DISASTER STRIKES AGAIN...

Gee, what could it be this time? Today at approx 1:30 p.m., I put T in bed, and she asked for a pillow. I picked it up, leaned over her to put it on the other side of her, AND THREW OUT MY BACK.

I'm so upset I can't tell you. I can't stand or walk very well. Luckily, I can sit in the glider and type on the computer. Dot was here, and she's spending the night, going to take T to school and pick her up tomorrow.

Please say a prayer that it eases up in the next day or so. However, I don't think that it will. Therefore, say a prayer that it eases up for my trial on 11/17. At least well enough so that I'm mobile and can sit at the table during trial to assist my partner.

This is a disaster.

Nertz's Bicycle?

All the time growing up, my mother and her sisters would come up with some odd expressions. One of the most memorable of the odd expressions was...."That's as bad as Nertz's Bicycle" or, "You know what that looks like? Nertz's Bicycle"

Apparently, a kid they grew up with, whom I assume bore the unfortunate name of "Nertz", had a bicycle that he had glammed up to the point that it looked crazy. All kinds of things attached to it. My Aunt Connie will have to explain in more detail in the comments.

Anyway, while trolling the web for T's new bicycle from "Santa" (aka as my parents or Aunt Dot), I came across this bicycle. My first thought...

Now there's a Nertz's bicycle!

Apparently, it even makes sounds when you ride it. Fabulous!

T's Preferred Method of Watching TV

This picture pretty much sums up our daily life. T in a princess dress. T's toys dumped on the floor, her motorcycle re-purposed as a TV watching platform, and her literally glued to the TV. One would think with the advent of these new, super-sized TVs, that kids would stop pressing their noses to them to watch.

T then employs her patented dismount, when I catch her and scold her. She turns, balances with no hands while standing on the seat, jumps as high as she possibly can, and lands with a flair. Every once in a while she'll yell, To Infinity and Beyond!

Meanwhile, i thought she looked particularly tall last night, so we measured and weighed her. Here's the lasted 3 yr 8 mo stats: 37.5 inches tall, and 30 pounds.

Rub A Dub Dub

Guess who got ahold of the stupid soap bottle again, and had a ball sudsing up the bathtub?

I should have known when I heard the laughing...

The Big O

The country simultaneously as a group finally achieved the Big O last night...after 8 long years of unsatisfactory and unfulfilling governmental encounters.

Now, now, minds out of the gutter, girls, I'm talking about the Big Obama. Was it just me, or did everybody seem a little happier and upbeat today, looking fresh and dewey with an after-election glow?

What I wouldn't give for a ticket to any one of the inaugeral balls. What I know I wouldn't give is the $500 - 1800 current ticket price. That's a lot too steep for my pocket. However, wouldn't it be nice to spend January in DC? Alas, I fear that's just a pipe dream. Perhaps, though, we'll consider a trip up north this year to see family and friends, and stop off in DC along the way. DC has long been my 2nd favorite city after NYC. I can't imagine how exciting it will be once the hope and energy of the Big O hits town.

History Has Been Made

...well, it appears that history has truly been made. President Obama's speech tonight filled me with hope as I'v never experienced before for my government. Hope, integrity, civility, and change are coming to Washington and to the country. I hope we're all up to the task.

May God bless the Obama/Biden families, and may God bless the United States of America.

Pins and Needles

...that's what I'm on at the moment. Yes, I know that its looking good for my candidate, and that I feel confident, however, I'm a florida resident. I lived through 2000. I just don't trust this "calling a state" based upon such a small percentage of the electorate in. I'll be up for several more hours tonight.

So, I'm starting to feel very excited. This is shaping up to be such a huge and historic night. Should Senator Obama win, I hope that all of the excitement generated from this election, can be channeled into something positive for all persons in this country, whether they voted for him or not.

Finally, its looking like we can start to put the bush years behind us.

"and the times, they are a-changin' "

After Halloween Sales and Xmas Presents

We've hit the after-Halloween sales and scored. Target had 30 and 50% off. T got this renaissance princess dress and the cheetah dress you see in the xmas tree photos below. I think that technically, it's just a plain cheetah or cat costume, but i call it The Cheetah Girls dress and T loves it. Now, I have no idea where in the world T's been exposed to the cheetah girls, b/c we don't watch them at home, but she apparently knows all about them...whoever they are.

Anyway, I hadn't planned on buying T another stupid costume dress. God knows she's got more than enough of them. However, I found her big xmas present and bought it...with her with me! It's this huge, almost 3 ft tall, remote-controlled dinosaur named Spike. T spied it set up on display, and I couldn't drag her away from it. She was enthralled. Rarely does T become enthralled with toys in the toy department. We often walk through it and she hardly ever starts acting the brat saying she wants something or the other. I must admit she's really good that way.

