Is It Monday Yet?

So, I spent the week researching and contacting come healthcare agencies. Found one near my parents and I arranged a nurse to come and evaluate my mother on Sat. at 2:00 p.m. I'm pleased and have a feeling of accomplishment, that progress is being made. I come home and my sister Dot was here cooking up a delish meal, and all is right with the world.

WRONG.

My father calls me to inform me that he bought a frickin car. Since then, I've been stressed out and sick to my stomach. My sister and I have figured out that my father can't stand not to have "a back up" car. We recall growing up how he always had a truck and a car, and my mom had a car. We were a three, sometimes four vehicle family with only 2 drivers. He keeps his jeep such a mess, that no one can sit in the back seat, despite the fact that its a 2008 model. His sister is coming at the end of the month. He needs a car to drive her around in. I know that's his reasoning....

The problem will be keeping my mother from driving it. That just got exponentially harder. So, I'm still proceeding with my plan, to have someone drive her around for 3 hours 2 days a week. Take her shopping, carry her groceries, make sure she remembers to take her pill and buy the right things at the store, you get the idea. I think she'd feel more independent instead of having to rely on my father....who FORGOT to pick her up from the beauty shop last weekend.

Anyway, we have to go over there to do some stuff today and be there for the evaluation...if they even let the woman in the door. We'll see.

Is it Monday yet?

That Dirty Dog!

I've mentioned before on here that I'm not the best cook in the world. Its really not that I can't, I just don't. My sweet sissy, however, can cook up a storm. When she's over on the weekends, she usually fires up the bbq, and grills up lots of stuff, that T and I then eat throughout he coming week. Last weekend, she grilled some yummy hotdogs. They are absolutely delicious. What's better, is that the hot dog is one of the meat food groups that T will actually eat. So, I nuked them up in the old microwave and presented one for T to eat. Her response?

I don't like that dirty hotdog. I don't want it. I want a clean hot dog. Sigh. So, in I went to heat up a "clean" hotdog for her. She loved it.

Lastly, again we leave you with a few pics so that Dot can get her T fix in, as she freezes over into an ice cube. Maybe my sweet baby's warm smile will thaw her out a bit.

Brrrrrrr.......

Brrrrrrrr......but I'm so cold and shivvery, too!

That was T's response when she asked AGAIN where Aunt Dotty was and I told her she was in Cleveland and was very cold.

Yep, Dot's in Cleveland this week freezing her but off in 20 degree weather. (BTW, on T's head is a shirt she was either taking off or putting on at the moment. She likes to pretend its a turban.)

Dot comes home on Thursday or Friday, so here's some pics to tide her over.


BTW, I found out at work today that another woman that I know had a mastectomy yesterday. As I was bitching about having one boob re-squished in the mammo vice, she was having her breast cut off. She'll start chemo soon. What in the world is going on with our boobs?




It seems like every time I turn around, another friend is being striken by this terrible disease. I can't help but wonder if there isn't something environmental that's putting us all at risk. Myself? I pop tomoxifen pill everyday to reduce my chances.

So, once again, ladies, I urge you....GO GET SMOOSHED!

Good News All Around

How does a girl relax after a very stressful weekend, you might ask?

First, she drops her full-of-mischief child off a daycare and goes to work. Embroils herself in a few of her cases, giving her a semblance that her life is normal. Then, she goes and has a follow up mammogram. But, not just any follow up mammogram, mind you. I scored the jackpot....DOUBLE SONOGRAM...BOTH SIDES!! Woohoo! Let the gel squirting begin!

As some may know, I have calcifications in my boobs (really, they're way deep inside, near the rib bones) that give the radiologists fits. Apparently, dead cells can sometimes calcify, and then the body naturally expels them. (Interestingly, it has nothing to do with the amount of calcium in your body! Go figure.) Anyway, sometimes the little buggers start clumping together, having a party. When that happens, the Rads get all concerned. Clumping means the body really can't expel them and they can turn into the precursors to breast cancer. At least that's how I understand it all.

