Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Hearts, Flowers, and Butterfly Love

Yesterday when I was wrapping Christmas presents, in the same somber mood that many Americans are carrying around this week, I couldn’t help wondering how many years I would get to play Santa. My heart sank thinking of the day that some punk on the playground or school bus would provide the irrefutable evidence that shattered Isabelle’s Christmas miracle.


A few hours later, after she and I had blazed through six glue sticks, 150 foam stickers, and 26 brightly-hued poster boards creating our 26 Letters of Love to Newtown, I realized an even sadder day was on the horizon…the one when she finds out that the world is not all butterflies, hearts, and flowers.

I wish I could see the world through 5-year-old-colored glasses, even to just get through the holidays.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Snowfest

Last night we went to the Snowfest in Safety Harbor (the town where we wanted to originally buy a house when we moved here). It never snowed in Maryland last winter so this was going to be Izzi's first snow play in two years.

Too bad it was completely lame. The snow was very real, it looked and felt like we could have had an apocaplyptic weather event in Tampa with actual snowfall. But they didn't make nearly enough of it.

We got there shortly after 5pm and there were already bare spots on the sledding hill. (The event ran 4-9pm). The Florida-born kids were all whining that it was too cold and wet. Really? I know most of them have never seen or touched snow before but if you're going to whine about it, then get out of the way and let US play in it!

We went to the Snowfest with our friends Carl and Mason. Mason and Izzi only got one trip down the sledding hill because the line took almost an hour to wait in. They only had 3 sledding tracks and the attendants were eagerly trying to fill in the bare spots and replace the divot from the virgin sledders who were digging their feet into the ground the entire trip down the small hill.

I'm glad we took the kids over. They also go to go down a huge inflatable slide (30 minute wait) and one bouncey house (20 minute wait). After that, we were done and had to leave. There was 2 more hours of festival time left but we were spent trying to wait in line.

The night wasn't a total loss. We all took one car so when we got back to our house, we found out that Santa was running late. Our neighborhood was last so we got to hang in the driveway for a bit with the Wilson's and saw Santa and his entourage pass by our house. We got about 100 strands of Mardi Gras type beads. We donated one unwrapped toy. And we got to wave to Santa. Does that count for this season or do I still have to go wait in line at the Mall?


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Whizzle Me This

Izzi went over to Mom-Mom SuSu's house on Sunday to hang out for a few hours after lunch. The Ravens weren't playing until 4:30, we had friends coming over around 3 for the game but we wanted to get a few things done around the house and we had just returned from our Puerto Rico trip so Mom-Mom needed to see her Izzi.

We finished unpacking the suitcases and got our Christmas decoration bins out so we could decorate throughout the week. I opened all the bins so I could find Whizzle, our Elf on the Shelf. Geega bought EonS for Izzi three years ago and Izzi named him Whizzle. Not sure where that came from but we liked it and it stuck.

Whizzle has brought so much fun during the month of December the past few years. So when I got him out this year, I placed him up on her curtain rod in her bedroom, and planned to wait for her to find him (not point him out).

Mom-Mom dropped Izzi off around 3:30 that afternoon and as soon as she walked into her room she started screammming in excitement. She could barely talk she was so excited.

Mommy! Mommy! WHIZZLE IS BACK!!!! He found us in FLORIDA! Now I just KNOW Christmas is gonna be here soon.

Ed & I have been very good this year moving him around. We take turns so even I'm excited when I find Whizzle hiding somewhere.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Christmas 2012 Photo Book


You'll love award-winning Shutterfly photo books. Start your own today.

Every year we take the best of the year's pictures of Isabelle and create a Shutterfly photo book. Some years were a little longer than others (maximum of 100 pages). This year's book was a little shorter. We've been really BAD about taking pictures since we moved to Florida. I feel a New Year's Resolution brewing!

Typically we begin and end the book with fabulous Puerto Rico pictures but this year we got a 40% discount if we ordered by today. We go to PR NEXT week so this year's book has no PR pics. We might print a whole book just for PR this year :)))

Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

50 Shades of Gray

Dear Baby Girl,
President Barack Obama was re-elected yesterday and will serve as President of the United States for another four years to a very divided country. The country was split in half for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. It has been a long, hard fight and unfortunately today, there are a lot of people who are upset with America’s choice. Some people are getting very ugly with their words and using harsh language towards those who voted to re-elect the President.
The wonderful thing for us is that we live in a country where we can safely go to the polls on Election Day and voice our opinion by voting for the person we think is better prepared to lead our country for the next four years. The sad thing is, there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. And there never will be. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to vote for who we think is the lesser evil, and not necessarily who we think is the better candidate.
Voting for any one candidate does not mean that you have to believe everything that person stands for. You do not have to agree with every policy, every stance, and every point of view. You also do not have to agree with every viewpoint of any one political party. Please don’t vote the way I vote just because I’m your Mom. I don’t want you to vote how Daddy votes, just because you love him.
No candidate will ever have all the right answers for you. Your future candidate choices may win or lose, but it’s important that both sides respect one another and work together across the aisle for real change to happen. If more people could understand that, the more tolerant this country could become.
So find yourself, find your issues, speak your mind, and expect to meet criticism for your views. The thing is, issues are not black or white…they just aren’t. There are many shades of gray and it’s up to you to determine which issues put a fire in your belly, and which shade of gray sits well in your heart.
God Bless you, baby girl. And God Bless America. ‘Cuz we need it…

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Fast and Furious


November 4th already, where does the time go? We whizzed through October so fast, I never even got a chance to post updates. After we got home from Maryland, Mom-Mom SuSu and Pop-Pop Bill headed out of town to visit Maryland themselves. They were up there for 3 weeks so we didn’t see them almost all of October!

We did get to go to the beach one Saturday (Mommy says it’s “just because we can”). It was warm and sunny with a cool breeze, it was perfection. We hit North Beach in Clearwater which has a lot less tourists and easier parking. There are 2 great restaurants up there – Palm Pavilion and Frenchy’s – which are both great beachfront casual places that have great food.

Mommy did an exercise boot camp this month, it was only for 3 weeks to get her motivated. We had to wake up really early for school so she could get there in time.

The third weekend of the month we got to go to Oktoberfest at Tampa Bay Downs which is the horse racetrack right down the street from our house. It was so fun, Mommy bought me a special bracelet that let me ride the rides all day long as many times as I wanted. Daddy had to work until 2 so Mommy and I did the rides while we waited for Daddy. Then we listened to some music and ate some festival food. It was a fun “Fall” day (even though it was 85 degrees).

