Jack turned 17!

Happy 17th Jack!

And mom has not updated the blog. How did I get here? 🧐😫😵

We had a small family birthday dinner on Tuesday for Jack with a tiny little cake. His friend celebration is this weekend which includes a much better and prettier cake (peanut butter/Reese’s, his choice) and a day of skiing with friends. Therefore this was more of a symbolic cake hahah.

Jack art directed my photos, naturally. i got him a skateboard by one of his favorite artists, Vexx (go check him out on Instagram). His dad got him the Apple Pencil to go with his new iPad.

Jack: Mom, put the skateboard behind the cake like this. And then, no no no don’t aim at it like that you have to go like this.

He gets in front to demonstrate pretty much what I was going to do anyway.

Jack: then just get the candles and I’ll go behind it.

me: You done? Get over there because the candles are melting.

Dennis (Jack’s dad): Is glitter getting on the cake? I don’t want to eat melted glitter.

me: The glitter is edible.

Jack and Dennis: No it isn’t!

me: Sigh.

So I took the photo and we sang happy birthday. Well, I sang. Dennis scraped glitter off the cake.

And then we ate the cake and Jack hung the skateboard on his wall. He turned another year older as easy as that. Coincidentally he was born on a Tuesday so this brought us right back to a bunch of memories.

Before bed we watched Rhythm and Flow on Netflix. It’s a good show/contest about trying to find the best new rap star. I loved the series and had watched it in 2020 when I was home. Home a lot. I got Jack into it and he’s hooked. I won’t spoil the ending but we are going to see the winner perform in NYC next weekend and we are both so excited!!! Eeeeeeee!!! Though it’s in a Sunday night. Oh well. YOLO as Jack used to say a few years ago. You only live once!

When the show ended jack said he had to go study for a Spanish midterm. I started telling him about the day he was born and how he came 5 weeks early and how I didn’t get an epidural and his dad passed out, etc.

Jack: Well that took 45 minutes! I have to go study.

me: Well I guess I had to get that story out. Do you see what i went through? 2 days of labor. Birthdays should really be celebrations for the moms. Look at all the work I did omg!!

Jack: yeah that’s not happening. Don’t eat the rest of the cake.

me: Sheesh Jack.

And there you have turning 17. Driving. Prepping for midterms, finalizing college financial forms and waiting for acceptance letters to roll in. 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Omg I almost forgot I have to update the blog header again! Someone remind me in the comments LOL!! oh, and Jack got an97 on that midterm. Yay!!

One smile!

Art director

From our hike last Sunday

Weird Thanksgiving 2020

Of course it’s weird, it’s 2020!

Did you all have a happy, albeit slightly different, Thanksgiving? We did!

For the first time ever it was Jack and his dad plus me and my dad! (Jack’s grandfather.) Weird right? Sort of like the island of misfit toys but we made it work. 🙂

We had a turkey fiasco, a mild cranberry sauce issue that turned into a last minute dash to the store, and more food and pies than 4 people would need in a month, let alone one day.

I did most of the cooking (ok all of the cooking) and it took the better part of two days. I didn’t mind though! And naturally, we finished off the meal in under 30 minutes. We are notoriously fast eaters in my family so I wasn’t surprised. We could not even think about having seconds, so in the hopes that we could stay at the table just a little bit longer, I sent Jack up to his room to find an old Madlibs book, where you fill in the blanks with nouns and adjectives to create a wacky story.

Jack ran back down the stairs with a Star Wars Madlibs book and we had some fun with that for awhile. Yes the grosser nouns and weird body parts always make for an interesting story at the end.

We had just finished a story and hadn’t even cleared the dozens of dishes off the dining table when Jack made his announcement.

Jack: Pie.

me: What?

Jack: It’s time.

me: Sure, after we clear this up. (I waved my hand over the table and Jack groaned.)

Jack: That will take forever!

me: Well let’s get moving.

So, we all cleared and carried, washed and dried, divvied up food into containers for the dads to take home, and realized just how small our fridge really is.

Jack looked at me. I raised my eyebrow.

Jack: Pie.

me: OK! Who wants pie??

Apparently it was only me and Jack who would be shoveling pie into our pie holes.

Apple and pumpkin pies, both baked the day before, both with their own issues due to poor planning. Sort of like the turkey and cranberry sauce.

I thought I had canned pumpkin but only had canned pumpkin pie mix. Ew?? I thought I had evaporated milk but only had sweetened condensed! Double Ewww. I thought I had Macintosh apples but only had Cortland… where is my attention to detail this holiday season? Gone!! So I improvised and doctored and made it work. They were both really good and there will be only crumbs left I’m sure.

Today we packed up both our dads and sent them home and forgot to give them pies to go with their many containers of stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, sourdough stuffing, corn soufflé, turkey, squash, rolls and cranberry sauce. No pie!!!

