Archive for September, 2007
The Season of Fall
Chuck September 29th, 2007
Fall is now upon us, although here in Florida you would hardly notice. No, Florida in my opinion really doesn’t get to enjoy a fall season. I know that is one thing I miss about being further north, and that is the season of fall. To me fall is about the beginning of the end of the year. The spring and summer foliage begins to decay back to the earth. Children go back to school to fill their heads with lots of new and interesting things.
The itch of the holiday seasons creep in like a hurricane… They are far far away, and before you know it… BAM! They are right upon you! That is one thing I noticed does not really change much around here. We are closest to the tropics, so hurricane season actually lasts until about Nov. 1st here. By that time most of the folks in the country are freezing their rears off already, enjoying the first snows of the year and feeling more and more into the holiday spirits.
Holidays here are weird. We have actually had great Thanksgiving times here. And Christmas is not all that bad either. I suppose it depends on what side of the weather you are on, and how you prefer experiencing the holiday season. I grew up where it was usually cold on Christmas… and usually we had seen snow at least once by then. Here it is just the opposite. I could hang up the outside lights in shorts and a t-shirt and come in sweating! I don’t really find that enjoyable, but that is me. I didn’t really find freezing my arse off doing the outdoor lights in Jersey too much fun either! lol, but, at least it felt right. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be cold during the holidays? Most people would agree that when they think of holidays, they also think of shopping, traffic, food, friends, family, and COLD!
I spoke with my mother today, and she was complaining that it had been near 90 up where she lives… All I could think was… [welcome to what we get to see another 2 months yet ma!] Hell before she knows it, she will be taking that comment back begging it was 90 again. I know there was a spell 2 or 3 weeks ago that it was in the 40’s and 50’s at night… that is just beautiful! Great sleeping weather.
As I sit here typing this post up, the wind outside is whipping around like mad. It almost sounds like there is a weak hurricane blowing about out there. This has been a weird day for weather around here. It was hot and humid as usual, but this morning was one of those freak Florida moments you get to see once in a while. I decided to take Rae and the kids to breakfast, since this is the last weekend we have until the baby arrives. YAY! As we left the house we drove down about 1/4 mile to get out of our neighborhood, and it was so funny. When I looked out to the left, it was sunny and no rain. When I looked to the right, it was pouring and gray! We were literally in the cusp of the rainstorm. I mean, it was sliced almost so precisely that even one side of the van seemed to hardly have any drops on it, and the other was soaked! We just sat there and laughed, and Brittany was like Ohhh Cooool. It was one of those rare things we just find freaky yet enjoyable.
Oddly enough, later on after breakfast we were heading down the highway, and you could see about 1/4 mile in front of us, another storm was blowing in from the ocean. As we turned, a minute or 2 later the highway we were on was black and hardly noticeable with heavy rain covering it… but we… were dry again! The rest of the day was on and off sun and rain, so there goes the thought of yard work.
At least around here there really is not much to do as far as a “fall clean up” with a ton of leaves to rake. I sure don’t miss doing that! I miss it for the kids though, cause i can remember having a blast in the piles of leaves after I spent all day raking them, then I would jump all around in them… basically causing myself to have to rake them all up again an hour later lol. Brittany and Vincent would love that kind of playing.
I am not sure when we will get the baby shower pictures up, since Wednesday is the C-Section and I have a lot to do between now and then. Rae is taking it easy as she can till then, laying in bed mostly and reading to keep her mind of feeling miserable, so I really don’t expect she will be on the computer for at least a week or 2 unless she has the urge to sneak on before then.
Baby Shower Surprize
Chuck September 23rd, 2007
SURPRISE!! Is what Rae heard when she walked through the door to an unexpected barbecue I said I wanted to stop by on the way to go to a store.
She asked, “Who do you know that lives over here?” I just shook my head and said “hunney, it’s just for a few minutes, let’s just drop by and say Hi”.
To get her to leave the house, I told her we were going to head to Lowe’s for some hardware I need to prepare some furniture we have for the baby’s room. She was game for the idea, as she also figured she would look for some stenciling while there. As we were driving down the road I said “would you like to swing by a house down the street here, there is a barbecue going on, oh, it’s just some people from work.” Rae was a little weirded out by this last second idea, and before she could speak I had turned off our intended route and headed towards the “BBQ”.
There was only one person outside when we arrived, Danielle, from my work. They said hi to one another and Rae began to be at ease with the idea, as I said we are here for the BBQ Danielle… “Oh good good, the BBQ, yes yes… come inside Rae!” Just as we were up to the door, Rae turned to make sure the kids were right behind her, and her aunt was walking up the driveway. At this point Rae was like… what are you doing here?? This is people Chuck know from work… wait… wait… umm.. Surprise!!
