Monday, March 28, 2011

Flight Fiasco!

Due to issues with the airline company I was asked to remove my posts while we work things out with Cheapoair services.

Friday, March 25, 2011

I'm BACK!

I am back! Back to reality, back to work, back to my mommy duties and back to cooking our meals. Our trip was wonderful and I have so much to share and way too many pictures and flip videos to count. It’s been real rough to come home from a 9 day vacation and be sick. Yep, one of the lovely souvenirs was a nice 5 day stomach virus. My first day back to work was Tuesday the 22nd…. I made it through the morning (barely) and ended up in urgent care on my lunch break hooked to an IV and getting pumped with fluids. I was so dehydrated from my tummy being on the major fritz. I was sent home along with a prescription (cipro) and a doctor note excusing me from work. Ugh!


I am starting to feel a little better and slowly gaining my appetite back. Oh yeah! Right in time for the weekend to start.

I found it sort of comical as I lay in urgent care hooked to an IV. I had a huge déjà vu moment for real. Last time I went on a vacation out of the country (Montego Bay, Jamaica) I ended up in the hospital hooked to an IV due to dehydration. That time wasn’t due to a tummy bug; it was because I was preggo with my Ryder and had major morning ALL day sickness. Awww memories... Glad I can look back at it now and have a giggle.

So here we are back home and already planning our next trip to Cabo Disneyland. Yes folks our next trip is a family one… Then it’s Cabo San Lucas or a cruise to the Caribbean for our next adult vacation. Yippie!

Until then its work, work, work and yes more work … Hellooo how else do you think we can afford these trips?

Now that the baby shower is done and my trip is over I have only one goal for this weekend. Get vacation photos ready to go along with my vacation posts I plan to share next week.

Have a good one!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Miss me a little when I'm gone

It’s that time finally… the count down is on its last ticker...


We leave tomorrow and I am finding it hard to be excited considering what is going on in the world right now… Japan having the huge 8.9 earthquake, which has caused tsunami warnings for Hawaii and the West Coast. SCARY! Especially since we will be in Long Beach tomorrow evening. Eeek! Natural disasters are one of my top fears. I'm just sayin.

So this will be my farewell, "bon voyage" post since I will be on vacation for the next 9 days and really don’t want to be blogging while I am away with my honey. We plan to enjoy this 9 day adventure together and hopefully be in pure bliss. *wink*

I will miss my babes tremendously! I did however plan this trip on a week the kids were scheduled to be with their dad, so it works out perfect. I just fear something may happen to one of them and I will be far away in Mexico or out to sea, and can't be contacted. I am hoping my cell phone will work in Mexico, but I know for a fact it won’t work while we war out to sea. Ugh! I know its vacation and I shouldn’t be worried or stressed. But that’s what momma’s do when they are thousands of miles away from their babies. It’s natural!
I know my kids will be well taken care of by their dad and step mum, so that eases some of the worry.

After work I will be going to the kids counseling session (they go every two weeks) and then I am off to Zumba at the YMCA. I am doing a two hour Zumba marathon at the Y just cause I LOVE zumba and it’s a great last minute work out before we set sail. I am not even going to stop there, I will be going to another Zumba class tomorrow morning since we don’t have to be at the airport until 1:00pm, I figured oh why the heck not. I am excited to start my vacation off with a great cardio work out, it will help me feel great and not feel so guilty when I eat all the vaca food.

I do plan to post about the Froggy Style Baby Shower when I return, if you are interested in taking a peek at some photos from the shower and of the Froggy cupcakes I ranted about last week see the photos on my facebook album: Bee’s baby shower.

In the words of DRAKE*

You should miss me a little when I’m gone
I just hope that you miss me a little when I’m gone



Bon Voyage,

Tall Girl

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Music is my Sunshine

One thing I have passed on to my children so far is the love for music.
I have loved music since day one, thanks to my parents love for music.

I grew up listening to all types of music. I use to love listening to their record albums; they had a wide collection of some real classic stuff. Yes! I used the word album, those under age 21 most likely have no clue what they are… kind of like an A track to my generation.

I remember jamming out in my dad’s old truck to George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelics-

You’ve got a real type of thing going down,
gettin’ down there’s a whole lot of
rhythm going round
Ow, we want the funk
Give up the funk
Ow, we need the funk
We gotta have that funk

That was the jam back in 83’, yes I was 2 almost 3 but its one of my favorite memories with my daddy. My mom and I both shared a passion for “old fashion” music as my sister and I would call it. We loved oldies, my mom always sang along to the songs and would share stories about how old she was when the song was popular and memories the songs would remind her of. I cherish those stories from my mumsy.

My sister’s and I use to dance all the time, we would have dance off’s and teach each other new dance moves and criticize each other if the dance was “wack”. Good times!

Music is a huge part of my childhood and life; it cheers me up when I am down. Helps me remember fond memories and some sad memories.

