Christmas part 2

We packed up the car on Friday and drove down to Miami. While we are packing up the car- Nico was sitting in the front seat of car "driving" when he nose-dived out of the car while reaching for the door. It was an epic face plant. He ended up with a pretty good scrape on his forehead.

We got down to Miami and did Christmas on Saturday morning.


One really cool thing about where they live is that its about a mile away from the beach. So I got to run on the beach every day we were there. Which was fun.

The highlight of the trip though, was taking Nico to the zoo.  The lions were pretty cool.  As evidenced here. 


But ultimately the zoo wore him out.

Altogether it was a pretty great weekend.  :)

Christmas

So it has been a pretty crazy last couple of weeks. Between the three games a week, doing christmas, having to work and such, I have been getting my ass handed to me. Plus, I am trying to run a half marathon in February- so a lot of my extra time has been taken up by training for that. We ended up taking two losses just before the break- 2-0 to Arnold and 2-0 to Leon. On the upside- we have four games after the break... hopefully we will get some of our DL list back.

As for Christmas- we opened gifts on Friday morning. We meant to do it sooner, but it was just too much of a beat down. We had five days without any childcare and two fulltime jobs to work. As well as shopping, presents, post-office trips, etc. While this new gig is nice, it is not like working for the state, where you arent there when you arent there. Seems like I need to bring my boss cookies or something to remind him why he hired me... in case he forgets and is tempted to fire my ass. Yikes.

Here is a video of Nico opening the tool bench. I decided at the last minute not to stain or paint it. I like the look of the plain wood- so I sanded it down.


If you remember, this is the one that I asked Cody to make... it turned out way awesome. It goes really well with the REAL play tools that I accidentally got Nico. Yeah. Responsible parenting: FAIL.

Nico was absolutely spoiled this year. Totally rotten. Santa brought Nico a basketball hoop and some hockey sticks. He got a ton of musical instruments from GranNY You, Aunt Nicole and Grandpa (including real drums). He got a play-food set from Aunt Rosie and all kinds of fun stuff. In fact, I have hidden some of it away for a rainy day :) One of the things he REALLY likes is his new tieko coat from Grandma and Grandpa. As seen here:

I have been himming and hawing on getting an ipad. I really want one- and actually see some use for one at work. But the entry level ones are still like 600+ dollars. Dave and I had talked about getting one and retiring my kindle to him... but I am not sure I want to give up the kindle. I ended up getting him a kindle any ways... now he can read more- he wont be looking for his book or not bringing it to work with him to read at lunch because it is too big.

Its getting late for me, so I am going to sign off- will try to write more tomorrow.

The Whacky Barn

Child sized grocery carts? Yes!! We would like one.

So Tallahassee is the new epicenter of hippie food places. The original place is an actual Co-op. It was followed by Fresh Market (a Whole Foods knock off). Then Earth Fare came to town. Word on the street is that Whole Foods is coming- gonna be right across the street from Jo-Anns... SCOREBOARD!! I like Earth Fare a lot, because it is where the pretend hippies go (unlike New Leaf where the real hippies go). When I am at Earth Fare, I dont feel like everyone is judging me because Nico isnt wearing a hemp diaper and I like to smell like clean, not like Patchouli. I feel like I should be wearing dreads and breastfeeding Nico while wearing sustain-ably made natural fibers made by an old woman in India. But that is neither here nor there. New Leaf has a kick ass beer selection, but Earth Fare's meat counter is better and their produce is better. I think. In any case, Earth Fare has these little grocery carts which Nico LOVES. Its really adorable. He likes pushing his cart around the store. Practical for a week's worth of groceries? No. Practical for dinner on the fly home? Why, yes it is.

Speaking of Nico... he is getting into the Christmas spirit. Yesterday Dave was talking to him about Santa and how we should go see them. Nico's response: "And then we will say, "Merry Christmas!" It's pretty great.

I think that I have made up my mind: I wanna take Nico to the Miami Zoo when we are down there for Christmas. So Mike and Gay, get out your walking shoes- we are taking the boy!! Also, it has this thing called "the whacky barn." Need I say more? No, you say. You want to go too?

Potty Training

So- Dave and I talked about it this weekend- and we are thinking that it might be time to potty train Nico. He hates getting his diaper changed. He says he wants to get stickers for going on the potty. I think its time. But I am not trying to be stopping every 10 minutes on the way to Miami for Christmas. So I think we are going to do it the week we get back. The FSU COM is closed- so I will be home with him. Seems like a good time. Yikes.

Other than that- I mostly have Christmas shopping done. Just gotta tie up a few loose ends. Am hoping Santa is real good to me this year and I get an ipad. I just want one. I just do. I cant help it.

We played last night. We won. Really easily. All the original varsity members have scored a goal this year (except for Chelsea Thompson- who broke her arm before season started). We have a game tonight and Saturday. Then a game next week- then Christmas. Just trying to get through.

All for now.

for real.

Dear Family and Friends,
I made these last week.

It was Thursday night, I came back into town from practice and we had our sitter watching Nico. I ran through town in an epic Christmas shopping blitz. I was at the Lowes next door when I felt like I should bake some cookies. So I strolled into Publix and got the items for this. They were delicious. I prolly shouldnt admit to this, but I have eaten most of them. Dave and Nico have gotten a few... but sadly, this has mostly been about me. And they ARE really bad for you. Know how some things you eat and you're like, "That wasn't really as decadent tasting as I thought it would be... it prolly doesnt have THAT many calories." And then your eyes POP out of your head when you see you just at 54954987324958723 calories? This isnt like that... you pretty much know you ate your daily allotment of calories in one bite. And you just dont care.

Apparently, I need to "Martha Up" in this hizzie and learn to sew. Because I want this real bad:

As Senator Clay Davis would say:


Went 1-2 in the tournament this weekend. Lost our big center back due to a cracked ankle. Out 4-6 weeks. Got another game tonight and tomorrow. Just need to get through till Christmas.

Nico is now providing the excuse, "I have lots of things to do," for why he cant take a nap or go to bed. Its adorbs.

adorbs.

Seriously, can't you just eat him up?

Also, check this out:



Isnt that awesome??

Getting the holiday started...

We had a really fun weekend around here. We played at Chiles on Friday night. And lost 1-0. We missed a PK, so we could have tied it 1-1. I can admit when I cause us to lose- and it was on me on Friday. When we got the PK, we quickly decided to let our attacking center mid take it. I dont think that she was having that great of a game... and I didnt think she could handle it if she missed. So I made the call and had our little big gun take it, thinking that if she missed, she could handle it (SIDE NOTE: in hind sight, this always ends badly... there was no good that could have come from making that switch).

Well... she missed and I was wrong. You know how there is no crying in baseball? Well, there isnt supposed to be any crying in soccer. But did... she was crushed. It one sense my heart kinda breaks for her... because she doesnt really know how good she is- because if she knew how good she is, she'd shake it off and just say, "that's okay, I have 20 minutes to get that back". Or maybe she has such a wide view of the team that she knows that was our best chance to beat Chiles. In any case, there has only been one other time that I have had a player cry that put me on the edge ready to start weeping... and its weird because it was in the completely opposite situation... we were playing at home and we were getting our butts handed to us. By Bay, I think. And Shay was in tears. I think we'd just gotten mercy ruled at home. And I told her that I could take a lot... I can handle a lot, but I cant handle her crying. She needed to suck it up.