Then last week Mom-Mom came home and I got to have a sleepover there! Mommy and Daddy had their 12th anniversary weekend in St. Pete Beach at the Guy Harvey Outpost while Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop and me played, played, played! I love having sleepovers there. I’m such a lucky girl to have a Mom-Mom who lives so close.

 This week was Halloween and we had so much fun. I got to go to a Halloween trick-or-treat event at the Westchase Park Village (I was Snow White). Then I got to wear a costume to my Ballet Class on Monday (I was Supergirl). Then I got to dress up for my Halloween Party at school (I was a cowgirl) and lastly, for Halloween night, we walked around with neighbors from our street and I got a TON OF CANDY! I can’t eat anything chewy though (Dentist’s orders) so I gave all the chewy stuff to Daddy to take to work and I kept the chocolate and crunchy stuff.

I was going to be Belle for Halloween night but then I saw my neighbor, Paige, outside and she was dressed up in a big girl costume so I decided at the last minute to be a rockstar princess instead. Mommy helped me get stuff out of my dress-up bin and we put my hair into funny ponytails. Being a princess is for babies, I’m almost five now, so I’m a big girl. Watch out world, here I come…

Monday, October 1, 2012

Gen Digital?

I'm not sure what our kid's generation will be labeled when they get out of school and start looking for jobs. It seems every 10 years or so produces a new label. This one will likely have something to do with the digitial reliance, social media, connectedness we all share.

We were saying goodbye to the last group of friends in Maryland yesterday. Five-year-old Clare was giving goodbye hugs to almost-five-year-old Izzi. Clare informed me that she got Izzi's picture in the mail. (I had totally forgotten that we had mailed one, so it was cute that she remembered to say something.) Here is how that conversation went:

Clare: I got Izzi’s picture she sent in the mail.

Jen: Oh, Good! Did you like it?

Clare: Yes! I loved it.

Jen: Well, you and Izzi will be reading and writing really soon so you can start mailing letters back and forth to each other. It's called penpals!

Clare: OR, you could just set up a video chat...

(Well, DUH, Miss Jen, why didn’t YOU think of that!)



No Sleep Til Baltimore

Warning: This is a long boring read just to document our trip back to Maryland. No real funny or interesting tidbits in here, so don’t commit to the long read if you are expecting entertainment :)


We had a whirlwind visit in Maryland last week. Isabelle and I arrived on Friday night (September 21st). We stayed with Aunt Kim, Uncle Chris and Cousins Ronan and Brooklyn for four nights. We hung at Geega’s house Saturday and Sunday during the day to see Uncle Sean, Aunt Jenny, and Cousin Megan, but spent the night with Aunt Kim.

I watched the Ravens game on Sunday night with Aunt Kim, the kids had to go to bed since it was a late game.

On Monday and Tuesday, Grandpa came to Aunt Kim's house to play with Izzi while I worked. On Monday night, we went to visit Miss Theresa and her daughter, Katie. Isabelle and Katie dressed up like rockstars and other strange creatures and ran around the house like banshees.

On Tuesday night we drove to Miss Kim’s (Morrison) house and stayed with her, Mister Zac, and her sons Will and Max. Izzi played with their dog, Jake, all day on Wednesday. He followed her everywhere she went. Miss Kim and I had to work all day.

After work, we went shopping in Hunt Valley since Mommy was trying to find a new Ravens jersey. Hers still says #86 for Todd Heap but he plays for another team now, and there is a new #86 on the Ravens roster. Mommy wasn’t having any luck so we said goodbye to Miss Kim and her boys and started to drive to Mommy’s friend, Miss Nicki's house. Miss Nicki has THREE girls, so they have tons of fun toys and Izzi had so much fun.

They only got to play for a little bit on Wednesday night because those girls had school the next day. But Iz stayed up late with Mommy and watched the Orioles play. On Thursday, Iz woke up with a really sore foot. She got a big splinter and it was hurting when she walked. So Mommy took her to the clinic and the Doctor tried to get it out but she didn’t have any luck. She gave us a referral to go to a Hospital but we decided to let it try to work itself out instead.

After the clinic we met Uncle Don and Grandpa for lunch in Fells Point at a place called Kooper’s Tavern. The sign has a big yellow dog on it but we didn’t see any dogs inside. I got ice cream afterwards which is my favorite special treat.

After lunch we had to race to the airport to pick up Daddy. It was SO GOOD to see him after six whole days without him! We hung out with Daddy in Federal Hill for about two hours and then Daddy went to meet some friends and Mommy and I drove back to Miss Nicki’s house to wait for Sienna, Naomi, and Paige. When they got home from school we played, played, played! The babysitter showed up at 5:30 and Izzi had the most fun with her (Miss Alyssa). Iz was sound asleep by the time Mommy and Daddy got home from the game. The Ravens won but it rained really hard that night so Mommy and Daddy only saw part of the game from the stadium. They had to race for cover and watch the last half on TV.

On Friday, we woke up and drove out to Geega’s house. Geega ended up having to work so we stopped by a special Ravens store to buy lots of purple Ravens gear. Then we went to lunch. Then we drove to the card store where Geega works with Baba at the Mall to say goodbye. Then we drove to Geega’s house to see Uncle Don. We did get to see Geega again for a little while. Then we drove downtown to see Uncle Eric and Aunt Mellisa. We went to a restaurant for Happy Hour, I mostly scribbled in my coloring book.We had a Pajama Dance Party and spent the night.

On Friday morning, Izzi ate two HUGE cinnamon buns that Uncle Eric cooked. Then we went to lunch with Grandpa one last time at Nick’s Seafood. Then Grandpa dropped us back at Uncle Eric’s. We walked up to Federal Hill to look out at the city. Then we walked down to the Inner Harbor and bought some new Orioles gear. We walked around there for a bit waiting for a text message from Uncle Don and walked over to meet him at Pickle’s Pub which is across the street from Camden Yards where the Orioles were playing that night. Uncle Don was going to the game with his friend, Mister Jamie, because it was “Brooks Robinson Night” at the Yard. Uncle Don was pretty excited. The Orioles won that night too.

The Orioles went on to clinch a playoff spot just a few days later (Sunday, September 30th) when the Angels lost a night game. We had won, Yankees had lost, and a few other special things happened to allow the Orioles a playoff spot. We don’t know which spot, where, or when yet but Mommy & Daddy seem pretty excited about it.

On Saturday afternoon, we said our last goodbyes to Uncle Don and drove to Edgewater to see our old friends and neighbors. We stayed with Aunt Jaime, Uncle Jeff, Kora and Utaw. We had so much fun. The Ridgeways, Healeys, and Brookmans also came over. We had a bonfire with s’mores and plain roasted marshmallows. On Sunday we went to the Healey’s house for steamed crabs and football, baseball, and Ryder Cup. We had to leave there around 6pm and go to the airport. We didn’t get home until about 1am and boy were we tired!

