Smellyann Strikes Again

Car Handkerchief, Please

I had an idea for a blog post that I'm using right now: random words selected by each of my three kids, searched under Google Images, and presented to you here. Why? Well, why not? Who else is doing it, after all??

"Car Handkerchief, Please" - I actually kinda like this idea, which gives me food for creative thought. What else could I put on a handkerchief? Too bad I don't know how to silk screen and don't own an embroidery machine (though I'd love to get one, if anyone out there feels like sending me one for review. Singer? Brother?)

"Poop Laptop Games" - The kids actually do have an app called "Pou" on their Kindles, and they love, love, loooove it. I don't know how to pronounce it, exactly, but here's what Chloë says about it: "Mom! 'Y-O-U' is pronounced 'yoo,' so 'P-O-U' must be 'poo,' right?" Who am I to argue with that logic?

"Strawberry Kitchen Cookies" - these look so pretty, which reminds me, I think I am going to reinstate the baking business here in Miami. Well, Homestead, but serving all of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties. Only, I'm going to stay away from decorating big, elaborate cakes this time. Why? Partly because I don't think I'm really that good at it and know others with way more talent in that area, and partly because the idea of my hard work melting in the South Florida heat really stresses me out. I'll make cupcakes, but my focus will be on cookies, pies, candies, and my favorite cheesecakes. I love the idea of a wedding dessert buffet instead of one cake, for example, and I think it's the next wave. Contact me if you need some goodies!

"Sleepy Kittens Eating" - None of the images on Google came up with kittens anywhere near food, but that's okay, because oh, the cuteness! This is actually a frequent site around these parts, because we're currently fostering two orange manx kittens barely old enough to be away from their mama's milk. We rescued one, Lucky, from under a dumpster, and the other, Hunter, from under Rob's kayak. It's time to adopt them out now that they're strong and healthy, before we get too attached to them to do so. There isn't a snowball's chance I'm going to let us keep them, so it's time. I'll be sad to see them go, though: they're terribly fun to watch, as they're at that playful stage only young cats and dogs seem to reach. The world is their playground, and anything or anyone (or any cat) that gets in their way is yet another toy. Fun times.

So, the kids are tiring of this game, which means it's time to wrap it up. I'll do this again, though; it was fun for me! Hope you enjoyed it a little, too. 

Fin.

Lucky And Hunter

.

There are currently eight - count 'em, eight - cats of various ages in this house. It's a little kitten crazy at the moment, and I'm not totally thrilled about it, but there it is. I already told you how Lucky got here, at the end of this post.It's a pretty cool story, worth the read if you missed it.

.

.

Now, Hunter is here, too. Sophia named him that; he's Lucky's littermate. That's him on the right, with his triplet (there's another one out there), Lucky, on the left. I can tell them apart because their eyes are different: Lucky's are round, whereas Hunter's are a bit droopier. And Lucky still has a booboo on his mouth from being squashed under the dumpster.

.

.

Hunter's story isn't quite so miraculous: We found him in our locked backyard, under Rob's kayak, meowing away. How he got there is anyone's guess, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Sophia carried him inside through the house and put him there to be found. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did.

.

We are absolutely, definitely, certainly NOT keeping Lucky nor Hunter. We already have Tinkerbell (almost 8), Star (about 5½), Cupcake and Muffin (3), and Pepper and Ginger (not quite 1). We do not need eight cats. We do not need six cats, but that's another story. Food and litter are expensive, not to mention vet bills. 

.

Speaking of vet bills, here's the plan: We are going to get Lucky and Hunter (as well as the still-intact Spice Boys, Pepper and Ginger) neutered, thanks to Karen, a volunteer we met through our local Petco store. She's giving us SPCA certificates for every single stray cat we can round up, so the only out-of-pocket expense we'll incur is gas to get to the vet and back. The cats will get fixed, have their ears tipped to save their lives, and be returned to the neighborhood.

.

Except for these two. They're so tiny, they should still be drinking their mama's milk, but we can't find her. She's been spotted but was uncatchable, so she's still out there, along with orange kitten #3. Hunter's fine, albeit terrified of new situations, but Lucky is still recovering from his injuries. We're going to get the two of them strong enough to be neutered and then find them new homes. Then we'll work on spaying and neutering the rest of our neighborhood's large stray cat population.

.

Call us crazy, but we love animals, and it's the right thing to do.

.

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Foster Kitten, Lucky

Lucky and Rob, who rescued him from where he was squished underneath a dumpster

He weighs about a pound and is a tail-less Manx.

We named him "Lucky," because he's fortunate to be alive. We took him to Petco to get some infant cat formula and kitten chow, which he smacks down hungrily!

Gratuitous shot of me, taken by Chloë, in my wrap dress/skirt/shawl/thing from Key West. I'm fixin' to get two more, since they're so versatile and pretty!

Lucky likes to hang out in Rob's pocket. His eyes really are this blue; this photo is un-retouched.

It's almost impossible to get a good shot of Lucky, since he's so squirmy! Such a cute little baby. Once he's all fixed up, strong, healthy and neutered, we'll find him a good home.

Thanks for stopping by! Visit 5 Minutes for Mom and other sites around the blogosphere for more Wordless Wednesday posts!

Fin.

Saturday 9: Twist And Shout

Link up here if you're playing along today!

1) In the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris climbs up on a parade float and enthusiastically lip synchs this song, encouraging the entire crowd to join in. Do you know the lyrics of "Twist and Shout" well enough to sing along? (Watch the impossibly young Matthew Broderick as Ferris here.)

I know part of them, but not the whole song. I knew it better when I was younger. I danced to it drunkenly in Key West a long time ago, I remember...

 

2) What other Beatles' song do you know all the words to?

Probably none of them. My dad was (is) a major Elvis fan growing up, so that's what we listened to of my parents' generation, not the Beatles. I know I missed out on a lot, musically speaking, so I only know the Beatles songs we sang in choir!

 

3) 49 years after their American debut, The Beatles are acknowledged as having a lasting impact on both music and culture. What performers on today's music scene do you think will be remembered 50 years from now?

Bruno Mars is like the second coming of Michael Jackson. I think he'll leave a lasting mark.

4) Paul McCartney is an enthusiastic advocate of the vegetarian lifestyle. Could you/have you tried to "go veggie?"

 

I am only semi-vegetarian now because I need so much protein and am working toward getting back, but I have been full-on vegan in the past. It's my goal.

 

5) As a young boy, Ringo Starr suffered a severe attack of appendicitis and almost died. Do you still have your appendix? What about your tonsils?


I don't have a cervix (TMI?), uterus, Fallopian tubes, one of my ovaries, my gallbladder, and most of my stomach. I should probably have had my tonsils and adenoids out long ago, but so far I still have those and my appendix. Sometimes I wonder if I'm missing half my brain, too...

 

6) John Lennon sketched and doodled when he was bored or nervous. Do you have any
nervous habits?



I bite my lip, and I fidget and play with my hair, my shirt, whatever is handy. Now I keep my keys and iPhone in my hands to avoid doing that as much as possible.

 

7) George Harrison loved Hawaii so much he bought a 63-acre estate in Maui. Have you ever visited our 50th state?

We flew through Honolulu on our way both in and out of Guam 10½ years ago, but I wouldn't really classify that as a "visit." I didn't get to touch soil, and I certainly didn't get "lei'd" there.

 

8) Yoko Ono was a polarizing character in the Beatles' saga. Has any of your friends ever dated/married someone you just could not stand?

  No, but my dad has married two woman I couldn't/can't stand. He doesn't choose well.

9) Paul has had dogs his entire adult life, including a sheepdog, Martha, and a black lab, Jet. John was especially fond of a cat named Elvis and a tomcat he found in the snow and named Tim. Tell us about one of your pets.

Well, I've talked about our six cats before, so I'll tell you about this little one. The kids were out riding their bike/skating this afternoon, while I worked on mystery shop reports in the house. They came bursting in, telling me that there was a tiny kitten stuck under a dumpster. I reassured them, saying, "Oh, it's probably fine," thinking it wanted to be under there. Then Rob came home from the store, and he told me that there was indeed a kitten stuck under a dumpster, and he couldn't get it out. He worked tirelessly, with all his strength and tools, to unlodge the poor weeks-old baby, getting injured himself in the process.

 

Finally, Rob was able to lift up the dumpster (!!!!!) enough to yank the kitty out by a leg. He/she/it was shaken, bloodied, dirty, possibly otherwise injured, and covered in poop. We called a vet, but they were no use, so we went to Petco and got him some infant cat formula and canned food. He was STARVING and smacked loudly as he ate. Then Rob gave him a bath. We talked to the Adoption Services lady at Petco; she's going to give us some dewormer tomorrow and a certificate to have the stray kitty spayed or neutered for free. We'll take care of him/her until s/he's all better (I think it's a girl) and then find her a home. I'm bound and determined NOT to add a 7th cat to our already-full home. We named her Lucky.

Fin.

Oh, My Dawg, I'm So Excited!!!

...or, How We Spent Our Tax Refund!

        ...or, Man, We Should Be One of Those Couples Who Has To Spend a Million-Dollar Inheritance in 24-Hours Flat!

