blind date

so finally at the age of 38, i went on a blind date .


i had butterflies in my stomach when i made the call and left a message saying "ok, let's meet at 4 pm, my husband will be out and i desperate. i am tall, long brown hair, wearing a (surprise!) white tshirt, and navy skirt. looking forward to meeting you!"

so just before 4:00 i wandered down to the designated meeting spot...and waited. i kept smiling at people thinking " hmm...are you here to meet me? are you the friend i have been looking for?" finally a few minutes later, i heard "you must be noeleen."

i turned around to see a casually dressed parent with a toddler and a three year old.

"hi! you must be cora (ha! for all of you that thought i was meeting man....get your mind outta the gutter!) and this must be "insert kiddies names' here."

we made the intros between the girls and off they ran to play. cora and i spent a few minutes exchanging pleasantries and how it was so nice to finally find time for our girls to get together.

after moving to burlington a year ago, i am still looking for friends for my girls. i honestly look/sound like a crazy, stalker that goes up to people in playcentres and gives away my phone number. i slow down and look at kids walking down my street wondering if they are near the age of my own two kids...meanwhile i never really thought about what it must look like ...black suv with tinted windows that drives REAL slow passing children...while the driver takes a long stare at the lil ones walking past...kinda creepy when you think about it.

growing up i was crazy shy. my folks tried everything to get me to make friends...brownies, tennis, irish dancing...even bowling (cause apprently bowling allies are "the" place to meet people). but, i remained a very shy and awkward person up until late. now, i will talk to ANYONE if they have anything about them that looks remotely pink and "i know a four year old".

now don't get me wrong, devin has friends, however most of them are boys....boys who can tolerate princess etc for a very short amount of time if any at all. but lil miss d needs a bff that lives in ontario ....or at least canada ( see Spilling the Beans ) that enjoys the beauty of pretty things...not just star wars and batman.

so, cora and i hung out for a bit and the girls seemed to hit it off. she seemed like a parent that had the same "issues" i had...making me feel a little better for the time being. we laughed at our common thread (my sister in law met her at her place of business) and the things parents do for our kids.

when we left the park we said we would be in touch, "i'll call you" s were exchanged but leaving me with the unneeded stress of "will she call? or should i call her?" i think i actually got a little worried about the three day rule and if it acually applied to grown up-same sex friends.

luckily, birthday parties were in the future plans and invitations were exchanged. i was very excited to tell devin that she was invited to a princess party hosted by "insert new friend's name here" but was a little worried when she kept asking "who???" when i said the invitee's name. hmmm... i take it i am far more concerned about the situation than she.

so what have i learned outta all this??? that clearly i am a mother who worries far too much about her offspring making friends and that i gotta learn to relax when it comes to these little speed bumps in the road of life... all that and that there is surely $$$$ to be made in a lavalife website dedicated to "friendships for toddlers"....

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

our eldest, devin, has a big personality. she likes to test limits...stand right up to the boundary line and see what she can do. i have also had everyone from teachers to friends and even the grandparents comment on how determined she is....now being a teacher i KNOW determined is code for stubborn and man is she stubborn...when mules talk to each other about other mules, they can often be heard saying " yeah, my little mule billy is as stubborn as a devin" i swear it is true. she also has inherited her father's case of selective hearing-a trait that frustrates me more than almost anything in life....ok i hate hard butter a little bit more but you get my point.

case in point yesterday. within 15 mins of devin being outta bed, she had ignored me 6 times (yes i counted) and did the complete opposite to what was asked twice. i am a patient person but even i have my limit and it was met yesterday. i let the course of the day ride out and finally at bedtime...i had enough.

rob was out at baseball (man did i curse his name as the night went on) and i was putting the girls to bed. it was one of those nights that we jinxed earlier by saying, "they both seem tired, they'll go down no problem"..ha rookie mistake...but sadly i ain't no rookie in this game and shoulda seen the change up coming. so, i asked devin to brush her teeth while i attempted to clean deirann's...i would be safer tackling an alligators...and finally gave up ...throwing the toothbrush into the laundry basket in hopes to release some of my frustration (keep this point in mind throughout this tale). i gave her a few last cuddles and plopped her in her crib. i then went to devin's room to see how far she had come on the tootypegs knowing damn well there was no way she brushing them.

