I Phonified

Ok I resisted for as long as I could. Mike has been hinting about that he would like new phone and I beat him to it.

Ok, gotta get back to it!

Do they make bitter apple for kids?

My child still sucks her fingers while self soothing at bedtime. Always while holding her Lovey Waddy.
Anyway the dentist said she could develop buck teeth so he recommended this bitter apple stuff.

I can only find the formulation intended for dogs.

Any help out there?

Meet our new dog Samson!!

These photos are all from 2 months ago, so Samson is bigger. He was about 34 lbs when we got him and is now 47 lbs now. The vet has assured me he will be a 50 lb adult. I am thinking he may have calculated on the low side as Samson is about 7 months old now and will have some more growing to do. Or maybe not. It won't be the end of the world I guess. I really didn't want a large dog. But he is so mellow and great. He is wonderful with the kids. He lets the girls dress him up and bundle him up and just sits through it patiently. He loves to play and loves to rest... My kind of dog. Everyone who meets him comments what a nice dog he is.

He does have a chewing issue. He has chewed the hands and feet off of Jamies Barbies and last night moved on to the baby dolls. I bought some bitter stuff but who wants to pour that stuff on everything.

We use the crate during the day and he sleeps in Jamie's room at night. I didn't want to use the crate but he seems to be ok with it and my house isn't getting destroyed. It also keeps the potty accidents from occurring while we aren't here.

All in all we are pretty happy with him, he is so sweet and loving.

Photos are almost all back!

Mike figured out how I can see around this HUGE firewall Windows apparently installs with Windows 7! SO I can now connect to the External Hard Drive. Now he just needs to transfer the photos from the 'Book' a portable external Hard drive he put them on last month.

Anyway, I haven't had access to any of the recent photos since last fall. That is why I haven't been posting any photos on the blog. I hope he gets me fully connected tonight.

Meanwhile here is a somewhat recent family photo from our neighborhood Christmas party in December.

How Soon is NOW!!!???

Ok this is ridiculous! Time for some photos!

I have been unable to connect to our book or external hard drive for many months. Has anyone noticed there hasn't been any photos of Jamie lately? Or of any personal nature?

Mike is 'tech' in our home. He has been assuring me he will get this done soon. I know honey but how soon is soon?

Have you heard of :


How Soon is Now???

Lol, anyone catch that that is a Smith's Song? One of the best songs to dance to in the 80's...Ahhhh brings back memories.

Anyway, I am trying not to nag but this is crazy. I have many posts built up to write that go along with the missing photos!

The Determined Struggle has ended!

The year of career hell has finally ended. I haven't posted alot about this situation as I know people have gotten in trouble with mixing blogging with their jobs. Most of my friends and any readers who have been around over a year might know that I had a woman boss join the company in Oct 2009 who I butted heads with.

Many coworkers left our department (13!!) and even one boss left during her 15 month reign. This may not sound like a lot but our department is only about 12 total folks. Many people thought I would be among the ones who left. That I would leave either from being fired or by quitting because of how miserable I was.

A friend who worked there had a book about Horoscopes in relationships. When you turned to the page with her birthday week and mine the title was 'Determined Struggle'.

But I was determined. Determined to hang on to a job I love, where I have worked for years. (18 years last month!) I help my accounts get a ROI or return on their investment, in other words what I sell helps their business to be profitable.

I am not entirely sure why she was let go. I think it had something to do with 3 sales reps leaving in as many weeks the end of the year. All three cited this manager as the reason they were leaving the company. One of them wrote a several page diatribe listing her faults.

Thanks Deb, Peg and Amy. You were the footsoldiers in the final battle.

I am a survivor.

PS. At our church retreat last weekend I had my fortune told with tarot cards. She told me to shuffle the deck and decide what I wanted to hear about, career, money, love,family etc. I chose for the reading to focus my career.

The first card represented my career past. It was a queen of swords. She told me that I had just completed a pretty intense battle of some length and that now it was in the past. The next card was the present and it was Pan - a time of contentment. The future card was the Queen of Cups who I was told was about Love and positive energy. Here is what

this site

suggests the Queen of Cups means in the Future Position as it was in my reading.

