Random Pre Christmas-ness

Me Time: Hubby just took Emma with him to finish up his Christmas shopping. This was totally unprompted by me. I am blogging...listening to MY music (i.p.od is on Shuffle, gotta love it) and am enjoying being home ALONE for the first time in many months. Ahhhhh!

Emma's Reading/Writing: Em has had many milestones which have touched my heart as a mother. Currently, she is learning to read and write....it melts my heart and makes me SO proud! I have a hobby of writing quirky poems...they usually are rhyming and silly about events that have happened in my life. Yesterday, Em heard me reading a poem I wrote for my college girlfriends about the GP weekend we went on this summer. When I got off the phone, Em had written the following note on her art easel:



"Mom islu bes ritr poum :)" = "Mom is the best writer poem :)"

My little sweetie. I love the way she sounded it out so that lu=the. I love that she hasn't figured out grammatically correct sentence structure yet. But mostly, I just love the sentiment...LOVE IT! :)

Car Damage: In 2002 we bought a new H.onda C.ivic in January. In September of that year, a woman ran a red light and smashed into me...luckily the car wasn't totaled and no one was severely hurt. (Though I did have to have several months of physical therapy for my back afterwords.) I believe it took about a month of repairs and rental cars before I had my Civic back.

Continuing our poor luck with new cars... Remember when I posted THIS back in May---pictures of our new mini van? DH was off of work on Thursday. He and I had a nice date day. We finished our Christmas shopping for Emma. We ate lunch at the C.heese.cake F.actory. We saw the "New M.oon" movie. (I still love it. DH disliked it. He said it was too long and drawn out. I thought it was true to the novel.) At the end of the day we went together to pick Em up from preschool/daycare. While we were in the building, someone backed into DH's van leaving a huge dent in the tailgate and rear bumper. (What's the deal with us getting hit in cars that are less than a year old? UGH!) The driver left the scene...we didn't discover the damage until we were walking back to the van with Emma. Luckily the father of another preschool child wrote down the license plate # of the driver and the make/model of her car. He gave us his contact information as a "witness." He stated the other driver hit our car, got out and looked at HER car (a Ca.dillac Es.calade) and upon seeing no damage to HER car, she got back in it and drove away.

Luckily, being the savvy person that I am, I have the "Jacks.onville She.riff Office's Non-Emergency" line saved in my cell phone. It was cold and rainy, so Em and I went back into the school building while DH dealt with the JSO and car issues.

DH came into Em's classroom a few minutes later. Apparently the driver of the car came back. She is the OWNER of the building! (Em's preschool/daycare is one of 3 businesses that lease space in the building.) She actually said to DH, "Oh, did someone hit your car?" DH played it cool, not telling her at first that he had her license plate number and a witness. He said that the car had been hit while he was inside picking up his daughter. The lady said, "I wonder if I did that?" To which DH responded, "Well, your license plate number does match the vehicle that was seen leaving the scene." HA! Wish I could've seen her face with that statement....

The woman was rude to DH...saying it was her birthday and she was running late. But, she did enter the building and make a copy of her insurance card for DH. DH was nice too nice, I think and canceled the JSO call, agreeing that they could handle things just through insurance. I still think we should have sited the lady for a hit and run! Maybe I'm too vindictive. The clincher for me is that the woman didn't come back to check on US or our CAR...she actually came back to the parking lot to pick up her hubby and balloon-holding friends. Because, get this, they were running late for the Ja.guar's home N.FL game that night.
La-ti-da!

We were able to get an appraisal from her insurance on Friday. ($793 and 4 days estimated repair/paint.) As soon as we get the check from her insurance company, we'll figure out rental car and repair dates.

Gift Status: I want to pick up 2 more items for DH this week. Other than that all of my shopping is done. ALL items are wrapped and under the tree. I even helped elves finish wrapping some Santa items which are carefully hidden in the suitcase in my closet until they'll be needed for Christmas morning.

Yesterday Em helped me with the stamping and mailing of our family Christmas letter and photo card and some gift items.

This week, Em and her class had a field trip to the mall to see Santa. DH and I were a little worried. As she had already seen Santa in Ohio, we were hoping her gift request list wouldn't be too drastically different. The main item she requested: "Heart notebooks to write and draw in."

On our shopping expedition on Thursday, DH and I tried many options and could not find heart notebooks. I finally found some heart stickers at a craft store (in the Valentine section---they actually had Valentine stuff out already. What the heck?) And was pleased with my results, which I sent to the elves closet shelf for Em's Christmas delivery from Santa.



