Random Ruminations

Nothing much going on...we've been house cleaning and "hanging out." (My sister arrives from Ohio this Thursday, so we're prepping for her visit. And when she leaves next week, Em and I are going with her---so I have to have our laundry and packing ready.)

Barbies: Today Em was super excited to set up a "Barbie Wedding."

The Bride and Groom (sorry picture isn't vertical.)

Glued to the TV---watching the DVD from my wedding with DH back in '98

(Cracked me up when she tried to replicate some of our wedding stuff into her Barbie wedding. Too sweet!)



Em's favorite part was dressing all of her Barbies and placing them in seats to
"watch" the wedding. The Barbie wedding and preparations lasted about 2 1/2 hours. (Just like her mama...I spent maaaaaany hours playing with Barbies when I was young.)

As an aside---I found two B.arbies on clearance at W.algreen's last week for only $1.00 each. Wow! And I thought my prior B.ig L.ots $5 deal was good. :)

Anybody out there play with B.arbies in the '80's? Do you recognize the furniture her B.arbies are sitting on? It's the furniture from my old 3-story B.arbie D.reamhouse which I passed down to Em at Christmas time last year.


Zoo: Yesterday we went to the Zoo...

On the carousel


Brushing the goats....Goat #1 (Can't get my pics to "rotate" horizontal today, sorry.)


With Goat #2

Thanks to the J.acksonville J.aguars NF.L team and its owners, the Jax Zoo has the largest collection of Jaguars at any U.S. zoo. A baby jag, Harry, was born at the Zoo this past January. Em and I were excited to see him up and active yesterday, as at prior zoo visits he was sleeping, or laying quietly beside his mother...

Just scratching...



Mama Jaguar on left, baby Harry on right



Isn't he gorgeous?

Swimming: I'm still amazed that the City Pools here are FREE! There are 20 or so pools throughout the city that have free admission. Em and I went again this afternoon. We found a nice local pool that isn't crowded. This is the second time we've gone from about 3-5 p.m. Had a great not toooo hot swim. It was super. Em is getting the knack of going under water by herself, and kicking/doggie paddling independently (with floaties.) She'll take her first ever swim lessons at the pool in my hometown when we're in Ohio in 2 weeks. (The same pool my younger sister and I learned to swim in. Ahhh, the circle of life.)

School: I've loved procrastinating and putting off doing any school work. I WILL work on somethings (lesson planning, vocabulary ideas, etc.) during the time we're at my parents' house. I've enjoyed my three weeks with NO school work though. :)

House: DH painted much of the outside house trim this past weekend, and the railings on our front porch. The house looks MUCH better! :)

Exercise: I'm pleased with myself right now. I've stuck with the W.ii A.ctive 30-day challenge program. I still find the exercise program motivating and I like the variety of exercise movements. I believe today I'm on day 12 of the program. Yea!

I think that is all the latest. :)

Show and Tell--Crooked Pinkies

I inherited "crooked pinkies," (as I call them) from my Dad's side of the family...

My Dad's uncle had crooked pinkies on both hands. However his brother (my grandfather) did not have them.) My Dad does not have crooked pinkies. Yet, my Dad's younger sister, my Aunt Nan has crooked pinkies on both of her hands. But, none of Nan's three daughters have crooked pinkies. I'm' my Dad's only child who has the "crooked pinkies" and I have them on both hands. I passed this on to my daughter...but she only has a crooked pinkie on her right hand. Guess she's trying to change the gene-dynamics after all these years?

This is a totally weird and random Show-and-Tell, but I guess I'm photographing our pinkies for future generations. (Yeah, that's it...)




At first glance, not so different, right?







Em's crooked pinky on top of mine...



Em's right hand (not nearly as crooked as mine, but still more so than her left hand.)



My crooked pinkies side by side.



Just to show how crooked and short my pinkies really are, the piece of paper above indicates where the top "knuckle" on my ring-finger is. This is the location where the top of most people's pinkies hits their ring fingers.

I knew my pinkies were crooked, but I didn't realize how significantly SHORTER they are as compared to the norm, until I took acoustic guitar lessons a few years ago. When I was having difficulty stretching my fingers to reach an F-chord, my instructor was awed by the short span between my pinkie and thumb. Interesting, hey?

To see what others are bringing to Show and Tell this week, click HERE to visit Mel's blog.

Support Needed

My blog-friend Looking4#3 at OneMoreLittleOne needs your support! She and her DH are undergoing secondary infertility. She recently was thrilled to learn that she was pregnant. However at this week's check-up, they were given the devastating news that her baby stopped growing over a week ago. She had to undergo a D&C yesterday morning. Please stop by and give her support. THANKS!

Summer Outings Photo Montage

Em and I have enjoyed many outings during our first 2 weeks of summer...





Em in 3-D glasses today when we saw the movie "Up"



SPOILER ALERT (Please skip to next photo if you don't want to read about "Up" plot details):



(On a side note, I LOVED the movie. And I cried more regarding the sweet relationship between the husband and wife, than I did at their "baby situation." Whew! Prior to seeing the film, I read a few movie reviews and fellow blogger's posts and wasn't sure how sensitive I'd be to the issues the couple in the movie encounters as they try to conceive a child. Such a sweet movie! And I agree with the wonderful Mel's POST HERE , in which she states that the infertility signs within the film were "presented in such a way that families in the know will appreciate the ability to use it as a jumping board for discussion and those who have thankfully had no trouble with family building will miss the point entirely."

