HAPPY HALLOWEEN

What fun we had tonight. T got all dressed up and I again attempted her makeup. Like last year, the left eye was much better than the right. I don't know how those face painters do it.

Anyway, we went over to my friend's house, and T got to trick or treat with a big group. She had a blast. None of the kids could walk either to or from any door. No, they had to run as fast as they possiblely could. ...with T right there with them.

Nick was Iron man and Sophia was Hermione, from Harry Potter.

T ran into an older girl with the same costume on. She was not thrilled to see another woman wearing the same dress. Too funny. Wouldn't even acknowledge the other girl.
This house had a really cool fountain, topped by these I'm not sure what...lions, dogs...

Reminded me, though, of the egyptian ruins, so I made T stop for a quick pic. Getting her to stop mid-run was a miracle in itself.

At the end of the night we stopped at a house that was going all out. Popcorn machine, bar b q hot dogs for everyone, punch, candy, and unfortunately loud spoooky music and guys dressed up hiding in bushes who would jump out to scare everyone. T was so scared she almost started crying, poor thing. She really is a fraidy cat at heart. So, that ended the night. We returned to marie's house, and then came home. T is now eating her candy.

Happy Halloween, everybody!

Pre-Halloween Mall Shopping

We were up bright and early to go to the mall this morning. Dot needed a new winter coat, since she's spending so much time in Ohio and Idaho, where its frickin' freezing already in Oct. We down here aren't used to any real cold (40's) until at least Jan.

Plus, remember how proud I was of the fancy pants shoes I bought T for school? Figured I'd splurge a bit a get good ones? Well, the velcro has literally worn off (the spikey side), and the shoes fly off her feet when she's running, often tripping her up. They lasted from 9/20 to 10/30. I'll be testing out Nordstrom's famous return policy with them quite soon. Meanwhile, we had to get new ones immediately, so we hit the old reliable striderite outlet. Broke my heart b/c they are not patent leather. Just old dull black.

While at the mall, we scored these cute halloween PJs at the gymboree outlet. $4.99. How could I resist, especially since they glow in the dark! T can't wait and insists on laying under the lights to speed up the glowing process. She's been in them since about 4:30 p.m.

We're again poised to watch Scared Shrekless again tonight, in its encore showing. The facepaint has been pulled out of the bowels of my closet, and we are so ready for tomorrow. Even I have a costume!

While at Burlington coat factory with Dot, I scored these fab xmas decorations.

I LOVE THEM.

I may go back tomorrow and get a few more things.

Meanwhile, I have grudgingly deigned to wait until next weekend before decorating for xmas. I so wanted to do it this weekend, but Dot put her foot down in protest. Sigh.

This little bit of holiday cheer is tiding me over. A small fix for the xmas addict.

God, I love this time of year!

Halloween at School

Miss Orange Pumpkin!

T was very excited with the idea that we were going to spray her hair with orange color and gold glitter.

It really did look kind of cool, better than these pics portray, in my humble opinion.


Below is a pic of the whole class. As you can see, the kids could dress up, but were limited to pumpkins, farmers, and angels. They then had a "harvest party". No details yet, as Dot wanted to go pick her up from school.

I'm interested in how well her costume and colored hair fared in aftercare. She usually comes home a sweaty, dirty mess.

Guess today it will be a sweaty, dirty, orange mess, right?

And the fun continues...

WHOOOPPEE! HALLOWEEN

The festivities have officially commenced. It all started when we returned home from school to find the mail. An official WHOOPPEE card arrived addressed to "Cleopatra Rose Taylor Jordan". We call cards with any amount of $$ in them Whooppee cards in this family, b/c my grandpaw Taylor always yelled "Whoooppeee!" when he received one!

T almost peed in her pants from the excitement.

Her joy increased when she found a halloween card inside the envelope, chock full 'o cash. Then, she discovered it was from her beloved Aunt Con Con. Here she is stashing the cash away in her wallet. She's already scheming about what she can buy. Thank you Aunt Connie! We're keeping this card, as it has written on it one of my Aunt's famous rhymes. She has always been the rhyming-est member of the family, bar none!

T then settled down to decorate the pumpkins we bought from publix last night. Yes, this is how those of us who live in a sweltering swamp decorate our pumpkins...with sharpies! Otherwise, you quickly have a rotting, maggot-invested, stinky mess. We are oh-so-jealous of our friends from the north around this time, who actually have seasons, and can carve their pumpkins a week or two before halloween, then put them out in their refrigerated front yard.

