No more sleeping late for us! It's back to school time!
We fared much better tonight at the fair. T rode the bumper cars again with Dot, the merry go round a few times (once even by herself), and had a ball doing this jumping thing. They strap the kids in to elastic ropes, pull it tight, and the kids jump really high.
Here's T hamming up as she was waiting her turn.
They strapped her in...
...and the rest was a blurr as she jumped her heart out!
Yep, that's my little girl...a big, fat chicken. We got to the park this morning, and T was very excited. She was eyeing the big slide, and actually deigned to go on it. That's T leading the way up the stairs with some other little girls.
Problem was coming down.
Poor thing had a scared look on her face as she came flying down, and pronounced that she was "just a little scared". She then refused to go on anything else. Sigh.
Of course, this was after I realized that rides were 3 tickets apiece vs 1. That meant that my 2 books of tickets was only 12 rides. I went and bought 4 more books to last the whole weekend. Somehow, I think I'll be giving away tickets.
So instead, we came home and decorated the old xmas tree. I think it looks particularly good this year. The pic doesn't do it justice. It literally sparkles. The tree skirt is new. I bought it at downtown disney this year. Look close, and you'll see mouse ears in the design. Its gorgeous! Reminds me of a jeweled Indian sari.
Of course, my most prized ornament I received last year...my Obama Angel ornament that you see near T's head. 
Anyway, we returned tonight to the carnival, where Dot only worked an hour. She was moved from the burger hut to the corn on the cob hut. I relieved her after her first hour, and did a stint myself, while she walked around the carnival. Let's just say I was a geneous to sign us up for the 8 p.m. to 10 stint, so we didn't cook along with the corn.
Jodie and Jack met us, and Jack coaxed T into riding the merry go round (that's T's back with Jack) and the bumper cars. Word is, she was fine on the bumper cars until the end, when some young boy bumped the heck out of their car, in a head on collision. That was it for rides for the rest of the night.
As I said (en espanol) she's a big fat chicken!
Why is it, that one can check all the lights on a strand, and they all light beautifully and brightly before you put them on the tree, only to go out AFTER you've decorated the whole damn thing?
It happens EVERY. FRICKIN'. YEAR!!!!!!
Potential catastrophe averted! Found out to day that T is not limited to attending the carnival tomorrow from 9 - 10. She can arrive and leave at anytime between 9 and 1 p.m.
Whew.
This may actually work out better. T has a whole posse of fans at school. I estimate that the posse is in the 4th or 5th grade. They always come over and say hi as we're walking in or out of school and give T a big hug, sometimes picking her up. Those girls will be at the fair tomorrow from 10:30 - 11:30 or so. When informed that T is a big fat chicken when it comes to carnival rides, they have all individually volunteered to ride a ride with her.
Too sweet.
So, new plan is that I'll go into work, deal with my case, then collect up T and perhaps Leonor and off we'll go to the fair. We'll return at night and ride the rides while poor aunt Dot will be stuck flipping burgers at the hamburger hut.
Stand by for some fun pics!
...that pain in the neck 4.5 yr old case that wont go away and is set to spoil my thanksgiving vacation, was reset from today to FRIDAY, for the defendant to "think about" the plea. My Q is what the hell is there to think about? Its the same plea for the last 4.5 years. I couldn't object, though, b/c I got the judge to rescind a ruling he had made a few weeks ago, which was extremely important to my case. Gotta pick your fights wisely. The problem is, as Close readers of this fair blog will recall, that FRIDAY is the first day of the carnival, and T's class is slated to ride the rides from 9 - 10. I'll be in court at 9:30. You have no idea how mad I am.
New plan, is to get Leonor over here early, and perhaps drop them off at the carnival, while I go up the street to court, then return after court to pick them up and take them home. Leonor doesn't drive.
What an absolute pain in my ass.
Yes, indeed, carnival mania continues to build all week. Its almost at a fever pitch now. Don't know if T will be able to stand it. Carnival rides have been rolling in to T's school for the past few days. Today, I arrived to pick her up to discover that they are setting them up. All the kids are fascinated by it.
Festivities start on Friday. No school for preK, but they can ride the rides from 9 - 10 on Friday morning. Carnival is closed to all but students on Friday during the day, then opens to the public that evening. Our family is required to donate 2 hours of volunteer time, to work the carnival. PreK is in charge of the hamburger stand. Lucky for me, Aunt Dot has kindly volunteered to man it from 8 - 10 on friday night. I'm busy praying that her plane on thursday night is not delayed in any way!