When this card is in the future position, you are headed toward a date with contentment. Aim high in the present, as knowing that you will be encountering the Queen of Cups can give you confidence to take risks in love and life, career and college. Family and friends are going to be a great part of your future, so make sure you know where you stand with them and they with you.

More contentment and the confidence to take risks!! Wow.

Gosh it feels good to feel good about going to work again!

Life is good!

Too busy to blog lately, but I realized today life is pretty good here in the Jamie and us household.

My immediate supervisor is no longer with the company. Yes we all no what that means in corporate speak.

They announced my new boss this week and it's someone at the company I know and like and also know she likes and respects me. Wow. This will be so different. Yay for me!

Our new dog Samson is working out beautifully. I was reluctant to listen to the crate trainers out there, but you were right! Thanks to you all! and you know who you are! It has helped immensely. We haven't had one potty accident and just a few chewed shoes (one of each of ours) He is so obedient and ready to please for the most part, a typical 'golden' child. He really isn't a pure golden retriever, but he looks a lot like one but a bit smaller with shorter hair.

I took him out for a solo bike ride myself tonight and he has potential to be the dog I always wanted that will jog along side of me (or along side of Jamie) while we ride bikes. Got to figure out how to get him to quit crossing in front of me though. LOL

And Jamie got into the Arts Magnet school we had hoped for her. It will put her on the Arts Magnet track all the way through High School so that means we don't have to move to a better area for her school.

If we are able to so be it. But no pressure. Not only that but kids in schools where the parents and the kids want to be there do so much better in their education as well as their lives.

I just feel this is going to be a great year for us.

Now if I could just get my photos downloaded where I could get to them sometime soon so I could post them online. Oh well not everything can be perfect!

Happy Spring everyone, how is your world?

Mini Vaca

We just spent 4 days and 3 nights in Orlando, doing what we normally do on vacation these days, going to a water park Sunday (Blizzard Beach – our fave) and then a relaxing day on Monday, then The Magic Kingdom yesterday and another low profile day today.


I know I said no vacations until the kitchen is paid off (will it ever be!?) but this little vaca didn’t put us out for too much. We already had the theme park admissions as we do the Magic Your Way for multi days. If you upgrade to the water park option you get 6 extra days in the water parks over and above your 6 days in the big parks. The trick is to use all the Water Park days before using your last ‘Big Park’ day, once you use up your Big Park days the ticket is done.

Our favorite lodgings ‘The Enclave’ gave us a complimentary day to use so we only had to pay for 2 out of the 3 nights we stayed there. $200 isn’t bad for 2 nights in a 2 br 2 bath condo complete with fridge, dishwasher and microwave, not to mention 3 pools (One inside), Jacuzzis, gym, children’s playground etc. They just raised their Florida resident rate – from $89 to $102/night, but this time we stayed in one that was fully updated including Granite and Stainless steel appliances, new carpets and tasteful décor. So I guess they are updating the units and the rate will be higher to reflect that. I really was ok with the out of date furniture and the Formica, but it was nice.

The Tab: $200 Lodgings; $100 for food at the Fresh Market (2 trips) and $60 for lunch at Magic Kingdom and dinner at Blizzard Beach, $40 for Fridays meal on Monday; $120 for a couple of Walmart runs to get sunscreen, swimmies for Jamie, Benadryl for me etc. and a $75 tank of gas. $595 total. Not too bad, Fresh Market pushed it up quite a bit as we got some fancy steak, empanadas, Rice, pasta and asparagus salads and organic chocolate ice cream bars…woulda been a lot less if we only ate sandwiches.

Some reflections on the Magic Kingdom this go around:
A. Too bad they closed Toon Town. Jamie really liked the Goofy Barnstormer Roller coaster, just right for little daredevils and it has room for Mom or Dad as well. I hear tell they will be opening that section as an expanded part of Fantasyland and reopen the Goofy roller coaster, and will also have some new stuff: some sort of a Circus something and something about Ariel under the Sea. They didn’t mention whether or not they would be bringing back Mickey and Minnie’s houses, which were pretty cute or the Princess Encounters.

B. Over 2 hour wait for a Meet and Greet@!?!?! They had Rapunzel in what was formerly Belle’s enchanted garden. Belle used to do a little stage show with singing and what not but this was just hundreds of little girls standing in line for hours just to get up close to Rapunzel and her dude Flynn Rider! Seriously who does this? We had forgotten Jamie’s autograph book this time so we skipped any of the ‘character encounters.’ Jamie didn’t seem to mind too much.

