June 30, 2010

30 days dentist free and other ramblings

It's a record for the first half of 2010. Please pray I can keep it going for the remainder of the year!

Other ramblings -

My BFF moved a month ago and I have been in denial. She used to live about 30 miles away, but now lives 235. We didn't see each other as often as we liked, but we made due. This past week it really hit me and I'm missing our Saturday morning coffee chats big time.

Sassy worked at Nordstrom last night for a VIP Twilight-Eclipse event and got to stay for the movie (one of the first to see it anywhere!). I had to pick her up at 11:30 pm and I get up at 5:30 am. My ass is dragging. I should go to sleep now, but need to monitor because the boyfriend is over.

Sassy is mad at me because I won't let her drive on her own tonight. I haven't put her on our insurance yet (don't need to do that when they only have permits) and she just passed her test late yesterday afternoon.

I probably have to drive the boyfriend home. Blurg!

I work in the health insurance industry and am responsible for implementing health care reform. The language is so ambiguous you could drive a Mack truck through it. There are references to things that will go into effect in 2014, but pieces of it apply now, but definitions won't be published until the Secretary of Health & Human Services gets around to it, and you can't put dollar limits on things, but you can exclude them altogether (what?). It makes no sense. Don't get me wrong - I am totally behind a lot of things in this bill, like coverage for people regardless of health status and preventive care checkups without copayments. But saying "preventive medications" must be covered at $0 copay and the only things considered preventive by the United States Preventive Services Task Force are aspirin and folic acid supplements? These are readily available at any drug store and are relatively inexpensive. Why make people get a prescription from their doctor to cover at $0? I have read this cover-to-cover. My head hurts. I'm going to bed.

June 29, 2010

D Day

As in Sassy's 2nd Driver test day. She passed! I was a bit concerned when I saw she was done so quickly, but then she got out of the car and jumped for joy so I had a feeling it was good news. She looked at me when the lady behind the counter asked for $15 to process the official license. Um, shouldn't she be paying? She'll learn all too soon - it's a cold, cruel world out there. Bring on the outrageous insurance rates and reverting to biting my nails from worry.

June 28, 2010

This 'n That

America's Favorite Pastime - Chunky tried pitching yesterday. Not holding our breath that he's the next Nolan Ryan. Think he better stick with Joe Mauer as his idol.


A friend's new puppy - he's as big as our cat. Sookie was interested at first then had enough.


Nothing better on a hot day then the ice cream truck!

June 25, 2010

East Coast Trip: Virginia (part 3)

The kids and I flew back to the humid, rainy arctic via Norfolk which is about an hour south of Williamsburg. Our flight was late in the day and we weren't sure what to do with our free time. When we were originally planning our vacation, we were waffling between a pure beach experience or some history and theme parks. Sassy voted for the beach, Chunky voted for Williamsburg and I broke the tie. Well we hit paydirt on the last day - by happenstance we found the Sarah Constant Beach in Norfolk!




Our flight home was delayed - twice on the ground and once in the air. Oh joy. I really must remember that earlier flights are better. We made it home safe and sound and on the way experienced these amazing views of a thunderstorm from the top.

June 20, 2010

East Coast Trip: Virginia (part 2)

We all went to Revolutionary City in the morning, then Grandma and Chunky went to the waterpark while Sassy and I shopped and watched World Cup games in the afternoon. Sounds fair to me.

At the Visitor Center (notice the hat!) -


We saw Benedict Arnold -

And George Washingon -

A revolutionary "band" (Sassy captured a photo of just the cute guy) -

The printer (ala Benjamin Franklin) -



Beautiful grounds -
A helpful guide -
At the tavern -

June 19, 2010

East Coast Trip: Virginia (part 1)

My mom found us a place in Willimasburg, but I didn't realize it was literally steps from the Revolutionary City within Colonial Williamsburg. Very charming and a great location. It took mere minutes for us to walk to shops and restaurants. Along the way we passed fields of sheep and horses.


We decided to visit Busch Gardens on our first full day and save Colonial Williamsburg for the following day. I wasn't sure what to expect at Busch Gardens. Five countries are represented - Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, Scotland and England. First stop was Italy where Chunky and I went on the Escape from Pompeii water ride. Very refreshing on an 89 degree humid day!

On to Germany. My kids are obsessed with all things Teutonic. I did the math once and figured they're ¼ German, ¼ French, ¼ Norwegian and ¼ blend of Scotch/Italian/Yugoslav. Chunky tried on a wool fedora at my urging and found it suited him. We bought him a kids version and he never took it off.

