Added later...

I've added Caribbean Blue to my media player, simply because it's one of my all time favorite songs in the world.  The first time I heard it, I must have been about 13 or 14 years old...  it's hard to explain when a song just tugs at your soul.  Wow, it's still as enchanting and beautiful as the first time I heard it - truly escapist. I'm almost sure I was a pixie in a previous life or an elf in a present parallel universe, because I have this need to don tights and fairy feathers when I hear this song.  

How cute is this? Morgan made the local newspaper as part of her preschool ad.  Next stop: presidential candidacy.

      Now remember, dear friends, not too long ago, I immersed myself completely and wholly into fulltime motherhood. As I walked the walk (hip-positioned for baby), talked the talk (scaled down 2-syllable words only) and looked the part (cargoes, flip-flops and t-shirt), imagine my surprise when I entered the working world 3 months ago and... alas... discovered to my dismay, that I had to carry on a full-blown adult conversation, with… full-blown adults, using full-blown adults words, wearing full-blown adult clothing and walking upright… like a full-blown adult. Horror incarnate. I kept scrounging around for a toddler somewhere, to place on my hip, just to get my vertebrae in their proper skew position.

·          And soon it dawned upon me that I cannot speak English. During introductions on my first day of work, I could not bring myself to utter intelligent words or phrases, or even sound remotely educated.  I could not find it within me to speak frankly.  I could not carry on a goddamn conversation. For all these years, I have successfully scammed everyone.  Not intentionally, because I think I may have scammed myself.  What I thought was fair grammar, was in actual fact, just a bunch of words strung together to get my point across.

   Who knows, for my entire 31 years, I may have been using a combination of sign language and guttural sounds to communicate, because God knows, I lost all sensibility when I returned to work. How in dickens was I supposed to perform my daily functions in a big NYC corporate office with limited vocabulary?  I was a blithering fool. A Mother. A Mommy. Give me a kitchen and a tyke and I’ll show you a thing or two. Instead, I was handed a desk, a PC and a phone, and suddenly I was stuck at huh?. What’s that? Oh ra-ra-righttt… a phone. I’m supposed to speak into it now?  Great.

·          On the spousal front, Hub is great and I am reminded every so often of what a stud I’ve snagged. I am also reminded that men are stubborn creatures who pay no attention to detail (only when it suits them).  Woefully, at the hands of husband, three of my really beautiful cashmere sweaters have succumbed to a dryer death. Husband didn’t understand why I flipped out like a crazed baboon, upon discovering my shrunken-to-shit cashmere sweaters. He did not grasp why I proceeded to blurt out a string of incoherent profanities at him, all the while stretching at the shrunken cashmere in a failed attempt to restore size and shape. I would have lunged at him - indeed I would have - but he is twice my size and violence would have been futile.  Devastation and despair does not begin to cover the range of emotions I experienced at that unique moment. I was one mad mama. I care not to discuss this any further.

·          Due to my hubs absolute disregard for apparel, I have had to reorganize the children’s closets 4 times in 1 month.  Husband does not understand my ridiculous need to organize by season, type and color. And hello… pink hangers for girls, and blue hangers for boys…. you twit.  And no, I don’t care that toddler clothes are small and cannot hold a fold. Fold, you shall. Since when did folding become an option?  Stop this madness. At once.

·          One time in this past month, I have had to endure the painful process of watching Husband boil and butcher my prized Basmati rice into oblivion. Yes, I’ve had my hand slapped and… gasp, shoved out of the way… when I tried to offer a hand of help. Tell me, who on this beautiful planet can stand to watch kitchen massacre of this type? I tried to save you, Basmati… I did. Husband wouldn’t let me. I’m sorry.

·          However… and this is a huge however…dinner is 95% of the time waiting and ready when I get home.  And trust me, that is a wonderful thing at the end of the day.  Husband tends to the kids like a champ, without me asking, mind you.  He is still amazing at everything he does (except aforementioned instances). And on occasion I still get to experience the bliss of… um… unplanned union.  Of the pre-marital type. So it all equals out.