If any of your northerners are curious, take your pristine jacko, heat your oven to 100, and put it in there for a few days, and see what happens. For extra brave souls and the full effect, keep filling a pan with water, so its nice and humid, too. I promise you, it will be lots of fun ;)

So, we're all bathed and waiting for Scared Shrekless to start. Tomorrow T goes dressed as a pumpkin to school, as its their harvest party.

Wishing everyone a spooky halloween!

Weekend Photos

So, after weeks of not wanting to get out of bed and seeming to deteriorate, my mom on Saturday insisted upon getting up out of bed and sitting her wheelchair for quite a while. She sat out in the living room looking out the window. A good day after 2 or 3 weeks of bad.

My mom's older sister drove down from Broward for a visit, and to make a bet with my mom on football. Even my poor, demented mom had the very sage foresight NOT to pick the Dolphins. She gets to keep the quarter.

We're busy prepping for some real Halloween fun, so stand by!

Milestone to Note

T read her first book to dot and I on friday night. I bought the book "There was an old lady who swallowed a bat". Similar to the old story of the old lady swallowing a fly, but with a halloween theme.

I really don't think that she memorized the story after hearing it the first time, as she read the thing again, cold, tonight. Dot and I are thrilled. We're trying to convince her to bring it to grandma and grandpa's house to impress them and Aunt connie tomorrow.

We'll see. T rarely performs on my cue. She usualy balks.

My first book was in 1st grade: Green Eggs and ham, read to my Grandpaw Taylor, who was living with us at the time.

Do you remember what your first "real" book was?

Good Day

Today was a very good day. My mother was accepted into the Catholic Hospice Program. (Not a megga religious pgm, but they do supply priests and rabbis if you want it.) So, they delivered an oxygen machine and a backup portable oxygen tank this afternoon. The lift to help move my mom comes on monday. I believe that they may supply diapers. They will send someone everyday for an hour to assist Icolene with bathing.

If something goes wrong, they would supply a 24 hour critical care nurse, who would treat my mom in the house and stay 24 hours until she is stable again. That's in addition to Ico. they supply some drugs. A doctor will see her monthly, or more if necessary, in the home. Also a nurse.

What a relief. Plus, my mom was having a much better day today, and seemed more with it than when I've visited at lunch.

While we were there, the yardman broke a living room window with a rock his mower kicked up, so we'll be there again tomorrow, starting around 10:00 a.m., waiting for the company to come and fix the thing.

123 Update

Well, I don't think my mom is doing too well lately. As you all may remember, She had a mini-stroke in february, after recovering from her broken hip. While it was happening, she seemed to lose strength in her left side. She was not using her left arm, at all and cound not lift it up. Could only lift up her hand.

By the next morning, though, she had recovered quite a bit. It seems that in the last few weeks though, her health is deteriorating. She no longer uses her left hand or arm. To move it, she picks it up with her other hand and repositions it. Also, it seems that her left leg is seizing up, and she can't seem to straighten it out anymore.

Plus, we're battling bed sores. She got them when she broke her hip, and we were battling them for months. While in the nursing home, the one on her tailbone healed up, but not 100%. It always looked like it was threatening to reappear. Its starting to. Despite the pressure mattress we have. Despite the fact that Ico shifts her every few hours. Ico will shift her, but she'll shift back b/c she wants to lay in the one position to make her more comfortable.

The upshot of all of this, is that she can no longer assist in any way when transferring her to the wheelchair. She can't hold onto the aid at the waist, nor can she support a portion of her weight with her feet. The aide has asked for a lift to help transfer her. Ico also reported that her blood pressure seemed too low at one point last night.

Clearly, she needs to be seen by a doctor, but I'm very much afraid that we don't have the capacity to get her to her general practitioner anymore. I'm trying to find a doc who will come to the house. In my search, my friend who has a 102 yr old mother, recommended hospice services.

I always thought that hospice was for the last few weeks of life. It is, but its also more. Apparently, if one qualifies due to poor health, one can be in hospice care longterm. What that means, is that a doctor and nurse will periodically come to the house. They will also send someone to assist Ico with bathing and grooming. They will supply some supplies and equipment like a lift. They will help with pain management if that becomes an issue. If something goes wrong, we can call them and they will come to the house even if it is not one of the scheduled visits. I believe that most is covered by medicare.

So, we have an appt today at 11:00 am, for the nurse to come and evaluate my mom. I feel certain that she will qualify, especially since Mrs. Goldenberg did, and she's healthier at 102 than my mom.

The one good thing about it all, is that my mom does seem to be happy. Plus, I think its finally starting to sink into my 1/2 demented father that she's sick a sick lady. He's acknowledged twice that the world will be a different place without my mom in it, and he has to fight himself not to cry. That is huge. Knock on wood, and I pray I'm not jinxing things by typing this, but there have been no big problems with my dad since she's been home. Lets hope it continues.