I tried to get the little big gun's head screwed back on... but she basically played with tears on her face for the rest of the game. Had a couple of decent opportunities late, but it wasnt enough. Of course, the Chiles team triple teamed her all night. They didnt even play with her in the back... if the ball came into their defensive third, they just played it away, taking no chances with her.

Saturday was kinda fun- I went with some old coworkers from the DOH to Market Days, which is an annual craft fair in Tallahassee. I got some Christmas shopping done (whoot!!) When we got home, my friend LaVon taught me how to use the bread maker that my mom and dad got me for Christmas.

Which was cool... when we were at Market Days, I bought some peach preserves that went on this bread perfectly. Soooo delicious. I even had some for breakfast this morning.

Saturday night, we went to the Winter parade in downtown. I took some pictures and video of Nico but lost them when I synced my phone last night. Sorry. Here is a picture of Nico and me:

Sunday we had the girls over for a little team bonding... we watched the NCAA Championship game and then our game tape. They are fun!!

Afterwards, we went to Lowes to get our tree. Nico got a little tree (a branch that he found on the ground and carried it around). Now I gotta figure out how to make this thing stand on its own:

And our tree:

Dave and I tend to disagree on a lot of things when it comes to decorating and how to use the space that one has. For example, our office at home has three doors. Necessary? No. If it were up to me, I would permanently close one and have more space. But, Dave thinks that looks trashy... but one thing we both agree on is that we both like the look of a minimalist tree... no christmas ornaments... just lights and garlands. I can live with that. When Nico gets a little older (and can help decorate the tree- we might have to have two trees... an elegant one with just lights and garland and the other one... with all kinds of stuff on it :)

Its gonna tickle...

Nico knows about Santa. Can you believe it? I thought his first really fun Christmas would be next year, but turns out he is learning about Santa at school and from his friends (Avery went to see Santa and told some kids at school about it). Nico knows that Santa says "Ho ho ho." How great is that? Also, Nico has taken to describing extreme things with "big fat". So Santa has a "big fat" belly. And a "big fat" beard. And a "big fat" red coat and "big fat" boots. Its pretty fun.

His language development continues to amaze Dave and me. He's using "just" a lot- which is awesome. He wants "just a little ketchup" or "just one more minute." But probably the best thing he is doing is repeating things I say... so for example, whenever we brush his teeth. Lets be real here, two year olds suck at brushing their teeth. So, I often help. This works much better than me holding him down and force brushing his teeth, which is kinda like trying to force brush a cat's set of teeth.

So I let him brush his teeth and then tell him he missed a few spots that I have to get. I start with his lower teeth. Then his upper teeth. Then I tell him, "Now we gotta do the roof of your mouth- its gonna tickle." And so now, when I am done with his lower teeth he says, "Now we gotta doe the roof of my mouth- its gonna tickle." My heart breaks into a thousand pieces every time he says it. Its hilarious. He's also starting to use his imagination- in that he is substituting other things for a particular situation.

So the other night we went to Bahn Thai for dinner and we tell him we gotta hold hands in the parking lot, so that we dont get hit by a car. He says, "I dont wanna get hit by a car." Then he says, "I dont wanna get hit by a train either" and "I dont wanna get hit by a grocery cart" and "I dont wanna get hit by an airplane." Its really the most amazing thing.

Such a fun stage.

Here is a family picture that we took last weekend. We ordered our Christmas cards last night- whoot!!

Drum set...

Not much going on around here. Our game against Lincoln last night got postponed due to water on the field... which is a shame, because we were on the verge of administering a world class beatdown to.... Lincoln?

Nico has been pretty cool. Sunday night after we got him to bed, Dave and I sat down to watch the River Murders. It has Ray Liotta, Ving Rhames and Christian Slater, so I am thinking... alright this has got to be pretty good. It wasnt. Not at all. I am kinda annoyed that I paid cash money to watch it.

Anyways, afterwards, we were hanging out reading and surfing the tube when Nico came running out of his room. The house was pretty dark, so I didnt see him till he was running across the living room and scared the dickens out of me.

Last night when Dave and I got home from the movie we went to see (because we already had our sitter arranged and lets be real, we dont get to see movies very often... we saw the Ides of March, BTW) Nico hung out with us eating chex mix and drinking juice... he was sharing the chex mix with Drake and both were tickled. Nico has the best silent laugh/smile when he is really pleased with himself.

When he was here, Uncle Cody made a tool bench for Nico... it originally started as a project I wanted him to help me with... but let's be real here, it would have looked pretty jacked up if I had anything to do with it... and also, I am not real good at taking direction. So its probaby for the better. In any case, its amazing. I love it. I cant wait to start staining it this weekend. Its going to be a Christmas gift for Nico... speaking of which, I am pretty sure that Nico is probably going to get a real drum set this Christmas... between Nicody and Granny You I think its a done deal. I kinda wish that he were a little older and had a brother so they could re-enact this scene for me:



Maybe with fewer F-Bombs!!

Holiday!!

What is this, you say? A blog post from Jessi? Unreal!! Weird!

Well, I am back on the grind... dealing with soccer games being rescheduled and moved and work. Bleh.
The thanksgiving holiday turned out pretty awesome. Nicole and Cody and the kids drove in last weekend and rented a house. Mom and Dad came to town and JJ too, and they stayed there, which beats the hell out of the LaQuinta, which is Spanish apparently for Bleh hotel.

They came to our games last week (versus Rickards and versus Florida High). The Florida High game was a hell of a game- we played our asses off!! And won... whoot!! Nico's cousin Max got to be a ball boy for both games, which while fun for him was a little bit of a beat down for his dad.

The kids all got along pretty well... Nico was mostly interested in playing with Max and Emme was mostly interested in playing with Nico... but there werent many fights... except when Nico colored in one of Max's books. To be fair, it looked like a coloring book :)

I made four pies for dinner... pumpkin, apple, lemon meringue and pecan. I dont know why I was convinced that we needed an pumpkin pie (maybe I thought Gay liked it). But the only piece that anyone ate out of it was Emme. The pecan and lemon meringue pies were gone on Saturday (which is what happens when you eat pie for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). Here is a picture of the kids helping me make the apple pie:

Dinner was pretty good, I think, although I made ALOT of food. We ended up having a ton of leftovers, which I cant decide is good or bad. I guess its good because we dont have to cook this week... maybe bad that I have no idea how to judge how much food is needed? Or maybe I didnt account for people filing up on snacks throughout the day? I don't know. In any case, I layed down to take a little power nap at 7pm on Thursday and didnt wake up till 8am on Friday morning (yikes!!). I was worn out!!

Friday evening, we tried to get some photos for christmas cards done (plus Nicole and Cody need a new family adoption photo). Of about 400 pictures that were taken of us, JJ and Max ruined a majority of the pictures. Can't say I am surprised really... JJ has been ruining family photos for 28 years, dont know why he'd stop now :)

Overall, it was a pretty good holiday. I read two books. I know. How crazy is that? I read the hunger games and the second book (Catching Fire). Both were pretty good. Am looking forward to getting the last one.

All for now. Have a great monday!!

Do you know Borund?

Nico is really saying some funny things lately... some are things he comes up with on his own... some are things that just surprise me...

So, its no surprise that Nico loves drums... most kinds. In fact, he was at something a little while ago and got introduced to the Bodhran (pronounced like Borund). Its pretty cool because its a hand-held drum and you play with only one stick. As seen here:


Well... one of the really funny things he is saying lately is, "Do you know Borund?" Its pretty great.