C. Rides/Attractions in order:

1. Small World One of Jamie’s faves, looks like they may have refurbished it a bit, had some fantasy characters I don’t remember seeing in there. Also NO LINE!

2. Merry go round – can’t miss this, though we did skip Dumbo as we didn’t get here when the park opened. Dumbo isn’t even 90 seconds long so it isn’t worth any kind of wait and there is usually at least a 45 minute wait for it.

3. Mickey’s Philharmonic show (Jamie’s first real 3D encounter- they say toddlers can’t see the three D and I can attest to that, this time she was reaching towards the screen for Flounder and Mickey, last time she couldn’t even see with the 3D glasses on

4. Snow White’s Scary adventure -this one is kind of dark with lots of witch women

5. Winnie the Pooh which had new kids encounter activities all along the front where the kids could pound mallets to get the gophers to come out, move the honeybees. ‘Paint’ with honey and other fun stuff. WTG Disney for coming up with something to keep the kids from getting crazy bored. Wish they could develop this sort of thing for all the kids’ rides.

5.5 attempt to do the Rapunzal encounter with some photos taken from afar

6. Tomorrowland where I ran to get Space Mountain Fast Passes; People mover -This was great! Skip the 90 second Astro Orbiter and do this instead, gives you a good tour of Tomorrowland

7. Carousel of Progress – where the audiences move around to different stages where there were Amiotronic robot families depicting 1900, 1920, 1940, 2010. It was kind of weird that they skipped the 60’s I bet

8. Stitches great escape – turns out not so great, why did Jamie have to be 40” tall for that? Just for the scare factor I guess. This was just lame. Mike said he fell asleep

9. Lunch at TomorrowLand diner, where Jamie and I split chicken and ribs and Mike ate a turkey sandwich and we drank our drinks we brought

10. Jamie and Dad- Mad Tea Cups/ Me Space Mountain

11. Daddy and Jamie music show in Tomorrowland, Me waiting at Fantasyland where we were supposed to catch up together.

12. Then off to Frontierland where we watched Splash Mountain splash land over and over again forever, then got the Fast Pass for it when Jamie decided she wanted to ride it; then on to Tom Sawyers Island (which was mainly steps up and down and a tunnel, a barrel bridge that rolled and a play structure)

13. Then we saw the 3pm parade (not as good as the evening parade - only about 10 minutes long)

13.5 Dinner (Packed sandwiches) sitting in the shade by Splash Mountain

14.Train ride – We killed time riding the train till our 6:20 space Space Mountain Fast Pass return and rested as we went 2 times around, got off at Main Street to get Mike souvenir fudge then back on back to Frontierland. No Souvenirs for me or Jamie this time but we did trade in Jamie’s’ old ‘Spinning Light up Minnie Mouse’ we had gotten from a prior trip to the World that wouldn’t light up anymore, for a new one that would light up, (this was the second trade-in) so she was thrilled. When we got back we got a Fast Pass for Thunder Mountain and then were just in time for our Fast Pass for

15. Splash Mountain – this was the high point of the day for all of us I think. Jamie didn’t want to ride until we sat at the bridge and watched folks coming down the mountain and getting splashed several times. It was really cute and it didn't have any of those stupid gushers that just dump water on you. You simply got splashed. also in true Disney fashion they had the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox throughout the ride.

16. Thunder Mountain – We were so proud of Jamie, we bribed her with Mikes Fudge if she was brave enough to go on and I think she really liked it. This one is mild enough for a kids first real roller coaster ride (Other than mini coasters).

17. Swiss Family Robinson tree house – pretty lame, Mike skipped this one as he was ready to go. Wish we had gone on Aladdin’s Magic carpet ride instead!

We then left among Jamie’s loud and plaintive pleadings to stay for the 9pm Parade. We just didn’t have it in us to stay any longer. This was our first full day in the Parks; we normally go back to the hotel for lunch and a nap. This time we were there from 8:15-8:15pm. It was a wonderful day, with overcast skies, no rain, very moderate temperatures with maybe a high of 82 degrees.

