Ride 'em cowgirl

For the past seven days, I've gone to work only about 2 times. I have my little illness to thank for it and also our quasi-hurricane, Ernesto. I was sick last Wed and Thurs, I worked on Fri, then I was off Sat and Sun, I worked on Mon and thanks to Ernesto, I was off Tue and Wed. Nice! I could get used to this! Fortunately, we didn't get much of a hurricane this time; I sure do enjoy the days off.

R and I got a lot of stuff done in the house. We finally finished painting the stairs, we did a little rearranging in C's room, cleaned the playroom, cleaned the rugs, yes, yes, we were busy little bugs (ok, I've been reading too many children's books).

On Sunday, before the weather got crappy, my parents, R, C and I all headed out to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for a nice day out. It was nice alright, but hot as hell. We had to strip Christian because even a tank top was too much clothes. I would've taken my clothes off too if I could have, but you know, I didn't want the paparazzi to show up and get all worked up, so I decided to stay clothed and keep my composure. I was hoping to see lots of pretty flowers, but apparently, they specialize in palms, because they sure had a lot of those.

Yesterday, my mom and I finally gave Chris the haircut he so badly needed. I have to remember to take some pictures tonight so you can see what a lovely job we did...considering.

I've been tagged to do a book meme (as if I ever read), so stay tuned for that.

Last, but not least, I leave you with these delightful pictures of Cristy and I at, what I like to call, the "Brookstone Rodeo". There's a horse riding ab machine in the mall and I just couldn't help myself. And no, I was not drunk at the time. I do insane things while sober too.

Just call me Chester

The whole house is infected.

Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic, but everyone in my family has a cold this week. My dad, my mom, my brother, my husband, my child, my dog, myself. My God.

On a nicer note, I think Mr. C-man finally learned how to wave bye bye and to clap his hands together (not both at the same time of course, even I can't do that). I say this because he did both of those things this week when prompted to. Only time will tell if that was a fluke or if he really did learn those things. He also stood alone for about 5 seconds. It was cute to see him swaying back and forth trying to get his balance. He looked like he was walking the tightrope.

I've been feeling so poopy this week that I haven't had the chance to post some pictures from last weekend. We went to Matthew's 1st birthday party! He's the oldest of the fabulous four (and guess who's next on the birthday train?) . The party was at a water park for kids and it was great! All the kiddies (and parents) had a wonderful time!
Christian was a little frightened of the lazy river tube ride, but he loved sitting in the water and sliding down the slide. He also ate his first solid food (before this point he would just gag on stuff and spit it out). It figures that it had to be a cheeto.

Past, present and future

I saw this over at Oh Well and decided to do it here too.

20 Years ago I...
-was enjoying the final days of my summer vacation
-was getting up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons
-was riding my bike
-was roller skating
-was going to Pirates or Riverboat Playhouse to play video games and skee-ball
-was having fun playing with my 7 month old baby brother
-was excited about starting the 5th grade
-was hoping that my best friend Lynn would be in my homeroom
-was hoping that I would finally fill in my training bra
-was dreading that I had to get braces
-had a crush on Marcus and Jorge and Geoffrey

10 years ago I...
-was going to community college
-was trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life
-was deciding that maybe I didn't like Architecture that much and should switch majors
-was trying to figure out what major to switch to...perhaps interior design?
-was thinking of joining the Navy
-was hanging out with my friends from high school, sometimes driving around aimlessly
-was going to lots of rock concerts

5 years ago I...
-was working at Jackson as a secretary
-was going to school part time at night to finish my Bachelor degree in business
-had broken up with R
-was single and dating, but wanted to get back with R
-was still living with my parents
-was wearing braces (yes, again)

3 years ago I...
-was still working full time at Jackson
-was going to school at night (also full time) to get my MBA degree
-had been married to R for a year and a half
-had been living in the first townhouse I bought with R, for a year
-had had Candy for a year and decided she needed a little friend so I...
-got Lucy, the Jack Russell Terror Terrier
-was forced coerced into going to a Salsa class/club with my friend Nubia, who wanted to try it out, I said "fine, but just this one time"...ha ha

One year ago...
-had been working at my current job for a year
-was 34 weeks pregnant (I was large and in charge)
-was not getting much sleep, and it wasn't going to get any better
-had been living in my current house for a year
-sold my favorite car to get a bigger baby-friendly car and cried

Yesterday I...
-spent the day with C man at my mom's house
-practiced playing Texas hold'em with my brother and my mom (I lost of course)
-watched "The Grudge"

Today I...
-went to the value adjustment board to dispute the absurdly high taxes on my house
-got the taxes reduced
-had lunch at a sushi/Thai thai place with my husband
-talked with him about where we should go for our "real" honeymoon (driving to Orlando and back doesn't count as a honeymoon)
-went back to work
-will go to pick C-man up from my mom's house
-will have dinner with my parents
-will go home and watch the season premier of PRISON BREAK!

