Come on Irene! August 26, 2011

This week has got to be the strangest week regarding weather and mother nature I can remember.  (at least on the East coast that is)  On Sunday, they were calling for possible tornado’s down state near the beaches.  On Tuesday, we had an earthquake that was felt up and down the east coast.  And now this!  Irene is ticked off and out to take vengeance on the east coast.

 

I remember growing up and the thought of tornado’s and earthquakes happening around me were unheard of.  So all this makes me wonder, what in the Sam hell is going on?  Way too much is happening all at once or at least within one week.

 

I have been in a hurricane before and we often were in the eye of the storm while vacationing at the beach.  As I spoke with my mother last night, who is at the beach now, she informed me that she is being evacuated.  She spoke to a sales clerk at a nearby store who said, they have not had a mandatory evacuation since 1980.  They are also not letting anyone else into the beach towns.

 

While I am usually not rattled by storms, I have to admit I am concerned with this chumfy heading our way.  Alerts are everywhere, even my company is sending us warning alerts and ways to prepare for Irene.  As I read the news, I realize just how serious this really is.  They say Hurricane Irene’s tropical storm-force wind field is larger than both Hurricane Ike (2008) and Hurricane Katrina (2005) at maximum size!  WHAT!!!  I believe this validates the concern.

 

Now, I am being informed that my husband’s work wants to put him up all weekend, leaving me and the little to fend for ourselves during the storm.  He works in a fancy restaurant at a hotel and they want to ensure all their employees are available to work.  Are they serious??

 

Well hopefully Irene does not make an appearance early, as I have a busy night of preparations ahead of me.  I will be filling my bathtub, getting my canned goods, water, candles and charging up the batteries for Ella’s DVD player and my kindle.  This weekend will be all about quality time, snuggling, dancing, singing, indoor fort building and whatever else we can come up with.

 

I pray for everyone on the East Coast to stay safe and be smart!

Life’s a Beach! August 23, 2011

There is no other place in the world that can make me forget about all my troubles, fears and stresses of every day life.  Just gazing out into the vast open waters or listening to the waves crash against the sandy shore, it brings a sense of peace to me.  The beach is also where I met my husband, so it also brings so much joy to the both of us!

 

This past weekend, Ella and I trucked into the sea salty air of Ocean City, MD and what a beautiful weekend it was!  Last year, she was a little too young to be able to really enjoy the fun of playing in the sand and jumping the waves.  Well, she more than made up for it this year!  As we stepped out onto the sand for the first time on Saturday, she was in awe at the ‘Big Sandbox’ or “Sandbock” as Ella calls it.  Once we had the blankets and umbrella set up, I took her down to the water.  She was a little apprehensive with such a “Big Tubby”, but after a couples waves…she was hooked.

 

After jumping waves, building sand castles, getting buried in the sand, enjoying Popsicles on the beach and absolutely no naps…needless to say my little bugger was exhausted.  She is a definite trooper and has proved over and over that she can hang with the big dogs!  haha.

 

It truly was a wonderful weekend, but there definitely was a piece of the puzzle missing.  Unfortunately, the husband had to work the weekend and couldn’t make this trip.  As a special token, Ella and I posed for some telescopes and brought them home as a gift for daddy.  He loved them!  Before fall is here, we will definitely be taking another trip to the sandy shores…all three of us!

You know you’re getting old when… August 12, 2011

You need Pepto as a chaser after eating spicy food!  Feel free to fill in your own ending, but mine is definitely the spicy’s.  I used to love hot, spicy food, but as I am getting older I have realized I just cannot tolerate it anymore.

 

I am not trying to be gross, I actually get an allergic reaction even when there is red pepper in a recipe and it is totally not cool!  You think I would learn, but I don’t cause I still enjoy it.  My husband has learned that if I eat anything that contains peppers…the “Pink Stuff” is served on the side.

 

At first, I thought it was just red peppers, but Mark made sausage and peppers (green) not too long ago and I had the same reaction.  It totally stinks because it tasted fabulous going down!  This is on my mind presently, because I just had rice for lunch that contained red pepper.  Although I picked the majority out…I will probably get sick.  : (

 

Getting old sucks!  lol

The Cruiser Chronicles #4 – Bike Safety August 11, 2011

While I know I am not the most graceful person on a bike, but I try to keep my child safe at all times.  I may not have perfect balance, nor do I have much coordination with the bike…but if I do not feel safe crossing a busy intersection, I wait until I do.

