Brandon's Puppy

Fun Times Ahead

I'm actually going to enjoy my kiddies on Halloween this year. For the last four years, I couldn't enjoy the evening with Brandon because I was in school. No matter how I tried to coordinate when I registered for classes each semester, I always end up in class on Oct. 31. Thankfully, that's not a problem anymore. I'm done with school, and I get to hang out with my boys all night long tonight. And I'm getting off from work early today to boot! Matty has his 9-month well check visit at 3PM, then we're headed to the party early to help Viv set up.
Another fine reason why I'm glad I graduated already!! =)

Getting Back in the Loop

SarahK mentioned wanting to see Wicked a couple of days ago. I looked online and discovered that the show is coming to my area next March, and I looked for tickets online. I was hoping to find something reasonably priced, but all I could find were the expensive seats. I wish I'd known when they show was announced, or when they went on sale. I would have probably had better luck with the tickets.
I'm so out of it. Before hubby and I got married and started a family, we'd go to events all the time: concerts, sporting events, comedy clubs. Now we're completely out of the loop. I know that money is part of it, we'd rather use our money on things for the kids or the house than entertainment outings, but we don't even hear about events anymore. I need to sign up for some of those event alerts. At least we'd know about any concerts or shows coming up, and if finances permit and sitters are available, hubby and I can schedule some much-needed "grown-up" time.

What are your plans?

Weather permitting, we will be heading to our friend Vivian's house for her annual Halloween party at 6PM. The festivities include crafts, games, and trick or treating. Around 8PM, we will then head to Claudia's house for her fabulous haunted house (the kiddies will stay outside, or in the car with hubby if it's raining). I expect to be back home by 9PM. Then I will bathe the boys and put them to bed.
What are you doing this Halloween night?

Happy Halloween!!

Little Hero

Had you heard about the little girl in Colorado that used the OnStar button on her mother's car to call for help when her mother blacked out? I just heard about it today, even though it's something that occured in February. What astounds me is that the little girl knew exactly what the OnStar button was for because she overheard the salesperson at the car dealership explaining the feature. This is just another fine example of what sponges young children are. This observation saved not only her mother's life, but her own life and her little brother's as well. Amazing, isn't it?!

Pictures

of our trip now on Flickr.

Select a Candidate

A friend of mine sent me the link to this quiz last week, and it's pretty interesting. It pairs you up with a presidential candidate that most matches your views on several factors, including the war in Iraq, immigration, healthcare and Social Security, abortion, and the death penalty. Check it out!

Brandonisms and Well Wishes

I found it funny that WB decided to post her own Brandonisms over the weekend. My son really is a character. You can read her post here. And while you're over there, send her some feel-good vibes. It seems she has a stomach bug and is feeling icky.

5.11 Tactical

I was trying to help a friend of mine with a search for some tactical gear for a gift for her significant other, and came across this blog: 5.11 Tactical. They highlight the best tactical gear, featuring products from LA Police Gear. It took me a while to figure out that 5.11 Tactical was the brand name of the products, not the name of some sort of military tactic. It really is true that you learn something new every day.

3/4 of the way through infanthood

The little guy is 9 months old today. With the holidays coming up, his 1st birthday will be here in a flash. It really is a bittersweet experience watching him grow. I want him to stay a baby for much longer, but it is fascinating to observe him learning about and exploring the world around him. Just yesterday he got into a bit of a predicament under our barstools, and you could tell by the look on his face he was analyzing how he got there, and how he was going to get out. He's a ball of deliciousness, and we couldn't be luckier.

Happy 9 months, my gordito!

Almost forgot

All that throwing up on Saturday? It was teething! Matty sprouted his 3rd tooth today, upper left incisor. Just in time for his 9-month birthday tomorrow. =)

Pereiraville, Part 1

I intend on catching up on some sleep tonight after the crazy weekend we had, so this story will be told in two parts, some today and some tomorrow. We left Miami on Saturday afternoon, at 4PM. We had hoped to leave earlier, but Matty threw up right before I was going to feed him lunch (around 2) and we were waiting it out. He tolerated some water, so we considered it a fluke and began our journey. We stopped at the Ft. Pierce/Port St. Lucie service plaza for a late lunch, and I attempted to fed Matty an early dinner. Bad idea. The two jars of food came out almost immediately after they went in. We hesitated for just a moment if we should keep going, but Matty was in good spirits. He had no other symptoms, and he's had a swollen gum for about a week so we chalked it up to teething and continued on our way to Central Florida. We arrived at Pereiraville at approximately 9PM. It seems that our lovely hosts are very punctual people. The party was slated to begin at 7PM, and by the time we arrived, the hosts and the guests were all partially inebriated. This leads me to believe that the party began on schedule. I was glad to finally meet wb's cousin J (and her husband), and several of wb and sherlock's friends, who I've heard so much about.

