Brava!

Isn't she lovely? Emi is beaming after her Beginning Musical Theatre recital, The Magic of Music! Next weekend is Seussical!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

After a nice breakfast of French Toast with Mixed Berries, Emi helped me make quesadillas for the pool party later. We pan fried the quesadillas until golden brown, then put them in the fridge to cool serving them cold with salsa or hummus. They are quite good warm too. We ran out to the lake house for Nick's b-day party and hauled "A" back home to finish prepping for the party. I wanted to be in my chair with a drink in hand before any guests arrived.

We had a nice time in the back yard listening to the musical stylings of Chris from Tall Cotton String Band, Leroy and Kitten, Brian, Randy and Scott from Red Eye String Band, Scott's family and Rittle Rindsey.

Wii, Wii, Wii..All the Way Home

My sister, being the awesome sister that she is, nabbed a Wii Fit for us the other day at Sam's! And we've been unable to sleep thinking about how much fun it will be to dodge virtual soccer balls and do yoga, so on the way home from the airshow, we stopped by Aunt Dee Dee's to pick up the Wii Fit. We were also treated to fresh strawberries, spinach and cilantro from her garden. My meager "garden" is limited to 2 tomato plants, a few cilantro plants (yes, we are cilantro freaks), basil and Italian parsley. Oh, and the garlic that Emi and I planted last fall is looking good ...we plan to harvest the bulbs sometime in the near future. Emi was asleep by the time we got home from her Aunt Dee Dee's, but she woke up in time to help me make some Linguini with Clam Sauce. We both fell asleep watching Harry Potter (and the WHAT, I don't recall).

Later, the sweet tea that I drank with dinner woke me up with a vengeance and I was able to catch up the laundry in the basement and mop/vaccuum all of the floors in the house as well before I retired for the evening.

Non-Stick

Today we went to the Star Spangled Salute at Tinker for a little while with some friends. It was a hot and humid and NOISY day. The kids had fun for the most part and I enjoyed Tora! Tora! Tora! (very cool).



At one point an aircraft flew by and Emi was caught unaware in the heart of an inflatable toy and the next thing I knew, she was running out towards me, her fingers stuffed in her ears and tears streaming from her eyes. Her little face was flushed from the heat and she was scared. Daddy and I both felt awful and Emi just wanted to go home. We had to take the bus from Tinker to the closed GM Plant where we parked.

Stay-cation

Heard that term this morning straight from Matt Lauer's mouth and instantly appreciated its meaning -- your "vacay" involves staying at home this Memorial Day weekend. That was what I am all about this weekend. Going into "Teflon" mode deflecting any crap flung my way in order to Max the Relax. Yes, we have the airshow to deal with and all the noise that comes with, and housecleaning and yard work on Saturday, plus the cooking for our guests on Sunday and Monday, but AFTER that prep work, I am parking myself BY THE POOL until work comes Tuesday morning...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Today we headed back to Oklahoma after spending 1 last day at Casa Milagros. It was the best visit ever with my mom and I can't wait for the next visit. Perhaps a trip to Belize? We'll see.

Some Things You Might Find at my mom's place:

Pork Adobo (of course!)

Baby Grapefruit

Lychee Nut Tree

Fishing Pond

Goofy Filipinas!

Happy Mother's Day!

Spending some time at my mother's home in Florida for the first Mother's Day together since my parents divorced over 30 years ago. We see each other a couple of times a year, but previously never for this special day. My sister and I decided to make a long weekend and come to town to play with my mom, and take a break from our busy lives. So far it's been very nice!

Our husbies were kind enough to watch the kiddos while we are on this excursion and that is a wonderful gift for us for Mother's Day! Thanks, Scott and Gabe! We've been indulging in Filipino and Cuban food (save for a night of Hungry Howies) and spending time relaxing at the beach or karaoking here at the house. It's beautiful and tranquil here, especially first thing in the morning. I've been going to sleep when I'm tired and waking up when I am rested (hallelujah!). My vacay habit has been to get up before the rest of the house without the aid of an alarm clock, fix some coffee and step out into the chunk of paradise that is my mom's place. The swaying Spanish moss on the trees and the scent of Gardenia take me back to my early childhood days when life was so carefree.

Coming here - the first homeplace I can remember - without any agenda, just going with the flow has been very cathartic. Things that I stuffed way down a long time ago, memories, have freed themselves and continue to bubble up (with the aid of talking with my mom and sister and BEING HERE) and it's refreshing to remember my childhood in greater detail...

We didn't manage to get it together to COOK my mom breakfast for this special day but we did the next best thing and trucked it over to Panera Bread for a nice breakfast spread to offer her. In exchange, she juiced more fresh picked oranges for us. I think we are getting a little spoiled...

