HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hi Everybody!

HUGE news today on the pew front. Got a call for H for H. Despite the fact that they rejected the rest of our donation, apparently a preacher man was in their store, spied the 11 pews, and asked if there were more. H for H is doing the paperwork as we speak, and the man will come and pick them up on Saturday. Turns out he has a church in Jamaica, and wants to ship the things there.

Cue the Halleluyah Chorus!

We're home tonight, and plan to stay home. I have no wish to be driving the streets with T in the car, on what I dub "Amateur Night". All the amateur drinkers are out tonight in droves actually trying to get drunk, then getting in their cars and driving home, not realizing they're too lit to drive. I have no wish to become a statistic, and certainly not with T in the car. So, instead of heading to Bayside to watch the orange drop, I prefer to watch the ball drop in Times Square...from the comfort of my home with a big glass of wine. That is, of course, if I can stay up that late.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! WELCOME 2010!!!!!

Mommy Mental Rejuvenation Day

...is a fancy way to say Shopping!

Dropped T off at the daycare, and headed to Target. Got all kinds of storage boxes (color coordinated, of course), to assist with my end of the year purging and organizing. I've got lots of closet reorganization to do.

Then I headed to Be$t Buy.

You know me, I'm usually 3 - 5 years behind any trend. I've never had an ipod before, but recently noticed one on my iphone. I downloaded a few songs...and created a monster! I was at the store today in search of a dock for the ipod, so that I could play the music in my house, like a stereo. Ended up buying 2. One for the front of the house, and one for the back. Added benefit of the thing is that it charges my phone, too.

So, after discovering the beautiful sound, I can now get rid of all my old, skippy CDs. I've gone digital, baby! Add to that the fact that my sissy got me a kindle for xmas (think ditigal books for those not familiar with it), and I'm so high-tech I can't stand it! All the hundreds of books I had in this house are being carted out the door.

Between getting rid of my CDs, books, and old stereo and speakers, I have so much room in my house I can't stand it!

So, tomorrow its back to work for me. I'll be taking T with me, since I only have to work until noon. Then, we're off for the holiday.

Hope your day was just as good!

Good Day

Today was a really good day for T. She reports that she had a great time at her old school. Its a good thing, b/c she's going back tomorrow.

Mom, on the other hand, didn't have such a good day.

I spent the whole damned day waiting on the movers. Noon to two turned out to be a pipe dream. Of course, they were running late. They finally showed at about 4:00 p.m.. Unfortunately, due to the size of both their trucks and my dad's pews, they were only able to take 11 of the 26. I just got a call now, from H for H, who say that they have to put the rest of the donation on hold, as they don't have room at this time for the pews.

I'm so annoyed.

That's it for now.

Anybody need a Pew?

Apparently, not. Habit@t for Hum@nity is coming today between noon and 2 to cart away 21 pews that are 14 feet long, currently residing in my dad's building. Since T is off from school, all my back ups are either working or out of town,and the fact that the building is literally in one of the most dangerous parts of Miami, I dropped her off at her old daycare center for the day.

She has been so excited about going back, that she couldn't stand it. The change of schools was rough on her, and I was worried if I put her back too soon, she'd be confused. Now, though, may be a good time. Every so often she would say to me, "I wish I was 3 again so I could go to my old school". Or, she'd talk about her old friends and teachers.

We entered the classroom, and many of the kids started yelling, "Taylor, Taylor". The all got up to hug her. There were many old faces, but her very best friends Kayla and Niyana aren't there this week. After a few minutes, T orders everyone, "OK Everybody, settle down!". HeHe.

So, I'm waiting at home for the call to go over to the building. I'll pick T up a little before 6. If she wants to, I may put her back there tomorrow, and have a Mommy Mental Rejuvenation Day.

Bye, all!

Christmas Dinner...with a side of drama

It seems it wouldn't be a holiday without drama. We were so happy to avoid any on thanksgiving. Nobody drove into the house. Nobody went to the ER. No Kitchen incidents. All was well. ...then came Christmas. Here's the rest of the story...

So, we arrived at my parents' house to pick them up, and before going in I pulled the big wheel out so that T could get a bit of a ride in. My little barrio doesn't have any sidewalks, and their neighborhood does. Anyway, I leave my Aunt outside with T, who is whizzing around their circular driveway, and enter the house.

