Dreams Come True

About a month ago, The Lime had asked me where all of the fire stations were in our city. We looked the map up online and in the process, came across the invitation to the open house of station 1. Station 1 is across the street from the post office so whenever we mail something, The Lime asks if we can drop in and say hi. We did back in December but haven't been back. I knew the open house would be a real treat for The Lime, especially since that's where one of the city's hook & ladders is (his favorite truck).

The Lime practically ran out of his bedroom Saturday morning, he was so excited. We got to the station a little after it started and The Lime was a bit reserved. We were welcomed by the chief and invited to take a look around.

Our first stop was the obstacle course out back. Kevin greeted us and asked if The Lime wanted a turn. He said no but I told him he was doing it, no matter what. Kevin offered to do it with The Lime, as long as he took his hands out of his pockets.

He got to run through some cones, drag a dummy across the ground, screw a hose together, lift some weights from the ground up, and finally put a pretend fire out with a hose (the best part!).

After that, The Lime wanted to check everything out. We left nothing untouched!

Jeff was a nice guy who was helping kids onto the truck, where the controls were for the ladder. The Lime went on this part a few times. The second turn, he asked Jeff what kind of car he drove when he left the station. "A truck," Jeff said. "What kind?" The Lime asked. Jeff got a smirk on his face and said, "This could be debatable...a Ford." "Alright!" exclaimed The Lime, while giving a thumbs up. It was hilarious.

A fireman overheard The Lime say he wanted to take a tour of the firehouse so he happily showed us around. The fireman emphasized how clean they have to keep their spaces and encouraged The Lime to keep his room clean.

We learned that this station is one of the few left with a pole, which they still use. I wanted to take a picture of The Lime with it but he got scared that we were going to make him slide down. LaVor had to hold his hand and the fireman blocked the doorway with his leg, then The Lime was confident he was safe. The fireman zipped down the pole and met us at the bottom (we took the stairs).

We ran into a fireman demonstrating the air tank to some boys and The Lime asked if he could try it on. That sucker was heavy and The Lime almost fell backward. The fireman said with all their gear on and the tank, they're carrying around at least 100 extra pounds. I told The Lime that's like me riding on his back and he better start working out. He thought that was silly.

We ran back into the chief and The Lime asked him what he drove. He took us out front to his Suburban and opened up the back, showing us all the cool stuff he gets to use.

The Lime asked the chief where the captain was and he directed us back to the hook & ladder. We had met the captain at our local fire station back in December when we dropped cookies off for them. The captain was manning the tiller, which The Lime could hardly wait to sit in. If there weren't other kids waiting, he would have stayed there the entire time.

We walked around the truck for the 100th time, only this time, The Lime wanted to try on the headphones. Nobody else was doing it so I wasn't sure we'd be allowed to. Before I knew it, The Lime was asking Jeff if he could get in the cab and put them on. He was so sweet to let him and it ended up being another highlight of the visit.

The open house was just about over, and we had seen everything imaginable. Before we left, The Lime had to do the obstacle course four more times. We finally had to tell him if he wanted to stay, he'd have to clean the floors and toilets. That was reason enough to leave but it wasn't without thanking everyone for the wonderful morning and allowing a little 4 year old to live out his dream.

I [Had] a Dream

I've been known to have a few crazy dreams in my lifetime.  Okay, a few is an understatement.  I have crazy dreams ALL the time.  And last night was no exception.

A few days ago (in real life), I e-mailed the Oakland A's to see if there was any chance they'd be willing to donate to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (if you want to donate, my little button is in the upper right hand corner).  My dad has always said, "The worst thing someone can say is, 'No' so you might as well ask."  I have to remind myself of that often, especially when fundraising.

