Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Freezing around here

Good god New England, why are you so cold lately. Yesterday and today have been really chilly. There were a few snow flakes earlier today. It's nearly May! I miss the temps in Florida. They were delicious!!

We had a great weekend of catching up with all household stuff. It's boring to empty suitcases and wash clothes, but it needed to be done. I caught up on some projects that I have been working on. I was ready to face Monday by the end of the weekend. My birthday was on Sunday. I got some very special phone calls from my friends, but other than that, we stayed around here to do a few things. We then went to the At&t store because Bill thought I should get the iPhone and he wanted a new phone to boot. You see what that is all about, right? He could care less if I had to carry around a rotary phone, he just wanted a new phone. Unfortunately, we aren't eligible for an upgrade till September. So the option was to pay almost $600 now or wait till September. I can wait for September. Bill said he couldn't, but he is. I can't see spending that kind of cash on a phone when in 6 months, we can get it so much cheaper. Bill was mad, but he got over it fast. He usually doesn't get mad, but he was!

After the phone store, we went to the Y and I rejoined. I wanted to start first thing Monday morning and not bother with all the paperwork, so it made sense to go on Sunday. We then went to Meri and Joe's for a short visit. I had a few things for Meri and she had my birthday gift. They gave me an adorable ladybug mug with a spoon for soup and a beautiful and cute little sterling silver ladybug pin. I love it!!!!! I can't wait to put it somewhere special. Just trying to find the perfect spot for it.

The rest of the night was spent quietly at home. On Monday, I dropped Ping off at school and went swimming. It was great to be back. I thought the rest of the day would be exhausting, but I was really energized. I was able to make a bunch of phone calls and do a lot of research into camps and swimming lessons for Ping. It felt good to have such a productive day.

On Tuesday, I dropped Ping off at school and headed off to the pool again. It was so cold out. I was actually cold in the pool and that is pretty rare. The rest of the day was spent at home. My energy level was good, but not what it was Monday. Somewhere around 4:30 pm, I sat down with Ping and watched a little TV. I just wanted to sit with a blanket around me. Frankly, I am not a fan of her shows, but they will do in a pinch. Bill had the fire department last night, so he ran in and out before we could talk at all. I put Ping to bed with no issues and sat down to watch some TV. Ping was hysterical last night. I got her a dress at her request, plus tights and shoes. She hung the dress on the drawer pull, put the tights hanging from the hanger under the dress and then put the shoes at the bottom. She stood in front of the outfit and puckered her lip but stood stool. She said "Mommy, look at me, I am a statue!!!!" Too funny. A statue? A fairly big word for her I think. I am always underestimating her! When will I learn?

Today is another cold and damp day. The sun was shining for 10 minutes this morning, but it was still raining. I am here catching up on the blog and making a few phone calls. I am playing phone tag with some people. A frustrating game. I am going to take Ping to dancing today. She has a few lessons she needs to make up. Might as well get that out of the way. Not that I am looking forward to sitting in the studio for an hour. Bill has a doctors appointment and then is going shopping. We have yet to do a real shopping trip since we have been home. It's time.

Well that is all for now. Nothing new is up here for the time being. I don't think I mentioned it before, but on the day we were leaving for Florida, we got a call asking us if we were interested in taking in a little boy just under the age of one. I was so blown away, I was shaking. I said that we would love to. This is the call we have been waiting for, right????? I told them I was going to Florida and would love to cancel, but that we couldn't at this time. I had considered doing so, but both Bill and I came to the decision that we shouldn't for various reasons. So I asked if he could stay where he was for one week and we would be happy to pick him up on Thursday. They said no and that they were going to call the next family. I was devastated. We have been waiting for so long. However, what is done is done. Maybe the next call will be ours? I hope so.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

I am back!!!!!!

If you read my blog often, you know I was out of town for a little while. Well I am back and ready to get back to writing.