They had a large collection of bald eagles -


The Busch Gardens grounds are beautiful but it definitely doesn't compare with a Disney park in terms of rides/attractions.


Grandma and the Krauts

East Coast Trip: North Carolina

We arrived in North Carolina one week ago today and it was HOT! My mother used to live in Phoenix and I thought that was bad with 100 degree plus temperatures on a regular basis. Everyone says "it's a dry heat" and that's supposed to be better, but I didn't care - that place was too hot to handle. Well now I have something to compare it to and 90 plus humid, sticky hot is definitely worse.

We visited Locopops on the way to my mom's from the airport. Awesome - thanks for the tip Mrs M! We bought one of almost every flavor so we had plenty of treats in the freezer. My favorites were Mango Chile and Mojito. Delicious on a stick.

We met Kiwi Jr and played with Shorty the dog (long-haired mini dachshund) and Sweetie Pie the cat. We relaxed a bit, shopped a bit and ate a lot. Chunky spent most of his free time attempting to bond with Kiwi or sitting on an exercise ball while watching TV. Note to self ... they are quite loud while in use. I don't suggest doing anything on said ball other than bouncing up and down without some instruction or experience. I fell ass over teakettle while attempting to do a sit up. It wasn't pretty and thank the good Lord above there are no photos.


Sassy, Kiwi Jr, Mango Locopop & Chunky


The kissing bird


Sassy's big purchase in NoC

Stackable


Family sandwich

June 16, 2010

Football

Sassy is totally hooked on watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Could it be due to players like this and this?! I'm not complaining - I like watching and learning (Chunky was briefly into soccer, but not long enough for me to learn a lot about it), but the horns the South African fans use are a bit obnoxious; sorry, but they sound like swarming bees to me.

June 12, 2010

Meet 'n greet


Remember my mom's beloved Kiwi? Well, we'll be meeting Kiwi Jr on our visit. I hope he doesn't stalk me like Kiwi Sr did. I'll try better not to utter "stupid bird" within ear shot.

June 10, 2010

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

My cherubs and I are flying east to kick off the summer with an adventure. We will be flying to Raleigh/Durham, staying at my mom's for a couple of days, then driving to Williamsburg, and finally returning home from Norfolk. It will be a whirlwind of activity but we're up to it. East coast here we come!

June 8, 2010

Fat cat in a big bed


She wouldn't dare do this when Maddie the Moose (aka the 85 lb owner of this bed) is around - that's what I call chutzpah!

June 7, 2010

Spring Cleaning

Hubby got a bee in his bonnet and decided to deep clean last weekend. The master bed/bath. It took all day just to do those two rooms. He is VERY thorough. The windows and walls were washed, floors and furniture polished, nooks and crannies de-cluttered. It was a very productive day.

We started the day with an argument about two things - bed throw pillows and my pilates chair.

You know the mountain of pillows one puts on the bed for decoration once or twice a year when it's really important to show your best? Perhaps you do that everyday, sorry I'm too lazy for that. I kept the big ones (euro shams?) on the window seat for when Sassy and Chunky come in to hang out. I kept the smaller ones (american shams? and neck roll) on a wicker basket in the corner. They weren't hurting anyone. As a matter of fact I thought they looked just fine seeing as they went with the bedroom theme. Hubby did not agree. He thought they were an eyesore. What did any of these pillows ever do to him?! He put on my least favorite hat and I gave in - it was too much to bear. Off the pillows went in large plastic bags to be stored under the stairs. I already warned him that he will be the one bringing them back up when needed. Maybe this is the year we have a lot of showy occasions and he'll have to schlep them up and down numerous times. Ha! I was successful in retaining one pillow for Sassy. She's too old/cool to lay in bed with her parents for goodness sake so the girl has to have something to relax with if we ever want to see her out of her cave.

Next he started in on my rarely used but perfectly unobtrusive pilates chair. That's it! How am I supposed to be inspired to use it if I can't see it?! It's a perfectly good perch for a cat, drink, magazines, laptop, books, etc. It has purpose dammit!

Me 1.25 - Hubby .75
'Twas the night before Spring Cleaning, when all through the house
No creatures were stirring, not even a mouse
The blinds were washed in the bathtub with care,
In hopes that Hubby would soon wash the window glare



BEFORE & AFTER

June 4, 2010

How to train your teen driver

Sassy took her first driver's test today. She didn't pass. She burst into tears saying she was totally embarrassed. She's got a lot of company - 30 to 50% of all new teen drivers fail their first driver exam. She will try again on the 29th - working on yielding and turning into her own lane until then.