"devin have you brushed your teeth?"
she was in her room with her legs sticking out from under her bed no doubt searching for some lost treasure.
"look mama i found my magic wand!"
"great devin! maybe it can change you into a princess who realizes that she must brush her teeth in hopes to protect herself from the evil dragon!" i dug into the bottom of the day's creativity basket to pull that one.
"i also found my missing shoe..." ah...i see she was suffering from a severe case of hearing selectiveness at this point.
"hey devin, let's see who can brush their teeth first...me or you!"
with that, the ever-competitive devin zipped out from beneath the bed (with a shoe on her hand and magic wand between her teeth) racing to the bathroom.

"hmmm...that wasn't so bad" i thought to myself. i spent a few minutes sorting things in my room when i heard her at the door.
"are they all brushed princess devin? can we head to your room to read a book?"
instead of acknowledging i was speaking to her, devin had lost the wand and shoe and was now carrying her step stool and was placing it by the wall switch in my room.
"um, devin...? "
nothing.
"devin?"
nada.

at this point i should let those of you who don't know me that well, that my dad is irish and my mum is scottish... and i inherited many good traits because of this mix...as well as a GREAT temper.

i saw red.
i had enough.
i know she was focused on what she was doing and that i shouldn't get upset at such trivial matter, don't sweat the small stuff and all that junk...but i had had it.
somehow i managed to keep myself composed and said in a quiet voice,
" devin, you aren't doing as i asked so i am not doing what you asked. i am not reading you a story, go to bed."

now, at this point i should also let you know...devin had also inherited many good traits in her dna...as well as a GREAT temper.

wow. did she loose it.

that kid stormed into her room, slammed the door and threw the BIGGEST hissy fit known to humankind...ok maybe not the biggest but considering she is only three...i was pretty impressed with her fury.

i left her for a bit so we could both cool off. i could hear her in there saying a lot of stuff and making a lot of noise but decided not to poke the bear just yet.

of course all of this woke deirann up. i went back in to help settle her and enjoyed a little bit of time in the calmness of her room. meanwhile i could still hear hurricane devin tearing it up at the other end of the hallway. when deirann drifted off, i opened her door to be greeted by one sweaty, pissed off kid standing in the hall.

"i don't like my room."
" well that is too bad devin, i think it is a nice room."
"i don't like my room at all and i don't wanna be in it anymore."
so i scooped her up, sang "we shall overcome" and we went outside to watched the birds and rabbits in the garden, happy the storm had past.....

yeah right.

i followed up her last comment with my VERY adult comeback of " well, you can go back in your room or you can go sit on the front step with all the ants 'til daddy comes home." i am so mature.
"fine!" she screamed and proceeded to return to her room with a very dramatic door slam that made me wonder if the foundation would crack.
i could hear a little more rumbling in there and then silence. i waited a little longer then knocked the door.

"devin, can i come in?"
no answer.
hmmm...maybe she fell asleep.
i opened the door an peeked in.

i can see why she didn't like her room.
hurricane devin was a category 4 and did some damage.

she was lying calmly in the middle of her bed...with no sheets, blankets, pillows...nothing but her.
on her floor lay all the bed linens as well as everything normally found on top of the overstuffed ottoman she likes to read on (pillows, teddies, blankets etc).

feeling terrible that she was this upset, i sat on her bed and we had a good talk. we discussed what she was feeling and i let her know how i was feeling. i did what all the textbooks say to do, repeat back her statements so she knows i heard her, but still being firm with my own decision.

we settled up with a few heartfelt "i'm sorries" and enjoyed a good cuddle. we decided that it would be best to make her bed and even sang "what's going to work...TEAM work!" to help get the job done properly.

"mama, i really like my room you know."
"i know devin."
"mama this is the book you are going to read to me now..."

???
are you kidding me?

remember when i said she likes to stand as close to the line and see what she could get away with? she also likes to jump up and down on the line at times and laugh at you.

with that i said,
"goodnight devin i love you."

and heard " i love you too mama." followed by a giggle...

man we are in trouble when she is a teenager!