Sunday when we went to the water park it was a high of 90 and didn’t feel that hot as it wasn’t humid. That was a great day for the water park, and then it rained on Monday, which was great for a hang around the hotel day.

Oh and when we got to the hotel on Sunday after the water park our room was not ready at 6pm! They didn’t want to give us another room as the General Manager had reserved us a room that was totally renovated – the one with the granite etc. I asked for a late check out for us having to wait for the room until 7pm and they agreed.

So waiting for the room to be ready, led to the first of three trips to Walmart. It seems we do this almost every trip we take, no matter how I over pack. The late checkout we earned meant today we got to enjoy the facilities one more day before taking off for home.

All and all a wonderful mini vaca!

I have been writing this post as we are driving home, or should I say Mike is driving home. We just had to pull off I-95 just north of the I-4 interchange. The rain was coming down in sheets and the wind gusts were stronger than anything I have felt before – we are guessing 80 mph gusts. Dozens of vehicles also pulled over, and it felt like the wind was going to knock the van over.

Someday I will have an air card or a phone with internet so I can post live, but this will have to suffice. I am writing while Jamie is watching Tinker Bell and Mike are driving.

What a great life I live! Almost home, and then we go get our new dog Samson who has been staying with the family we got him from. Poor baby didn’t want us to leave him there which I was glad to see. I thought he was missing his other family. I miss him; it will be good to see him, the kitties and our home again. Be home soon!

PS - Just picked up our dog that promptly came home and peed on the carpet on Mike’s side of the bed, same place he peed the day before we left. Guess the Odor neutralizer I applied wasn’t effective. Does that stuff wear out? I had it from prior kitties that had issues; it may be 8 yrs old.

PPS - We closed the bedroom door to keep Samson out of there while reading the bedtime story to Jamie and he went into Jamie's room and Shat all over the rug! Darn it, not sure I am up for this poop cleaning part of it. Any advice out there?!?

Ok I guess it was getting too 'zen' around here with Buddah Fish. We brought home Sampson Saturday night for a sleepover.

Mike wasn't pleased, but I assured him it was a test run. The friends who gave us the ten gallon tank need to downsize on their pets as they have 3 dogs and 2 cats and fish and may be looking for a new house to rent soon.

When we visit Jamie LOVES Sampson (Not pictured above but looks alot like this) and he is the most well behaved and laid back puppy I have ever seen. He is 5 mos old and appears to be a golden retriever.

It went well...Lets just say Mike melted at how Jamie and Sampson bonded.

So we will be taking him on Friday for the entire weekend.

We aren't really 'dog people' so we are a bit intimidated.

Where do we put him during the day? When we are on vacation? Will he chew the door, or our furniture? WIll the cats ever get along with him? Will Jamie get bored once he isn't the new thing around here? and most importantly:

Will he end up my dog?

Chances are he will. And I think I'm all right with that.

Buddah Fish

We have had a goldfish in a small 3 gallon tank Mike had for a little over 6 months. We originally had two but one died.

So a friend recently offered us his 10 gallon tank as they were upgrading to a larger one.

We went to Petsmart on Sunday and were ready to buy an Oscar, which is this cool african cichlid that is very expressive...well as expressive as a fish can be I guess. They act a bit like a puppy in that they come right up to the top of the tank and you can even pet them.

I have always wanted an Oscar,, actually a Tiger Oscar. When I was younger my boyfriend had one and it was a cool pet for a fish.

But the Oscar isn't a nice fish. Not to the other fish who he lives with. In fact he is a bit of a cannibal in that he eats goldfish when he gets larger.

And speaking of getting larger - they said he would too big for the 10 gallon tank within three months. And he will kill or bully any other fish in the tank while growing.

We were also told to get the tank set up first and let it sit for a day or so. So Sunday Mike set up the tank and tonight we bought our first fish. Since we were told we really should have a 55 gallon tank for an oscar we switched our plan.

Did you know it's best to only start with one or two fish in the beginning. That with a new tank you can actually kill off most of your fish if you full stock it in the beginning. Something about the 'cycle' of the water chemistry. They STRONGLY recommend you start with just one or maybe two if the fish are very slim bodied.

So we got Buddah fish tonight instead - a Dalmation Molly. A Molly isn't a slim bodied fish, so hence just one to begin with. He is a boy and if we want to can get girls later and they can have live offspring.

