Alright. I'm back. Sorry it's been soooo long. Just haven't had the urge to write. Had some stuff to write about, just not the gumption. Or gumtion. One of the two. Whatever it is, I lacked it. But I'm here now, so here goes.
Christmas was GREAT! Loved having everyone over to celebrate. Enjoyed all the food (shocking, I know) and especially loved the gift exchange thingy. Can't remember the exact name right now. I think it was a Yankee gift exchange, but I'm not positive. Whatever it was called, it was fun. I was going to write another poem like I did last year, but I never did. Oh well.
The new year is going well. Work is a little slow, but it always is this time of year. It will pick up soon. I say it's going well, because I'm one of the only ones who hasn't gotten sick. The stomach bug that is going around arrived at the Mattia house last Saturday night. Aaron, as luck would have it, was sleeping in our bed. I was ripped from a dead sleep to the sound of Aaron crying "Daddy!!" No sooner did I frantically sit up, then he cried "Daddy!" one more time and ralphed all over me, the bed, the floor and the nightstand. It was fantastic. My first reaction, still being not even completely awake yet, was to put my hand over his mouth and run for the bathroom. Well, that didn't work out too well. You know when your using a hose without a spray nozzle on it, and you put your thumb over the opening to make it spray farther? Well, there ya go. No need to elaborate. Then, as if that wasn't enough. After he was done puking, he looks up and says, "I need to poop!" At this point I had already stripped him down because he had barfed all over his pajamas. So I hurry and sit him on the toilet and let those fireworks commence. Not even a minute later, he cries out again. "I gotta puke!" So I hurry and wipe his butt and and put him back in "worshipping the porcelain god" position, so he can finish what he had started earlier. Well, this back and forth routine went on for the next fifteen minutes or so. And all the while I'm standing there with puke all over me still. At that point Linda walks in. She already wasn't feeling well earlier, and this put her over the edge. She runs in the other bathroom and proceeds in the same manner as Aaron just did. Wow! What a night! And the worst part was we were planning to have a special Superbowl dinner with tacos and pizza and then watch the big game. Well, those plans were done. And poor Aaron. He was already on an antibiotic for an ear infection before all this. He couldn't take his medicine for two days because he couldn't keep it down. So we had to take him back to the doctor to start his antibiotic all over again. And this time, he also has an eye infection, so he also gets drops for his eyes. Poor kid, I felt so bad for him. I told him that if he wanted a pony, right now would be a good time to ask for one!
Now fast forward one week. Everyone is better. Not counting the fact that Aaron's antibiotic gave him diarrhea. Go figure. So last night we go to Matthew's banquet for Pop Warner. All the players sit together and the parents sit at separate tables. Matthew's table had already gotten their food and we were just sitting down with ours when one of his teammates runs up to our table. "Coach Mattia! Matthew just puked!" Ding! Ding! Let round two begin! So I go get him and take him to the bathroom to clean up. After that we leave to go back home. He was so embarrassed. We told him don't worry about it. This will be one of those stories you'll tell for years to come. "One time, I threw up at my football banquet!" Plus, these are all football players. They barf at practice all the time. it's no big deal. Heck, they all went right back to eating not even five minutes after Matthew did it! I was supposed to be up on stage calling out the names of all the kids who qualified for Scholastic All-American (including Matthew!) but under the circumstances, the President of the league gave me a pass. After we got home, I decided to go back and see if I could still do my job. Turns out I wasn't too late to announce some names. The only reason I mention this is because when I'm announcing and I get to Matthew's name, just for fun I ask "Has anyone seen Matthew? The same boy who came running up to tell us Matthew was sick yells out "I saw him puke!" Too funny. Anyway, Matthew apparently has a different bug or something because he's feeling better now. Only twenty four hours later.
Report cards were good. Collin and Matthew both made honor roll. Aaron did well too but they don't give out actual grades in kindergarten.
Izzy is doing well. By well, I mean large. Nine months and seventy-five pounds. Poor guy gets "altered" on Wednesday. I took him to a local retirement home a couple of weeks ago to continue our goal to have him be a therapy dog. The residents love him! So does the staff. They told me to bring him back after his surgery for another visit. We're hoping the "altering" will calm him down some. Easier to keep training that way. Plus no one wants to see a seventy-five pound golden humping grandma in the middle of a game of bingo. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't get invited back!
Well, that's all for now. Talk to you in another two months! Just kidding!
