Amy's acting debut

Our church put on a Christmas dinner comedy production this year. Amy has said for some time now that she'd like to try acting just for kicks. So she auditioned for the production, and was awarded the role of Beth, one of four silly servants in the Bethlehem Inn. The cast performed their show this past Saturday and Sunday evenings, to a combined audience of around 100 folks, I'd guess. It was a fun show, and I think the attendees enjoyed themselves. And in my completely unbiased opinion, Amy did a great job in her role.

The boys also played a part in the show, as part of a troupe of child Bethlehemian(?) dancers. Take seven energetic kids, add one tambourine and two colored streamers apiece — instant cuteness!

I'm proud of my wife and kids, of the rest of the cast and crew, and of Pastor Stephen Bounds and his wife who really drove the thing from concept to completion.

Our first trip to Urgent Care

Last night, while salmon steaks were baking in one oven, battered fish portions in the other, and the spinach was awaiting its trip through the microwave, it happened. I was upstairs at the time, reading the latest edition of WORLD magazine, when Gavin ran into the room and announced somewhat calmly: "Dad, as soon you get finished, could you come downstairs? Aidan hit his head on the fireplace."

On a list of things I least want to hear, that's gotta be somewhere near the top.

I came downstairs to find Amy holding Aidan in the kitchen floor, trying to apply an ice pack to his bleeding and swelling nose. Seems the boys were running around playing "rocket cars" (which unfortunately seems to require great bursts of speed best experienced outdoors), and Aidan-the-Rocket-Car crashed bridge-of-the-nose-first into the front edge of our very hard, stone fireplace. Fortunately, the cuts on his nose weren't bad at all — in fact, they appeared to be no more than abrasions. But out of concern that he might have broken his nose and that his injuries could impair his breathing, we packed the family up and headed out to an urgent care facility a few miles away.

Aidan was pretty upset (understandably) as we tried to get into the car, and dozed off a couple of times during our trip to the facility. Once there, he quieted down, but mostly out of fear of this new place. Fortunately, the nurses present were able to assure him that he would be treated well. They took a pair of X-rays of his head that didn't reveal anything alarming, and as expected he wasn't in need of any stitches. We were sent away with a recommendation of some Children's Motrin (for the pain and swelling), the promise of a follow-up call from the radiologist, Tootsie Pops for the kids, and a smiling little boy with a busted up nose.

So, after this, our first trip to an urgent care facility, we say, "Thanks", to the fine ladies at Expressmed's Concord Mills location, and to God for protecting our little guy from what could have easily been a much more serious situation.

North Myrtle Beach again

The Pilatos never get tired of the beach. So for the second year in a row, we've claimed the week before the Columbus Day holiday as our beach-trip week. As we did last year, we returned to the Avista Resort in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and did the overlapping visit thing with my parents. (We were in the three-bedroom suite from Monday to Saturday; my parents were there from Wednesday thru the next Monday.)

We had wonderful weather—not too hot or cold, and dry for the most part. We scored that three-bedroom resort suite by accident, even. I thought I was driving hard for a bargain on a two-bedroom place, and was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the deal I got was not only a great rate for two bedrooms, but was being applied to three! We all had plenty of room to spread out in that oceanfront suite, and my and Amy's bedroom was waterfront with a balcony to boot!

Of course, we didn't spent all our time in the suite. We did some mini-golf. We bowled. We shopped. Amy and I even caught a Medieval Times show. The boys were in good spirits most of the time, but tended to be a little preoccupied with hanging out in the various pools at the resort. Have water wings, will cooperate, it seemed. (Admittedly, Amy and I loved the water wings, too—it can be quite tiring to hold a forty-pound kid for an hour, even in the water.)

Our vacation week was a full one, but a good one. But don't assume that we returned to find more peace and relaxation. Oh, no. I'm hovered over a new laptop (which was shipped to Amy's parents' place in my absence) trying desperately to get Ubuntu Linux installed, and to get all my data off my previous work laptop, which has an ailing fan and only boots about 20% of the time as a result. Why the rush? Because tomorrow I leave for Germany and SubConf 2008! Busy times, busy times….

Labor Day apple pickin'

Today, Amy and I began the day by doing something I never imagined five years ago I'd be doing — marching into our own back yard and picking apples from our own apple trees.

We picked about eight plastic grocery bags full of good apples, plus another six or seven bags of apples that were rotten or soon-to-be rotten. Our neighbor Hilda even came over to join the fun. She grew up on a farm, so was seasoned in the skills of harvesting. We were somewhat embarrassed, though, when she used those skills — or maybe just her eyes and brain — to inform us that a second tree which we'd come to think of as a particularly bad pear tree was, in fact, another apple tree. (In our defense, we had been told the tree bore pears).

Amy even used a few of our apples to make some homemade applesauce the other day. I am not exaggerating a bit when I say hers was better than the brand-name applesauces we routinely purchase at the grocery store. Yum!

Flooding in Harrisburg

See spot. See spot run. See spot swimming in his own front yard in flood waters. Swim, Spot, swim!

March Illnesses: a poem

There once were two children beside us,
Who, when given medicine, would fight us,
Though both Amy and I
Wished to soothe their pinkeye
And the youngest one's tonsillitis.

WANTED: One (1) drop-in or slide-in range, soon

Amy's been somewhat less than excited about the range/cooktop included in the purchase of our current home. So, I'm sure there's some part of her that's not altogether saddened by the fact that it died on Sunday afternoon. Yep, while eating lunch, we heard a really loud pop coming from the kitchen. My guess is that the bottom element cracked or something, because it now generates no heat. The cooktop still works, as does the broiler (but who uses that?). But as GE's website lists no available replacement parts for this 18-year-old oven, I suppose we'll be making a trip up to hhgregg in the next few days.

[UPDATE 12/13/07] Much to Amy's chagrin, my Dad was able to locate a dealer that had a replacement element for our oven for a mere $30. Sorry, Sweetheart—looks like you'll have to hold out for the kitchen remodeling after all.