I find them both in the kitchen. My mom is on the kitchen floor, and my dad is attempting to help her up, but is having difficulty because his shoulders give him great pain. Good lord. Between the 2 of us, we get her back on her feet again. Luckily, she wasn't injured. I believe that she blacked out b/c she's not eating. Forgets to eat or refuses to eat...and drinks barely nothing. She's down to around 120 something pounds and I suspect a bit dehydrated. Two years ago she was 155. Last year she was 135. I figure the best thing to do is load her in the car, take her to my house, and feed the woman. (I'm now starting to research food delivery services).

Anyway, I make her take her medicine with a small bottle of ensure (which she downed), stuck her hearing aid in her ear (against her insistence that she doesn't need it), and off we went.

We had a fab time opening presents. Dot got them a new phone set, with 5 handsets. We put 3 of them in the fla room, near every chair. Figure with 3 ringing in one room, they may hear the thing. Plus, they won't have to get up and rush to answer it, as it will be right next to them.

Installing them caused the next drama. For one, I needed an extension cord, and found one of their relic power strips in the utility room. Looked old, but they were currently using a similar one with their TV, so I figured it would be OK. WRONG! So, I lay it on the floor, plug in the new phone to it, then go over to plug the thing into the other power strip.

Oh.My.God.

Out of my peripheral vision, I see a big beachball sized circle of yellow, blue, etc and hear a huge electrical buzzing sound...along with the smell of burning. I scream and immediately unplug what I was plugging in. Scared the hell out of me. Thank god I plugged it in that way verses reverse order, or my hand would have been in the ball. Thank god T was not "helping" as she is want to do. Thank god nothing caught on fire. Thank god for alot of things. Luckily, the only thing fried was my nerves.

So, that power strip and the one that they had been using that looked just like it went directly into the garbage can, and I hunted up some newer ones.

We were back home by about 4:00, and I was EXHAUSTED.

So ends our xmas.
On Saturday, we went to the movies and saw the Princess and the Frog. T did very well at the movies. She hadn't been since a traumatic incident at Disney with a certain 3D movie about a year or more ago. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Christmas Morning

Due to inappropriate napping times and being off scheduled from no school, T was wide awake at 11:00 p.m., when I demanded she join me in bed. We laid there for quite a while, with T looking outside for Santa every 10 minutes. Finally, just as she was about to nod off, we heard banging. Dot was putting the leaf in the table. T got an excited look on her face, turned to me, and said, "Mama, its Santa. He's here. The kid truly believed that santa was here. Wouldn't believe me til I said lets go see, to prove that it was Aunt Dot. Poor thing. She finally went to actual sleep around 12 - 12:30.

I'm happy to report that I was able to assemble the big wheel in less than an hour. You can see a bit of its wheel in the picture. However, I was doing that at about 12:30 in the morning. As I finished, Dot wantted to get rid of the boxes, and opened the door to put them outside. Unfortunately, the alarm was on and blew with a glorious cocaphany of sound.

Guess who woke up?
I went back into the room with her, to get her to go to sleep, and then every damn time I got up to go and put the presents out, I'd here a voice just as I was going out the door, "Mama, where are you going?"

"The bathroom", I replied.

This happened about 3 times until I finally fell asleep. Luckily, Aunt Dot put out all the presents without a sound.

We woke up around 8:30, with T immediately looking out side and exclaiming, "Its taking so long, all the reindeer food is still there. Santa's never coming". I had to convince her that Santa was in a hurry last night, and perhaps the reindeer could not eat it all. So up we got, and the unwrapping commenced. T pronounced that This is the best Christmas Ever.


She loves her big wheel, her razor scooter, and of course, her 3 musketeers dress and cape. Tiana was made a big showing, and we're trying to go and see the movie this weekend.

So after our big morning, I was on jitney duty to go and pick up my Aunt and Parents. T came along and we threw the big wheel in the schoolbus, to take to my parents, who actually gave her that gift.

...then the drama began...

Reindeer Food

Dot mixed up a bag of dry oatmeal and glitter to make some magical reindeer food to tempt Santa to stop at our house for a bit longer this year. T just sprinkled it outside, and chose last year's xmas dress to wear during the festivities. I can really tell how much T has grown over the year in this dress. Its definitely running small, so this will be its last appearance.

