BoBo - 12/27/2007

Everyone, say hello to Bobo.

Isn't he adorable? Click on him to make him bigger. Last Friday, while Jake was celebrating his birthday at his gradfather's, and David was working, Isabel & I had a girl's night out - which means shopping. While in Old Navy, Isabel discovered a bin full of stuffed animals and found the softest ever green monkey. Isabel and the monkey danced and danced, to the pleasure of store personnel. I asked one clerk "If you can find another green monkey and have him hidden by the register for me, I would really appreciate it." The Old Navy employee did this for me. I purchased some clothes, which they placed atop the green monkey in the shopping bag. Isabel was none the wiser. Kids are SO easy at this age.

Come Christmas morning and in the hubub, I forget green monkey, who was hiding out in my closet. I later find him and hand him to Isabel. She is so excited she hugs and kisses him. "Bobo" and she have been inseparable. He didn't have a name. I asked her what his name was, but she seemed confused by "naming him," so I asked, "Is his name 'Willy?'" "Nooooooo," she replied. "Is his name 'Greeny?'" "Nooooooo," she replied. "Is his name 'Bobo?'" "YES! BOBO!" and she hugged him.

Happy Birthday David - 12/27/2007

Do you all know how hard it is to have a son born 12/21 and a husband on 12/25? Do you? Do you know how hard it is to shop during Christmas?? It is HARD!!




My darling husband was born on Christmas Day.


Poor David. It can't be easy sharing a birthday with THE MAN.

We opened gifts early for him this year. His good friend Niki was in town, so we went to Joe's Crab shack and then back here for prez-nints. (click to see bigger).



Assassin's Creed Game & book, Wheaton Glee Club 100 year embroidered fleece blanket and polo, grill cooking utensils.

Happy (belated) Birthday David!

Aye Aye Aye - 12/26/2007

Well, here I am, Wednesday morning. I am supposed to be at work. BUT the clutch just died on the Jeep. Nothing says Christmas like a huge car repair bill. *sigh*

We knew this was coming. The clutch started acting up a month ago. Sometimes we just could not get it into first gear and would start in second. Other times, it worked perfectly. This morning, I could not get it in reverse. David managed to do it for me while it was shut off, but by the time I got to the end of the street, no amount of shoving or cajoling would get that car into any gear. NO WAY I am driving 20+ miles to work on a hope and a prayer. So, I turned off the Jeep, put it in reverse and got back to my driveway.



I am waiting for a coworker to come get me and then I will probably spend most of the day getting the Jeep towed, renting a car, and bracing myself for the estimate to get the clutch fixed.

Happy Birthday Jacob - 12/24/2007

Yes, I know I am a little late posting this. His birthday is on 12/21. It was on a Friday, his last day of school before break.

From David, Isabel and I, he got Sony Acid Music Studio 7. It allows him to create music on our computer. He never smiles, but he kept thanking me all day for buying him this. We also got him a Domokun sweatshirt.

It's a random Japanese cartoon character.

Happy 14th Jacob! You Rock! Now go clean your room. :)

Pupil Pianist - 12/20/2007

This is Jake's school piano recital. They had a show called "Cool Yule" with most of the kids taking piano lessons performing a small holiday piece.



And here he is at home playing a piano rendition of a song from In The Groove 2 (like Dance Dance Revolution) called Hard Core of the North.



Here's the video game with some random people dancing to the song he just played.

Gonna Find out Who's Naughty or Nice !- 12/13/2007

"Mom," Jake says. "Today, David asked me if I wanted to see if I could figure out what's in our stockings. I told him no way, it's cheating.......then we did it anyway."

This, dear friends, is my husband's wise influence yesterday. He & my son proceeded to touch, shake and manhandle all the gifts in their stockings!

Today, the phone rings at work.

Me: Thank you for calling blah blah blah, can I help you?

David: I can't believe you used industrial packing tape on the presents.

Me: Why are you touching the presents?

David: You taped them all over the place with this stuff!