You ever hear those certain tunes that make you cry, either because they remind you of sad times or maybe happy tears thinking of special times in life? I do on a weekly basis, since I spend a lot of time driving; I tend to listen to tons of music. I like to listen to lyrics and try to diagnose what the writer and artist mean in their poetry. I find lyric simply interesting and it’s helped me know the song to sing along.

Being a mother myself, I started sharing music with my babes when they were in the womb. I would put head phones around my tummy and turn up the disc man. Yes, I said disc man; they didn’t have Ipods and mp3’s in 2001 and I was too cheap to buy one in 2006. Ryder got down to Metallica and Fleetwood Mac and Mazie Lue was soothed by the sounds of Phil Collins classic jams. They would move and groove to the music in my belly. As infants they had no choice but to be around music, between their dad and I they were surrounded by the musical sounds.

*We were never quite around our babes as infants, we are load talkers and we like to listen to our load music, so by birth my kids were use to it and they would sleep soundly through it all. I loved that I could vacuum and be loud and never worry about waking the baby. You never heard us shushing anyone around our babes.*

Ryder takes after me and loves all types of music; Mazie on the other hand is like her daddy and only likes a one type tunes. My kids love to hear me sing along to the radio, they even join in with me if they know the song.

Recently I found a new radio station called GenX 104.9 here in the Seattle area. It plays all the hits from my generation 80’s and 90’s top forty to alternative. I was thinking the other day as I sang along to a tune from when I was in 7th grade; Hey these songs are like “old fashion” tunes to my kids. I also have been catching myself telling my kids “Oh this use to be my favorite song when I was your age Ryder”. Even when I am listening to Oldies tunes I find myself sharing the stories my mother told. I like that I have passed on these traits to my children, and I didn’t even mean to, music is just in our genes I guess.

Dancing is more of what Mazie and I share a common interest in. She is my little dancing machine and always has been. I love dancing around the house with her and enjoy watching her dance with my nieces, just like my sisters and I use to do.

Music is so important to have in my life and to share with my family. I already have my kids songs picked out to dance to at their weddings someday.

They are songs that I picked out and sang to them as babies. Ryder has two “I hope you Dance” By Lee Ann Womack and “Just to see you smile” By Tim McGraw. Mazie’s song is “The world” By Brad Pasley. Your asking yourself “Who knew this mixed girl would be down with country?”. I told you I love all music and country music lyrics usually make the most sense in life.

Here is one of my favorites we use to sing  to my Ryder “Bug” when he was a baby and was crying.

Sunshine go away today
I don't feel much like dancing
Some man's gone, he's tried to run my life
Don't know what he's asking


He tells me I'd better get in line
Can't hear what he's saying
When I grow up I'm going to make it mine
But these aren't dues I been paying


How much does it cost, I'll buy it
The time is all we've lost, I'll try it
But he can't even run his own life
I'll be damned if he'll run mine, Sunshine


Sunshine go away today
I don't feel much like dancing
Some man's gone he's tried to run my life
Don't know what he's asking


Working starts to make me wonder where
The fruits of what I do are going
He says in love and war all is fair
But he's got cards he ain't showing


Sunshine come on back another day
I promise you I'll be singing
This old world, she's gonna turn around
Brand new bells'll be ringing
By: Jonathan Edwards

We would sing this tune and Ryder would either giggle or look at us like we were insane. Now he loves it when I tell him this story and I always start to sing it to him. It still puts a smile on his face and Mazie’s too.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I survived!

It has been a hectic, crazy, and busy week and I don’t see it settling down until this weekend when we leave for our trip. Even traveling can be hectic and crazy, so hopefully I get some good RnR in prior to our trip. YEAH RIGHT!


Last weekend was insane… Friday after work I rushed home to go pick T and his lil sister up, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out to Port Orchard for Ryder’s basketball game. Minutes before our arrival to the game my phone rings… its Miles telling me the game was suppose to be at six not seven. There was no game…Grrr!
I got the kids and we all headed back home to Puyallup. That wasted a good two hours of our night.

T’s little sis (Hi Hannah) came over to help me make the fondant froggies for the baby shower I was hosting the following day. H was a great help, she is so talented and artistic. I am thankful I had such wonderful help. T assisted me in the making of the fondant on Thursday night. Mazie helped out by testing out the fondant as H and I worked on the froggies and frilly lily pads. We girls had a good time in the kitchen Friday night for sure… Not only did we sculpt fondant that night, I also made a gluten free pasta dish.

Shower day:
Saturday morning I woke up early to get the frosting made for the cupcakes (devils food gluten free), got all the dips finished (I started on some Wednesday evening), got the shower gift wrapped and two children and myself ready to go by 10:45am. I made it to the shower later then I wanted to but in enough time to get my Jeep unloaded and help set up.