He is also saying stock phrases whenever we play ball. So he will say, "Good pass, mom" or "Almost!" (even if he is not even anywhere even close to the basket). Which is pretty hilarious.

And the boy LOVES biscuits. Biscuits. He actually asked for them last night. I was coming back from practice and Dave texted me to say that Nico wanted biscuits. It's not very often that he makes a request for something, so if its not too terribly inconvienent, I will try to get it for him. So we had KFC last night. For dinner. Uggh. Luckily they have a grilled recipe now... but I sorta feel like going to KFC for grilled chicken is kinda like going to a whorehouse for a hug... know what I am sayin?

Also, he says "I'm just happy," whenever I catch him cracking himself up. Sometimes we will be eating dinner and he will be eating something he likes (like biscuits or oranges or grapes) and he is doing the big smile/silent laugh thing. I ask him what is going on and he says, "I'm just happy." Its pretty much amazing.

Imma let you finish, but this drum is the best!!

So the weekend was pretty fun. We had Friday off (Thanks DAD and Mike!!) But I went down to the county for a team bonding session that consisted of a short run and some stretching and yoga. After, we went to one of our players’ houses for breakfast. Mama Williams threw down… egg casserole, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, the works. It was pretty good. Nico and Dave joined us for breakfast. After breakfast, we ran Nico home and hung out for a little while, till our sitter came. Then we had to run back down to the county for a game against Pensacola. It ended up being a pretty good game, despite the fact that we were missing several players due to injuries and cross country (who were running at Regionals. Damn them- they made it to state… so now we’re without them for another week).

Saturday we hung around the house for most of the morning… I rearranged the kitchen cabinets and did some cleans. In the afternoon we headed to a birthday party where Nico made like Kanye West (remember when he jumped on stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the VMAs?) The gift we got for the birthday boy was a little drum/musical instrument set. But Nico kept trying to play with it… it was like, “Yo! Dillion, Ima let you finish unwrapping all dese gifts… but this drum is the best!” It was pretty great.

Saturday night I ran a couple of errands that included cracker barrel corn muffin mix (for Thanksgiving) and a serious conversation with the meat guys at Earth Fare… I reserved our Thanksgiving Bird from the hippie store. I know.. . Could I be more of a yuppie?
Sunday we hit up the fare. We happened to get there during a special time that was super cheap. We made our way to the petting zoo part of it, where by Nico fed sheep, goats, cows, lamas and such. He had a pretty good time! He kissed several of the animals on the nose… it was pretty much adorbs!! He also kept grabbing all the hay and throwing it on the animals. I don’t know why he kept doing this. But he did.

Other than that, it was a pretty chill weekend. Nico is really getting interested in sports lately. He has taken to throwing balls in the house… which I know I should stop… like its all funny and cute and everything, but if he ever develops a fastball, we are in trouble. He catches a lot now, which is cool. He is also “throwing a soccer ball in” proper now… which is hilarious, because his throw in is better than half the girls that play for Rickards. Just sayin…

He is also starting to incorporate the high front leg throw (like baseball pitchers, which is funny). Even better is he is starting to argue now. Last night he argued with Dave that horses don’t sleep, they just eat hay. I have no idea where he gets this from…

WHS Soccer Blog

Also, if anyone is interested in keeping up with the Wakulla High School War Eagles... check out our blog:
http://whsgirlssoccer2011-2012season.blogspot.com/

Wherein, I begin to braggity brag...

So… I officially started my new job yesterday. I am working on a project that is federally funded by the AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) at the FSU College of Medicine. The University and the State have dumped a lot of money into the College of Medicine, so its pretty swank… no tile floors… lots of offices… not nail holes in the walls… lots of the nice heavy furniture. I park in a lot that is between the soccer field and the Med School. And its amazing.

There have been two studies to date that examine post-discharge adverse events. So when someone goes to the hospital and they are discharged, some have negative events. Like they might go home and have an infection, or a heart attack or whatever. This study is going to follow individuals who are discharged to determine if they have a negative event and what factors are associated with them. It’s pretty much amazing. Its only the second study of this kind to be performed in the United States. Plus we have some big timers on the grant, so its possible this might get in some of the bigger journals (like American Journal of Public Health or Journal of the American Medical Association). Frankly, I am going to have a kitten if I am co-author on a paper that gets accepted to JAMA. Because then I will just have to tell all those sociology snobs that think the only place to publish is ARS to kiss my ass. Just sayin…

In any case, I have my own office. I have dual monitors. In reality, that is all I need in life. And you think I am being a nerd, because you have never rocked the dual monitor situation. Once you go to two, you never go back… you can have your email on one side, and your web browser on the other. You can have your email on one side a Word document with the blog post you are writing to your family on the other. Boo yah!! Know what is also awesome? My computer, the network, the internetz are blazing… and, I have the browser I want (google chrome), not IE7, which sucks. I also have new office. Which is also cool… I swear everytime I wanted to do something in MS Office that wasn’t straight typing, I always had to google how to do it because, really? Who still uses Office 1997-2003?

Of course, I am in the honey moon phase of pimping out my office. I have a 7 foot tall bookshelf and lots of space for my files… which means that I can take all the books/binders/articles, etc that I have from when I was evicted from my office in the pop center, which are currently residing in haphazard stacks all over our back porch. I am sure Dave is going to be happy about this.

Nico, Soccer, Polo, and Puppies in the pool

Am I really down to one post a week? Man, I suck at life!

The weekend was pretty great!! We started out with a game at the Meadows against Maclay. Typically, Maclay beats us when we play. We started closing the gap last year when we lost 2-1 and defended a good bit of the time. This year we went at them pretty tough... and while they were missing their goal scoring machine, we were missing our Iron Lady, Norma Rae, who usually puts the muscle on their goal scoring machine, rendering her useless for the night. We went up pretty early and hung on to the lead for most the game until a handball by our GK outside the box. This resulted in a free kick and a goal and a reassessment of how terrible we are on defending set pieces.

Here is Nico... our sitter had to go home to see her doctor, so guess who came to the game and was annoyed he had to be there? Hint: his name rhymes with Rico.

Why does he have a tennis racket? That is a great question. I have no idea why!! Here is an earlier video, I took of Nico last week at the Taylor tournament. This is usually what it is like whenever he is at the field with us:



Saturday morning, Nico and I went to the gym (he went to the kids room). When we came home we really quick got ready to go to the Polo game. John Paul II a catholic high school here had a fundraiser at a horse farm out in Monticello. So we went and watched. It was pretty fun. Nico was relatively good- but was bored pretty quickly. He did get to sit on one of the referee's horses... named Holiday. That was pretty sweet. Will try to get the picture I took of him up later.

True story: I want to own a small farm. Something big enough to have chickens, sheep and maybe a cow. And a HUGE vegetable garden, some fruit trees. I had relegated this as a project for after Nico went off to college, thinking that this would only be possible if we could live way out in the country, which Dave does not want to do. However, after visiting the farm for the polo match, we had a good conversation about it... turns out we weren't communicating very well. Which is cool... because it means the next place we live might work for us living on a farm. Maybe.

We chilled out easy on Saturday night. Sunday morning, I woke up and went for a run. After, we prepared to take the dogs to the annual Puppies in the Pool... where we take the dogs to Truesdale pool, which they open up to dogs the last weekend of the year (before they clean it).