Hot on the heels of T's stellar performance with the SA, Mrs. M reports that T cut a bit if her hair today in school. Mrs. M dealt with the situation, so in keeping with my new, non-type-A method of mothering, I'm ignoring the incident.
Hope you all have a great night.
Despite what one might think upon viewing this photo, the State Attorney did not call a meeting to discuss my little 4 yr old felon's antics at school the other day, of "Throwing a deadly missile" (yes, that is a crime...second degree felony, too) Nope, instead, 
I had a late meeting with the State Attorney at 5:30 today, and aftercare ends at 6:00. No way could I make the meeting, and then be on time to pick up T. So, I went and picked T up from school early, and brought her to the meeting. I was VERY nervous about this, and bribed T shamelessly with an offer to go to the restaurant for dinner if she was a good girl, and didn't say a word during our meeting.
I had visions of T sitting in the waiting room while I was in the meeting, but the SA said to bring her in. T was so good, I couldn't stand it. She answered the SA's questions, didn't interrupt once during the meeting, and charmed everyone. The SA even offered to pose for a picture with T. I, of course, whipped out my phone on the spot, and snapped off a few.
I like it. T looks very at home with the official flags. Perhaps she, too, may have a career in law enforcement in her future...
Today was my first Parent/Teacher Conference at the school. When given T's report card and seeing all C's, I was quite concerned. However, "C" merely indicates "I Can" vs. still working on it, or something else. 
T also received a check plus in all categories except one. Go on, take a guess where my dear daughter is lacking and is still "working on skill".
That's right, the category of "I Work Quietly". Sees she's a bit too social at school. Same thing would happen to me. I'd come home with a report card full of A-3-C's. Anyway, all other reports were very good, so I was much relieved. T's teacher seems very laid back, and not phased at all by her acting out. I guess she's seen everything over the course of her almost 30 years teaching, so she has a lot more perspective on T's behavior than perhaps me.
So, I'll attempt to take a chill pill, and be a bit less type A about it all in the future.
I'm very proud of my girl!
Today was a ho-hum day, but a cool ho-hum day. We woke up bright and early, and went to the park. T played and rode her bike a bit, then we headed to my parents, so my dad could sign some papers I needed to mail off. Then off to JCP, then Target, and while in the car wash at the gas station, I turned around to see this....
T was out cold.
Went back to my parents for a late lunch, then home. T doesn't know it, but we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Aunt Dot, who has been traveling for the last 30 hours...literally. She's been on the long trek home from Manila, and arrived about an hour ago.
That's it for now...
Spent the WHOLE damn day at my parents house. Got there bright and early to meet the granite transformation people at 10:00. They were supposed to be there with the plumber, but he went to another job first...and proceeded to ruin my day.
Speaking of xmas trees (from the comments yesterday), I bought my parents this little number from home depot. You just pull it out of the box and plug it in. Its decorated and everything.
Anyway, back to the bathroom, to take out the old sink in the bathroom and install the counter, they had to turn off the water. They assured me that the plumber would be there at noon. WRONG. We were without water all damn day. Couldn't even flush the toilet. Oy.
Dumb plumber didn't get there until 5:15. I had to leave him working while I went to get T. Here is basically the finished product. I love it! It is amazing to me that they just lay it over the existing counter and voila.
I highly recommend this company. Just make sure that they coordinate better with the plumber, or you'll be waiting all day.
Here's a close up of the counter. You can't that well, but there is a brown speck in it that perfectly matches the brown in the tile.
Lastly, Dot has started the long trek home from Manila. T is very excited to see her tomorrow night.
MORE INFO FOR INQUIRING MINDS:
This company fabricates the "granite" at the factory based upon a template that they take of your existing counter. Granite is in quotes b/c its not real granite, its like ground up granite mixed with polymers. Instead of being real thick like stone, the countertop is about 1/4 of in inch thick and EXTREMELY strong and durable. More so than granite. Its so impermeable, that one can write on it with a sharpie and it wipes off. I got one of the more inexpensive styles. They can mix in call kinds of glasses, which can give it a sparkle for extra $$. You have to see the samples to understand what I'm talking about.
They cut the hole for the sink on site, and then laid this over the formica countertop. You can also get an undermount sink. I had to get drop-in due to the configuration of the existing plumbing.
They spread a special goop that was like mastic but not on the old countertop. Its a two part goop that when mixed together makes a space-age durable bond. They then put the new over the old, caulked the edges next to the wall, and called it a day. I put some contact numbers in the comments section and their website for anyone interested.