Now we'll be putting out the cookies, and I'll try and con T into going to bed soon, so I can start assembling her Big Wheel, her Scooter, and various other toys.

Merry Christmas

Our very own Princess Musketeer, wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas.

We always let T open up one present early on christmas eve. She's thrilled with her foam swords and shields set. Barbie and the 3 Musketeers is her current idol. I figure she'll pretty much explode with excitement, when she opens the Barbie and the 3 musketeer dress that my sissy got her. It comes with a cape and everything.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tragic Calamity

T suffered a tragic calamity while baking cookies last night with Aunt Dotty. She burned her finger, resulting in a blister. I believe this is the first incident of prolonged pain that T has ever had to suffer.

And suffer she did.

With all she was worth. With every fiber of her being.

Oy.

The kid needed a frozen ice block, a bowl of water with ice cubes to soak her thumb, an umbrella to sheild her eyes from the glaring light, pillow and blanekt, and popcorn.

Throughout the night she'd make dire pronouncements, like "I'm going to be stuck here the rest of my life." (in a dramatically pathetic voice) or "My thumb will never stop hurting as long as I live". This went on basically the whole night, as she watched Tv. Finally, just about bedtime, like flipping a switch she was all better.

She announced today that her bubble on her thumb is almost gone and all is once again right with her world.

More FCC Fun

Pump It Up FCC Holiday Party

We had a fab time yesterday, at the FCC Holiday Party. It was held at Pump it Up, a place with all kinds of inflatable bounce houses, slides and obstacle courses. T had a fab time, and even convinced dot to go down the slide. I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing, picturing my sissy throwing out her back or something like I would do, but she survived.

Problem is, she laid down, and came down the slide like a bullet. Scroll down to the bottom to the playlist, and turn off the music to get the full feel of the thing. First T comes down, then 2 other kids, then Dot the Silver Bullet.

Breaking Blog News!

...T complained that her tooth hurts. One on the bottom, front, right side.

Closer inspection found it to be wiggling.



I am so not ready to be impersonating the damned tooth fairy.

Weekend Drudge

We braved the raindrops on Friday night, and went out to the restaurant, where T scarfed down some Crab Bisque soup and some pasta. Meanwhile, mom scarfed down a fat glass of wine and a salad. Yummy!

On Sat we woke up early and went over to my parents house. They were out at the beauty shop, so I took the opportunity to hang up the new curtains that I bought them. Can't really tell from the photo, but they look fab. They're a neutral color, with a swirl of beige in them. I got their TV working again, and was able to snoop in their closets and drawers to see what they need for xmas.

We're scheduled to go over there again, tomorrow, to tend to some errands. Then, we're headed north. We have an FCC xmas party at Pump it Up at 3:00 p.m. That should be lots of fun. Either before or after that, we'll swing by my Aunt's house. Gotta see how it all goes.

That's it for now. We're bracing for a cold snap that's coming to the swamp. Supposed to get into the 40's and 50's.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Last Day of School

Well, today is T's last day of school. She's now on xmas vacation. Mrs. M got all the kids in the class reindeer antlers and painted their noses red. Dot is on T duty next week, and I'm on T duty the following. Then, it will be back to school and work for all of us.

Meanwhile, its raining like crazy here. I've gotten drenched no less than three times today. Sopping wet drenched. Boy I love the cool weather, but its always such a traumatic time getting there...meteorologically speaking, of course.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Poll

Not much going on here, so I thought I'd solicit some opinions. I got my dad one of those cell phone charging stations. He keeps his in a pile of mess by his bed, and forgets he has it. Thought a charging station would organize things a bit more, and help him remember he even has the damn thing. Anyway, the station comes with an area in the front, to put a picture. I thought I'd put one of T in it, but can't decide which one.


So, if it were up to you, would you pick photo number 1, 2, or 3? Please let me know by placing a comment in the comments section. As with all Florida voting, vote early and vote often!

In other news, we were walking into school yesterday, accompanied by 2 members of T's Posse. We were chatting and I was asking them what they wanted most for xmas. After hearing all about ballet shoes and Miley Cirus, I asked T the same question. Her answer made me cry (in a good way).