It was pretty fun. Nico was getting ready to throw the ball when Drake lunged forward and snatched it out of his hand. It scared Nico pretty bad, so he wanted to cuddle for the rest of the time there. We won a raffle drawing, which was cool because we never win anything. We won a leash, which would be really cool if we walked our dogs... but they are pretty much beasts whenever we walk, so we dont walk them very much.

Nico's overly cuddliness on Sunday ended up being the first signs of sickness... and he commenced ralphing at about 430. It was really random. But he had a pretty high fever, so I just hung out with him at the house. We layed on the couch and watched TV till he fell asleep. I stayed home with him on Monday and he was pretty much better by the evening.

That is all... except for this video of Nico feeding the guess, which I forgot to embed. Enjoy!!

Trick or Treating and Soccer...

Halloween was pretty fun last night. I burned up some more AL by staying home from work. I made a pot of corn chowder (delish). I went with the standard $20.00 Halloween costume from Target. I have come to the conclusion that I am plenty of things: dedicated, hard working, committed, etc. But I am not very clever nor particularly smart. It's okay... I am perfectly on board with this characterization. While I may never come up with a clever solution to a problem, I am your girl if you need the problem worked to death. I can do that. This translates to Nico not having particularly creative or clever halloween costume ideas. That's okay.

Behold: the cute monkey. Without his monkey head on. Oh well.

At the Halloween party at his school, Nico ran around with his little friends Avery and Alice. Avery was in an adorable peacock costume- they basically ran and ran and ran. It was hilarious. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

We drove over to Lafayette park and did trick or treating over there. We saw several people that Dave knew. One of them let us in their house and showed Nico a REAL guitar. The boy is in LOVE. The friend held the guitar up to Nico so he could strum... he thought it was *VERY* cool. So while I was kinda okay about Nico wanting to be a drummer, I am not sure I am as on board with him wanting to be a guitar player... I have met very few guitar players that weren't tool-bags in real life. Just sayin...

We did well in our preseason tournament over the weekend. We ended up finishing 2nd overall. We won two games beating Santa Fe and Bucholtz (both Gainesville teams) to do it. Santa Fe ended up being much easier than we expected.... and Bucholtz, well we played them hard.  We held them to a 0-0 tie for 65 minutes... in the last 5 minutes our little transfer from Fl High last year scored on a corner kick that seemed controversial. We held on to win and had a shoot out with Ft. White after the game to settle a tie in points for second... Out GK came up with a save and forced one to the cross bar to clinch the shootout and 2nd place... so that was pretty cool. I can't wait to see the AD on Thursday and be all like, "here, please take this trophy- I dont have room for this..."

There were two really interesting things from this weekend... Thig, Amy and Taylor all played *VERY* well. Thig is a junior who has been hurt the last two years... she is healthy now and looks to have put some muscle on... and is doing great. Taylor and Amy seem to have figured out the high school game, because they are just dominating... Its awesome. We are at a place now where all three are contributing. Which is awesome.

Another interesting result is that we beat Santa Fe 6-2. Madi (our little big gun) scored 5 (2 unassisted). Lincoln beat Santa Fe 4-0, which is admirable. But we beat them 6-2, with Madi scoring more goals against Santa Fe than all of Lincoln scored against them. This is interesting. Our game against them in a month will be very interesting indeed.

In any case, we open our regular season tonight against Madison County. Looking forward to it.

Funs...

So I took Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday off of work. I am trying to burn up some sick leave and comp time before my last day (November 11). While I would love to say that I have spent this time wisely kicking ass on my R&R or writing the great American novel, sadly, I have not. I have mostly been cleaning and organizing. I know, Booooo- right??!!

Except for today, when I took myself to see the new Footloose movie. Now, the way I see it, there are two types of people in the world: people who liked the first and those who didnt. I loved the first... so I was a bit suspicious- because, who can beat the original? Plus, does the plight of teenagers in a town like Bomount have play with young people in the more?



Turns out that the improbability of a ban on dancing in these modern times is a lot less a problem then I thought. And I loved it. Seriously. I know. I should be ashamed of myself, but I am not. I loved it. Just like the original, it had me wishing I could dance. Seriously- I loved it. Of course, I do have quite plebian tastes when it comes to movies... so you probably ought not to go with my opinion... just sayin.

Nico is getting really fun lately. He is saying things like, "I wanna show you a trick" and "I have an idea!". When we play ball he says, "Good throw!" and "Good pass!" It's really a lot of fun.

Burying the lead...

So, I have had a brilliant last couple of days. Friday, I had a soccer meeting with the WHS girls down in the county. When I got back, I scooped Nico up and we went to check out a backhoe loader that was by my work.

I probably shouldnt have let him climb on it (sets a dangerous precedent). But it was fun.

We started Saturday with a trip to Angelette's Cajun Kitchen for breakfast. FORGET ABOUT IT!! So delicious. They have shrimp grits that are completely off the chain. So delicious. We then went up to the Pumpkin Patch at the church off of Meridian. I took my camera hoping to get some pictures of Nico cutes.
Here is one:

We came home on Saturday and Nico had a nap. When I woke up, I went to shoot some pictures of my friend and co-worker Lavon. I dont know if she knows this or not, but she is really photogenic. She is sort of a goth type girl- wears black eyeliner and has long dark hair. She is the only person I know of whose skin has less melatonin than me... So you know I like standing next to her, because I look like a bronzed beach baby goddess next to her. In any case, I shot some pictures of her, her husband and baby for Christmas cards. Some came out pretty good.

Sunday morning Nico and Dave made me breakfast. When Nico woke up he said, "Its your birthday, we gotta eat some cakes!!" Which is pretty adorable. They got me two things I have been wanting for a while, but have been too gunshy to pull the trigger on (a Fitbit- which is a fitness device that records how many calories you burn throughout the day, along with sleep efficiency, etc and an adidas sling backpack... whoot). Am pretty excited about it. Mom and Dad gave me a gift certificate to Amazon...which is pretty rad. Amd trying to figure out how to spend it... on a really expensive digital watch (that can also be worn with a heart rate monitor) or on a Nifty Fifty lens for my Canon DSLR? I think I would love both equally.... I dont know.

Dave took Nico to Premeir for the kids room and some swimming on Sunday. I did some actual work on a presentation for a paper I am presenting on Thursday at SDA (its in Tally- whoot).

The REALLY big news is that I got my offer letter today. I told my boss at DOH. My last day is November 11... so that is really cool. I have 98 hours of leave that I am trying to figure out how to take. Turns out, I wont be in the office much... which completely rocks my face off. I might even take myself to see a movie. Probably the new Footloose, because I dont think Dave would go see it with me...

Season...

So we named teams yesterday. We only ended up cutting two players, so that is good. So far we have had relatively little drama. Seems to be working okay. Also trying to figure out how to get the best competition for the little big gun every day of practice. She is very fast and has a nose for the ball and the goal. Unlike midfielders, defenders and to a lesser extent, goalkeepers, a lot of the success of forwards is NOT contingent on good players getting them the ball. The best forwards make their own chances. She needs to do ODP... of course, its a struggle because the spring is for track... and its hard to convince a kid that finished 6th in the STATE in the 800 AS A FRESHMAN that her future is really in soccer. But we will try.