She was pretty speechless and a bit in shell shock I’m sure. She had no idea what was in store for her this day. Everyone had done a wonderful job keeping it quiet, even my mother-in-law… Thanks Mom! The afternoon went without a flaw. Games were played, gifts were given, and our own kids behaved wonderfully. Rae and I are extremely thankful to everyone who participated and wished us well with our coming baby. Most of the people at the party were women I work with on a daily basis, who have only known me for just under 3 months. When the idea came up to toss this party for my wife came up, I was not only surprised I was anxious and overjoyed because my wife deserves it, and this being our last attempt to have a baby, it would be a good ending to our prego days. Yes I say our, as it effects us guys too you know!
I cannot thank the people who arranged this party enough, as they have become really good friends in my book. Thanks Lisa, April, Danielle, Stacy for all the preparations and time you took out of your daily busy lives to accomplish this event. Did I mention the games rocked too?? Great job ladies!
Rae will be updating with another photo album from the party when she has time. Please be sure to stop by and see the pics if you wish… It will probably be the last album without tons of new baby pics lol.
Mystery Odor, beware!
Chuck September 22nd, 2007
Hello everyone!
This has been a pretty interesting week. Work went well and things at home are still on the move. Rooms have been cleaned, furniture readied for the new baby coming, laundry piled high and ready to be put away. As usual I always look forward to Friday’s so we can spend family time together for the weekend.
On the way home from work, Rae filled me in with progress on the kids health insurance, and other tasks she had accomplished during the day. The kids are both coming down with a cold of some sorts, but they are still in decent spirits most of the time. As we walked into the front door, I immediately asked my wife… “Ummm Hunney, what is that smell?”
She went on to tell me that our oldest Brittany, for whatever reason, did not wipe her rear properly, and had a mess in her underwear. I went off a little bit on her, because she will be 8 this November, and honestly it is time for her to realize good hygiene is a part of a healthy living, and it is expected of everyone in our household.
Shortly after that discussion, my wife went to get herself and Brittany ready for a shower while I cooked dinner. Rae called out, “Hunney, you might want to come here… that smell is still not gone!” Let me tell you… she was RIGHT ON! I walked into the kids bedroom, and not to get graphic, but I was going to spit pea soup hanging out in there. The unknown stench was overwhelming, and honestly to me, it smelled like poop.
We searched high and low for whatever was making that room smell so bad. After about 10-15 minutes of looking around, and crawling under beds and so on, did I decide to give up. Rae and I told Brittany she had 10 minutes to find what was making the smell, or she would be on punishment for the weekend. (as we were still under the impression she had made a stink in her underwear again but was hiding it to stay out of trouble).
Rae and I went out into the living room to wait out Brittany’s trial, when a few minutes later, Vincent came walking into the living room with 2 sippie cups. Rae paused and was looking at him when he took a drink from one of them, and his face cringed up and he looked at her holding the sippie cup up high and cried MOMMA! At that very moment, we knew what the smell was.
Apparently, god knows how long ago this was… Vincent had taken a cup of milk to his bedroom and played a bit. He eventually forgot about his cup, and left it in the wagon in his room, which is filled with stuffed pets and people. We guess after a while, the milk went super sour, and began to leak from the cup. The poor defenseless stuffed animals sat there and soaked up the rotted milk, rotting them in the process.
Once it was all over, 2.5 large garbage bags of stuff pets and dolls went to the curb, and salvageable things were cleaned.
That is one thing you will learn when dealing with a few young kids in the house… you start to learn who you can believe and who you can’t. Usually we would not believe Brittany, because she does this sort of thing on a regular basis, and gets in trouble for it just as much. This time we jumped the gun (almost), but she was actually innocent … THIS TIME…
Moral of the story: Get to the bottom of what is causing that mysterious smell… first!
Then call out the jury! Have a great weekend!
No School Today?
Rae September 17th, 2007
Ever have one of those days where everything is falling right into place then you get sucked into the twilight zone? That is my day. I woke Brittany up early to get her washed up for school since last night was one of those nights where time just slipped away. We got her hair washed and everyone dressed in record time. I quickly whispered to Chuck that I was taking her to the bus and off we went, right on time to catch the bus. We drive up to her old school to catch a bus that takes her to a better school. Well, when we arrived at the bus pick up there was not a soul around. No other parents lining up their cars. No teachers arriving for the work day. In fact only one gate was open and there were only two cars in the whole lot. I looked down at the time which read 7:02am. Something was just not right. Where was everyone?
Seeing that it must be a student holiday or something we turned back around to head home. I dialed my mother once we got to our drive way and she informed me that today was a hurricane day. A WHAT?! That is right a hurricane day. It is used just like a snow day. The school board has two of them set aside just in case we get a tropical wave that closes down the school. I was completely clueless, but decided to make the best of the day. Only problem .. it is raining now after a beautiful sunrise. No school today .. Yea! Now what?
Update: Thank Goodness for Grandpa! He just came to pick up Brittany for a wet zoo trip or a dry skating rink adventure. They will eat lunch then see what the weather is doing. That frees my day up. Now I just have to feed Vincent and get him down for a nap. Wish me luck.