....and it brings back...those old emotions.....

so after 3 years i finally got my act together to start playing with my ipod.

we bought it with the great intentions that it would get me and the hubby moving a little more...as if it was the lack of music in my ears that kept me from going for a run at night! we bought it in the summer of 06 on a visit to canada before we returned to de island. thinking that we may get caught in customs uncle cheese, my brother in law (devin's nickname cause she couldn't say uncle steve) volunteered to upload some of music to the toy so it looked like we had had it for a while...aka bought it in bda. it was a great idea and we had no problem upon our return. i did have a problem when i when for my first outing and popped the buds into my ears. i scrolled around to find something to inspire me....when i realized....i so had the wrong man upload music.

uncle cheese is a HUGE beatles fan and all things related to them. me i am SO NOT a HUGE beatles fan and all things related to them. i can honesty not think of a band that i would rather not listen to ...ever again. i hate the beatles...yup i do....i hate 'em. i scrolled around some more and found that there was 8 .3 days of music uploaded ( i thought it would be a few songs!!) and it was a combo of the above mentioned act, billy joel, elton john, the eagles...can you get the idea? uncle cheese is 9 years older then me and this is very much his music...and very not mine. i can't stand any of it. now don't get me wrong, i enjoy listening to classic vinyl on xm and one of my favourite memories is driving through the mojave desert with cheese singing black dog at the top of our lungs while poor uncle bb (aka my sister in law, aunt karen) was rolling her eyes at us in the back seat. i do enjoy some classic rock but man, i am soooooooo not a fan of this stuff.

so i figured i would just delete the stuff i didn't like and add my own music. easier said then done. being the sneaky and o'so clever gal that i am, i tossed the instruction manual in canada so that those nasty customs officers wouldn't find it and figure out we had unclaimed goods (cause i was so guilty looking and much more harmful then the dope carring dude behind me in line!). finally one night after i put devin to sleep (she wasn't even a year yet) i plopped myself down on the couch and started "getting to know my ipod". i figured out a few things but couldn't find a delete button anywhere....! how can i get the music that i don't want off this damn thing? hmmm....maybe i can get some help online. luckily i found the manual i needed on a site and started to play around. i had an "aha" moment when i realized that i need to have it hooked up to my computer to delete things....i see. now, i won't bore you with the rest of the details, but anyone who remembers those early days of parenthood knows there is NO way you are going to waste those precious hours of childfree time trying to figure out how to delete 8.3 days of music from an ipod..besides who am i kidding? even elton john and almost the beatles was better listening then the damn lullabies that were being played in our house and car. so, the ipod kinda got tossed aside and almost forgotten about...

until a few weeks ago...devin came into the kitchen saying "look mama...look what i found...a breaving string"

i turned around and saw a long white string in her hand, when i looked a little more, i noticed the sting split in two and lead into her nostrils.

flashback....she had walked in a few nights earlier when i had a rerun of er on and asked why the man on the screen had a string coming out of his nose. i explained that it was supplying him with oxygen (once a teacher....) and quickly turned the channel.

apparently my ear buds were providing devin with much needed oxygen via the "breaving" string.

after taking the breaving string out...and disinfecting it...i realized that you know, i got some time these days, maybe i should get to know that ipod a little better....if i could only find it! thanks to a creative game of i spy and a fast little detective, devin located the device quickly and i was ready to get started.

where to start? i set up an account on itunes and started searching. i had tried this in bermuda but bermudian creditcards are/were not accepted (yeah i know, they will allow bermuda to take in guantanamo bay refugees but my credit card was questionable).it took me a while but i did finally delete most of the songs that good uncle cheese uploaded and was surprised to find a little stuff that we had in common...the clash, some hip even a little roxy music!

now onto the next problem. uploading music. when it comes to music, i like a little of everything. my tastes haven't changed that much and yes i will admit there are a few skeletons in my musical closet that i am embarrassed to know all the words to...like...shaggy(blame it on the dark n'stormies hanging out on the boat). i can't say i like one particular band or that there is an album that i could not live with out and i was finding it hard to figure out what i wanted to put on the ipod.
luckily, a friend (recently departed martin streek) posted a comment online around the same time "It really is amazing how a song can take you to a place, a time, from the past and make you feel the way you did back then...no matter how you feel at the present time... maybe that only happens to me...but I doubt it."

hmmm...what a great way to get started. i started think of songs that got me back to some part of my life and stirred up thoughts, memories, feelings...all that good stuff.

so below are a few (no real order, just the first ones i came up with...all over the place really!)of the songs/bands i have uploaded...i have even shared a few of the memories!