Of course, this is the part of the season that really kicks my a$$. We're driving down to Wakulla almost every day and I feel like I am on the verge of getting fired for not being in the office. Not getting enough sleep and still have major things to handle (like requesting buses for away trips and getting legit with the state's team management system. I am trying to make it so we dont have to cook when we get home, so I have been cranking out the crockpot meals and the make ahead dinners. Last night I made a (relatively) boring jambayla- that is in some serious need of some spicin' up.

It will get better once games start... almost every week this season we have three games a week. And I will try to give them at least one rest day a week, but lets be real here, I would rather drive five minutes from my house to go to Rickards than drive down to Wakulla to play them.

I did have a pleasant surprise when I came to work today. My friend and coworker Lavon "made" me cupcakes (I say "made" because she actually got the publix bakery cupcakes, which is good because they are about the only ones I like). And decorated them. Like so:

The meat ball is a Ferraro Roche chocolate thing (truffle). The sauce is strawberry jam. They are pretty much delicious!! I have already had two. What is funny is that usually when people give me cupcakes, I am all about spreading the love- I will offer them to everyone in the office. But today I have offered them to two people just to be nice. Not really expecting that they would say yes. Who says yes? They are my cupcakes? No you can't have one!! Get your own awesome friend that brings cupcakes on your birthday!

Coworker walks by looking longingly at my cupcakes.

Me (quietly): Would you like a cupcake? No! Great!! You're welcome. Move along.

Coworker: I would love one!

Me: Sure. Do you have a plate?

Me (thinking): Go AWAY!! Stop trying to take all my cakes!! Do I get up in your grill when you go get shitty vegetarian food for your birthday? NO. Leave my cakes alone!

Coworker returns with plate: These are so cute!

Me: Get your cupcake and GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!!

Tryouts and Texas

Not much going on around here... No offer letter yet from FSU. So I continue to go to work. I have a long laundry list of items on my to-do list before I go. I dont want anyone to shake their fist and say, "Bishop!" when they have to do something I didn't do (and should have) after I leave. So its a lot of crossing my t's and dotting my i's.

I also feel the need to use up all my health care before I go. So I'm trying to get my annual checkups done and the first consult for my left knee, which currently has the odd habit of catching when bent sometimes. Its the most disconcerting thing I have ever felt in my knee. Plus it grinds like its full of gravel, pebbles and small rocks. Which is never good for business.

It looks official- Nico, Dave and I will be going to Dallas for Thanksgiving. Whoot!! Pretty excited about that. I told Nico about it last night, that we are going to stay in Maddox and Emme's playroom (Nicody made the room above the garage a play room put a pull-out sofa in it.) The last time I was at their house (April 2010) all I could think about was how much fun Nico would have playing. See, we arent very good about toys in our house... for a variety of reasons... but let's just say that Nico doesnt really have that many toys and he doesnt play with 75% of what he has. That being said, he is going to have a blast. He doesnt have much of a chance to hang out with older kids (like Maddox). The oldest kids in his school are 3- so he is totally going to love playing with Maddox, who I am sure is really excited to hang out with "the little kids".

We started tryouts this week. I think we are going to have a pretty decent squad this year. Returning a lot of players from last year. Thig- who has been hurt a lot in the last two seasons looks pretty good- strong and healthy. Madi (the little big gun) looks like she has put on about 20 pounds of muscle... which is good, because she needed it. At the start of last year, we had one girl playing club ball in Tallahassee (Thig). This year, we're gonna have five on varsity alone. Which is pretty sweet. It raises the stakes, obviously... but I think we're gonna be good.

We have a bunch of new players coming in... but only a few that have a lot of skill. But the rest seem to be athletes, which I can totally work with. Also, I have a freshman who seems to not have a real strong grasp of reality. Seems to think she is going to be starting on Varsity as a freshman. And no, its not the freshman who is going to make the Varsity squad. They are so cute with their non-grasp of reality!!

My gk is trying to make the case for being captain. We try to have three captains, one of which is an underclassman. Lets the younger player learn the ropes and take on some leadership after the seniors graduate. As it is now we have two senior captains. So in order to have a younger player be a captain, plus my gk, I would have 4 captains...which is a little weird. Of course, she was an MVP last year, so there might be a good reason for it. Plus, it would be good for her to work on being a leader...

Her grades are not very good... but not because she is dumb. Her grades arent very good because she would rather do ANYTHING else than study... am wondering if it would be too much pressure to dangle it as a carrot. Like she has to maintain all Bs to keep the captain band? I don't know...

Nico's been pretty fun lately. He is really grasping language. And starting to ask questions. He was home sick with Dave on Monday and Dave had to leave to go to practice. When Dave got home Nico asked, "Daddy, where did you go?" So awesome.

Despite my fears about him being a band geek when he grows up, I think all signs point to him being in the band. Which is unfortunate... however, it might keep him off the football team... which I dont mean to disparage... I just see the way it is coached in places like Wakulla and I am not a fan... 15 under employed grown men as assistant coaches? Really? Getting in a kid's face to scream at him about how he better get his a$$ in gear? No thank you. The sense of entitlement that comes with being successful? Don't get me wrong, I have seen some entitled-a$$ soccer kids that I wanted to punch in the face. It just seems to be much worse in football.  Which, how could it not?  Down in the county WMS and RMS play each other at the high school.  Under the lights.  And the girls soccer team has to reschedule varsity games so that shit can go down.  True story.  This actually happened.  Which is terrible... I hate that because I come from a football coaching family (a grandfather and two uncles).

Plus music is good for kids... helps them excel in math and language. And lets be real here, he is going to need all the help he can get in math. But he is getting big and I am already sad for when he gets to be 13 wont want anything to do with us anymore :)

Weekend funs!

The weekend was pretty fun. I took Nico to work with me in the morning on Friday to show him off (my boss hadnt met him yet). We took bagels for the office and deemed ourselves, "Bagel Heroes!".

The weekend started a little early for me- because Nico's school called to tell me he has gastro-plague and to come get him. So I left work at about 11 and scooped him up. He was looking kinda tired, so we went home for lunch and a nap. I finished one christmas gift and started another (booyah!!) When Nico woke up, we went to run some errands, which included a trip to the pond in Myers Park to feed the geese. Coincidentally, all we had were some animal cracker type cookies... which the geese REALLY liked. Go figure.

When Dave was done with work, he came home and scooped us up to go to the Oktoberfest that was in town. We had brats, apple struedel, pretzels, cupcakes, snocones, and beer (I know the cupcakes were a little out of place, but Lucy and Leo's was there... Hello....). Nico didnt have any beer, but did play a few games of cornhole, where in he insisted on standing over the top of the game and slamming the bags into the hole.

I stayed up late and revised my IRB application. When we got up in the morning, Dave took Nico to the highland games in Ocala. I stayed home to catch up on some soccer stuff and house-cleaning. Which is kind of a bummer...

Sunday morning we got some groceries. When Nico went down for a nap, I started some cooking. I made chili and jalepeno popper things. I also managed to burn the hell out of my thumbs with the unidentified hot peppers I have growing in back yard. Since starting them in my garden, I have been rather cavelier with jalapenios. Which are delicious in grilled cheese. These other peppers are green, but shorter and fatter. So I thought they were just the dull boring cousin of the jalapeno. Apparently not so much. After washing my hands several times, I made the mistake of taking my contacts out with an affected thumb. And promptly burnt the s$#t out of my eye. IDIOT. In any case, I have been proclaimed "Chili champion!" of the house!!

