July 29, 2009
Dammit!!
Hubby walked in around 1:20pm and says, "why is it so hot in here?" Surprisingly, I hadn't noticed that the air was blowing not-so-cool air. He started cursing and pacing and then went outside, and it seems like the big fan outside is broken. Great, 'cause we need to spend that kind of money right now. He's hoping his dad can help him fix it tomorrow. We've turned on all the fans to be able to sleep somewhat comfortably tonight.
Do any of you locals know a cheap A/C guy?
Howdy Par'ner!
Brandon wanted to look through his scrapbooks a short while ago, so both boys and I sat on the couch and flipped through the pages. I was amused when Matty pointed to one of the pictures from Brandon's 2nd birthday party and said "Woody!". You may recall my friend's ex-husband dressed up like the beloved Disney cowboy for the party. He didn't have any authentic equestrian apparel, not even a real cowboy hat, but the kids didn't care. The little ones all thought he was the real deal, and the big ones were highly entertained by the funny guy dressed up like a cowboy.
In other news, I really should get on with Matty's scrapbook. He's a few months shy of 3, and I've yet to scrap past his first St. Patrick's Day!
July 28, 2009
One man's trash is another's treasure
Remember that clutter corner that I mentioned last week? I'm slowly making my way to the bottom of it. I listed a couple of things for sale online, and am researching how to get rid of others. Does anyone know where I can donate old text books? It would be a shame to throw them away, but they are over 3 years old. At this point, I don't want to make any kind of money off of them (and I really won't be able to anyway, since textbooks are worthless a semester or two after they are released). I just want to get rid of them, but I'd rather give them to someone that can use them rather than throwing them away.
July 27, 2009
Thank goodness Mondays only happen once a week!
I spent the greater part of the afternoon on the phone with a few insurance companies, and I got absolutely nowhere. It seems like every time I deal with one particular company's call center services office, I get the same representative. She has a very thick accent (very Middle Eastern-esque), and she's so adamant about following the script she repeats the same three lines no matter what question I ask her. Maybe that's all she understands, I don't know. I feel bad for her because half of our conversation consists of “I’m sorry, can you repeat that again please?”, but really, if you can’t communicate with your customers, maybe you shouldn’t be on the phones.
July 26, 2009
Birthdays break the silence
I reopened comments to see if things simmered down a bit with those annoying spammers...so far, so good!
Lots to talk about, but I have to get the boys in bed. Here are a couple of things real quick:
- Happy 1st birthday to my beautiful niece Brooke! (her birthday was yesterday, and today was her big party. Pics will follow later on this week).
- Happy Birth Day to Francesca, born last night, just 36 minutes before having to share her birthday with her big brother.
- And speaking of that particular big brother, Happy 2nd birthday, Felipe!
July 24, 2009
STOP!!!
I've been bombarded by spam for the last few days....I've lost track of how many messages have hit my comments. I don't want to know how to improve my love life, I don't need to make money from home (well, I do, but I'd prefer to do it legally), and I'm not interested in your drugs, thank you very much! Now stop harrassing me!
Comments will be closed temporarily until I can figure out how to deal with this obnoxiousness.
In lieu of commenting, feel free to email me: dufau - the number "one"- at- bellsouth - dot - net.
July 21, 2009
You take the good, you take the bad
(did I just give you an 80's earworm....bwahahahaha!)
Been so busy lately that I forgot to mention that hubby was demoted last week. The guy he replaced asked for his job back, and it seems that since hubby was still on probation (just two weeks short of his 90 days), management gave it to him. The shock is slowly wearing off, considering we did not see this coming at all, particularly since hubby was doing a great job. We are, however, very thankful he's at least still employed.
Can't win 'em all, I guess. Hopefully they'll realize hubby's true worth and give him something bigger and better in the near future.
July 20, 2009
Matty-isms
- "Mommy, is cark!" (dark)
- "Fire-urks is ow-sigh. Is cark" (fireworks are outside, It's dark)
- "Ba-deng watching moo-bee about dok" (Brandon is watching a movie about a dog...101 Dalmatians)
Gossip Girls
My casita? She is beyond clean. We gathered for our third book club meeting yesterday and it was my turn to host, so hubby and I had been cleaning for three days. Not non-stop, of course. Many breaks were taken for facebooking, web browsing, TV-watching, blogging and other activities not at all related to the task at hand: getting the house presentable for a get-together. I must say, I am very pleased with the outcome. My backyard no longer looks like a jungle, my couch is no longer an ant-hill, and my bathrooms are not a homage to the three boys that live in this house. La esquina del desahogo (the catch-all corner) is still alive and well in my bedroom though, but I will tackle it bit by bit every weekend until it ceases to exist. Half of it would be gone if it weren't for my laziness listing items for sale online.
