Mystery of the Vanishing Umbrella

For the last few days, my big 9 foot sun umbrella for the backyard has been missing. No sign of it anywhere. We figured someone came in and stole it. Odd, b/c nothing else was missing. Well, today the mystery is solved.

As I was assembling my new umbrella in the backyard, I caught a glimpse of cobalt blue through the fence. Yep, with all these rains lately, apparently the wind picked the thing up, and carried over my 7 foot fence. I found it broken and battered in the neighbor's yard, and just dragged it out to the trash heap.

In other news, my father's office is all packed up and their house is cleared out for the additional items we're moving from the office. Movers arrive at 9:00 a.m. this Saturday. Then, it will be OVER. Can't tell you what a relief that will be.

Meanwhile, I'm in search of one of those coverter boxes that converts analog to digital. My parents have 3 TV they use that don't have cable. Come 6/12, they'll no longer be working and they won't understand why. Last year, I sent away for a coupon for the things from the feds. Of course, who knows where they are now. Isn't that always the case?

T is doing well in swim class. We're concentrating on learning to kick. Rain expected all this week, so who knows how many classes we'll actually get to take.

That's it from here, hope you all are having a great weekend, and that great Aunt Connie's eye continues to heal from her catarac surgery.

Ciao, baby!

Success!! Swim Class!

Success! We were able to dodge raindrops enough today, to actually have swim class. Given the soggy weather, the other students failed to appear. All my talking to T about how this class would be different, and not one-on-one were for naught. The class was, in fact, one-on-one. The teacher worked on teaching T to kick and blow bubbles at the same time, and then later incorporate her arms.

I must admit that as well as T did in the classes last year, she definitely needs some practice on her swim technique. Tomorrow, we'll see if others show up. I'm very interested to see how she does in a class with other students.
Miss Amanda is her new teacher, and she seemed to enjoy herself.
Stay tuned for news from tomorrow.

Rain, Rain Go Away; Come Again Another Day!

Well, so much for all of our swim class preparations. The sky was black as night, thunder was rolling, lightning was striking, and swim class was cancelled.

We'll try again tomorrow, but I suspect we'll be in the same situation, just a different day. That seems to be the weather-story of our lives lately.

Meanwhile, T had another evaluation at school, and passed with flying colors. Now, we're just marking time until school starts in August.

Not much else to report. I've had insomnia lately, so I think I'll go take a nap.

ciao!

More Rain, Different Day

Yep, still raining here in sunny south florida. Went to the mall for lunch, and all three of us had a really crappy meal at Cheesecake f@ctory. Went to play games at G@meworks, and my money card wouldn't work. I think the magnet in my purse screwed it up. Came home hoping to splash in the pool, but the rain prevented it. See a theme here? Yep, it was a generall crappy day, but we did succeed in having a really good nap, so all was not lost.

So, instead of playing in the pool, we tried on bathing suits and coverups, to see which fit and which would not. T has an array of sizes, that I'm still waiting for her to grow into.

Swim class starts tomorrow...that is, if its not pouring rain at 5:00 p.m. We'll see how that goes.

Dodging Raindrops and Sprinkler Drops

Well, today we dodged raindrops that were sporadically falling throughout the day, and got alot accomplished. Went to Target where Dot insisted on getting a snowcone machine. I'll report later on whether or not that was a good purchase or not. Reminds me a bit of the Ronco items I spoke about the other day...in other words...it may be a piece of junk. We'll see.

Spent a few hours at my parents, purging crap from the upstairs bedrooms...making room for some stuff to go in. We then came home and played in the crazy caterpillar sprinkler and pool.

Target was having a sale on bathing suits, so we were able to pick a few up in anticipation of swim class that starts on Tuesday.
This will be a group swim class, not the one on one lessons of the past. Now that she's a big girl, she's in a big girl class! The suit you see here is one of the Target scores.

Is it cute or what???

Bought from the big girl section...size XS. Another that we bought with cut outs in the sides is too big, but the others fit pretty well, albeit a bit loosely in the booty. Boy oh boy do I wish I had that problem!

Rainy Days and Sundays

...its been raining quite a bit in our neck of the woods. I mean big downpour type of rain. Since its so dry right now and there's a drought going on, no one can complain even though they'd like to . Anyway, things are coming along nicely at the moment.

Operation Office Closure is in full swing. On Friday, Leonor and I worked like dogs in the office...which had not been cleaned in about 30 years. Oy. Anyway, the furniture that we're moving to my parents' house cleaned up nicely. I think I finally have my dad convinced to close it. He's been balking. Just can't seem to admit that he is retired. Anyway, I have the green light to arrange for movers, which will happen on Saturday, 6/6. This coming saturday, we'll be back down there doing the final pack up, then at my parents doing a final clearout.