Then I had my dream.  When I get a donation, I get an e-mail letting me know and it's almost like Christmas when I see that e-mail in my mailbox.  So I received an e-mail and I logged onto the website to see who it was from.  To my surprise, it was from the Oakland Athletics and their donation amount was $10,000.00!  I had to do several double takes of the screen to make sure my eyes were seeing it correctly.  All I could think about was, "This is over five times what I needed!"  Then my sister chimed in and said, "It's not real, Kimberly.  You're having a dream."

When I woke up this morning, I quickly checked my e-mail and there was no donation notification.  Whomp Whomp Whomp!

I can't help but think about how many lives and families would benefit from such a donation.

Cinderella said it best, "If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true."  One can hope!

Last year's total earned in San Francisco...Woot woot!

Ich bin ein Berliner

I love jelly doughnuts but I would never consider myself one, JFK.

I had one of my crazy dreams last night and it took place in one of my favorite cities...
Berlin.

The one thing I didn't like about Europe was having to pay to go to the bathroom. And that's how my dream started out.

There wasn't just a line for the bathroom, there was an entire waiting area. And how did they sort everyone? Not by male and female but by shoe size.

I sat next to a girl and asked, "Wie viel kostet die toilette?" She replied (not in English or German) and I soon recognized her. Azita, a girl I went to middle school with. I swatted her leg and said, "You don't have speak to me in that language! We can speak English!"

After waiting for the shoe sizes ahead of us to go, it was our turn. We had to get in line and march into the bathroom. The principal from Kindergarten Cop was the woman in charge of keeping order. And who was in front of me in line? Brik from The Middle.

The bathroom ended up being a huge room with stalls lining the walls. The only problem was that my door wouldn't close properly and the toilets were so low to the ground, you had to sit Indian style. Nobody could leave the bathroom until everyone was finished. Of course, I was the one that made everyone wait. My pipes tend to not work while on vacation.

I woke up as we were leaving the restroom, sad that my dream was over but relieved that I could actually go to the bathroom...on a normal toilet.

And The Crowd Goes Wild

I had a dream last night that I was a comedian, in some sort of competition against Conan!

At one point, the audience got a bit distracted and I had to reel them back in. My solution? I yelled, "SHUT UP!" in a really loud, annoying voice and said, "I'm Roseanne!" They roared with laughter! My reaction? I jumped up and down with my arms in the air like I had just won a race.

I don't remember if I won or not but I did receive a text from Conan telling me how hilarious I was.

Roseanne isn't my favorite comedian but her show was hilarious. Thank goodness YouTube had a video of my favorite episode...



My sisters and I roll on the floor, laughing, every time we even think about this clip. My sister, Amy, is a pro at impersonating Jackie.

Thanks for the laughs, Roseanne! Thanks for the laughs.

You're Being Rough

Obviously this isn't me but this is how I look when I sleep.

I also do other silly things in my sleep, like talk.

Growing up, my sister Amy and I shared a room. I would often be the first one to go to sleep and she took advantage of that. One night in particular, she asked me who won the Revolutionary War? My reply was, "Daniel Boone". Clearly not the correct answer but she still laughs about it today.

Another incident took place a few years later. I had fallen asleep on the couch in my parents family room. My brother, Kenny, was on the computer about 8 feet away from me. I was having a dream about Amy doing something and blaming it on me. I started to defend myself, trying to explain that it wasn't me who did it, Amy did. Although I was asleep, I could sense someone standing over me. It was Kenny. He looked at me and said, "What in the heck are you doing?!". Apparently I was defending myself...outloud.

The latest episode took place Friday night. I'm always a zombie on Friday nights so I went to bed before LaVor. When he came to bed, I began talking. I started out with, "You're being rough!" and he replied with, "Uh, what are you talking about?". I then said, "You're being rough with the kitchen table!" and again, he's confused by my reply. He then said, "I'm being rough with the kitchen table?" "Yes! In the morning, on my way to work!". I don't remember saying any of that...I only remember him laughing hysterically. Apparently it went on for several minutes. I do believe I was dreaming and he just happened to get involved.

I'm sorta anxious to see what I do next.