Anyway, the radiologist who read my first mammo from last week thought it looked suspicious (vs. the Dr who looked at it today), so they ordered up a followup mammo (just one side thank god) and a dual-sided sonogram. Anyway, after a lovely 20 minutes in a darkened room with just me, the tech, and a big bottle of gel, they believe its a big fat nothing. But to be safe, come back again in 6 months. Hmm, I wonder if I can con another sonno out of them?

In other good news, it is with great joy, that I am adding the blog: The Vachina Monologues, to the "On the Move" section. The poor woman has been floundering in the Cool Single Moms section as she awaited her referral. Now, she's got it and leaves in 2 days. If you want to follow a happy story, i suggest you click in on her corner of the world to snoop.

So, it appears my life is approaching some semblance of normalcy again...which only means I should prepare myself for the next shoe to drop! Hmm, wonder what the over/under is on when that will happen?

Only time will tell. For right now, I'm reveling in my little piece of normal!

'Night all!

Thank God it Will Soon Be Monday! TGIM?

I took Friday off and spent it at my parent's house, organizing all of their crap. Imagine if you will 3 years worth of mail, including the junk mail, strewn about. Then add in a few legal files and viola...what do you have? A big fat mess.

My purpose for taking off was helping my dad with his taxes...that he has failed to file since 2005. Its not such a big deal for 2006 or 2007, as he had basically no income. However in 2008, he's had big capital gains. If he fails to file and pay that by this April 15, interest and penalties will mount up REALLY fast. Problem was, I couldn't even get started on 2006 until all the junk was sorted through. All of this was done to the tune of a BLARING television, as both my parents are half deaf. Too bad the Bush administration didn't add blaring TV to their various and sundry forms of torture. I can tell you from first hand experience, the prisoners would have cracked and spilled their guts, and said ANYTHING to get the noise to stop.

Anyway, 2006 is now done and ready for the CPA. Guess I'll try to do 2007 in the next couple of weeks. That way, 2008 will be on time. Yippee!

In other news, we've taken the car from my mother, due to her age. What do I discover when I get to their house today? My father has gone out frickin car shopping!

I. Lost. My. Mind.

Luckily, no car was bought and they have deigned to wait (for the moment) to allow me to find someone to drive my mom a couple days a week. I'm searching to hire someone who will drive her to the grocery store, the beauty shop, Kmart, the drug store, and just out for a drive. I figure that service has got to exist! Let's hope that they remember that they said they would wait, and my crazy father doesn't buy a new car during the week. Until this arranged and they're happy with it, i'll have a pit in my stomach imagining all kinds of dire consequences . Just what I need, more stress.

Meanwhile, T witnessed how upset I was and the following took place:

T comes up and sits next to me, hugging me asking,

T: "Are you sad Mama?"
Me: Yes baby, Grandma and Grandpa are making me really sad

T: I'll make you happy Mama (with a big smile on her face and a hug for me)
Me: Now you, always make me happy every day of the week, baby

T: (then out of the blue) I'm your family

Mission accomplished. I was a puddle at her feet. Wow, the amazing powers of my Daughter's hug, smile and kind words. Made me want to cry all the more, but for better reasons :) As I've said before... God, I love this kid! However, I can't wait to get to work and relax!

What the hell does that say about my life?

Now you understand my new saying....TGIM!

More Ham

If T isn't dressing up in her princess clothes, she's dressing up in them AND my nightshirts...which is what she's been doing tonight.

Enjoy!




Dot has been in Pensacola this week, and should return sometime today. We're happy about that. T has been going around all week saying, "I miss Dotty" in the most dramatic and pathetic of ways.

CDC Update

So, it appears that T is getting over this stupid virus..."the mumps that are not mumps". Faux mumps, if you will. Or, perhaps pseudo-mumps. Actually, since it was only on one side, not both sides of her throat/jaw, I supposed it's more accurate to call the disease the "Faux-Mump". Singular. Whatever this ridiculous affliction is called, it seems to be healing. You can no longer see the swelling at all, and can barely feel it with your finger.