All that running around, with very little rest, and we still didn’t get to see everyone. Hoping we can get back to MD often so we can fit everyone in over several visits. It was great seeing everyone, the hospitality was amazing and we can’t wait to return the favor. We have had one family officially visit so far, can’t wait to host more.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Second Verse, Not Same as the First


As a follow-up to my last post of Swaddled Sweetness, our mornings have not gotten any better.

When the weekend finally arrives, we are not the kind of family to sit around the house to rest and relax after a taxing work week. In fact, it’s been 2 months since we moved into our new house and we still have a garage full of boxes that haven’t been unpacked. Who has time with so many fun things to do, places to explore, and new friends to meet!

This past weekend we had friends visit from Maryland. They left Sunday morning and we met some new friends here in Tampa. A friend of Ed’s from high school lives in Tampa now too, so he had a bunch of people over to watch football on Sunday. We met some really fun people.

On Monday morning though, we paid for our busy, hectic, super fun weekend. Everyone overslept. Our morning was more hectic than normal. Everyone was tired, and therefore cranky. Isabelle and I had one of our typical morning knock-down drag-out fights. It was a doozie too. I was yelling at her to get dressed, get her shoes on, brush her teeth, brush her hair, eat her breakfast, no she couldn’t watch a cartoon, we had to leave, we were late, ackkkkkk!

At the same time, I was running around trying to get dressed, brushed, etc.

So Monday night, we had a sit down to talk about our morning routine. Isabelle and I agreed that Monday morning was NOT very fun. It made us angry and sad that we got into such a bad fight. So we agreed that we had to do things differently. Our new routine as we laid it out Monday night:

• Isabelle’s Princess Alarm Clock will go off at 7:30 AM. If she wants to watch a cartoon that morning, then she has to wake up at that alarm time.

• She has been taught how to turn on the TV and access her recorded cartoons so she can pick what she wants to watch.

• After that one cartoon is over, she has to come wake me up (I’m usually up by this point anyway, but if I’m still hitting the snooze button, she is supposed to come rile me awake at 8:00 AM)

• At 8AM, we eat breakfast together. We have 30 minutes for breakfast so we set the timer for 20 minutes to remind us it’s time to finish up so we have time to get dressed.

• No later than 8:30AM, we each go get ourselves dressed and put our shoes on (quickly…NO playing in our room).

• Then we brush our teeth and hair.

• We should be leaving the house by 8:50AM at the latest to get to school on time.

We worked on a poster together, drew pictures for each step in our routine, talked about what happens if we miss any step in our routine (like we have to give up the one cartoon if we don't get up when the alarm goes off, or Mommy will have to pick out her outfit and get her dressed if we're behind schedule, etc.)

Fingers crossed we're on a path to a more civilized morning and maybe those few extra moments we save can be used for more swaddled sweetness.

This morning, we got through the last step of brushing and it was only about 8:40AM. I asked Isabelle if she wanted to read a book before we left since we had some spare time. She was totally shocked and thought I was joking. You mean here? At the house? Right now? Read a book???

And that's exactly what we did. We cuddled on the couch for 10 whole minutes and read a book that we haven't read in a while. It was an awesome way to send her off to school and start my workday.



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Swaddled Sweetness

This morning was the typical morning of any Mom of a pre-schooler...

We woke up with kisses and cuddles, we fixed a healthy breakfast and chatted about world politics over a glass of freshly squeezed OJ. Then we jointly picked out an adorable matching outfit for her to wear to school all while singing silly songs together.

NOT!

We woke up in a panic after the 5th slap of the snooze alarm. We raced to throw dry cereal in a bowl, realized we were out of juice so had to count the cereal milk as our breakfast beverage too. I threw together two semi-matching outfits (one for me, one for Isabelle) from the least smelly clothes I could find in between the hamper and the floor. Then we swished some toothpaste in our mouth with a shot of water for a morning dose of dental hygiene. As we're running out the door I realize Izzi is still barefoot so I impatiently SCREAMMMM at her to go get her frickin frackin SHOES ON!!! You know that is part of getting dressed blee, blah, blah!!!!

While she is shoeing herself, I'm scrambling to find my phone, sunglasses, keys, and the grocery list (hey, maybe I can hit the store on the way home from school?). She is STILL not out of her room by the time I finally locate all of my own missing items. ISABELLE!!! NOW!!!! We have to leave NOW NOW NOW!

I'm COMING, MOMMY!!!!!!! I had to find my socks, and find my shoes, and my shoes weren't where.....blee, blah, blah!! Stop talking! Let's GOOOOO!

Fast forward a few hours, I need to wash the linens today. I go into her room to strip her bed and I find her "Baby Lola" very carefully swaddled, lying on her bed, with two of her favorite stuffed animal buddies snuggled up next to her. I know this is what took her so long this morning while she was supposed to be shoeing herself. She had to make sure her babies were gonna be OK today while their mama was off to a big day of Pre-K4.

I really need to start getting up around the 2nd or 3rd snooze alarm so we have some extra time in the morning for adorableness like this...


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Well, We Found the ER!

We woke up at 2am to a horrible goose-honking sound that even the multiple ceiling fans and air purifiers couldn't dampen. Isabelle was frantically trying to catch her breath and getting agitated, upset and scared. As were Ed and I!

Rewind 3 days to the forecast of a Hurricane Isaac heading towards Tampa as a Category 1 Hurricane and we hit the toy aisle when we did our Walmart run to build our emergency kit. We got a new board game (Trouble, a classic fave of mine) and a Princess Lego set for Izzi and Ed to work on.

Last night, when I heard the goose-honk and heard the stridor as she tried to catch her breath, I feared the worse. She had inhaled one of the impossibly teeny tiny itty bitty Lego pieces. She's almost FIVE for pete's sake, she KNOWS better than to put things in her mouth. But my mind went wild, maybe she was trying to separate two Legos and used her mouth? The set was a house, pool, grill, playground, etc. Maybe she was pretending to eat the food off the grill? (Which are these tiny little hamburgers smaller than your pinky nail).

Long story short, there was no inhalation. Whew!!! She has a virus (heard THAT one before) and the croup. No fever so she can go back to school but I kept her home today to keep an eye on her. She's more than fine, she's been the normal crazy lunatic all day that she always is.

At 3am, when we decided to play it safe and go to the hospital, we had NO CLUE where to go or how to get there. Thank goodness for GPS. We punched in the name of the place where Ed's grandmom Isabelle used to go and found our way there. It was very nice. The people were nice, they were quick and we were out of there in about an hour. Researching ERs was on my list of things to do when we moved here. I just hadn't gotten around to it. Hopefully they are in network on my insurance plan, ho hum.