                   You feel me? But let's move on from these 77 alternate titles and get to the meat of this post.

If you hadn't realized, our federal tax refund hit our bank account yesterday. Here's how we've spent it on the kids and household goods in the day since then:

1. First stop, our local post office. We had to mail five or six packages, including the Progressive Snapshot device I'd never plugged into our Odyssey, Penelope, some video surveillance equipment for a mystery shop I'd (never) done, and the keys to our Virginia Beach house to our realtor back in that town. Plus, I had to buy a roll of stamps. Yes, some of us do still send snail mail. And also, we had to bring our lease in so that we could FINALLY get the keys to our mailbox. It's been 3 weeks, and we still have almost NO mail, save for the little bit that trickles down into our PO Box. Speaking of which, the kids and I went to check it while Rob finished up with the lease business, and there were two cards in it from Aunt Stacey (my sister). She sent cards and money for the two birthday babies, Jack and Sophia, having decided together with me that money was the way to go for our kids' respective birthdays from now on.

2. Next stop, Walmart. We spent a buttload of money on household necessities (and a few un-necessities, but not many) there. And Jack spent his new birthday money on this remote-controlled boat he'd been eyeing for a while.

Sophia spent her birthday money on this horse, which goes with her doll that she'd bought with birthday money from others earlier in the month. Granted, it's not tax money, but it happened yesterday, so I have to tell ya.

Also, Chloë and...

 

 

... Sophia both got new pairs of skates, which was and wasn't a splurge. It wasn't an absolute need, no, but they did need to get more and more varied exercise, and I needed a skating partner! Rob wanted to buy me a bike, too, but I figure I'll keep an eye on Freecycle for that. (Side note: Sophia fell on her butt a million times but is already zooming skillfully around the block. Chloë is still falling, but she'll get there, I'm sure. Soon as she lets go of all the tree branches, that is.)

 

 Other spending at Wally-World included food (absolutely necessary, right?), an iron (Rob had left ours back at the Va Beach house, oops), toilet bowl brushes (because, eww, he forgot those back there, too), a plunger (same story), towels and accessories to match the new shower curtains and mats in both our and the kids' bathrooms (splurge-y), a garbage can (forgot it, too), aaaand new bedding for all three kids (Sophia ruined all the old ones. She does that).

 

 

 

Next up, back at home, I went online to the Florida DMV website because we both need new state licenses, and then we'll need to register Penelope and the motorcycle, and then we'll need to get new insurance policies. (And I still freakin' need to fix the gigantical crack down the middle of my windshield, but that'll keep a li'l longer, won't it? It's been a month and a half already, after all...) But the next appointment - you make 'em online, here - for the DMV isn't until May 6th, so I looked at the docs we'll need for the new licenses. Crap, I need a new Social Security card. So do the kids; ours got stolen, which is not awesome. Lots of other stuff did, too; someone stole our "important papers" lockbox I kept under my desk. Ugh. Anyway. We'll go do that business tomorrow. Of course, they'll want my driver's license, among other things, to get the new card, so now I understand dogs and cats chasing their own tails!

 

 

We don't need cable TV - -haven't had it for years- - but we do need internet service. This is 2013, after all, and we have numerous electronic devices needing wi-fi. Not to mention the fact that our iPhones get crap for signals in the house on the LTE network, or 3G or 4G for the matter, and we don't have a landline. So, we put in about a half-dozen phone calls to Comcast to sign up for supah-fast (and cheap, compared to what we were paying for Cox in VA) cable internet service. We'd have done it sooner, but, ah, that's neither here nor there. It's done now, and they're coming Sunday, and I can't wait, and yeah.

 

 

Next stop, JAFRA, to place an order. I have gotten several from clients that needed fulfilling, plus I plan to start kicking that into high gear, so I needed a few things myself for said purpose. Yeah. I love JAFRA packages. They smell so damn good and always bring promises of buttery soft skin. Mmm, me likey.

 

 

 

Speaking of our iPhones, I've been boosting off my 5's Personal Hotspot to get online and do all the important stuff like tell you on this blahg about that important stuff, and so I had to go on the AT&T website to pay our big, fat bill. That was that. Can't wait to whittle that back down after the Comcast guy comes with our new, um, nothing?

 

 

Speaking of paying the bills, I hopped over to our bank website and put in an extra payment for Penelope, and...

 

 

 

...Elsie, Rob's BMW motorsickle.

 

(Yes, I spelled it that way on porpoise. C'mon, now.)

 

And then, the really exciting stuff started. Well, wait, first dinner. The kids must eat. The husband must eat. I... must nibble. I gained about 10 lbs during our move and realized it even before I got my scale back a week ago to confirm it, so I've been eating very carefully and am already down 4 lbs since then. I was hoping to take it off by my birthday in September, so yay. But what? am I talking about??

 

 

For dinner, after Rob and the kids cleared off the table and cleaned up the kitchen enough for me to cook in it properly, we laid down the new bamboo runner we'd gotten on clearance from Walmart (a minute splurge, yes, but it went with my Fiestaware, and hey, bamboo!) and used the also-clearanced new cloth napkins (hey, reducing paper waste is a good thing). Since we were going fancyish, I decided to make the kids promise promise promise they wouldn't break the wedding crystal we'd gotten from Dr. Lisa and Uncle Faris, and they did pinky-promise, which is as good as gold 'round here. And guess what? The only person who came even close to breaking one was ME. Yup, I'm still the same ol' klutz I always was, rest assured. PS, the candles were Sophie's idear. We are SO decadent. ;P

 

 

I'd gotten this Ninja Chopper from my friend, Yet Another Stephanie, back in VA, but I hadn't put it to good use yet. We had avocados, we had guac mix, and we had tortilla chips, so it was time. And guess what? After a few pulses, we had delicious-ish guacamole. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but compared to the improvised batch I made after Rob and - yes! - the kids quickly polished off this one, it wasn't bad at all. Heh. (Mine wasn't either, but it lacked salt. And lymes. And cilantro. And had too much onion. And tomato. And not enough avocado. Damn, it must've sucked worse than I first rememberated.)

 

 

 

This picture is way washed-out compared to the actual scene, but then I whipped up a pork steak dinner from a recipe I'd gotten on the back of a can of Campbell's chicken broth. There was pasta instead of rice, because that's what I had, and I needed to squeeze fresh juice from oranges rather than use bottled juice, because that's what I had and hello, yummier, but other than that, it was pretty much according to the recipe. Kinda. Anyways. Rob says it was good enough to make again, which is high praise coming from him, but all three kids had upturned noses, the punks. I don't see them doing the whole presentation-is-everything thing on me with hummus and pita, or anything, so humph!

 

 

 

However, Jack and Chloë did enjoy the orange slices in the dinner so well that they requested more for dessert. Um, okay, twist my arm a little bit, why don'tcha.

 

And NOW for the rilly, rilly exciting part!!!

 

(You'd better be sitting down now.)

 

(I mean it.)

 

(Because this is heady, heady stuff, coming up here in a second.)

 

Are you ready?

 

All right.

 

You asked for it.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

I bought stuff for homeschooling!!!!!! Yeah, school, baby! I can't WAIT to delve back in and get the kids back on track and have tons and tons and TONS of fun in the process. I love teaching them!!

 

Here's what I bought over at the Homeschool Buyers' Co-op:

 

 

 

All FIVE levels of Latin American Spanish from Rosetta Stone!!! Whoop!! For cheap! I have been wanting RS for aaaaaaaages, ever since I did a mystery shop at one of their kiosks (oops, I'm not supposed to tell you that) and saw how well it works. Chloë started angling for German, and I would have been thrilled with Latin, but we all settled on the LAS after thinking about what would be the most useful in our lives right now. I can not WAIT to get my teeny-weeny little hands on this baby. Sirrusly.

 

 

I usually piece our Science and Social Studies curricula together myself, but this year (starting now), I'm going to get a little help from the award-winning Adaptive Curriculum. I cannot wait to see how that works for us, especially in Social. Science, I've got down, but our Soshe has been a little, well, piecemeal, so I'd like to get it more organized in their brains, y'know?

 

For teaching Grammar rules more concretely, I got us a lifetime passport to Grammaropolis, which looks very promising. Sounds like fun, too!

 

 

For writing and all that goes with that business, I bought us a year's subscription (which is really enough information, with what I got, to last us through the end of high school if I choose) to Brave Writer, a highly rated program about which I've heard nothing but good stuff. Eeeeeek!

 

And now for the reeeeeealllllly exciting part!!!!

 

Can you stand it? I can't!!

 

Because we want the kids to be technologically savvy, and because so much of their work is computer- and internet-based, I have been wanting to get them each their own laptop or tablet for a while. I've been researching and thinking and debating about it; we've had ONE laptop for the kids up 'til now, and it just doesn't work that well when all three kids need to be online to do assignments. With three, I wouldn't need to constantly rotate them out and cut them short on projects - they could all work simultaneously! So after tons more research, I bought them each a Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet on Amazon.com! Wooohoooo, the
y are going to be so stoked, man!