What a Wonderful World

We started off with breakfast Cuban style at La Familia. We found out that Cuban bread CAN come in wheat! We already knew that Cuban bread makes excellent toast for dipping in your Eggs Over Medium too, coupled with a cup of Cafe con Leche and you have a little slice of heaven. Especially if you know you are getting ready to head to the beach - Ft. DeSoto this time - with some fresh pressed Cuban sandwiches! Yummers!

Caladesi Island

Today we decided to put on our bathing suits and drive (and drive and drive!). We took the ultra scenic route to Caladesi Island passing numerous beaches along the way. I can't complain because I was snoozing in the back seat off and on and didn't have any plans. We saw a LOT of south Florida, native plants and animals and a lot of flesh, mine included on the beach! I've posted some pics and video for you to enjoy!

We parked at Honeymoon Beach (a place I'd like to check out in the future with my husband) and took the ferry to Caladesi Island. We had to wait almost an hour on next ferry because it was a slow day. I took advantage of the time we waited in the pavilion to educate myself on the wildlife around these parts: the mangroves used to prevent erosion, the native gopher turtle and RATTLESNAKES that sometimes live in the same hole together, the raccoon and other varmints (how the hell do these animals GET to the tiny island in the first place?). What else? Spiders and other fun insects.

On the way to Caladesi I spotted a dolphin and the ferry driver stopped the boat so we could all get a better look. That's when the dolphin got shy. This happened numerous times on the way and my sister and I thought that the dolphins just liked to jack around with the tourists!

We grabbed some souveneirs and cheeseburgers on the island before we hit the beach. After we got settled, my sister was just digging into her burger when she started to say "Wouldn't it be funny" when the seagulls attacked her from behind grabbing her burger. She thought she'd been hit with a beach ball at first. Needless to say, she never did finish her story....and mom and I ate our burgers under the safety of the umbrella...

Cuban Food and Dallas Bull

We arrived in Tampa this afternoon and our mom picked us up from the airport. On the way home we stopped by Walmart to pick up essentials (and a few non-essentials) and then we made our way to a Cuban Cafe (La Familia) to get some sandwiches to chow on as soon as we got home. Very nice!

After dinner we had a couple of beers and asked Mom what she might want to do with a free evening. She mentioned a place called Dallas Bull (with her accent I thought it was Dallas BALL until we actually got to the bar). It just happened to be Ladies Night and the place was PACKED with lots of young energetic drunk people line dancing. We stood around trying to force down the watered down beer and watching the many line dances (which really seemed to be the same dance over and over) and decided we were too old and sober to really enjoy this place. We may go back on Mother's Day to redeem ourselves!

Hot Mamma

No, not really. I just had my FIRST mammogram today after putting it off for 2 years. I can tell you it was not as unpleasant as I'd imagined. I pictured an uncaring technician who would flatten my breasts suddenly like the slamming of a book while avoiding eye contact all the while telling me not to breathe (or cry). Or, worse, maybe that she'd be something like the sky waitress from our recent trip to Long Beach.

Instead my technician was a lovely woman named Lynn who instructed me to undress from the waist up and don a cute little "cape" with a single snap in the front. There were wipes to use to remove any residual deodorant from my pits. I placed my belongings in the basket she provided. Lynn was very thorough in her explanations and breast exams...there were two, one standing up and the other laying down. She knew exactly where I would be (was) tender and why (coffee, hormones, child, stress). I let her know that my 5 yr old knew the exact spots because her elbows could find them precisely at the peak of my tenderness. After the exams, we carried my basket across the hall to the mammography room.

Lynn told me to push my cape (although she called it something else) over my shoulders and let me know that we'd be putting my right breast on the tray which looked a little high to me. She was great in that she cleaned off the machine before shooting the films so I wouldn't get any cooties. After my breast was resting on the tray, she moved the plexiglas paddle down slowly and explained that I should keep breathing until she told me to stop and that the machine would press down a little more so I shouldn't be alarmed. Things were cool, I breathed until she instructed me to stop, she took the picture and we moved on. We got 2 shots of each breast flattened down, then we used the "bookend" method and got some pics of my breast flattened sideways. Not too bad really. Much more tolerable than the bitewing x-rays at the dentist.

As suspected, I have dense breast tissue so I shouldn't be alarmed if the technician review my pictures calls to chat...and ask me to come in for more invasive pictures. Or possibly an ultrasound. I was a LITTLE disappointed because I had brought a book to read in the waiting room and I had barely read my first page when the technician called me back. ;.( I arrived 20 minutes before my appt to register and Mary Ann was so efficient with the registration and Lynn so efficient with her exams and pictures that I was back in my car in about 40 min total!!