On a separate note, Hurricane Isaac totally missed us. We had a little rain and wind, too many tornado warnings for my liking but no real problems. So lucky! Unfortunately for the residents on the Gulf Coast, Isaac wasn't so kind to them. On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it looks like we'll have another retired Hurricane name.

God Be With You, LA, MS, and AL folks...



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Beast Within

A new theatre buff has arrived in the Siler family. On Friday August 3rd, Ed & I took Isabelle to her first "Broadway" show (well, the traveling version here in Tampa). Beauty and the Beast came to Ruth Eckerd Hall so we opted for the Friday night show, we got all gussied up, went to dinner before, and attended the 7:30pm show.

I was able to pick really good seats from the online ticket office, you can actually choose individual seats, not just a section of where you want to sit. I got us seats in the orchestra section on an aisle, so we didn't have a row of seats directly in front of us. Thankfully the ushers don't allow people to walk in/out during the action, they kindly ask them to wait for a transition to move about.

Iz did sit on Ed's or my lap most of the show so she didn't miss a step or a note. I was more entertained watching her face than watching the show. (Well, I have seen it three other times before). She was wide-eyed, mouth agape, in total awe for the full three hours, even during intermission.

She learned the new word "intermission" and got to see the orchestra pit and learn what they do. She graciously clapped at all the right spots, laughed out loud with the audience, and was a perfect little lady. Brava, Isabelle, Brava! Next stop? Manhattan!



Sunday, July 29, 2012

One Copper Penny


We buried Great Mom-Mom Isabelle this week. She was a valiant warrior against many rounds of cancer in many parts of her body. It took many years for cancer to try and get her, and she won most of the battles. But at 81 years, her body was just too tired from fighting 20+ years to just one disease.

Mom-Mom’s favorite flower was the yellow rose. So the funeral home and graveside were covered in them. Those flowers were the bright spot in the dreary day that reminded us of Mom-Mom’s spirit. Life was meant to be lived. And we were meant to be happy and cheerful and beautiful. I believe that now. I hope our daughter, who was named for this beautiful woman, understands this part of life too.

After the graveside service on Tuesday, the family gathered yellow roses from the casket. I now have them in a vase in my NEW home (which we purchased about 4 hours after Mom-Mom passed on July 20th, 2012). Family flew in from Maryland for the services. Some of them stayed here with us in the new house and they left their flowers. A week later, the flowers look as good as they did at the services.

I went to change the water tonight and I had a very strong voice telling me to drop a penny in the jar. That’s a saying or piece of advice for newlyweds but that certainly didn’t fit our situation with 12 years under our belt. So, I didn’t understand it, and I even said out loud, “Penny in a jar? What the hell does that mean?”

Ed asked me if I was talking to him (I wasn’t). But when I looked up to respond to him, sure enough, there was one lone penny sitting in a dish on the shelf in front of me. It was heads-up too, which of COURSE means good luck. I dropped the penny in the empty vase. I put Mom-Mom’s yellow roses back in, and I filled her with cool water.

Then I went to Google to figure out the true meaning. As it turns out, a penny in a flower vase does help the flowers due to some oxidation stuff I’ll never understand.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Maybe good luck for Ed, Izzi, and me? Maybe the flowers will last forever? Maybe I just now know that Mom-Mom can talk to me whenever she wants. I sure hope so, because my daughter can only benefit from her amazing wisdom and faith.





Thursday, July 19, 2012

Green Bracelet

We joined the YMCA when we got into town. We got a full family membership for less than one gym membership in Maryland. Many of the Y locations also have pools and offer swim lessons. Isabelle has been signed up since July 9th but only had her FIRST class yesterday because of the daily late-afternoon thunderstorms that grace our presence every...single...day.

While she was waiting for class to begin yesterday, the lifeguards announced they were doing swim tests if any kids were interested. While there are very few lifeguards in Florida (very very odd to me), the YMCA has more than they probably need. They have very strict rules too. If a child under 8 years old can pass the swim test, they are allowed in the pool without a parent. If they cannot pass the swim test, a parent MUST be with them within arms reach, even in the shallow end.

Although Iz hasn't had many swim lessons since we've been here because of rain, she's in the pool every day at least for a little bit. So naturally, she's learned to swim on her own. At this point, swim lessons are just to learn the actual strokes, get stronger, and gain even more confidence. We think she'll be on the swim team by next year, and a lifeguard by the age of 8 at this point.

So yesterday, while waiting for class to start, she told Ed she wanted to take the swim test. We didn't think she would be able to pass, but of course, we don't tell HER that. The swim test requires a kid to tread water for a full minute, and THEN swim the full length of the 25-yard pool. All of this while not touching the side of the pool or the bottom (they are in the deep end for the test).

I missed the whole thing since I was stuck at home working. Ed called me immediately, the proud Papa beaming through his phone that she had PASSED her swim test. She was now a proud wearer of the elusive GREEN BRACELET which gives her the permission to swim in the YMCA pool without her pesky parents.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Debby Downer



I joked as we left Maryland to move to Florida because the Tampa area hasn’t seen a tropical storm or hurricane in a really long time. That meant we were sure to see one this coming hurricane season since the Siler’s were moving there.

We haven’t even made it safely out of the first month of hurricane season and here we are with Tropical Storm Debby. This has been a weird one, none of the storm guys knew which way she was going to track. Some had her going towards Texas, some had her hitting N’awlins, some had them going to the panhandle, and some models had them coming straight for central west coast where Tampa lies.

We haven’t had much wind today here at the house but the yard and the golf course are totally flooded. There are many road closures, trees down, power lines down, and other damage that is just starting to get reported on the local news stations.

We haven’t left the house all day, in fact, I’m still in my pajamas at 9pm. The scariest part of today has been the multiple tornado reports and warnings. It’s kept me on my toes, trying to figure out where I will drag my family if Mr. Jim Cantore tells me to seek an interior room in my home. I don’t have a home. I’m in someone else’s house. And we have no basement or interior room.

The odd thing is, we haven’t “heard” the rain or minimal wind gusts all day. This house is a concrete block of architectural wonder. If we had a storm like this in our home in Edgewater, I would have evacuated already. You can’t hear rain on the roof. You can’t “feel” the house shake with the wind. And we’ve had zero water issues all day (from below, above, or anywhere in between). Granted the yard is totally flooded and the pool overflowed. Pop-Pop Bill has been out there draining water out of it a few times today. But the difference between a very old wooden beach bungalow and a Florida concrete-block newer home is pretty awesome.