Me: CAUSE YOU'RE A CHEATER WHO OPENS PRESENTS AND THEN PUTS THEM BACK!

He does. He peels them open and looks at them. WHY? Why do this? Why ruin the surprise? It made me SO mad!

I get home this evening.

Jake: Mom, David was shaking his present all around trying to figure out what it is.

I don't get this. Someone please explain this to me.

Touched - 12/01/2007

I was talking with Tampa-Sister today. I just called her to see what was up with her & hers. We discussed kids, potty training (kill me now), home sales, and got around to Christmas. I told her that this year, we decided that financially, we were not prepared to buy gifts for the 13 or so people on his side and the 10 or so on my side. This is not counting us and the kids, AND the fact that both David and Jacob have December birthdays. It's too much. I also told her about my paring down the Christmas card sending.

She said she and her mom (my step-mom) were talking about me this week. About how I am so good at seeking people out, seeing how they are, taking care of people, knowing what they need and being there for them. She said the way I am is a gift from God. That most people are not blessed with it and I should not let others ruin it for me. She knows people don't appreciate things much or say so, but she said she & her mom were discussing how special I am and wondering how the heck I do it. I was getting a lump in my throat and thanking her. I especially liked her "Don't let others ruin it for you" thing, because it is so true. Wanting validation and not getting it is a tough and embittering thing. Expecting people to validate what you do can set you up for huge disappointments. I am just trying not setting myself up for more, but I am also not letting myself become embittered (I hope). I want a shiny, happy world full of 1800's values, I suppose.


"Touched," Buffy Season 7, Episode 20

I am the WoMAN - 11/11/2007

My son tried to use his shower last night. Our tubs & showers only have one handle. They turn in an arc, the top of the arc being the hottest you can get. He got the handle mid-way....and it stuck. He called me, I tried, and could not get it to move. Afraid to yank too hard and break something, I had him use my shower and told myself I would check it out in the morning. I SO did not want to have to pay a plumber $90 an hour or so for something stupid.

This afternoon, I took a small led light and pulled off the handle. There's a....long metal stick? that is moved by the handle. It would not budge. There is also a black plastic piece, and behind it, I see white paper. Looks like the paper is stuck. I grab my tweezers and my hair-cutting scissors and I attempt to get at this piece of paper. As I am hacking away, I realize the plastic black piece comes out. I pull it out with the tweezers, remove the paper behind it (some plastic-coated paper with serial numbers and blah blah. I put the black plastic piece in and ...voila! I can turn the water al the way to hot! I take it off again, just to make sure this plastic paper is not vital to its inner workings, put the black piece in...and VOILA....It's STUCK AGAIN. What?

Turns out, the black piece is a guard of sorts. Depending on how you place it on the metal rod, you can get the knob to stop at certain points, thus ensuring your toddler won't accidentally turn the handle all the way to hot and scald themselves. I don't know how it got turned around, but I got it on correctly and we now have a working faucet.

I walk out of the bathroom and say loudly "Who's the man?!?!"

....which reminded me of my wedding and a funny back story.

My husband's uncle performed the ceremony. He gave a beautiful speech. At one point, he tells my husband "David...you're....THE MAN," and goes on to say how he will be the head of the household. Meanwhile, my sister the bridesmaid and one of my other bridesmaids are trying not to look at each other for fear of cracking up. Waaaaaay in the back of the courtyard, some of my co-worker friends who flew in from Boston, DC, Seattle & New Orleans are hanging out listening. The chick from Boston hears "David, you're the man," turns to the other girls and says "Has he MET Kaaren?"

Ghosts of Halloweens Past - 10/24/2007

Back before I had Isabel, and when Jake was younger, I was very much a hands-on Halloween person. We were involved in Cub Scouts and I was a Den Leader for over 5 years. We went to a lot of parties and camp-outs and I went all-out on Jake (and my) costumes.

2002 - I am pretty sure I shocked many a Cub Scout parents when I showed up in this get-up. BUT!!! I bought a super-ling cape & pretty much kept my lower half covered the entire time. Jake went as Harry Potter, but I have no pictures on computer. I need to scan some.