joy division love will tear us apart-high school dances, especially cfny roadshows & marty

the beat & specials- dancing & watching the mosh pit with tricia james at the special beat concert

irish rovers the unicorn-st peter's school in milton celebrated st patrick's day as if we were in dublin itself...my dad would take the day off work and take care of the lighting....i don't even remember what we did at christmas or easter....but man st patricks was fun! it is also one of the ones rob sang to my bumps and now the girls

u2 bad- one of the few u2 songs i actually like...camping at the koa with jenn russell

new order temptation-julie huyberts and i buying baseball cards at the 7-11 in bronte

the clash train in vain-driving to connecticut for a teaching practicum

54-40 baby have some faith & one gun- watching this awesome band i never heard of opening for the skydiggers at a ontario place

jerry garcia shining star- driving the cabot trail with rob and howling at stupid jokes

daughter pearl jam-pitcher tuesdays at the snail (wow i actually have memories from that time??!!)

the stones - you can't always get what you want- playing ucher in high school

nitty gritty dirt band you and me go fishin in the dark- jenny o...sauble beach...such a "talented, multitasking" friend...tee hee.

looking back, if someone asked me what do i listen to, i don't think these songs would jump to mind immediately but they made the cut. this was awesome, i had a starting point that and it looks like it has no end. poor rob is gonna wish i kept to my hobby of drinking wine...WAY cheaper than what the itunes bill will be!

so i put to you...what are your top memory songs? the ones that put you back to "that" place in time? the ones you know all the words to and sing at the top of your lungs with a goofy grin on your face....you know the ones....

now excuse me, i am off to enjoy a little jane's addiction....my most recent addition!

cool shoes

i recently had an acquaintance of mine commit suicide. the shock is slowly wearing off and i am coming to terms with the fact i will not have the opportunity to be in touch with him again and that there were many things i wanted to share with him. with that said, i have decided that i don't want to be in this situation again-one where i never got the chance to say what i really wanted to say to someone, let them know how much i liked them, admired them, enjoyed their company, simply felt blessed to know them. it got me wondering why this happens. i am one who will quickly comment on how cool a stranger's shoes are or how beautiful their child is, but i am not sure if i tell the people that really matter how i feel about them. i think i get too embarassed about putting those sorta feelings out there. sad really, but i am sure i am not the only person who feels this way. i don't mean for this to sound as trivial as it does but it is something looming over me right now. so, if you receive an email from me in the near future and i say i like your shoes, or your kid, have no fears, nothing bad is going on with me, i just wanted to let you know you are important to me for a reason.and marty, i liked your shoes.

i am stuck on bandaid.....

what is it about bandaids and kids? i swear my two purposely walk into things and trip on stuff just so they can run screaming to me for a bandaid... and i do think that the bandaids that are marketed these days definitely "aid" the cause...our first aid kit consists of dora, deigo, barbie, hello kitty and neon ones. i gotta say it ain't so good if you are a grown up in our house and get a "boo boo" especially in a spot that is not covered by clothing, cause you will be forced to sport one of the above.

last weekend poor devin got a whopper of a boo boo on her finger when a very heavy bathroom door slammed shut on her little wigglies before she could move them. she released one of those screams that you wait for...you know the ones....where they take the biggest, longest breath in (so long it allows you to warn everyone in the area to cover their ears) before the wail is released. once the cry was out she followed it with "bandaid, i need a bandaid now!!!" the little patient's finger was purple and blue in seconds and started to swell but there was no blood. once i examined it and made sure she could wiggle it, i explained that (once again) bandaids were to help stop bleeding etc. nope, she wouldn't have any of that explanation.

even deirann, who mastered the word bandaid by 15 months, LOVES to have bandaids on. she of course takes them off within 30 seconds of having them, but all the same she loves them.

now, when i was a kid, "plasters" as my mum called them, were not an accessory. no, they were a nuisance, they were ugly and never stayed on in the water or on the bending parts of the body that always seemed to get hurt. and the sticky residue they left behind when they did fall off....yuck...reason enough not to ask for one in the first place.

i remember my brother cut his foot on an above ground pool that the neighbour's had ( man i wanted one of those!) and my folks took him to the hospital. i waited for him to return and hear about all the pain the stitches caused...only for him to come back and say he got a "butterfly" bandaid put on, no stitches.