And now that Tampa has had a pretty significant storm hit (we got the eastern side of Debby which has delivered almost an entire FOOT of rain), I’m just thinking that we are now safe from any head-on deluge for many years to come.

Debby, you’re going down…




Saturday, June 16, 2012

New Life Lessons


They say you learn something new every day. I know this to be true and I even spend time each night before I go to sleep to think back upon my day and remember at least one new thing that I learned. Usually, if you really pay attention, you'll find a few lessons each day. Life is a treasure trove of new lessons - good and bad.

First
It's possibly harder to make a left-hand turn in Florida than it is in New Jersey. Anyone who has driven in NJ knows that all your friends and family are required to live on the right-hand side of the street, or else you'll have to wave to each other across the street.

Second
The parking lots here are all one-way lanes. So there is one aisle that goes "up" the parking lot, and the next aisle comes "down". They alternate and the parking spots are super-angled so if you do happen to mess up (oops, that would be ME, the newbie), you cannot park your car without a 15-point turnabout. The aisles are extremely skinny which makes a driver-going-wrong-way-trying-to-park-in-an-angled-spot the asshole of the parking lot (again...me...every day).

Third
Speaking of parking lots, when you go to the grocery stores here, most of them do NOT have a cart return bay/area. We have one store that does have one, and I've sort of glammed onto that store. I feel comfort knowing I have an easy place to put my cart when I've finished unloading. The really "nice" high-end store here in town has NO cart return. So you would think that customers (being the high-end hoitey-toiteys that they are) would return the carts to the store lobby. Nope! They leave them rolling through the parking lot, rolling into the drive lanes, throw them up onto the landscaping islands, etc. Really, people? This, I cannot tolerate. Little things like this get me flustered.

Fourth
We're in Florida. People retire here. A LOT of them. So you will drive through town, cruising on a 45mph street and having very little traffic, loving life. Then you see flashing lights and flags and signs that kindly inform you that you are entering a "Senior Zone". Senior Zones are 35mph. All the time. Just because. If the Seniors are moving slow, then everyone else must move slow with them. Ed got a warning for speeding in a school zone a few weeks ago. Those kids demanding all this slowness don't deserve an actual ticket. Get caught speeding in a Senior Zone? You better cash in the insurance policy, because the Po-Po are gonna get ya!

And the Fifth lesson...
...the most poignant one for me right now…buy a beach towel and umbrella to keep in the car. Better yet, carry a purse big enough to carry them both. I went out to run errands today and the skies were starting to cloud up. That’s totally normal for this time of year. We get that dinner-time t-storm which can be a shortie or an all-nighter, we just have to watch the radar. So this afternoon, I went to the grocery store and a storm came upon us. Me and a slew of customers were waiting out the storm outside the front doors, under the overhang. I had nothing frozen or even cold, so I could wait all day if I had to. The HUGE storm just got worse. We had lightning bolting down into the parking lot, huge wind picking up the store’s furniture displays and tumbling them through the parking lot. The wind was making the automatic doors stay open and the hail was rolling and blowing into the store. Everyone outside left their carts and ran into the store for cover. So, from now on, I’m gonna carry myself an umbrella everywhere I go.

So, in summary:
1. Don’t turn RIGHT.
2. Don’t drive UP the DOWN lane.
3. Shopping Carts sleep where they lie.
4. Slow down.
5. Towel & Umbrella in the car…always.

I'm sure there is more to come...stay tuned.

Friday, June 15, 2012

A New Kind of Weed

I was explaining to Isabelle the important concept of "eating a r-a-i-n-b-o-w" every day because the colorful foods have lots of good vitamins and nutrients. We drew a rainbow and talked about all the foods we could find in each color that she liked to eat. We then packed a "rainbow lunch" together which she thought was such fun.

She doesn't really eat too many veggies yet so this game became life-altering when she got completely jazzed over packing shredded carrots for her "orange" food. And two days in a row, she came home with no leftovers and she even asked if she could snack on carrots. Really? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?

The green is a bit more tricky. Like most toddlers, anything green scares the living bujesus out of her. But when she saw the diced cucumbers in my salad the other day, she said she wanted to try one and she loved it. She does eat cucumber slices but I always had to peel the skin off. With my diced version, the skin is still on, and she isn't afraid of them. She is also starting to branch into "salad" a little bit, but her version of salad means taking one lettuce leaf (spinach, romaine, whatever we're having) and completely submerging it in a bowl of ranch dressing, then trying not to drip salad dressing all over the table and herself and she tries to shove it in her mouth. I'm gonna have to work on the salad thing.

We were out of cucumbers yesterday when it came time to pack her Friday lunchbox. I told her I was going to the Farmer's Market today and asked her if she wanted anything special for her rainbow lunch next week. She got very excited when she gave me her whole list. And she ended with, "and Mommy, I think I'm a little tired of salad, so how about for my green food next week, we just do "key-weed" instead. Key-weed it is, honey, good choice.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Our House is a Very Very Very Fine House...

...but we don't have two cats in the yard :)

I missed a few posts over the past couple weeks. Contract #1 fell through, as you all know. Contract #2 was submitted but also went belly-up. Turns out the owner (single chick) had a 2nd lien on the house that she failed to mention until after we got started on negotiations. Also turns out that the transaction we had going, wasn't going to cover both liens so her 2nd lender was going to have to "agree" to our offer and the contract that was in the works. We're not really sure why that doesn't get considered as a "short sale" but it was not listed as one. Needless to say, we didn't feel like getting our hands dirtied in that mess so we backed out of the contract.

Contract #3 was a success. We offered $10k less than the asking price. The buyers countered with $1k over our initial offer. Really? $1k? Why not try to meet in the middle or something? Hey, we didn't complain. We took the offer. The inspection went swimmingly. I guess that's how it works when you buy a newer home (build in late 90s). After having 2 old houses, we are very ready for a newer construction.

This one is move-in ready, has a beautifully upgraded new kitchen, and a two-car garage. These are things I only dreamed of having one day! We can also walk to shops and restaurants. There is a great park and playground right in our neighborhood that has a "secret tunnel" (as Izzi likes to call it) which takes you under the major road outside of the neighborhood and delivers you right to the front gate of one of our community pools (we'll have 2). We can also walk to the elementary school when it's time for her to start that.

The house doesn't have a pool. The screened porch is decent but on the small side. Our plan, once Ed's job situation stabilizes, is to expand the screened/caged area and build an outdoor kitchen. Then we'll also install either a small plunge pool or a hot tub that we can keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

It's a "typical" Florida home but we're excited to get settled in. Our settlement is scheduled for late July so just a few more weeks!



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Make Believe Boulevard

Isabelle's new school is called "The Learning Experience". They only had a 3-day program spot available for now so she goes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Summer camp starts next week and she'll start the 5-day per week program (hooooorrayyyyyy!!!!).