2003 - I went all-out this year. We went camping for Halloween with the scouts. Here's what I did.

Click on it to make it bigger. Jake was a dresser! His head is the lamp! There are clothes and underwear hanging from his drawers! Me? I am a bag of groceries! I totally rocked this costume.

2003 - I was pregnant with Isabel. I made the most awesome costume ever....and I can't find the picture!!!! I made an oven out of a box covered in white contact paper. I put knobs on it, I made burners and put a toy pan on the burner. I made a clock. I made a door, with clear door...that opened! And when you opened the door, I was wearing a T-shirt that said "Bun." Get it?? BUN in the OVEN?? I loved that costume. I have searched high & low for those pictures and cannot find them. Waahhhh.

Jake? He was....




A head.....on a platter.....on a table! He won prizes!

I wish I had a better copy. Maybe I can scan the one I have so you can see the dead rats and animals on the gold plate.

2004 - I had Isabel and was TIRED, so I did not dress up, but I did work on Jake's costume.

He has small cereal boxes glued to his shirt. They have knives stuck in them and red paint around the knives. He was....A CEREAL KILLER!




This next picture is not from Halloween, but I thought was cute. It was for our Cub Scout Blue & Gold Ceremony. The theme was the Circus, and being the Den Leader extraordinaire, I went all out.

2005 & Jake was kind-of over costumes. He got a store-bought costume and *I* discovered E-Bay, where I got Isabel's Fairy Costume.

2006 - Jake did not want to go out but I made him. LOL He HAD to take his little sister around. He was Napoleon Dynamite and Isabel was Red Riding Hood.

Spring Break 07 - 03/25/07

Let's recap our Fabulous Spring Break Oh Seven, in pictures.


Friday: Jacob gets braces. Bank account severely reduced.


Saturday: We purchase a washing machine at Sears. Bank account severely reduced.


Sunday: We went to the library a half hour early, so we drove around Cassadega, a "Spiritualist City." Back to the library so I could renew "Walden" and check out "The Memory Keeper's Daughter."

This is exciting stuff people!

Monday: Errand day. We drove to see Jake's doctor (we MUST find a new one close to home. Our pediatrician also moved, to Apopka. Even further away.) Then we went to get a prescription filled, mail a package and then to the bank.

Tuesday: Sears delivers the washer. I am spastically excited, hug my new washer (I did) and do 7 loads that day. Seriously.



Meanwhile, Jacob helps the neighbor mulch his yard.

Wednesday: Home warranty plumber shows up and fixes leaky faucet in tub. Tub no longer creates bubbles with bubble bath. WHAT is that about? Really? We can't make bubbles with the bubble bath we have been using for 3 years

Thursday: Picture day for Isabel & Jacob. Isabel complains about her pretty itchy dress, won't sit still for pictures, I forget the coupon, bank account reduced

Friday: Wow, I can't even remember Friday. It was that exciting. Ummmmmmmmmmm. Nope, can't remember.

Saturday: Dine at Joe's Crab Shack. Yum. Sister Brenda & hubby drive up to spend the night, as they have an early a.m. appointment in Putnam county to view some property. Brenda gives me her old pink Razor phone, which I love love love. Brenda delivers presents to us from our other sister Vicky. Our Christmas presents. Isabel got a baby doll, a stroller for the baby and some baby clothes.

Jacob gets a combined birthday/Christmas Present: Guitar Hero 2 for the PS2.

David got a strategy guide for a video game, and I got a Bed Bath & Beyond gift card and coupons.

Sunday: My sister & her hubby left before we even awoke. We went to Bed Bath & Beyond to spend my gift card - hee hee. Got a large mirror for the wall when you first enter the house. Ate Mickey D's for lunch and then home for dinner & 2 movies. Oddly enough, both movies were about magicians;

The Prestige and The Illusionist. The Prestige was creepy. It had you loopy the entire time. I can't even begin to explain the double, triple & quadruple dealings going on. The Illusionist - I figured out what happened seconds before Paul Giamati's character did. Both were good.


