Worst decision ever

Sis#1 must think she's made the worst decision (okay...one of the worst) in her life.

Last year...she moved to Florida. Right before all those hurricanes. Thankfully, her family and her home was unharmed by all the devastation that happened due to the hurricanes.

This year? Hurricane D is on its way to Florida. We're all hoping that Sis#1 and the family come away unscathed once again this hurricane season.

Of all the places in the United States, why'd she pick Florida? The rest of us think its the farthest point away from us that's still in a warm region. They've already lived through snow storms. Too many. So that's why she and Rambo decided to "retire" in Florida.

Before they made their final decision of their destination, the rest of us were giving them information for affordable areas near us. Last year, she could have purchased a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath for less than $200k in my neck of the woods. This year? She'd be lucky to get a 2 bedroom 2 bath for that amount. My parents were saying they should move up to an area about 50 miles north of them. The homes are still affordable. It's a more open area (not as built up). So they could be close to my parents AND Rambo's Mom.

Anyway, I wonder if they are now rethinking their relocation decision. I know I would be researching like a maniac!

Hosting is much better with lots of guests

It's amazing how much more fun it is to have Hubs side of the family over when it's NOT just his immediate clan.

Who was in attendance? MIL. FIL. SIL. BIL. BIL's fiancee (BILF). Hubs cousin. Hubs cousin's wife (HCW). Cousin's two girls.

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The Hubs was on BBQ duty. That's the reason we invited everyone over. To have food cooked on our new built-in BBQ. He basically did a rocking good job.

[smirk-smirk]

What was the biggest mistake he made? To let my BIL take a shift at the BBQ. The Hubs had finished up cooking the burgers. Those of us inside were waiting for the Brats & hot dogs. But it was taking SO LONG!

I found out later on when we were cleaning up WHY it was taking ages to get the rest of the food cooked. My BIL decided to help out. He was taking care of things when...

"Dude. The grill is cold."

The Hubs goes over. Indeed. The grill is cool. The flames were out. My BIL had been working a grill that wasn't even on. AND he didn't notice until it had cooled down.

[snort-snort]

What was even funnier is right at that moment when my BIL was grilling, we (BILF, HCW, and I) were talking about my BILs greatest grilling bloopers of the past. Yes. He has two famous (or should I say INFAMOUS) moments.

The first was when my BIL was living in an apartment. He had the grill on the balcony. He opened the grill to check on what was being cooked and BAM! Smoke came out in a huge billow. Flames shot up. Almost lit the bamboo blind at the top of the balcony cover on fire. The second incident was at the first house he bought. It was another family gathering. My BIL was cooking. He checked on the food. Yes! A bunch of smoke came out. Then there were the flames.

What's funny about both incidents? The same two family members (a couple) who came in from out of town were in attendance. They were the reason we were all gathered. So we figured this time around? Since that couple wasn't there? That's why we didn't have HUGE flames coming out of the BBQ. He-he-he!

I'm in a conversation with BILF & HCW at the bar area of the kitchen.

"Oh yeah! It was the other day."

Who said that? The Hubs. He was sitting on the couch about 15 feet away. Chiming in on a conversation he wasn't even a part of.

"Sweetie. What're you doing? Doing that yelling across the room thing that I hate?"

He smiled at me. I smiled at him. He knew what I was talking about. This is something his Mom & his sister do ALL THE TIME. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was taught that it's rude to yell across a room. Especially when you're in a social gathering. A dance party where you can barely hear each other is one thing. But a quiet Sunday afternoon? Quite another.

Now where were the two when this went down? My MIL was sitting on the couch & my SIL was sitting on the barstool closest to the couch. They were right in between the Hubs and myself. The two are notorious for YELLING across the room to add their 2 cents on conversations. Conversations they are not a part of. Ha-ha-ha! Too funny.

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When your spouse or significant other gives up something, do you give it up too? Like giving up soda because it's empty calories.

After the Princess was born, my ILs gave up smoking. Cold turkey. Together. The Princess was born in September. As of January of that next year, my ILs had a New Year's Resolution to stop smoking. I guess they'd heard enough from us that they couldn't smoke when we came to visit with the Princess. It was a good thing to do. They did it for her. They did it for their health.