It should be noted that we were the only ones not in costume. I have previously posted about hubby's grand dislike of costumes, so I knew he wouldn't dress up. I had pulled a costume out of storage that I thought of wearing, but when I tried it on I noticed it had an odd stain, probably from the humidity in our storage room, and ditched the idea before leaving home. I did take the boys' costumes and put Brandon's on during the party, but didn't put Matty's because it's borrowed and I didn't want it to be on the receiving end of a sicky-baby accident. Speaking of sicky-baby accidents, there were no more. Matty had a bottle around 10:30, which he tolerated well, and calmly slept through the night.
Not long after our arrival the karaoke began. The Pereira's are serious karaoke-ers. They have over 2000 songs on file, and they are listed in binders so that their guests can browse through their catalog. As much as we were encouraged, we did not participate. Hubby is a party pooper, and I'm just too shy to sing in front of strangers. Heck, I don't even sing in the shower, let alone in a room full of people! But we had a great time watching them all perform. Even Brandon and Matty were into it, and wb tried to play some Disney songs to encourage Brandon to sing. It didn't work.
Wb and sherlock kicked everybody out by midnight so that we could get a few good hours of sleep before we headed off to Busch Gardens on Sunday. We tried to sleep well, but it didn't happen. wb and sherlock were gracious enough to let us sleep in RTY's room, which we had to remodel a bit to fit our inflatable mattress and Matty's playpen. Brandon slept in RTY's bed, his first time in a twin bed, and he fell out of three times! Twice we felt him slipping onto the inflatable mattress and put him back on the bed, but one time he fell all the way down, rolled off the inflatable, and ended up under RTY's bed. He ended up getting stuck under the bed and got frantic when he couldn't get himself out. We didn't want to wake up Matty, but we had no choice and had to turn on the lights. In retrospect it's a pretty funny scenario, but the room was pitch black and it was the middle of the night, and I was on the verge of getting frantic myself. But after that scenario we all went back to sleep until Matty woke up hungry around 6:45AM.
Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 2 at Pereiraville. Hubby is waiting for me to hop in the shower so we can go to sleep.
Good night!

p.s. I loaded the pictures onto flickr, but they are currently set to "private" as I still have to add captions. I'll let you all know when they are ready for viewing.

While We Were Gone

The Dolphins lost against the New York Giants. What is up with the 'fins this year???
The Boston Red Sox won the World Series! Way to go, Sox!
Both my nephews got sick, with Mikey in the hospital with pneumonia .He's better now, thank God.

A quick thought before I get on with my workday

As we were driving home from Tampa yesterday afternoon, I mentioned to hubby that it’s a real shame we haven’t taken the time to visit other places in the state besides Tampa and Orlando. We really should schedule a vacation that does not include theme parks, and drive through the state getting to know places like Naples, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and St. Augustine. I recently heard about a cool event in St. Augustine called Uptown Saturday Night. They have what I would call a street party. The event spans several streets featuring live music, train tours, book readings and signings, art exhibits, and all sorts of St. Augustine shopping: rare books, antiques, and even authentic Spanish treasure. Oh, and each participating shop features wine and refreshments to add to the atmosphere. If there’s one place I can think of to go antique shopping, it’s St. Augustine. You all know how I feel about shopping! And Brandon would LOVE that train tour. It sounds like a lot of fun, doesn’t it?
It’s the last Saturday of every month, from 5PM until 9PM. It seems we just missed it, since the last one was this past Saturday. The next one is November 24th. That’s Thanksgiving weekend, which would be perfect for us to drive up for the long weekend if that weren't hubby's scheduled weekend to work. =(

I should have just called in sick today

I got in to work a short while ago. I knew it was going to be a rough day, but it's been just a bit rougher than expected. We snoozed the alarm clock three times and were rushing to leave the house. I left 15 minutes later than usual, and as a result dealt with more traffic congestion than I'm used to. I was just a couple of miles from the sitter's house when hubby calls me that I have his keys in my purse. Doh. I told him to leave for work and I'd turn around to lock the house. I left Matty, went back home, locked the door and drove to hubby's job to drop off his keys, then finally headed to work.
I'll recap our crazy weekend later. In the meantime, you can see pictures and read wb's take on it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. I'll be back later.