In the next year I will...
-celebrate my son's first birthday!
-cry about my 31st birthday (boohoohoo, I'm getting old)
-have a haunted house (in my house) for Halloween
-go visit my family in El Salvador
-baptize my son
-try (and convince Ren) for baby number two
-go and visit my friend Jenny in LA
-go to Disney World again at some point (its inevitable, I might as well just put it on the list)
-take ballroom dancing lessons (and convince Ren to go with me)

Picture Meme

OK - do the same... find a google image for each of the questions, post on your blog, and let me know if you do, so I can see the pictures!

Town you were born in:
















Town I live in now:


















My Grandmother's name:
















My favorite food:


















My Favorite Drink:





















My Favorite song:




















My Favorite smell:

Basketball Diaries

This past weekend was spent marveling at the things that Christian can and cannot do. We have a little basketball game that my friend Amanda handed down to us. It has a little basket and three little balls. Whenever the baby makes a basket the music plays and the lights go on. This is fabulous except that the only ones making baskets at our house were R and I. I often wondered what ages this toy was for because Christian couldn't possibly make a basket. I would give him the ball and he would either:

a) put it in his mouth
b) throw it or
c) put it in his mouth and then throw it

He wouldn't even come close to putting it in the basket. I would do it for him and show him how to hold the ball over the hoop and then let go, but no, he just wasn't getting it. I figured we didn't have a basketball champion on our hands.

The other day, he was standing up and I was holding on to his hands. He was kind of leaning on my leg, so I let go of his hands momentarily to see what would happen. He leaned forward and was actually standing by himself for 2 or 3 seconds. I cheered him on and he was also very delighted because he realized that he was standing on his own. I guess the novelty of it all freaked him out because he then lost his concentration and balance and fell down. I was so excited for him that he was actually standing for a little bit, but Christian wasn't done showing off. When he fell, he landed in a sitting position right in front of his basketball game. He picked up one of the balls and made a basket. I was laughing at the total fluke that I had just witnessed until he proceeded to do it two more times one after the other. I could barely contain myself! How is it that one day he can't even get close to making a basket and then the next day he makes three in a row? Go figure.

Christian has also been playing with his little table. I originally got it for him so that he could walk around the table and practice his cruising, but it appears that my son is on to me. He stands at one side of the table and plays with the little toys that are on that side. When he gets bored of those, he reaches over to play with the ones on the other side. If he's not in the reaching mood, he physically turns the table so that he can play with the other sides. Nice. He seems to really like the whole furniture moving thing. Although he is crawling now, he doesn't really like to do so. He prefers to have someone hold his hands so that he can walk from one activity to another. When he is standing and holding on to a piece of furniture, I try to stay away so that he will not rely on me to get around. I want to encourage him to try and cruise from one place to the next or to drop down and crawl if he wants to go someplace else. Once again, he outwits me. If I am standing too far away to hold on to, he moves the piece of furniture until it is close to where he wants to go and then he transfers to the other piece of furniture. Mind you, these aren't light pieces of furniture. He moves his little table, the activity center, the foot rest, the rocking chair! Hello! Perhaps I should dress him up as the Incredible Hulk for Halloween.

MeBay

Today is Friday and the theme is "show us your spice rack", but those that know me and know me well, know that I don't cook. They also know that I only have one rack, and spicy as it may be, it contains no spices, so sorry folks...there are no pictures of that rack being posted anytime soon (I think I just lost my male audience, if I even had one to begin with). I will delight you with a little story instead.
You know that eBay commercial about the little boy that loses his toy boat and then he comes back years later and looks for it on eBay and there "it" is? Well that commercial was meant for all the sentimental folks out there such as myself. I'm a total sucker when it comes to things like that and so I also think that my pack-rattedness is tied in closely with that. I want to save every little scrap of paper, every little souvenir, every little knick-knack because it reminds me of this or that.
Packing away Christian's baby clothes makes me realize how much I have difficulty parting with things. Mind you, I'm not giving his clothes away, just packing it up (in case the next one is also a boy), but then I start thinking, "wow, how the heck am I ever going to get rid of this stuff when I'm done having babies? I'm going to want to keep all of it because each outfit will remind me of a special time". Well, most people only keep one or two things from when their children were young as a cute reminder, but I'm going to need a warehouse.
My mom, on the other hand, is my polar opposite. I don't think she has any of the toys I played with or clothes that I wore as a baby or child. When it was time to get rid of my toys, she would sometimes pick out the ones that she thought I was done playing with and would send them to the Goodwill. This was obviously done when I was not home because otherwise I would have objected vehemently (apparently, the pack-rat syndrome had already developed at that young age). Oh what if things were never forgotten, oh what if things were never lost, oh what if things were never taken by my mother and sent to the Goodwill. Aha! But now I have eBay, or how I like to call it...MeBay! Cause you know, it's all about me.
Anyway, just the other day, I was thinking, hmmm...I wonder if I can find the little red dress that I wore for my 6th birthday party. I did a search on eBay...and looky what I found! I heart Mebay. It brings tears to my eyes I tell you. Now if only I could find my white teddy bear with the pink nose and the rattle in his tail, and my Barbie pony, and my Little People School house, and my....

