Month: July 2013

There was to be no “dead end of fire” at the end of our street this year, as the family that usually hosts it is in the middle of moving. So the neighborhood decided that we would do “Independence Day on Independence Way,” which is the street behind ours. Due to Kyle’s sudden unemployment, we didn’t purchase any fireworks to contribute to the show this year. But my dad bought some so we didn’t go empty handed. So after eating the yummy shish kabobs and corn on the cob that I had barbecued we loaded the little ones into the strollers and we walked down the street and around the corner to the next street. Almost as soon as we got there Jeff asked if we brought any chairs to sit in, which we didn’t, so he and Kyle went back to the house to get the two chairs that we have. The rest of us waited for things to get started.

The festivities were already underway when we arrived, with kids running around with sparklers, and one of our neighbors DJing music for the evening. He ended up playing all the way through, past the last firework. Once dusk came on, the fireworks began with an announcement that nobody under the age of 18 would be allowed in the street to light any of the fireworks. I think that upset some of the older pyro boys in the neighborhood, but it made the parents feel better. 🙂

I didn’t take any pictures of the fireworks this year. They never look as good in a picture as they do in reality, but I love the look on Lydia’s face that I captured in this picture as she looked at the pretties in the sky:

Oh the wonder and the excitement that are in that look.

Once the fireworks were done, we headed back to the house to finish the night with the almond praline chocolate swirl ice cream that I made earlier this morning.

With grandpa and grandma coming into town, we had talked about spending the day at the zoo, but after some conversation, decided to go check out the aquarium instead. We had never taken the kids there, and it would be something different, whereas we have been to the zoo many times over the last several years.

The aquarium was dark in most areas, which makes sense when you think about how dark it must be in the depths of the oceans. And the kids loved checking out all the different kinds of fishes and other sea life.

There was a touch pool, where the kids could reach in and touch urchins and starfish, or they could wait until the ray swam up to them and touch their wings as they went by. Lydia thought it was the coolest thing….until you tried to help her put her hand in the water. 😛

The other kids loved it though and we spent quite a bit of time hanging out at the touch pool.

Dinah was most adventurous as always:

Grandpa took Adam out of his stroller so he could see everything too.

Jeremy has lately shown an interest in hermit crabs. We were at the pet store a few weeks ago to get supplies for our rescue kitty, and he found the hermit crabs, and I showed him the different fun shells that you can buy for the hermit crabs to grow into. So he was really excited to find a huge hermit crab here at the aquarium.

Ethan found the jaws of a shark and thought it would be funny to pose as though he were being eaten. I have to say that the lighting in the picture gives it an odd effect.

Then the kids found some coral and played peek a boo with us adults.

There was a big playroom that was set up to look like a ship, and Lydia loved pretending she was steering.

Lydia also really liked seeing the penguins. Grandpa held her up so that she could even watch them jump in and out of the water.

Then we got to walk around and check out some water snakes and other creatures like that, which was thrilling to Ethan but not so much to me. But before we were out of that area, Adam was all tuckered out.

Then grandpa let each of the kids pick out something from the shop (Ethan picked a 7 foot long snake stuffed animal), and Kyle and I let each of the kids pick out a smashed penny before we left.

Today felt surreal and completely unexpected. I went to the gym and had a good workout, but was unable to use the showers as they were in use, so I drove to work and showered there. When I came out, my manager was sitting in the fitness room waiting for his turn. He had spent the last two weeks in Europe, visiting with customers and providing training, and he looked exhausted, so I greeted him and went out to my desk and started the usual tasks. His manager Dave came in, and they went into one of the conference rooms, presumably to have a discussion about how his training trip went.

I walked by the office and they invited me in, still continuing their discussion, and then asked me to close the door. That always makes me nervous, but then they explained the company was still having issues making their sales numbers, and they needed to let me go. For a glimmer of a moment, I thought they were kidding, but I could tell by their expressions they were not. I asked if this was affecting anyone else, and they grimly nodded that it was, but couldn’t provide details to me yet. They said today would be my last day, and I could leave whenever I felt like it.

Since I had work to finish, that got assigned to me on Friday, I said I would complete this, so I returned to my desk and started working on it. I looked around, wondering how much this would impact the team or even the company, when I started noticing emails come in, with random team members giving their final goodbyes. It turned much more serious, affecting between a third and half of the company.

I don’t hold a grudge against Mark or Dave. They have been excellent people, and I’ve appreciated their honesty through the process. I was more concerned with how to tell Rebecca about it, so I didn’t say anything until I drove home after lunch, walking in early, and she came running out thinking one of the kids had opened the door. When she saw it was me, and asked why I was home, I bluntly announced I was fired, then backtracked a little to explain they actually cut a massive amount of the company, so it was nothing personal.

So, on the bright side, with her parents coming into town tomorrow, staying through Friday, I get to spend time with my family. 🙂