Me Time: This week I'll be participating in ICLW for the first time in many months. I look forward to catching up with old blog friends, and to making new blog acquaintances.

Now I'm off to my secret addiction play some free online B.o.g.gle! :)

Sick Day

I stayed home from school today. I have been congested, have a sore throat and just feel BLECK. I took Em to her preschool/daycare, and then I came home. I watched Obama's acceptance speech (I had fallen asleep before it earlier in the week.) How moving! I love that he was gracious, yet humble. Not gloating and victorious as some prior president-elects...just very matter-of-fact. Along with supporting many of Obama's platforms, I also think it is wonderful that the U.S. will finally have a minority president. That people who lived through Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement will have an African American president within their lifetime. I agree with Obama, it is time for change!

After watching Obama's speech, I slept and slept. So much for sipping tea and watching sappy movies, like I thought I would do when I scheduled the day off. I crashed hard. Guess my body needed the rest. Last weekend, we took Em to Urgent Care because she had been coughing and running a slight fever. She's been on antibiotics all week. Yesterday, I felt it coming on. I called my pharmacy and had my antibiotic Rx from last spring refilled. Hoping that by taking today off, I'll have "kicked it" before school on Monday. I just didn't have the energy to deal with my students today.

Last week I finally got the check from the insurance company of the man who wrecked into my car back in September. (Were there enough prepositions in that sentence? I'm tired!) Next Tuesday when school is closed for Veteran's Day, I'll drop my car off at the repair shop, and will get a rental car (paid for by his insurance) for use while my car is in the shop. Hassle of the season: they had to cancel the initial check because they erroneously mailed it to me at the address of my co-worker who was a passenger in my car at the time of the accident. Sighs. That is why it has taken so long for me to obtain the repair $$. I am hoping that the body shop will be able to repair it for the price of the check (approx $650)...and in 3 days or less. Otherwise, Tuesday will be spent making phone calls for more $$ and more rental car days. Ugh.

2 quick Halloween memories before I forget: 1. DH was able to make it this year! The past few years, he has gotten home after we were finished trick-or-treating. Due to Jacksonville always having trick-or-treat on actual Halloween, we always had to go early so Em could be in bed for school the next morning. This year with Halloween on a Friday (and with Em being a little older,) we went trick-or-treating a little bit later. Aaron caught up with us before we were even half way around the block. It was nice family bonding. We both enjoyed watching Em, who was adamant about ringing the doorbells by herself. There were a few houses with creepy Halloween decor that Em would "sneak" by declaring, "I'm not scared!" It was cute. 2. Em was tickled that in the "Wizard of Oz" books, Dorothy and her friends wear glasses in order to view the Emerald City. She thought it was neat to dress up as a character who wears glasses. :)

Oh! And a Halloween funny...today when I picked Em up at school, her teacher had photos of the students in their Halloween attire. There are only 4 girls in Em's class. As you know, Em was Dorothy. ALL 3 of the other girls were dressed as Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty.) Too funny! Em told me "they were all Aurora" when I asked her last week, but I thought she was exaggerating, or couldn't remember. (Btw---Em was Aurora last year. Maybe they are all wannabes? JOKE!)

Quick shout-outs:

--To Auntie Michelle: for sending Em a really cute, cuddly stuffed lion as a belated birthday gift. Em named the lion Furry. She loves him. She took the lion for their weekly "Sharing Day this past Wednesday." On Sharing Day, kids bring a toy from home and let the other students take turns playing with it all day. Furry was a hit. :)

--To Auntie Meghan--Happy belated B-day (Oct 7th.)

--To Auntie Laurel---Happy belated B-day (Nov 6th.)

--To my parents and Laurel---they'll be coming for Thanksgiving. Having their visit to look forward to is helping me truck through this quarter. (I can't wait until winter break---my reading endorsement class will be over, and the critical thinking class I'm teaching will be over too!)

--DH finally started running again. His knee is doing better. He has a new half marathon goal... I think it is in March?? I'll have to find out.

And an Emmaism before I go:
I asked Em what job she wants when she is a grown up. She enthusiastically responded, "A ticket taker at the movies!"

The Ugly, The Bad, and The Good

Whew! The school year is back in full swing and my blogging/free time are dwindling. Here's what's been going on this September...

The Ugly:



Last Wednesday 9/10, I was in a minor car accident. I had just pulled into
a parking space at a restaurant, when a man hit my rear bumper, as he
tried to park in the spot next to me.

