20 Years Ago... I was a graduating senior at Montclair Prep. Last week, our beloved Headmaster (founder) "Doc" Simpson passed away. There was an ensuing memorial for him and I thought it would be nice to attend and pay my respect. Little did I know, there would be over 1,000 others in attendance. What a nice tribute! Here's a picture of me holding Shayna in the gymnasium. She is pointing to my picture in the Montclair Prep Hall of Fame. I feel very honored to be amongst professional athletes, such as San Francisco Giants pitcher Russ Ortiz , World Series champion Brad Fullmer, and professional football star & Super Bowl champion, Toi Cook. I just think it's funny that I had Bon Jovi hair! Here's a video of Shayna taking some batting practice. I'm sure someday, she, too, will be holding her daughter in front of her very own Hall of Fame photo!
You have got to be kidding me? Up until a year ago, I probably got sick once every few years or once every time there's a Lunar Eclipse. Now I am sick every few weeks! I guess it's because we are with kids and hanging out at kid's places all of the time... I cannot think of any other reason why. It's interesting, though, that Shayna does not get sick. Could it be the nursing? I thought about it for a while and figured she was getting my antibodies, the same antibodies that cannot fight off whatever bugs I'm getting now... hmmm. I'm too tired to think any more about this!
Oh, and YES, I'm pretty bummed that my buddy Yau-Man got voted off of Survivor tonight!
On Sunday afternoon, we met up with our playgroup friends and family at Heritage Park. The kids played and we drank adult fruit juice... thanks Jacquie ;) We decorated V'Tines bags with stamps and markers and stickers, then handed out cards to one another. It was really fun for the kids.
Here's a cute one of all the dads and kids.
Yesterday, we met some friends at Pirate Park for some Arrrrrgh pirate fun. Shayna played nonstop from 10:00 to 1:30! After climbing up and down this faux rock structure about 100 times... you get the point! Needless to say, she took a full 2 hour nap when we got home.
Here are the kids after they all hiked to the top! Shayna loves her friends! This picture looks like an ad for Gap Kids... LOL!
Now you see it, now you don't. Mark & I bought a new dishwasher (DW) from Sears, online. It is a a mini-dishwasher, but it works great for the 3 of us. It's a specialty item because of its size, so we had limited choices. Mark took out our old DW Thursday night in preparation of Sears delivering our brand spankin' new one on Friday morning. At 8:00 Friday morning I rec'd a call from Sears Delivery saying that our "new" DW was found to be horribly damaged and they would have to order us a new one, which will be delivered Saturday, the 23rd. Yikes... anyhoo, Mark put our old one back and we got a $50 gift card from Sears for our troubles... how nice... Here's Shayna helping Mark with the DW. I met Mark and Shayna at the park for lunch and caught some really cool Skuut riding on film (disc)!
Sorry it's been a whole entire week of no posts, but it has been a busy one, indeed! I put Shayna in a Non-Parent Participation class through the city. It's a class about bugs and other creepy crawlers at our local Nature Center. It's only an hour and fifteen minutes long, so I kinda get a little coffee break... Last week was her first class and I had no idea how she'd react to me leaving. This is our first time apart in a school setting. Well, needless to say, she was great! I told her that Mommy will be back in a little while and have fun with the bugs. She said, OK, Mommy... bye... see you later!" No crying... Yippeee! One little kiss and I was off to Starbucks! Here's a picture of her (middle with pink vest) as I spied on them at the end of class... On Sunday, we drove to Las Vegas for the Triplet's bris(es). We also made it there in time for Samantha's 4th birthday party. It was a great time visiting with family meeting my nephews for the first time! In 2 months, I now have 4 nephews! Here's a cute picture of my parents and the grandchildren!
Super Tuesday and Fat Tuesday coincide. Coincidence, I think not! I am calling today, "Super Fat Tuesday!" How could I resist? This morning I went to our Polling Place to vote for my candidate and other important issues. I took Shayna along because I remember, as a small child, going with my parents to vote. I remember it being super secret, with ugly curtains and old women who followed the rules to a "T." It was almost like walking through a casino as a kid.... don't look, don't touch, don't say a word... Well, today was different. I let Shayna play with Pluto at my super secret polling booth, and she almost knocked it down. Now, that would've made a better blog entry!