In any case, Nico and I made some blueberry muffins (based on Alton Brown's recipe) after nap. And they are off the hizzie, fo shizzie (translation: they are very good.)We also cleaned his pool, watered the garden, played ball and did his favorite thing: take the garbage and recycling bins down to the street. Dave played soccer in the evening and I went for a run. It was a great weekend.

Nico's language is REALLY coming along. He is now bargaining... so if I tell him "One video, then we have to get up and do some laundry," he says: "How about two more videos?" His memory is getting to be insane. Dave and Nico drove by Cross Creek Animal Hospital this weekend. Cross Creek is where our neighbor took Drake when Drake escaped and cut his foot. Nico has only been there once (when we went to check up on Drake) so there is no reason for him to associate this memory with anything else. And it happened 9 months ago. He pointed out crosscreek and said, "where Drake went when he was hurt." How can he remember that? Its amazing. Still adorable. Still makes me want to bite him. :)

I'm no Steve Jobs, but...

I accepted the post-doc. I am waiting for an official letter before I resign from the Department of Health, which should happen Friday or Monday. I explained it to IE like so (in an email): Got in touch with RH, but he couldnt talk till Friday... I could have waited, but started thinking about it and decided that the potential benefits to doing the post-doc far outweigh any negative consequences that might occur as a result of taking it. Besides its a decision I have to make- and it's not right to ask others to validate it and talk me into it. Either I am willing to make the decision and deal with the consequences or I shouldnt make it. Further, its not like I am quitting my job to tend bar or serve pancakes.

I was kinda nervous about the decision until I heard a broadcast of the Commonwealth Club of California today at lunch when I was driving back to work. Some of you may know, but Steve Jobs (the former CEO of Apple) died yesterday. The broadcast included a commencement address by Steve Jobs at Stanford in 2005. In it were a couple of quotes that resonated with me:

"For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."

and

""Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

The first quote might seem ridiculous for someone who has only been working a grownup job for a little over a year, especially when some many dont have jobs, or work back-breaking (literally) jobs like roofing, construction, and plumbing. I know I am being petty... But there are a lot of days when I dont want to go. For a variety of reasons... but a major one is that I dont want to do the actual work that I am doing.

The second quote is hits home for me because I have made some weird choices in my academic career. Going to Lee University was probably the first. Going to Africa and NIH are in there too. But fact is, if I hadn't gone to Lee my life would be so very different... so while it was maybe a mistake at the time, its a mistake I am glad I made. And while going to Africa and NIH may have had the effect of slowing me down in the process of getting my degree, doing both gave me some perspective.

So that is my choice. And I feel good about it.

Got it..

So. I got the post-doc at the med school. I think I am going to take it. While it is an amazing opportunity, I am still really nervous that its the wrong decision. But this is me. Sometimes I am just a nervous nelly.

I spoke with a peer who is an assistant professor at a teaching school. And I am trying to talk to another faculty member to get some more perspective, but if he tells me what I think he is going to tell me, I'm going to accept it.

That is kind of exciting. I dont know how it works with work... taking leave and such. I havent told my supervisor yet, but I probably will today (if I can talk to this professor first). This is literally, the toughest part of this whole thing... because I really like the other people in the arthritis program. And it wont be easy to meet our grant goals in this last year while trying to fill my position. I hope it can go well...

So that is that.

Anyone see this story? About the woman who was given the wrong lottery ticket and won 15 million dollars. That is pretty awesome.

I been around the world...

I was in Orlando, Florida.

In any case, Nico and Dave survived last week, with no scarring. So that is good. While I was gone, Nico started putting "Can I?" on the front of questions. So instead of saying, "Nico wash the dishes." he is now saying, "Can I wash the dishes?" Its pretty awesome. He has also started inquiring about the world around him. Like, "Mama, did you take a shower?" "Is Daddy in the bathroom?" and "Where is Drake?"

He is also addicted to Calliou... a show about a preschool boy on Sprout. There are a ton of Calliou videos on youtube... so there is that. They aren't bad... usually about 8 minutes a piece. Is it good that he watches 3 in a row when its time to go to bed? No Is it good that he generally only wants to watch when he is bored?" No. Are Dave and I terrible parents for letting him? Probably. Oh well. If it means that now he wont be a doctor, I guess I am going to have to do a good job on selling him on why its awesome that he isnt going to be 150,000.00 in debt when he graduates. Meh.

So the weather here was beautiful this weekend. I got home on Friday night and we spent the night just hanging out and catching up on my Nico snuggles. Saturday we did some errands and ran up to Thomasville to catch part of a TUFC game (several of our high school girls were playing in a tournament). We ended up stopping by PoBoys on the way home and having an early dinner. Sunday we did some more errands and I stayed home with Nico while he napped so Dave could go to the gym. We made chef salad and homemade chicken noodle soup and pretzels for dinner. Dave had wanted to check out Oktoberfest in the All Saints neighborhood, but apprently it wasnt very Festy... This adds to Dave's annoyance with Tallahassee. He is a little spoiled because in Louisville, with all the Catholic churches everywhere, you apparently couldnt swing a deadcat without hitting a festival for some saint, for some reason.

In any case, Dave wants to take Nico down to the Highland games next Saturday in Ocala. He is thinking about making it a day trip... if I dont go, I could stay and watch the dogs. If I did go, we would need someone to let the dogs out (cue song, "Who let the dogs out?")

I applied for a job in Tallahassee last week. I had a phone interview on Thursday and have a face to face interview scheduled for tomorrow. Its managing a project at the Med School. The PI said that they could convert it to a post-doc, which would benefit me immensely. It would be a dramatic improvement in my LIFE. I would be able to work a job that would inherently add lines to my CV through publishing. Plus maybe I'd be able to have a more flexible life... and work the way I like to work, which is early in the morning and after Nico goes to bed. This way I wouldnt have to be trying to bang out papers and job applications at 3 in the morning because my 40 hour a week job expects me to work while I am at work. Pfft. The real benefit for me is that I would be a lot more competitive on the market when I go back on in a year... unlike now, where I dont feel very competitive.

Of course, IE says that its hard to say how competitive I am because rejection letters havent started going out yet. It may be that I am short listed in all the places I have applied (which would be awesome). Highly unlikely, but it would be awesome. Then I would end up in a place where I have to make the choice between staying in the post doc (which will end in two years) or leaving to take a tenure trach job somewhere.

He also says that doing a post doc with the college of medicine might take me further away from sociology and demography. Which I think is a valid concern... it might be hard to go back to demography or even sociology once working with the med school for a while. Of course, I have papers in the pipeline that could keep me solidly in demography. So there is that. But its a nice place to be in. And its definitely nice getting job applications off. Last week, I applied to the University of Delaware, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Louisville, Connecticut College, University of Missouri Kansas City, Francis Marion University and Denison University. My next batch includes The College of New Jersey, U of Nebraska, Loyolay New Orleans, Kent State, UC Santa Barbara, American U., Utah State and Old Dominion.

If I got this job then, I would probably not send out the next round of applications. Then I could spend more time with this guy:

Seriously. Dont you just want to bite him?

Please dont stop the music...

Okay... so Nico is pretty much adorbs. Every time we pass by statue animals, he wants to go hug them. Seriously... how freakin' adorable is that? He's done it several times... down in the county we drive by a butcher shop that has a statue pig outside. He goes on and on and on about how he wants to "go hug that pig!" Last night we were down in the county and drove by Lindy's Chicken place on 319 when he declared he wanted to go hug that chicken.