Out for the weekend

Thanks to my profits from paid posting, we are headed to Pereiraville for the weekend! YAY! We're heading out around 2PM, once hubby gets home from work.We should be there just in time for the start of their annual Halloween party. Then tomorrow we're headed to Busch Gardens. We'll be back tomorrow night. Keep the place clean, and don't have any wild parties while we're gone, 'k?

(oh, and don't tell wb and sherlock. We've got a little surprise for them.)

A little about LED lights

Now that Halloween is almost upon us, the Christmas sections at retailers are getting bigger and bigger. In fact, this morning when I went to the store I couldn’t find the Fall decorative aisle. The candy aisle was there, so was the costume aisle, but the aisle with all the cute home décor stuff for Fall? Gone! Christmas has taken over. The big things like artificial trees, outdoor decorations and wrapping paper aren’t out yet, but the boxes of twinkly lights are everywhere. I noticed that LED Christmas lights are abundant this year. Makes sense, with the current “go Green” movement in full force. I read somewhere that if 20% of American homes switched to LED Christmas lights during the average holiday season, that switch would save over 400 gigawatt hours of electricity. That’s a pretty big deal for such a small change, I think.
And now I have passed on this small tidbit on to you, and you can say you learned something new today.

EOAS, Week 17

Here we are again, another installment of Evolution of a Scrapper. This week features Brandon and Beka waiting for the New Year (2005), and Brandon's 2nd birthday party. The pages are self-explanatory so I won't be captioning them this week. I will say that I was quite creative with the birthday party. At the time Brandon was hooked on Toy Story 2, so we had a Woody's Round-up party. We played a variety of party games, and I tried to relate them to the movie. The kids played Hot Potato using a Mr. Potato Head doll as the hot potato. I hid a bucket of army men all over and the kids had to find them. There were a couple more, but I don't remember them right now. Enjoy the pages!

Can men have blonde moments too?

I made a quick visit to Walmart this morning before heading into work. I was next in line to pay, in front of me was a man purchasing a few items. One of them was a 12-pack of toilet paper, which was not bagged by the cashier because it doesn't fit in the standard size shopping bags. The man looked outside, saw that it had started to lightly rain (just a drizzle), and asked the lady for two extra bags to cover the toilet paper so that "it won't get wet". I wonder how long it was before he realized that the paper comes wrapped in plastic and won't get wet!
D'oh!!

Greeting Cards Scholarship Contest

As soon as I heard about the 1st Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest, I thought of my former supervisor and friend Yvonne. She has such an amazing ability to create greeting cards that I would frequently tell her that she should be working for a greeting card company. Unfortunately, the contest is only open to high school and college students, deeming her ineligible. The Gallery Collection is sponsoring the contest, and will award the winner a $10,000 scholarship. I'm sure you've heard of them, they are one of the top publishers of business Christmas cards, personal Christmas cards, and all occasion cards in the country.
It’s a snap to enter this Christmas cards scholarship contest. Those eligible simply fill out the entry form and submit their greeting card design by January 15, 2008. The submission can consist of an original design, graphic or photography, and needs to be horizontal, measuring 5½"x 7 ⅞". It should be a pretty easy process for those creative types.
I know several parents with eligible children, and I’ve forwarded on the contest information. What parent wouldn’t love their child to win a $10,000 scholarship? In fact, it’s not just the parents, but the kids too. I had to pay my own way through college, and I would have been elated to win a contest just by coming up with a creative greeting card!

Enemy, thy name is Time

I like all kinds of music, but one of my absolute favorite genres is Freestyle. You might remember me mentioning this kind of music before. There are a lot of great songs, one of them being "Take Me in Your Arms" by Li'l Suzy. Hard to believe, but she was just 12 years old when she recorded that song. Li'l Suzy is all grown up, and is expecting her first baby. She's 28 now, and that's kind of surreal to me. I mean, yes, everyone grows up and moves on, but I still listen to that kind of music, it's still played locally on the radio from time to time. You kind of imagine that the songs and artists are frozen in time. Kind of like running into someone you haven't seen since middle school or high school. You remember them a certain way, and it's a total surprise how they look, what they've done, and where they are in their life.
Oh, yeah, and the killer? I feel old! Those songs were released almost twenty years ago!