what? a butterfly bandaid? wait a minute...now even though i was (and still am) a tomboy...a "butterfly" bandaid sounds pretty good in my books! how come he got the butterfly bandaid? shouldn't he get the planet of the apes bandaid, or a crayfish bandaid...you know something a little more manly? you gotta love the places that sibling rivarly rears its ugly head . when he finally did show me the butterfly bandaid...and i was able to drag myself up of the ground (i don't do so well with blood and wounds) i was sorta relieved that he didn't get a pretty pink bandaid that was covered in butterflies...nope it was one of those ugly "plasters" shaped sorta like a butterfly....my first experience with false marketing.

so, at last count tonight...the girls have applied 14 bandaids on various wounds all over. i know it is a waste but it did allow for a few minutes of peace and quiet while i tried to use a tissue to stop a cut i got shaving my legs....hang on a sec....?!

sing, sing out loud, sing out strong..

so the littlest baker, deirann, has always had a keen interest in music. granted she is only 19 months old, but during her time on this planet, she has demonstrated an innate rhythm that can't be contained.

now, i have no musical talent what so ever, i can't even play the radio. luckily, daddy rob's dna comes to rescue and provides some skill in this area, he plays the guitar and has quite a nice voice...although i don't think i have ever actually told him! he is able to pick a song up in a heartbeat and strum in out in no time, same talent can be said for the piano. when i was pregnant with both girls, he happily sang away to my bump and often brought the guitar out for a little serenade. so with this said, you can see where deirann's musical abilities come from.

when she was a few weeks old, we realized that a few lines of "hush little baby don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you a .....(insert whatever you can think of here!)" which would quickly quiet deirann down. anytime she would peep a little cry we only needed to get the first few words out and it worked like a charm. even devin realized this song worked and she would join in with her version whenever she heard deirann getting upset.

fast forward a year and a bit to last night. we decided to take the girls to the local ice cream shop for an after dinner treat. once we were home and the ice cream was all done, deirann decided she wanted more....and she wanted it NOW. for such a little, sweet child she has one powerful set of lungs. i was upstairs getting devin ready for bed when i heard the ruckus below start. thankful i had the "easier" child for once, i wondered how long it would be until rob called out for some help. i waited...and waited...but the crying did stop quite quickly. hmmmm....did he take her outside and that is why i can' t hear her anymore? or did he have enough and toss her into the playroom and shut the door? getting a little worried and i started to head downstairs when i stopped suddenly near the spare room.

what is that? is that deirann singing? no, she was screaming bloody murder 15 secs ago and now she is singing?

i popped my head around the corner and saw deirann sitting on daddy's knee looking at the computer screen...

see for yourself......




now if you look real close at the screen, you can see who she is singing her duet with....

yup none other than susan boyle....yes "that" susan boyle from "britain's got talent".

it seems that a few weeks ago when rob was on the computer with deirann on his knee, he clicked on some link that brought him to "the" youtube video and shazamm! a star was born. deirann was mesmerised by this woman, and soon she was singing along to the les mis song the wee scottie was cranking out. thinking it was funny, rob didn't think much of it until a few days later was i was out and he was minding the offspring. deirann was having some sort of breakdown when father of the year remembered the videoclip. he brought her back up stairs and found the clip and sure enough the "baby whisperer" worked her magic and deirann was settled in no time, singing along once again.

as every parent will attest to, when a baby is crying you will do everything to come up with a way to quiet her down. over the years we have been known to take 3:45 am drives along horseshoe bay beach, we have purchased a variety of rocking, bouncing, swaying chairs for infants, invested in a bunch of soothers, even developed a rocking-sway dance sorta thing...you name it, we tried it. anything to settle the cry of our girls. but who woulda thunk a lass named susan boyle would be our new found hero? now, i am still not sure what part i find more amusing, that the baby settles when she hears the crooner or the fact she sings along with her....either way, i gotta say, kudos to my hubby rob for finding this solution! point: rob.

Spilling the Beans

i recently received an email from good friends of ours that still live in bermuda. they (including three year old adriana) confirmed that they would be coming for a visit in late august enroute to bermuda from b.c. needless to say, i was a little excited at the idea of having a well-missed girlfriend living with us for a few days...but boy i don't think anything would match devin 's excitement! adriana is her bestest friend in the whole wide world and even though they have only seen each other for a few days at christmas since last july, devin still talks about adriana regulary as if she just had lunch with her at milestones or a pedi with her at the spa...it is that kinda friendship.

this recent email made me flashback to last fall when i receved a similar email from the same family saying they were going to visit us around christmas enroute to b.c.
being an experinced teacher, i know it is important to forwarn children when something a little different to the routine will occur. i have also learned (the hard way!) that you do not spill the beans about the change to routine too earlier or too late. timing is once again very important. if you tell them too early, you will be greeted with "is today the day -insert change to routine here_?" and if you tell them too late...well that can send them over the edge.

but of course all this knowledge went out the window last fall and i decided that i would tell devin that adriana and her family wre coming for a visit.

