Charlotte

This little friend was perfectly positioned directly outside of Jack's bedroom window. It became our end of summer science project; observing her as she spun her web, captured insects and wrapped them up for dinner and re-built sections of the web when we had a particularly windy or stormy day. Unfortunately for us, the rain and wind we experienced from Tropical Storm Fay was too much for her web to handle. We woke up one morning, opened up the blinds, and Poof! our little friend was gone.

First day blues...

My poor baby, was pushed in PE and fractured his hand on the first day of school. He never cried and was a total brave boy. We are dissapointed that he'll have to miss fall baseball, piano lessons, PE and playground at school for 6 weeks. Total bummer. For us, that is. He has the best attitude about it. And is so proud of his bright blue cast...

OPI Cajun Shrimp

Could there be anything that looks better on your toes in the summertime??? Seriously. It's my absolute fave. This color rocks the casbah.

Ode to The Victim as he turns 46

So I thought it would be nice, since today is my husband's birthday, to steal my friend Kim's idea and acknowledge all the things that I love and appreciate most about Vic (nicknamed "The Victim" many years ago by my BFF, Karen) . So here goes:
1. He is a great dad.
2. He has a tremendous work ethic.
3. He has his priorities in the right order.
4. He is very handsome.
5. He has a good moral compass.
5. He is funny and makes me laugh.
6. He is a great provider.
7. He is laid back.
8. He is reliable.
9. He is punctual so we always arrive on time.
10. He always agrees to spend time with Jack so I can go off and do all my "stuff".
11. He never gets tired of playing Uno, Skipbo and Texas Hold 'Em with us.
12. He loves his family.
13. He is willing to ask for help when needed.
14. He has patience when teaching Jack something new.
15. He has interests of his own.
16. He can roll his tongue.
17. He looks amazing in a suit and tie.
18. He looks amazing in a golf shirt and shorts.
19. He looks amazing in a t-shirt and jeans.
20. He watches "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol" with me when he doesn't really want to.
21. He is the best dancer, ever. Seriously. He can dance like Justin Timberlake. It's sick.
22. He always knows the name of the band that sang a certain song.
23. He was a rock climber and "bivwacked" off the side at night. Very "Indiana Jones".
24. He never expects me to help with the yard work.
25. He likes being at home and hanging around the house together.
26. He doesn't check out other women when we are out together.
27. He let's me be in charge of the checkbook.
28. He doesn't make me feel bad about spending money on things.
29. He asks for my advice about work-related issues and really seems to value my opinions.
30. He doesn't complain if I sing "over" a song that's playing.
And Jack's list...
31. He plays games with me.
32. He hits golf balls with me.
33. He's nice.
34. He taught me how to ride my bike.
35. He taught me how to play baseball.
36. He makes me "Daddy's Famous Oatmeal" for breakfast.
37. He goes fishing with me.
38. He wrestles with me.
39. He let's me eat in my room or on the floor in front of the tv when Mom's not home.
40. He watches sports with me.
41. He reads to me.
42. He calls me to talk when he's traveling away from home.
43. He leaves me notes when he leaves to go out of town.
44. He makes me laugh.
45. He sings, "Moe's for dinner".
46. He let's me drive the golf cart.
Happy Birthday, Vic! We love you! 46 looks good on you;-)

Houston, we have lift off!

Finally!!! Our little buddy is riding his bike. On his own! We are so proud. It took some time, some coaxing, a bribe or two and a definitely a few tears but Jack has conquered the beast! Now all he wants to do is ride, ride, ride. You go, BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

The Vampires are taking over...

Our book club read, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. We all LOVED it and most of us have gone on to read the rest of the series. (Scroll below to a previous post for the link to the Twilight website). We met last Sunday and were asked by our hostess to dress in our best vampire/goth outfit. It was hysterical. We all had fangs, lipstick bites on our necks and we drank Bloody Mary's, and talked for hours about Edward, Bella, Jacob and all of the gang from Forks, WA. So much fun!
This is my friend, Kristi, dressed up as a "Matrix" Vampire. (Look at that coat!)
Here are Kim, Myself and Amanda (our hostess with the mostess).
And a group of us showing off our vampire teeth. Hey: make us mad and we'll bite 'cha!
If you haven't read this series that begins with Twilight, I really recommend it. It is just a great love story with a happy ending. So awesome.

Three things that make me smile...

1. Jack on his boogie board! This was a first for him, he wasn't so "all about the water" until this year. His Dad taught him how to catch the waves before they broke and he was hooked. He spent a lot of time this summer on his boogie board.

2. Beach house baseball! Jack is really into baseball right now. We met a lovely family at the beach this summer who have a boy the same age as Jack. They became fast friends as they were into all of the same things...baseball, boogie boarding, netting minnows at the lake, swimming, etc. They had a total blast together.

