The Rain Continues to Fall

It has been raining for 4 days straight. While this may not seem long for some areas, 4 WHOLE days of rain in this area is quite a stretch. I am just thankful that it is raining so the threat of brush fires remains low.

Just as I have free time to go to take the kids to the beach or relax by the pool, the rains come.

So, what do we do in Florida when it rains so much? Library. Bowling. Pottery. Shopping for school supplies. Oh, and I have been working on my list by cleaning the kids’ rooms.

Things to Do

I have 4 weeks until the fall semester begins.

I made a list of things I want to accomplish during this time:

o Clean D.A.’s room (bring in the roll-out!)
o Clean D.P.’s room
o Pack away previous semester’s work
o Organize pictures from digital camera
o Clean out car (this may require the rental of a pressure cleaner)
o Re-cover kitchen chairs
o Finish reading “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
o Read e-mails from the past seven months
o Send pictures of Mom to Grandma and A.C. in Ohio
o Take the kids to the aquarium, pottery shop, and Adventure Island

All this in addition to the usual library programs, swim lessons, bowling, household chores, school shopping etc.

Frog Watch.

Our family has been on a frog watch.

My son, D.P., and a couple of his friends have adopted tadpoles as an “experiment”. They found literally hundreds of the little swimmers in a neighbor’s flower pot which was apparently turned into a nesting ground for a frog after all of the rain we have been having.

D.P. carefully built a habitat of local soil, plants and a few sticks inside a yellow beach bucket. I objected his request to keep them in his bedroom “so they can be more comfortable” so he placed them on the porch where they could also benefit from the sun and rain.

We watched them carefully but after 3 weeks in the same bucket, the water became so murky that we could no longer observe them. D.P. decided to clean the water.

He carefully put them in a temporary habitat (a frisbee) while he scrubbed out the old one. Here are some of the little guys.

After rebuilding the old habitat, he filled it with cold water from the refrigerator.
Sadly, we learned that tadpoles can't thrive in fresh, cold water.

A few did survive. So far. I am surprised that it was the smaller ones.

Just posting this to help spread the word for this dear girl.

Ryleigh was diagnosed with Leukemia on May 27th of this year. Thanks to generous sponsors, a drawing has been organized for an incredible weekend package including concert tickets, golf, Rays "suite" deal, food and much more valued at over $3,500. The entry donation fee for the Ryleigh Russo Ultimate Weekend Package is $5. The goal is to raise $10,000 for the Ryleigh Russo Fund.

If you can help, please do. Thanks.

http://www.weekend4ryleigh.blogspot.com/

Momentous Day.

My 6 y.o. daughter, D.A., lost her first tooth yesterday.

The tooth has been loose for weeks now. She wiggled it everyday but it just never seemed to loosen enough to come out despite her diligence. She is a thumbsucker so everytime I saw her start to put her thumb in her mouth I would suggest she wiggle her tooth instead.

She woke up complaining, or I mean WHINING, that the loose tooth was bothering her. I gave her the casual, "keep wiggling it" but after an hour of listening to her complain/whine I finally gave in and said "JUST PULL IT OUT". Well, she turned around walked straight to the bathroom to do just that. She was so proud of her bravery.

The tooth is now with the Tooth Fairy who will keep all of her baby teeth until she turns 18. (How else would I explain how I get the teeth back for safe keeping. Which that brings up another topic...why do mothers save things they would otherwise not want anything to do with? Like teeth or hair from the first haircut.)

She celebrated by enjoying a breakfast of rainbow colored scrambled eggs.

"Bitter is the New Black", by Jen Lancaster

Although highly recommended by a good friend and her book club, I was very hesitant to read this “chick-lit” book. Then I was hooked after the first page. The author, Jen Lancaster, writes in first person (very blog-like) inviting the reader into her life after she’s been fired from a lucrative career. I could not help but fall in love with Jen and her refreshing honesty, and often highly sarcastic, views about herself, relationships and life. While I found myself disagreeing with her self-indulgence and sometimes cringing at her narcissitic tendancies, I find that her self-confidence and eventual metamorphosis is encouraging. The memoir follows Jen in her desperate search for employment in a post-September 11th market. She emerges stronger and more self-aware as she discovers a new career as an author.

I simply loved this book and now can't wait to read Jen Lancaster's other books!

Here goes...

I have struggled long and hard to avoid making this leap. But I just finished reading “Bitter is the New Black” by Jen Lancaster and came to the realization that there are many benefits to the virtual world of the Internet. (This is a FABULOUS book to read by the way. I am her new biggest fan. Check out her website Jennsylvania.com).

I am ready to step online to reveal my life which often feels like a Greek Tragedy and share my thoughts out loud.