FUN FUN FUN! Back to the grind tomorrow. Good Night.

Peace Out - 02/13/2007

What a weird day.

1) A friend of a friend died this weekend. I sort-of knew him. Funny thing...I "married" him & his ex-wife - I officiated the ceremony back in 2001 (I can do that you know - perform marriage ceremonies). In late 2001, I officiated "K" and his now ex-wife's wedding. I knew him by association. His daughter had claimed Jacob as her one true love back in kindergarten. His mom lives in the same neighborhood as my friend Julie who originally set me up to perform the ceremony, and his mom is the immediate next door neighbor to that Home Depot/Boy Scout/Cub Scout friend I saw last week. He & the lady I married got divorced, and he started dating another acquaintance of mine - one of my 'dancing buddies', "A." K & A eventually married, moved to my city with his 2 daughters from a previous marriage and her son from a previous marriage.

My friend Julie calls me to say that "A" called her today. "K" was in a motorcycle accident that cost him his life this weekend. Man. I have not thought about them in 2 or 3 years. I feel so bad for "A." Last I saw them, she was so happy with him. *sigh*

2) My in-laws are coming to town for Isabel's party! WOO HOO! Each leg of the trip, $39 ea!! Thirty Nine! How awesome is that? AND they will be flying into the smaller airport that is MUCH closer to our house. I decide to call my mom then to see when exactly they would be flying in from Puerto Rico. My mom & David's parents would be flying in the same day, at different airports. I got a hold of my mom.....only to have her say that she has decided to not come to visit until after Isabel's party. The party I scheduled around her schedule. Why? WHY? Because my dad , my step-mom and several other members of my family on my dad's side will be here too. She must have been talking with one of my sisters, because this was NEVER brought up before. Apparently, WE ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL. Twenty two years after the divorce and she doesn't want to be here when they are?! This is not about that. It is about Isabel and the fact that half my family has never been to one of her parties, nor one of Jake's parties since he was 4 years old. I said to my mom "Mom! We're adults!" She sort-of shushed or negated me and said no, she doesn't want to come if they come.

I was telling some co-workers about this. I told them earlier on that this was my "Forget It" year. This is the year that I will *not* make the effort to appease everyone. I won't be bending over backwards sending birthday cards to others, or family pictures to anyone who never bothers to call me or mine on our birthdays or send us pictures, or even acknowledge they received anything from us. "Forget It." It's my personal pledge. I told David he could do what he wanted, but I feel tired of it all. I feel too much and no longer want to feel so much about the little things. Don't sweat the small stuff, so I won't.

Isabel's party is coming up. The date is not changing, no one is getting uninvited. Sorry that you can't make it. Maybe next decade.

The fact that my mom and others won't come because my dad, step-mom and half-sisters on dad's side, plus a couple of second cousins are coming will not make me change anything about this party. The fact that one half of my family won't be in the same location as the other is sad. Whatever happened in the past, it is not the fault of either of my half-sisters. Why should I ignore them when they did nothing wrong? The (literal and figurative) "sins of the father" do not pass down to the children.

I'm told by my kin that I'm too nice . Imagine that. Too nice. When did being nice become a flaw? It is, you know. It's seen as a weakness; it's archaic. I am weak & archaic. Nice is old-fashioned. When did this become "out?" I need to move to Iowa or something. They have nice people there, right?

"Peace Out," Angel Season 4, episode 21

Guise Will Be Guise - 12/25/2006

Feliz Navidad Todos! We hope you are having a great Christmas Day. We've had a swell weekend.

Saturday night, Niki came by to visit and spend the night. She's down from Maryland visiting her parents, and came by to see the house and spend a day. We went to the Olive Garden for dinner, where we were placed waaaaaaay in the back of the restaurant. So we were loud. :) It was fun. I think the waitress liked us, even WITH the whole "Niki asked for no green peppers because she's allergic to them, and they gave them to her anyway" thing. She didn't get sick, so it was all good. The waitress was totally scared Niki would have some kind of reaction. She kept coming by the table to check on us.

