Grenada

I visited Grenada last week. It was my first time there. Got there late Monday night and left early Friday morning. The purpose was to take part in the surprise festivities being bestowed on my uncle for his 60th bday. My attendance was the last in a string of surprises. I went without hubby or babies. A whole week without any of my babies is a looong time, BUT I did surprisingly well. Thank goodness for technology. Anywho, I met a ton of family and family friends, and got to hang with girl cuz AND boy cuz, among others. The trip was intensely relaxing - much needed. We slept, we ate, we beached and beached some more. Definitely one of the best trips I've ever had. I came back with a renewed sense of family and ambition.
The real star of the vacation = my baby cousin.
You see these people are crazy!
A flower outside the hotel where we stayed.
The plane I was forced to take between San Juan and Grenada.
Real Grenadian chocolate.
My first taste of local food was at The Nutmeg in The Carenage. The chicken sandwich was mmm mmm good.
A goat similar to the one nicknamed "Christmas Tree."
Part of the cocoa factory my grandfather used to run.
Some hors d'oeuvres at one of the dinner parties we attended.
Me and Auntie.

Couple of Pix

6 Years

No, hubby hasn't done anything out of the ordinary, he's just mine.

Yesterday was our anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been six years already. Time really flies when you're having fun! :) Where would I be if I didn't get married? Maybe I would still have my BMW, but that's besides the point. lol

We didn't have any plans for the day. In the morning we took the kids to the beach. The day was perfect. In the evening my mother-in-law took us to dinner. We chose Indian food which turned out to be an excellent choice.

(If you want to see Shelby half buried you'll have to check her blog!)

My Hubby

I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Leftover Cake

There was way too much cake leftover from Saturday's surprise "party." I brought two-thirds of the cake in to work today because there is no way it would get eaten fast enough at my house.

It's My Birthday! It's My Birthday!

33 years of non-stop blessings - that's what I've had - from my grandma to my comfortable life growing up through my schooling and into a decent job, to the present state of blissful marriage and the best kids in the world.

A few months ago someone who my husband tried to help (a few years ago) fix his wife's computer, came and told us that his wife accused hubby of ruining said computer. Every few weeks the guy would come with new reports that the harddrive had been swapped (by my hubby), that the place where the bought the computer did an analysis and said the current harddrive was severely corrupted, that hubby had registered the computer in his name, and even that hubby was using their Internet service! They made official complaints to our pastor and head elder and even went so far as to file a police report, or so they say since we have never seen the report. Hubby always maintained his innocence but the guy's wife refused to talk to hubby or even to let us go with them to where they bought it so we could have everything explained directly. No go. Keep in mind that this has been dragging on for months. Last week the guy came back to us with a big smile on his face bursting to share his latest findings. Apparently he had yet another "computer expert" come over and look at the computer. They guy explained everything to him, even wrote stuff down so he could show his wife when she came home from work, and the kicker is that the guy got the computer back to the state it was in before hubby ever looked at, thus proving that it was indeed the original harddrive. That was the biggest relief for me and I'm sure even bigger for hubby who was wrongly accused. I don't know what the guy's wife said to the irrefutable proof of innocence. Maybe we'll find out tomorrow after church. That is, of course, unless the story has changed yet again.

Yesterday my kids' school's director called to tell me that I've been overpaying for Shelby ever since she started going to daycare. That means we get at least $120 reprieve from this month's school fees which is always good news.

Today my co-workers took me to lunch at Macaroni Grill, then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I heard that the reviews weren't good but it didn't matter - it was Johnny Depp. Lots and lots of Johnny Depp. I have loved that man since 21 Jumpstreet Days! *sigh* Anyway, yes, I liked the movie enough. It was fun to watch. A bit slow in some spots but overall I'd give it a (probably biased) thumbs up. Nice way to spend the afternoon. No plans for myself for the weekend though. Maybe take some more pictures. Oh yes, I took pictures of the kids last Sunday. We went to a park and I had them bring changes of clothes. Hubby's mom came too. Had a pretty good time. I'll have to upload some of my favorites when I get a chance.

I had a good weekend, and you?

My baby, Sid, made me a card and a picture of a flower. Shelby didn't make me anything, that little diva! Hubby brought me blueberry pancakes from Grand Lux, which were yummy as usual. At church on Saturday the mothers got a rose, a carnation, and an evening treat of sandwiches and soup and numerous tributes. Sunday afternoon I spent with family celebrating my cousin's graduation from law school. Her husband bought her a BMW 330 as a graduation gift. I asked my hubby what I'm doing wrong as a wife why I don't get gifts like that. He basically told me that he gave me two kids and I should be happy. lol.

Ok, you know nothing ever really goes smoothly for me, right? I had everything packed and ready to head to Miami for the graduation - the baby bottles, cars for Sid to play with, and just as importantly I had my camera and even a backup camera. On the way down hubby asked me if I had the battery. Umm, that's when I realized I did forget to bring it. He told me it was ok cause he picked it up for me. I breathed a sigh of relief only to find out later that he was only kidding. He thought I was kidding! Yeah, I had to use the backup camera. :( Fortunately the "after party" was at cousin's uncle's house which happened to be close to mine, so I swung by home first. After that, it was on. Hanging with family is always nice for me. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and...I took pictures! The latest one on Shelby's blog was actually taken Saturday afternoon but it's one of my favorites. Take a look.