"is my best friend adriana (i swear that is what she calls her...everytime!!) coming today?"

"no devin, adriana is not coming today."

next day, "is my best friend adriana coming today?"

"no devin, adriana is not coming today."

you can see where this is going. this all started in october...and adriana wasn't coming until december...oh boy.

the teacher in me saw this as a great opportunity to introduce devin to a calendar. we got a red marker, some stickers and a simple calender with big squares to write in dates.

"so devin, you see here, this is today...october 7th...you see here, this is december 18th...that is when adriana will be here!" we proceeded to decorate the "big day" and hung the calendar on the wall where devin could look at it and mark the dates off. we discussed the fun things they would do togegther and how great it would be to play in the snow with each other.

"so adriana will be here when there is snow?"

"yup, fingers crossed devin there is snow, adriana will be here."

the calendar seemed to work like a charm for a few days, devin would run downstairs and put a big red line through the day so she could see how many more days were left.

one morning dev ran down to mark of the day when she noticed the marker was missing.

"mama, where is the marker?"

"hmmm...it is not attached to the calendar with the string?"

"no mama....the string is here and the hat (aka the "top" to the marker) but no marker. i need the marker to mark off when my best friend adriana is coming...

"yes devin i kn..."

"mama, look at deriann..."

needless to say, we found the marker...and a little girl that looked like she had the measles.

we decided to move the marker and calendar out of harms way and continued to mark off the days to the big arrival.

"so did you mark off when adriana is coming today on your calandar?" i greeted young miss d one morning.

"nope, my best friend adriana is coming today!"

huh? after a quick check i confirmed it was only early november and we had over a month before her visit.

"no dev, adraina is not coming today. look at your calander, we have lots of days to go before she comes..."

" she is coming today," devin insisted.

"i am sorry devin, adri...."

"mummy you said she was coming today!" poor devin was getting a little "angry" now, clearly i was in the wrong.

"devin, adriana and her family are not coming until december 18th. it is only november 3rd." when in doubt, state the obvious.

"mummy it is snowing."devin also believes that when in doubt state the obvious .

"well look at that it is!" ok if i can divert her to the snow, she may shake this whole"adriana is coming today" thing.

"...and you said my best friend adriana would come when it snows...."

oy, i did say that didn't i?

"devin i meant that there would be snow on the ground when adriaina came to visit..."

"...but mummy you said..."

"...i didn't mean that when it snows for the first time she would be coming that same day!"

"..but mummy...??!!"

so once again i had to disappoint my daughter and explain that her bff would not be coming for a visit for a quite a few weeks. almost like dog years, time to kids is way longer then it is to adults.

she was quite upset but did come around. we found other ways to count down adriana's visit..deirann should be walking by the time adriana visits ..."look mama deirann is walking ...is my best friend adriana coming today?"...and after we put up the christmas decorations .." look mama the tree is decorated...is my best firiend adriana coming today?"

this continued until december 18th, the BIG day. but i gotta admit, the greeting the two gave each other and the fun they had for those few days made the wait worth while.

so, what did i learn from all this? that i need to keep my big mouth shut and that devin is on a need to know basis regarding visits from bestest friends, christmas, birthdays...all the important stuff.

recently, i was hanging with a neighbour watching our kids play in the dirt together and was telling her that adriana was coming for a visit and that we are going to plan devin's birthday party while adriana was here. i was just about to explain that this time, i was not going to tell devin about the visit until the day before they arrive ..but i didn't have the chance....

"hey devin," hollars friendly neigbour, "i hear your friend adriana is coming to visit you for your birthday!"

....man that kid's head turned quicker then anything i have ever seen. she stared at me with those big blue eyes and her mouth hanging open.....and let out a squeal of delight that surely caused glass to break in all the nearby houses...followed with..." is my best friend adriana coming today for my birfday????"

...it is may 11h....adriana is not coming until august 25th....and devin's birthday isn't until september 3rd.....

oy.

devin and her best friend adriana.