For wRitErsbLock

There's a "cold" front coming in. It's 74 degrees over here. I wonder if it will be cool this weekend? That would be nice, wouldn't it?! =)

California

The winds have died down in Southern California, but fires are still threatening lives and homes. Most of my blogging Cali friends have posted, and all are okay. My prayers go out to everyone over there. May you all remain safe and out of harm's way. I hope this is the beginning of the end, and that it ends much sooner than later.

Trying our luck

About a year ago, hubby got hooked on playing casino games online. He thought up what he thought was an awesome strategy for roulette, and decided to test out his theory. He had hopes that if it worked, we could head over to the local casino one day and try it out. He won a few times, and he’d put his “winnings” back into play and try again. This went on for a while, until there was one time when he lost big. Thank goodness he was playing for fun and not with real money.
Sometimes I wonder if we would have had any luck with his strategy. It’s a big risk to gamble, but it would have been so awesome to win some big jackpot. Then again, hubby tends to have streaks of bad luck, so I think we’d better stick to playing for fun. If he gets the urge to play again, I’ll just redirect him to a few online casino sites and he can get that urge out of his system.

A couple of things checked off the "To Do" list

In spite of my slow morning, I did actually get some things done today. Besides work-related stuff, I was able to make those phone calls I needed to make, one of which is to one of the local parrishes to set up Matty's Baptism. We have to attend a preparation class in two weeks, and then we can pick the date. I've really slacked on this one. I want to have him Baptized before he turns 1, and I know I'm cutting it real close.
The other call I made was for an appointment for Brandon's very first visit to the dentist. This will take place in about two weeks as well, and I'm a quite anxious about it. I fear that he'll freak out. He normally behaves very well at the pediatrician's office, but this is different. I'm going to start mentally preparing him for the visit, explaining what the dentist is going to look for and what he's going to do. Other than that, all I can do is hope that he doesn't panic. I'd like to hear how you handled it. Did your kid(s) freak out? What did you tell them to ease their worries?

Fawning over free stuff

Last Thursday, my employer held the annual benefits fair. I’d been looking forward to it all month, not just because I can ask questions about the plans available, but I can get a bunch of promotional products from the different companies to take home to Brandon. Each table had at least one thing, ranging from pens to keychains, but my favorite was the sling backpack from the medical insurance carrier. It’s a perfect little bag to have in the car for the boys’ toys. I still have to sort through all the goodies I got last week; they are all still sitting on my kitchen counter in a plastic bag. I’m trying to keep it there as a reminder to go online (from home, so I can discuss with hubby) and make my benefits selections before the deadline next week. So far it’s not working. Maybe reading this blog entry later on tonight will jog my memory.

Much ado about nothing

We had an office meeting this morning, and that threw my day off completely. It's almost 1PM, and I haven't done a thing. I haven't blogged, I've hardly worked, and I haven't made a couple of phone calls I need to make for some I need to resolve. And, it's lunchtime and I haven't eaten yet.
I really need to get on the ball, but I just can't find the motivation to do so. It's one of those "blah" days.
How's your Wednesday going?

Wishful thinking

I got home about an hour ago. I'm almost done making dinner, hubby is bathing Brandon, and I've got washed one load of laundry, and am about to fold another one. Still to do: Feed and bathe Matty, eat, and take a shower. I might be pushing my luck, but it looks like I just might get to scrap a bit tonight...

Shopping Saves Money. Really, It Does!

Have you started your holiday shopping yet? I haven’t. I’ve gotten so lazy about it, not to mention my shopping is limited this year. For the very first time, I’m going to have to strictly stick to our budget. That’s why I think I’m going to do most of my shopping online, and I’ll definitely be using some of the coupons on couponchief.com. My list is relatively short, it’s mostly kids and two adults for the gift exchange hubby and I participate in with our group of friends. Looks like they’ve got great deals at KBToys.comfor the little ones, and I’ll save money with the adults too using the Bestbuy.com offers. I love shopping in person, but knowing I’ll be saving money with my gift-giving makes online shopping just as satisfying.

Food for Thought

(cross-posted at Babalu)

I read this article, and all I could do was stare at my computer screen. It seems unbelievable to me that some people still believe that lifting the embargo and allowing travel to Cuba will help the Cuban people and suddenly put food on their tables and money in their pockets. The ignorance is overwhelming.