Mark came home at around 5:00 and I made him go and vote! We had Mark's cousin, Melissa, over to babysit so that we could have a night out to try the almost new Vietnamese restaurant down the street. Mark voted... we had Pho...spring rolls... curry chicken... and some sort of pressed garlic chicken. It was a great evening out and I think that we should do that more often - not just on Super-Fat Tuesday!
Today's birthday (Feb. 4): Business and pleasure are found in the same activities this year. You're drawn to an ideal social arena in March, where there will be a perfect balance of creative people to inspire you and cynical people to deter you from a bad idea. June brings a windfall when you work your connections. Romance leads to July travel. Virgo and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are 8, 1, 32, 19 and 35.
OMG! Today, I turn 37 years old - I am now older than half of the population of the United States. The day started out great, as Shayna slept in til 6:30! What a treat! We woke up, ate breakfast and headed up to the Valley to pick my mom up for some birthday lunch. My mom decided that it would be fun to go to Benihana. It was a great time, of course, as they sang Happy Birthday to me in Japanese, I think... Thanks, mom, I had a great time! My in-laws made their annual birthday call this morning, right on schedule! Every year, they call early in the morning and sing, "Happy Birthday to You." It's so cool! As a sidebar, I wanted to let everyone know that in my previous post, Mark's mom (my awesome mother-in-law) made him the "Refrigerator Cake" when he was a youngster. He loved that cake so much, that she made it for him every year on his birthday. I have kept up the tradition, and will probably be making it for Shayna's birthday, as she loves it, too! Thanks Lynn!
Shayna is really progressing on reading and writing! I wrote out her name and had her try to copy it below. Check it out! The letter under my "N" is her "S," and to the left of her "S" is an "H," then an "A," under her "S" is a "Y," to the right of her "Y" is an "N," and all the way to the left is an "A." She'll be reading and writing before she starts Pre-School!
Thanks again for all of your cards and phone calls! It really meant a lot to me! :)
Here are some amazing "37" scientific facts...Enjoy:
"Normal" human body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. (Note).
Radio signals from the Galileo spacecraft confirming the launch of a Jupiter atmospheric probe took 37 minutes to reach Earth. (Note).
The correct amount of Tasmanian Muttonbirds to harvest is 37% of the chicks present when the season opens in March. (Note).
The molecular weight of tubulin-alpha is 37kD. (Note).
There are 37 genes in the mitochondrial genome. (Note).
Blue light spans 37 nm of the visible wavelength spectrum.
Well, tomorrow's the biggest football day of the year. Pats vs Giants. I don't really care who wins (sorry Jenna), as I will be rooting for points at the end of each quarter. Every year, our office has a SB pool, where everyone buys a square for $5/piece. So, go 7-3! Mark's birthday was a success! His "Refrigerator Cake," as he calls it, turned out yummy, so that's all that really mattered! I use a Strawberry cake mix instead of a white cake mix, as the recipe above calls for. It's the BEST!
Tonight, a cricket appeared on our carpet as I was combing Shayna's hair after her bath (hence, the messy wet hair). I screamed for Mark to come and kill it. Instead, he asked for Shayna's Bug Observer. I brought it over and Shayna got to actually see what makes that peculiar noise at night! I am just not a bug person. Can't stand 'em... hate 'em! But, Shayna is fascinated with 'em.... YUCK!
I know that this Blog (or Web Log) is titled, "Shayna," but it's really a place for me to write about the daily happenings of the household. I will post a lot of Shayna and William things here. This Blog will be a mixture of both her and other fun things going on the homestead.
20 Years Ago... I was a graduating senior at Montclair Prep. Last week, our beloved Headmaster (founder) "Doc" Simpson passed away. There was an ensuing memorial for him and I thought it would be nice to attend and pay my respect. Little did I know, there would be over 1,000 others in attendance. What a nice tribute! Here's a picture of me holding Shayna in the gymnasium. She is pointing to my picture in the Montclair Prep Hall of Fame. I feel very honored to be amongst professional athletes, such as San Francisco Giants pitcher Russ Ortiz , World Series champion Brad Fullmer, and professional football star & Super Bowl champion, Toi Cook. I just think it's funny that I had Bon Jovi hair!