When we walked back in the door today, Jack looked at me. I raised my eyebrow.

Jack: Pie?

me: Yep.

We had it for lunch and then decided to kayak in the Saugatuck River, just because. It was that kind of day.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and now get to enjoy the nice long weekend!

And here’s a hint, if you eat all the pie in one day, you won’t have it calling to you for three more days! 🥳😂😇

Happy Quarantine Mother’s Day!

UPDATE! I did get a very nice lunch prepared for me by Jack. Fresh mozzarella Paninis. Yum! He redeemed himself (somewhat haha)

It’s the first time we can say that…eh?

I like the “Friends” style art. So no one told you life was gonna be this way? (Clap clap clap clap)

Yes it’s me entertaining myself this morning. I walked Moca and wondered if Jack would remember it was Mother’s Day. Nope he didn’t.

I came in after my walk and the faint odor of Honey Nut Cheerios lingered in the air. Moca was wagging her tail excitedly but I didn’t see Jack anywhere. Was he even up? Yep I heard rumblings from above.

He came downstairs and was loitering around in the kitchen as I wiped Moca’s paws. My nose was running because ITS SO FREAKEN COLD AND WINDY OUT…

I was sniffling quite a bit.

Jack: Are you ok??

me: Yeah, just really cold outside and my eyes are watering. (NO, I’M CRYING BECAUSE YOU FORGOT ABOUT MOTHERS DAY LOL!)

Jack: Oh. Can I get a hug?

me: Sure…

He gave me a hug, cracked my back (I didn’t ask him to but he’s a giant) and he headed upstairs.

I was wondering if he was going to his room to make me a card or draw me a picture. I would like anything else makes, and he knows it.

A few minutes went by and I could hear him talking. Yep, he was playing XBox. So I went upstairs and peeked in his room.

me: Are you eating any breakfast?

Jack: I already ate.

me: Oh. (Hence the cereal smell in the kitchen) Did you remember it’s Mother’s Day?

Jack: 😳 (Blank stare). Oh. I forgot.

me: Ok I’ll let you figure out what you want to do.

I headed back downstairs and made the yummiest avocado toast with arugula lemon and an egg, on toast. THE best. I also watched a plastic surgery show while I ate. It was heaven haha!

Jack came downstairs.

Jack: How am I supposed to make you breakfast in bed if you get up before me and then make your own breakfast!?

See how he turned that around? Hmmmm. 😩😂😂😃

I hope you all have an amazing Mother’s Day!

Happy New Year – 2020!

Wow we made it. Jack finished his first full decade. 🙂 Are you all having an amazing first day of the new year? We are low key today and at home hanging out in front of our respective electronic devices haha.

Yesterday we had a fun day with Jack’s girlfriend who got to join us in an hour of escape room antics (we cracked all the codes and claimed the prize with 45 seconds to spare)… then we visited CT’s biggest tree (a sycamore naturally) and finally dined at a haunted restaurant. (Jack swears there’s a ghost up to no good near the men’s bathroom). All in a day’s fun I say!

There were many quotes of the day, some more appropriate to share than others 😂

This one cracked me up:

Jack: It’s only 7:07, why are you already crazy??

That’s my boy. We’re headed right into his birthday month. 15 years old soon! Gahhhhh! I can’t believe it … seriously. He’s not sure yet how to celebrate it. We will have to figure it out soon!! Also, I told him to pick anywhere in the world to visit for his 16th birthday. He has no clue. Sigh.

Another funny quote came from me after dinner and after dessert as the kids were goofing around in the car on the way home. Jack was loaded up on shrimp cocktail, oysters, rigatoni ala vodka, and chocolate mousse cake!

me: I think you should stop tickling Jack… he’s about to shart pasta!

Jack: Truer words have not been said. Stoooopppp tickling! Aarrrgghhh!

It was too funny. All in all it was a great last day of the decade. Anytime you can see your kids having a blast with huge smiles on their faces is a good day in my book!

How did you all celebrate the New Year??

Oh and also, yesterday was the 3 rd anniversary of the day we got Moca AND the kittens 2nd birthday! I always thought it was today… 😀😀😀

Here are my favorite pics from the day…

– Biggest tree in CT (Simsbury)

– Blue Back Square in W. Hartford

– Outside the Escape Room in Farmington

– Outside the haunted restaurant (Abigail’s in Simsbury)

How cute are they??

The one missing ingredient

Jack and I are on vacation in The San Diego area after attending his cousin’s wedding this past Sunday. (So much fun!!!). We’re acclimating to the scenery (rocky hills) and the climate (dry sunny heat) and the available activities (not much at our resort aside from swimming or hiking or shopping or … that’s about it. Oh, or eating.)