Bee’s baby shower was a great success! I had never seen so many frog baby clothes, blankets and more. At the end of the day Bee said “Okay now it’s all over and you can relax and prepare for your trip”. I remember thinking; oh yeah my trip… Eeek I have a week to prepare… then I said “Wait after my trip I have nothing to plan or get excited about”. It might be nice not to have plans for once.

Sunday I got started on my spring cleaning… So far I have my kitchen all cleaned and a nice shiny sparkling clean refrigerator. Its part of my trip planning, in order for me to go on a vacation and enjoy my time away is to know I will be coming home to a clean house. My goal for this week is to get my whole house spotless by this Friday. Mazie and I also got the St. Patrick’s Day décor up. I collect decorations for all the Holidays and I hope to pass the traditions on to my daughter.

After doing some major cleaning I went to get my hair done… As I left I noticed my Jeep was driving really funny and I didn’t feel safe driving it, so I took it back home and drove T’s suburban instead. Ugh! Just another stress to add to my list for another busy week.

I have been commuting in the suburban for the past two days… It’s a GAS HOG! Just our luck my Jeep needs maintenance the week we leave for our 9 day trip. T is working on replacing my brake pads, rotors and caliper. The plus side is he is getting good use of the Carhart coveralls I gave him for Valentines Day.

On Monday I got an email from Carnival Cruise lines saying there has been a change to our trip. We will not be going to Mazatlan due to security issues, so instead we will be doing 2 days in Cabo. I am relieved to know how on top of things the cruise line is on the security status, makes me feel safer.

*I know you all are wondering; “Where are the pictures from the shower?” Stay tuned I will have that post with pictures up for you by the end of this busy work week. This 9 day vacation is just what I will need after this craziness.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

I'm so busy my head is spinning!

This is certainly a BUSY week for this Tall Girl in heels cowgirl boots. No heels today ladies! I started the week off rough, dealing with depression, stress and a migraine that was causing me to have vertigo. Yuck!


I am down to my final days of planning and preparing the froggy style baby shower for Bee. Working the 8-5 shift this week is not helping at all. Last night I had Ryder’s basketball game and didn’t get home until 8pm. At that point I just wanted to go to bed and get rid of my vertigo/migraine and got nothing productive done. Blah!

Today I am skipping Ryder’s game to attend Zumba lessons. I have been doing Zumba a couple times a week for the past two weeks and thought it would help if I took an actual beginners class to make sure I have all the right moves down. I have so much fun and have met some awesome gals too. I feel guilty for missing my son’s game tonight… Its just hard to juggle everything this week. Plus Ryder has 4 games this week, last night, tonight, Thursday night and Friday night. So tonight is my only chance to get some Zumba/Me time in (it’s only for an hour). After Zumba I have to go shopping for all the food and ingredients to help make the shower a success. Here is a peek of what that entails:
Shopping list
Gluten Free-Lasagna Noodles
Egg Beaters
Ricotta Cheese
Puttenesca Sauce
Ground Turkey
Mozzarella Cheese
Bacon
Sour cream
Tomato
Cream Cheese
Liquid smoke
Green Onion/chives
Water Chestnuts
Spinach
Red Bell Pepper

And that is only what I have to purchase at the store…

Wednesday night I will be preparing some of the food. Such as the salmon, bacon, and fondant. I figured I could make use of my ONLY free evening this week. I also plan on making a trip to Target to get some more items to add to one of the special decorations/gifts for the shower and hopefully find a cupcake stand to purchase. Speaking of cupcakes… I am a nervous wreck about them, I just want them to come out picture perfect and I fear my limited time frame will mess everything up. I don’t want to feel rushed and yet I do… My goal is to get as much done Wednesday evening as I possibly can. Which include wrapping of baby gifts and maybe a run (depending on the weather).

Thursday night is Basketball night and I have no intentions of being productive.

Friday night is my crunch time folks. Working a full 9 hour day, dinner, then off to Ry’s 7pm basketball game and then home to get started. I will be making @36 cupcakes, frosting, fondant froggies/lilly pads, salmon dip, BLT dip, Spinach dip and 2 lasagna dishes. I will also have my lovely assistant Mazie lue help in the kitchen, while my handsome boy stays in his room playing Lego's or video games with my Handsome big guy. Friday night is going to be crazy busy and its making me sleepy just writing about it.

Saturday morning I will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I will make sure T catches some of that footage on my flip *wink*
Since the shower starts at noon, I plan to be at Bee’s mom Cheryl’s house (where the shower is) by 10:45am to help set up, decorate and hopefully get organized….

I may be stressed and a bit overwhelmed but really it’s not that bad, and for Bee I would do anything and this is my chance to make her feel special… Cause she is very special and is going to make a wonderful mommy. Did I mention she is the cutest preggo lady for 2011! Yep, I give out awards like that, 2010’s award went to Dandy. Take a peek if you don’t believe me, her baby bump was perfecto!

*If only I was talented to make this beanie for Bee's baby girl* Super cute*

Now you see how I'm so dizzy busy my head is spinning!