Brandon's Puppy

Hurricane Relief

The destruction caused in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama is devastating.
A blogathon will be taking place this Thursday, but in the meantime, go to Babalu Blog for ways that you can help.

For every $20.00 donated, Val will send you a Babalu Blog T-shirt, or 2 for $30.00 donations.

$20.00 or $30.00 is nothing compared to how much the victims of this monster hurricane have lost. And besides, how good would this look on you?...

The Big Apple

As promised, here are a few pictures from our trip to New York City.
This was our second trip, and there's still so much we need to see...
We're already planning another trip for sometime in the Spring next year.

(Pictures in the extended entry)

We met this one-legged pigeon at Bryant Park the Friday we arrived.

This is the FABULOUS view from our friend's apartment's terrace on Park Avenue. To the left there's an equally breathtaking view of the Empire State Building.

Here is the beautiful statue of Jose Martí is located in an area called the Artists' Gate in Central Park, at the entrance near 59th Street and Avenue of the Americas.

I love this picture of us on one of the bridges in Central Park. This one is located at The Pond, near 59th street. That is the famous Plaza Hotel in the background on the right.

We were completely enchanted by the charm of the Central Park Zoo.
Following are a few shots of some of the animals we saw:

This is a Chestnut Mandibled Toucan. Amazing colors!!

Here's one of the Polar Bears taking a soothing mid-afternoon nap. Did you notice his hands are crossed?

This cute little turtle was sunbathing in one of the little ponds inside the zoo.

Just walking towards Ground Zero brought tears to my eyes. I cried throughtout the time we were there. This was one of the last things we saw.

This flag has not been removed from the facade of the New York Stock Exchange building since 9/11.

Last time we went to New York, just about 3 years ago, the only possibility to get anywhere near the Statue of Liberty was just walking around Liberty Island. This time, we had the opportunity to go up to the highest point allowed to visitors, the top of the pedestal where she stands. I think this picture is fantastic, I love how the flash hitting the metal framework and winding staircase gives it that black and white/sepia look.

This is a picture of Central Park, as seen from the top of the Empire State Building, with a little bit of help from the zoom feature on my digital camera.

One of our goals for this trip was to see a Broadway show. We didn't have time to do so, but it was just as lovely to see a Broadway star! We stayed next to the Longacre Theatre, where Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is currently playing. Our last night there, as we were walking back to our room from a long day of seeing the sights, we noticed the show was over and some of the actors leaving the theater. We decided to stick around for a few minutes to at least catch a glimpse of someone famous. About five minutes later, Kathleen Turner walks out and graciously signed autographs and chatted a bit with some fans.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this very shortened version of our NYC photo album!

Katrina aftermath

Hello everyone.
If you've arrived via my dear uncle's BabaluBlog, welcome! Come in, pull up a chair. I hope you like what you see. Can I get you a frosty beverage?

I must say that it was quite a surprise to arrive back home and be faced with a hurricane. We heard nothing about it while in New York, and once we arrived we hardly had time to prepare, so we simply hoped for the best and made due with whatever we had stocked in the fridge and pantry. It was quite scary, especially when the tree branches would suddenly hit against the windows, but thankfully there was no damage, and it passed pretty quickly. Our power was only for about 12 hours. In fact, some friends slept over last night and spent part of the day here. They didn't get their power back till a couple of hours ago. While some of us, including Robert, are pretty much back to normal, there are still some out there in the dark, like Val and Steve. Hopefully, it won't be much longer for them. Slowly, but surely...

It's amazing, we were driving around today running errands, and one store was packed with people and functioning in a normal, Saturday-afternoon kind of way, yet right next door another store was completely empty, not even one car in their parking lot, as if it had been deserted for months!

Here are just a few shots of the damage in our community. We're very lucky because it could have been so much worse. There are still parts of the city where the streets remain under water.

I think if there had been a few more wind gusts, our carports would have been long gone come morning.