It's been a busy week, nearly two weeks. We were in Florida. We had a great time. We didn't get to do a ton of things because we had something to do while we were there. We did get to have one fabulous day of fun though. We started the day off with a 90 minute airboat ride. That was absolutely fabulous. Bill and I loved it. Ping loved it too, but not like we did. We saw a ton of alligators. The boat was loud. That bothered Bill and Ping, but I was fine. There are ear sets to muffle the noise, but I didn't wear them. I found them to be a bigger pain in the butt than anything. More importantly, I wanted an authentic boat ride. So I picked an organization that runs authentic rides. None of these 30 people to a boat set low in the water. This boat could only hold a few and it was high up in the air. You can see the photos at the end of this.

After we finished the boat ride, we stopped at a park. We just got out to take a picture. There is a huge stone alligator there. We then headed to the Gaylord Hotel. This is a must see. It is absolutely gorgeous. Next time I am in the area, I would love to stay there. It's a huge hotel and convention center. They have various areas of interest. One of the big ones is the turtle and alligator area. There is an everglades area as well. The place has a ton of stores and restaurants. They have a few pools too. It was just beautiful. After we left there, we went to Old Town. Old Town is a boardwalk, but not along the water. They have a cute carnival section for younger children. Ping had a blast. She went on a bunch of rides. She is not afraid of anything. I love it!!!!!! Once we left there, we went back to the hotel. We were exhausted. That was on Tuesday. On the Saturday before that, we went to Downtown Disney and walked around. We just went into some of the shops. We really didn't do a lot while we were away. We were tied up Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Again on Sunday and Monday. Most of Saturday too. We got out and about when we could.

We came home this past Wednesday. We got home late. A lot later than we should have. In fact, I have called the van service and put in a complaint. We got home 2 hours and 35 minutes after we got picked up at Logan. I thought that was unacceptable. Needless to say, we didn't do anything Wednesday night. Thursday came and I slept in. Bill went to work. It was a hectic day. The phones kept ringing off the hooks. I couldn't get through my damn mail! I got some stuff done, but not a lot. I worked my tail off on Friday. I got a lot of phone calls made as well as a lot of other things.

Today is Saturday and it's been a very productive day. We took Sasha for her hair cut this am. We went to Lowes and Target. Then home so that I could pay bills and clean up around the house. Bill went back out and got my car washed, went to the cleaners, the post office, CVS and returned something at Walmart for me. When he got home, he cleaned my car even more. Nice! It's because he thinks it's his car though. He didn't do it for me, trust me! Ping and Daddy picked some flowers for my birthday. They are so pretty. I will put those pictures up as well. The next order of business is to get caught up on all of my pictures. I need to put in a big order. God I hate that job. Someone has to do it though, right? Off to post some pictures and clean first.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Here we go.

Silly goose.

Cinderella.

Nice outfit!

Sweet baby.

Airboat coming towards us.

This was one of the airboats in the small fleet of two.

Looking for alligators.

Alligator.

Alligator.

Airboat.

Big teeth.

Gaylord Hotel.

Gaylord Hotel.

Gaylord Hotel.

Gaylord Hotel.

Gaylord Hotel.

Gaylord Hotel.

Fun magnets. Remember the story of us being white trash?

Gaylord Hotel.

Froggy Drop.

So tall.

Roller coaster.

Tilt a Whirl.

Merry Go Round.

Wiggly bug.

Huge drop. Very cool. Did not do though.

Tired tiger.

Snow white.

Flowers that Bill and Ping picked.

So pretty!

Some videos if interested.







Monday, April 12, 2010

Getting ready to sail off

This will probably be my last post for a week or so. I have some big stuff coming up and I am not sure if I will be able to get here or not. I will get back on as soon as this week is over though.

Sunday we had a birthday party to attend. We had a great time. Ping was invited to her friend Christian's birthday party. He was turning one. It was at a play place in Worcester. The place was great and Christian's mom did a wonderful job coordinating everything. The theme was "Yo Gabba Gabba."

After the party we came home to do some things around here. Bill and I both ended up falling asleep for a little bit. We hadn't slept all week because he was on call. I guess we finally just hit a wall. We were able to get up and get a lot of things done though.