The reason we are calling him Buddah is we have found that the fish tank is a relaxing center to our living room. And since he won't be spreading mayhem and carnage like the Oscar would have, it seemed like a good moniker. And also I found a small White Buddah at thrift store this week and it looks really cool in the tank with our black and white fish.

If we do decide to get him some gal friends we can call them Karma and Peace and Harmony as three females are recommended so he doesn't pester the one to death. So one male, three females and maybe a bunch of babies darting around.

Yeah sure, sounds real harmonious.

What the ______?

Ok so Jamie starting using this expression. As in "What the H___? I had a little talk with her about it on the way to school yesterday. I asked her where she got that expression and it turns out her teachers 13 yr old daughter has been hanging out in the afternoons there.



I told her that I didn't think it was a phrase that she should be using as a little girl. She replied that she is now a big girl. I said yes you are getting to be a big girl but are still a little girl. I then told her about all the things that she will be expected to do when she is 13. Like what Mommy?

Oh like dishes every night, sweeping and mopping the floor, homework every night, helping with the laundry and keeping the house straightened. She kept asking what else? Like she was looking forward to all those chores.

Maybe time to assign her some real chores?

Think she is ready to start manning the new Shark mop we just got?

No...not yet, soon enough she will be expected to do her share. Maybe we will start smaller. (Besides I kind of like using my new mop!, I know what a dork!)

Do they make a child size broom and dustpan set I wonder?

The Pixies and Gang of Four on tour!

Two of my old favorite bands are on tour this year and I won't be able to see either one of them unless I am willing to travel.

And as I tell my daughter when she pleads to go to Disney World, adopt a tiger or help the homeless pets, 'Not until we pay off the kitchen'.

If I still lived in the Detroit area I would be all set. This is a show I could go to by myself as I love this band and would be dancing and jumping around so wildly it wouldn't matter if anyone was with me. Although I sure had a great time at what I thought was their final tour about five years ago with my great friend Diana. She didn't even know their music but she had a blast too. That tour they came to Florida and I only had to travel five hours to Tampa to see them.

Here is the Pixies Tour Schedule:
April 9: Metro Centre, Halifax, NS
April 10: Centre – Casino Moncton, Moncton, NB
April 12: Salle Albert-Rousseau, Quebec City, QC
April 13: Metropolis, Montreal, QC
April 16: Civic Centre, Ottawa, ON
April 17: The Center in the Square, Kitchener, ON
April 18: Massey Hall, Toronto, ON
April 20: Wentworth Room, Hamilton, ON
April 22: Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI
April 23: Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
April 24: Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, MN
April 27: Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, MB
April 29: TCU Place, Saskatoon, SK
April 30: Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, AB
May 1: Shaw Conference Center, Edmonton, AB
May 3: Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, BC

I got the above set list from an 80's music blog:

http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/

Cool blog if you are into that sort of thing.

Meanwhile I will listen to KEXP streaming since I won't be attending any cool shows in the near future. If you want to listen too, they are at:

http://kexp.org/Default.aspx

They are out of Seattle and they are advertising their Sasquatch fest on Memorial Day with Death Cab for Cutie among others... Anyway they archive most of their shows so you can listen to any of them that way and I guess they stream live. I haven't figured that out yet. Here is where I found KEXP (again):


KEXP.org: Mellow Online Radio for Work and/or a Super Bowl Hangover
February 2, 2009 at 8:18AM by Meryl Rothstein
"Easy listening" is usually an insult. But KEXP is easy listening in the best possible way. KEXP.org, the Web site of the Seattle-based, listener-supported (and therefore commercial-free) radio station is what you should listen to at work when you realize Pandora still hasn't quite figured out which songs you like. Or when you're extremely hungover and exhausted, like you undoubtedly are after last night's Super Bowl.
The site offers almost all of the station's content, from its blues show to its electronic show, for free. But what you should really listen to, no matter the time of day, is the 6 a.m. morning show. Mellow without being Lite, alternative without being painfully hip, it's distracting enough to keep you entertained, but not so distracting that you can't get your work done. It'll remind you of that half-asleep hour after your shower but before your coffee. And that no matter where you are, the weather's probably worse in Seattle.Read more: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/endorsement/kexp-music-at-work-020209#ixzz1DqVoxgg6


Here is a Gang Of Four quote found on Slicing Up Eyeballs, regarding the new Gang of Four tour supporting their new album.