So much so that I narrowly averted a THROW-MELT-DOWN over the matter. The only way I got him through dinner was to promise that we would go by after dinner (a fundraising thing for WHS) so that he could hug the chicken. I sat him up there and he was pretty happy.

He is hilarious because he says things like, "He's so cute!" (about the chicken, the pig or even the dogs). And it sounds so great coming from him...

I also introduced him to The White Stripes yesterday in the car. He wanted to listen to bag pipes- which I didnt have. I did have a mix cd that included "Seven Nation Army" which is pretty awesome, because its a duo- a drummer and guitarist.


I totally killed it on the air drums, which Nico thought was AWESOME.

Speaking of music... is everyone here aware of how much I used to hate live versions of songs and covers? WITH A PASSION. I think it was mostly due to the fact that I listened to a lot of greatest hits growing up (esp Bruce Springsteen), so I thought anything DIFFERENT than the original version was CRAP. Well... it started when Dave got me the 1975-87 Live Bruce Tour album, and my mind was changed. I love covers of songs I already love... and the live versions... sometimes they get a little different, but most the time its cool. For example, my favorite version of Thunder Road is off of the Hammersmith Tour, back when Bruce was a BABY... seriously... its so chilled out- a totally different feel than the Thunder Road you yell at the top of your lungs with the windows down doing 85 on the interstate.



In any case, because I am the biggest nerd of all nerds, I have a twitter account, which I use to "follow" people and things I like... so that I dont have to wade through lots of crap on the internet to see things I like. I follow the Counting Crows and was intrigued when they announced that they were putting out an album of live versions of songs off "August and Everything After", which is one of my favorite albums. EVER. So I downloaded. It hasnt been disappointing. At all. Long story long, if you havent had the chance, you should check it out.

Whorelando and the 407...

Not much going on around here. I am busier than a one-legged man in an a$$ kicking contest. And worse, at work, they are making me work!! Can you believe it? Noooooooo!

I am going to Orlando next weekend for a training in one of the programs we offer, Living Healthy. It is an evidence-based program that helps people manage chronic conditions (like arthritis, diabetes, cancer, etc) through action planning and such. We are, thanks to yours truly (yes, I am accepting all kinds of credit for this) ramping up partnership development with the Veteran's Administration, which involves them embedding our programs in their health care delivery system. So the training is mostly for the VA and my supervisor is sending me to learn more about the program, so that I can know what I am talking about when I try to convince others to do our programs. I am pretty excited about it... especially since it will give me the chance to meet people I have been talking to on the phone for MONTHS.

It means that Nico and Dave are going to be on their own next week. YIKES. Don't like. Which sucks. But it also means I am going to the Adidas outlet, Ikea and Joes Crab Shack. In no particular order. What- what? Of course, it doenst even come close to balancing out for six days with no Nico snuggles :( but it sure does beat sitting at my desk sending email and scheduling confernce calls.

The PRICE IS WRONG!!

We had an amazing weekend around here. 

It started with a workout at the YMCA on Saturday.  We planned to go to the pool, but it was closed for maintanence.  So Dave took Nico to Wade Wehunt for swimming and I came home to get lunch started.  True story: I lost the cap to the swimming pool that Granny You bought Nico for his birthday last year.  I tried two different places to buy replacement caps (for the valve where you blow up the pool).  I eventually had to concede that we weren't going to be able to use the pool and ended up throwing it away.  I know.  I am terrible.  Not only am I a shitty daughter but a terrible environmentalist.  In any case, I bought a replacement pool and ended up filling it on Saturday so Nico could swim at the house. 

Nico had a shortish nap on Saturday and when he woke up swam for a little with Daddy while I went to Lowes.  I wanted to get a few more strawberry plants for the garden.  My plan is to have a ton of strawberry plants in the spring.  When I got home from Lowes, Nico and I planted the strawberry plants and transferred the herbs we bought last week to pots.  We now have rosemary, mint, and basil growing in pots.  Not to mention three new tomato plants with blooms (so they should come in any day now).  The pepper plants are going like crazy- I harvested another 5 jalapenos on Saturday.  Plus, I put some bibb lettuce and arugula in the ground last week.  The only thing I need is for cucumbers to get on board and grow. 

We ended up grilling on Saturday... can I share with you how I was able to make my favorite burger ever?  Hardees used to have a jalapeno thick burger on toasted bread.  Yes.  I went there.  It was amazing.  I am still blown away by its awesomeness.  Nico has either turned the corner on picky eating or he is growing through a growth spurt, because little homey is eating everything.  Except for vegetables.  No joke.  So where we used to have a bag of chicken nuggets on hand (just in case), we are just giving him what we eat, plus supplementing with stuff he should eat (like yogurt, fruit, etc.)  In fact, Saturday night, Nico put away most of the bag of grapes I bought on Friday.  A lot like Uncle JJ, I think. 

Sunday I went to campus to work...after realizing I lost my keys.  Yes.  I am a grown ass woman.  I lost my keys.  I have no idea where they could possibly be.  So that was annoying.  I got about half way through the edits that Ike suggested on our paper.  Hoping to email that thing off this week-on Friday.  When I got home, we all worked out side.  Dave spilled a can of paint on the patio... so he was busy turning that into an ecological disaster when I detailed my car (except for the floor mats- suck!!)  I even replaced the bulb in my headlight... my own self.  And I replaced my wipers.  And Dave changed my air filter.  Everytime I have a little win like this, I think to myself, "The PRICE IS WRONG, BITCHES!"  I don't know why, or why I would share that with you... but I just did.  Boo yah!!

So that was our weekend.  Some pictures of the cute!!

A is for Aston Villa...

So, we had a pretty good weekend. 

We started with some errands on Friday night.  I scooped up Nico and went to Jo-Anns... I wanted to finish buying the 1st Annual Emme Maddox joint Birthday Box.  Someone is getting a pink camo bandana.  Just sayin... I also needed some supplies to work on the first of my handmade christmas gifts, as that season has started... that person's name rhymes with Micole... sssssshhhh dont tell her!!  She is going to LOVE it!!

After Jo-Anns, Nico and I got some grocerieis... with preseason starting up this week, we are trying to do a lot of crock-pot and make ahead meals.  Also, I bet you didnt know this, but the pepper plants I planted back in the summer are really putting out some awesome jalapenos.  In fact, at the grocery, I bought some habaneros to make some hot sauce as a Christmas gift for the Nicodys.  The reason that I mention it now, is that apparently the hot sauce tastes like burn... so I dont think it will be a gift.  Turns out hot sauce isnt just like setting kerosene on fire and putting it in a bottle... apparently its supposed to have a flavor other than burn.  Who knew?  In any case, I have opted out of the hot sauce as a gift item, which is unfortunate, because I am afraid to throw it away, that it might turn into some sort of natural disaster at the dump... kind of like what happend when Homer insisted on keeping a pig in the house in The Simpsons Movie... meh?

Saturday we took Nico swimming at the Y, which he loved (obviously).  I then went to a soccer/booster club meeting, to get our ducks in a row for the season, which starts tonight.  All I have to say is this:  THERE WILL BE PUKE! 