We stopped at Target to pick up some bread and ...something else I can't remember. I just remember Jake swinging the bread around and then plopping it under the PlayStation 3 demo so he could play it. Niki looks at the bread, looks at me and says "Man, your bread is toast." (pause) To which she & I burst out laughing hysterically, leaving David dazed and confused. It was funny! Bread...toast. *snicker*

Niki spent the night and then Sunday morning, after I remove a substantial chunk out of my ankle shaving (it is still bleeding - I removed the band-aid to change it, and it's still running), my sister Brenda, nephew Jonathan and his dad Fede came up. Brenda got to meet Niki (one of David's oldest friends) and said of Niki: "I like her. She has such a bubbly personality. And she's brave. She drives all over the place by herself!" (Brenda won't drive anywhere more than 1/2 hour by herself. That 1/2 hour is her going to work.)

While Brenda and Niki were getting on, I was driving Jake over to his dad's side of the family's Christmas Dinner. My nephew came to keep me company. Jake went with his family and I went back home. Niki was almost in her car to leave when Jonathan & I pulled back into the driveway. David left for work half an hour later.

Fede made "Viandas & Bacalao." A Puerto Rican dish. I have never made this dish, so he showed me step-by-step as he did it. White Sweet Potatoes (the only way I can describe it), Onions and "Malanga" (another veggy) served in olive oil & garlic with cod fish served with olive oil, garlic & onions. I'm burping just thinking about it. I LOVE this dish, but it keeps loving me back for HOURS later.

Several hours later, I drove back, this time with Isabel and Brenda, to go get Jake at his aunt's house. Jake's aunt gave Isabel a present (very sweet). We got back to watch Jonathan & Jake dance, while Isabel fawned over my sister Brenda's baby chihuahua, Rica. 9 weeks old and teeny! Excuse my saying this but....My daughter's poops are bigger than this dog. She's SO CUTE! The dog, not my daughter's poop.

David arrived home a little after....9:30 p.m.? I can't remember. We let Jake open some birthday presents from my sister. He got a really cool chess set. It's called a Mystical Creations Dragon Chess Set. Wizards, dragons, etc. Really nice.

Here's where the guise comes in to play.

My sister, her husband and son kept bugging us all day to be able to open Christmas presents. I kept saying no. We do it on Christmas day. After Jake opens his wizard chess set, Brenda asks us to come downstairs to the room with the Christmas tree in it. They want to open ONE present, just One, they beg. I concede to only one person getting a present; the one who finds the hidden Christmas pickle in the tree. They search and Jake ends up finding it.

Brenda then hands Jake another birthday present they forgot to give him. Jake opens it, and it's a Playstation game. Cool! Until David mentions "Hey, that's for PS3!" We don't own a PS3. We will never own a PS3 as long as those suckers are as expensive as they are. We do not work our patooties off to throw away that much $$ on a game system. And if you know me, you know my feeling on video games anyway. I tolerate them because I love my two men. Jonathan looks at Brenda and says "Mom! You got the wrong game! PS2! Not PS3!!" Brenda says something like "Oh, I'm sorry! I still have the receipt," while I am saying "It's ok, she can exchange it or mail us the receipt and we can change it out." By this time, Jonathan (or Brenda?) has pulled out the one gift that Jake can open because he found the Christmas pickle. A rather large gift with a handle. I am clueless.

This is Jake's face as he opens up....his Playstation 3. My insane family bought my son a PS3. What? WHAT?? All three of our jaws drop. We are stunned. The 3 of them are laughing hysterically at how they "got us." We're shocked, and saying that this is just too much. They wave us off. They wanted to do this, etc. etc. We're just sitting there, in shock. And I am feeling like a schmo. I got them each gifts that were like, $25 for one, $30 for the other and $25 for the other, and they get him a PS3? Gahhh! My brother-in-law is SO generous, and I felt like I totally let him down because all I got him was a Target gift card because I could not think of what else to get him.