On Saturday, it was still raining throughout the day, so we just ran errands. T was very bummed that she didn't get to go in her pool. So, we had a nice slow day watching movies.

On Sunday, we have no plans so far. Dot has been talking up the childrens museum...really she just menioned it once or twice and that was enough for T. That's all t has been talking about. On both fri and tonight as we went to bed, she kept asking if we'd get to go tomorrow. The child has a mind like a steel trap. Doesn't forget a thing.

Oh, T's "gym clothes" came for the upcoming school year. She looks like a riot in them. Stand by for pics.

A Day at the Dentist

Today was a momentous day....T had her first dental appointment. She survived it with flying colors and claims that she had fun at the dentist. They cleaned her teeth, took xrays, put a little polish on them, and admonished us to floss more.

No cavaties. Not one tear was shed. SUCCESS!!

I then took her to school and went charging up to my mom's house, to take her to the bank and the ear doctor. Here's a question for everyone....

What is the one thing that basically happens to everyone as they age? Yes, that's right, they lose their hearing.

What is the one thing that is not covered at all by medicare? Yes, that's right, a hearing aid.

Bastards.

I, of course, blame Bush. Whether in fact its his fault, matters not. Since he screwed up the prescription medicine issues so much, that I lay blame with him for everything.

Now for a short lesson in hearing aids:

My mother needs two, but we're just going to get one for now, to see how she likes it. Doc said that is she was still working and it was important to have perfect hearing, she'd recommend the two. However, my mom's retired, and basically talks to my dad or watches TV all day. No need for perfect hearing. One will be enough.

For the simplest unit available that needs no adjustment, cleaning or anything...just stick in your ear and go, its 1,200.00. Luckily, batteries are free for the life of the thing, which is a good thing, as they last only about 7 - 10 days. Also luckily in Florida, since we're one of the retirement capitals of the country, there is mandated a 60-day trial period, during which you can adjust it, change to another machine, etc, to make sure you get one that works best for you. If you decline the machine w/n the 60 day period, you're out only 150.00. Gee, Fla. legislature did something right for a change.

Technical Difficulties

I was freaking last night b/c all of a sudden I was getting thrown out of my website, with a message that "Internet explorer could not support...abort". Yikes. Found that I could look at some blogs, but not my own. Then it happened with a few other blogs on a seemingly random basis.



This morning I went to the blogger website, and I think I found the answer in the help forum. It suggested deleting the followers widget. I just did that, and it now appears to work fine.



To all of T's loyal followers...all 8 of you...apologies for deleting you out, and thank you for caring enough to sign up as a follower.



If anyone notices any continued problems, please email me at carann65@aol.com

Miscellaneous Nothings

Taylor is busy eating dinner....a ham and cheese sandwich....with catsup. All I can say is Yuck.

Tomorrow is doctor day. T has her first dental appointment in the a.m., and my mom has a hearing appt in the p.m.

Friday starts operation office closure. Leonor and I will spend the day in my dad's office, getting ready to move out and shut it down. On either Sat or Sun, we need to spend a bit of time at their house, getting the downstairs ready, if I don't have time to do that tomorrow. Then I'm actually hoping that I can arrange the movers next saturday...the 30th. That would save him a months rent. We'll see.

Other than that, no plans for the long weekend. Guess we'll take it slow. I've come to crave slow, lately.

Anyway, hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Mine's already started...

The Little Stinker

As I turn out the lights last night to go to bed, I noticed this....T had pulled every princess dress, costume, swim suit, and blanket and misc dolls and toys all out of their spot and threw them all on the floor. Since it was so late, I told her that she'd have to put them away after school tomorrow.

We get home, and she half-heartedly began cleaning up. I told her that there would be no TV until it was all cleaned up, and came out to sit in the living room and troll the web.

Next thing I know, T is asking to brush her teeth. Sensing a diversion, I never the less agreed, as we're trying to promote good dental hygiene, especially since we have a dental appointment on thursday. I hear the water and all the appropriate noises, then an odd shushing sound. I ask what she's doing, and she replies, "nothing". I go to investigate and what do if find????

T is in the bathtub, fully clothed, playing with her mermaid waterfall toy. Seems that the toothbrushing was indeed just a ploy to get her out of her bedroom, and into the bathroom. I really do admire her creativity!

Little Mermaid, you're the one....

You make bathtime, lots of fun...


Taylor is currently in bathtime heaven. I don't think she's ever coming out. I picked up this little number at target today, and T is currently in the tub having the time of her life.

Boy I miss the days when the perfect toy would make everything right in the world!

You should see the one that got away...

She's a Fisherman!