Gang of Four reconnects with ‘intensity and aggression’ Greg Kot interviews Jon King, co-founder of the U.K. postpunk act, which currently is touring the U.S. in support of Content, the band’s brand-new album. [Chicago Tribune]

Northern Florida is not the mecca for new music.

That's all I'm saying

I Like Dark TV

I am currently watching Shameless with William Macy, and it is among the darkest of the dark tv shows I watch. It's about a drunk alcoholic dad whose wife left him with 5 or 6 kids. The oldest girl takes care of the family and I find it strangely compelling.

I grew up with two parents who drank, but they weren't as slovenly as this character. He's this guy you hate, but love to watch. Mike won't even watch any show with unsypathetic characters (Like House for example), so this is one of my guilty pleasures I watch on demand.

Other TV shows I like are also filled with dark story lines that include more drunkeness (Californication); Drug addiction (Nurse Jackie); Mental Illness (United States of Tara); Serial killers (Dexter) and Hollywood Excess (Episodes).

Most of these shows are so gritty and realistic it makes me appreciate my mostly orderly, peaceful life.

I really think TV is better now than it has ever been in the past.

Getting Ready for another Consignment Sale

Yes I know today was Super Bowl Sunday, but for me it was Super Tag Tuesday. Our spring Consignment sales is come up in less then two weeks so I decided it was time to get with the program.

I tagged over 90 pieces of clothing and about 12 other objects. Hope to get at least a couple hundred dollars back from Jamie's clothes that don't fit or don't fit her fashion requirements.

For example - She doesn't like elastic on her arms, doesn't like tennis shoes, doesn't wear shorts EVER. Until this winter she wouldn't wear jeans, but apparently jeans are now cool at her preschool. Jeans and boots have joined the skirts and mary jane shoes she has been wearing since she turned two.

My living room is trashed with hangers, and clothes and toys all over.

Mike stayed down in the den and kept an eye on Jamie all day so I could get a lot done.

He is a good man.

I copied this from Lauri over at Leap of Faith, not a very stirring testimonial LOL
1. What is something mom always says to you? Listen
2. What makes mom happy? If I listen
3. What makes mom sad? If I don't listen
4. How does your mom make you laugh? when she is funny
5. What did your mom like to do as a child? I don't know
6. How old is your mom? 16?
7. How tall is your mom? 40 feet
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Go on her computer every time
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? I don't know
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? When you go to a restaurant
11. What is your mom really good at? Drawing
12. What is your mom not very good at? working
13. What does your mom do for her job? work, goes on her computer, talk to people
14 What is your mom's favorite food? basketti
15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she works good
16.. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? A bee
17. What do you and your mom do together? Go somewhere like Chuckee Cheese, museums
18. How are you and your mom the same? we both like to go places like the museum and the store
19. How are you and your mom different? we don't have the same hair.
20. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Home
21.How do you know your mom loves you? because I am funny
22. What makes you happy? Suck and hold Waddy (Suck her fingers and hold her lovey)

Wow

The other day we were cuddling before getting up for work and school and I said, "I wish I didn't have to go to work today!"

Jamie just said, "Wow."

Winter blahs

Ok I know Florida isn't having the kind of winter most of the country experiences, but we have been getting more than our share of cloudy days and cold temps. I can't believe I have only been back to work for four days from being off for 2 wks.

I just wish I could be independently wealthy and have the time and money to do whatever I wish.

It was Jamie's fifth birthday Tuesday - and all we did was go to Chuckie Cheese with a couple of her friends. It was going to just be Emmie, but then Emmie was off with her dad so I had to go get her (Tuesday is usually a night that we take Emmie while her mom works late). Anyway because I knew I couldnt get Emmie there til 6:30 I put out the call on FB to a couple of her school friends parents and one of the dads brought Chayse from Jamie's school.

I wasn't really pleased with Jamies behavior as she latched onto Emmie and kind of kicked Chayse to the curb when we got there.

Chayse wouldn't speak to Jamie at school the next day but they are friends again today.

I hope Jamie learned something.