Jake was in HEAVEN, as you can imagine. We were a little shocked, have I mentioned we were shocked yet? Jake in his tween and now teen years has been testing the limits of sarcasm and rudeness as of late, and it's almost like....here...have a $600 present. Yay! We've already had to kick him off of it because he proclaimed that this was "HIS" PS3 and David could not play it once Jake went to bed. *shakes head*

We went to bed and got up around 8:30 a.m. to my brother-in-law already cooking a pork (pernil) in the oven. He was so hungry for it at 8:30 a.m. because he'd been up at 3 in the morning checking on it and basting it. We opened our presents (insert feeling like a schmo again here). We had tons of presents from friends and family members under the tree. We don't open them until Christmas day, even if we get them early in the mail. So we're opening a million gifts and my sister & family are sort-of just sitting there with the lame gifts we got them. *sigh*

Brenda cooked some Puerto Rican rice (arroz con gandules) and I made a green bean casserole. I also put a pre- made apple pie in the oven. (I baked a cheesecake yesterday from scratch, and a chocolate cake the day before). Christmas dinner was served....at 10:30 a.m. Funny.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Dear Boy 12/21/2006

Jake....is a teen. Thirteen to be exact. Today. He is 13 today. I am officially old. Older. I've been old for a while. We took him to Disney Quest last weekend. We got him some smaller things too. From us, besides Disney Quest, he got the Lego Star Wars game for PS2, a t-shirt that reads "Books is Good" and a t-shirt that reads "What part of Moooohoooohaaahaaaa don't you understand." He also got $$ from one of my sisters, $$ and new headphones from my in-laws, $$ from David's grandma, another T-shirt from my friend Wendy and a long sleeved t-shirt from her too. He still has more stuff from his dad's side. He'll get those from them this Sunday.

Happy Birthday to one of the sweetest kids ever!

The Harvest 12/21/2006

Last night, Wednesday, we had our company Christmas Dinner.

MAN. Google Texas De Brazil and check it out. It was a lot of fun. Beautifully decorated but LOUD. You would think such a fancy/expensive place would have more of a refined, quiet atmosphere. Tons of employees working there. There is this amazing buffet. Not like a cheesy buffet. Very beautifully done. You walk around and get your salads & such. Things like baked salmon, white rice & beans (Brazilian style), lobster bisque, mozzarella balls dipped in oil & garlic, sushi, potato salad, Parmesan cheese wedges, fried yucca, all kinds of greens, breads, the list goes on & on.

This is the centerpiece of the buffet area.

Then, at your place setting, you have this little plastic-coated paper chip. One side it red and the other is green. There are men running around with these large skewers that they have pulled out of these huge roasting fires. You can see them cooking in a glass room.

Anyway, if your disk is green facing up, these men will stop by your plate and offer to carve you filet mignon, chicken wrapped in bacon, lamb, pork, top sirloin, sausage, etc. etc. If your disc is red, they pass you by. If the person sitting next to you has green, they will stop by and feed them. It was flippin' hysterical. For dessert, we had our choice of 6 items. I chose my favorite, carrot cake, and a cappuccino.

The downside to the night was only two things. First, it was on International Drive. It took me an hour & 15 minutes to get there. It took an hour to get home. That, and David stayed home with the kids. No babysitter. It was too inconvenient. A Wednesday night is not a night to ask someone to watch your kids from say 5:30 to 10:00 p.m. David was actually ok not going. He did not want to drive in rush hour traffic down I-4 to International Drive. This is probably a restaurant we'll never go to, just because of the location and the price. Maybe for a special anniversary or something, when we can actually get a sitter. The night ended with a pep-thank-you talk by our salesman, who also bought us gift cards to Honey Baked Ham for a 7 lb. ham. It was a fun night.