I got my camera!

Thanks to moms for my early birthday gift - a Canon Rebel SLR XTi.

There's so much more I need now. *sigh*

You Sure You Want To Know?

My weekend was off to a bad start with a mild case of food poisoning from the nastiest chicken philly I ever ate, EVER, for lunch on Friday. I still have some of the twisty stomach feeling today which is why I'm really watching what I eat for a while. Saturday hubby woke up with flu symptoms - fever, chills, aches. Out of four feedings, Shelby threw up three of them. Fortunately the rest of the kids were fine.

Sunday we videotaped our first official wedding. Although it didn't feel so official (but hubby made us wear black and white since he considered us 'help' and not merely attendees even though two of four of our kids attended) cause we knew the bride and a large portion of the attendees. It was a lot of fun for me, even though, yes, I wasn't feeling 100% the whole time. I got footage of the bride and bridesmaids, etc. getting dressed. It was like hanging out at a friend's house. Well, I was at a friend's house and everyone there knew me.... The wedding started late (not surprising) but because of that the ceremony was extremely short and to the point. The reception was ok. Lots of love, lots of laughs, just enough food.

We ran two videocameras the whole time so editing and aligning all of that footage should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it though.

On an even better note, I (my mother) ordered my Canon XTi. If you're interested slickdeals.net has a 25% off coupon for Dell for specifically that camera (incl. lens). There are always cool deals on that site. I check it pretty often. They lean heavily towards electronics but there are tons of other specials, like for clothes and shoes, etc., too.

Tabouli? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

Speaking of food, this weekend I made a rotini spinach salad. I surprised myself and I think hubby too. It was quick, easy, and tasted really good.

There are two commercials that really bug me. The first is the for Qui.znos where some girl says something like, "And that's what every woman wants - a lot of meat." How classless can you be? I don't blame her but I think it was poor taste on Quiz' part to put that in their ad. The second commercial is a new one for Sta.te Fa.rm. It has something to do with being a good neighbor. It shows some girls outside jumping rope and their helpful neighbor, a middle-aged man, goes and finds another rope for them without being asked. After he throws it to them he says, "Because two are better than one." Right. The camera goes to the girls and then goes back to him. I swear he looks like he's enjoying the whole scene more than he should, watching these little girls bouncing up and down.

Check out Sidney's and Shelby's latest pix - I took them to the park today.

Thank you for the nice words. You all are too kind, really. :)

Facebook Fiend

Yep, that's what I've turned into. I'm on FB every-durn-day!

A lot has been going on though. At work we have a mid-may deadline so we're working hard towards that. Mocha came to Miami for some sunshine so I got to see her. What a sweetheart she is! I'm on the market for a D-SLR camera. Actually, my mother promised to buy me one as a birthday (May 25) present! Yay! In the meantime I'm still using my Canon PowerShot A400 (as you can tell from the pix below). Can't complain about that camera - it has served me very well. The kids are good. Sid keeps losing his homework before he even leaves school! Yeah, not sure what we're going to do about that. Shelby is a bonafide rugrat now. She crawls everyone and grabs everything. Her smile is infectious. Her laugh is like a sunny day.
I had to dump another pair of jeans. I got to replace them though. Macy's had a sale (surprise, surprise) so I got a few pairs of jeans and a couple of tops. I was (am) a happy camper. See the smiles?

By the way, the cooking has reached a new level. Today, a co-worker and I made a couscous salad with chicken. It had couscous (of course), cilantro, parsley, olive oil, chicken broth, and scalllion. The chicken someone picked up for us from Chicken Kitchen.

Nobody likes a wet blanket so I'll try to keep this post at least somewhat upbeat.

Had my appraisal at work this week. Got a "meets expectations" mark. Fine, whatever. I didn't go above and beyond last year so I can't very well expect to get "exceeds expectations." The one surprise was a coworker rolling me under the bus without giving me fair warning first. At least if he spoke to me first I would have defended my position and my review may not even have been affected. Now, instead of having a discussion with a peer I have to state my case to my superior.

(Not doing a good job so far of not being a wet blanket, huh?)

Some really good news is that I have a sort of landline at my house again and I can call Canada for free! (I say "sort of" because it uses the internet to make the calls.) Hubby hooked it up Wed night and my first call was to my cousin who just got out of the hospital after having had minor surgery. I made the call after 11 pm and was surprised when she answered. The talking didn't stop until after hubby said to himself "forget this" and left me and went upstairs to bed.

(That was a bit better, wasn't it?)

I still have the sniffles and Shelby still has her ear infection, but it seems like we're both getting better; her faster than me.

Re: SP

I must apologize to SP for saying she never met Shelby. It must have been so long ago that I forgot!

