Saturday, Girls play

It has been such a lovely day with my daughter. Of course, she slept in our bed with me because she couldn't possibly let me sleep alone ;)
We got up and made pancakes....and yes, that is the American maple syrup that I cart back with me every summer and/or Christmas visit to the States....
We had our nails done....even in her cast she can still be girlie!
Then we spent our day watching her favorite Backyardigans movies, drawing, reading, walking the dog, and just generally being together. She never leaves my side; she just DOES NOT like to be alone. EVER.

So, then we got ready for our dinner out. We walked to one of our favorite restaurants and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner together. It was a little lonely without our boys! but, we laughed a lot and talked....
geez, she can't grow up too fast, PLEASE!

This is my favorite in this restaurant...it doesn't look real good in the photo, but it is so yummy....
spinach ravioli filled with an apple/pear filling and brie cheese sauce...my daughter had her favorite, penne bolognesa.....
and of course, our hot brownie with ice cream for dessert....Thank Heaven for little girls!

Girls Rule!

The girl's weekend has officially begun...
My husband and son have gone away to a family wedding and me and my daughter are having a girlie weekend.
We started it off by going to McDonald's. Now we don't go there that often, but hey, why not. I was busy all day arranging flowers for a few people...I made 8 today, not bad! This is my favorite:
Then I took tennis and realized how little I had eaten today. So, when we decided to go to Mc Donald's I thought, why not! Well, let me tell you....
I ordered the Cheddar Burger. It tasted good enough, but the melted "cheddar" was the strangest neon orange I have ever seen! I mean even more neon than Velveeta!
Well, I vow to eat better and post about our weekend!
Happy Friday to all of you!

one down....

Steelers Win it in the last 4 seconds...
AGAIN
19-16
Here we go Steelers, here we go!
Onto the Season opener on September 7th!
Bring out your Terrible Towel, Steeler Fans!!

what is a girl to do....

the Steelers last pre-season game is tonight (as opposed to the last weekend, when I posted with the title "last preseason game"!)
Barack Obama and the National Democratic Convention
The US Open Tennis tournament...
packing for the boys trip...(my husband and son are going to a wedding of a cousins, and decided to make a boys weekend out of it)

What am I to do????

have a nice evening!

Tooth fairy luck (again)

So, it seems like fate should have it that once again, our girl, The Tooth Fairy, has come through again.
See Tooth Fairy Troubles for our last incident and read on for our next....

Scene: Mom goes to school to help daughter with broken wrist carry her backpack down the endless flights of steps the school has.... script follows:

Daughter: Look Mom!

Mom looks at daughter's empty space in her mouth where her tooth once occupied, acts excited

Mom: Wow, daughter, it finally fell out! Yea! Where is it?

Daughter looks way too sad, Mom wonders if fate has happened again....

Teacher: Well, we seem to have lost it down the drain or somewhere near the sink...
Daughter: Yea, it just fell right down the sink. I don't know what to do now.
Mom: Don't worry, we'll write a note just like Son did when we lost his.

Mom is not quite believing that this is really happening again....wondering if this happens to others, knowing the answer is yes, but Mom doesn't remember ever having to write a note to the Tooth Fairy...

Note as follows: (spelling is very good in this note as opposed to Son's because Mom had to write it since Daughter's wrist is broken)

Dear Tooth Fairy
I lost my tooth in the sink. Can you look for it?
Thank you Tooth Fairy, Daughter

Well, don't you know, that Tooth Fairy came through again. Mom guesses her bell rang again, and she came through for Daughter, just as she did for Son....
Note as follows:

Dear Daughter
No worries, for I have found your tooth..
The sink had it in its pipes...
It is now with my collection of teeth!
Keep brushing, The Tooth Fairy

Boy, what would Mom do if this Tooth Fairy wasn't so clever???

last postseason....

WON!
they didn't play the most cohesive game, but they eeked it out in the last 4 seconds with a 47 yeard field goal. Go Black and Gold

in the spirit

Today is Spirit day at the school....
the kids dress in pajamas, slippers and can bring a doll....
can you guess who got to go with my daughter?
Yep....
Mr. FooFoo
I asked her how she choose him and she said...
"When I asked my dolls if they wanted to go to school with me, he was the only one that said yes, he would like to see my classroom."

Well, good for Mr. FooFoo...he will have a very special day indeed.

Enjoy your day

update: BMW vs. Fiat

Here is my daughter's newest cast...as the doctor here said...(in Portuguese)
"It's the American style....let me give you an example... imagine driving to (read: a place that is a suburb of where we live), you can drive there in your Fiat or in a BMW.... they both do what is asked, but obviously one is better than the other"
we went with the BMW....