 

 

 

 

Of course, to protect their shiny new electronical toys, I got them each a case in a different color. Jack's is green, because, well, it's his favorite, and I couldn't find a boyish pattern to suit him.

 

 

I think this one will be Chloë's.

Sophia will like this one.

I don't know how much they'll need or use them, but it remains to be seen, so I got them this pack of 6 styli for their Kindle Fire HDs, and also one - yes, just one - wall charger to share. I figure that much we can do on a rotational basis, right?

But I'm still not done outfitting the kids for the coming year. Nope, nope, nope. I did s'more shopping on ye olde Amazon first:

Sophia needs a new queen-sized mattress for the bunk bed she'll now be sharing with Chloë, because we had to leave her old one behind in Portsmouth (doesn't really matter; it was gross). I got her this memory-foam one, which has really good ratings. Remind me to air it out for two days first...

Oh, and for us, I got a new bed frame since Rob left our old one behind at the Virginia Beach house, which sucks because they aren't as cheap as I thought they were. Booger.

For Jack, I picked up a Yamaha keyboard stand (and a new wall charger, since he lost his). Even though he's decided not to pursue lessons for now, the music store folks convinced us to hang onto the keyboard in case one of the kids picks it up. And I can play, albeit slowly and gingerly, so we can all bang around on it for our music lessons in Sweet Pea Academy. It's cheap but comes highly-rated, so I think this one'll do us just faaaahhhhhn.

 

And finally (as you all breathe a sigh of relief, I know), the kids have been doing some growing since last I shopped for summer clothing for them. Especially Sophia; she's now, like, a foot taller than Jack! No lie. She needed a new bathing suit and picked this one out at Sears.

They all needed shorts and tees, so I bought bunches upon bunches of those for each kiddo, too, along with one dressy outfit for each kid. Inexplicably, after making a painstaking order there, Sears canceled several of my items and let the rest go through. Buh-wha-huh? I have to call them. I want those things, dammit! They need 'em! But it'll keep 'til 0900. Which, oh, is four minutes from now. Serendipity, baby!

Oh, shit, I totally forgot one more big splurge! Well, not like, a boat big, but Shamu big. *Ahem*

 

Yep. We're going to Orlando on Monday and Tuesday! Rob still has a little bit more time (a month, maybe) on Active Duty, so that means he and three dependents still get in for fah-reeeee at Anheuser-Busch parks through their ongoing Here's to the Heroes Salute program.  That leaves one kid out, so I bought another ticket, along with our parking pass, dine-all-day passes for Rob and the kids (I'll nibble and graze meagerly), and a stroller rental voucher. I can't wait, and the kids are ecstatic! (The stroller is mostly for Jack, who still has trouble walking sometimes, especially for long periods of time, thanks to his tight Achilles tendons, and also to keep the kid out of the sun here and there, and also in case we want it to carry things around the park without holding them.) Can't wait to see the shows, can't wait to see Shamu, can't wait to see my babies' faces when they get to feed a fish or two to the dolphins. Wheeee! That'll be Monday.

I think we'll do this on Tuesday, but we might not. I don't know yet. We'll see. Maybe we'll just come home Tuesday, or we might hang out with my online friend, Gloria, whom I've not yet met, or maybe we'll... hm. I don't know! Suggestions?

NOW I'm finished.

I have some mystery shops to go do today, along with my doctor's appointment for this thing growing on my chin, soooo.... whew! This post took forEVER to write.

Fin.

P.S. I'm such a liar. That's not all. HAHAHA. The cats got new beds and litter to poop in - LOTS of litter.

Sundays In My City: Food For Thought

Sundays in my City is hosted by Unknown Mami, to show pictures of everyone's neck of the woods all around the world. Link up here if you're joining in the fun!

The other day, we were near my alma mater, the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, FL. I had gone to the doctor and brought the whole family with me after the shenanigans it took to get the appointment, and afterward, we were starving. So we headed over to UM, which I adore visiting (partly because of the memories, sure, but also because it's such a beautiful campus), to get some grub. We couldn't find one of these glider thingies to sit in and eat our din, so at first, we sat on the steps in the center of campus to eat. Then one sweet girl, who was sitting there studying, shooed herself away to give us the spot. Gotta love nice folks. ^_^

The kids love to stand by Lake Osceola on campus, so before we left, they gathered to look at the ducks and fish. They found a drainage pipe (from sewage, I think?), around which the fish were swarming, so that was cause for many questions. I love how all of our outings lately have provided much homeschooling-on-the-go fodder!

We bought a new Crock-Pot set recently, with two take-along tubs for Rob to bring meals to school, and I was eager to try it out. I don't eat much meat, and definitely not mammals, so I didn't try this, but apparently it was delishimus! I made a pork butt roast (hehe) and put sweet onions in the pot, along with Worcestershire sauce and molasses bacon GrillMates seasoning from McCormick. It was fall-off-the-bone tender when finished, and both Rob and Jack (my big meat-eating boys) ate tons of it!

To the butt (giggle), I added baked potatoes and a baby greens salad with strawberry vinaigrette. Personally, I ate about half a potato, which is about par for the course. Everyone else? Gobbled.

Gratuitous cat picture: This is Pepper, my daughter Chloë's kitten, hanging out with Hubs, aka Rob. He is also known as Mr. Fluffypants, and you can see why!

Welp, remember to link up, and enjoy some other folks' pictures, too.

Fin.

And Chaos Reigns Again.

So finally, on Tuesday - three weeks after our much-anticipated arrival back in the state of Florida - our household goods were scheduled to be delivered from the movers. Not only had we not seen everything from the Portsmouth house in almost a month, but some of that stuff hadn't been seen by us in almost a year, having left it behind at our Virginia Beach house! To say we were all excited would be an extreme understatement.

 They were scheduled to arrive between 0800 and 0900. By 0730, all the kids were up and dressed, and three cats were in each bathroom for the day. By 0800, everyone was outside, listening for the truck. By 0900, when the truck still hadn't appeared, this was Rob, reading and anticipating. I went and, having barely slept the previous night, flung myself down on the floor to catch a little shut-eye. The kids ... I don't know. Remember, I was trying to nap?

At 0906, Rob flung open the bedroom door and shouted, "THEY'RE HERE!!!" and it was everybody up an' at 'em all at once, in 57 different directions. WOOHOO!!! As much as I've enjoyed my aching joints from sleeping on the hard tile floor in sleeping bags for the prior to weeks, I was not sad to see our belongings again!

The truck was pretty cool, all opening on the side and being filled with pods like that, but Ricky, Brian, and Emilio were even better. They earned every penny; they were the best team we've encountered in this relay race to get our household from one state to another.

As they took things out of the truck, Rob parked himself outside with a pen and clipboard, checking everything off the packing list, while I directed traffic to the proper rooms. By 1030 or 1100, Team Ricky were ready for a lunch break, so this was the halfway point. I thought, this much stuff I could handle. I knew we had another truckful, but I didn't realize that it was two FULL trucks' worth of stuff. Uh muh guh, we have a lot of crap!

We started unpacking while they were on their break, so that they could hall away some of the boxes and packing material. When I uncovered our box full of spicy goodness, Chloë exclaimed, "Yeah! Now we can cook with some flavor again!" Dude. I know. Buh-bye, bland.

For Round Two, Rob and I switched places. Good for him, because he needed a break from the sun, and good for me, because (a) I didn't know where to put our rapidly accumulating junk and (b) I needed a break from our ecstatic children. And this was the result. It may not look like waaaay too much stuff (or maybe it does?), but trust The Me, it is. We will be paring down our belongings considerably in the coming days and weeks. Freecycle, Craigslist, and eBay, here we come.

I immediately set to work getting the rest of (or most of) our kitchen sitchyated, while I sic'ed Rob on getting us a table and chairs. We had left our kitchen table behind in Virginia Beach, so it has made a very welcome reappearance in our lives. Here's our first meal at a real table in almost a year! Sophia was missing because she crashed, worn out, on the couch until right after dinner.

On Wednesday, Rob and the kids busied themselves with their respective rooms, whilst I went in search of a doctor to prescribe my meds. I'd run out Tuesday night, and long story short, I still don't have my freakin' drugs. It's going to be an interesting remainder of the week if I don't get some side-Effexor in my system - and soon.

So after I got home, tears and all, from the Emergency Department, I started dinner. The kids had been promised some muffins for breakfast, but I didn't get up in time to make them, so that was dessert. Sophie's extra pudge is already coming off thanks to all the walking and swimming an' sech we've been doing lately. Rob and I have a few extra pounds from eating moving crap on us, too, so we're pleased to be in a healthier eating groove now.

Meanwhile, Jack's almost finished with his room! Poopyhead. (There's a mommy word for ya!) That child has always had a determined, one-track mind, so when he gets an idea for doing something in his head (in this case, rebuilding his LEGO sets), nothing deters him from doing it. Nothing.

Unearthing cherished items - like all my JAFRA pampering goodness, above - has been delightful. We've already filled three boxes full of things to get rid of, too, which is also delightful. I want to live as minimalistic a lifestyle as our packratting selves can endure. I do not want to end up on an episode of "Hoarders," you guys. Not now, not ever!

