10,000 Steps

I have tried a little experiment for the last couple of days... I have been wearing Gary's FitBit to track my sleep and movement patterns. For those of you not familiar with a FitBit it is basically a rubberized bracelet that syncs to an APP on your phone that monitors your steps, sleep pattern, calories burned, etc.

Essentially it is an experiment in healthy living.
It turns out I am a great sleeper. No shocker there. I sleep like a log - no, REALLY. I have 8 hours a night of completely uninterrupted sleep - not a single movement! Now most of you probably think that is incredible, especially my husband because it seems he never has more than an hour or two of uninterrupted sleep(we're working on that - I see a sleep journal in someone's future), but I love to sleep and 10 hours is my goal!
In addition to finding out what an expert sleeper I am, I also found out that I take less steps on an ordinary day than my son who was home sick in bed. Not sure how that is possible, but it has now become a challenge. Day 1 - I walked approximately 3,500 steps all day - pathetic, I know (I work hard, but apparently my ass is glued to my chair - occupational hazard). Day 2 had to be better - when you know better, you do better! After many detours around the office and extra trips up and down the stairs I was able to add an extra 1,000 steps to my day. Thank goodness, because I may have my husband beat in the sleep department, but he has me beat in the step department. His average is 10,000 steps a day - incredible! Not sure how he does it, but a scene from the show PawnStars comes to mind in which one of the guys in the show attaches the FitBit to a paint can in a hardware store while it is being shook up. Hmmm....
Anyway, it is a little bit addicting to check your progress each day and of course I am my best competitor - I hate to lose!

Disney CEO

When Zack was a toddler we would frequent Disneyland Park two and three times a week. Before he was speaking in full sentences he would ask "go park?" and it meant can we go to Disney. Going to Disneyland WAS like going to the park for him. We would go for a couple of hours, he would run around, see the characters and maybe ride a couple of rides. He loved Toon Town; if Minnie Mouse could speak she would have called him by his first name - we were regulars!

Last night I had a totally different experience with that once little kid. As we stood in line for rides it was quite apparent that he has become much taller than me and in fact when we got to the front of the line at Mr. Toad's (Oh yes, it's a must for me!) the ride operator had told the mom and her son in front of us, "smallest rider first"....I'm sure you can see where I am going with this. Zack had a field day with it...Mom, that means you need to get in first! HA, the joke is on him because now I am the one who gets to sit behind the steering wheel! That hasn't happened for 16 years!

Anyway, as you can imagine the conversation was quite different from 14 years ago. Back then we discussed which character to see, potty breaks and trashcans (he was obsessed; he knew where every trashcan in the Park was). Now, we discussed what changes he would implement and the kind of staff training required to run the Park (when HE becomes CEO of Disney, of course).

It was such a special night, just spending time with my bid kid.
It truly is the Happiest Place on Earth.

Stop the Clock

Who has time for a blog? NO, REALLY! Who?! I set out with the best intentions and then life gets in the way. What else is new?!
I thought I would update you on the events of last week. You know it must have made an impact on me because I haven't bothered to write a post in well...years!

Daniel  My baby went off to 6th grade outdoor science camp! (Is 12 too young to call a baby?)
A short four years ago I sent Zack off to the same camp. Some of you will remember the mental breakdown I had with that one; afterall I was sending MY BABY off to 6th grade outdoor science camp. I have been accused of not knowing when to cut the cord...

Anyway, I was nervous to send him just for the fact that he hasn't been away from home for a full week before. Then God decided to have a little fun with me...

Incident One - Fatal bus crash on the main route into camp (the road was closed for 24 hours). Break failure led to the worst bus crash authorities have seen in 23 years. At 7am the morning he is supposed to leave we got a call from the school saying "sorry folks, no camp today". That is when the tears started. (Daniel was hysterical that camp was postponed and I was hysterical that I got to keep him with me another day) The next morning all systems were go; I shipped him off to the mountains. The next couple of days were spent just trying to stay busy. It helped that Gary and Zack bought me a new laptop - they know when a distraction is needed!

Incident Two - Sweeping manhunt (in vicinity of camp) for lunatic ex-LAPD who has shot and killed multiple people. That was a bad afternoon; that was Thursday. Let's see, hysterical mom has to pull off the side of the road because she is crying so hard she can't see the lanes. I attempt to go to design class and leave half way through due to panic attack. Luckily my mom and husband are able to talk some reason into my head or I would have been driving up the mountain to get him.

Incident Three - Snow and rain the morning of the departure from camp. Of course at this time my thoughts went back to incident one...

Something Gary said to me while Daniel was away is that he is not going to come home from camp and thank me for worrying about him. It's not something he would want me to be doing (lucky for me it's just in my nature...)
I hate it when he is right!

Daniel had the best time at camp. He had such great stories, such great memories and was even talking about going to sleep away camp this summer. That will be an entirely different post....
All that worrying and he had the time of his life; and you know what? He never once asked me if I worried about him!
So glad we are all under the same roof! I am one happy mom.

From the Johnson Archives

Remember that list of fairies I posted the other day? Well, another fairy that will be visiting our house soon is the tooth fairy. Zack will have six teeth extracted on March 31st. Which brings me to the "archive":

Zachary had seven teeth pulled in 2004. I know what you are thinking...how many teeth is he going to have left? Let's just say he has a very overcrowded mouth...kind of like a shark.

Zack post extractions in 2005.

Anyway, Gary and I took Zack to the oral surgeon in June of 2004. I sat with him while they put the IV in his arm and watched him fall asleep (this, by the way, is Zack's worst memory of the whole ordeal; the needle poke of the IV). The nurse ushered me back to the waiting room where Gary was thumbing through a magazine. An anxious and excruciatingly long half hour later it was all over. The nurse came out and said we could come back to the operating room and see him. Well, anyone who knows Gary knows that he can't stomach that type of thing. So I said I would go, he could wait there. I walked into the extremely bright operating room to see my little eight year old lying on the operating table; barely awake with bloody gauze in his mouth. Is it getting hot in here or is it just me??? He mumbles, "Hhhhii, mmmmmm". Well, that is all it took to put me over the edge. Now, I know it is getting hot in here! I think I am just going to take off my jacket....all of a sudden the nurse is running over yelling "she is going down, get a chair". I think I will just rest my head on the table for a minute. Where is the oxygen?!? Next thing I know I am being wheeled into the recovery room (yes, hooked to the oxygen tank), where Zack is already waiting for me.(when did they move him?!?) So there I sat, in the recovery chair with Zack looking across the room at me from the "visitor" chair. This is about the time that the nurse went to the waiting room to proclaim to Gary, "Well, they are both doing better now!" You can imagine Gary's shock when he saw the two of us.... his son sporting a mouthful of gauze and his wife sniffing oxygen.


We both recovered from the event, but it will forever be apart of Johnson history!

Wish us luck for round two!