When It Rains It Pours

When it rains in life it pours. But, God only ditches out what you can handle in life...at least, I hope so.

The weather is terrible. Last night the clouds opened up and dumped a ton of rain in Broward and a lot of it ended up on my living room floor and garage.

Ashton thought it was great that it was raining inside, but I was horrified. Didn't help that I had no buckets available, so a trash can and small bucket had to do.

It's raining again today and I'm sitting in my office worrying about what I'll find at home. I left the trash can in the living room and bucket in the garage under the drips just in case.

I won't be able to pix the leaks any time soon. Money is tight now that I'm on my own, but Larry has said he'll help by putting some tar on the leaks to try to stop it.

Lets pray we don't get a hurricane anytime soon.

I'll be sleeping with the fish ..literally.


P.S. Photos copyrighted by the Sun Sentinel. Shot by me when I was a shooter.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

I'm still alive and kicking, although a bit beaten up and shaky.

Why?

I'm not ready to go public with the reason, but lets just say it's very personal and life changing. The kids, Marc or I are not sick. But, our family dynamics are changing. I pray it's all for the best, but right now I'm just torn up inside about it.

Life loves to throw you fast balls and this one has hit me in the gut. But, like all good athletes know ... when your down or have lost a game, you pick youself up, learn from your mistakes and move forward always keeping an eye towards winning the next game, concouring the next race or just doing your best.

I'm trying hard to do my best in life. My wish list is simple:

Health and Happyness for my children and family
Peace in my life
Success for the people I love and for myself
To have people around me that love, respect and charish me for who I am

I have other wishes big and small, but these are on the top of my list.

What are some of your wishes in life?
What do you do to pick yourself up after you fall in life?

Things To Be Happy About

Recently at work I found a small, but thick book titled, 14,000 Things To Be Happy About.

I took it as a sign. Although my life at the moment is going through tribulation, there are things for me to be happy about.

Here are few things that make me happy (some are in this book as well):

Marc, Ashton, Austen and Dalton (when we're all in a good mood and behaving)
My Family
My Friends
A Wonderful Photograph
Doing a good job at work
The ocean on a hot day
Sleeping in on Sunday's (which I don't do often because Ashton loves to wake up early)
A wonderful dinner with a glass of Merlo from Chile
Shopping without worring about what things cost
A clean house
Clean cloths
Quite Times
Loving Words
Peace
Love

The list goes on and on. Sometimes I need to remember these things when my world feels like it's falling apart.

Ashton's Eyes

Ashton got his first eye exam on Thursday.

During a regular medical checkup Ashton had failed a basic eye exam and his pediatrician recommended that I take him to see a pediatric eye doctor to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with his vision.

After several test, including dilating his eyes causing him to have difficulty seeing. Dr.Lal's diagnosis was good.

Ashton's beautiful blue eyes are fine.

Snapshots from Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico is the oldest capital city in North America and also the oldest European city west of the Mississippi.

Santa Fe is recognized as one of the most intriguing cities in the nation, due largely to the city's preservation of historic buildings and a modern zoning code, passed in 1958, that mandates the city's distinctive Spanish-Pueblo style of architecture This architecture is based on the adobe (mud and straw) and wood construction of the past. Also preserved are the traditions of the city's rich cultural heritage which helps make Santa Fe one of the country's most diverse and interesting places to visit.

To read more about the history of Santa Fe go to www.thesantafesite.com where are got the above information.

Are you a Cyberchondria?

Do you devour mountains of medical information off the Web and, as a result, think you're much sicker than you are?

You may be a cyberchondria.

In an article in today's Sun Sentinel's FIT section reporter Liz Doup writes about how doctors are seeing more people freaked out because they've self-diagnosed themselves using information they got over the Internet.

I have cancer of the bone ... when it's really just a bruised knee.

Have you ever done this?

When I don't feel well I try to ignore it till it becomes a serious problem than go see a doctor. Not the ideal way to go, but I would never surf the web looking for info to self-diagnose myself.

Thought it was interesting ... if you want to read more go to Sun-Sentinel.com.

Reconnecting

It feels like forever since Maria, my cousin and friend, and I hung out to talk and reconnect.

Work, kids and life have gotten in the way of us carving out time to share our ups and downs with each other. But, this weekend Maria and I got a chance to reconnect. Over heated left overs we talked about our problems ... mostly mine... our kids and friends. It was cathartic for both of us and fun.

I'm a simple woman or, at least, I like to think I am. It doesn't take much to make me happy, so spending time with Maria hit my happy spot.

Talk about relationships, our friend Hector and our kids was also on the menu. And for desert, dancing at a club on Lincoln Road on South Beach.

It was great because I was with Maria, but I have to confess that going out dancing isn't for me anymore. Especially on South Beach where everyone is looking at everyone judging on looks and style. Two criteria I don't use to judge the quality of a person.

I'm more of a nice dinner, great wine and stimulating conversation type of woman. Unless I'm with George Clooney (I know I'm spellling his name wrong), the actor from Oceans 11.. than I'm all for dirty dancing.