After dropping Ping off at school, I ran to Walmart. We spent the afternoon at home doing a few things. Nothing much. We were waiting for Daddy to come home to get some team projects done. Now I am going to settle down and watch a little TV for the night.

I hope you are well.

Mama Out!!!!!


Christian having a ball. No pun intended.

Conquered.

Climbing back down.

Cake and goodies.

Cake and goodies.

Fruit!

Table all set up.

Cake.

The princess.

Easter pictures of Ping that Sarah's niece took. I think they are adorable. They were just fooling around.







Saturday, April 10, 2010

Starving!!!!

I am currently on a liquid diet. All I can say is that I am so darn hungry. I am craving steak tips. Anything that will fill me. However, I can't do it. Not I can't. I won't either. I just had to share that!

Today was such a productive day. It's actually been a couple of productive days here at Casa Cummings and Nicholson. Thursday, I had a meeting with Ping's teacher. It's that time of year again! Shayla is doing wonderfully. She is really getting her numbers and alphabet down pat. Her articulation is better. Her patterns and name rhyming have all improved. She gets along very well with the other children and is able to solve conflicts well. She has excellent manners and is a joy to have in class. These are all things a Mama wants to hear. I was so pleased and proud of my pumpkin. I specifically asked if she was kind and got along with the other students and she is. Not that I had any doubt, but wanted to make sure. Last weekend when we went to a birthday party, the little birthday girl moved Ping's hand in order to give another child a goody bag. Then the little girl walked away. Ping was the only one that didn't get a bag handed to her. She looked at me and so I told her to get one. It crushed me. I know it was busy, but I just couldn't understand why this little girl didn't give one to Ping. So I asked how this little girl and Ping get along at the teacher conference. She said there are no issues there. So it was probably just a case of the girl being overwhelmed by the amount of friends she had there.

One thing that I was told was that in the beginning of the school year, there was a little girl that wouldn't sit next to Ping because she was different. The teacher nipped it in the bud and they are friendly now, but it broke my heart. I know people always say that kids will be kids. I don't want to hear it. Sadly, if you look around at what bullying is doing to our children, it's downright disgusting and saddening. However, it's not like Ping was bullied. It is in no way close to that even. I was just amazed that another child would notice Ping was different given that she is in preschool. Sometimes I wonder if I am prepared for Ping to grow up. God help the person that ever picks on her. I can not even think about it. I hope she is never picked on and I hope she never targets anyone to pick on. I am not even going there. I can't.

To get back to what I was talking about, she had a great review and I am so very proud of my pumpkin.

Thursday afternoon I had an ultrasound on my legs to make sure I don't have any blood clots. I don't. The ultrasound wasn't difficult. It was even easier because it was at Bill's work and so he was able to watch Ping for me for a short time. We then all headed to Target for a few items we needed.

On Friday, Ping and I did a few errands and then when Daddy came home, we did another errand. Not fun, but we are getting some spring and summer things for Ping.

Like I said before, today was a great day. We decided to move a bureau in one room into Ping's room. She has the smallest closet and her drawers in her bureau are not very deep. Ping has my original white furniture set that I grew up with. Well I had two matching bureaus. It's always been in another room, but we moved it in to Ping's room for the added drawers that are needed to accommodate her clothing. We were going to move the bookcase, but didn't like it in the new area. So we moved that back and put all the books back onto the shelves. Believe it or not, this took hours today. I am glad it got done though. I got up early this morning to drop off a Tastefully Simple order to Meri and then I had to get to the bank and make a return at the store. Then we got down to the tasks at hand. I finished the night off with painting Miss Ping's nails and toes. Needless to say, it was an exhausting day.

Before I head off, I have to add some of my Ping stories. I have put them on FB as statuses, but for those of you who are not on FB, here is some of the conversations lately.

Monday -

Ping is such a supportive little firefighter. When she heard people talking on Daddy's pager tonight she said "Daddy, can you shut that off? If I hear them one more time, I am going to kick their butts off." How is that for support? She then proceeded to tell Daddy that he doesn't know how to clean up after himself. ...He needs to put away his shoes and match Mama's stockings because she needs them!