However we did take a few day trips to the San Diego Safari Park and to the Carlsbad Pier and to Oceanside to see the beach and watch the sunset. Very low key. Today we saw a movie, “Yesterday” which we really liked. And now, we are chilling in the room reading and blogging!

Our meals have been really nice here even though the resort restaurant looks like it’s trapped in time (a much older time) they must have a really good chef. We’ve eaten at least one meal a day here and they’ve all been excellent. Fish tacos and shrimp Caesar salad, omelettes and French toast, baked cod and cob salad, etc. all extremely yummy and fresh. Jack had an amazing looking burger for lunch today.

Normally Jack eats cereal almost every day and drinks milk with most meals. We haven’t even had milk on this trip. It’s been iced tea, lemonade and coffee along with orange juice for breakfast.

I wanted to see if Jack realized that he hadn’t had a glass of milk in about a week.

me: Hey Jack… (obligatory wait for him to remove headphones)

Jack: Huh?

me: Guess what you haven’t had for at least a week?

Jack: Fun?

😖

Sighhhhhh….This kid doesn’t miss a beat.

We DID have a lot of fun at the 400-foot high balloon ride over the safari park AND the 400-foot-high zip line over the endangered animal park. Simply frightening and breathtaking at the same time.

Anyway, back to reality tomorrow as we travel home. Happy summer!!!

2,000 questions, turning 14 and more!

I can hardly believe I’m still writing this blog and that I have a 14-year-old son. (I know, I know, Jack would say he is not yet 14 because he was born at 4:36 PM… And that is something he reminds me of every year) 😊👍 But by the time I post this he WILL be 14!

However, because I am a mom of a 14-year-old, I think it makes me ‘seem’ younger than I am, actually…because I had Jack so late in life. So that’s kind of works in my favor 🙂

I have so much to catch you all up on that I don’t know where to begin. A quick outline of what I will cover in this post: 2000 questions, midterms, turning 14, birthday party, and of course a book written, or rather inspired, by my very own Jack. Who would’ve thought…

Jack opened his presents from me…

1. Scratch-off map of the world, to mark where he’s been and where he wants to go.

2. Pins to put into map.

3. Cash in an envelope. Always works.

4. Deadly Skills (of the day) Calendar

5. Book: 2,000 Questions about me.

Now about that book…

me: Read me some of the questions.

Jack: Ok… Will you ever dye your hair if it turns gray?

me: Yes.

Jack: Have you ever been suspended from school?

me: …

me: Yes. Sigh. But I didn’t hit her she hit ME, but they suspended us both in 9th grade.

Jack: Mmhhhmmm…. Anyway, It seems like this page was written for you mom…

me: Read some more and you have to answer too.

Jack: (turns the page). Aannnd, we’re done. That’s too personal.

me: What is it?

Jack: Not gonna happen.

………………

So anyway, Jack had mid-terms all week and seemingly did great. His grades are good, and they only had a few hours of school each day. What a bonus! Today I took a half day and we went for some much needed sushi. I posted some pics on Instagram (@debinort), so check them out!

Regarding the big birthday bash… Jack is currently at Rockin’ Jump, trampoline place, with 3 friends. They are doing a neon/black light jump thing until 10pm. THEN we are having cake and the boys are sleeping over. Hahaha, I’m totally nuts right? Do you think they will sleep? :). But Jack is happy and that’s all that matters on his special day.

(the 6-ft tall ones are in the front lol)

Now, to the good stuff. It turns out that Jack, and this blog, have inspired a character in an ACTUAL NOVEL WRITTEN BY AN ACTUAL AUTHOR! I know right??? I stumbled across an acknowledgment on a Google Review page and was flabbergasted to say the least! I immediately contacted the author, Madeline Ash, to tell her how amazed I was at this bit of news. She was so kind and gracious enough to send me a copy of her book “Breaking Good”, all the way from Australia. It’s a love story, and I’m dying to read it. DYING! The character Zach, the son in the book, was inspired by none other than my own little Sh*t talking monster, Jack. :). I’m told the book is a bit racy, so maybe Jack can read it in a few years LOL. But please please BUY THE BOOK here and tell me what you think. Does Zach remind you of Jack?? We’re so flattered, really 🙂

And, my fine readers, that is the deal for today. Work/school, sushi, Jack gaming, LOOOONNNGGG dog walk with Moca, more gaming with friends, Jumping, cake and probably more gaming. Not a bad way to turn 14, eh?

Thanks for staying with us all these years. More to come 🙂

 

Happy Birthday to my Teen!

Yes everyone, hold onto your hats. Jack turns 13 today. This makes 8 years of blogging for me! Originally started as shitmy5yearoldsays, this blog has been my one true outlet for all things Jack. And doesn’t he say a lot of … SH*T??

Yep.

Still going strong.

