The evolution of cursing - December 27, 2007 -
Mia and Cody are playing together and Cody drops something.
Cody: “Oops”
Mia: “I don’t say ‘Oops’. I say ‘dang it’ because I am big now.
Now it feels like home - December 27, 2007 -
You know, Christmas was so great.
It was so nice to make a Christmas memory in our new town, so I really think the kids feel at home here now.
We all had such a wonderful time, and it is one of those things that I don’t want to talk about. I just want to keep it special and private.
I hope you don’t mind.
I will share my presents from Bill. I got an elliptical stair climber, and I am working up to stepping 30 minutes each day. It is so not easy, and I love the workout I get.
The other present he gave me was a massage. Not a purchased one, but one given to me by himself after all the kids were in bed and the presents under the tree. An hour long, full body massage. Arms, legs, back, neck, head, feet, toes, hands, and fingers. So sweet.
Yup, I know how damn lucky I am.
Merry Christmas time and a Happy New year to you all!
A coastal tradition - December 25, 2007 -
Christmas Eve would not be complete without a gorgeous platter full of these fresh, raw babies.
The Feast of the 7 Fishes - December 25, 2007 -
Scallops with Key lime sauce, crab claws, shrimp, steamed Little Neck Clams with anchovy sauce, fish in foil, and raw oysters.
Christmas party - December 22, 2007 -
So, I look forward to a Christmas party and guess what happens.
I get a cell phone call from my 10yo and he tells me that Quinn woke up from a nap feeling ill….apparently sick to his stomach….and head…and “by God just get thee home because he is sick”. I ask if they have reported said illness to the babysitter and I hear silence. “Um, no. We didn’t. We called you instead”.
So, we leave abruptly from our merriment.
Bill was the designated driver since he was on call with the clinic, so I have had 2 yummy margaritas and my buzz has been majorly harshed.
Arriving home,we find Quinn on the floor in the bathroom. Cody has made a soft pallet for him so he can be near the toilet if the barfs begin. (Must add here that the gift of nurturing is inborn, and that kid was born with it for sure.)
2 Tylenol and 30 minutes later, Quinn is perfectly fine.
Back to my buzz. I am not sure what the heck was in those margaritas, because by this point I had a drunk going….. a slurring words, sway-when-you-walk-Oh-man-the-babysitter-thinks-I-am-a-lush drunk. Mind you that this party began at 1:30pm and that is when the first margarita was set in front of me. In between the first one and the second, there were h’orderves served, as well as dinner which consisted of Chateaubriand, portabella mushrooms, salad etc. We arrived home around 6pm-ish and within 30 minutes I was officially drunk…..on 2 drinks consumed over 4 1/2 hours.
It was bizarre. I am so not talking a little drunk either. I was a lot drunk, and very pissy. I jumped Bill’s case about something trivial and staggered off to bed. I went into the bathroom, looked in the mirror and had such deja vu it wasn’t funny….it felt as if I were 22 again (minus the wrinkles, gray hair, hemorrhoids, stretch marks and 20lbs) back in Yagas Cafe, feeling very, very buzzed, and primping myself for the hot, blond surfer I was finally hooking up with. The only thing missing was the “boom, boom, boom” of reggae music coming through the bathroom walls. Well, that and the 5 other girls jonesing for a spot in front of the mirror. My hot blond surfer was now in the other room with a few kids in his lap, instead of waiting for me at the bar.
When Bill and I make frozen drinks at home, we use rum. Rum, rum, rum. As evidence, here you see a frozen drink with lime, rum and midori;
Sometimes we have some gin or a glass of red wine. I never, ever get drunk.**
Obviously the margaritas I had were filled with some very cheap takillya, and lots of it.
Either that or I am a cheap drunk in my old age.
Bill votes for option number 2.
*Interesting side note is that I have no hangover whatsoever (headache, nausea etc), and at 6:00am still felt a bit drunk. WTF? I am wondering if they used Everclear in the drinks.
**Never say never. Never, never say never ever.
Dogs at the beach - December 19, 2007 -
Moments before we got back into the car and she barfed all over the seat from drinking too much sea water.
Just so ya’ll know, it does get cold here - December 17, 2007 -
That cold front that Chris sent down to us got here, and mama it was cold…..for at least 12 hours. Sunday morning it was some God awful temperature, like 38 degrees.
The palm trees were all “what’s up with this?”
Bill decided that, of all days, he was needing to get outside or he would go crazy from being cooped up for almost 12 hours (now you know why we could never ever live where that white stuff likes to hang out…I would kill him) So, we went to the beach.
We found that animals had literally frozen mid-step.**
The kids decided to take off their shoes and run in the water. Chris’ norther blew all the water in the Gulf of Mexico down to Kathy in the Yucatan, so it was very shallow.
By then it had warmed up to around 40, so Quinn only got about 3 shades of blue instead of 10.
Note that he is the one in SHORTS (and yes, he does have at least one pair of long pants). We had to get him back into the truck and blast him with the heater, while the rest of us (Cory) died because “the heat is killing us (Cory) Quinn, hurry up and get warm for crying out loud”.
Today things are somewhat back to normal, with the temperature almost at 60 as I type this.
We have become so acclimated to the warmth here, that we can now officially be labeled as Barbies when it comes to chilly weather.
Spoilt, rotten, coastal Barbies.
**no large-ass birds were harmed in the making of this post. He thawed and then ate a fish, and it was good.
Mother and daughter - December 15, 2007 -
Dear Mia,
This afternoon we did something that I have been longing to do most of my adult life. Something that I had once thought would never happen.
It is funny how things turn out.
You see, I can admit it now. The pain has abated. The sadness and anxiety from the miscarriages has been replaced with a knowing. A knowing that it was you that was meant to be all along.