Thursday -

Ping vs Ant. "Ant, you need to go outside and play with your friends. There is nothing to eat or drink here! If you don't leave, I am going to step on you, but you better not eat my toes." As Ping is tapping her foot, she says "I am waiting on your choice." Poor ant. "Mama, you need to buy ant cups TODAY!!!! Yes,... sweetie. Mama will do that."


I had a doctors appointment today. I had to take Ping because it was this afternoon. As we walked to the room, one of the nurses walking behind us said that Ping had the best little sexy wiggle when she walked. I agreed. I have always noticed "the walk." So the nurse asked Ping if she wanted fries with that shake! ...I think she noticed it because Ping was in a denim mini skirt. Hysterical.


Friday -

Walmart - "Hi, what is your name? Beverly. Nice to meet you Beverly. I am Shayla Yu Ping Nicholson. I am fron China. My parents picked me up and brought me home to live with them because I am the bestest child!" Then the bestest child put her hand on a fire alarm button at Payless. I caught her in time by yelling... "NO, NO, NO." That would have been awful, especially in OUR TOWN?


Saturday -

Rotten child! Ping wanted a chocolate shake, so we made one for her. She drank 1/2 and said she had a belly ache and was done. She then goes to Daddy and asks if she can have one of his Funny Bones. When I say "What did you ask for?" Ping says "I was talking to my Daddy. So Bill told me. I said "No, she has a belly ac...he." Ping's response? "Daddy don't listen to her okay, just don't listen to her!"

Well I am off for now. I hope you have a great weekend.

Mama Out!!!!!!


The mani and pedi I gave Ping tonight. She was a happy girl.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Too toasty to sleep

I need to get upstairs to bed, but I know it's going to be hot up there because we have yet to turn on the central air. I need to try though. I have a feeling I won't be able to sleep because I also fell asleep for a short time this afternoon.

I had a doctors appointment this afternoon for my sinuses. They are in good shape. I do have a deviated septum, so it's hard for me to breath out of my left nostril, but all in all, I am good. She did say last time that I was very swollen inside. I am swollen on the outside too! HA! Anyway, I need to stick to the regime I am currently on. I will go to see her if any new issues develop. I have to tell you that when we walked down the hallway to the examination room, a nurse was behind Ping and said "She has the sexiest little wiggle in those hips. Would she like some fries with that shake." It was hysterical. Ping had on a mini-skirt, so you could really see her wiggling hips. I always thought that Ping had the best little wiggle walk. It was just funny to hear someone else say something about it.

After the appointment, Ping and I came home and she tried on some old shoes and clothes from last spring and summer. We are not officially done with that terrible job. Most of her shoes were way too small. Her dresses were too short. Her capris were knickers. Needless to say, she is getting taller and her feet are growing. I will get her a few new things, but some of the older stuff is perfect for a day around the house or playing at the playground.

The most difficult part about going through this stuff now is that it's a little early. So I can't put away her fall and winter stuff yet, but I don't have the room for the spring and summer stuff. So now I have to figure out what I am going to do and I need to do it quickly! What a pain in the rump.

I am not sure if I told this already, but last night when Ping was in bed, there were people talking on Bill's pager. Ping said to Daddy "Daddy, can you shut that off? If I hear that noise one more time, I am going to kick their butt off." We both laughed. She cracks me up almost daily. Isn't she such a supportive little firefighter daughter?

Well that is about all for now. Hope you were out enjoying the weather today!

Mama Out!!!!!!!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Slug Bug

Yesterday I had enough energy to take on a third world country. Today not so much. Not sure why. I have changed what I am eating and that may indeed have something to do with it. Who knows. It got better as the day went on.