"I want the biggest, biggest, biggest present ever. I want you for a mommy"

Awwww. I melted on the spot. I think that they child could have asked for anything at that point, and I would have given it to her. Even a tattoo. Of course, by the way she was acting, I'm certain that she was totally playing me by saying that.

As far as I'm concerned, she can play me all she wants!

Mid-Air Summersaults

Playing Hookie

Here's a couple shots from my office party. Our hair is a bit crazy, b/c the wind off the ocean was blowing like a monsoon.

Meanwhile, guess what I did today? NOTHING! I stayed home from work today. Wrapped some xmas presents and put them back into the closet, away from prying eyes. I returned a few things a toys r u$. I watched some soap operas, I took a nap, and otherwise had a stupendous time....all. by. myself.

Meanwhile, what with all of our weekend partying, T's sleep habits were a bit off. Last night she napped from 6:30 to about 8:00. I knew I'd be screwed come bedtime. Just as I thought, T didn't want to sleep AT ALL. At midnight, she got out of my bed and went back to her room. No idea what happened after that. All I know is that come morning, I discovered that she had built a fort in her closet, and had fallen asleep in there.

According to Mrs. M today (whom I had warned), "T was a handful". Yikes. God knows what the child did. I suspect that Mrs. M has the gift of understatement. In any event, she begged me to make sure T got alot of sleep tonight, so I can only imagine.

Back to work for both of us tomorrow.

Gymnastics Party

I can't tell you how much fun T had at the gymnastics party. From the moment we got there, she was running all over the place, jumping and tumbling.

Her fav was the sunken trampoline area, which is a trampoline, sunken into the ground so the the bed of the trampoline is on the same plane as the floor. Cool.


As usual, T horned her way up right next to the birthday girl. She was standing right next to Sophie, until she was shoed away by one of the staff members, who said she had to go sit in a chair. T proceeded to go get a chair, plant it directly infront of the cake, and sit.




So, its been decided. The site of T's next birthday party is going to be here. They have a bouncehouse, and everything. Even a separate room for the food.
The whole set-up is ingeneous. No muss, no fuss, and the staff cleans up when its all over.

My kind of party!

I wonder if we could smuggle in some cocktails?

Boycotting the Fat, Red Man?

Hmmm, could T be boycotting Santa this year? We got home very late last night, and T slept in this morning. We were scheduled to go see Santa and play in snow. Unfortunately, T balked at the thought of going, and announced that she only wanted to go to Sophie's Gymnastics Birthday party. I'm very much afraid that I'm sensing a trend...

New plan to see santa, will be at the little Coral Gables Xmas display one day this week or next.

Meanwhile, we're off for some tumbling fun...

Pooped from Parties

...and we're not even done yet!

Yesterday, I picked up T from school, changed her into one of her xmas-dress-extravaganzas, and headed off to Ocean Drive on South Beach for my annual office xmas party. It was held at Finnegan's Way, a bar between 13th and 14th streets on Ocean Drive. I'm awaiting pics from various people, who kindly snapped some of T.

T behaved very well. Planted herself on a barstool with some of the girls from my office, and proceeded to chow down on chips and fried mozzarella cheese. That's a first for her. She's always eschewed fried cheese sticks in the past. Last night? Gobbled a few down, then employed her perfected chichen-nugget-eating technique, and knawed the batter off the things, leaving a stringy mess.

After about an hour or so, T was getting restless, so we made our way to the pool table, where she had a fab time trying to hit each ball into a hole, directly, without the use of the white ball. Once all the balls were gone, she discovered teh white ball in the table's hole, and the fact that if you it it into any hole, it would automatically come back to you. She was in heaven. After impersonating a pool shark, T then hit the online gambling machine. She was convinced the game was working despite the fact that I didn't put a dime into it. That always makes me smile.

We then left and headed to the Perikles house, where we were set to celebrate Nick's 4th birthday and Hannukah at the same time. As t explained to me, "Mama, your party was fun, but now we're REALLY gonna have fun".

Yep, office parties can in no way compete with spending time with her beloved Sophie and Nick.

Cutest Sneaks EVER!

We were busy last night trolling Nordstroms, and came across the cutest sneaks EVER. They're $ketchers Twinkle T0es line. Pic doesn't do them justice, as you cant see all the sparkle they have one them. I actually had my eye on another pair, but you know those Nordstom salesmen. Always bringing a few more shoes than you asked for, that you'd never pick yourself, and damn if you dont fall in love with them when they go on your feet.

