how she could get her way. Getting an "I love you momma" text at 3:00 am will make you all sorts of hearty melty, even if you would prefer that your kid figure out that sleep is fantastic.

My favorite text conversation was the one that took place after I sent her a photo of her stuffed bear that I had accidentally packed in my suitcase. I texted her "I stole your bear. NEENER NEENER."

She replied, "Hay! Grrrrrrrr!"

You guys. She writes like me! Bad spelling and all!

I replied, "Did you just growl at me?"

She said, "Yes. I am a stinker bum!"

AND THEN I DIED FROM THE CUTE. I managed to send her a reply before I did, fortunately, because she came back with, "I am!!!!!!!"

New rule. Nobody on the internet is allowed to use excessive exclamation points. Actually, that's an old rule. If you end multiple sentences in a facebook update, tweet, or blog post with ten exclamation points, I roll my eyes at you. I just do.

But Alexis? She is allowed to abuse punctuation. In fact, cough up some of your punctuation because she is better at using it than you are.

Help Save the World

Willis Haviland Carrier saved the world when he invented air conditioning as we know it today.

Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov saved the world when he prevented nuclear war.

Superman has saved the world over and over again, even if only in fictional works.

So what are you going to do to save the world?

What if I told you that the simple act of throwing some water balloons could help save the world? Seriously. It can.

This Saturday, July 21, the Great American Water Balloon Fight will take place at Point State Park in Pittsburgh. The money raised during the event will save the world, one person at a time. Even if you aren't able to attend the water balloon fight, you can help.

Team Tassy is behind the Great American Water Balloon Fight. They are the group that saved Tassy. Since then, they've saved more kids, helped more families pave the way for a better life, and continued to fight poverty in Haiti. They're saving the world, $20 at a time.

Here's how you can help.

Go throw balloons. It's $20 to get involved in the shenanigans. I won't tell you which team to join, but I will tell you that Bob is so fast it's actually creepy. For real. The man can dodge a softball like nobody I've ever seen, so I wouldn't expect him to get hit by many water balloons.

Donate balloons. Can't go? That's cool. Me neither. You can still sponsor some balloons and do your part to make sure the radio personality of your choosing lose.

Donate money. If you can't decide who you want to see lose the water fight, you can still help make sure the ultimate winners get what they need. $25 pays for a medical exam. $100 is enough to cover all of the school supplies (including uniforms) a kid needs. A little bit goes a long way in helping the people who need it.

Saving the world has never been so much fun.

It's Time for Some Sunny Days

It was very much so purposeful last year.

There is a little patch of ground that separates our patio from our driveway. It is there because some day the little hedges I planted there will be tall enough to serve as a wall. For now, I plant other stuff between those hedges as I wait. The first year it was corn. Last year it was sunflowers.

The sunflowers that I planted from tiny little seeds did OK last year. The sprouted up between those hedges and grew and grew and reached for the sky. They topped out at eight feet tall, but to be honest, they never looked all that good. Despite the fact that they had all the love and care that a plant could ever hope for, they weren't all that healthy. They never quite created that natural wall I wanted. They drooped so much they actually looked sad. Which, if you think about it, a sunflower should never look sad. But they all did. A dozen eight foot tall sunflowers all looked sad.

This year it was pure luck.

I first spotted the little weed in late spring, but for some reason, I didn't pull it. I'm sure part of the reason I left it alone was that Cody and Penny were obsessed with gnawing on it. Every time they set foot on the patio, they ran over to that little weed and chewed off a leaf or two. I figured they would manage to kill it.

But they didn't.

And then one day it suddenly sprouted up a foot overnight and I realized it wasn't a weed. It was a sunflower. Somehow one of the sad flowers from the year prior had managed to drop one lonely seed and it had found its way across the patio. It had taken hold and grown and grown, persevering even as the elements and the dogs did everything possible to destroy it.

It was neglected and it was abused, but now it stands tall and beautiful.

You better believe I'm taking it as a sign that sunnier days are about to appear out of nowhere.