One thing that I really wanted to get done today is to have Ping try on all of her spring and summer clothes on. We have two large buckets of clothes. We didn't get it all done. We got three quarters of the way through. That took two hours alone. It's not easy to sustain a child's interest in trying on clothes! This Pingster of ours is so tall. Everything was too small for the most part. There were some things she could get away with, but not much. I have bought her a few new things this year already, but I really wanted her to be able to wear some of her clothes from last year. Some still have the tags on them!!!!! I made a pile for clothes she could get away with, clothes that needed to be ditched due to stains and then clothes that were way too small. we will keep those in the bin in the event that we ever have another little girl in this house. You know, it's not like I want to buy another child new clothes or anything. HA! I love shopping for Ping. Hate shopping, but love shopping for clothes and shoes for my little angel. Daddy loves it as much as I. Not a good thing!

Other than that, I am suffering from allergies, withdrawal from sugar and from caffeine. Believe it or not, I am not going nuts either. Why fight it, right? It is what it is.

So that was my big fun for the day, going through clothes. We won't be done till the end of the week. Tomorrow I will finish up one box hopefully and then we can move onto the next box. I need to have her try on all her sandals as well. I have a feeling my sweetie is going to need all new shoes!!!! She was a 7 forever, but seems to be a 9 in some shoes now. Why can't she stay small forever?

Well Bill headed off to a call. I am glad it came in now vs 3:00 am. Those kill us all. We all wake up and go back to sleep several times and then it's hard to get up in the morning.

I hope you are well.

Mama Out!!!!!!

Monday, April 5, 2010

I apologize for not updating my regular blog friends!

This past week has flown and yet it ticked by so very slowly. I have a lot of stuff going on right now. For the most part, I share it all here. Some stuff I can't because my blog isn't private. However, if you know me personally, you know it all. Aren't you lucky?

So this past week has been a little nutty. On Wednesday, I took a plane to Florida. I had to meet with a gentleman there about some stuff. A friend of mine from NH went with me. I am so grateful that she was there for me. What a blessing. Everything went well. We came back the same day. I got home around 1:00 am. My dear friend Christine watched Ping for the day. I am very thankful to her for taking Ping for the entire day while Bill worked. He was unable to get the day off.

Thursday morning came and went. I couldn't get up for the life of me. Neither could Ping. She was so tuckered out from her all day playing excursion the day before. She also got a terrible nights sleep as she was in the car with Daddy waiting on my flight to get in at Logan. It was 45 minutes late. Daddy was less than thrilled! So I woke up, looked at Ping and she was snoring. So Bill kissed me goodbye and told us that we should probably stay in bed since we were so tired. Really? Oh, if you insist!

Ping answered the phone at some point in the am. It was my friend Marghrit. Ping asked her name and chatted for a little bit. She told Marghrit that I was tired and still sleeping. Marghrit told me all of this later on in the week. She was impressed with how old she seemed. I thought it was funny, but clearly Ping needs to work on her secretarial skills as I never got the phone message! We spent the day at home doing a few things here and there. When Daddy got home, we jumped in the car and headed off to Disney on Ice featuring the Princesses. Ping had a blast. It was a nice show. The ticket price was great, but the concessions inside were sinful. $10 for a cotton candy and $10 for a lemonade! I thought that was really awful. We are fortunate that we only have one child. What about the people who bring their 3 children though? In this economy, we need to pay $10 for cotton candy????? It's not that I couldn't afford it, it was that I was sick over it. Ping had a meltdown when I told her she couldn't get an ice cone. It was a blue cup filled with colored ice. It was $12.00. First of all, she didn't need one more thing to eat. Secondly, I wasn't paying $12.00 because I was disgusted that they can get away with that. Anyway, the show was really great and that is what truly matters!

We woke up on Friday, but we were still pretty wiped out. I drove Ping to school and then came back to the house for a 9am appointment with a contractor. That went fine. I then picked up Ping from school and we hung out here until I took her to her dance class for 4:00 pm. After going home to get Daddy, we went over to Meri's and Joe's house for 6:00 pm. We had a wonderful time. Joe cooked steak tips and potatoes with onion seasoning and some veggies. We had cake for dessert. It was all yummy. Meri had boiled eggs for the kids to color. We did a few eggs and the kids colored some awesome Easter coloring pages that Meri printed off. Meri, Joe, Lucas and Ryan gave Ping an awesome Easter basket fulled with all sorts of fun stuff. She got a Smencil, a great big book and some little Easter books. She got some candy too. Ping's favorite I think was the fluffy little lamb that she got. She immediately put it on her backpack when we got home. We gave Lucas and Ryan a basket and gift as well. They seemed to like their stuff. It was a nice relaxing family night out.