Anyway, turns out these shoes literally have lights in them, that light up when you step on them a certain way.

That's it, game over. T fell in love with them on the spot. You should have seen her face when she realized what they did. It was like she was witnessing a miracle.

Of course, I'm my own worst enemy. Guess who got in a squabble this morning with their mother, when they couldn't understand why they couldn't wear these sneaks to school?

Desparately Seeking Suggestions from Snowbirds

Well, I've recently found out that snow is coming to Miami. Specifically, its coming to T's school on Saturday morning, for breakfast with Santa. Apparently, they'll be blowing man-made stuff in. I expect it will last all of 15 minutes, as it will probably be the usual muggy 80's here in the old swamp, rising quickly to almost 90. I picture a chilly wet, muddy mess.

So, here's the advice I need....what the hell do I dress T in?

I haven't played in snow since that one and only time, when I was 4 or 5 yrs old, and we were up visiting my cousins in NY. Don't recall what I was wearing, though I suspect it was some type of snow suit. Even if I had a snow suit for T, which I don't, I figure that would be totally inappropriate since it will be so damn hot. Now, I'm not a total idiot. I realize that she'll have to be in her keds vs. sandals. My main concern is her hands, since I know she'll be wanting to make and throw snowballs. The school recommends gloves, but what kind?

The only pair of gloves we own, are Cinderella ball gown gloves. I suppose they could do in a pinch.

Advice anyone?

Winter Wonderland

Here's the picture that appeared in the newsletter of the Archdiose of Miami, touting T's school and the Winter Wonderland of lights and decorations that they set up. Apparently, T's class helped with the Nativity scene.

The child poses and hams it up in every photo I take of her. Ya think she could have at least smiled?

Holiday Sentimentality

What can I say? Its 5:00 a.m., I can't sleep, the holidays are coming, and I'm counting my blessings and feeling a bit sentimental and a whole lot thankful. While trolling the web, I came across the below quote, that is probably very familiar to those of us in the "adoption community", and less familiar to those outside. Not sure who wrote it, but I've come across it many times over the years, and it has the power to make me tear up every time:


We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.

But those who make their journey home across time and miles, growing in the hearts of those who wait to love them...






...Are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands.

Good Lord, What a Day...

The day started on such a high note. Such fun plans. Everyone was excited. We decided that we'd go visit my parents, then head up to the Aventura mall to visit with Santa.

T made her list, which is not in code, but in T-write. Most of the things she seemingly inexplicably listed, were actually things she had seen the night before in gift baskets at her school. So, for the moment, she wants:

1. Handy Manny tool table
2. Barbie scoooter
3. Nerf gun
4. Truck
5. Pet Shop house
6. Tinkerbell
7. Princess
8. Christmas pin (no idea what this is), and lastly...
9. Aqua Sand, which she saw on TV and made me add to the list.
So, we trudged to the mall and entered the line to see santa. The dark abyss of a line. The longest and slowest line you've ever seen. I felt like we were in a lost scene from A Christmas Story. Oy.

This lovely picture was taken a mere 30 minutes into our wait. I also think that's the last time I saw T smile. In her defense, it was 1:00 p.m. bordering on 2:00. She needed a nap and hadn't eaten much in the excitement. She decided that she wanted to leave. Dot convinced her to stay, but I knew the game was up. Wouldn't you know, that when it was finally our turn....

Guess. Take one Guess.

That's right. She wanted nothing frickin' to do with the damned Santa. Broke out in a bawling tantrum... tears, screams and everything. Refused to go anywhere near poor Santa.

Poor Dot had to basically carry her the whole way to the car, which was conveniently located at the other end of the huge mall. She's been a grump to deal with ever since. I had to put her in time-out this evening, and she totally up-ended the toy baskets in her room in her rage.

After a late nap, which will conveniently screw our night sleeping on a school night, she seems back to normal.

On an upnote, I was able to buy my sissy's xmas present online and am very excited about it. Bummer is, I can't go into detail as she checks this old blog out every hour or so.

So, now we're home and T is thoroughly enjoying a Scooby Doo movie.