“Clarion farmer and Iowa Corn Promotion board member Deb Keller said allowing U.S. tourists to visit would give Cubans more dollars to buy ag products.”

Power's out

I don't think I've mentioned that Brandon's school has been without power since Friday morning. From what the director told me, there was some sort of accident with the transformer for the shopping center (it's one of those ground transformers, those big green boxes). It got knocked out of place, I'm not sure if a truck hit it or something. The power company finally replaced it yesterday, and the electrician for the building did whatever he had to do, but we found out this morning when hubby dropped off Brandon that they didn't get a permit for whatever they did. Now they have to wait for the county to come inspect everything.
The director speculates that power should be back by the end of the week, but you know how these things go. The good thing is, the kids are having a blast! They are "surviving" on lots of water and fruit punch and popsicles to stay hydrated. They have been playing in the playground and watching movies, and they ordered pizza for lunch yesterday. I'm sure the teachers are trying to incorporate some sort of structured lessons, but Brandon has been having so much fun with the new activities that he hasn't mentioned anything else. And tomorrow they are bringing out the water slide used during their summer camp. I bet the kids want this blackout to last forever!

Dental Distress

My poor friend K. Her weekend was wonderful, what with having her bridal shower and all, but she started off this week on a bad note, with a terrible tooth ache. She couldn’t even call me yesterday to tell me she wasn’t going to work, it hurt so bad (we call each other every morning during our commute to the office). They way she tells it today, she woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain, she says it felt like a knife was continuously being stabbed into her tooth and gum-line. She couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, and rushed to the dentist as soon as she could yesterday morning. Apparently she lost a filling and hurt herself eating potato chips on Sunday while watching TV with her hubby-to-be.
I wish I had remembered to tell her about Dentemp OS when she called me. It’s a temporary dental repair product which would have eased her pain instantly. It's quick and easy, and she could had have breakfast before heading to the dentist, since it sets after just 30 minutes. Oh, and another good thing, it fully complies with FDA regulations for oral care.
I don't remember ever having a major tooth ache or losing a filling, but I've heard that it's second in pain level only to giving birth. Well, I've gone through that twice, so I can sympathize with anyone who has to deal with dental woes.

Insert Witty Title Here

Well, as luck would have it, I was not able to scrap last night. I did gather my things, but by the time dinner was ready and the boys were bathed, fed and put to bed, it was 9:30. That's in spite of having bathed Brandon as soon as we got home. Somehow he got wet at school in the playground and he was drenched from the waist down. Even his shoes were soaked. I think it was his little evil plan: we bought him new Thomas the train sneakers at Target on Sunday, and I told him he couldn't wear them to school until his current ones were worn out. Wouldn't you know it, he needed to wear his new shoes today because the other ones are still wet. =/
Anyway, let's see if I have better luck tonight, but I doubt it. Hubby needs to go for a haircut after work so I have to man the fort alone until later than usual.

Scrappy Storage

I’ve spent the last twenty minutes trying to get all my scrapping supplies together for my little crop session tonight. I’m slightly irritated by my lack of organization when it comes to my scrapping things and my pictures and albums. I’ve told hubby we need to come up with storage solutions for these things. Right now they are in different places-one part of the kitchen cabinets, on the floor in a corner of the dining room, and the hall closet. Part of the hall closet contains his tools. I think I need to kick his stuff out of there. If we add a shelf or two, and that’s the perfect place for all my craft gear. Now we just need to find his stuff a new home.

I vote for longer weekends!!

I feel like I didn't stop all weekend long. Saturday the boys and I went to my friend K's bridal shower. After that I rushed us home to change clothes and pick up hubby, met up with my sister, and we took the four boys to the pumpkin patch (did you see the pictures on flickr? Aren't they cute?!). After the pumpkin patch, I dropped off hubby and the boys and went to Claudia's birthday party. Oh boy, was that a blast! I'll share some pictures when the other girls pass them on, mine aren't all that great.
Yesterday morning I went to visit a friend/coworker who is in her first trimester and on bedrest (but doing fine, thank G*D). About an hour later went back home, picked up hubby and the boys and we headed to hubby's BFF's house to watch the Dolphins game. After a not-so-pleasant game, we went to get Brandon's hair cut (he's got school pictures tomorrow), then to Target for our weekly staples shopping. Got home, fed and bathed the boys, put away the Target stuff, did the dishes, got a load of laundry done, and by that time it was 10:30PM. Where did my weekend go??
So in an effort to relax I have decided to be a bit irresponsible this evening and do what I want to do, instead of what I need to do: I'm gonna do some scrapping! Hopefully I'll get the kids to bed early and will be able to do a few pages. Besides, this looks like it's going to be a pretty hectic week, and next weekend we'll be MIA, so I've got to get some "me" time in while I've got the chance!