Thanks Maria for a great time ... we'll have to do dinner and movie next month.

Out Sick

After a weekend filled with two days of water parks in a row, Ashton and I got sick.
To much water and partying. But, we're back on our feet. Ashton and I made it to school and work. Both a little sleepy, but we made it.

Things in the House family are in flux, so if I don't write everyday my apologies.
Until things settle down and stabilize I don't think I can write everyday.

Ike Took A Hike

Thankfully Ike decided to hit Cuba instead of us.
Although, now I'm very concerned about my family on the island.

I came into work to help out with any minor Ike coverage and Dolphins vs Jets photo gallery. I also took the oportunity to finish up unpacking my office. I have a few minor things to do like hand pictures up and file away papers, but that's it.

This weekend has been crazy. Some major ups and downs, but we're all trying to get through them in one piece.

I confused the dates of a birthday party Ashton had for a classmate, Jenna, which meant two days of waterpark action for the boys instead of just one.

Although this picture isn't from our waterpark adventure, I thought I'd share it.

Ashton's on cloud 9 when flying

When I told Ashton that we were flying on a plane he jumped for joy.

The first time he flew was in January when we went to Steamboat to go skiing, so he automatically assumed that's where we were going to do. But, when he found out we were taking a ride on a plane to go to New Mexico to see Leah, Juan Carlos and their son, Jacob, he re-grouped and was ready to go.

Everyday leading up to our plane ride Ashton would ask, "Are we going on the plane today?" "Not yet," I would respond.

Flying day came and when I woke Ashton up around 5:45am to head to the airport, he quickly woke up and was ready to go.

Gene drove us to the airport and Ashton couldn't contain his excitement.

I came prepared for the long flights ahead of us. Coloring books, crayons, dvd player with plenty of movies to watch and a few small toys to play with. Never travel without these things.

Our two plane rides went well .... he never slept or stopped talking.

He even got a chance to sit in the cockpit, met the pilot and even pressed a few buttons ... all while we were flying.... ok, not really.

Obama and Mcain

On our way back to South Florida from New Mexico, Ashton and I ran into the presidential candidates, McCain and Obama.

They were very nice and happy to meet us.

Florida is a state they both need to win to become president. Ashton and I took advantage of this fact and made sure that they took the time to listens to our concerns and needs.

These are the very important matters Ashton & I want our next president to address:
1. The Economy (Taimy)
2. An end to Bed Times (Ashton)
3. Health Care (Taimy)
4. Reform of the pre-school system ... more snacks (not snakes), less naps and more playtime (Ashton)
5. War in Iraq (Taimy)
6. Star Wars: War of the Clones (Ashton)

They were all smiles while we seriously discussed our areas of concerns and at the end they were both speechless.

Ashton and I felt we were heard, but still not sure of two things:

1. Who to vote for? (Taimy)
2. Who are these cardboard guys? (Ashton)

Preparing for Hurricane Ike

The boys and I have started to prepare for Hurricane Ike possibly coming our way and causing some serious damage.

Sun Sentinel reporter David Fleshler reports on SunSentinel.com, "The hurricane is four days away from striking Florida, and that means the cone of uncertainty remains wide. People in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach should not take undue comfort from the current track, forecaster say. And although the storm is small, it is powerful.
'It has the potential to be a major hurricane on landfall,” said Michael Formosa, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center. “It’s serious. It’s dangerous.'"

So Marc, Austen and Dalton fulled up the generators and cranked them up making sure they were all in working order.

Now we wait and see what happens. Sunday we'll decide if we need to put shutters and plywood up on the windows. I'll have to go into work, while Marc stays home with the kids.

I'm praying to the weather gods that Ike misses us. Please feel free to pray with me as well.

Ashton's First Homework

Ashton got his first set of homework this week. They start them out early with homework now a days. He's 4, so he has a couple of years to learn a ton of stuff before starting Kindergarten.

He had three assignments:
1. Draw apples on the trees using the number on the tree to tell you how many apples to draw.
2. Trace the dotted line to help each bus get to the school.
3. Make a school supple collage with cut out pictures.

Marc and I helped Ashton complete his homework and had lots of fun.
It gets hard from here on out ... I pray he doesn't ask me for help in math or spelling ... he won't get a good grade if he does.

Installing Your Husband

Ashton and I are back from New Mexico. It was great and will tell you all in upcoming blog posts.

This is something I found hillarious that Saskia sent me that I want to share with you all.....
Enjoy


Installing Your Husband...

Dear Tech Support,
Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a
distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the
flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under
Boyfriend 5.0.In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable
programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then
installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs
4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply
crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these
problems, but to no avail. What can I do?
Signed,
Desperate
***
DEAR DESPERATE,
First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.
Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears
6.2 and don't forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that
application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run
the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.But remember, overuse of
the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence
2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad
program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO
NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that
will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) Also do not
attempt to reinstall Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported
applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a
great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new
applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to
improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot
Lingerie 7.7.
Good Luck,
Tech Support