·          For a while I was worried about my little boy Tee, as he was not developing as ‘normal’. To cut a long story, Birth to Three is a state funded program that assists children from Birth to age 3 in their physical and mental development. When you sense that your child is not on par (not climbing, speaking, pointing, eating on his own) with the rest of the toddler population, what do you do? You tell your doctor, and your doctor refers you to Birth to Three.  Of course every friend and family member has said “Gracia, your child is normal.  All children develop at different rates”, but being the neurotic parent that I am, I had to cover all my bases.

So      So we set up an appointment and ran Tee through a battery of tests. His scores more than qualified him for the program. At the start of this year, he could not name anything, he could not talk, he was not climbing or pointing, he knew no animal sounds, he could not count and did not sing. Today he is counting, climbing, pointing, talking, making animals sounds on cue, naming body parts. He is doing just great.  I would like to believe that it’s his own development and not as a result of any work done by Birth to 3.  But hey, I’m grateful for any help they can give. And he also gets a State provided play-date once a week!  For free!

·          Morg is 4 going on 16.  Quick as a whip and forgets nothing. She loves her books and as far as girly girl goes… she has the market covered on that one. She luv luv luvs jewelry, shoes, dresses and makeup… thank you Target, you rock. Yes, my wallet is extremely appreciative - and heck, I still have money for dinner. HSN and QVC viewer ratings have shot up exponentially since I have introduced Morgan to the medium of online jewelry shopping. She says “Mommy, oooh… look at those beautiful earrings – can we buy them? Do we have enough monies?”  And I have to say, “Well, maybe we can ask Daddy for monies... how about that, Morgie?”  And she’d reply with, “No, no, no… we have to use our own monies, silly Mommy…  Daddy doesn’t have any monies!”

She’s the cutest thing ever.

Other news:

·          My little niece Hannah Marais was born on July 23^rd.  Man, I just wanna fly to Africa and hold her. She is absolutely adorable! 

·          My cousin Shevon (who is a blogger on spaces too) spent two weeks with us here in NYC.  We had a freakin ball.

·          We are having a large pine removed from our front yard, costing us exactly $900. Ouch.

·          I have applied for American Citizenship. Paperwork has been submitted and fees paid. Tick tock… let the waiting begin.

·          I watched My Cousin Vinny for the first time the other day, and man, I was crying with laughter.  That movie is going on my top 10 list of all-time faves… and I’m totally practicing that Brooklyn accent. You’re what? You’re goin’ huntin’? You gonna shoot a deeyah? A little doe-eyed deeyah?   Loving it.

Other minor things:

• ·          Trying to narrow down my BA degree path from the vast array of options.  Yup, I’m going to be an adult learner.
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• ·          We’re sourcing out and planning costs for a new driveway. Hopefully it’s less than $5K. Our driveway is mighty long.
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• ·          Trying to determine if buying 3 flat-screens is more important than doing the driveway.
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• ·          About Iraq - For #@$% sake, enough already. Bitcholio.
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• ·          Totally voting for Hillary… if she makes it... and if I am a citizen by November 08.
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• ·          Making sure my Mom-in-law is not giving Morg and Tee any lead-infested toys from the 70’s.  She has an entire attic filled with them.  It’s enough Tee is sporting his father’s toddler duds from 30 years ago. Let me tell ya… she threw nothing out.  Nuttin’.
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• ·          Were trying to get the town to pave our road. Our road’s surface is Busted. To. The. Core. I’m surprised no-one has tripped and fallen yet. You could not walk barefoot on our street unless you were in the market for bloodied and mangled toes. I’ve seen other roads in our town get paved that were in great shape to begin with.  Mind you, when we first moved in, it looked charming… you know… all disheveled in a cute, country-farmy-dirt-road kind of way.  Now it just looks poor and abandoned. In short, Ghetto. Thank God for Connecticut summers… those trees, shrubs and wildflowers can disguise a multitude of sins.
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•      Well, that's it for now, folks.  A lot here, I know, but next time I'll keep it simpler. I have about 100 spaces to visit today (I have the day off), so expect me anytime this weekend....
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•      Hugs, for always
•       Gracia~~~