For your viewing pleasure

New pictures from the weekend now on flickr. I'll be back in a little while.
Enjoy!

Teasers until Tomorrow

Please forgive the lack of blogging today. Although I expected yesterday to be my hectic day, and today to be a day of rest and relaxation, that was not the case. I will elaborate tomorrow, but for now, I give you these lovely shots of my two boys. Have a great night!

Stylin' Strollers

Have you heard of Mutsy? Sounds like the name of a cute cartoon character, but it's actually a line of baby products that has been around since the 1930's (under the name Mutsaerts). They include five different models of strollers which, with the except of one model (the 3-wheeled Spider stroller), is interchangeable and grows with your baby. Parts include a bassinet, stroller seat, and a fun seat that bigger kids can "steer" the stroller with. They come in great colors like lime, ocean, orange, and silver/black. But my favorite characteristic is their futuristic design.
I wish I'd heard of this brand sooner. A couple of retailers in town carry the line. I think I might stop by with a couple of pregnant friends to check them out. If I can't get it, at least I can convince them to!

Go, Maura, Go!!!

My sister started her race about an hour ago (PT). If it weren't for the power of the internet, my sister would probably not have reached her goal. Thanks to everyone who donated and wished her well. She'll be back home tomorrow night, and I hope she has some pictures that I can post later.
Go Maura! We're so proud of you!

Busy Bees

It's going to be a slow day around this blog. The boys and I are going to a bridal shower at noon. When we get out of there, we're coming home to change and hopefully headed to the pumpkin patch. Then at 8 I have to magically split in two: my cousin called me that she wants to get together to have dinner at Bonefish Grill for her birthday, and my friend Claudia has her own birthday party going on at her house (I'll figure out how long we'll be where when 8 rolls around).
Somewhere in between, I have to head to Target to get Claudia's birthday present and jars of food for the baby.
Tomorrow will be significantly less hectic, and I will recharge then.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

She's mental, but we love her anyway

This is my friend Claudia. No, she's not in a mental institution, even if it seems so. That's her living room during Halloween last year. She turned her entire house into the Hyde M. Asylum for Halloween. Look through the pictures and you'll learn a great deal about her: Her immense creativity, her sense of humor, her attention to detail, and best of all what a great friend she is (otherwise, she wouldn't have had a house full of volunteers...er, patients in her asylum). She's crazy and sometimes I wonder if she really should live in a mental institution, but I love her anyway.

Happy Birthday, Claude! =)

Cute Christmas Cards

I’ve been browsing since early this month for our holiday greeting cards and my absolute favorites are from tiny*prints. I heard about this company over a year ago when plans were under way for my baby shower. I didn’t get a chance to use them for the shower or birth announcements, but I would like to order our personalized Christmas cards from them. I thought they were a small online business, but it seems they’ve hit the big time: a bunch of celebrities have used their products for their birth announcements, baby shower invitations and thank you cards.
They have some of the cutest cards I’ve ever seen. Their site allows you to personalize and preview instantly. And they’ve got a nice selection of business holiday greeting cards too.
This is the one I like best. What do you think?

Sicky no more

I've received a few emails asking how Brandon is doing (Thank you!!), and I realized I should give you all a little update. Good news: He's better! YAY! Hubby said he perked up yesterday throughout the day, though he hadn't eaten anything besides toast and Gatorade until I got home from work. Even then, he didn't want to eat the three chicken nuggets we made him. Instead, he had two scoops of vanilla ice cream. When he went to bed he had a mild temperature, 99 degrees, but this morning he woke up his usual self, and very hungry. He had breakfast at home with hubby before heading off to school, and had a second breakfast when he arrived at school.
So far, no one in our house has gotten whatever stomach bug he initially had, but I have felt a slight congestion in my throat the last two mornings. I'm trying to fight it off, let's hope I am successful. We've got a busy week ahead of us, I don't have time to get sick. =/