The kids were so excited to find the Jell-O Easter egg molds, and I just so happened to unpack some boxes of Jell-O just before that, so this'll be their snack for tomorrow. They've been bugging me since the first batch about when they'll be finished... patience is not the strong suit of any of that lot! They kinda get that from me. Heh.

So anyway, that's what's new on our end. And yourselves??

Fin.

P.S. Happy <<ahem>> belated birthday to my Twin-Laws, Mike & Gail, and happy 38th birthday to my sister, Stacey Jean! Love you guys!! ♥



Sundays In My City: Homebound In Homestead

It may be Monday, but no matter, because I'm always late. I'm linking up again with Unknown Mami and her posse on Sundays in my City, so come along as we explore what Team Odette did all last week when lack of gas - and funds - kept us around the ol' Homestead homestead. I promise to visit and comment back, too - though it may take me a month, I'll do it! Swears.

Cooking. Did I show these already? I forget. Sorry, if so. Anyway, I promised to take the load off Rob - and give Chloë something to tally on my side of her chart - so last week I made some seasoned vegetables for all of us and this:

pork steaks, for the rest of the family, 'cept me. (I don't do mammals. Somehow, some way, I'm going to become a full-on vegetarian again by the end of 2013, but it's hard when I have such high protein requirements, thanks to my gastric bypass surgery.)

We had no salt, no seasonings (the veggies came pre-seasoned, heh), and no fat, oil, lard, margarine, butter, you name it, you got it? So I quickly texted my former home-ec teacher of a mother-in-law, who suggested I cut the fat off the meat and render that first, then cook the meat in it. Brilliance! It worked like a charm. And even in that state, Rob pronounced it delicious and entirely edible enough to make again. Thanks, Mamacita!

That was Sunday. On Monday night, we came home from I-don't-know-where hungry, and I whipped up some healthy lettuce and chicken salad spinach wraps for Rob and me, while he made some pasta for the mouths under the kids' upturned noses. Poo-poo on them; the wraps were delishamus.

We've been walking every day still, and each day we encounter new flowers. This flower, on Tuesday, was the first yellow hibiscus I'd seen. It was the 29^th anniversary of my mom's death that day, but I was determined not to cry. Guess what, I actually succeeded, thanks to my drugs I'm guessing.

Every day, we go down to the lake across from our place. Well, almost every day. Rob wants to fish here, but the sign says no way, José. I don't think he'll listen. And gators? No way can my kids walk down to the lake by themselves. I've already lost one kid; I'm not giving the rest away.

Some of the eggs have hatched! This mama Muscovy duck had 12 ducklings. Twelve! 

Chloë and sibs have been determined to spot a gator since we moved down here. Fortunately, they've been unsuccessful so far. I want to go down to the Everglades and rent an airboat. I've never done that before, and I know it's fun. Surely we'll spot some gators that way.

It took me a week, but I finally spotted an ibis. I was the last one. Why is this significant? The mascot of my alma mater, U-Miami, is Sebastian the Ibis, of course!

We have seen several instances of Muscovies mating, so we've had to explain, yet again, all about the birds and the bees to the kids. It's an ongoing conversation, and we have an Open Door policy where that is concerned, so it's cool. I found it interesting to note that the drake bites the female on the back of the neck while he's mounting her, much like a male shark bites a thickened part of flesh on the back of a female during their dance of looove.

And not to be outdone, this Mama Muscovy sported no less than 20 following ducklings that afternoon. Twenty!!

On Wednesday, the hibiscus turned out to be a beautiful pink rose. And not only that, but:

check out the gorgeous orchids on this tree! Real ones, too, no matter how fake they looked; I checked. We diverted from our usual path that day and walked to the next neighborhood over. I was bored to tears and dying for a change of scenery, after all.

Knitting. I've kept up my pledge to knit for the highly-allergic Vinnie, though I don't have much yarn with me until our stuff gets here on Tuesday from the movers. A little colorwork this time, using an unraveled coat I never finished making for Sophia four years ago, and some yarn of Stephanie's that was used in another project for her boys.

On Thursday, we decided to take the short walk up the road to get some free groceries with coupons I'd gotten. We stopped along the way to peer into the canal, where we spotted turtles, fish - and numerous shopping carts. Who throws a shopping cart into a canal, for Pete's sake?!

I was aMAZED at the Publix, where not only did I get my items for free, but the coupons scanned above the cost of the items, and I got overage. I figured they would just make me buy something additional to eat that up, but no! They totaled it out, opened up the cash drawer, and gave me the money! Hello, ring-a-ding-ding! That's so unusual, and I bet you dollars to donuts it's not the official coupon policy of the store, but arguing was useless with them. So I took it and clicked my heels together with glee. 

Sophia, wearing my straw hat from Miss Lisa, picked up what she called a blade of wheat and said, "Look, Mama, I'm a cowgirl!" Oh, the cute.

On our way back home, we spotted these palm trees full of coconuts. Except, on closer inspection, they weren't coconuts at all, I guess. I don't know what the hell they are, but ... palm fruit, I guess?

So this was my haul: A $6.59 bag of organic sugar, a $5.99 bottle of organic raw blue agave, two Michael Angelo's family-size meals, and a large Diet Coke from the deli - all of which, they paid me over a dollar to take home. Nice, huh?

I'm part of Michael Angelo's team of taste-and-tell bloggers, so they provided me with the coupons for the free products to try. We got the chicken parmesan and the vegetable lasagna, both of wish were SOOOO good. I kid you not. Have you had their frozen foods? I would definitely buy these again, but you know me, they gotta be on sale and have a coupon to match! ;)

One of Chloë's agents back in Virginia called Thursday to say they wanted to submit her for a lead role in a TV show! They said she was perfect for the part, and you know, I may be biased but, I wouldn't doubt it! The kid has charm and personality to spare. Look at that sass!

And she looks so much like her daddy, it's nonsense. Fingers crossed, Chloë!!

Friday was not my day. It was payday, yet my card kept getting declined every where I went. Turns out there was fraud on our account... I had to cancel about a dozen mystery shops for the weekend, along with a host of other plans. Big bummer. We had to hang around the 'hood even more. Here's silly Sophia dressing up as both her mom and her dad, simultaneously.

For the first time in January, while he was visiting my dad, Jack had a grapefruit. Surprisingly enough, my picky boy LOVED it with a heavy dose of sweetening, so he kept prodding his sisters to try one, too. (Neither Rob nor I are big fans of the fruit.)  So when we grocery shopped Friday morning - after, of course, having to call the bank yet again to release the hold on my card so I could pay for mah dang groceries - I bought them each one to try. What would they think? I wondered.

That was Sophia's reaction to her first bite. Ha! She cracks me up. So went Chloë's first bite, too. Needless to say, the grapefruit is now wrapped in Saran wrap in the fridge, since Jack only wanted a few bites. And yes, I sweeted it with that better-than-free organic sugar ;)

Meanwhile, on Saturday night after Rob made us omelets for dinner, Jacky helped out with the dishes. Since he is a Little Person, he needs to jump up on the counter in order to reach the faucet. I'm so proud of this kid; nothing holds him back from doing what he aims to do, despite his small stature!

And finally, since we're still more-or-less homebound, here is one last shot of "The Tweens," Cupcake and Muffin, acting as bookends over the kitchen sink. Pretty girls, they.

As always, thanks for stopping by! See you again real soon, y'hear?

Fin.

It's Raining Cats & Dogs

I haven't kept up with the posts as often as I'd have liked, because the internet connection has been spotty at best. I can't wait until we have our own service set up! Anyway, here are Ginger (right) and Pepper stealing my pizza. These are the two kittens we rescued around Halloween 2012; they are Sophia and Chloë's babies. They are also piggies, especially the formerly-on-death's-door Pepper. He will eat ANYthing! (and tries) 

That's the same two kitties in Rob's arms, on Easter Sunday, along with the much more aloof Star, another rescuee (this time from a friend after a long-ago Bunco game at her house). She's beautiful, though.

And another close-up of the impossibly cute duo, Ginger and Pepper. Totes photogenic, no?

And today, at the end of the same week, we encountered this sweet old broad walking around near our neighborhood. No one was in sight who might have been her owner, so we took her home to call Animal Control.

We gave her a little food, a bunch of water, and some shelter while Rob called, but it looked like we were going to have her all weekend after it turned out Animal Control doesn't work on the weekends. She was plenty hairy, and we didn't know if she was a he, so we named her Cousin Itt.  She was blind in both eyes, it appeared, and had lots of clumps in her long fur. My guess was someone moved and left her behind, because she knew commands and was as gentle as could be. Sad.

Eventually, though, we had to cut Cousin Itt loose when she kept barking. I tried to calm her, but it was no use. She barked every couple of seconds, and we can't really have her here. We couldn't let her inside, with six cats unused to having a dog around, or else we would have done so. I feel bad, and the kids are still talking about her. But when Rob let her go, she ran off in the direction from which she came, so maybe she did have a home there after all. Let's hope.

Back in a jif with more Miami posts!

Fin.