My MIL and FIL normally drink coffee after dinner. They always brew a small pot after they finish their meal. Once everyone had finished their meal, I started a pot. I wanted one. I knew that HCW wanted one.

Me: "MIL. There's coffee if you want some."

MIL: "No thank you. I'm having my teeth bleached in a couple weeks."

Me looking confused.

MIL: "I'm using a special toothpaste to get my teeth prepped for the bleaching. I can't drink coffee after so I'm starting to cut down now."

Me: "Oh. Okay."

I went and made my own cup of coffee. I corraled HCW and she prepared her cup.

Me: "FIL. Do you want some coffee?"

FIL: "No thanks."

Me: "Hmm...okay. Fine."

I walk off and take a drink out of my cup. I guess he noticed what I was doing.

FIL: "Oh. You have some brewed already?"

Me: "Yeah. That's why I asked if you wanted any."

MIL: "Well, if you've already got some brewed I'll take some."

He went over and made himself a huge cup of coffee.

Was he not going to have a cup of coffee because my MIL was not having some? I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. He does things just so that my MIL doesn't constantly bitch at him. That's how she gets what she wants. She bitches until he concedes to her point of view.

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Hugs a plenty!

So this time around, it wasn't a bad gathering. I guess us "married in" girls just have to stick together. I'm glad my kids and my HC kids (2nd cousins) were able to play together. Even though they only see each other about 4 times a year? They ADORE each other. FANTASTIC!

Taking life on at full speed

It seems that as we grow older, we become more apt to bow out. I know of you do continue to take life by the horns, but most of us seem to pass on anything that's too difficult.

Seriously. Where is it that we just decide to take the easy way out? If a challenge seems too much, then decide not to do it? Take our divorce rate in this country. ASTRONOMICAL. Whatever happened to working it out. Both parties? Take the drop out rate for high schools? High school is NOT hard people! Just study a couple hours at night and you'll pass. What kind of career do you think you'll have if you don't have even a high school diploma?

Now kids? Kids are so resilient. They just GO FOR IT. Take life on 100%. Do everything with gusto.

As you can see, the Bear likes to jump. Make me think that he can jump or climb over any obstacle in his path. It's true. I try to block him. He goes under. He goes around. He goes OVER! He's tenacious.

But how do I make sure that he continues to accomplish things? To take on new avenues in his life? To keep JUMPING through life?

Let's talk...

The Bear has been talking up a storm.

It's so funny listening to him sometimes. There are moments when he's just practicing making noise versus trying to say something.

"Ah-put-ah-put-ah-put-ah-put..."

The Hubs and I look at each other & smile when he's doing this. We don't make a sound. We don't want to discourage his experimentation. We don't want to interrupt the discovery of his own voice. It's hard not to giggle though when he's walking around making that sound.

Here are the latest additions to his growing vocabulary:

"Jump" = jump --> as in jump OFF the bed

"FI" = fly

"Caw" = car

"Ew-fant" = elephant

"Tie-GER" = tiger --> he puts the emphasis on the second syllable

"Maw-KEY" = monkey --> he makes a chimpanzee sound right after

"Daw-FIN" = dolphin

"Way-ew" = whale

"Daw" = draw --> when he wants to use crayons

"Oh-MEA" = oatmeal --> requesting his favorite breakfast...he'll go right to the pantry & point to the oatmeal

"Dir-TEE" = dirty --> When he comes into the house after playing outside

"Mess" = mess --> He's acknowledging that he's got food all over him as we're carrying him over to the sink to get washed up AND when he comes inside from playing AND when we're changing a poopy diaper

"Aw keen" = All clean --> He says this after we've washed him up

"Pit-EE" = pretty

"Wa-ER" = water

"Faw DOOW-n" = I fell down
"Hur" = hurt --> This is said after he's fallen down or bumped himself

"Hur me" = hurt me --> He says this when he thinks we've hurt him or when we're holding him and he wants to get away