Showtime - 12/16/2006

Jake's 13th birthday is this coming Thursday. Thirteen! A Teen! AAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKK! I remember 13. At 13, people my age were old farts. *I* am an old fart!

Jake gets to pick what he wants to do on his birthday. Usually, he chooses a restaurant & we go eat. Olive Garden was his pick a couple of times, Kobe Japanese Steak house (where they cook right in front of you) was another he's chosen. This year, though, he wanted to go to Disney Quest. It's an interactive, five-story....arcade, really, located at Downtown Disney (one of my most favorite places to take out-of-town guests. Downtown Disney is almost like going to Disney, but you can walk around the shops and places for free. When Jake I were were alone and on a tight budget, we'd go down there just to walk around and have fun, without having to spend any $$). Five floors of video games, interactive computer games and rides, the perfect place for a 13 year old.

This picture is actually the back of the place. I wish I had taken pictures of the front of it. It is huge, and dark inside. Isabel had a ball too. Check out her cute shirt. We started out by going on a white water rafting trip. A virtual white water rafting trip. It was fun. We got in a raft and the "water" moved us around. The raft was on an air-mattress, if you will, that inflated and deflated to simulate the motion of the water, as it pertained to the video we were watching on the screen.

Then, Jake & I went off to create our own roller coaster while David chased Isabel. You get a scan-card and go to a console. You create your own roller coaster, with loops, twists, drops, jumps, black hole jumps, etc. Then the scan-card saves your roller coaster and you go to the ride simulator. They load your roller coaster into the simulator and you get it. This simulator recreates the roller coaster you created. The thing had us upside-down, twisting & flipping.
David found the "retro" arcade, so I chased Isabel while he played Pac Man, Galaga, Frogger, Q-Bert, etc. You remember those, dont you? You're showing your age, my friend!

David and Jake went on a virtual Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride, while Isabel and I went to a room where you could "color" on a computer screen. She loved it. It was a touch screen and after two seconds, she had the whole program figured out. She made 5 masterpieces by the time David & Jake were done. We did a lot more running about. Jake found the DDR machine....NOT WORKING!! Gasp! They did have a different game called Pump It Up, similar to DDR, but the arrows were diagonal and there was a 5th button in the middle. Took him a bit to figure out the moves. There were a few other guys there playing too. They had been playing that game for a while, because they were all over it.

We went up to the 5th floor and ordered a slice of cheese pizza for Isabel and a whole pie for the rest of us, plus some sodas. Isabel ate all her pizza and was beginning to act loopy. David finished the pizza while Jake and I went to....battle some aliens? A virtual game for 4 people where you are in a spaceship and 3 of you have to shoot down the aliens while the 4th person, the pilot, picks up colonists. Jake ran into a few school friends who were also there, on the way to this game.

After killing aliens, David and I left with Isabel to go to the Jeep and change her diaper. David stayed in the car with Isabel while I went back inside to meet Jake. We stayed for a 20 minute drawing class (a Disney animator taught us how to draw Donald Duck) and then went back out to go home. Isabel had already fallen asleep in the car.

That was our fun Jake-Day celebration, a few days early.

There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb, pt. 2 - 11/29/2006

Howdy. I know, I said I'd "write tomorrow" a few days ago. Can you believe I have not GOTTEN ON LINE until now. I mean, other than for work. SO busy. It may have something to do with a certain fruit of my looms...loins...that has a certain project of the science fair nature that this certain fruit has known for months and yet I only find out about it a day or so before vacation. I digress but I am explaining why we're all with the "busy."



Thursday - Turkey Day. 16 people to feed. David's parents (with a little help from me & Grandma) kicked patootie in feeding 16 people. I helped make this casserole, where almost everything was a slight substitution off the original receipe. It was funny...and delicious. We should have made 2, it was gone in a flash. The only down-side? No leftovers!! Gasp! I loves me some leftovers. I think the only things left were an assortment of stuffings and a little bit of turkey. Good eats = no leftovers I suppose.