Needless to say, "mum" was the word to the daycare. How on God's green earth I could ever explain to them the Faux-Mump and how its nothing? Jeez, they ban T from the place anytime she's got a snotty nose, who knows what they'd do if they got wind of this!


So, I've had a nice few restful days at work. I need to get my down time in, as Lord know's what T will come up with this weekend.

Money in the Bank

Should I ever lose my gov't job, I learned today that I have a back-up plan and didn't even know it. As I walked T into school today, one of the directors of the YWCA asked me if I'd ever seen their video. Huh? What video? Apparently about a year ago, they made a video of their various endeavors, one of which is T's daycare. The director said that T is all over it, and everytime they play it, all the potential contributors become putty in their hands, commenting how cute T is. She says that T is the best fundraiser the school has ever had, and thanked me for letting them film her.

I have no idea what she's doing on the video, but if the pics I take of her at home are any indication, I'm sure she's posing and hamming it up all over the place.

See? Like I said...money in the bank!

She's just too sweet!

Sometimes T kills me with how absolutely sweet she is. The things she says...the way she phrases things...her sweet little voice...her actions while speaking.


Tonight I asked to look at her ear/jaw and asked if it hurt. She said yes. So I asked, what does it feel like?

"The ants are pushing the rock out and it hurts. They're pushing like this, with both hands"...as she holds her hands out like stop signs.

That is a verbatim quote. T often speaks of aches and pains in terms of insects. If some part of her body falls asleep, she says, "I have ants in my feet" "I have ants in my tushie". Or for a stomache ache or hunger pains...I have bugs in my tummy.

This new description is actually genious in my book. (Yet, isn't everything she does genious in my book?) Anyway, it DOES feel like there's a rock below/behind her ear from the "mumps that are not mumps".

She just got a dose of motrin, to help stop the ants pushing.

God, I love this kid!

Its a Conspiracy

Does anyone else out there think that their kid is conspiring against them... in all kinds of ways? I know mine is, I've been reviewing, and everytime that I have a free momma play day (i.e. when I'm off of work yet the daycare is open) in the last few months, T has been sick. Hmmm. Do you think that she's saving it up for just those days? I'm beginning to suspect that she does!

Today, instead of going to school, I took T to the doc for further inspection of her "mumps that are not mumps". Doc took a look and concurred with the ER's opinion. She also, though, drew some blood to check out T's white cell count, to make sure that she doesn't have an infection in her gland that could be causing the swelling.

Luckily, T's white cell count was in the normal range, but high in the normal range. Doc said all the other numbers were normal as well. At least now, though, I have tangible proof that nothing more is going on. So, doc said that its likely a virus that is causing this, similar to the mumps but not the mumps. Not contagious, and T can go to school tomorrow. We're to watch it for the next 5 days, and report back next week.

So, we're at home. My plans of getting lots done today have been flushed down the toilet. Instead, its a day of cartoons, games, hopefully a couple hours of naps.

Once again, the life of a mom.

...the rest of the story...

...so we came home from the ER, and T went in for a nap. Upon awakening, she's her usual self...just full of beans.

As an aside, last night we were at "The Computer Store", aka Office Max, and picked up a little 3-yr-old workbook that concentrates on letters. Now don't get us wrong, we're not one of those families that insists that every single situation on the face of the earth that my child encounters be turned into a "learning experience". God forbid. But, we saw this sesame street book and the school does say we should practice letters, so picked it up on a whim.

Well, T is having lots of fun with it. Not so much the writing of letters. She enjoys more the sections where you circle two of the three items that starts with the appropriate letter. She's also enjoying coloring. Who would have thought?
Anyway, back to the story. As we're headed out the door to the ER this morning, my sister Dot says that by the way, my surprise bday party was going to be this evening. Everyone was meeting at PF Changs at Mary Brickell Park to celebrate. It was supposed to be a surprise, but she figured she better tell me given T's situation.