We hope to have a party later in the month, but I have yet to call around to make that plan. Either a jump house place or a pony party at a riding stable (that also has a jump house). Jamie has a list of about 10 kids...

Its at least $350 for a party, just what I cant really afford right now.

BLEGH!

Typhoid Martha

I came down with a bad sore throat the other day and was lucky enough to get right in to the Dr.
They did both throat and nose swabs and ran cultures. I have both, Strep throat and the Flu. I am thinking it's H1N1 as he prescribed Tamiflu. I am in Day 3 and still don't feel good. Mainly head, throat and body aches.

I miss my boy. He was always right there with me, especially if was sitting or laying around which I am doing alot of right now.

I sent Jamie to daycare the last two days as per the Dr's suggestion. I guess the thought was she would less likely catch what I have if she wasn't sitting with me all day.

Mike has been taking her out on her bike every day - he got both of our tires pumped up and we all went out on Sunday.

She loves her bike. And her Unicorn Pillow Pet, her Tangled doll and tower and her games. Not so much for the Walking Dog she HAD to have. and the FinFin was fun that one night but she hasn't asked for it again. FinFin is this cute little fish in a fake aquarium that swims around and makes little noises. It is supposed to be trainable and interactive. (IT IS SO BLOODY LOUD!!)

I haven't done much, glad I cooked like a fiend last weekend, we have been eating leftover Lasagna, chili, ham, bean soup from the ham and Beef burgandy. I think we pretty much finished everything off yesterday so I will be cooking some Shrimp and Pasta today I think.

Yup, mainly just resting. I think this is God's way of forcing me to rest. Yup, just get me sick so I will sit.

Happy New Year to you!

A Game Player is Born!

Yes Jamie has been playing Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Memory game and Hi Ho Cherry O!

Those games are ok once in a while but I have to say they are pretty monotonous. She really excels at the Memory Game, as she beats me most time we play. (this is the game where you play out all the cards face down and pick two at a time trying for pairs). I guess her little brain is fresher at remembering.

A friend had gotten Blokus from a friend, who suggested it for her child who is Jamie's age. She sugggested it as a game that could be enjoyed by parents as well as almost five year olds.

So I bought it as a 'Santa' gift to the whole family. And my Mom bought her 'Go Fish' and "War" Yes these are both card games that can use an actual regular pack of cards, but these are cute with the Toy Story characters as the numbers.

Jamie LOVES playing all three of these games! And me and mom LOVED playing them with her.

Try Blokus for a fun simple strategy game even a almost five year old can play. It's a strategy game that I hope will give her the background knowledge and skills to progress to playing my all time favorite Strategy game Settlers of Cataan someday. In Blokus all you need to know is to put your next piece on the board touching corners of their own color.

Jamie caught on immediately.

Fairy Tales can be Scary!

Christmas is over, the houseguests left this morning. Photos are forthcoming, I need to download from both cameras.

I got a lot of library books last week - mostly picture books to read Jamie. One of them was a beautiful edition of 'The Little Match Girl'. I had forgotten the ending of the story and set about reading it to Jamie a couple nights before Christmas.

When I came to the last page I decided not to finish it...

Do you know the story?

It's about a poor little girl out selling matches shortly after Christmas Day. She is barefoot and afraid to go home to her father who will beat her for not selling any matches. She sits down to rest and lights the matches one by one for warmth and imagines various scenes including a warm stove, a loaded holiday table and Christmas Tree and her loving grandmother who died recently.

She goes into her grandmothers embrace and begs not to be let go.

Then on the last page she is dead.

Wow talk about morbid.

Then because Jamie recently saw Tangled and got Rapunzal doll and tower for Christmas we found the Grimm fairy tale version. Also pretty morbid, but ends more happily.

Here is the final paragraph:

"Thus he wandered about miserably for some years, finally happening into the wilderness where Rapunzel lived miserably with the twins that she had given birth to.
He heard a voice and thought it was familiar. He advanced toward it, and as he approached, Rapunzel recognized him, and crying, threw her arms around his neck. Two of her tears fell into his eyes, and they became clear once again, and he could see as well as before. He led her into his kingdom, where he was received with joy, and for a long time they lived happily and satisfied."

I can see why they were referred to as the Brothers Grimm.