15 more days, and then back to check it out again. And as you can see from the foto, nothing can stop her...not even having to use her left hand. She writes, draws, plays and, as seen in the foto, cooks with her left hand. All almost as good as with her right!

ps-don't you just love the cooking picture with Mr. Foofoo...she names ALL of her stuffed animals.

Sunday at the salon....

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

So, orange.....
cool I'll go with it! Actually, my hair sometimes has tinges of orange in it after all the sun from the beach!
My only question to those that really "know" me is....
do I really pull off weird well? LOL ;)

still the biggest fan...

That's how it works with the Steelers fans....
I will still post it, win or lose
and I will still be their biggest fan!
Steelers-21
Bills-24
just a small 3 point, field goal.....
oh well, onto the next game....

Tagged

Six unspectacular things about me


First you post the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks you possess.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Hello friends
1. I was tagged by Jodi
2. There are the rules ^
3. Here are the 6 (and sorry to not play exactly as the rules state...but for 4 and 5... all of my blogger friends are tagged! Anyone that wants to do it, go for it!)

1. I like google....i search for a lot of different topics including, but not limited to, the word unspectacular
unspectacular- adj. not spectacular; hhhhmmmm, that helps a lot. so, the next 5 are dedicated to my unspectacular, not spectacular self...
2. I am right handed like somewhere around 70-90% of the world.
3. I used to wear glasses/contacts until I had laser eye surgery, one of the best medical inventions, ever.
4. I am married with children and have 2 pets, but all of you know this anyways, right? (Remember the defintiion: unspectacular: not spectacular)
5. I like to laugh. (duh, who doesn't )
6. I like to blog. (duh, as all who read this probably do too!)

Unspectacular- not spectacular

in my Olympics theme...

You Are Tennis

You are highly competitive and driven. You're in it to win, and you will keep going until you do. You crave fame, success, and the envy of others.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

The funny thing is.... I love to play tennis! Doubles, singles, classes.....

the Big 7

Here are the results of my 7 Deadly Sins Quiz....

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Very Low
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Low
Pride:	High

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Kinda fun...see where your faults lie ;)

The 2008 Olympics

First of all, let me say, I really enjoy the summer olympics. There are so many diverse and interesting sports to watch.
What I don't like:

*professional athletes, like basketball players, tennis players (read: I love tennis, watch every chance I get, so no disrespect meant to my favorites like Federer and Nadal), etc....

*the pressure that the media puts on the athletes...
for example:
there was a swimmer that kept swimming, in both of her semi-finals, close to the (read:agh, I can't remember the word in English...but in Spanish they are the Carileras...) the, ok, hold on, I will open my translator...ok, can't find it...but anyways, the lane dividers. The first thing that the media asked her, despite her pulling in a great time to go into the final, was about her swimming close to them.... no good job, no how do you feel overall... NO, it is: so, how do you feel about swimming so close to the lane divider? is there something wrong?, etc...
example number two:
they couldn't stop talking about the mess of an affair with these two other female swimmers.... one from France and one from Italy... I won't get into it, but it was all about their personal lives.

What I do like:

I love to watch the swimming. It is now 1 a.m. here in Brazil, and I just finished watching the most amazing finish with the Men's 4 x 100 Medley. France was favored to win, and even one of the French swimmers said they would "smash the Americans"...but in the last 100 the American, Lezak, came from behind to win the Gold by 7 hundredths of a second! All four of the men, led off by Michael Phelps, were AMAZING
We used to swim 3 times a week in Venezuela... I think swimming is my favorite Summer Olympic sport...

What's yours?

Steelers Update

The pre-season has started....
I am sitting here in Brazil, loving my sling box from the States that allows me to watch my Steelers.....



Final Score: 16-10, Steelers WIN

:(

Well, just a little after 8 in the morning, I get a call from the school nurse. Never a happy moment in my life.
My girl, all of 7 years old, skirt/dress-loving, sweetheart, may have a fracture at her wrist.
Let me describe her....
she loves to wear skirts or dresses, put on the occasional lip gloss, perfume, cream, plays with her stuffed dolls, pretty little girl...
BUT, she also loves to play with the boys. I don't know if this is because of her big brother, or what, but she is a tomboy in a skirt!
I don't mind. She has a lot of confidence and can hold her own against anyone.....
but as the boys get older and stronger, maybe being the goalie in their soccer was not the best idea....
4 weeks, poor girl. She is upset most about missing her tennis and art classes, but I don't think it hit her yet that she can't go into the water at the beach. She loves the beach too....

Inspiration for the day

I hope this link works...let me know~
http://www.superlaugh.com/1/interview.htm

are you kidding me?