Since the docs were insisting that there was really not much wrong with T, we left the decision up to her. Did she want to go out to dinner and see all our friends or stay home and watch movies? Once she heard it was a chinese restaurant, there was no stopping her. She even insisted on wearing her chinese dress that she had been slated to wear to the FCC chinese new year celebration that we missed due to that week of fever.

Dinner was great, and T was acting her normal self. I think even that the swelling is down some. Here's T and my sissy Dot playing with the fountains as we wait for the valet. T thought it was great fun to stick her fingers in it.

So ends our crazy day. From the ER to fancy chinese silks...all in the same day.

This kid is killing me!

What Now?

Well, we woke up this morning to the side of T's face swollen, under her right ear around her jaw. You can see it, but of course, not in the pictures. Have no idea what this is, so we're off to Miami Children's hospital to check it out. Fever is 99.4...which could be a fevor or not, as children tend to run hot.

She seems in good spirits and was having a ball playing with Sophie and Nick last night at hair cutting. Hopefully, it will be nothing.

We're off...

UPDATE:

>
Well, they say its like the mumps but not the mumps, since she's been vaccinated, but the symptoms are pretty much the same, yet less severe. Basically, it s a virus that needs to run its course. If the swelling gets worse, or if she has a fever, we'll be going back to the ER. Otherwise, we'll follow up with the pediatrician next week. They believe that she can go to school on Monday, as long as she's not worse.

Boy, its always something with these kids.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

We hope everybody has a very happy Valentine's Day weekend. T had a party at school, and came home with an envelope full of candy and cards, from all her classmates. She reports that she had a really good time. I'm thrilled that its a long weekend. Maybe I can get some stuff done.

Don't have much planned other than the usual weekend errands: haircutting on Saturday, try and get my oil changed in my car, take my mom for a drive, trying to help my Dad do his taxes on Monday. Dot is here this weekend, but will go home on Sunday since she has another god-awful early flight to Pensacola on Monday morning.

Meanwhile, here's a little friendly reminder....Don't forget to get your yearly mammograms, ladies. I just got mine. Like I always say, Nothing like having your boobs smashed in a vice of cold hard plastic and steel, to start the Valentines Weekend off right!

Just do it!

WE'RE IN !!!!

We got home today to find a letter waiting in the mailbox from the school:

"Welcome! We want to inform you that your child has been accepted to our school"

YIPPPPPEEEEEEEE

So, we start in August, Taylor will officially be starting school. I can't believe that I just typed that...for real. She'll be wearing a uniform and everything. We're very excited. I can't believe that the time is here already. I'm certain that the next 6 months will just fly by. I'm also certain given my precarious emotional state on entrance exam day, I'll be a basket case.

So, its a good thing we're getting in our disney trips sooner rather than later. Starting in August, we'll only be able to go when the hordes of other families are there...during school vacations. Lord, help us!

A Wink of Encouragement for a Friend

T's back into her dress-up mode. She's been changing her outfit and accessories all night. I told her my friend Anita is feeling bad, and told her I wanted to take a picture of her to send to my friend. She scurried off to her room, slammed the door, only to emerge as you see. She then proceeded to prance around the house, posing for photos.
She then insisted on a costume change.
Anyway, both T and I hope Anita gets through the coming months as painlessly and as easily as possible. She is one of the strongest women I know, and I know if anyone can wage this fight successfully, she can!

We'll be praying for her everyday.

Here's her site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/anitagay

She needs all the prayers we can muster.

The Party is Shaping Up!

Are these the cutest little aprons or what? They even have rhinestones on them. Found them online, and bought them for the birthday party. I'll give them out as favors for the little girls. For just a dollar or so less, the restaurant was willing to sell me some cheap, ugly white ones. So, having found these adorable things, I've been in search for some aprons for the little boys with a pirate theme.

Ceci turned me on to Etsy, which is a website where all sorts of people gather to sell their handmade items. A quick search turned up this cute little number. I counldn't be more thrilled. The lady is sewing up some more as we speak, and I should get them in a week or two.

Now, all I need is for the invitations to arrive, and we're set!

Everything's done. Yippee!!!

Excitement is brewing in the Air...