A few trees fell right on some of my neighbors' cars. Though you can't see it, most of the damage from this tree occured to an SUV on the left.

This is the entrance to our part of the community, it's sort of a cul-de-sac. This fallen tree blocked us in for the day, until the management company came by and cut some of the limbs and made a path for the cars. Who knows when the actual tree will be removed!

For my regular readers, all 6 of you, I'll probably be posting the pictures of our trip to New York tomorrow. We took over 400 pictures, so I definitely need to go through them and pick a handful to post and write about, rather than putting them in a slideshow format and boring you with 25 pictures of each attraction!

Until tomorrow...

We're baaa-aaack!!

Hi everyone. We're back from our little visit to the North, to be greeted by a hurricane no less! If power stays up tomorrow, I'll post a few pictures from our trip, including a shot or two of Kathleen Turner. We were staying next to the theater where "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is playing, and we happened to head in for the evening at the very time the show let out and the actors were exiting the theater, so we stuck around to see if we caught a glimpse of "Martha". Sure enough, we did. She seemed very pleasant too.
We were a bit short for time so we were not able to see a show, but that is definitely on the "To-Do" list for our next trip to NYC!
See you all tomorrow, and for my fellow South Floridians, stay safe!

Takin' a bite out of the Big Apple!

Well, we're almost packed and ready to go. We'll be headed out tomorrow morning at about 7 AM, dropping off Brandon and then on to the airport. By 3PM we'll be in NYC!
I'll post a few pics of my cousin's wedding and of the city once we get back on Wednesday.
I'll leave you with this picture from my nephew's party this past weekend...

That's one cute conductor, huh?

Have a great weekend, everyone! See ya in a few days.

Get ICEd

I received an email about two weeks ago about a great new idea that's gaining popularity, and could be a life saver.
Inputing an entry with the acronym ICE on your cellphone, In Case of Emergency, can help emergency personnel in gathering information about you if you're unconscious or seriously injured. You could even input multiple ICE entries, just in case your main entry doesn't answer the phone.
More info here.

H/T: Dean, for reminding me to post about this. I'd been meaning to for a while now.

How quickly they grow...

Happy 2nd birthday to my beautiful nephew, and Brandon's best buddy, Michael.
We are so blessed that these two were born exactly 7 months apart (I know, I know, it's too early for math. That makes Brandon 31 months old today).
Mikey, you and your cousin are the light of our lives. It is such a joy watching you two grow up together, and I am overwhelmed at how much you love your big cousin. I know you look up to him, we can see it in your eyes every time you hug him, or say his name, or even just look at his picture. I hope that your bond will be this strong forever, and that you will always be there for each other.

And to my big sister Mary, thank you for having such a beautiful angel.
This wouldn't have happened if we had wished it...it's so much more than what we even hoped for.

Happy birthday, gordo. May you have many, many more!

A bit of randomness

Hello everyone. Just wanted to write a bit about what's going on in our lives.

Well, we're both pretty much over the throat issues. We're still on antibiotics, and will be until Saturday, but we're over the bad part. Thank goodness.

Due to the aforementioned throat infections, we were not able to install the wood flooring in our condo, which was scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday. A new "appointment" is in the works (friends are helping us do it ourselves, it's just a matter of coordinating schedules) but it should be done by mid-September...hopefully.

My sister will be arriving on Friday night from Virginia for my nephew's birthday party. Brandon loves when his Titi comes to visit, but maybe this time we can somehow explain that she doesn't live on an airplane! (contrary to popular belief! LOL)

Next Friday, the 19th, the dear hubby and I are leaving for my cousin's wedding in NJ, and will be enjoying NYC for the three days following. I am so excited! We went to NYC while I was 5 months pregnant, and although it was a very pleasant trip, we missed several things which we're surely catching this time. The only sad thing is that this is our first trip ANYWHERE without Brandon. We've never been away from him for longer than an overnighter, and even that's only happened once or twice. We're sure he'll have a wonderful time with his grandparents, but we sure will miss him! However, all parents need "grown-up time" once in a while...