3. Kurt! And here he is: what a great kid. Everytime I see his picture it makes me smile. He was such a fun little boy. Total southern drawl and "Yes, Ma'm" everything. Cracked me up. Anyway, this is a family that we will definitely stay in touch with. (His Mom, Jamie, makes the best margaritas.) They don't live to far from us at home, so we may even hook up with them away from the beach, too.

How we roll...

This was the transportation of choice at the beach all summer. We had a great time with the bikes. It was the first time that we explored our beach area this way and it was very fun riding to Starbucks, riding to dinner or over to Seaside for the activities of the day. At this point, my not-so-little guy had not yet learned to ride a bike on his own, so the tandem bike was the way to go.

Signs of summer

I must admit, it really has been great fun being over here this summer. There is so much to do...or not. The flags at the beach have been flying yellow and purple for three weeks now: algae and jellyfish - yuck! But it's still so beautiful despite the little creatures that show up in the sand. Hub taught the little guy how to boogie board, which is a new adventure for the boy this year. The water is warm and the beach has lifeguards for the first time, so it's been less of a worry for us when we're in the water and the waves are kickin'. Truth be told, we don't make it down to the beach everyday like we would if we were here on a week's vacation. We've got this whole other "now we live here" sort of vibe going on and it's kinda cool. Getting to know the local shop owners and getting to know where to go for what. Feeling very blessed to have the opportunity to spend this much time over here in this beautiful place.

Love me some Edward Cullen

I'm reading like a total freak this summer. I have been devouring books. Whenever I get on a kick like this nothing makes me happier than finding an author that I can get hung up on. A few years ago it was Phillipa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl. I read everything that she wrote and became a huge fan of historical fiction, which had not been a genre that I had read much of prior to reading Ms. Gregory's books. When I had my abdominal surgery a few years ago a friend of mine gave me all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I read the whole series in the two weeks that I was recovering. Loved them, trashy and mindless though they were! This summer, my book club chose Stephenie Meyer's Twilight as our summer read. When our friend, Amanda, presented it to our group as "a Jr. Adult Fiction book about vampires" I was resigned to read it but not overly excited. Yeah, that was then. Let's just say that NOW I am completely hooked. There are three in the series and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed these books. To distraction. Seriously. Reading while brushing teeth, reading while cooking dinner, reading while driving (gasp!), could not get through them quickly enough. I was riveted!!! The last book in the series will hit the book stores on August 2nd and the Twilight movie is wrapped and will be in theaters in early December '08. Don't know anyone who has not loved these books, so if you haven't ventured into the world of Forks, Washington and met Bella, The Cullen family and our canine friend, Jacob, you must do so!!! Check the books out here on the author's website: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html and let me know what you think if you do have a chance to read one or all of them.

Always a bridesmaid...

My tennis partner and I and a few of our tennis team buddies played in a tennis tournament last month. It was a great experience, a fund-raiser for breast cancer awareness, called the R.I.T.A. Check it out here:http://www.the-rita-foundation.org/aboutRita.htm

Anyway, who ever would have guessed that Sue and I would have ended up playing in the final for the Championship? Too fun! It was very exciting and an absolute great experience playing such competitive matches all weekend. We lost in the final, however, 6-1, 6-4. It's okay...the girls we played were like, 25 years old and less than 100 pounds each. Total tennis barbie dolls (in a good way) and in great shape. We hated them (just kidding). Plus they were the winners of the tournament the previous year. Whatever. We were just glad to be there!!! After licking our wounds following our loss, we have decided to play in another tennis tournament in the fall:

The SENIOR-R.I.T.A.! It's put on by the same fundraising group but is for women who are 40+ years of age. Yeah, I like our chances against the older ladies. Since we are older ladies! Older, wiser, more assets, less fit. I'll let you know how we do.

First Communion

My goddaughter, Elena, made her first communion last month. She is pictured here in traditional "first communion garb" looking like a mini bride...so adorable. We had a fun visit to Orlando to hang out with Elena and her family to celebrate her special day. Does anyone remember their first communion??? I totally remember mine even though it was light years ago. My hair was super long at the time so my Mom (Mrs. High Maintenance herself) had to take me for an up-do at the local salon where her friend "Heidi the Horoscope Hairdresser" was put to work on creating something fabulous for my hair that would work perfectly with my veil. I had this whole Princess Laya braided hair thing going on. Very early-seventies. Interesting that my most vivid memory of the day revolves around my up-do. I guess I have always been all about the hair...

Glad grad!

So here he is, the high school graduate. He was very excited and so were we (relieved!). He is now the proud owner of a Macbook, his graduation gift from us. Yes, it's sad but true: I have total laptop envy and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm often found looking longingly across the family room as he types away. It's killing me. Dying for a Macbook of my own. Love me some Steve Jobs. So anyway, he's with us for the summer, working in his Dad's warehouse and saving money to move out on his own in the fall. He looks so handsome and grown up in this pic, doesn't he?

Mixed doubles: Not cocktails...Tennis!