When we got out of our vehicles, his first words to me were, "What do you want?" As if I had inconvenienced him. Sighs. To make a long story somewhat short, after I wrote down his name
and license plate #, we agreed we'd exchange insurance info inside the restaurant we were parked outside (because it was 90+ degrees out that day.) As I entered the restaurant, the man got in his car and drove off! Instead of calling a non-emergency police number as originally planned, I then called 911. The man was located at his home. He was cited for driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident, and careless driving. I'm still dealing with insurance mumbo-jumbo with his appraiser to have my car fixed.

Fortunately, the damage isn't too dreadful. And no major injuries, though my back has been sore since the accident.


The Bad:

DH and I spent last weekend at Disney World to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Though very enjoyable overall, I am writing a letter to our hotel to complain about the following:
--After calling that morning to verify if we could check in early (the posted check in time is 3 p.m., but we wanted to check in between 1:30 and 2), our room was not ready when we arrived.
--Brand new fridge in our room was still taped shut with the owners manual and styrofoam inside. It also was not plugged in. We had to move it out of the TV/Entertainment unit in order to plug it in, because the furniture unit was too large for us to move in order to reach an outlet.
--There were 2 flat screen TVs in our suite. 1 in the bedroom area and 1 in the living room area. The TV in the living room area was also not plugged in...and we could also not reach the outlet, again due to the large entertainment unit.
--The jacuzzi tub did not work. The whole reason we chose a suite at this hotel was because I wanted a room with a jacuzzi. I did have a nice, hot bath which helped my back...but it's not the same!
--Neither of the lamps on our nightstands were plugged in. The one on Aaron's nightstand even still had the plastic piece covering the plug prongs when he checked to see if it was plugged in!

Overall, the Buena Vista Suites hotel was really lovely. They have just renovated everything. The suite was roomy, CLEAN, and nice. The breakfast buffet was super. I think they just rushed to book our room after renovations without really checking to make sure it was ready.

The Good:

After getting over my initial guilt of going to Disney without Emma (DH reminded me that "Disney is one of (my) favorite places in the world too," not just Emma's,) we had a great time.
We spent time shopping and sightseeing in Downtown Disney---we had never been there before.

Aaron on a chopper at the Downtown Disney Harley store.



DH and I in front of Cinderella's castle


We spent a lot of time looking at the neat exhibits at the Lego store in Downtown Disney.
I especially liked this dragon in the lake outside the store.



Downtown Disney signs. We ate dinner at House of Blues. It was really yummy! But we were disappointed that they didn't have any live music playing at the time we were there.



Self-portrait while we were riding the Tomorrow Land Transit.


It was really nice to have one-on-one time with DH. We don't have many "date nights" or time away from Emma. I always enjoy our times together. Oh---I don't want to forget---DH sent a dozen roses to me at my school on our anniversary. He has purchased flowers for me before, but has never sent them to my work place. I thought it was very sweet!

More Good...

Em turned 4 this week! I can hardly believe our little one is growing up so quickly. We didn't plan it, but it worked out so that she had nearly a whole week of celebration. Weds she took cupcakes to school and had a small class party there. When we arrived home from school, there was a package from Auntie Laurel waiting on the porch. It was filled with great goodies (including a purse and wallet Em had requested,) but Em seemed especially excited about the book of 400 princess stickers.

Thursday we had a playdate after school w/ Em's friend Adrian and his mom. They gave Em a cool princess story book and the CUTEST Cindy Lou Who PJs.

Friday when we arrived home from school there was a package waiting from Grandma and Grandpa. It contained several books (thus far Em's favorite is the "Beauty and the Beast Look and Find") and a Dorothy costume complete with gingham hairbows and red shoes. (Em told Grandma she wanted to dress up as Dorothy for Halloween.) Em immediately wanted to try the costume on. It is SOOOO CUTE! I can't wait to post Halloween pics next month. Em really enjoyed having her hair braided in 2 pigtails and asked me to braid her hair again today. I love it...but it makes her look so grown. Sighs!

Today we had Nana, Papa, Auntie Amie, and Uncle Burke over for a cookout dinner and birthday celebration. Em had present opening and birthday cake time. Fun was had by all. (Kiddo wouldn't sit still for a nice pic with Nana and Papa. Bummer.)




Daddy picked this WAY COOL princess cake out by himself. Em loved it. (Note the "Princess" photo of Em on the top tier!)


Blowing out the candles...


Delicious!


Em's "Birthday Girl" badge was given to her by her teacher.


"I'm 4!"


Uncle Burke and Auntie Amie


Opening presents... (Shhh! She doesn't know the princess art supply kit was
purchased by Mommy & Daddy at Disney World!)


The amazing cake.

What a nice day!!