"Wet go" = let go --> This usually follows the phrase above

"Stow-ER" = stroller --> He says this when we're outside and he wants us to go for a walk and put him in the stroller

"Tri" = tricycle

"Baw DER" = Bob the Builder

"Buzz" = Buzz Lightyear

"Bouy" = Woody (from Toy Story)

Then there's the counting! He knows the words from one to ten. But he doesn't necessarily put them in the correct order. He'll skip some. He'll repeat the words over and over to himself as he's playing. Oh yeah! And the alphabet. He'll say the letters but not all in order. He does know W-X-Y-Z and A-B-C-D-E-F. He knows the letters "O" and "S" and "G" and "M" individually.

What's nice is that he's learning to string words together. Actual SENTENCES! He'll string up to three words together. It's truly amazing to hear him speak. And he gets this look of satisfaction when we understand him. What I find funny is that the Princess is sometimes his 'translator' when we don't quite understand him.

Now do your older kids translate for your younger ones?

Under the knife...

There I was rinsing off dishes & placing them into the dishwasher. My MIL drops off a plate next to the sink. My SIL, my BILs fiancee (BILF) and the Hubs' cousin's wife (THCW) are sitting on barstools in front of me.

MIL: "I'm thinking about getting liposuction."

SIL: "Where?"

MIL: "Around here." [circling her hands around the tummy and hip area]

I found my MILs comment very interesting. A couple years ago, she had to get some surgery. She "had" to get the extra skin from her eyelids removed because they were effecting her peripheral vision. Post-op I remember her anxiety about the pain she was in. I also remember a comment she made.

MIL: "I can't believe people do this voluntarily. I would never do it if I didn't need to."

Then there she was today. Saying that she was contemplating getting liposuction. I can just imagine how much more painful a liposuction recovery actually is. Have you SEEN how rough those plastic surgeons are when they perform a lipo?

My BILF, THCW, and I discussed this very topic. We (THCW and I) talked about how after being pregnant that our breasts are different. THCW said that she would definitely like to get hers done. To make them perky again. I said that after being pregnant, I might still be the same size but things have shifted. I now have to 'get them into place.'

If I were to rank procedures, what would I like to get performed?

(1) Get my eyesight corrected. I've got REALLY severe myopia. And I've got astigmastism. My cornea is too thin to get any kind of significant correction with Lasik. I had that avenue checked out about 5 years ago. I'd have to get Phakil Intraocular lens implants. If I only had enough money to correct anything, I would definitely have my eyesight corrected.

(2) Get a tummy tuck. Post baby? I've got some extra skin that I certainly don't need.

(3) Get a breastlift. The Hubs would LOVE it if I would get an augmentation. To the size I was when I was pregnant. But that size would be too cumbersome.

That's it. Seriously!

If money was not an obstacle, would YOU have plastic surgery?

If yes, then what would you have done?

Stuff about the Princess

Traveling with the Princess last week...it made me think of the things she says and the things she does.

Definitely like my side of the family. She'll snort (yes...SNORT) when she finds something especially funny.

When we were on the plane, I was reminded of what a vivid imagination she has. We were on the final approach into the city where my family lives and we flew over a couple areas of water. "That first one there looks like the head of a horse. There's its ear. And there's its mane." And then.... "See Mommy! That's the one leg there. And there's the other one!"

She is very easy to travel with. Especially on the airplane. She hadn't been on a plane in at least a year. When the plane was backing up from the gate, I told her "If you get nervous, I want you to squeeze my hand. You don't need to tell me anything. Just squeeze my hand. Okay?" And squeeze my hand she did when we hit just a couple bumps of turbulence. As we took off and landed both times, she gazed out the window at the scenery. I was able to point out landmarks. We checked out the clouds. We counted how many boats there were in the water.

Here's one of her creations. She got some dried leaves and a stick...and made a TREE!

The graduation ceremony was pretty dry for a 4 year old. The cure? A trip out to the lobby for a cookie! That's all she needed. But what made me most happy was that she happily walked to and fro to the various locations we were going. The car to brunch to one graduation site to another graduation site to the car (finally!).

