National Dental Boards I

Mick takes his first set of National Boards tomorrow at 9 a.m. He’ll drive about an hour north of here in the morning to set himself up for his day-long written test. He’s been studying like a mad dog – studying at all hours of the night, napping at all hours of the day (since he’s such a night owl) – and he’s still skeptical that he’s going to know enough.

In spite of his skepticism, I’m glad he’s taking it now, instead of putting it off. He’s at the point where (a) he just needs to know where he stands in his knowledge (he can re-take sections if need be – but let’s hope he won’t need to!), and (b) he needs to have a break from dentistry and studying.

At this point, he’ll get a full weekoff before school starts up again on the 2^nd.

While Mick Takes The Boards

Dane’s friend from school, Marcus, will spend the day with us. We’ll grab him at 9:30 tomorrow morning and head to the Lawrence Hall of Science where there’s a Grossology exhibit. (I’m sure there’ll be more to post after that exhibit!)

Dane & Aubrey Get Farmed Out For The Day

Marcus’s mom, Lu, took Dane and Marcus on the ferry to San Francisco. There, they went to the Hyatt to find a Christmas Wonderland. I guess the place was decked out and the kids had a blast.

Another mom, Amy, and her twins, Mia and Nick (also in Dane’s class), went on the adventure as well.

They played barefoot in Buena Vista Park (no, it wasn’t warm at all!), fed seagulls, and saw a seal. Needless to say, he had a great time. In fact, when he saw the pictures Amy emailed me, he said, “That’s what I’m talking about, Mom.”

Aubrey got to spend the afternoon with her friend Katie Javadi, playing moms and dress-up.

Mick studied; I worked on some writing.

The Kids Saw Santa On Saturday

At their turn, the kids gave Santa some gingerbread cookies they'd made. When Dane showed him that his g-bread guy's foot cracked off, Santa said it was okay since he knew how to repair cookies at the North Pole. After all, the reindeer step on and break a lot of Mrs. Clause's cookies.

When Aubrey asked for a dolly for Christmas, he looked at her and pointed to me: “I gave your mommy a dolly for Christmas one year, too.”

Her eyes lit up. “He did, Mommy?”

As I nodded my head, Santa asked me, “Do you still have it?”

Trying not to turn into a sappy ball of mush, I said, “Yes, I do…”

Aubrey asked, “You do? Which one is it?”

“Um, the little tiny one, from Mema’s, that we like to dress in its tiny baby clothes…”

She smiled at me with huge, excited eyes; Dane smiled up at Santa.

These are just my personal digital pics; we get to pick up the free professional ones this week.