Summer Camp there is uber-cool, there are 2 water days every week (splish splash, not swimming in a pool). They have themes every week so the kids will learn while they play and play while they learn (I love it!).

She will probably continue there in the Fall for her PreK-4 program (TBD based on where we buy a house). But this place is pretty amazing. It has this room/area/town called "Make Believe Boulevard" which is a mini-replica of "Main Street USA". They have a Fire House, Police Station, Restaurant, Grocery Store, House, Doctor's Office, Gas Station, etc. etc. etc.

Each mini-building is two-stories tall. The "street" has a staircase on the far right side so you can go "upstairs" in each of the buildings. If you keep walking along the corridor "upstairs" then you get rewarded with a curved sliding board at the end of the street that lands in a ball pit for extra giggly fun.

They don't get to go to "Make Believe Boulevard" every day, I'm learning it is used as a reward for group good behavior. So I'm hoping they get to go more often because Isabelle loves it and talks about it all afternoon after a trip to the big MBB.

I wouldn't mind hanging out there myself one of these fine days. I need me some make believe right about now.

A Monk and a Bunch of Young Chicks


Not sure if y’all read “A Monk Swimming” by Malachy McCourt. This was the brother of Frank McCourt who wrote the best selling “Angela’s Ashes”. Both stories were about the same family, and the same poor upbringing in Ireland, and their relocation to America. Both books were very different but equally engaging (at least to me).

If you did read “A Monk Swimming”, you may or may not remember what the title refers to. I still, to this day, laugh when I recall it. The book is almost 15 years old so if you haven’t read it, and you don’t know the story, but you want to read it, except I’m about to ruin it…too bad. Stop reading this blog post.

When Malachy grew up in the devout Irish Catholic family that he did (like me), he learned the Hail Mary prayer (like me). But he never saw it written on paper (I still don’t know if I’ve ever???). It’s not recited during Mass and I think my parents taught me the words before I ever went to school (like Malachy).

So Malachy recited his prayer like a good Catholic boy, but he misheard the “lyrics” and recited…

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are thou a monk swimming, and….

And thus the title of his memoir.

Tonight, I was putting Izzi to bed. We do an “Our Father” and a “Hail Mary” every night. Then we tell God what we’re thankful for. Then we say any special prayers that are needed (if you need one, just let me know in the comments).

Like any Catholic will admit, the prayers become pretty “rote” on a daily basis. I hadn’t really tuned into Isabelle’s recital of the “Hail Mary” lately. Turns out, she has misheard some of the lyrics too. I’m not going to correct her at this point, I think it’s adorable. So, in case you wanted to know, Isabelle’s “Monk Swimming” kind of goes like this…

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed are you and young women...

God bless you, my little woman.

Housing Slump Stumper

We put a contract in on a house this past Friday. Ed and I were really excited, it had 4 bedrooms, a huge kitchen that opened into the living room and a “split floor plan” which is a big deal in Florida. You get a master suite on one side of the house and your other bedrooms are clear on the other side. It’s nice for visitors because they can have a little privacy on the other side of the house (even if Isabelle’s room would be over there too).

This house we put a contract in for was even better. It had 4 bedrooms with a three-way split. So we had a master on one side, 2 bedrooms in the middle of the house, and then a 4th bedroom and bathroom on the far end of the house behind a doorway that led to it’s own hallway. It also had an exterior doorway, so this was a built-in in-law suite which is so perfect for all you fine folks who WILL visit us if we ever get settled.

We’ve widened our search beyond the original town of Safety Harbor for a few reasons. 1) There wasn’t a lot on the market over there. 2) The houses were all built in the mid-80s and needed new roofs if we were going to get a decent price on homeowners insurance (which is exorbitant down here!!!!). 3) Because of the lack of supply, and the steady demand, there are actually bidding wars and escalation clauses occurring over there. Have we regressed 10 years? What’s going on here?!?!

So we widened the search to the zip codes all around Safety Harbor. We’ve discovered some really great neighborhoods but don’t know “too” much about them. So we ended up in Ed’s mom’s backyard in a neighborhood called Westchase which is everything I swore I’d never buy. But once you start hanging out in the neighborhood and seeing all the amenities that come with home ownership, it’s hard to pass that lifestyle up considering we’ll be paying the same price for a home that we just left in Maryland. Yet we’ll get 3 neighborhood pools, clubhouse, tennis, golf, and all kinds of activities.

The neighborhoods are pristine, some are gated. The grounds are maintained like a country club. After coming from Selby (which we LOVED, by the way), we’re kind of looking forward to NOT seeing a few things like huge piles of wood in neighbor’s front yards, broken down cars on cinder blocks, boats on trailers blocking the streets, any kind of vehicles blocking the streets, lawn ornaments from a holiday that took place 3 months ago, chain link fences, pit bulls, dirt bikes whizzing wheelies down the street at 11pm (or any hour for that matter), a clubhouse that really exists (not just in the figment of our imaginations or an empty future promise by a Board of Redneck Directors). This is what you get for “master” planning. So what if our mailbox has to be the same color as everyone else’s? And we’re not allowed to leave our garage door open? You know the Truman Show was filmed here in Florida, right?

But alas, that house was not meant to be. We never heard one word from the seller or seller agent past the first day. We got the disclosure documents and HOA contracts to review, and the seller agent assured us the seller was prepared for a quick settlement but beyond that, they never replied and stopped answering calls from our agent. Very odd. The contract had a required answer date of Saturday May 26th or the next business day (which would have been yesterday). So we move on, I suppose. That house wasn’t meant to be. We have appointments today to see some other houses. We’ll let everyone know when the reservation books are open!


Trolleys, and Gators, and Cheetahs, Oh My!

As our crazy whirlwind Florida adventure continues, we decided last minute to hit the beaches for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was supposed to be decent up until Sunday night when parts of Tropical Storm Beryl were possibly gonna rain down on us. So I tried Priceline and Hotwire with no luck. I searched the various travel sites and found nothing. All the beachfront hotels wanted a 3-night minimum and their prices were triple the norm. So I went over to Craigslist and found a hotel for $100/night including taxes. Sold! It was off the beaten path but a really cute place that served our needs (a couple beds to rest our weary sun-drenched bones).


Saturday was all beach, all day with our friends, Dawn and Carl. They have a son, Mason, who Izzi just adores, so it was a great day all around. Perfect blue skies, warm Gulf temps, and small to no waves great for the little ones (and me, if I’m gonna be honest). We had a light dinner early with them in Clearwater Beach and then they went home while we went back to our hotel to shower and get ready to head out for some music, drinks, and maybe some dessert or a late night snack. We decided to hop the trolley to John’s Pass which is a cute area with a boardwalk and tons of shops, restaurants, and nightlife.