The 1^st thing that came to mind when purchasing my bike was getting a helmet for Ella.  I tried talking Mark into sporting one as well, but I think he believes he’s too cool.  Haha.  The other thing that I found was extremely important was to make sure we had a safe and approved child’s seat for my bike.  We bought the WeeRide Kangaroo center-mounted child bicycle carrier.  The center mount allows for all her weight to be distributed where mine is, which in turn makes it simple to balance, turn and maneuver all around the neighborhood.  Her being in front of me allows us to have conversations and interactions that a rear carrier would not allow.

After witnessing the little girl that was hit by a truck in front of my house last Saturday, it has really opened my eyes to see how others approach safety.  I really wished that little girl was wearing a helmet.  I think she would have walked away with maybe just a broken arm, instead of head injuries as well.

Another neighbor just taught his 5 year old son how to ride a bike without training wheels, but the little guy never wears a helmet.  As we rode around the neighborhood last night, every kid I saw….not one helmet.  They also rode in the street and were not looking for oncoming traffic.

I know everyone parents their children differently, but it seriously saddens me that these kids and/or parents are not even taking any precautions to keep their kiddos safe.  When the time comes and Ella is out cruising on her own bike, she might get made fun of, but at least she will be safe.  She will be the one rocking a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, a pillow strapped around her dupa…and I quite possibly might create a bubble to surround her.  SAFETY 1^st!!

Enough is Enough! August 6, 2011

How much tragedy can one family face??  In a lifetime, in a year, how about in a week?  Yesterday I posted a brief description of a shooting that happened not even a week ago.  Well this afternoon, misfortune struck this same family!  Their daughter who was out riding her brand new motorized scooter was hit by a truck in front of my house.  I went outside to get in my car for a trip to the grocery store and noticed a crowd of people in the middle of the street.  There was a lot of yelling and these people were surrounding a little girl that was laying on the ground.  When I looked closer, I recognized the little girl.

 

Cops and paramedics arrived on the scene within minutes.  The little girl was strapped to a stretcher and taken to the hospital.  She was accompanied by her mother, who walked with a limp from her previous brush with tragedy.  The driver, witnesses and cops are still here going over everything.

 

This is absolutely heartbreaking and frightening!  Like I said in my post yesterday…kids run around in my neighborhood.  This does not slow the drivers down who come through.  While there are speed bumps a block up, there are none on my block.  Not even 3 days ago, I was telling Mark that I really think we need them on our block.  People fly by without a care in the world, and my neighbors are always yelling at drivers to slow down.  I have strong feelings about either side regarding this one.  While the driver was admittedly going faster than he should have been, why was this 8 year old girl in the middle of the street riding her scooter?  We have a school right behind our house that has a large parking lot and even walkways around the school that would allow for children to have fun while being as safe as possible.  Why when we have backyards are these parents letting their kids play in the street?

 

I currently do not have a fence and it is increasingly becoming more and more difficult to keep Ella contained in the back yard.  If we are hanging in the back,  she will sneak around to the front.  We have less than 1 month till our fence is put up and that day, I will be jumping for joy!  Ella will be on lockdown in our backyard where I know she will be safe!

Oblivious August 5, 2011

Sunday morning Mark was heading out the door at 6 a.m. to go to work.  He said that when he got outside there were police cars lining the street on both sides with crime scene tape stretched back and forth across the road.  When we spoke around lunch time, he relayed this information to me.

 

When it comes to news and current events, I have to admit we are oblivious.  We do not watch the news, read the paper, nor are we the nosy neighbors that peek out their windows and watch everything that is going on around us.  This time I am truly sorry and freaked that we are so disconnected.

 

Yesterday, I had a visit from an old friend at work who said, “Hey… how bout what happen on your street?!”.  I asked her what had happened and as a mother of a young child, I must admit that I am a little paranoid and sick over what she told me.

 

While a mother and her children were asleep at 4:15 a.m. on Sunday morning, her house was involved in a drive by shooting.  Several bullets were fired, some hitting the mother as she slept.  The children were sleeping on the floor next to her bed and were not harmed. (THANK GOD!)  The mom, after being shot, made her way to the living room where she called 911 herself and was rushed to the local hospital.  She was in stable condition and to my understanding she is now home.

 

This woman was a victim of a crime that supposedly had nothing to do with her.  Rumor has it, it was meant for the person who previously lived there.  ARE YOU KIDDING?  I mean the thought of this happening to a random person, let alone the woman across the street from me totally freaks me out!  What if they were looking for someone who used to live at my house before we moved in??   All kinds of thoughts keep running through my busy mind.   So as I walk out of my house by myself or with the little one in tow…I am now even more aware of my surroundings.

 

It’s crazy to think that something like this could happen in what you think is a nice, quite neighborhood.   The main reason I love where I live is because you see kids out running around and the neighbors are friendly.   Now, I am straight up paranoid!