Hmm, what's the phone number for that storage place?

Oops they did it again!

Heidi and Benji kicked ass again last night on "So You Think You Can Dance". This time they did a little Salsa routine. I'm jealous...although, you know, I did teach her that mid-air split thing. Ha ha. I'm having Salsa withdrawal symptoms now.

Peevy and the Mambo

I was given a gentle nudge today by Amanda about my lack of Photo Fridays. I've totally fallen off the horse there...which reminds me of a joke, but I'll leave that for another day. So yeah, I've gotten lazy with my picture taking, so therefore my Fridays have been photoless. What can I do? Fortunately, this week's theme is lady's choice, so I will dig into my photo files and find something interesting. Please hold...

ok got it.

Before I tell you what kind of picture it is, I'd like you to know that it does contain some nudity, so if the kiddies are around, don't click on it. Sure, it's not a real person, but still. It's my friend Peevy Manikin. I am not lying about his (or her...with that face and haircut, I can't really tell...not to mention the interchangeable genitalia) name. I'd love to know who the heck buys this stuff. Really. My friend Jen (of course) found it and sent it to me. We both had a good laugh. We always find strange things on the internet and email the links to each other. I, of course, take it to the next level because I actually purchase the things and mail them to her. She at least just restricts it to email. Can you imagine receiving Peevy in the mail? Ha ha.

Speaking of Jen, she got a mention in the LA times the other day for contributing to a story related to Marilyn Monroe. It came out in the paper on Aug 2nd and the title of the story is "Giving More Life to Marilyn?". It's about a lady that claims to be Marilyn Monroe reincarnated. Interesting, to say the least. I tried to link to it now, but it tells me that I have to be a registered user and I'm just not in the mood to register right now. But if you are and you'd like to read it, just do a search for Marilyn Monroe and it will come up. Go Jen!

Well, I've been watching So you think you can dance for a whole 2 weeks now thanks to a friend who brought it to my attention. Last week, I happened to catch the end of Benji and Heidi doing a mambo number and let me tell you, I just sat there with my lower jaw on the floor. Damn, these people are good. I found the clip on you tube, so check it out:




This makes me want to go out and take Mambo lessons...I swear I could watch this over and over again. Good thing that my Salsa classes will be starting up again soon; this show really gives me the dancing bug.

Shower showdown

Well, Lisa's baby shower went well this weekend, despite the initial mini-emergency. You see, she had it at the clubhouse in the community where I live. R and I were having some issues with the association about a check that never arrived, so my mom ended up renting the place so that Lisa could have her baby shower. Anyway, my mom forgot all about the date of the shower and left to El Salvador on the morning of the shower. She spoke with Damian's mom that morning and told her that they shouldn't have any problems because they had the copy of the contract. So...the shower was scheduled at 1pm. I was getting C ready to go, getting his bag ready, getting myself ready (this whole process takes forever!) when I receive a call at 12 pm, it was Lisa telling me that her friend and mother in law couldn't get into the hall to decorate for the shower because my mom had to be there. Oopsy...we might have a problem. Thankfully it all worked out because my dad was in town, so he was able to go in her place. Whew!
Other than that it went off without a hitch. I took my camera with me, but didn't take any pictures, so I can't share with you until my trusty friends send me the link from their Shutterfly accounts. I don't know why I always do that. I take my camera, but then I'm too lazy to take pictures, go figure.
Oh, I did win the baby food eating contest (ok, fine, it was a "tie", but I bet my jar had less food in it than the other peeps jar). I was just gulping that banana stuff like there was no tomorrow. The lady that was feeding me was beginning to worry because I was turning beet red. What can I say, I was too busy swallowing to think about breathing (if I had a dollar...).
Our friends Cristy and Danny were also in the contest, but they were having technical difficulties since Cristy was shoveling the food into Danny's mouth and not even waiting for him to swallow. Ha ha.
I love baby showers, they are so much fun! I especially love the contests, I always manage to win one. I guess they bring me back to my days as a ute when I went to "piñatas" and played musical chairs and pin the tail and all those fun things. Danny and I also participated in the clothe the baby game where two people are supposed to put a diaper and pj's on a doll as fast as possible, but you're only allowed to each use one hand. We totally lost at that one since we fastened the snaps wrong and I couldn't stop laughing. Oh well, I guess I have to let other people have some prizes too.