Anyway, about the book club....last time we met we neglected to pick a book, so it was more of a book swap this time around. After the big swap, which took all of fifteen minutes or so, the gabfest began. We talked about everything: our hubbies' idiosyncrasies, reality shows, former classmates and their whereabouts, even who hated taking piano lessons after school (I can't even remember how that one came up). It was so much fun! I love hanging out with these girls.
July 18, 2009
Up in flames
So I had this tradition whenever I drove to North Miami Beach. Once I got off the causeway and was on Alton Road, I'd go down to Bayshore Drive and drive in front of the "castle" mansion. This humongous house had a castle facade, complete with tower, gargoyles, creepy-looking security gate, a bridge and moat, the works. I've been driving by it for years, probably close to 15 - since I got my permit (maybe even longer with a driver). It's just so gaudy and out-there, and completely out of place on that street....I loved it! I'd show it off to anyone who was in the car with me, or tell anyone about it who would listen.
So I was very sad when hubby stumbled upon a news video from yesterday showing the mansion caught fire and is pretty much gone. Fortunately, no one was hurt as the house has been vacant for some time, it was currently on the market for $6.9 million. Here's the listing info, wasn't it cool? I'll definitely miss seeing it.
Ugh, nasty!!
We just found a nest of ants on one of the creases on the top of our couch. I had a pile of laundry laid across the top of the it, things I needed to hang in the closet, and that's what was keeping them calm. As soon as I lifted the clothes, they scattered everywhere. Some even transferred themselves from the clothes onto my bed, which is where I laid out the clothes while I grabbed some hangers. Clearly, I was oblivious to their presence until I saw tiny black spots all over one of my white T-shirts. We are now laundering that pile of clothes, the bed linens, and need to wipe down our couch after dousing it with bug spray.
We looked around and didn't find a trail from the nearby window, and we rarely eat near that couch...not sure what they found there that was so enticing as to cause them to build a home on that spot.
For those of you coming by tomorrow (book club meeting, part trés), I promise you, you won't be able to tell what happened. And I won't tell you which couch it is so that you don't get grossed out.
July 15, 2009
Free Slurpees, Happily Ever After, and Pink Underwear
Yup, those words just about sum up our weekend in Orlando! Warning: this is a very long post, so I'm putting half of it below the fold.
Hubby and I have been to Orlando countless times, but I think this is the first time we drive non-stop. It took us just under four hours to get there; we definitely would have gotten there sooner if there hadn't been thunderstorms along the way, decreasing our speed from just above the speed limit (I'm using the words "just above" very loosely) to about 50 mph at times.
Saturday morning we drove to WB's house for breakfast, which is roughly 15 minutes away from the hotel we stayed at, if you know where your'e going. Apparently our GPS did not know where we were going as we ended up on the other side of WB's street. Fortunately, I knew we were rather close, and we got there just a few minutes later. We had breakfast, played with the menagerie, took a tour of the garden, and hung out for a while before heading back to our hotel to get ready for my cousin's wedding. For WB's version of our visit, read here.
Oh yeah, we stopped for free Slurpees both to and from WB's house, as I made it a point not to forget that it was Free Slurpee Day. Free Slurpees Rock!!
The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was just as lovely. My new cousin-in-law looked absolutely stunning, and I am completely enamored with her dress. I wish I had more pictures to share, but my camera was misbehaving and I have very few clear pictures from the event. But I do have this one, which is hilarious! And this one, my new favorite family picture.
Sunday was theme park day, and we went to both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Since WB and sherlock have annual passes, they joined us at IOA for a few hours. The very first thing we did was meet Spiderman, with Brandon on a high for most of the day after meeting his favorite superhero. After the Spiderman ride, we headed to Bluto's Barge, and that's where it happened: we saw pink. A male tourist that rode with us stripped down to his pink, boxer-brief underwear, right there in front of us because - get this- he had cameras in his pockets. Seriously, I'm not making this up. We have photographic proof! WB tried to be discreet when she told me, but I don't think it mattered, the man truly found nothing wrong with stripping down to his tighty whiteys pinkies for all the world to see.
Anyway, we got off the ride (drenched, of course) and continued through the rest of the park, giggling to each other whenever we'd cross paths with Mr. Pink.
By lunchtime, we were halfway done with the park. WB and sherlock left at that point, and we headed towards The Lost Continent, where we experienced the longest wait time of the day, 50 minutes, for Poseidon's Fury (which we knew my mom would love, so we made the line for it). All the other rides up to that point were 20 minutes or less, which is why we got through half of the park so fast. And there weren't as many park visitors as we expected there to be, so that helped too.