 

http://www.newarkpostonline.com/articles/2011/07/31/news/doc4e35ff48473db902608703.txt

Project F.U.N. August 2, 2011

Sarcasm, yes!  But it is also something that speaks the truth.  Ella loves slides!  Whether it is on ground or in water…she is up for the challenge.  This summer we have toured all the nearby parks for her to experience every slide imaginable.  What toddler would not love to roll out of bed into her very  own playground right in the back yard.

 

Mark worked all weekend, but once he got home it was onto the swing set assembly.   A friend of ours helped for a few hours, but the rest was up to us.  Saturday we began working at 5 p.m. and wrapped up at 11 p.m.  Sunday we really wanted to complete this project so our little adventure seeker can enjoy her new backyard play set.  We worked from 5 p.m. and were putting the final bolts in at midnight.

 

This morning Ella woke up and I told her to take a peek out the back door.  She was ecstatic!  “E-ya slide, E-ya slide…outside mommy!”  After work and daycare it was time for the fun.  Ella loves her new play set!  Included for her enjoyment is a slide (of course), fort,  a rock climbing ladder, 2 swings, trapeze bar, sandbox and picnic table.  After all the sweat  and arduous work that went into this project…one look at our baby girl with a big smile on her face makes it all totally worth it!  Let the fun begin!!

Now that's a lot of wood!

Swing area assembly

Fort in the making

No lie...it was actually midnight!

Finito!

Sweet baby enjoying her slide

The Cruiser Chronicles #3 – Biters July 28, 2011

They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery. I mean…I know my bike is the coolest bike around, but did this chick a block away from my house have to go out and get the same exact bike as me?! Lol.

I find it amusing because we were cruising the other night and decided to detour down this one street right near our house. When we rounded the corner, we saw a husband and wife out riding as well. From approximately 150 feet away, I turned to Mark and asked…”Is that my bike?”  With a laugh he confirmed and we both started joking about how these old heads were biting off us.

The very mature adult and parent I am, zoomed passed her to show her which cruiser ran the block. Hahaha, I kid. But it is still hysterical that some woman actually went out and got the exact bike as mine. Mark keeps assuring me that mine is better and that there is a slight difference in the way the seat looks. Thanks sweetie!!

E-ya Do! July 25, 2011

Everything is “E-ya Do”.  She is too stinkin’ funny!  Ella is such a big helper and wants to do anything and everything.  Over the past week, the use of this phrase has increased and this weekend it was non-stop.  This is now her new nickname.

She has been helping with chores around the house for a while now: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, gardening, etc.  Now the independence is really kicking in and she wants to do everything by herself.  We let her try, but sometimes I have to turn my head to stifle a giggle because she is so determined and cannot do it.  She so badly wants to change her own diaper.  So we let her have at it and she knows how to do it, but cannot get it down.  No matter how long she tries, she gets mad when we try to help her.

I love her independence!  Everyday I think about how fast she is growing up and how much she has accomplished.  I am so proud of the little girl she is growing up to be!

Just a little shy… July 23, 2011

This is a subject that has been on my mind a lot lately.  I always read about how toddlers can begin to act shy when they are around others and even in certain surroundings.  Ella has been shy for a while now.  She is this way with everyone!  She now even has a shy look.  Her chin tucks into her neck, and she looks up at you with this look of innocence.  It’s actually really cute!

When it comes to her being shy, she usually acts this way for a short period and then warms up to being the normal “ham” she usually is.  Sometimes it takes a little longer with some folks than it does with others.  Now when it comes to other kids…she has no problem at all.  She will walk up to children all the time and makes friends with them.

I really do not have a concrete answer as to why children act the way they do, but maybe it has to do with what they are used to as well.  Our house is generally a quiet household.  We have cats as pets and they don’t make too much noise, and Mark and I are generally pretty quiet people.  In the sense that we do not yell, holler, or scream.  Even when we are upset, we try to talk as opposed to yelling.

Her being temporarily shy, doesn’t concern me as much as what some people say about it.  I have been asked, “What’s wrong with her?”, What’s her problem?”, “Why does she always look mad?”…in addition I have heard, “I don’t like you” or “She hates me”.   My rule of thumb is NEVER to voice any ill feelings in front of her, for fear that she will understand and start feeding off how I feel or what I say.  When I hear things like this being said in front of my daughter, it makes me wonder if maybe she is understanding what is said and this can cause her to be more apprehensive.

I have witnessed all my nieces and nephews, as well as other children,  go through this shy phase and I am not concerned in the least about Ella.  To further assist with socialization, she is beginning dance class in September.  While I know she is really comfortable with other children, this will be introducing new adults into her life as well.  Plus, she will be getting her dance on!!!