Expedition: House-Hunting In Miami

 

On Thursday, we visited two properties in Homestead, well south of Miami but still in Miami-Dade County. That's pretty much where we've concentrated our efforts so far, but we'll start covering more ground come later today or, today being Easter, on Monday. This was our favorite so far, but the leasing agent who was supposed to show us around never came back to her office that day and has yet to return my calls. Boo! We're running into a lot of that down here, and I know from experience that that tends to be part of the culture of Miami. Suckage, but true.

This was the large lake in the center of that development. The picture doesn't do the neighborhood justice; it's an absolutely beautiful property.

This was a house in the second development we looked at on Thursday (we did do some househunting on Wednesday, but nothing panned out, and apparently I forgot to take any pictures). The leasing agent made an appointment with us to come back at 1:00 PM on Friday, but we ended up rescheduling the appointment. Hopefully we can still have a look this coming week, since it was also a beautiful neighborhood.

On Friday (since it was after 5 PM when we finished looking on Thursday, by which time most places are closed to prospective renters), I called an agent, Moronica, to ask about several listings on her realtor's site. There were plenty, and they looked promising. We were supposed to meet her at the first of four properties at 11:00 AM. However, Cuban time - which I mention now since we'll encounter it over and over during the course of our life in Miami, and you'll get familiar with the concept if you keep reading along here - dictates that one is always much later, so it was no surprise that Moronica said she was running about an hour behind schedule. I told her it was no problem, and we would go grab some lunch.

I stopped at a Cuban pizzeria to pick up some food for my hungry family: Cuban sandwich for Rob, Povo y Queso (turkey and cheese sammy) for Jack, yuca frita (fried yucca with a yummy garlic dipping sauce) for me, Cuban cheeseburgers for the girls (seasonings they're not used to, with julienned papas fritas - French fries - on the burger)... and I think that's it. It went over with the kids like a lead balloon. Haha! They've been asking for McDonald's and such since we got here. No dice, kiddos. Get used to it.

By 1:00 PM, we still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Moronica. Oh, we'd tried. She got to the house by noon, and texted me the address about a hundred times, but no map would pull it up. I finally said, "Are you sure it's NE? No map will pull it up." She replied with, "Oh, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, it's SE!" I was pissed, since we'd wasted nearly half a tank of gas looking for a non-existent address. Then we finally got to the development, with the correct address in hand, and there was a gate that required a code. Rather than just give us the damn code, Moronica said, "I'll be there in five." When she hadn't showed up 30 minutes later, I told Rob to drive away. I gave up. I was beside myself and ready to fire her. We got to a gas station with a Dunkin' Donuts, and I went in and got some food for the kids (who were starving and still refusing the Cuban food I'd bought earlier) and some iced coffees for us. I needed soul-soothing refreshment after our frustrating day!

Well, after a few sips of my coffee, I was calm enough that we decided not to give up entirely on these promising-looking properties, so I had called the realtor, pitched a fit about Moronica, and asked him and have another agent meet us at the Dunkin. He was terribly apologetic and said Zippy (so-named for the way he drove his little blue Miata) was in the area and had just finished up with another client. He'd meet us there soon. And guess what? He was there within five minutes. Amazing!

This was the first house Zippy showed us, of the four planned. Rob and the kids absolutely LOVED it. I liked it but was underwhelmed. Rob gave it 5 out of 5 *****, and I decided it was worth four stars. We told Zippy we liked it but wanted to keep looking around. He agreed.

This was the second house. It was okay, but we decided to pass on it since there were people still living there and we wanted to move in right away. We may consider it yet; we'll see.

This was Casa Numero Tres on Friday; Rob didn't care for it too much, saying it was acceptably shabby on the outside, but way too shabby on the inside. I trusted his judgement and didn't even get out of the car to look. (One of us had to stay in the van at all times, since we had to leave the air running for the four cats we'd brought out of the hotel with us; the cleaning people attend to our weeklong stay just twice a week, and we didn't want them to, um, find six cats there...) 

After that, Zippy told us that we were going downhill and would probably not like the neighborhood or the house for Number Four too much. I trusted him enough to say that we really liked the first house and what do we do now? He told us that we needed to call Moronica (UGH) to do the paperwork. 

Well, we returned back to the hotel to deposit the cats there and then headed up to Kendall (a lovely area south of Miami where former Florida governer Jeb Bush used to reside; I don't know where he lives now) to visit the realty office for paperwork. Rob went in to fill that out while the kids and I stayed in the van. I couldn't face Moronica. Hee! 

It was just as well, because here's the breakdown: We'd have to pay $100 application fee and still wait another week to see if we were approved to continue. After that, the neighborhood HOA needed another $100 application fee - and three or for WEEKS - to decide whether we were fit to live there. What?! So after a month of waiting, and $200 in fees, we could still be turned down. Double UGH! I was so verklempt. We took the paperwork home with us and are still debating about what to do, but in the meantime, we wanted to go have some Friday night fun.

More about that in the next post! Stay tuned...

Fin.

Miami Move Mathematics

Hey, you guys! What's up? Well, as for Team Odette, I'm now coming at you from sunny South Florida! Woohoo, we made it - and we could not be having a grander time.

Our move, by the numbers:

0 = Number of times we want to do that again

1 = Different homes we want to have this time around

2 = Homes Rob almost single-handedly moved us out of to get us here

3 = Kiddos in our Honda Odyssey, Penelope, for the drive down here

4 = Times I saw groups of deer next to the highway, mainly in the Carolinas

5 = Times we had to fill up the ol' gas tank to get from Virginia to Florida (Penelope was loaded from rooftop to undercarriage, and we got horrible gas mileage!)

6 = Cats in carriers we brought along for the journey

7 = In thousands, times we heard, "Can you put a new movie in the DVD player?"

8 = Actual hours the kids slept straight through on the trip - really! They did faaaabulously well. Thank you, God!

9 = In tens, fastest speed I drove while en route - but only until I realized. Swears!

10 = Approximate number of times I cried while saying good-bye to our Virginia/Carolina friends. I won't list you guys, because I'm sure to leave at least one person out, and I can't deal with the hurt feelings that would cause!

11 = Total number of poopers in Penelope for the drive. Dudes. That is a lot. I don't recommend it. (On a related note, only ONE cat had an accident, compared to 2½ PEOPLE on the trip, including yours truly. As Chloë hilariously put it, "I have to go to the bathroom. I have to go to the bathroom. Oh, no. Oh, no! Oh, noooooo! I went! I pooped my pants! Wahhhhhhh!" And call me a bad mother, but I really did laugh listening to her. So did Rob. Quietly, to ourselves, natch, but come on! It was funneh!)

1,000+ = Miles logged on this journey. Hey, I got a free buck for Amazon.com from the iPhone (not sure about Android) app, Ride, just for having it downloaded and running in the background during the trip. I could have saved it, but you know, I'm not so good at delayed gratification lately.

4 GB = Notification from AT&T I literally just received, saying I've reached my max data usage and am now going over our plan limits. No free wi-fi in the Motel 6, y'all. Sucks! On the other hand, Personal Hotspot rocks so I can bring you this post (and the following ones, I'm sure) until we get set up in a new place with innerweb service.

Hey, that was fun, recounting all that... pun intended. Stay tuned for more pictures and posts!

Fin.

Wordy Wednesday Times Two - A Look Back On February

Just because, y'know, I barely posted, and I know how much all three of you (if I even have THAT many readers left; holla if you're still here!) want to keep up with us! ;)

In the beginning, Sophie got up in the middle of the night to play with a new set of LEGO Friends

We went out for that Japanese hibachi dinner I mentioned... and I had scallops. I'm going to return to vegetarianism when we move back to Miami, if not sooner, so this was a penultimate hurrah.

I snagged a bunch of cool K'nex toys (and similar) from a friend for Jack, and the boys have spent HOURS playing and building.

We visited my buddy Saritah and had a fantabuloso time - hope to do it again soon, too!

I started "collecting" vanity plates again - this one makes me snicker.

The kiddies and I had a delishimus lunch at Panera, a longtime fave of ours.

The kiddos took their last month of instrument lessons - well, Chloë (piccolo/flute) and Jack (keyboard) did. Sophie gave up (guitar) several months ago. :\

Sophie played with the make-up set I gave her and Chloë; afterward, she ran up to me doing this, and said, "Mommy, I'm a zombie clown!" I died laughing.

Pepper-the-adorablest-cat-ever and Chloë continued their mutual admiration.

We brought Rob lunch at work and spent some lovey-dovey time together.

The girls picked out my outfit, and I actually really liked it. So we skipped to my Lou, my darlin'.

Donuts were enjoyed.

One of several visits to Sweet Frog for froyo, a NEW fave of ours

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's a couple times, a kind of guilty pleasure for me.

These boys: two peas in a pod.

This was before The Brawl That Started It All.

The girls, hanging out with their boots, as Sophia put it

Rob and I both had to do a double-take for this one! Really??!

This isn't a great picture - from another mystery shop - but Jacky looks so cute in it, I wanted to share.

And finally, I discovered a new app: Tadaa!

So. What's new with YOU?

Fin.

(Not-So-) Wordless Wednesday: Latest Exploits

Link up here if you're any degree of Wordless today!