We found a waterfront table, got some drinks, Izzi got a strawberry smoothie that was delish, it tasted like ice cream (more milkshake than smoothie). She also said she was hungry and got some fried mac-n-cheese nuggets that were so very tasty. Ed & I nibbled on some stuff but weren’t very hungry. We were pretty wiped from the beach day so called it an early night and headed across the street to the trolley stop a little before 10pm. This is where things went downhill fast. First Izzi had to pee, and she had to go BAD but refused to go in the grass b/c we “were in public”. We couldn’t leave our post to find a bathroom for fear we’d miss the trolley, which was already running late. They claim to run every 30 minutes, it had been about 40 mins so far. By the time we hit one hour, Izzi was crying so I grabbed her and made her go in the grass. Under duress, she relieved herself even if she did splash us both. Awesome!

Another 15 minutes or so go by when another couple walks up asking if this was the trolley stop. We THINK so but haven’t seen a trolley in over an hour. They informed us that all the cab companies were claiming a 90-120 minute wait to call a cab and even then they can’t promise it wouldn’t get picked up by someone else. What was going on here? We had meanwhile seen about 6 trolleys going the opposite direction during our wait. So why are they all headed Uptown but none were coming Downtown? We waited. Izzi cried. She was so overtired that she was going into full meltdown mode. Her stomach hurt. But then, this is her go-to complaint when she wants attention. We didn’t believe her, until she hurled all over the ground in front of us. Awesome! This time, we all got sprayed. And the puke kept coming. And coming. She hurled for about 10 minutes when finally the trolley arrives! Awesome! Normally, I wouldn’t get on a trolley with a vomiting child but in times of trouble, you gotta do what ya gotta do. I was absolutely not letting this trolley leave without us. So we carried her onto the trolley. Meanwhile, our kid has a major motion sickness issue. This should be fun. Did I mention the trolley driver was drunk? Oh yea he was. Awesome!

Thankfully we had bought Izzi a new dress tonight (which she was wearing) so I had a dress of hers in my purse. That, and about 3 small tissues were gonna have to save the day. Ed held her in his lap, with her dress up in front of her face. And this little piggy went puke, puke, puke, all the way home. Awesome!

It didn’t stop there, Izzi made a very large black man retch from the sound and sight of it all. Izzi fell fast asleep when we got back to our hotel but puked again in the middle of the night all over the one bed in the room. Awesome! Thankfully there was a spare set of sheets in the room. But we all had to sleep in clothes at that point since our one set of PJs now were wadded up in the hallway with the rest of the chunky clothes. I worried that our weekend was a total bust. We had another night reserved at this hotel and had planned on much more beachy fun but those dreams were fading fast, as we all finally drifted off to sleep.

Sunday morning was a new day, and Isabelle felt 100% fine. Whew! It was food after all and not a stomach virus. Let’s rock and roll, sistah! She and I hit a street festival early (by accident, how fun?). We went back to wake up Daddy so we could go get breakfast. Then we went back to put our suits on, pack for the beach and headed to mini golf since it was still a little cloudy in the morning. We got to feed alligators at mini golf! So cool. So very very cool. Can’t wait to go back and do THAT again. Then we found a smaller, quieter beach and hung out there for a few hours where Izzi got some more boogie boarding lessons from Daddy. She’s quite good, actually.

Sunday night we found a waterfront place within walking distance. We are NEVER going on that damn trolley again! It was a fun night, beautiful sunset, great music, cold drinks, and fun was had by all.

We went home Monday morning after a quick stop for breakfast and while it rained in the morning, it kind of burned off and got semi-sunny. We still had a few hours of holiday weekend left and I was trying to rally the tired troops to go back out and find something fun to do. How about Busch Gardens?!?! We just got our annual passports so we can go over, if it’s crowded we can just leave. No biggie! Well it was NOT crowded and we spent almost 5 hours there having a blast. There weren’t lines at any rides, we literally walked right onto all the roller coasters. Ed & I had to ride solo, obviously, but it worked out fine since there weren’t lines and they do offer a kid swap thing anyway if there was, where one parent waits with the kid and then gets to board the ride without waiting in line after the first parent returns. We finally got to ride the new coaster called Cheetah Hunt. Wow, what a ride. I’m glad I didn’t know anything about it because there are surprises on it that you probably have never seen in other coasters. I was surprised anyway. And it was a good surprise. Can’t wait to go back, maybe without the kid next time so Ed & I can ride together.

Other than those few sketchy hours on Saturday night, it was a great weekend. I’m glad we found that last minute steal so we could enjoy another fabulous Florida weekend in the sand, sun, and surf.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A Day of Firsts

Today was a good day of new adventures in the Siler household.
    Ed and I agreed on a house! We went to look at houses for the umpteenth time in the past month and Ed & I agreed that we loved two houses. That's a good thing. The bad thing is that I liked one house more, and, of course, Ed liked the other one more. The struggle goes on.
    Izzi hit her first tennis ball! Pop-Pop Bill finally got Izzi out with the little tennis racket he made for her. It took many attempts, a little cajoling, and a lot of instructions, but she knocked one clear over Ed's head and got a piece of a handful of others. She said she's ready to get to the courts tomorrow to give it another whirl. We'll see how long this attention span lasts.

    Izzi swam un-assisted in the deep end tonight! After a sweaty tennis lesson, Izzi asked Ed to take her into the deep end of the pool tonight so she could "really try to swim for real this time" (her words, not mine). And she did it! She asked Ed to let go of her, which he did completely. And she did a crazy doggy paddle thing from where they were over to the love seat. It wasn't far, and it could hardly be called "swimming" or even a doggy paddle but we all had a very proud moment...most of all, Isabelle. She starts an intense three-times-a-week swim lesson program in two weeks. We think she is more than ready.

    We have lots of firsts ahead of us on this new Florida adventure, and we're only getting started!







    Tuesday, May 15, 2012

    The Otto Train

    When we were packing up and ready to come to Florida, I priced out several options.
    1. Shipping Ed's Wrangler down by itself so we could drive in the Liberty together as a family.
    2. Sending Ed and one of his MD buddies in the Wrangler for a road trip to Florida. Fly home so we could drive down as a family.
    3. Ship both cars and fly down.

    And then someone told me about the Auto Train. I'm not really sure why I'd never heard of it before. There are only 2 stations - Lorton, Virginia (just south of D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (just north of Orlando). It runs every day on the same exact schedule. It leaves the station at 4pm and arrives at the other one at 9:30am. Both northbound and southbound have the same schedule.