One of the fondest memories I have of my grandfather (amoung many) are the days he spent in the backyard of my house, teaching me how to cast a fishing pole. Got so good I could cast that thing the length of the whole yard and out into the street. While shopping around in target, I noticed little 3 ft fishing poles for kids. T now has a spongebob one. Instead of a hook on the end, there's a little rubber plankton.

I'm happy to say that I haven't lost my touch. Took the thing, casted it across the living room and reeled it in. T got so excited seeing this she couldn't stand it. I'm just thrilled the thing works. I'm still slightly traumatized by the ronco Pocket Fisherman. I saved and saved for that thing and finally got one. Took it to the canal, and never could figure out how to cast the hook out. Huge bummer....on the heels of the ronco glass and bottle cutter that I bought that was a piece of junk. Anyway, I digress.

T has now put on her suit, and is about to incorporate her fishing pole into her blow up pool fun.

She's lovin' life!

Friday Fun

This evening Aunt Dot came over and T and I took her to our new fav restaurant. We all had some sinfully delicious dishes. Not sure how long we can keep coming here, as it looks like its going to be very popular. We got there early, so got a table. By the time 6:00 p.m. rolled around, there was a wait.
T, who is used to the Nordstom Cafe and the fact that she gets chocolate mints after dinner, started asking for her chocolate when she was finished. Luckily, Dot had some chocolate courtesy of sweet Aunt Connie, and T was thrilled. Eye's lit up and I could barely get her to pose for this picture. If one looks closely, you'll see the remnants of the first piece that she dug into on the table. This picture is with her mouth full with the first piece and a pose with the 2nd.
The other reason T likes this restaurant, is that the kids meals come with a yummy strawberry popsicle. The good kind...make with the real stuff. Mom likes it because T never finishes the thing, and mom can get some really good licks in, too!

New Restaurant in Town

Yippee! I'm thrilled to report that there's a new restaurant at the Merrick Park mall, that's kid-friendly and delicious: Yard House.

http://www.yardhouse.com/

Apparently, their claim to fame is 130 different taps at the bar. Since I'm no beer drinker, I couldn't have cared less. They do, though, serve some good bottled cider. T had her coveted chicken fingers and fries, and I had a chopped salad and some sliders (those tiny hamburgers). They were delicious. Best part of it all is that there were lots of leftovers.

In other news, T starts swim class this summer on the 26th. This is a group swim class, that lasts 30 minutes. It will be fun to see how she does.

My Crazy Kid

Last night T slept in her own room....all through the night. She announced to me that she wanted to sleep "all by myself". I was thrilled to hear that. Then, she completed the sentence with the following words: "in my new bed".

Huh? Since I know I haven't purchased any new beds, I didn't know what she was talking about. T took me by the hand, and led me into her room, where she showed me her "new bed". She had created a bed in the closet, using all the covers from her bed, and a few more. Thinking I was being particularly clever, I told her sure, you can sleep there. I figured that as soon as I turned out the lights, she'd be out like a flash and back in with me in my bed. Well, she called my bluff.

The child proceeded to sleep the whole night, half in and half out of the closet, as you can see from the picture, which was taken first thing this morning, when I woke up and was shoked to realize T was still in there asleep.

We'll see what happens tonight.

My School Girl

Here she is, debuting this seasons most fashionable of catholic schoolgirl wear.
I was thrilled that the pants run small in the waist, and the size 4 fits her perfectly. Yippee! No flooding pants! The little skort is a size 3 and a little big in the waist, so she has room to grow. We also bought the polo shirt that you see her wearing in the light blue color, to mix and match. We have to special order the jumper and shirt for underneath it in a size 2, as neither the store keeps it in stock in that size, nor can you buy it online in that size...but they do make it!

I couldn't resist the cute headband and she has a cardigan sweater for the cold Miami winters...all 3 days of them.

So, we're pretty much set for the upcoming school year. Mission Accomplished!

My Little Mermaid

We spent the day running errands, the biggest of which is that we bought some uniform pieces for T. Tried on all the things so that I can order them online in the future. I wanted to buy some now, so I don't have to shell out the $$ in August, when I'm also paying tuition and books. Anyway, she looks so stinkin cute in it all that I can't stand it. Stand by for some pics.

We then went to my parents to do some errands there, then came home to play in the pool.

T insisted that her bathtub buddies...2 mermaid dolls and an ariel barbie doll that has no business in the water, but T insists. She played for a good hour or more, until I chased her back inside. W

Taylor's New Uniform

Introducing T's new school uniform that she'll be wearing come August. I think each item will also be embroidered with the school emblem. I was thrilled to see that they come in really small sizes, so they may actually fit. I was less than thrilled to see the price of the things. Yikes. I went on the site to find out what they look like and the price range. Good thing I did, as I have some saving to do.