I can admit now that I wanted a girl.
A girl who loves all things glittery.
A girl whose voice can make the angels sing.
Your voice doesn’t make me sing, but it makes my chest clinch up and I feel as if I will die from the sweetness of it.
19 years ago, I went with your father and watched as all the mommies and daughters filed into the theater, dressed in their “pretties”. I remember thinking “I hope one day that is me with my daughter”.
Today, I helped you dress in your lovely Christmas dress, brushed your golden curls and left the house.
Today I took you, my daughter, to see the Nutcracker Ballet.
I watched as you gasped when the mice came on stage and how you stared and smiled at the ballerina’s feet as they danced on their toes.
It was truly a magical time, between mother and daughter.
As I sit here typing, with you asleep next to me, clutching the Nutcracker I bought for you tightly in your little hand, I cannot put to words how much this meant to me. I just can’t, sweetie. It will make me cry for the umptimillionth time today.
What I can say is this, so please listen carefully. I do not love you more than I love your brothers. You are not more special than each one of them. But, my sweet girl, you complete me. You are the icing on the cake of our family. A sweet ending like a fine dessert.
I took you, my sweet daughter, to see the Nutcracker for the first time, and it was everything I dreamed it would be…..even better.
I Love You,
Mommy
Very few words - December 12, 2007 -
I have been less chatty here lately, letting the pictures speak for themselves. I know, lazy. Dull.
I hope the new format is working well for you guys. I am trying my hand at hosting my own pictures. You may have noticed that my archives photos all disappeared one day, thanks to Flickr, so I am working here and there restoring them back to each and every post…way over 700 to be exact. It is about as fun as putting drops of acid onto my eyeballs.
I have been staying busy baking, decorating and trying to get all my ducks in a row in regards to withdrawing Quinn from school. I am also working on organizing the rest of his curriculum. A friend back home gave me a huge container of 1st an 2nd grade stuff, and I am busy combing through it to see what I can and can’t use.
We have joined our local homeschool group, and have been attending the meet-ups once a week. It is a fair sized group, with upwards of 30+ members. I have met 10 or so families and have found 4 so far that are using Sonlight, so that was pretty cool.
(Snore) Oh my God, I have done it. I reduced this post to one of those Christmas card letters. “What a year this has been! Muffy has been so active in the local Junior League, and has maintained a 4.0 at Harvard while juggling 4 intern jobs and a different “Harvard man” every night.”
I believe I will have something more interesting to say once I start drinking coffee again.
Until then, here’s a dog and a small, adorable child.
Diva sailing outfit - December 12, 2007 -
A dress, the ever present pink shoes, and sequins…..never forget the importance of sequins on a sailboat.
Date - December 10, 2007 -
It has been a very long time since Bill and I had time alone together. I really miss his 6 days off. If I were to say what the biggest adjustment with our move has been for me, it would be Bill’s job, hands down.
It is a great job. We are both thrilled with it, but I miss my husband. I miss our days together alone. I miss our bike rides. I miss him, period.
Having said that, I can say that the time we get together now is much appreciated and cherished.
We had a date last Friday. No kids!!! I anticipated it all day, and 5pm could not have come soon enough.
We went to a seafood restaurant that we had not been to before, and the food was excellent. Just excellent. Beer, crab and lobster bisque, salad, 5 kinds of shrimp, and key lime pie to round it off. It was amazing how quiet it was, and we were surprised that no one screamed, wrestled with each other, or threw themselves on the floor crying. Instead they all spoke with their indoor voices. Amazing.
We went straight to the boat afterwards. It was dark, and the Christmas lights were on at the harbor. The outdoor tiki bar had a singer, and Jimmy Buffet songs floated down the dock to our boat.
We went down below to the aft cabin, opened the window, laid back and gazed at the stars. A gentle breeze blew in, and we talked softly to each other. The waves lapped up against the hull, and the boat gently rocked with the wind, lulling us to sleep. It was just magical.
I swear, if I remember one thing when I am 80, I want it to be about that night.
Coastal Christmas - December 7, 2007 -
I just could not bear to bring down our usual ornaments this year. I wanted something bright, glittery and full of coastal charm.
Most of our other stuff is very antique and mission-like…..very Pennsylvania farmhouse-ish.
So the first step was to head to the beach and find some sand dollars. We found quite a few, and then hit the local shell shop for the rest. We found bulk starfish there as well.
I bought some supplies
Then aired out the starfish (I mean, phew…it would be good to let these bleach out in the sun as well) and allowed the sand dollars to bleach out in the sun.
The kids used glitter glue and spray glitter to decorate the shells. I am still cleaning up glitter from EVERY SQUARE INCH of my kitchen. Glitter glue sticks worked for the kids, but dang, when mom gets ahold of the glitter spray WATCH OUT!
Bill and I decorated a few.
They acutually turned out pretty cute.
After they dried, I used a glue gun and attached a loop of twine ( I used some with silver and gold threaded in it)
And last night we decorated the tree with them. I added some glittery white garland, some glittery ribbon and red balls for some color.
The kids had so much fun making these ornaments. I did as well.
We are building memories here, in our new home by the sea.
Ringing in the season at the beach - December 3, 2007 -
Kicking off the holidays on the coast involves boat parades
Seaside games, such as finding pirate treasure in the sand
and loads of yummy, fresh seafood such as raw oysters, shrimp and flounder.
Tonight we will be making ornaments for our tree. Seashells, starfish, and red coral garland will deck our halls, and many of the items will be things we found on the beach. I will post some pictures and how to’s tonight.
We may not have a white Christmas, but a coastal Christmas has its charm for sure.
I see you - Step one to making your own seaside ornaments - December 2, 2007 -
First you must find them.
