Adieu

Petey Holman (April 20, 1995 - May 28, 2010)

Fifteen years ago, Erica, her mother and I traveled over ten hours to Omaha, Nebraska to pick up a peculiar-looking Boston Terrier that we found through Erica's aunt.  We paid $150 for the dog. 

The breeder was so desperate to move Pete that she threw in Pete's mother, Spiffy Nifty as a bonus.  Erica's mom kept Spiffy.  My mother-in-law had a ball with Spiffy before she died a few years ago. 

Erica and I kept Pete.  For all the laughs and companionship he gave us, it was a steal of a deal.

Sadly, Petey passed away this afternoon at the ripe old age of 15.  He had been suffering for the past month or so with seizures, brain tumors, etc. and was not doing so well.  In truth, he's been a shell of his former self since 2007.  Doesn't matter whether it is a dog, a human or a salamander, it's tough to watch.  

This morning, Pete was really laboring.  We took him to the vet and were told he had developed a pulmonary edema.  We received some medicine and were told to give it a week.  He apparently had enough.  Four hours later, with all of us gathered around to say our goodbyes, Pete bid us a final adieu.

Pete took the single-malt scotch, the pig ears, the bigger dogs he humped, the stolen frisbees, the treats, the trips to Atlanta, the dogs he helped raise, the kids he cleaned up after, the late night cheeseburgers he ate, the beer he drank from Bill's mouth, the chocolate chip cookies he stole from Patrick, the rickety guillotine window, the Bowling Green, KY Wendy's, the Morgan-Monroe SF hikes, the midday naps, the 1086 Curry Drive laps, the close encounters with skunks and cows, and being my only true friend in law school with him.

We are heartbroken.      

It's Official: We (Not Me) are Pregnant!

A few of you figured it out because she was ordering water at dinner. 

A few of you were let in on it because I am notoriously horrible with secrets and I was too excited not to tell you.

One of you were told because of your ongoing campaign to have an eighth grandchild. 

(You know who you are, mom.) 

Since we have finally made it through a twice canceled doctor's appointment with the doctor pictured below, we can now officially report that the Holmans-North are expecting a fourth child in early December, 2010.

(Erica's OB-GYN, Dr. Howser)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: After watching NPH host the Emmys, I now understand why he had such a "close" relationship with his good friend, Vinnie Delpino.  BTW, that's not an invitation for someone who doesn't understand how I work to tell me he's actually gay in real life.  I get it.  If you want to tell me though, go right ahead.  I put it out there.]

[I'm now waiting the twenty seconds for Bill or Kim's comment telling me that NPH is, in fact, gay before proceeding.] 

Back to the show...

I've been holding onto the picture below since April 11, 2010; which is the date Erica sent me a text message of a certain positive pregnancy test while I was away in New Jersey.

She's clever like that.

This is my sympathy beard and belly for the third trimester of Josie's pregnancy.  I think it fits. 

(Grizzled with child: A cure for teenage pregnancy?)

And no, Bill and Kim, it's just a pillow, but I am working on it.

I saved a picture of the ultrasound for those interested.

(Anyone have any wheat toast?)

So, how did 6-4-2 take the news that Mommy has a baby in her belly?

Well, Josie was with us at the appointment this morning.  She covered her ears when she heard the baby's heartbeat.  She also thought Dr. Howser was going to give her a shot.  Joey has a fairly well-established fear of doctor's offices.  All in all, she was a doll for the whole visit.

Henry?  He was excited.  He wants a brother.  He plans on naming the child a boy's name regardless of the sex. 

I can hear it now:

"This is my new baby sister.  Her name is Steve!" 

I can laugh at that for awhile.  We'll break him in gently if it's a girl.

Caroline?  Her reaction was my favorite.  After learning that Mommy had a baby in her belly, she proceeded to get serious and tell Erica that she should probably tell me about it.  I fear she's worried about my reaction to the news.

This just in, kiddo.  When the doctor told Mommy and me that there were two sacs on the ultrasound, I nearly fainted.

But before you start with the twin talk, apparently only one of the sacs has a big-headed Holman scrapper in it.  The other one only had two empty cans of PBR and a Galley Boy wrapper inside.

Seriously, we're pretty sure it was empty.  We'll find out for sure in a month.

It's going to be an interesting year, eh?

Henry's Zoo Trip: Cage the Children or the Animals?

Last week, I had the privilege of helping Henry's class during their Zoo Field Trip to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Below is a group shot after we made our way into the joint.  (Henry is the red hat in the back row)

It took Henry's school a little while to show up.  For awhile, I thought I was going to be hanging out at the Zoo by myself.  Within minutes of thinking this, yellow school buses starting pulling into the Zoo like it was a red carpet gala.  I was soon surrounded by 500 kindergarteners.

Apparently, it was a field trip day for a dozen or so schools around NE Ohio. 

Gulp.

Here's my actual text to Erica at 10:06am as the buses started rolling in:

ROB's PHONE to ERICA: "Holy @#$!"

That was the last contact from me for the rest of the day.

All in all, though, it was a fun day and no one was fed to the lions.  That's how we measure success at the Zoo.

Henry's teacher did a fantastic job of keeping the kids in small groups, with nametags, bracelets and global positioning sensors to track their movements.  

I thought the ankle monitors were a little much, but the kids didn't seem to mind dragging one foot behind the other.  Times have changed since I last went on a class field trip.  In my day, you took your life into your own hands as part of your survival training.  These days, they put the kids into an antiseptic bubble and roll them from exhibit to exhibit.

Part of the allure of a Zoo is to see the strange people outside the cage, as much as the animals inside it.  These days, however, there were no chances taken.

There were warnings sent home telling us not to bring money, not to buy the kids any snacks or trinkets, and not to make eye contact with the Principal.  (She totally looks like Joan Cusack from the movie "School of Rock," by the way). 

Okay, the eye thing isn't true, but the rest is.  I guess in retrospect it makes sense, but it makes me sad that they actually have to tell parents to have common sense.  Parents are kind of stupid, though.  No, parents are all the way stupid.  I take back what I said.

My favorite part of the day, besides observing my son interacting with his classmates and seeing his kindergarten crush come running up to him at the end of the day to tell him about the Zoo, was watching a 6 year old in Henry's class actually eat more than I ate at lunch.  

The tall kid in the picture above was in our group.

Apparently, the reason he is tall is that he eats TWO whole sandwiches for lunch.  Dude out-ate me.  I was flabbergasted.

On second thought, judging on his height and his Joey Chestnut-like ability to pile turkey sandwiches away, he's probably 16 years old and a ten year flunkie.

I didn't ask him, but I probably should have.  I could have swore I saw him driving a Ford Focus out of the parking lot at the end of the day.

Bullocks.