You may be able to figure out where we went on a mystery shop several times recently in the Outer Banks of North Carolina from the packaging in Rob's lap... Not such a flattering picture, but it makes me laugh, so here it is! I haven't been mystery shopping much at ALL lately, but when it pays well, I try to go!

Here's Chloë at Sweet Frog after the mystery shop - they look forward to going at every opportunity! Looks like we'll have to find a new FroYo place when we move to Miami, though, unless we go up to the Fort Launderdale area - sorry, kids!

Chloë's kitten, Pepper, has really been thriving after his scare in the animal ER when we first got him. Two blood transfusions later, and he now weighs exactly the same as Ginger, his twin and Sophia's kitten. Woohoo for that!

Rob, loving on Pepper and Ginger recently - we love our "grandcats" as much as the girls do!

After being sidelined for 6-8 weeks with medication issues, I'm finally back to knitting these doll sweaters for my friend Amy's Waldorf-inspired handmade dolls. She had commissioned me way back in the early Autumn, 2012, and I had been doing well, but the meds screwed up my progress for her Christmas doll deliveries. I feel terrible about that. Hopefully I can start to make up for it for her now...

Some more sweaters... You can check out Amy's dolls and her Etsy shop, Itsystitch, here - so cute!! I would love to get a doll for myself one day. ☺

That's me! A friend wanted a close-up shot, with an actual smile, after I posted about my four-year gastric bypass anniversary the other day. My full-body shot was quite candid, as you can see here, so he wanted a better view. Here ya go, folks! ;)

And finally, to celebrate my "surgiversary," we did - what else? - some eating. Ha! I was craving Chinese food, so we ordered in a bunch. I couldn't get much down, of course, and I couldn't keep it down, either, so it was rather disappointing. Ah, well. Here's a shot of the kids trying to learn how to use chopsticks, which was rather amusing in person. I love Jack's expression, haha... and yes, the kitchen has since been cleaned up and dishes washed. We are soooo lazy on the weekends, typically!

Have a great Hump Day, y'all!

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday: The Eleven Of Us

Link up here for more WW posts - or to add your own! Here's my whole fam-damily:

{Me, hiding my bald head}

{My kiddos, modeling their brandy-new specs}

*and*

{Rob and the girls, helping our six cats show off their new Christmas stockings!}

I ♥ my family!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Listen up y'all, it's a royal ball, with hip-hop clubs and concert halls! Okay, not really, but link up here if you've got itty bitty li'l pieces of blahggies floating around that need a home!

☼

Sunday & Monday, we got hit by Hurricane Sandy, but not too bad. We still don't have TV service, so it's not until the last couple of days that I've become aware of the damage she caused elsewhere. We weathered the storm fairly well with just some major flooding in the street, but we're fine. If any of you were more severely affected, my heart goes out to you, and I hope things improve quickly for you!

☼

Hmm. All the text disappeared. Let me try again... On the eve of Halloween, I went to a costume party at a local club to listen to the band formed by employees of the store where the kids take their music lessons.



There they are! Long story short, I passed out onstage after they performed, because I gave blood earier & then drank a rum cocktail on a very empty stomach, er, pouch, and boy those lights were hot... it happened onstage in front of the entire packed club! Mortifying. But I did end up winning the trivia contest for which I was called up there, so hey. Yay and stuff.

☼

On Halloween, Rob got paid, so we ran a bunch of errands and did some necessary shopping before being REALLY late for Trick-or-Treating, where we only got one house before giving up and going home. When we got there, Rob was holding Pepper (the kitten above), saying he was very sick and needed to go to the vet right away. It's a good thing we brought him; he had two paws in the grave and needed immediate treatment, including two blood transfusions and warmers because he was so cold... It was $$$, but when asked, Chloë said he was worth a million dollars, and we all agree he was worth it. Poor sweet kitteh.

☼



On Thursday, we were out again, and Chloë's Richmond agent called me, asking for updated quick shots of all three kids.

I don't know very much about the project, and neither does the agent, but it's for filming in Los Angeles...

Even Jack, who is normally anti-social when it comes to such things, got on board when I told him he could use part of the money he earned to add to his Lego collection! Haha.

☼



Last night, poor little Pepper was able to come home, and his mommy, Chloë, has been nursing him back to health night and day ever since It's really sweet how well she's taking care of him. I'm pretty proud of her!

☼

So that's been our week! Today, I wasn't feeling well, so we took it easy. Tomorrow will be busy, busy, busy, so must go rest... Have a great weekend!

☼

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if you've got bits and pieces floating around in ye olde brain this week!

☼

I've had a busy week. For starters, we've all been sick, especially the kiddos, so I proclaimed it Fall Break and gave them the week off to lie around in bed and cough an stuff. I was sick, too, in the same way and gastro-intestinally (TMI?), so I did a lot of sitting around. I wasn't sick on Monday and, feeling pretty good, so I did a ton of laundry and cleaning house. Then I went downhill, so ... this will mostly be a pictorial of our week.

☼

On Sunday, I went (by my lonesome, because we didn't have childcare) to the qualifying party for the radio station I to which I listen to send someone to Live in the Vineyard. I just KNEW I was going to win the trip, but alas and alack, I came in tenth out of about 11 times as many people. Close but no cigar. At least I got a $20 gift card to a wine shop and the latest Matchbox Twenty CD out of it - not to mention a very strong gin & tonic that had me announcing something kind of embarrassing, on the microphone, to the ENTIRE room.

☼

Also on Monday, aside from cleaning and attending to sick kids - and speaking of sick kids, actually - I signed up to be a Point Radio change bandit to benefit The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD). You can look at the sidebar on the right to see how much I've raised and (please, please, please) donate a buck or two to my efforts. I fervently believe that if I'd had my twins at CHKD, Robby would still be alive; aside from that, Jack has had surgery there, and Sophia has been followed there for her ongoing breathing issues, as well, so I help them out however and whenever I can. I'd greatly appreciate your support!

☼

Since I fell sick on Tuesday, and Chloë especially was ailing, I canceled their instrument lessons and spent time on eBay in between nursing sick chirren. I've had a good month: over $700 in sales! Woot!

☼

On Wedneday, Rob's and my Halloween costumes came in, so we tried them on:

Oops, that one's not for trick-or-treating. Heh heh heh. Let me try again:

I kind of hate this picture, because I look fat in it, but whatevs, it's fun. We still haven't decided where we'll go trick-or-treating -- definitely not here in the new neighborhood -- or even if we will, as opposed to trunk-or-treating at church, so I guess with five days to go, I better figure it out! At least we've only eaten ¼ of the candy I've bought for handing out!

☼

On Thursday, I really didn't feel well, so I skipped Jack's Cub Scout pack Halloween party and sent the rest of the family without me. The kids were SO excited to dress up in their costumes:

Sophia is going as a pretty princess (yes, I will be buying more appropriate shoes for her before Wednesday night!);

Jack's a dangerous dinosaur (LOL I just realized I left the tags on his costume; d'oh!); and,

Chloë's a cute kitty cat. Guess I need to find some black shoes for her, as well!

Group shot, including our landlord in the background. Argh.

☼

I'm on my way out for therapy in a bit, so I'll leave you with some cute shots of the adorable tommy-kittens Sophie and I rescued a week ago.

That's Pepper on top and Ginger on the bottom.

A trio of cuteness!

Soap cuddlng Ginger, "her" kitten, while studying her guitar lesson book.

Chloë mimicking Jack's portrait with the kitties.

Me canoodling with my "grandkitties," looking an awful lot like my mum in this photo, face-wise.

And finally, Pepper peeking out of Rob's camo work pants pocket! Aww!

☼

That's it from me. Hopefully after therapy I'll be able to do some visiting of y'all Fragmenters, too!

Fin.



Sunday Stealing: The You Don't Know Jack (And Other Cheese) Meme, Partes Uno Y Dos

Jes' like I skipped out on Saturday 9 last weekend, I did the same with Sunday Stealing, so likewise I'm fixin' ta do both week together in this-here post and uh muh guh I've been reading too much Tom Sawyer to the kiddos at night...!

Sunday Stealing: The Who Are You Meme

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

At the moment, it's Typepad. I had a long answer written out, but it randomly deleted itself. I'm not going to repeat it, because, as I once told my deaf sister and husband, "I don't repeat myself for you." Ha, I'm SUCH a B!TCH!

2. Where and when were you born?

Picture it: Sicily, 1926. Oh, wait, that's The Golden Girls. RIP, Estelle Getty. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. I don't mind sharing that my DOB is 9/8/76 which, IMHO, seems like it should be awfully easy to remember. "Should" being the operative word. I was born just outside of The Big Apple.

3. Where did your parents meet?

They met online before there was online: through a dating something-or-other, like a service or something. Yeah, that's it, a dating service. IN The Big Apple, from whence they both came.

4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like in four words?

I have a half-sister whom I've never met, a full sister, Stacey, who merits the occasional mention here on Ye Olde Blahg, and formerly two step-sisters with whom I no longer speak. In four words: Stacey wins by default. Hee!