...yep, don't tell T, but we're planning the year's first Disney trip. First week in April, before all the other kids get out on spring break. Hopefully, the parks won't be that crowded. We're staying this time at the All Star Movies, as there is a Toy Story section we hope to stay in. That will be a first for us at this hotel. We'll be heading out on Sunday, March 29, the day after T's Princess and Pirate birthday party, and will be there for the week.



New at the parks this time, we scored a lunch rez at Canada in Epcot. That's a first for us. Rumor has it the food is fab, and we've never before gotten a rez. All they had this time was lunch. But, there's more! Also...brace yourselves....I've booked an appointment for T at ....the Bippity Boppity Boutique. The one located in Cinderella's Castle, no less. Of course, I booked the cheapest package. KA-CHING again!



For those not in the know, its a beauty shop for little girls. It gives them an updo hairdo with crown, special sparkle makeup, and if you spring for it, a princess dress. Needless to say, T will be wearing one of her million princess dresses to the appointment, so all she needs is the glam! I've cleverly booked a morning appointment, so that she'll be glammed up the whole day. Now, I'm searching for a princess dinner, to make the day complete. I hope she won't balk at taking a bath that night, when she realizes all her princess glitter will be going down the drain. Ah well, she's gotta learn these tough life lessons sometime.

Driving Miss Gerry

Today we've done a lot of driving around...literally. Dot is off to Cleveland Ohio for work today, and won't return until Thursday. Let's hope she doesn't freeze up there! T and I took Leonor over to my mom's house, then took my mom out for a drive, to get her out of the house. Then, we went off to a park for T to run around (that speck in pink shirt on the far side of the park is T), and now we're home.

We're busy making Valentines day Easter Egg cupcakes. What's that? I bought this pan that has 6 easter egg areas in it, similar to a cupcake pan but not. Never used it. The cakes are valentines, b/c they come with red prinkles you put in the batter, to make red dots in the cake. It will be interesting to see if they turn out, or if I, as usual, manage to screw it up. Problem is that nothing tells me how long to cook the thing, as its not a standard sized pan. Longer than a cupcake for sure, but how long???

OOOOOOPs.....Quick little looksee into the oven 10 minutes into this extravaganza reveals I probably shouldn't have filled the dumb sections up all the way. They're now kind of running together. Good thing I put a pan under the pan, just in case!

No fears, isn't there a saying to the effect of, "God looks out for children, idiots and morons?" If so, Somebody was looking out for me in the kitchen today. They've come out perfectly! At least, they appear to have, before we eat them. Who knows if they're done all the way through. That really doesn't matter, anyway, as T only licks the frosting off!

Success

Silly Dinner Fun

Having determined that we won't be pinching our last penny to go to school, we went out to Nordstorm's for dinner to celebrate. First pic is of our picture that we colored. T colored the blue and yellow, and I colored the green and red. After I took a picture of that with my phone, Taylor wanted to take pictures of each other making funny faces.

Here's the results....
T took this one iwth my telephone. Other than the idiotic face, its actually a good picture! Don't know if it was dumb luck or not, but my face is centered and everything. When she was taking it, I figured the result would be a wierd picture of a cheekbone, or perhaps my left eye.
Here's T making a silly face. See that puffiness under her eyes, especially her left one? It was also slightly teary. I hope she's not getting pink eye.

That's all we'd need.

Gotta go, just ordered Momma Mia from pay-per-view

Piece of Cake!!!

WE (or I should say "I") SURVIVED...barely!!!!!

(This pic has nothing to do with the post...its just her fav pj's from this morning...and a corn chip!)

We got to the school right on time, and it was NOTHING like I was anticipating. It wasn't a one-on-one appointment. Lots of people were there. There were tables lined up where all the families checked in. You had to provide a copy of their birth certificate and immunization forms. I was obsessing so much re the other forms, that I forgot the stupid medical forms.