I think we played a board game that night, or was that the following night? I know we played Pictionary one night (Team Kaaren/Tricia/Jacob came from behind to victory!) and another night we played Apples to Apples.

Friday we had to load up a U-Haul. We were bringing back a piano (how cool is that? Never had one before), a full-sized bed, a twin-sized bed, a dresser, a little vanity table & chair, a rocking horse (belonged to David) and a lot of other items. SO excited about the beds. YOUR GUEST ROOM IS READY MICHAEL (MAX) !!! *wink* (Seriously though, Michael. Come down.)

We put both the full and the twin bed in one room. I figure that if a family is coming to visit, we can put someone in the twin bed and then 2 other people in the full. It all fit so nicely, too. We bought a small put-it-together-yourself table to go in between the beds so guest have somewhere to put their glasses, etc. on, rather than get up and go to the dresser on the other side of the room. The piano looks FABU in the formal not-yet-finished-painting living room. Litrell, the across-the-street neighbor, helped David move it in. Isabel loves it already. David will play and sing for her and she gets this GOOFY grin (Heather, like the one she had when she heard everyone start to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider.") To coin an Isabel phrase "Sooooo Cute."

There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb - 11/27/2006

We're back. Spent a week in Lookout Mountain, GA. It's so pretty up there. We did not get there until Monday night (10 p.m. or so) so we were really there Tuesday through Friday. We drove back Saturday, so that we could unpack the Jeep and the U-Haul-O'-Stuff we brought back with us. I'm still kind-of pooped. Had to go back to work after being gone a week. That's always a bummer. I need to hop over to AOL real quick and upload some pictures. I took WAY too many and this website only lets me do 50 a month. I think I'm at like 20 so far. I'll put what I can here, and then I will have to link the rest.


Tuesday we just kind-of putzed around. I went to the very quaint post office (think Mayberry, and not in a bad way or anything) with my m-i-l, while David went though boxes and boxes of stuff he had stored at his parents house. You can see me twitching, can't you?

Wednesday, we took the kids and David's grandma letterboxing. We were one for two. Here's Grandma, Isabel & David looking at a view at one of the letterboxing locations. Didn't find this letterbox. The second location was in this terrific park up there. SO much fun for kids. The kids played while grandma & I found the box. Victory! Here's Jake sliding down a humongous slide at this cute park, called The Pumpkin Patch.



Wednesday night was bowling night. Bizarro bowling, as they had you prepay for your games and then they'd randomly turn off our lanes when the prepayments would expire. We could not understand how, if you prepaid 6 people for a game each on one lane, how do you run OUT of $$ if you have not finished bowling. Weird. David's brother Kevin kicked butt. It's cause he's so tall. His arms practically reach the pins anyway. LOL





Thursday! Turkey Day! But before I proceed, let me take you back to....oh, 1975. Meet Hugo, the Man of 1,000 Faces. This creepy little toy was very popular in the 70's. He came with scars, toupee's, two sets of glasses, fake teeth, etc. etc. Creepifying. Apparently, my husband used to scare the heck out of one of his brothers with it. (By the way, THIS picture is from a set currently for sale on e-bay. They are at $51 right now). So, David wants to get rid of Creepy-Hugo, only....Isabel. She...loves Hugo. *shudder*





Here she is, in her beautiful Thanksgiving dress....playing with Hugo. She'd try to stick one of his noses on, and give him kisses. I caught her one night out of bed, down the hall, grabbing Hugo from his box. (She was SOOOO good going to bed. Not crib. Bed. She could get out of the bed, but she wouldn't. She'd lie there like a good girl....except for the Hugo incident). Hugo, alas, is still up in Lookout Mountain. He may get "e-bayed" as well.


Back to my daughter, and the beauty and perfection that is my daughter. (We'll just ignore the humming thing that drives me, as well as restaurant patrons, bonkers). Here she is in that dress again (quite possibly humming, too). Gahh! Gorgeous!




Anywhoo, it's 11:33 p.m. and I HAVE TO WORK IN THE MORNING! Wahhh! I'll continue tomorrow