Ironically, I saw the film with my 4-year-old daughter whose only question after the film was, "What happened to his wife?" Whereas, I was left with multiple questions:

--Why did Ellie and Carl choose to remain childless?
--Did they suffer a miscarriage, or were they told they couldn't conceive a child? (I thought it was a miscarriage, but I can see how it could be interpreted either way.)
--Why did the movie creators not show any 2-parent families throughout the film? (The young boy Russell has a father who is rarely around, and the mama-bird Kevin is seen caring for her 3 babies with no father or partner around?)


Overall, I thought it was a great film, that as Mel said lends itself easily to infertility discussions. As I continue on my secondary infertility journey, I can see using this film to one day help explain to Emma the difficulty DH and I are having trying to conceive a sibling...

END SPOILER

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"Friendship Fountain" a Jacksonville landmark. We saw it when walking along the St. John's riverfront.
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Near---Em in tree house at the MOSH (Museum of Science and History)



Far---Em in the same MOSH tree house

Baby dinosaur "hatching" in the dinosaur exhibit.

Baby Dino's mama

This dinosaur freaked Emma out a bit. "I'm done with this part, Mommy, let's go!"

Entrance to the museum
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Em as we hiked on a nature trail at Ft. Caroline

Self portrait of us at the fort (excuse my double-chin, bleck!)

Em being silly with the "Junior Park Ranger" badge she earned when we completed the activity book at the Ft. Caroline park. (Did you know that most National Parks have free activities children can complete to earn "badges?" I didn't know until this visit. Awesome!)

Beside one of Ft. Caroline's cannons

"Aren't I sweet?" with the tail end of another cannon
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Wearing her new mermaid hoodie-towel at the Metro Park water park

Just splashin' around

Using a water squirter at the water park

We aren't always on-the-go. We've had plenty of at home time too: including board games, Hide-n-Seek, and baking of No-Bake cookies. (When my younger sis was in college her roommate had a super delicious no-bake cookie recipe for creating oatmeal/chocolate/peanut butter cookies in the microwave. We made them this weekend. It was nice to have a "sweet treat" without heating the house up by using the oven. Yum!)

I've also been trying to get through the awesome ICLW list on Mel's blog. I'm trying to earn "Iron Commenter" status again. (And *salty tears* I won't be able to participate in next month's ICLW due to my NYC trip with my college girlfriends. But you can bet I'll be back in August!)

Whew! That's my summer so far. What have you been up to?

ICLW #4

Hello, visitors! Here are 10 random things I'd like you to know about me as I participate in ICLW for the 4th time.

1. The pronunciation of my name: Alana rhymes with iguana.

2. DH and I have been married 11 years in September (and "together" for 14!)

3. I am the middle child in a family with 3 daughters.

4. My sisters and I are all teachers. (Me--8th grade reading, Older Sis--just got her Ph.D and will be working at Drew University this fall, Younger Sis--high school Spanish)

5. I detest peas. Can't stand the smell, the taste, the look. Major yuck!

6. When I was a child I was fascinated by grandfather clocks... It started with Nancy Drew's "Secret of the Old Clock" (which turned out to be a mantel clock, but was a grandfather clock the way I pictured it in my head while reading,) continued with "Webster" (remember the 80's TV show?) who had a secret passageway hidden behind the grandfather clock in his house, and carried on with my middle school summer viewing of "The Price is Right" in which contestants could often win grandfather clocks as part of their living room "Showcase Showdown" packages.
When DH's grandmother died a few years ago, he inherited an amazing grandfather clock that his Pappaw hand-crafted years ago. It is now in our living room and is one of my favorite things in our home.

7. Other than one toe, I've never broken any bones. (*Knocking on wood...*)

8. Many things in my life involve the letter "A:"
--My 1st name (and married last name) begin with A
--DH's first and last name both start with A
--My blood type is A+
--I sing in the Alto range
--My birthday is in April
--My astrological sign is Aries
--My cat is named Abby
--I'm interested in Astronomy and stargazing
--I love word games. One Anagram for my first and last name is: Sandal on an ear

9. My daughter shares a birthday with one of my Dad's younger brothers.

10. I was having a rough time coming up with a #10. I asked my 4-year-old, "What's something you'd want people to know about you?" She responded, "I like to do arts and crafts."
GREAT answer---me too! :)

If interested in my IF history, click HERE

And last, but not least, a Happy Father's Day shout-out:
--To all the Fathers out there who have a child (or children) who is (are) no longer with them here on Earth...I know today is bittersweet for you.
--To my wonderful DH (From the jazz music played through headphones on my belly when I was pregnant, to the first time you held Em, to the wrestle-matches you have today, I love partnering with you as we raise our daughter. And I have extra love for you because of your support as we try to expand our family!)
--To my father-in-law (You cook and bake like a pro! And I SO admire your people-skills... you have the ability to strike up a conversation with anyone anywhere.)
--To my Dad (He's en route with my Mom right now from Ohio to Washington state, in part to help my sister move from Seattle, WA to New Jersey. Dad, you're awesome! I love your giving heart and willingness to help others!)

In closing, I'm looking forward to meeting new blog friends and finding new blogs to read! Happy ICLW week. :)