Getting out of the Rut

For the last few weeks we’ve taken a proactive approach to improving our financial status. Instead of moping, whining and complaining, hubby and I decided to take action and get out of our rut. We have been taking lunch to work every day for almost two months (give or take a day or two). I’ve limited our errands to once a week so that we save on gas. I’ve been cooking just about every night, or at least making enough often so we’ll have leftovers the following day. I only go to my favorite retailer (you all know who that is) once a week, for necessities. Period. And we decided to apply for a loan to pay off my credit cards. Unsecured loans weren’t an option, since our credit is less than stellar (though not poor. We’re somewhere in the middle). We opted to take one of the homeowner loans offered by our financial institution, rather than looking into online loans. Once we consolidate our debt, we are keeping our credit cards for emergencies only. It will feel so good to be debt-free that we won’t be tempted to hike them back up again.
I went last night to fill out the paper work, and they told me we’d hear back either this afternoon or Monday morning. Cross your fingers for us, please.

Some Friday Fun

I got this a few days ago. They are all so true!!

Why, Why, Why

Do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough money?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

And my FAVORITE......

The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

A year ago tomorrow...

this was me. It seems like just yesterday. While I'm glad I'm no longer wobbling around and gaining weigh by the second, I really don't want my pregnancy to become a distant memory. That would mean that Matty is growing fast, and I'd like to stop that. So if any of you figure out a way to stop time, let me know a.s.a.p. M'kay? Thanks!

Pondering Personalized Pillows

When I first saw an ad for photo pillows, I thought they were a bit weird. I'd feel kind of strange having a full-size photo replica of a family member or friend printed on my linens. But then I realized that these aren’t much different than the New Kids on the Block sheet set I had when I was in my ‘tweens. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but I’d kiss my pillowcase good night on occasion as if it really were my favorite member of the band. So now I’ve had a change of heart and realized that it’s weirder to kiss a photo pillowcase of some stranger in a band than a loved one. The more I think about it, I realize that personalized bedding is a great gift idea for little kids. They can take their photo pillow with them to day care. Or, if mommy and daddy have a business trip to go to or go out for some grown-up time, the kids can take their custom comforter with them to grandma’s house. So it’s not just a cute, personalized gift, it’s a security blanket, or pillow (as the case may be), for little ones too.

Brandonism

Me: "Baby, you need to start thinking about five friends from your class you want to invite to your birthday party. We can't invite everybody, so pick your favorite friends, okay?"

B: "I don't have any friends"

Me: "Of course you do!"

B: "No, mommy. I don't have any friends. I have a big family. I want us to be six.
I want a baby sister."

Me: "Oh boy! Let's go tell your dad that". And I carried him to the living room to tell his father, laughing all the way there.

I'd rather be home

The power went out last night in my neighborhood. When we called the power company, they said that the outage had affected 1,844 homes, and they expected to have it back up by 12:15AM (the outage happened around 10PM). They didn't say what happened, but I did hear a number of sirens after the power went out on one of the main streets surrounding our community, so I figure maybe somebody hit a pole or something. Whatever it was, the power was back within an hour.
Brandon went to sleep with no fever, and hadn't thrown up since about 4PM yesterday afternoon. When we woke him this morning to get him dressed to go to my mother-in-law's, he had trouble sitting up in bed and complained that his throat and his belly hurt. He leaned over his bedrail just in time. Poor little guy. =(
So hubby stayed home with him. I checked in just a short while ago and it seems Brandon's stomache is settling. He was sipping some Gatorade and said he was hungry. I told hubby to prepare him some toast and see how that goes.
Looks like it might be over soon. I just hope the rest of us don't get sick, especially the baby.
But between the power thing last night, worrying about Brandon, and feeling a bit under the weather myself (due to girly stuff, not getting sick or anything...I hope) I'd just rather be at home right now.

Helpful Hinting

Thanks to my friend CalTechGirl, I’ve got a new family tradition. I found out last winter that my brother-in-law loves Red Velvet Cake. So every June I will be baking, and he will be getting, a Red Velvet Cake for his birthday. I started the tradition this past summer, and he was so surprised! He loved his present. In fact, from what my sister tells me, he didn’t want to share with anyone. I love it too, but I just don’t make it very often because I do not own an electric mixer. I have to do all my mixing by hand. I love baking, and would probably do more of it if I owned an electric mixer. I am coveting a Hamilton Beach® mixer. Specifically, I long for the Eclectrics® Mixer in Sterling. It would match perfectly in my kitchen with my stainless steel appliances, and I have plenty of counter space, where it can be proudly displayed. Yup, a Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer sure would be nice. In the meantime, I guess I shall continue mixing the old fashioned way: with lots of elbow grease.