Since I haven't gotten T's Florida Certificate of Foreign Birth yet, I brought every piece of paper I had. Her Chinese birth certificate, her adoption certificate, her citizenship papers, and other things. As I dealt with that, Dot sat with T to the side and actually met the principal, who sat and spoke with T for a while, administering an impromptu pop-quiz. After some confusion about the Chinese paperwork, T went in for her test.

Dot and I weren't allowed in with her. The teachers all said that our presence would distract her. So, Dot and I sat outside on pins and needles. I must admit that we were both tearing up some, at the slap-in-the-face-realization that our baby is starting school. How the hell did this happen so quickly????

T came out of the room with the teacher about 15 minutes later, who reported that she did extremely well. The teach said and I quote...."She really knows alot of things already". Music to my ears! As we were waiting, we saw another apparently-single mom with an Asian child. I'm bummed that this child looked to be going into Kindergarden, not Pre-K 4. I would have liked T and this little girl to be in the same class. I also saw another Asian family, who's daughter looked T's age. So I was thrilled.

Meanwhile, I had a HUGE scare. After the test we went into a meet and greet area, where I was speaking to a teacher and getting information on aftercare...the most important thing to me. They hand me a pamphlet, wherein it appeared to me that the cost of aftercare was 125.00 per week! WHAT! Aftercare tuition of 500 a month, which is more than the tuition for the regular school session????

I was ready to throw up at the thought of paying over 1,000.00 per month for school...before all the other costs and fees they hit you up for. That just wasn't in my budget. So, in my shocked state, I think I only 1/2 listened to whatever the lady was blabbing on about. I was doing calculations in my head...if we cut out all vacations and cut out all target and bookstore runs...if we cut out eating out...if I stop my deferred compensation...if I raise my dependents so that they take out less for income taxes...if i get a raise in november. My head was SPINNING!!

Literally, I was ready to cry...and throw up.

It took Dot and I like 10 minutes, reading over different sections of their assinine handout, to figure out that the rate is probably 125.00 per month. I'll be calling to confirm that on monday.

If I'm this stressed about her stupid elementary school, what the hell will I be like for high school and college??? Good lord.

So, its about 11:30 and we're back at home. I'm exhausted.

Oh yeah. The Priest?? No where to be found! This is looking like my kind of catholic school!

Emergency Religion Blitz

We're having a slight religious emergency here in Casa Gringa. Long-time readers of this blog may know that I was raised Catholic. Like most US Catholics, I tend to bend all the rules to suit my purpose. I figure God doesn't need me in church every sunday, moaning and groaning about my problems all the time. There are others who need His help more. I figure let them take up the old guys time. I just chime in every now and then, for something big. Figure I'm OK if I stick to minding the 10 commandments as much as possible. There's no commandment that says you must go to church on sunday, so I figure that's optional. Besides, didn't the scribes of that list tend to pray on Friday nights and Saturdays? Anyway, I digress.

The upshot of this is that by default, by daughter has only seen the inside of a church house 3 times in her young life. Only once, though, was for a full mass. The other two times were when we snuck in at Easter before the Easter egg hunt, pretending we'd been there all along. The one full time was her baptism. Now, that doesn't really bother me much, since I figure my God would never damn my girl to hell just b/c her mother's a lazy catholic. BUT....there's a certain appointment coming up this Saturday.

THE DAMN CATHOLIC SCHOOL INTERVIEW!!!!

It occurred to me, that perhaps T should be at least familiar with the sign of the cross, given that the dumb interview will be with the principal and THE PRIEST! Crap! So, like some religious zealot, I've been giving T a crash course in doing the sign of the cross. I've tried cheering to it, singing to it, comparing it to "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes", but not. You get the picture.

Hopefully, if they quiz her on this, she'll be somewhat familiar. I'm just hoping she doesn't rat me out with the priest ...like if the sneaky guy asks if she likes to go to church, with T responding, "What's that?"...with me turning red in the chair. Oy!

The upside of sticking her in Catholic school for a while, is that she can get all the religious guidance any kid could possibly need, and take her heathen mother off the hook. I remember from my days, they're always dragging those poor kids to mass during the school day. Hopefully, they won't sicken the kids to death of church like the did us. I've actually made a calculation...