    We got a sleeper car with a private bathroom, loaded both Jeeps onto the train, and the 3 of us cost about $900. When I priced the other options, it was going to cost more since there is no way I could drive the entire 17 hours in one stretch. And I really don't think Isabelle would have hung in there that long either. So with gas, food, lodging, a drive would have cost us a little more than $1,000, not to mention Ed & I would be in separate cars which I didn't like.

    Thus, our first trip on the "Otto Train" as Izzi calls it. And let me tell you, it is a VERY fun way to get to Florida. The sleeper car is super tiny, there is not a lot of space to move around so I suggest not bringing too much stuff onto the train. Here was our schedule for our trip:

    12 NOON - arrive and drop car off in front, hang out in the station reading, coloring, playing with other kids (it was raining the day we were there so we couldn't go outside but there is a decent playground for the kids, picnic tables, etc.). The shop in the station has basic snacks like you would find at the news stands in an airport (pre-made sandwiches, lunchables, granola/nuts, etc.). But you can bring your own lunch and eat it in the station or outside.

    2:30 PM - Board the train. Each car has an attendant. Ours was Chris. He told us our schedule and asked if he should turn our beds down during dinner (the sleeper cars have sofa setup during the day and they convert into beds for night but the attendant has to do that switchover).

    3:00 PM - Wine & Cheese welcoming party in the dining car. We hung out for about 90 minutes since the tables were spacious and other guests were hanging out too. We got complimentary wine for an hour and then bought a beer for the last 30 minutes.

    4:30 PM - Went back to our private car because the 5pm dinner guests were about to arrive. We chose the 7pm Dinner Seating instead (you choose when you checkin). We got our bags situated, PJs out of our suitcase, and listened to music (the cars have radios with a few stations but we also had our iPod). When you get a sleeper car, you are allowed to bring your own food and booze if you want so Ed & I cracked open a cold beer while Izzi colored and we just chatted about our new adventure.

    7:00 PM - Dinner time (included in price of tickets). I got a pasta dish and Ed chose the beef. Both were surprisingly pretty tasty. More complimentary wine so by now we had quite a buzz going on!

    8:30 PM - We lingered at Dinner a bit and headed back to our sleeper car around 8:30. We got into PJs and Izzi watched a movie while Ed and I talked about what we needed to do once we got to Florida.

    10:30 PM - We were all zonked out a little after 10. I only slept a few hours, woke up around 1am and couldn't fall back to sleep. Ed tossed and turned most of the night too. We had an announcement at 6am that the train was arriving early due to light traffic on the tracks overnight. We pulled into the station at 8 and it took about 90 minutes to get all the cars off the train so we pulled out of there right about 9:30 AM as scheduled.

    It was a carefree, worry-free way to travel. Every minute was an adventure and Izzi just thought it was the coolest thing. She slept like a log and we had to actually wake her up when we arrived. She was so surprised to wake up and find out we 'were in Florida already!'.

    Tuesday, April 24, 2012

    A Whole New World


    That whole “let’s put the house on the market and see what happens” thing? That turned into a frenetic two-month sprint of going 60mph for every waking moment. The last week might have been running at 90mph with no sleeping moments. It’s been fast and furious and we’re trying to relax enough to regain some energy but also gain some energy to keep progressing. Because we still have a LOT to do.

    We settled on our house Friday, April 20th at 3pm. Everything at settlement went great, there were no surprises and everyone was really nice. Our little bungalow in the Selby-on-the-Bay neighborhood was sold to an adorable young couple with two small sons. I hope they have as much fun in the old ‘hood as we did for our 8 years there.

    On Friday night, we said goodbye to our Edgewater friends. On Saturday, Izzi and Jen went to an Egan girls lunch and then all of us headed out to Mom’s house for dinner and a sleepover. We had breakfast with Dad on Sunday morning and then hit the road to the Auto Train on Sunday (more on that in a future post). The train left at 4pm and we pulled into the Sanford, Florida station around 7:30am the next morning.

    We aren’t official Florida residents yet, but we will be soon. And then the fun begins in earnest. Stay tuned…

    Friday, April 20, 2012

    Adorable Creature of Habit

    We’re moving. To Florida we go. Iz came home from school yesterday, her bedroom completely empty except for a pile of play clothes. I asked her to go get changed and she did. I went back there and her uniform shoes were in one corner where her shoe corner used to be. And she put her dirty clothes in the other corner where her hamper once was. What an adorable creature of habit she is!






    Monday, April 16, 2012

    Everything Old is New Again

    We recently went out to Mom's house to clean out my stuff from the basement and my old bedroom. Found my old Barbie's. I love that my 4yo is playing with my old Barbies and clothing circa late 1970s. She thinks the disco outfits are quite groovy. The handmade clothes from my Mom-Mom still make me smile. Wish I could post a picture but too busy packing up the house. Maybe later!


    Friday, March 30, 2012

    Froot is Spelled F-R-U-I-T



    I’m one of those weirdoes who really enjoys going to the grocery store. It’s kind of my haven. I go during the day most times. If I don’t have time during the day but really need to get stuff on a weekday, I’ll go after Ed gets home. My favorite time of all is early on a weekend morning when I can really take my time, buy a cup of coffee, read labels, browse options, search for new products, try the samples, ask questions. The point is, I enjoy going to the food store ALONE (sans children, husband, etc.).

    This week, I had a tight schedule so I ended up having to go to the food store after I picked Isabelle up from school. I bribed her with a “fancy juice” when we got there and told her she could pick out a “special treat”. The special treat is ANYTHING she wants from the Produce section (as long as it doesn’t come in a package, like the chocolate dip for strawberries or the caramel dip for apples). She was having such a hard time deciding that I let her get 4 things – strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, and oranges. Nice choices, kid!

    Then we had to meander into the scary inner aisles of the store for a few items. Cereal was one of them. Since I normally don’t have the 4-year-old with me at the grocery store, I was completely unprepared to navigate the cereal aisle with her. It was never so apparent; the lethal tricks the big Marketing companies play on our unsuspecting children.

    The colors! The cartoon characters! The rivers of chocolate gooiness!

    She looked like a gambling addict thrown onto the Vegas strip. Eyes wide. Pupils dilated. Fingers pointing at the end of shaky hands. I was appalled and frankly, scared for our kids who are victims to that nonsense. We left with a box of Cheerios and some shredded wheat. I wish I could get all cereal out of my house for good. But for now, at least I can still convince her to make semi-healthy choices compared to most of the sugary, salty, fatty junk in that aisle.

    I’m looking forward to showing Isabelle my Vegas next weekend when the Farmer’s Market opens near our house.

    The colors! The farm characters! The rivers of local honey!