That week is also my first week back at the University, after a lovely summer off, first day being Wednesday the 24th. Our flight arrives before 2 PM, and my first class is at 5PM. I'm SO GLAD I asked for the rest of the week off. I think I'm going to need it! But I will be that much closer to my degree, and that is so worth it. I've only 8 classes left, and I should be done by next May. YIPPEE!!!

So that's all I can think of for now. I have made a sort of promise to myself that we would post more often, even if it's ramblings like this one, so you'll be hearing more soon.

Good night!

How old are you?

As seen at Margi's:

You said your birthday is 12 / 7 / 1976
which means you are 28 years old and about:
60 years 1 month younger than Walter Cronkite, age 88
55 years 5 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84
52 years 6 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 81
45 years 2 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 73
43 years 1 month younger than Larry King, age 71
36 years 10 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 65
33 years 5 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62
30 years 5 months younger than George W. Bush, age 59
25 years 5 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54
21 years 1 month younger than Bill Gates, age 49
16 years 3 months younger than Cal Ripken Jr., age 44
10 years 5 months younger than Mike Tyson, age 39
6 years 4 months younger than Jennifer Lopez, age 35
0 years 11 months younger than Tiger Woods, age 29
5 years 6 months older than Prince William, age 23

and that you were:
24 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
23 years old on the first day of Y2K
20 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
18 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
17 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
16 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
14 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
12 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
9 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
7 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
6 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
4 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
2 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began.

The hubby...

You said your birthday is 3 / 23 / 1975
which means you are 30 years old and about:
58 years 5 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 88
53 years 9 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84
50 years 9 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 81
43 years 6 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 73
41 years 4 months younger than Larry King, age 71
35 years 1 month younger than Ted Koppel, age 65
31 years 9 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62
28 years 9 months younger than George W. Bush, age 59
23 years 8 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54
19 years 5 months younger than Bill Gates, age 49
14 years 7 months younger than Cal Ripken Jr., age 44
8 years 9 months younger than Mike Tyson, age 39
4 years 8 months younger than Jennifer Lopez, age 35
0 years 9 months older than Tiger Woods, age 29
7 years 3 months older than Prince William, age 23

and that you were:
26 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
24 years old on the first day of Y2K
22 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
20 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
19 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
17 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
15 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
14 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
10 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
8 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
8 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
6 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
4 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
a 1 year old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July.

Click here for yours!

Mission Accomplished

The Discovery shuttle has arrived safely this morning.

WELCOME HOME!

Honor

(Cross-posted at Babalu Blog)

Here are a few good reasons why our beloved #13 is the greatest quarterback ever.

Thanks, Dan, for your 17 years with the Dolphins. No matter what the score, with you there was always hope. Today, at 1:00 PM, you join all the other greats in the Hall of Fame.

Congratulations on this much-deserved achievement.

Another Anniversary

This family likes the month of August...

Happy 5th Anniversary Val and Maggie!

Today is also my great-aunt and great-uncle's anniversary- their 49th.
Felicidades, Tia Coco y Tio Isma! Next year, we celebrate in grand style.

VIVA CUBA LIBRE!!

Great idea, George! I'm with you, my friend.

BTW, check out Dean in his Babalu Blog shirt. Dean, you are Da Man!!

For Better or For Worse

Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, our celebration will have to be postponed. Brandon and I have been home sick for the last 3 days. I went to the doctor this morning and all signs point to strep throat. Brandon's appointment is later on today. My fingers are crossed that he's not given the same diagnosis.
My dear hubby has been playing nurse after work and through the night for the last three days, with not one word of complaint.

Thank you honey, for the last 3 years of wedded bliss, and for the lifetime ahead of us.