I'm not crying or laughing yet

But I am smilling a little.

I Haven't Been Neglecting My Blog

Ok, maybe I have, just a little. Things have been crazy. Yes, I know that's everyone's excuse but for me it's true! :) Since my last post I've been scared about things, angry and upset about things, anxious about things, and happy about some things. After this Friday I'll either be crying or heaving a great sigh of relief....

Anywho, at work I haven't had much of a break to do anything. I was moved to a new project so I've been trying to get my mind around it so that I can actually be productive asap.

At home my laptop is still dead. Also, I've been sick with my yearly upper respiratory infection. I started taking vitamins and extra vitamin C and they have helped tremendously. I really don't want to take the prescribed antibiotics (one of my co-workers convinced me to go to the doctors). Shelby and Sidney are sick too, and I took them to the pediatrician. Shelb is the one I'm concerned about because it's been a couple of days and her cough doesn't seem to be getting any better. I'm supposed to bring her back next week Wed or so for a checkup but I may take her Monday instead if over the weekend she still doesn't improve.

Online I was introduced to Face.book yesterday by nyabg. I like it. I like the fact that once you add friends you get their newsfeeds. Very cool. Also, while I seemingly threw my blog to the side I have been trying to keep Sidney's and Shelby's blogs updated with pictures.

Businesswise we (hubby and I) got our first real (read: paid) wedding video gig. It'll be fun. It's scheduled for the end of April. Hopefully all will go well and we'll get referrals.

SP still hasn't met Shelb in person. Since she met her man she has been completely MIA!

On TV I've been watching ANTM but I'm not impressed this year. I love Brittany's pictures. I can't stand Renee. Jael needs speech lessons. The other girls haven't made much of an impression I guess cause I can't even think of their names right now. As for American Idol, the girls blow the boys away every time. There are a couple of guys I like but still they don't compare. (Btw, I was SO SO glad when Antonella got the boot. She just didn't get it.) My favorites are Melinda, Lakisha, Jordan, in that order. Melinda's performances are amazing. Granted, I didn't watch this week's episode yet but I'm sure she brought it like she always does. That girl is nothing short of amazing. Makes me want to run around the house singing...but I know better. hehe. It's funny enough watching me stomp around after an episode of ANTM.

A note about shoes: How could I forget to mention that the sandals I bought when I got pregnant have finally snapped - literally. I was at the park on Sunday for a church family fun day when I stepped out of the car and my foot slid out of my shoe. I ended up having to wear my stepdaughter's flip-flops. She's a size 7. I'm a size 10. Yeah. But believe me, they looked better then trying to wear hubby's soccer shoes. The happy ending to this story is that I had to buy new shoes. I got the cutest $20 sandals and a pair of Rockport's at Macy's. You know pix are forthcoming.

A Pre-Update Update

Took my sister out for her birthday last Saturday night.
My old car.
MY NEW CAR! (Can't beat a $200 lower payment.) Oh, the green Explorer next to it is ours too.

Back in the Cube Farm

Yup, I went in to the office. Shelb spent the day with strange women. When I left her this morning she was sleeping so that made it easier for me to go not having to look her in the eyes and tell her 'bye'. But when I went to pick her up (almost nine hours later) and I asked how she was I was told she was a bit cranky in the morning. Poor thing woke up and probably didn't know where she was or who the people around her were. Sid said he went in to see her when my mother stopped by but that was so late in the day. Shelb went most of the day without a familiar face. :( As for me, every chance I got I was looking at pictures of her on her blog. Maybe tomorrow will be better for both of us.

Is It Possible?

Is it possible to help people and make money at the same time? Of course. But why are we instinctively hesistant to believe there are people out there who really do want to help people even though they make money doing it? Why are we inclined to believe they only want our money? How can they gain our trust if they truly are sincere? What can they do to be believed?

No one says anything when Jane, who loves to quilt more than anything in the world, decides to sell her creations, hold classes in quilting and maybe start an online forum all about quilting, it seems like the most natural progression in the world. But when an alternative health care pro, for example, who hates standard medicine and what it stands for, opens his practice and does the same thing as Jane, all of sudden it's not that he cares about what he does or believes in what he does; instead what you hear is that all he wants is to draw more people to his front door so he can make more money. And there's nothing he can do short of working for free that will make people believe otherwise. Or is there??

I've Been Lazy Lately

And that is so unlike me! :)

Today I did a 'mom' thing. I went on a field trip with my son's class! *gasp* And I didn't go alone. I took Shelb. We went to the Museum of Discovery and Science. The movie showing at the IMAX was about Sharks. You can imagine how cool that was being in 3D. A couple of the kids got scared by the realness and bigness of it all. Shelb didn't care. But she refused to wear her 3D glasses. Not sure why. After puking on me a few times she went to sleep.

It was a long day for me. I ended up staying at the school and helping them prepare for licensing next week. Plus Shelb got introduced to the ladies who work in the babies' room in the mornings.

Just finished reading: Tigana
Currently reading: Spandau Phoenix