5. Where do you live now, and with whom?

I live in what's known here as "America's First Region," a term which always up-cracks me, formerly known as Tidewater but now known as Hampton Roads. Futurely known as "The Place Smellyann Once Graced." Heh. I live with an almost-retired Navy sailor, aka Rob, aka Hubs, and ¾ of the children we produced together. Oh, and of late, SIX DAMN FELINES, now that I've gone and rescued these two cuties from the middle of the road in the middle of the night at the middle of ... yeah, I'm out of middles. ::Looks down:: Wait, no, I've plenty of middles...

The new babehs' first bath! Awww. (No, they didn't like it, but they both pooed all over themselves, ewww.)

6. What is your occupation?

I'm a stay-at-homeschooling mother of the afore-mentioned kids, one of whom just officially started middle school and has the attitude to match! Oy to the vey.

7. Write a full description of yourself.

I have. It's called this damn blahg. Read more of it and you won't need me to answer this question, dangit.

8. To which social class do you belong?

Go f*ck yourself. That one. Heh. I'm klassy, see? See?

9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?

I don't know why, but this question made me laugh out loud. Okay, so, you really want to know? All righty, then, let's have at it:

Allergies: I answered that yesterday. Scroll.

***GAK! TYPEPAD ATE THE REST OF THIS ANSWER, WHICH WAS HIGHLY AMUSING AND WHICH I'VE HAD TOO MUCH MIKE'S HARD LEMONADE AT THIS POINT TO REITERATE. LET'S JUST SAY THE LIST WAS LONGER THAN YOUR (OR ANY OF YOUR MATES' EVER) WEINER. HEHEHE.***

10. Are you right- or left-handed?

Yes.

11. What does your voice sound like?

It's high-pitched, like, shrill and stuff. When I Viggle, erm, nothing, just to rack up points, and I talk through the Viggling process, three times now it's come up with Jersey Shore as the show I'm watching. No, I'm not bragging. Heh.

12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?

They all have four letters.

13. What do you have in your pockets?

Nothing, unless you count my hands, checking, a coupla seconds ago.

14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?

Quirks: I tried asking my husband to list them, because I know I have a lot, but he's a freaking dumbass who can't wrap his feeble mind around the concept of limiting it to the called-for length of this post. Does that help?

Strange mannerisms: "What's the difference between a Strange Mannerism and a Quirk?" asks Hubs. I have to agree.

Annoying Habits: "You HAVE to be right, at all costs." - Hubs

"That's not true, we're still married. And I am always right." - Me

Other Defining Characteristics: "Cute as hell, smart as shit, and funny as all get-out." - Hubs. Again, I have to agree. (See, I'm funny.)

☼

Sunday Stealing: Who Are you? Part 2–The Growing Up Meme

15. How would you describe your childhood in general?

 It sucked ROYALLY after my mom died when I was seven. Before that, it was pretty blissful. She was an angel. I have her on The Pedestal of Maternal Perfection. After that, I buried myself in school to get away from my craptastic family. 

16. What is your earliest memory?

I'm three years old, happy as can be, running and laughing with my arms up in the air all the way down the hall to my mommy. I don't remember why.

17. How much schooling have you had?

I have a New York Regent's diploma from high school. I have a B.S. with a double major in Marine Science (our honor society, no lie, was Rho Rho Rho, which I absolutely loved!) and Biology (Beta Beta Beta), and a minor in Chemistry, from the University of Miami. Graduated with Honors and in the Golden Key Society.

I did an internship in Fisheries Biology at Mote Marine Lab before working for a year and a half on my Ph.D. in Biology studying the functional and ecological morphology (aka "Ecomorphology" (a wiki link, which is of great humour to me!) of elasmobranch fishes (aka sharks, skates & rays) with the premier scientist in the field, before realizing I wanted a life more than the constant publish-or-perish and writing for grant money stress, so I left, to many peoples' shock and chagrin. Plus, I felt inadequate, so it was then that I joined Mensa to re-establish myself - to myself - as an intellectual, empirically academic individual, and yes, sadly, I needed to pull out that card and look at it almost every day.

I worked on the (sickeningly - to me - less rigorous) Master's in Science Ed. program at the same school for a semester after leaving my prestigious doctoral program, but I lost my scholarship in doing so, so I needed to take some time off to earn money to return. It was during that time that I met Rob. We eloped two months after meeting and got pregnant on our wedding night, so I've never gone back. I plan to go to law school and practice Family Law until I get a judgeship in that field, once the kids are grown.

Whew! Oh, and I'm CPR-certified. Hee.

18. Did you enjoy school?

Did you read the above? Yes, it would be quite untrue to say anything less than that I adored it. I'd be the Perpetual Student if I could afford to be.

19. Stop and count, since you were born until today; how many homes have you
lived in?

Nineteen, not counting moving in and out of the same places multiple times. The number would skyrocket exponentially if I did that.

20. While growing up, did you have any role models?

My three or four best friends' seemingly normal, unconditionally-loving parents, and my grandparents filled that position.

21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?

Heh. I may be in therapy forever thanks to my upbringing. It's a wonder I'm "only" bipolar and not schizophrenic, or have Multiple Personality Disorder, or something... although I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. :/

22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Forever, I'd wanted to be a marine biologist. And for a while, I can say I was...

23. What were your favorite activities 3 years ago?

Let's see. Probably: Hanging out with my family, wasting time online, and, okay, rapidly losing massive poundage, since I'd just had my surgery!

24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?

I was and remain painfully shy around those I didn't/don't know well. I'm horrible at small talk; I think it's the dumbest thing ever, sorry. I was and remain freaking hysterical around my kindred spirits. ;) I was probably bipolar from my tween or early teen years on, although it's only been six years since I was finally diagnosed. I was and remain impulsively suicidal when the slightest things go wrong, though a good cocktail of meds now help to control those impulses. As a very young child, until Mom died, I was joyous, sweet, kind, loving, and an all-around great kid. I'm in therapy to return to being that person, whom I believe I was born to be.

25. As a child, were you popular?

The smartest and funniest people in the room gravitated toward me. Especially when I was by myself.

26. When and with whom was your first kiss?

Kenny, when I was 14, at Tri-County Mall in B'ville, NY. It. Was. Awesome.

27. Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.

I talk to my therapist about that. You don't have the time. TRUST ME ON THIS! You've already had an eyeful here, anyway. ;)

28. What’s next?

Next, Hubs retires, and we skip town the beginning of March, to wend our way westward to San Diego. He'll begin nursing school, and we'll all begin exploring our newfound surroundings. I simply cannot wait!!!!

☼

Well, that was quite sobering for me. Reflective. Memory-lane tripping. I'm off to get a Diet Coke refill and a hug from Hubs, if I can wake his narcolepic arse...

See y'all next week!

Fin.

Scenes From A Thursday Morning At Home

An awful picture of me, having stayed up all night once again, yet feeling oddly refreshed. Could I have a worse expression on my face?!

A newly-shorn Chloë, still dreaming...

Jack's still zonked, too, after a wild night of chasing kittens.

Sophia, also newly-shorn and sucking thumb, perusing a good book...

Cupcake, posing nicely for her mama...

Barbies, posed by Sophia outside the bathroom; was there a line in the doll stall?

Heading outside: Rob's kayak taking up space on the front porch...

Oops, there's mah shadow, interrupting the snap of our stairway...

There's a fungus among us.

The crappy "driveway" that is the current bane of my existence...

The inexplicable cement surround for one of our trees... but I like it!

Green. Lots of green = love.

Weeds + beer caps mean I have some work to do outside.

And last but not least, a pop of color I almost smushed walking around.

What do you see in the mornings?

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Howdy, folks! Link up here if you're fragmenting along with Mrs. 4444 this week!

☼

I'm pretty sure it's Friday, but this week has been such a blur of suckitude that I'm not entirely sure. Since Aloha Friday (answer my previous post about hatin' if you're game) and FF are both up, though, it must be, right? Of course, I could be dreaming this too, like all the weird dreams I had last night (I was eleventy months pregnant; I had long, long white hair; I married someone else; I won big money on Let's Make a Deal... and more I can't remember), but I don't think so. Now that was a weird fragment.

 ☼

Speaking of weird fragments, hey Mrs.4s, what happened to "Favorite Friday Fragmenter?" I loved that part. ;D

☼

Don't read this if you're eating or are easily grossed out. I'm serious:

.

.

.

Last Chance....

.

.

.

So last December, I had the runs for about 3½ weeks straight. It was miserable and depressing, and my quality of life when straight down the gutter. I don't think we did any school that whole time, or at least not much at all. Well, fast forward to now, and I'm on day six of the same infirmity. I have put back on about 10 pounds since my rapid 206-lb weight loss, so I'm eating a lot of salads these days. This, uh, whatever it is that's going on, is so aggressive that 20 minutes later, there is straight-up chewed lettuce floating around in the toilet bowl. Nasty! (Kind of cool for a biologist like me, but still gross, I know.)

And it's immediately sent me into the same plummeting mood state that it did the last time, so I saw my GI doc on an urgent basis this morning. (Yes, Mamacita, I actually made myself a doctor's appointment in a timely manner, if you can believe it!) I have to have a "flex sig" (flexible sigmoidoscopy, like a mini-colonoscopy) next Tuesday morning to rule out, you know. Bad stuff.