Boring and peaceful used to be a hugely underestimated commodity by me.

No more!

Best Mom Ever

T announced tonight I'm the best mom ever. Why? B/c I said she could finish her dinner in the bath tub!

No, I haven't lost my mind, only 1/2 of it. T was coming up with every excuse in the book as to why she couldn't take a bath. Her last one was that she hadn't finished her dinner...that she hadn't touched for the last 15 - 20 minutes. So, I responded that she could finish it in the tub.

Oh.My.God. You'd have thought it was halloween, carnival, xmas and her birthday all wrapped up into one.

Of course, the thrill of it all rapidly wore off. But, she was in the tub!

Score one for me (for once) in the never ending "parent wars".

First School Project

Well, its begun T was assigned her first school project for social studies. In honor of hispanic heritage week, all the students were to make a poster of their heritage. Instructions said to include photos or information from where your ancestors are from. Of course, by default this was MY first school project. Luckily, I possess the artistic skill of your average 7 yr old, so I feel we'll get a good mark for this kindergarten project...despite the growing and shrinking letters!

Since T's heritage is mixed: Chinese by birth yet raised in an Irish-American household, we did a mixed board. You can't see it in the photo, but the Irish side (which is much diluted these days to really be non-existent), has a pic of me, Dotty, and my mom when Dot and I were off to Ireland in 2002. We're all holding Irish flags and shamrocks. Also displayed is a map of Ireland, and information from the Ellis Island website, from when my grandmother came through in 1920 at the age of 17.

The chinese side has a pic of me and T from when we were in China, a map of china, and some stickers of lanterns and a boy and girl dressed in traditional chinese dress. Written in the middle in chinese, is "Forever a Family".

Can I say that kids today have it too easy? Remember us? We'd have to go to the library, look through the Encyclopedia Britanica to find a map, then trace it on our notebook paper, and hand-write in the cities. Good lord, we might as well have been medieval monks making copies of manuscripts. Now, a quick google search, a click to print, and voila. Same works for the flags.

So, T will go dressed in a traditional chinese outfit on monday. I'll try and get some pics to share.

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

10/11/10 1st Daisy Meeting

Click here to view these pictures larger

Daisy meeting

Well, today was the big day. T's first daisy girl scout meeting. She was very excited to wear her uniform to school today. She was less excited when we got to school, and only one girl in the other class had on her uniform.

However, once at the meeting and seeing everyone else dressed the same, she was VERY happy.
Unfortunately, today was another yellow light for taylor. Something about playing when she should have been listening. So, I've upped the ante so to speak. We're now unplugged for 2 nights, for the one violation.

Meanwhile, another flyer came out from her class re lice. T was clean as of a few days ago when she had her last treatment, so I'm busy putting products in her hair, to keep her from getting them again.


Tonight's scout meeting was at 6:15 in the Scout House. The Scout House is an odd, triangular building on the school's campus. Judging by the decor, this thing has been on the campus since the late 60's, at least. What a blast from the past!

However, since it was such a lovely, cool evening, the girls went outside for a portion of the meeting. There are 9 girls so far in the troop. I can't imagine more. You'll note T facing the wrong way. She and Olivia were quite distracted by a flock of birds that were flying around. Clearly, holding the attention of a bunch of 5 and 6 yr olds was a huge feat, and our leader did a great job. This was her first ever scout meeting as a leader, and she did a great job. I'd have killed a few of the kids, who apparently don't know how to listen or behave. Though T wasn't the worst, I put her squarely in that category!

I spent the morning at the mall, and the afternoon lazing around the house. It was a WONDERFUL holiday. This is my fav holiday, as its one of the few where T is in school and I'm off. FAB!

Hope you all had a great day, as well.

Family Picnic

We started the weekend with dinner at the Merrick Park Norstrom, followed by a trip to the bookstore. So many books, so little time.

On Saturday, we basically ran errands. I also bought myself a new TV for my bedroom for 2 reasons: First, my old one was getting harder to see without my glasses on. I figured if I sized up, I could see it more easily while in bed. I was right! I'm now up to a size 32 inch in there. My eyes better not get worse too soon, as I can't imagine a larger one in there. I'm pushing it with this one, as it is.

Second reason was that Icolene, my mom's aid, had asked for a new one, and we want to keep her happy. I had an old analog TV in her room with a converter, and it was getting hardly any channels. I gave her my old one, which is digital. She's getting many more channels, now. Have to keep her happy. Apparently my dad was generally an SOB to her this week. He's turning into a cranky old man, who likes to hear himself complain and bitch about things. Sad, as he never used to be that way. Its his illness. So, I'm hoping that this made her happy.