On another note, I called the school to mail me their tentative schedule for the upcoming year, so that I can get on a waiting list at the daycare. Plan is to stick T back in the daycare on all the days that they get out early or don't have school. I've been kissing up to the director to help facilitate this. So, it appears that I'll be safe for the coming year. However, what I'll do in the next years I have no idea. Guess I'll have to either make friends with some family at the school, and find a summer camp, as she'd be too old to return to the daycare after Kindergarden.

Ah well, ...the life of a mother....just one big logistical nightmare!

The New Survivor Series

I received this email today, and at first thought it was true and a good idea...and then realized it MUST be a joke!

THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of 'pretend' bills with not enough money.

In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time--no Emailing.

Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the A & E.

He must also make biscuits or cakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily,adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.

They will need to read a book to the kids each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 8:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labour, each child's favourite colour, middle name, favourite snack, favourite song, favourite drink, favourite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

All the above must be completed whilst working in either full time (preferably) or part time employment to assist in the financial input for the family.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right To be called Mum!

After you get done laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a laugh out of it and as many men as you think can handle it!

Just don't send it back to me....

Medical Update

So, yesterday we went to two appointments for my mom. First, we went to the Ear Doctor, who cleaned out her other ear and administered a hearing test. As we all knew, she can't hear worth a damn, and needs a hearing aid. In fact, she needs two. I'll be making an appointment in the future to have her fitted for them.

2nd, we had her appointment with the neurologist. Turns out she doesn't have any epilepsy, based on the 24 hour EEG test of a few weeks ago. That's a relief. Now, the doc wants her to go get, what I understood to be, an MRI of her brain that either measures or traces (or both ) the blood flow in her brain. This new test tries to figure out why she had a stroke and I guess the liklihood of another, and what could be done to prevent it. Who knows. Anyway, this new test is only given on mondays at the hospital. I'm thinking of scheduling both appointments for the same day, but don't know if either my mom or I would be able to do them both and have me keep my sanity.

Meanwhile, can I just say that I hate doctor appointments? BOTH prima donna doctors were running about an hour late from the scheduled appointment time. I wouldn't have minded, except my mom has no patience. She has no where to go and no where she has to be, yet the whole time we're there, she's saying to me, "lets come back another day", or "I want to go home", or similar statements.

Driving.Me.Crazy. AAARRRRGGGG!

Meanwhile, I made appointments for both me and T at the dentist. T has never been, and I haven't been in so long that its an embarassment. My doc administers laughing gas whenever he cleans your teeth, or really does anything. Nice, legal way to get high. I figure I'm due!

So, we'll see how things play out. Whatever happens, I'll be laughing real soon.

Cancer Awareness

We headed out to target late morning, and had lunch at Lime, a new mexican restaurant that opened at midtown. We also noticed that the Cancer Society was having a small cancer awareness festival. I thought that it was particularly appropriate to attend for a bit, given yesterday's main activity. All T cared about was the bouncehouse, of course, which was $1.00 for 15 minutes. Ingeneous way to raise money.

What you see in the first photo, is about 1/4 of the open space. There were booths at the other end, a stage with live band in the middle, and a dog show going on, as well. Again, T just cared about the bounce house. If you look closely, you can see her running across the field toward the camera, and then coming in for a landing on the sidewalk.


We then went on to target and came home, for a nice, relaxing day at home.

Nice!

Highs and Lows

Friday was a day of highs and lows...happiness and sadness.

The day started with the funeral of the wife of my dear friend and boss. It was a full police ceremony, with honor guard, flying helicoptors, and flag ceremony, and full mass. Pat was a very special lady. She was the first woman officer to rise in the ranks of the Miami Beach Police Department to the rank of Asst. Chief. She was a loving wife and good friend to many. I wish I had known her better. She died at the age of 58 of cancer. My heart broke for her husband, her brothers and sister, but especially for her mother. No one should have to bury their child...I don't care how old the child may be. May she rest in peace.

Anyway, we attended a great reception after the funeral at a bar on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Had a drink or two in Pat's honor, some yummy food, and came home and napped.

Then, the highs of the day...

Aunt Dot is back home and T and I couldn't be happier. We went out to Archie's for some Pizza, chicken wings, and greek salad. Yummy!

Our FCC friend Lori posted that her 4 yr old daughter Katie appears to be on the mend, and may be released from the hospital soon. The prayers of MANY have been answered with this good news.

Lastly, congrats to our cousin Andrew who is making his First Holy Communion today. He's the oldest son of my cousin Christopher, who has three boys. I suspect, like everyday, Erin and Chris will have their hands full today!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!