Finally, Matty rode his first ride of the day on the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride in Seuss Landing. We finished up that section of the park and headed across the way to Universal Studios, just as it started sprinkling with light rain. It was kind of refreshing actually, since we're in July, and July in Florida is not much fun. We spent about four hours at that park, trying to concentrate mostly on attractions the kids could participate in as well. We saw Shrek 4D, then headed over to the KidZone, stopping for the obligatory Jaws family photo along the way. Brandon rode Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster twice, and declared it "Awesome!" Hubby and I took turns riding The Simpsons Ride with Brandon, then headed back to KidZone for the final ride of the day, E.T. By that time it was 8:30pm, and we still had the 4-hour drive home ahead of us, so we left the park and headed towards the parking lot, stopping for yet another obligatory theme park photo.
We're kind of bummed that we didn't get a chance to ride The Mummy, but with some (financial) luck we'll be back in Orlando at the end of September for this. WB, that postcard wasn't accidentally laying about your living room, was it?...;-)
July 13, 2009
Home Sweet Home
It will probably take me all week to recover from the whirlwind weekend we had. We left Unversal last night at 930pm, headed for home. Just under four hours later, at 1:20am, we were parking in our driveway. By the time we unloaded the car, got the kids in bed, and took quick showers, it was almost 3am.
There's lots to talk about, but first on my list is catching up on sleep. Stay tuned later this week for a recount of our adventures. Good night!
July 10, 2009
Headed North
There are a couple of posts I wanted to write before the weekend, including sharing my new favorite Twilight-related site (hhmm...guess I just did that), and some other things I don't remember right now but wrote down somewhere. They will have to wait till next week as we're leaving for Orlando in about 10 minutes.
You all have a great weekend. Take care of the blog for me, will ya?
July 8, 2009
Toothpaste for ransom
After reading WB's post this morning about her toothpaste dilemma (really, who's allergic to toothpaste?!), I happened to pass by Target while running an errand for work. I ran in and found a goldmine, at least 7 tubes of WB's special toothpaste. So I called her up and said, "I'm at Target, how many boxes do you want?". She said, "Really? Are you serious?" and I just laughed and said, "yes, I'm in the dental hygiene aisle right now. How many do you want?". I grabbed the three tubes she wanted, then told her I am holding her toothpaste ransom, that way she has no choice but to meet up with me this weekend. She reluctantly said, "Well, if I must!"
You're welcome, my friend. Can't let you go around with a rashy mouth, or worse: halitosis!
We have a winner!
Thank you to the five of you who chimed in on my previous post during the last couple of days. By popular demand, I will be wearing the black and white dress on Saturday. It will be paired with shoes similar to these (not the patent-leather ones in the picture) and my pearl jewelry. As always, you can expect pictures after the event, though they won't be posted until Monday (or later), once we get back home.
July 6, 2009
You pick it, I wear it!
All right, faithful readers, I need your help. Since I can't go shopping for a pretty new dress, I'm putting two of the dresses I currently own up to a vote.
Which dress should I wear to my cousin's wedding this upcoming weekend?
This one:
(Which thankfully looks more slimming now than in this picture)
Or this one?
(Which I love, but might be a a bit too "old school" for the event).
What do you think? I'll wear the one that garners the most votes.
Thanks for your help!
UPDATE: arcanai is right, I should have provided more details. The ceremony starts at 3pm, with a reception following. Both events are indoors...thankfully, since it's a sweltering July.
July 5, 2009
The only annoying thing about traveling
is packing for a family of four. Between the varied array of clothes and shoes (we're going to Orlando for a wedding, 'member?), plus the baby gear we still need for Matty, and other random things like our digital camcorders, cameras and extra batteries (the boys' first trip to Islands of Adventure has to be well-documented!), I don't think five days is enough time to get everything ready.
At least I know if I forget something, it's easily attainable at my favorite retailer. Or, I can ask WB to bring it to me! Right, WB?
Boom, Boom, Pow
(this post has nothing to do with the Black Eyed Peas song. WB used it as her recent blog post title, and I liked it so much I'm stealing it!)
It's been a busy weekend around here, and not just because of the holiday festivities. I've washed, folded and put away all our laundry in order to prepare for our little trip next weekend. I also scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom (I'm embarrassed to admit how nasty it was due to week-long neglect). Hubby and I also set up Matty's big boy bed (pictures to follow), and between all that, throw in company that came by and dinner prepared, and I'm pooped!
So yeah, maybe the title does have something to do with the post...Pow is the sound my body is going to make when it hits the mattress tonight!