On Sunday we had Taylor's school picnic. She had a blast. She spent at least 2 hours in the bounce houses that were set up. The rest of the time, she was busy on her scooter, learning to scoot better. She's getting quite good.

At one point, her love Daniel suddenly appeared on his scooter. He stopped, looked right at T, then took off again. T instantly took off after him, like a heat seeking missile. Her friend Nicole took off running after Taylor, and poor me took off after all 3 of them, trying to keep up as they went to the other side of the schoolyard. Oy.

While there, we discovered the face painting, so T and Nicole had to get in line, and Daniel was forgotten. Luckily for me, facepainting still trumps boys in kindergarten.

We hung out there until late afternoon, and are now home. T is asleep after her big day. I suspect she'll be awake later.

Tomorrow is a very important day. T goes to school, and I have the day off due to columbus day! Yippee! Its a mommy play-day. I have big plans to head to the mall. I'll pick T up late from aftercare, as we have our first Daisy girl scout meeting tomorrow night. T will be decked out in her uniform.

That's it for now. Hope you all had a great weekend.

School Picnic

The annual school picnic is today. We'll be headed out to it at 1:00. Should be some fun times, so stay tuned....

Happy Birthday Aunt Dottie

Apparently in honor of Dot's birthday today, T went to the trouble to bring home a yellow light again. Or more accurately, T got in trouble and brought home a yellow light.

2nd time this week.

I've quizzed her repeatedly and the details are fuzzy. Today's trouble revovled around T aiming and flicking some small bear that they were supposed to be making a pattern with, at the blue table across the room. Apparently the bear was small and hard, and just perfect for flinging across the room.

Taylor, Joey, Johnathon and Marcos all sat out recess in the classroom, along with Troy who had nothing to do with the bear, but didn't finish his work in time.

I hope T hasn't figured out that its sometimes more fun to hang out with the bad boys instead of going to recess this early in her scholastic career. It took her mom at least until the 4th or 5th grade to figure that one out!

So, we're all unplugged over here, doing penance.

Only a matter of time...

...before T came home with a "yellow light". The teacher has instituted a system to track each child's behavior, in a way that they can understand and comprehend. If they are good at school, they come home with a green light every day. So far, T has only had green lights.

If they misbehave, they get a yellow light.

If they are really bad, they get a red light.

T's light today was yellow. Her explanation is the Juan jose wouldn't stop playing with her when they were doing work at their desks. This caused me to launch into a little lecture about how Juan Jose is not in charge of her, and can't make her play if she doesn't agree. Only she is in charge of her behavior, and she made a bad decision to play with him at the wrong time.

She further tried to justify her behavior by claiming that Juan Jose doesn't play with her on the playground, only the boys. So, my little girl apparently claimed her 5 minutes of fame with Juan Jose in a big way, and seized the opportunity to play, despite the inappropriate time.

So, there is no computer tonight for T, and we're busy writing a card to her teacher, saying she's sorry.

Such is the drama in the life of a big 5 and a half year old!

Busy Sunday

Well, T and I have had a busy Sunday. We woke up and went off to Joanns Fabrics, in search of a particular shade of thread. Since I was sewing, T wanted to sew. So, I got her a couple little kid craft kits and some felt for her to sew. We return to our van with our purchases, open the door, and find black ants crawling all inside the van around t's seat. Tons of them.

What the hell is it with us and bugs? We were infested with fleas about a year ago despite no pet ever crossing the threashold of this house, T's head became infested with lice last week, and now my car with black ants. Luckily, I had some OFF bug repellant in the van, and that killed the things.

Came home and broke out my sewing machine. I Looked at it. Plugged it in, and promptly realized I don't even know how to thread the damn thing. I'll have to read up on the book that came with it.

I hand-sewed the numbers on T's girlscout vest, and then cleaned out the closets. T is becoming such a big girl and her clothes are getting longer. Had to take a row of baskets out of her closet to make more room. Also getting rid of a bunch of clothes she has outgrown and worn out.

How Did This Happen?

I keep viewing my big girl Daisy scout, and can't help but wonder how the hell she's growing up so fast? ...which got me started looking at her baby pictures. So, for your viewing pleasure, Taylor Jordan: Then and Now

Crazy for Daisies

ATTENNNN-TION!

On my honor...











I will try...













To serve God, my country, and mankind...












and to live by the Girl Scout rules.

Introducing....


Troup 275 Daisy Scout
Taylor Jordan!