If I add together the number of times I've been to mass during my school years and during that short time in college that Ceci and I started going, (hoping to meet a hot guy when we learned that you now hold hands during the Lord's Prayer), and compare that to how many Sunday's there are, I don't think I have to start going again until I'm in my sixties, with nothing better to do. I'm still working off a churchgoing-credit!!

So, please say a prayer that we (or I) survive this blasted interview!

An Arctic Blast

...has come to sunny South Florida. That's right, we're busy shivering in the ol' swamp town and have had to pull out our "winter" clothes. Luckily courtesy of Aunt Ceci, we have some. Here's T eating a piece of cheese, and modeling a jumper from the Gabriella S line of clothing. Thanks Gabs! We've even had to slide the switch on our A/C over to the "heat" cycle. Wow.

Its in the 30's - 40's at night, and in the 60's during the day. Brrrrr! If its this cold here, I feel really sorry for all of you up north. Don't know how you function in that weather.

Anyway, we're hoping that our beloved Aunt Ceci hasn't taken a page out of her dear friend's book, and broken/sprained her ankle. If she has to go non-weight-bearing for a couple months, I know first hand just how screwed she'll be. Let's hope its not bad.

Meanwhile, the country is going to hell in a handbasket, people are losing their jobs everyday, no one can find a reasonable mortgage b/c the banks are so scared to lend, and DC is squabbling over how to fix it all.

As for me? I'm sitting in clover!! I just received my big gambling winnings in the mail. That's right, me and a certain favorite family member made a little wager on the superbowl. I'm now the happy owner of a beautiful green bill with the father of our country gracing the front!

Where, oh where shall it spend it all?

Auntie is a Rolling Stone

Yep, Aunt Dot is on the move again. She was picked up at the UNGODLY hour of 5:15 a.m., to be driven to the airport. She's off to Pensacola, which is in North Florida in the panhandle. Some claims to fame?

• Being struck by a terrible hurricane in recent history, Ivan in 2004, in particular

Its the hometown of Joe Scarborough from Morning Joe, and

• I think home to a military base (or it used to be) although I'm not sure which service. I think the Air Force. The Blue Angels are there (or were at one point). Unknown if budgets have forced its closure.

Not much else.


So, we're back to giving Dot her daily fix of T. These pics were taken tonight. No, we didn't have gymnastics tonight, that was last night and worked our fairly well. T just wanted to wear her leotard again to play in, along with one of my scarves that she's having a grand old time with...in addition to the cardboard roll from a used up roll of wrapping paper. She's thrilled.

All those damned toys I got her for xmas? Not seeing much action right now. She seems to be preferring her made up/created toys. I need to keep that in mind in the future.


Yes, Aunt Dot, those are T's shoes and socks you see on the floor. I admit to being a little lax when you're not around. I figure they'll get to her room by the end of the night, though, so that's OK.

Not much else to report.

Ciao all!

Am I Weird?

I have a confession to make...I currently am madly and passionately in love with only 2 things at the moment...my daughter and my newly cleaned out closet! This picture of 8 bags full of crap is only 1/2 the stuff Leonor carted out of my house last night. The total was 17 huge garbage bags.

In my defense, some of the clothes were over 20 years old. I couldn't believe the stuff I was holding onto.

Anyway, Leonor takes it all to her church, which sends it to Ecuador, her country of origin. Dot and I laugh that her poor village is probably the best dressed in Ecuador
And viola! The finished product. My shelving system is the Elfa system from the container store. What's great about it is that its totally changable. We did some changing around of the shelves as well.

A closet one can walk into....

Shelves just waiting to be filled up again in the coming years....

Gorgeous!!
I can't tell you how liberating it is to have all the junk out of the house. I feel that an albatross has been lifted from my shoulders. Is it wierd that I can't keep myself from going into the closet and ogling the set up?

I tell you, if I had to choose today between (1) a date with a hot guy who digs me and (2) a cleaned out and organized closet...I'll choose the closet every time!