I asked Jack to name one thing he’d want the readers of his blog to know about him since he’s now a teenager (well at 4:36pm he will be… we are sticklers for time in this family)

Jack: I have nothing to say.

me: For the first time in 8 years.

And there you have it.

Happy birthday Jack!

Merry Christmas!!

Jack and I had a nice Christmas at home today. He didn’t wake up too early, and actually Moca and I were still asleep while Jack ripped through his stocking 🙂

I’m assuming every family with a boy aged 9-15 had to purchase at lease one Nintendo Switch, like I did. Or at least some gaming equivalent. Right?? It was all about the Switch all day.

I tried to keep the mess at a minimum because just this past Friday I knocked the whole darn tree over trying to get Bella out from under it and to an emergency vet appointment.

Yes, it was a very tall tree. Yes, it was a very huge mess.

Sadly, Bella became very sick very quickly and I had to have her put to final rest on Saturday night. Our sweet girl wasn’t with us for Christmas as she had been since 2003. We miss her terribly. Little did I know (though part of me suspected) that these would be the last photos I would take of my little kitty. 😦

I’ve been keeping myself (and Jack) occupied with many walks on the beach, in the woods and around the neighborhood with friends (ok just Kris), Jack and Moca. Many miles have been logged into my Fitbit as we enjoy our Christmas break.

Now, back to the presents and the mess. Is it terrible for me to ask Jack to crumple up the paper and toss it in the trash bag after he opens each present? Nahhhhh. But he felt a little differently.

Jack: Geez…Anyone else think of Christmas as a chore? (Crumple toss)

me: Just keep tossing your paper over here. You haven’t even gotten one in the bag yet. Come on. Pick up all the twisty ties before Moca eats them.

Jack: Sigh…

We had fun playing Mario Kart, I lost… and watching multiple Doctor Who episodes. Weeping angels!! (Shudder) And tonight we watched the Planet of the Apes first movie, which, I kept telling Jack, was awesome! Finally he relented and “allowed” me to rent it, and afterwards he said he really liked it. Guess we will be watching Apes 2 and 3 this week. Because it takes place in San Francisco it reminded me of all my trips out there. The first was when I was pregnant with Jack. We visited Muir Woods and I have a photo of me at the entrance sign, right where James Franco brings Caesar into the park for the first time. My pants were unbuttoned because I hadn’t yet transitioned to maternity pants LOl. (Moca is snoring right now and having doggie dreams next to me on the couch).

Jack liked the ending scene of the movie which was shot on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Jack: How come nothing like this happened when I was in San Francisco??

me: Apes taking over the bridge seems like a fun time to you? See? I told you it was a good movie.

Jack: It’s not a movie unless the Golden Gate Bridge gets destroyed or mutilated.

me: Touché.

Now we are full of hot cocoa, getting tired and ready for a long sleep. It will be nice having a few more days off this week. (Moca is really running in her sleep here!)

Here’s my view of her right now. Picture all 4 legs running in place and you’ll get the full effect haha.

We hope you had a great holiday and are enjoying the break! Here are a few more photos from today….

And of course the little beast ate her presents already and one ended up in the trash! Pitbulls have strong jaws and a crazy need to chew!! Ugh!

Merry Christmas everyone!

So this is Christmas!

I always get excited for Christmas. The presents and wrapping and lights and music and tree decorations and needles everywhere and returns and fattening food everywhere. Right? Aaahhhhhh.

Do you have a favorite Christmas tradition? I let Jack open one present on Christmas Eve. I think my parents let me open one on Christmas Eve so maybe that’s where I got that tradition.

Every year Jack and I cut down our tree and buy him a special ornament at the gift shop and get hot cocoa, etc. So that’s our thing.I’m all done shopping and wrapping and all the presents from “Santa” are ready to go. I mean, I’m sure Santa has his presents all ready to go 😉

me: So Jack, do you still believe in Santa?

Jack: Really? No.

me: Well then I guess he won’t deliver any presents then.

Jack: Ha. Ha. Not funny.

me: I’m serious, he won’t deliver presents unless you really believe. So do you?

I look back at him from the front seat of the car to see his look of disdain, one eyebrow raised. And to think, Jack first learned about parents delivering presents as Santa by reading my blog.

Isn’t it ironic? Don’tcha think? 😫

I hope I get a harmonica

Who loves Adam Sandler? We do! I forgot it was the first day of Hanukkah but coincidentally woke up singing his Hanukkah song. Obnoxiously, and changing the lyrics as I pleased.

me: So drink your gin and tonica…

Jack: Mom. Just. No.

me: (making breakfast) Jack today’s the first day of Hanukkah for real, so how funny that i woke up singing that song.

Jack: Yes, how Ironica.

me: 😳

On that note, have a happy Hanukkah everyone!