I didn't want to stay at my folks house all the time, so I made sure to get out and about. That's why I got that rental car? Since we were on the go most of the time, she did not complain. She was happy as a clam being shuttled around. She REALLY liked that PT Cruiser. I think she really liked being alone in the backseat (no little brother to contend with). When she did get tired. She slept in the car. When we got to our destinations she was all over the place. Not at all reserved and clingy...like she can be sometimes.

She has a very mature vocabulary. Just yesterday afternoon she said "Oh no Mommy. It's a possibility that he's just hungry." We were trying to figure out why the Bear was being fussy. I have to remind myself that she's going to be five in a couple more months.

She really understands WHAT her brother is saying. Sometimes I'll have to really look at the Bear and concentrate. The Princess will look at me and say "Oh, he said...." and she'll be right about 95% of the time.

Oh how she likes BBQ. She's my girl! She especially likes marinated steak (Mr. Yoshida's Teriyaki Sauce) and marinated chicken breasts (any Italian dressing).

A flirt? My daughter? Uh....yes! Especially if the boys are older. Like teenagers! Last week our new neighborhood teenager was skateboarding with a buddy of his up and down the street. You know what the Princess did? She had been riding her scooter and had her knee & elbow pads on. She began to "practice" falling down as they rode by. "Oh help me. Help me. I've fallen and I can't get up." That's what kept going through my mind. Now WHERE in the world did she get the idea to fake fall to get attention?

That's what she's been doing lately. I can't recall all the things she's been up to. Those are the things that have stuck out in my mind.

4th of july weekend plans or lack thereof

What are YOU doing this weekend?

A few of our neighbors are going out of town. Starting today. This morning. The neighbor with the bad air units is driving out to visit family. The anti-social neighbors next door to this guy just took off for goodness knows where.

I do believe we've got a couple people moving into their homes this weekend. The two-story across the street appears to have a car in the garage. This is the house that's had 3 offers on it -- the first two deals fell through. The house next door to us on the corner closed yesterday. It was purchased by an investor. I heard that they've alredy got renters lined up for it.

The rest of us in the neighborhood? No plans together. WE are having the Hubs family down on Sunday for a BBQ. Our other neighbors are having family come down for the entire weekend. The one family in the cul-de-sac is eagerly waiting the return of their Dad/husband who has been in the Middle East for 6 weeks.

Normally, we would drive to visit my side of the family. To watch the annual parade. To escape the heat. But since me and the Princess were just there last weekend, we modified our plans this year. It'll be a quiet 4th of July for us. Just us four together. It'll be nice though.

Still in need of repair (update)

There's still stuff around that needs to be fixed.

Today, someone is supposed to come by and fix our master bath exhaust fan. I'm not sure WHEN the repair person is going to show up. But I made sure to turn on the fan so that it does make the weird sound. This way the repair person can HEAR what we're talking about. The last time the guys came buy they didn't bother to listen to the fan. They just opened it up and changed out what they thought was wrong.

Then there are the ongoing problems that our neighbor is having with his air conditioning. The day before yesterday, the Princess went over to the neighbor's house to play. She only stayed about an hour. I asked her why she came back so early and she said that she got hot and her back was sweaty. Turns out that their house IS warmer than ours. I was talking to my neighbor on the phone yesterday afternoon and he said that his house felt warm even after the guys came by in the morning to make some adjustments. I mentioned to him what the Princess had said. He told me that when he dropped her back at our house that he FELT the cool air escaping out of my front door. He said he felt cool just standing there. So he asked if I could come by his house to give my opinion on the temp. We keep our thermostat at 77 during the day. He said his was set at 76. I walked into their house and it did feel MUCH warmer than our house. It's weird! He's got a one-story so I'd assume that his house would be easier to cool. We then came over to my house. He walked into the door and said "AH...." My air was on and he went to the vents to check how much air was blowing. It was a LOT more than at his house. So what is he going to do? Talk to the builder again. It's just CRAZY!

The guys came & switched out the motor in the fan. It's now SUPPOSED to be fine. We'll see!