So my hub and I have joined a mixed doubles tennis league and we play our first match this weekend. We went out to hit with some friends earlier this evening. They killed us. My hub hasn't played in five or six years so this was his first time on the court in a while. We had a great time playing together and I can actually see us being a really good team...eventually.
We decided to join this league because tennis is a sport that we both enjoy and we have both played doubles before in league play but just not together. We thought it would be fun to have a hobby in common. Something for the two of us to enjoy doing together. Kind of like a date night, but with perspiration and exersize involved. We'll see how it goes...

Bausch and Lomb Tennis Tournament

Went with a few tennis friends up to Amelia Island yesterday. What a blast! We were disappointed that Lindsey Davenport pulled out due to illness so we didn't get to see any "big name" players but we did see the other semi-finals singles match and a fantastic doubles match later in the afternoon. The weather was great, our seats were great and the tournament was extremely well-done, a total blast! Click here to check it out...http://www.blchamps.com/

Love these girls.

Feeling a little pressure from the girls to 'get back on the blogging trail'. I'm happy to do so, but must begin with the sad update that the New Year's weight loss goal was not only not reached but I may have gained a little weight these past few weeks. Bummer. Oh, well, there are always bigger pants to buy...

I made a trip back "home" this past weekend to do a bit of scrap booking and hanging out with my old posse of girlfriends (second photo). I really miss these gals and we have an awesome time together. I was trying to figure out on the way back to Jax whether or not I was sad that I didn't live in Tally anymore when I realized that with true friends you just pick right up where you left off. Physical proximity does not really factor in to the friendship. I talk to at least one of these gals every single day on the phone even though we are now talking long distance. That thought made me smile as I turned off the interstate and mozied on down to my "new" home.

The first photo is of a couple of the new friends that I have made since the move. Love these girls, too. It has been fun making new friends and doing different things with different people. These two gals live right down the street from me and I see them or at the very least talk to them every day. It makes for a fast friendship. So, in some ways, physical proximity can be a real bonus when you are the "newbie" and trying to establish relationships.

New friends, old friends. Grateful for them all...each and every one.

Down two...!

Okay, so not a huge milestone but at least it's a little progress. I had to weigh on Thursday, instead of Friday bcz of our Disney trip. 162 isn't bad for the first week. I'm exersizing (can never spell that word correctly) like a freak, but really enjoying it. My friend Renee aka The Queen of Everything (no, really, she IS the queen of everything) is my inspiration. She is my height and has been the same size (very appropriately thin, but in a totally fit, healthy, athletic way) since high school. Hate her. Well, love her, but hate her for being so darn self-disciplined because I am not. Anyway, I'll keep posting about my progress. Food choices are going well, also:-)'
On another note, Disney/MGM was just okay. Great to see the fab friends but not my favorite park. Plus I'm Mom to the kid who is anti-rides. How did this happen? My cousins and I used to ride the rides until our parents dragged us, kicking and screaming with what voices we had left, back home. Cannot figure out how I ended up with a kid who will not ride rides. Mystifying. Good news is that my dear friend, Carmelita, met her goal for the Disney half-marathon. She finished in 2:21!!! Way to go, girl! I'm so proud of her. She has worked so hard, for so long (literally, for like, 18 months) preparing for this. She's da bomb! Yay, Carm!

Pressure...and pounds.

Okay, so all my girls are back on the blogging trail, so here I am, too! Never one to have a mind of her own lest I be left out of the "in" group (I'm so kidding!), I was reading Jenn, Kim and Liz's blogs and thought, "Hey, I don't have to have a picture or a clever thought, I'll just give myself permission to rant and rave about whatever strikes my fancy. It is MY blog, after all!". Anyway, rather than catch everybody up on everything (you'll have to call me LIVE LINE if you want any holiday scoop) I thought that I would blog about one of my NY resolutions. Okay, it's my ONLY New Year's resolution. But I'm not fininshed thinking about it yet, so there may be more, later. Anyway, here goes: I have given myself 15 weeks to lose 30 pounds. My deadline is April 16th. I am starting out at 164 pounds. Not ashamed to say it, and I'm hoping that putting it out there will help me to keep myself in check as the weeks progress. I had a big surgery last February, then found out about our move. Things started to snowball from there and before you know it, I've gained nine more pounds since June. Listen, I know there are no excuses (that haven't been blogged about before...!), but I am going to give it my best shot (despite hormone replacement therapy) and see what happens. Fingers crossed and mouth closed when it comes to fatty, unhealthy foods. I know that this is the most boring, cliche, over-promised/under-delivered NY resolution in all of the world but I'm at that critical point where it is just time to loose this weight. For health reasons as well as for vanity reasons. So, thanks in advance for your encouragement and support. Please...don't ask me to lunch! (Coffee is fine, and I'd love to meet you at the gym for a spin class, but food = evil). I've just finished week one of exersize, good food choices and portion control. I didn't weigh before I started, but weighed yesterday so I'll post on Fridays to let you know how I do! Good luck to all who are battling the belly fat, too!