Saturday came and I had to take Ping to a birthday party. It was at Pump It Up. Bill dropped us off and went for an oil change. I had to stay at the place 45 minutes after the party ended. That didn't make me happy. It was over 2 hours for the oil change! Ridiculous.

We went to Jumpin Juice and Java so that I could get a chicken salad sandwich and Bill could get a chicken caesar wrap. We brought the sandwiches home. Ping took a bath and then Bill went shopping. The rest of the night was spent catching up on laundry and a little TV.

Easter sunday was fun. Ping hunted for eggs around the house with Daddy. She then got her Easter basket. She was thrilled with it because she got some of the same things that Lucas got. She also got the new Barbie movie "The Mermaid's tail." She got some more sidewalk chalk and a little big of candy. Not much though. We then took Ping to our church's Easter egg hunt. There were very few kids, so Ping got a good ransom. All the kids did. We then went to the cemetery to put a card there for my parents and then we headed off to Sarah's. We had a great time there. It is always nice seeing her family. I enjoy them immensely. I have known them for years. One of Sarah's sisters brought their Mother In Law. She reads cards, so I was lucky enough to get a reading. The reading was excellent. I had to laugh that I was getting a reading on Easter Sunday. What some people would think of that!!!!! The reading was great though. She basically saw everything that has happened to me in the last two years with regards to my parents. She could see that I needed a lawyer for the estate. She could see my Dad's blue eyes. She could see that my Mom couldn't cope when my Dad died. She could see that I had a divorced friend that wasn't a fan of her old apartment. She could see that I had a friend with two boys that cared about me deeply. She said that I had a lot of people in my cards and that they were tremendous. She said I had a lot of good things coming my way. I sure hope so. I enjoyed the reading and the visiting very much. We all did. Ping even said "I am not bored, why do we have to leave." Funny girl.

I did a few things once I got home, but I was really dragging. Bill was too. Ping went to bed late. I fell asleep in the middle of watching something, so I wasn't able to say that it was time to go to bed. Mind you, Bill knows what time Ping goes to bed. So she went up later than she should have! That means I have to pay for it the next day. Bill and I actually watched the same thing for one hour last night. Amazing. We never watch TV together.

This morning came too early. I think I could have slept till noon. However, school awaits. I dropped Ping off and came home and got busy. I put all the Easter decorations away. I cleaned up some stuff in my office. I cleaned the floors in the dining room, kitchen and living room. I did a few other things. Before I knew it, I had to get Ping. Once I got her, we headed to the bank, the post office and the cleaners. We are now home and have been all afternoon. I am on a new liquid diet and it bothers my stomach, so I rather be home then out and about. Ping has been a little devilish today. I am not thrilled with her behavior. She thinks if I can't see her, that I don't know what she is doing. She forgets that I have ears!

Well that is all there is for now. I have some pictures to share with you, so I will go post them now.

Mama Out!!!!!

Ping with her tiara.

Tiara with Mickey ears.

Mickey and Minnie.

Aladdin.

Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty.

The Little Mermaid.

Mulan.

Snow White.

Sleeping Beauty.

Mickey and Minnie.

Cinderella.

Cinderella.

Cinderella.

Beauty and the Beast.

Ayi Meri and Lucas.

Meri and Lucas.

Easter eggs.

Ryan.

Sleeping Ryan.

Pump It Up.

Pump It Up.

Pump It Up.

Pump It Up.

Birthday gifts at Pump It Up.

Easter stuff. This is a wand that lights up.

Kissing her cotton candy. Wacky baby.

Loving her new Barbie movie.

Sidewalk chalk.

Ready for the hunt.

Eggs.

On her way.

Maybe there are eggs over here?

Daddy helping Ping.


Dumping her treasures out of the eggs.