Imaginary Friend

We discovered two days ago that Caleb has an imaginary friend.

Her name is Mags. No idea why his imaginary friend is a girl - other than the fact that most of his playmates are girls - so perhaps he doesn't know any better. Mags is also 2 and was born on December 2nd. Isn't that an amazing coincidence? I hope I don't have to make two cakes for their birthday! Mags goes everywhere with us. She eats breakfast with us, rides in the car, takes naps, goes potty, changes her clothes...everything!

Mags is also a dog on a show he gets to watch on Saturday mornings called Turbo Dogs. So I know that's where he got the name. I'm not sure if Mags is a dog most of the time or if she's a human. Sometimes Mags morphs into his "sister". To which I reply, "yes, I get it. You need a sibling. We're working on it."

I think it's adorable. I don't remember having an imaginary friend when I was a kid, but I've read that it's a good sign of creativity. And of course, as a mom, you love to hear that. So, Mags lives at our house. I don't know how long she'll be here - a few more days, a few more weeks or a few more years. But it's definitely getting written down in my Caleb journal so we can tease him about it when he's 15. :)

Brass On Deck

Our house was the place to be last weekend. I know, I know. I should have posted all of this a week ago, but life happened. Not that it's an excuse, but October has got to be the busiest month for me at work. I'm yearning for October 29th to be here so I can breathe a sigh of relief. But I digress....on to more exciting things!
Last weekend, the Myers' hosted the first annual Brass On Deck concert. What is Brass On Deck you ask? Well, just as it says - brass music being played on our deck. This all began from a particular student Gabe used to have at the high school. Ryan, now a very successful peformer out in New York, comes back to his parent's house every summer and performs a concert for family and friends in the backyard. This gave Gabe an idea. Wouldn't it be great if we did something like that when Caleb got into high school or college? But if you know Gabe at all, you know that his patience quickly ran out on that idea. A revelation was had that he, too, plays an instrument, and yes, he could do it right now instead of waiting 15 years. So what started as a random idea quickly snowballed into quite the event.

With my blessing (and the neighbors' blessings), he began contacting good friends to gather their quintet. The casual invitations were being made. The snack menu was being planned. And by October 1st, we had at least 100 people invited. Yikes! This was seriously giving me a panic attack. Our backyard is big, but was it 100 people big? We didn't ask for RSVPs so I had no idea what to expect. All sorts of worries were running through my head - what if people don't fit? what if it's freezing? what if the music is too loud? what if someone calls the cops? what if it rains? I'm a bit of a control freak, in case you didn't know that already. ;)

Well there's a reason the Lord tells us not to worry. It's simply not worth it. It was an absolute perfect day. We had approximately 75 people, and there was plenty of room for more (Gabe, no doubt will be doing more inviting next year because of this); the weather was a balmy 80 degrees for October; the music was perfect; and no, the cops were not called.

And so, we had a great brass concert on our deck. They quintet did awesome, the music was fantastic and everyone had a great time. We've already started making pseudo-plans for next year. Here are some highlights:

Waiting in Line

I was lucky enough to need to visit my local DMV on Tuesday. My birthday fell on a Monday, which meant I was forced to be a rebel and drive around on an expired license for a whole day. I would make Ricky Martin proud "livin' la vida loco" (living the crazy life...for all of you who missed the RM craze a few years back).

I just couldn't let this opportunity pass without giving my two cents on the DMV. For one, my local DMV is located in quite possibly the shadiest section of B/N. So perhaps this is what led me to my second observation: why does the DMV always have the armpit of america sitting in it's waiting room? I mean, really! Everyone has to go to the DMV. For a variety of reasons, nonetheless. So in theory, there shoudl be a nice blend of people there. And yet, every time I'm there I feel a little more grungy on my way out.

And it's been said, but literally no one is happy when they're there. Virtually everything you go in to do costs money. Even renewing your license costs money - I'm out $30 just to be legal again. Except of course, one man. There is actually one man who was smiling the whole time I was there. The picture guy. How can that guy not be smiling. People smile at him for a living. So he basically just stares at smiling people all day. And when he does take a picture that's bad, it's probably pretty funny.
He was enjoying his job so much, that when he called out my name to get my picture taken, I felt like I was "comin' on down" at the Price is Right. Perhaps he needs to spread a little bit of that joy to the cashier lady and the front desk officer. Then, just maybe, I wouldn't dread going there every 4 years.