To distract her from the huge box in our cart, I cleverly took her to the halloween sale aisle, and found this pictured dress. That was diversion enough...but clever mom went one step further ....I actually let her wear it over her clothes IN THE STORE as we finished our shopping!

That's it. Game over. T was in make-believe heaven. She even started singing a song from Enchanted as we made our way through the store. All thoughts of Spike in the cart were forgotten. I'm particularly proud of that expert piece of T-manipulation!

Spike is now happily hidden away in the closet. Unfortunately, T has a mind like a steel trap, and has been asking to play with the thing. I've responded that she has to wait until xmas, b/c santa said that she has to wait, and he's in charge of xmas. Mommy can't 2nd guess him. So far, this tact is having limited success. Lets just say that more distraction strategy is being employed left and right in this house. Never before has old mom suggested T watch so many movies as I have since Spike's purchase.

With the purchase of Spike the Dinosaur, I've now pretty much completed my xmas shopping...at least the hard presents, anyway. So, all you doubting Thomas's out there mocking my pre-xmas preparedness, I say just you wait. While you all are losing your minds, stressing out and trying to put up your tree, decorate for xmas, and shop for presents, you just think of old Carol. I'll be nice and relaxed enjoying the season and sipping on some spiked nog, basking in the glow of my xmas tree lights...for the next 8 weeks.

Now that's what I call Christmas cheer!

Tis the Season to be Jolly...

Guess what we did this weekend? yes, yes, besides trick or treating, campaigning and pixie watching...That's right, we put up the xmas trees! (recall I have two little four-foot numbers that look as fake as fake can be) I'm very excited. Xmas is in the stores, the malls are getting decorated, and I saw my first xmas-themed commercial on TV last night. I figure that 's a sign. Let the decorating begin! Plus, I hate pulling everything out, going to all the trouble of decorating, only to have to take all the crap down in less than a month.



Growing up, we always put our tree up after Thanksgiving. Again, it was a fake tree bought at the Golden Triangle (long since out of business). After about 15 yrs or so, it was looking like quite the pathetic charlie brown xmas tree, but we'd religiously decorate it every year. Anyway, I always thought that a post-thanksgiving tree erection was too long to wait as a child. What's worse, the people who lived behind us, put their tree up on xmas eve (they always had a real one). Now that sucks. Every year they kept to their tradition.


Who knows, they were transplants from up north. maybe that's what they do up there, since they have seasons and just the fact that there's cold and snow around makes it "feel like xmas" ...at least to us down here. The north doesn't have to go to the lengths we do, to achieve a little xmas spirit. Those towns up north look like Hallmark Xmas Cards without even trying. Us, not so much. Down here in this swamp of a state that we live in , we have to artificially create our winter wonderland. Even to the point of Cities hauling out fake snow machines for kids to play in ...for about 15 minutes as the "snow" melts into a big fat mud puddle in the close-to-90 degree heat. Bonus though, is that when you're xmas trees are fake, you don't have to worry about them drying out and burning the house down.



So, Ho,Ho,Ho everybody....Merry Christmas!

Campaign Rallies and Pixie Dust

Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what we were doing this morning? I got an email last night that Hillary Clinton was going to be at the Dade County Auditorium for a Get the Vote Out campaign rally. This auditorium is literally blocks from my house. How could we no go??? So, bright and early we got up and were in line by 10:00 a.m. Unfortunately, her plane was late and she wasn't even landing until noon. I figured she wouldn't get there until around 1:00. Ain't no way in hell T was going to last that long. She was already getting grumpy around 11:00. So we had to leave.

What I loved seeing, was that this line consisted of a slice of america. Black, white, Asian, Hispanic, young, old, gay, straight, a few disabled and blind, and everything in between. Though it was hot and running late, no one was complaining. We were interviewed by a NY newspaper about our thoughts on Hillary vs. Obama. I told him the only way they could quote us, was to mention T in the piece as well. He diligently took her name and age, and I mentioned how she voted on Nick for Obama already. Guess we'll have to google her name in a few days to see if she made the piece.

Anyway, since T was such a good girl, we went to target and bought her the new tinkerbell movie. Guess the rest of our day will be filled with fairy sprites and pixie dust.

Hope your weekend is going as well.


UPDATE: Personally, I thought that the tinkerbell movie was a big fat bore. Didn't hold T's attention through it all, either. Bummer. I'd buy something else. Anybody have an opinion on Ice Age II? We almost boutht that instead, but T wanted the Tinkerbell movie.