The only thing that's different than usual and the same about both incidents is that it almost immediately follows a trip involving a waterpark. Coinky-dink? I really don't think so, but who knows??

☼

I came across this when I was looking for a picture to go along with the last fragment. Disgusting. I absolutely abhor this small-minded thinking....ugh.

☼

Gotta admit I rather enjoyed this one, though. Not that I wish cancer on anyone, but whoever still smokes in July 2012 has got to know the risks, amiright?

☼

We're halfway through the kids' end of year testing - um, like 1½ month later than I planned, but ah, well - and have finished up all their Language Arts sections. Now it's just math. I'm happy to report they're all kicking butt and taking names on LA, and proudest to report that so far as I can tell, Sophia's gotten 100% on hers! Woot woot!! Go kids!!

They could get zeroes on their math scores, and the composite score would still be high enough to keep us off probation, so yippy-skippy for Team Odette! ;D

☼

I made this card last night, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever had the pleasure to make. I fought tears the whole time. Of course, I purposely made it for boy-girl twins so there would be no chance of it being for identical twins. That would be too much for me... guess after almost ten years, I still have my fair share of healing to do. (I know it's not that 'professional' with all the handwriting and stuff in it, but it felt like it needed to be made that way, and so I did.)

☼

We brought our dryer (and other stuff) over from the old house last night, and Rob is still recovering from his hernia surgery(ies), so I feel immensely guilty that he's in discomfort now. I didn't ask him to do it, though; he insisted, but I should have put my foot down more. Besides, it's the washer we really need; clothes can air-dry, but I've no interest in hand-washing load upon load of clothes.... Heh.

☼

Some of you may know, I'm a Jafra Consultant, but I'm really not meant to be a salesperson. I do my best, but mostly I just wear my awesome complexion and Jafra pin and let the people come to me about it. Anyway, I got an order from a new customer through my website last night, and when I called her, I totally upsold the order another third of the total! Woot! Go me. I know she'll love the products, so I have no shame in my game, because it really is good stuff. But I was seriously patting myself on the back, yes, yes I was.

☼

There are days when I think we have four cats too many. Of course, there are days when I feel like I have four cats, three kids and maybe even a husband too many, but then I count everything I'd miss, and that feeling goes away faster than you can say "being alone sucks!"

☼

I was boohooing the other night, missing our old house, our old neighborhood, and our old surrounding region. There's a lot there that we don't have here, and I didn't get lost anymore like I have twice this week, and ... and... and. But I've ventured around some more since then and, you know, this place isn't so bad, once you go a few streets this way and a few streets that way. And our Lord of the Land is kicking our upstairs neighbors - the bane of my existence at the moment - out, so there's another plus. Even if we get new neighbors that suck, we'll now be Big Man on Campus. Ha.(Seriously, if you knew the driveway/parking dilemma we deal with on a daily basis, you'd understand how exciting that prospect is...)

☼

The lice are STILL HERE.

It has been a MONTH, and I have treated it a dozen times. Can I say WTF on this post?! Because WTF?! I am so OVER it. We have treated it with OTC stuff (Nix and its generic counterpart), combed nits for hours upon hours upon hours out of Chloë's curls, and are now using a triple-threat combination of tea tree oil, coconut oil, and Fairytales shampoo... yet they're STILL THERE. I totally give up. I can't take it anymore! Do y'all think most kids' hairdressers would professionally treat this crap?? Because that's my next move. UUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH.

 ☼

Anyway. This week's license plate, the only one I could safely capture, is:

which I can't really say anything snarky-amusing about, but the one I wish I had been able to capture was a breast cancer survivor plate that read "ALIVE." I loved that. Almost made me tear up a little.

☼

And that's all she wrote, kids! Have a fantastic weekend!

Fin.

Sunday Stealing: The Imaginary Meme Conclusion

Argghhhh! I was to the LAST question when Typepad ate my whole post! Dammit! WHY did they stop doing the awesomeness that was auto-save? Uh, what I mean is, link up here if you're playing along this week! ;)

Cheers to All Us Thieves! 

181. What's the BEST rock band that you have seen live?

They ALL have been great, but I absolutely LOVED the Blue Man Group concert. So. Cool.

182. Could you image being in a situation where you would run from the police?

If I was in a developing country, I could think of lots of scenarios for that. Here in the US, not so many, since I'm (fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint) white... unless I were a baddy. But I'm not a baddy.

183. Have you ever been asked for an autograph?

Sure, every time I use my credit card. I did dream the other day that Chloë was, though! (I seriously do wonder if she'll ever reach the stage where she's recognized as, "aren't you from that...?" though!)

184. What would you change about your living room?

I'd move the furniture from the old house into it, for starters! Larger would be nice, too, of course...

185. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?

I drink out of my plastic keg most of the time... AKA my 7-11 Xtreme Gulp. Diet Coke FTW!

186. Last hug?

From Sophia, about 1½-2 hours ago... she's a hugger, especially of late.

 187. Have you ever had to make up your mind?

Yeah, like whether to answer dumb meme questions.

188. What is on top of your refrigerator?

I had to go look: Several First Aid kits, Jack's box of shot needles (um, that's probably redundant, but I don't care), and our popsicle kit. Quite the menagerie.

189. Did it work out for you in terms of kids? (Meaning how did it work out & are you  happy? In other words, from “Have none, wanted none” to “8 kids & 3 grandkids)

Yes and no. From the outset, Hubs and I agreed that we wanted "two and only two, unless the second time it was twins." Well, the joke was on us, because the second time it was identical twin boys! Only, Robby died after three days, and after that, our arms felt so... empty... so we proceeded to have #4. Now neither of us can have any more, but I'd have another 10 or so if I could! Time will tell if we're meant to have more another way...

190. Are you afraid of the dark?

 At 35+, I always have been and remain so. I'm not ashamed to say it, either! Scary things can and have happened in the dark. (I didn't say I wasn't afraid of broad daylight, either... ;))

191. What if you had three wishes – what would you wish for?

I'm the hippie tree-hugger type, so right now, I'd wish for: (a) peace in all lands, (b) peace and contentment within my own heart, and (c) global smoking bans and recycling mandates. Ask me tomorrow and I'd probably have three different answers, though.

192. Do you feel sad often?

Well, as many of you know, I have Bipolar Disorder, so not sad so much as, well, depressed, obviously, and also completely and totally broken-hearted beyond words. I feel my emotions more strongly than most, both the good and the bad. It's a blessing and a curse, a total double-edged sword. But I'm babbling. Next!

193. Have you ever been in lust for an extended period of time?

Another blessing/curse of mine, yes. I struggle, admittedly, again...

194. Do you shower daily?

More like five or six times a week. I could not 'go European' in that regard! The only reason I miss that 7th day is usually out of pure laziness.

195. Have you ever prank called someone?

Short answer long, yes, and I'll happily admit that Rob and I will still do it when we think of something that amuses us terribly. One that comes to mind is from when we were at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival a few years back. The hotel where we were staying displayed a sign advertising that they accepted pets. Rob called up and deadpanned, "Do you take sheep?" He kept it up for a while, too, with me in hysterics next to him!

196. If you have a garage, is it cluttered?

Dude. Not here, but we have a shed at the old house, and that is wholly Rob's domain. I won't even venture to look in it. Too skeered. *shudder*

197. You are about to die. What do you do with your worldly possessions?

Mostly, I don't care and Rob can decide - I'll be dead. There are a few things, though: Chloë, who missed sharing my birthday by a day, will get all my sapphires. Sophia, my April baby, will get all my diamonds. Stacey, my sister, will get everything that once belonged to our dear, departed mother. Science will get my corpus. I hope my brain holds the answers to some secrets for them!

198. Tell us about the first time that you bought a car.

It's not my favorite story, and it doesn't end well. I don't feel like getting cranky, so you'll have to ask me for The Rest of the Story later. Anyway, it was my dad's policy to give each of us four girls $1,000 toward our first cars, and I had money saved up since I started working at 15. My dad's car-savvy, so he did the scouting for me. It was September of '93, and he found me a red 1991 Ford Escort wagon. Not bad! It was supposed to have belonged to a little old lady, but I discovered soon after we bought it that when the sun hit just right, you could see the outline of the Coca-Cola logo...hee!

199. What is your favourite type of music?

Everything but country (sorry, y'all), but I'm a BIG fan of the über sing-alongable pop music. Is that lame? (That was rhetorical.)

200. What's your family like?

I have a wonderful husband who is about to turn 40 (the countdown is on and the party scheduled - wanna come?) and who will retire from the Navy in about 8 months! I have four kids, including Chloë, almost 11 (!!), Robby (my angel baby), Jack, 9, and Sophia, 7. We have four cats: Tinkerbell, Star, and the twittens (twin kittens, lol), Cupcake and Muffin. We put the "fun" in dysfunctional, fo' sho'! (My growing-up family was also dysfunctional after Mom died when I was 7, but there was absolutely no fun in that. :\ )

Whew! We've reached the end!! Have a great week, peeps!

Fin.