I am making the girls do a cooper test run (which is 1.3 miles in 12 min, which is a brisk pace.  Plus circuits, indian runs and plyos.  Gonna be awesome.  The season should go well- we graduated only 4 seniors this year... but now we have the culmination forces resulting in an epic decision.... we have several girls who are seniors who have been on JV, and we gotta figure out what to do with them this year.  Plus we have something like 2349057923487 seniors on varsity... so we have to balance how to get some younger players some experience while still ensuring that we get the outcomes we want. 

Sunday I finished up a paper and got two applications sent off (University of Buffalo and La Salle Univeristy).  Fingers crossed.

Nico is talking up a storm lately... Dave has been teaching him the letters that stand for soccer clubs in Europe- which is adorable.  Like A is for Aston Villa and Aberdeen.  Hope to get him on camera doing it this week.  Very cute. 

More tomorrow.

The sea turtle came to see him...

Well, we had a brilliant holiday here!

We left for Atlanta on Sunday, and drove the four hours up with Nico being a peach most of the way.  I worked on a christmas gift- getting it started early!!  Woo hoo!!

When we checked into the hotel, we noticed a rather large presence of weirdos.  Turns out there was a dragon convention called Dragon Con.  A full on festival of dorks dressed up as characters from sci-fi and fantasy books, movies and television shows.  Seriously. 

We've been telling Nico for a week how much fun he was going to have, that we were going to ride on a train (the MARTA subway) and taxis. So after Nico's obligatory swim in the pool  we headed out for dinner.  We found a place online called Marlow's Tavern.  We took the MARTA three stops to get there... Nico was kind of nervous.  Lets be real, he was scared.  He didnt want to go on the subway train.  But after a while, he warmed up a bit to it (some Mama Snuggles helped).  I am a terrible mom, so I didnt manage any pictures of his first train ride.  :(

The dinner was awesome... I had shrimp and grits (yeah, dont tell mom) and Dave had a burger.  Nico had "fish sticks" that were grown up quality.  We took a taxi back to the hotel and Nico was asleep in about 2 minutes.  Monday morning we woke up and headed to the aquarium.  We walked, even though it was raining... a lot of fun. 

When we got to the aquarium, we bought tickets to see the dolphin show, which Nico really liked. 


There were some parts that were a little scary- there was some thunder and it was dark... but overall, he was intrigued.  He seemed to really like the dolphins... and I want one... they are kinda like dogs, like you can hug them and everything.  They are pretty cool. 

There were some other things that were pretty cool, like the acryllic tube that goes through a fish tank.  Lots of cool things to look at like sharks and sea turtles and penguins.  Nico has been saying tha tthe sea turtle came to see him (because he swam right up to him while Nico was standing in front of the window looking at him).  Very cool.  I think Nico would really enjoy it when he gets older.  There is also this thing called the "Beluga Program" where you can get in the water with Beluga whales... am thinking this would be an amazing birthday gift when he gets a little older one day. 

The trip back was relatively uneventful.  Fast forward to last night when Dave was giving Nico a bath and he said he wanted to sit on the frog (its a little kid potty that Grandma and Grandpa Royse got Nico when they were in town last month).  I wasnt really sure what path we wanted to take with the potty training- the, everyone is on lock down, Nico drinks five gallons of juice and only goes in the potty trainer method, or the more gradual, lets let him show some interest and then move on to going onto the big/real potty with the seat on it method that they use at his school.  I know some people (like Nicole and Cody) who have been really successful with the lockdown weekend method.  But I also have Nico's school to contend with... plus while he has shown SOME interest in using the potty, he seems a little young and not quite ready to make the leap. 

So guess what he did last night?  Peed in the frog potty?  WHA-WHAT?  Couldnt believe it!!  It was awesome.  Part of the problem for me has been, does he know what "peeing" is, what should go where and when?  So him peeing (and our subsequent celebration of it) I am hoping is proof that what he did should go in the potty... so who knows? But very cool though. 

Know what's also cool?  This video of Nico doing Judo.  He is growing up to be quite the judoka. 

Nico Cutes

I started a post yesterday, but didnt get around to finishing it.  So far the week has been okay.  I was supposed to get my wisdom teeth out today.  Between them not having x-rays and my dental insurance not being as awesome as I thought it would be, I decided to put off the surgery until later in November.  So I gave back my day off on Thursday but am still taking Friday off... to do the x-rays and other variety of nonsense.  

This week we have been working on a report to the CDC.  Its been kind of annoying because my supervisor isnt terribly adept with technology.  So she and my coworker have been asking me to complete minor tasks and rather than doing the EASY thing, which is to put it in an email and copy and paste into the word document they are using, I am doing things like putting it all in a text document and formatting it properly and then sending it... which is frustrating, because it creates extra work for me and for the person who needs the information, when you can just as easily copy and paste as text.  Of course when I try to explain this isnt very efficient, my concerns are dismissed like I dont know what I am talking about.  Working with MS Word is hard.  Whatever.  

I made a kickass meatloaf for dinner tonight.  It was AWESOME.  And I dont really like meatloaf all that much.  Who knew?  Here are some Nico pics:

Nico playing the drums.  

Nico working in the garden this afternoon.

I know.  Seriously.

Nico at Wakulla Springs a month ago.  Swimmin...

Band nerd- what?

True story: I am a terrible aunt.  Yeah.  Maddox and Emme's birthdays are one month before and one month after Nico's, respectively.  And I havent gotten them birthday gifts.  Isnt that terrible?  I dont know what to get them.  Really.  Know that delimma?  What do you get the kid who has everything?  That is these two kids.  I like craft and art supplies... but dont know if that is a crappy birthday gift.  I got Maddox one of those big crayola sets (because I always wanted one).  But I am worried its kinda lame.  I dont know.  I gues I am just nervous. 

Not much else to report.  Except that apparently my face is breaking out.  Again.  BARF. 

Dave and I are taking Nico to Atlanta this weekend.  We want to take him to the aquarium.  I think it will be fun.  We are leaving Sunday afternoon and getting back on Monday.  So that will be fun.  I also finished a looming craft project last weekend (appliquing onesies for a co-worker/friend).  So I see some progress on my soft green shawl being made in the car.  I am actually contemplating leaving my computer at home.  GASP. 

Here is a video I took of Nico on Monday when we got home from school.  We have this new thing where I make him run up the hill a couple of our driveway a couple of times. 



Am I the only one that he looks like Forrest Gump without the leg braces?  With his khakki pants and plaid shirt?  Isnt that weird?

Also, here is video of his drum jam session with Daddy. 


Some background:  When we had watched all the dump truck, recycling truck, digger and garbage trucks on the internet- Nico was bored.  So we turned ot other forms of entertaininment, which apparently included drummers.  Steet drummers, japanese drummers, etc.  So that is his thing these days.  My kid is turning into a band nerd.  Before my very eyes.  No joke.  I guess I am going to have to start putting him in the garbage can, for practice.  What the F?  Here is the thing:  band nerds convince themselves that they arent nerds... they are the epitome of cool... in fact, they work hard to live down the nerd rep by partying harder than anyone else in school.  Seriously- in high school, its one of the only regular coed events that you can do.  Hours spent on band trips with LOTS of members of the opposite sex.  So they are also the ones having all the sex. At least this is how it was when I was in highschool.  So I have that to look forward to.  SUCK.

Well, I guess if Nico is going to be in the band, there are worse instruments that he could play... like the clarinet.  At least when I was in high school, if there were cool kids in band, they were on the drum line.  The rest were nerds (sorry Dave).