*Note to hubby: Are you reading this? My birthday is coming up, you know. I have no qualms about getting housewares for my birthday or Christmas. And you're always telling me you never know what to get me. You really need to read this blog more often. M'kay? Thanks!

EOAS, Week 16

I figured I should take advantage that I'm home to post this week's scrapbook pages. I know I say this every week, but there are a couple more of my favorite pages in this batch. I guess I can pretty much admit it: they are all my favorites! Even if some of the layouts aren't that great, the subject matter makes them all awesome. =)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this page! I got the idea from my older sister. She took a similar picture of my nephew when he was a baby. Brandon was very well behaved, in spite having sand up certain places where it shouldn't be.

We have the tendency of leaving our shoes strown about the living room when we take them off, and Brandon took full advantage of that. He would grab them and either play with the laces or put them on and stomp around in them. So cute!!

Chocolate-chip cookie eating baby. Such an adorable mess!

We stuck with the superhero theme for Brandon's second Halloween. He made an awesome Superman, my sister even curled the front of his hair! I was in class and unfortunately couldn't take him Trick or Treating, but he went out with his Nina, grandparents and cousin. I don't think he missed me at all. But that's always how it is when he's near his cousin.

Until next week!

Brandon update

I picked him up from school at about 12:45, and he was laying on his naptime mat, in the corner of the classroom. I carried him to the car, and while his temperature wasn't so bad, he was lethargic, and as soon as I sat him down in his booster chair, he told he had to throw up. I pulled him out of the car just in time. His jeans got dirty so I took off his clothes right there in the parking lot and drove the four blocks home, him in his underwear, and me anxious to get home and get him comfortable. I put him in a bath for about 20 minutes, since I figured if he was throwing up he wouldn't keep down any medication I would give him. That worked, and then we layed on the couch for a while to watch TV. Between then (around 1:30) and now, he's thrown up about three times, but it's been mostly clear liquid, almost bile.
He had taken a nap, almost an hour, and woke up feverish again so I tried some Tylenol. Unfortunately, that went out the same way it went in about half an hour ago. Fortunately, whatever little bit is still in his system is doing the job because his fever went down again.
He'll be staying home with my mother-in-law tomorrow.

Poor little guy. Even though he's old enough to tell me how he feels and what's wrong, and will even tell us when he needs to throw up so we can run to the bathroom or provide a bucket, it still kills me to see him feeling so bad. =(

If it's more than a 24-hour bug, we'll be visiting the doctor tomorrow evening.

Winter Wonderland

My friend K's wedding is 'winter' themed (since it's in mid-December), and she just found the cutest snowflake wedding favors, and at a great price to boot. Practical and whimsical, you can’t go wrong. She says she is super excited as she is going to combine these with votive candles and the tablescape will surely look awesome! She's going around the office telling anyone who'll listen. Is it any wonder I called her "Bridezilla" yesterday?!

Oh, No!

I got a call from Brandon's school about 10 minutes ago. He's got a fever and is feeling a bit down. I noticed this morning he was out of sorts, but I just thought he was tired since he went to bed much later than he should have last night (10PM). I'm heading out of the office at noon to go pick him up, give him some Tylenol, and lay down with him for a while. I hope it's just a mild little thing, not a major virus headed our way.

Still a good day, since I get to leave work early, though the reason is not a pleasant one. I'll keep you posted.

It's open!!

Ikea opened today! In fact, it opened about half an hour ago.
I'll be there in a couple of weekends with my sister. There's no way I would have gone today, even for a free chair. But I'm eagerly awaiting my little trip to Sunrise to scope the store out. Yes, I will be blogging it.

Listen to me now, and believe me later

Inspired by my previous post:

This really is one of my favorite SNL skits. Dana Carvey is hilarious. He's always been one my favorite SNL cast members, from the Church Lady, to Garth from Wayne's World, and who can forget his perfect impersonation of Johnny Carson! Doesn't matter what skit he does, I always enjoy myself watching Dana on SNL reruns.