(On my husbands laptop again.  As we speak my Genius Computer Guy is trying to recover my data from the old hard drive, and then hopefully put it on my new hard drive, please God!  Please note that my husbands possessive/quote key does not work (I dont know how he stands it!), I do not have bad grammar.  Thank you.  Oh, and also, no real names have been used here.  Ok.)

Memorial Day Weekend was looking bleak, with the most exciting thing we were going to do being going to the grocery store, when we got an impromptu invitation to an impromptu barbeque.  One of the friends that I have made through Tylers school, along with her husband, was throwing a barbeque, with three other sets of parents and kids from the school invited!  Tyler has a good friend in Mark but I have found an even better friend in his mother Maureen.  I dont know how, but she just seems to get that I am sick and accepts me for who I am and for what I cannot be.  If I need to cancel, shes cool, if Grant doesnt show up, its fine, she is really laid-back, but more than that, she is a wonderful friend who has been one of the first people I have let in in a long time.  I long to give Tyler a normal life, with play dates and parties, and Maureen has helped make this possible.

The barbeque was Sunday, and I was really proud of Grant and happy that he was able to come along.  For the first time in a very long time, we were a real family at a holiday party with food and kids and stimulating adult conversation.

Among Tylers quirks is that he hates water, the pool, the ocean.  He loves the bath, but anything else is too cold and he once told Grant that if you go in the water you die.  I had called the pediatrician a week ago about his fear of water, as well as dogs.  Was it his OCD, Anxiety, something else?  The doctor wanted to have Tyler evaluated by the school district but they do not do that until school starts.  (Can you believe he will be going to kindergarten in the Fall?!)  Until we find out what is going on, he did not want Tyler to be forced or coaxed into the water, or be exposed to any dog; the exact opposite of what I would have thought to do.  Maureen has a medium-size kiddie pool.  She had emailed me a picture of it.  I showed it to Tyler and he said, I will try it, Mommy, but when we got there it was a no-go.  It makes me sad that he does not enjoy the water as I did when I was a child, and I wonder what we are going to do all summer, but thats my kid.  The other boys were not in the pool all of the time so he had a wonderful time playing inside and out.

Tyler and his friends, at the little table, enjoying the EATS!

I decided to have one alcoholic drink at the party…my pharmacist told me I could, okay?  Anyway, I dont know if it was my diseases, my meds or the alcohol, but I was sweating more than a boiler room worker.  More than Maureens husband who was working the grill, more than my other friend who is 38 weeks pregnant (beautiful, pregnant bitch!).  It was SO embarrassing, I went through like 5 large napkins.

This is just a picture of my really cute kid.

But all three of us did have a really good time.  Even though I immediately developed a sore throat and sores on my tongue and was exhausted.  Even though it took me two days to recover.  Even though I knew I was going to get sick.  Sometimes we sick moms just have to suffer for our families so that they can have a good time…and we can too.

Grant hangs out while the boys enjoy their popsicles.