I can write only as it happened....
Last Friday night we went to going away party for some friends of ours (a usual occurrence when living overseas).
We were invited by this couple, who asked me to bring a salad. The party was lovely...
there were two servers (also usual because of cheaper labor overseas), two salads,(mine and from another lady), wine and champagne, salmon and a meat dish, desserts....
They had bought them 3 beautiful photo books about Brazil...
all seems normal right?

Skip to Tuesday and an email from the person who invited us, and held it in their house, and asked for the salad (written to all that had attended):

Thank you for joining us in our home for the farewell of Mr. and Mrs. It was a lovely evening. But as you know, nothing comes for free in this world, so please see the attached (read: excel spread sheet) for your costs for the party. Please pay at your convenience.

WHAT??? EXCUSE ME???

Both my husband and I were shocked. I could totally understand if they wanted all of us to help out with the gift that they choose to give them. But PLEASE, to pitch in for everything else? I mean maybe if they had come out BEFORE the party and said something like, let's all pitch in together and have a farewell party, etc...but after the fact? AND after they asked me to bring a salad?
The spread sheet has everything broken down into servers, food, drinks, gift, etc...
my question that I feel like emailing back to them:

Do I get to deduct the cost of my salad?

tooth fairy troubles..

In the hub-bub of reading all the new material from the first day of school, along with getting dinner ready and just a general "fullness" to the house what with my Parents and Sister and her son here....
we lost the tooth that my son lost at school!
It was a pretty depressing scene when we went to go to bed and we couldn't find the tooth. So, I suggested that we write her a note. My son had said how she probably knows when teeth fall out because a bell rings or something. But he felt really bad that his tooth wouldn't go into her collection. After much discussion and persuading, he finally wrote her a note:

Dear tooth fary,
I lost my tooth. I can't give it to you. I am sorry about your collection.

Luckily the tooth fairy is a smart girl! How do I know? Because when he woke up this morning he had a note back....it had a picture of a tooth printed on it and it said:

Dear (insert my son's name)
Thank you for the note. I did hear my bell ring when your tooth fell out....And I even saw it go into the trash can by mistake. Don't worry; I saved it before it was too late and now it is in my gigantic collection of teeth. Keep brushing and flossing The Tooth Fairy



:) enjoy your day

update on the first day....

Son: My teacher is so cool...

Daughter: I love my teacher....

Me:(in my thoughts):

Yes!  It has started off wonderfully!

My son even lost one of his teeth while eating lunch today!  That's sure is some crunchy chicken!

T minus 10 hours

So, the countdown has begun.  The kids are now asleep EARLY so that they can start school tomorrow morning.  I think they are in a mix of emotions between excited and nervous.

Fourth and Second grades...where has the time gone?

I love to see them growing up.  Every day they surprise me, make me laugh, impress me...

I think being a Mom is the best job in the world!

still here laughing....

First of all, for all of those that read my blog(which is not many but it is quality over quantity for me!) I am sorry that I have been so out of touch.

I have had my family visiting with me in my city, Brazil.

We have had many fun adventures which I will blog about later....but...

two things that I do not want to go too long without posting...

1. Thank you to My Full Hands for my award.  

 She is an amazing woman with 6 children.  Her patience, inventive solutions and fun writing style are quite enjoyable to read.  Please visit her by clicking on the link!

2. I am still laughing about my massage lady tonight.  Ok, yes, I have a massage once a week...quite a luxury I know, but we have to try to enjoy what each country has special and sort of affordable that other countries (aka USA) might have but be more expensive and not so convenient. (read: she comes to my house every Thursday night!!! :))

So, tonight, I asked her about my foot.  It has been hurting me for a really long time.  I feel like it might have a stress fracture, or a fissure (which is similar to a fracture, only much, much smaller.  I know this because my son had this a few years ago on his arm.)

I also am very in tune with pains and aches in my body, due to my ballet career.  So, she says that it could be one of those and that I should go to see an orthopedist.  All this is in Portuguese, but I do speak it well enough to understand everything until....

she says that he will probably ask me to get a ...here's the word....

it sounded like hashish!  no kidding!  I was pondering and racking my brain trying to figure out what that was.  He is going to ask me to smoke hashish kept popping into my mind.  It was so funny!  I knew that she was not meaning that, but she kept repeating it, which is something that many people do to try to make you understand what they are saying.  What most don't realize is that repeating a word is not going to help if you do not understand it from the get-go.  

Finally, she writes down where I could go and how to say orthopedist, which is very similar, but did not need that explained.  Luckily, she also wrote down...

Raio X....  and X-ray, which is VERY similar in Spanish, but...

in Portuguese, the "r" sounds like an "h" and the "x" is something like shish.

My funny for the day...hope it makes you smile, and I promise to blog more often and visit all of my blogger friends soon.....