altarflame | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

There were packages galore today.

First off, I got my incredible Steve Madden shoes:

I am so in love with them and so drunk on being newly appreciative of shoes and having money at the same time, I also ordered these today when I saw they had them:

I'm still considering whether I "need" them in white, burnt orange, brown and red, too. I mean, come on, I'm actually going to have a closet of my own to display them in, soon ;) My justification is that I can wear them to church every Sunday for the rest of my life; as in, even if there is no other occassion to wear heels to, there will always be that, so why not get some to match any conceivable dress :p

Elise's new fitted diapers came.

Then, in an onslought, UPS delivered the big old Gymboree box along with my Nicoletta Ceccoli print and some things of Grant's.

I don't know what to think of my investment in higher quality childrens' clothing. I got them all dressed up in their new duds and they looked so adorable I thought, I need to make a habit of this. And then LITERALLY within the hour, Aaron had ripped a hole in the knee of his pants, Isaac had pooped "but only a tiny bit" in his shorts and gotten Nutella all over his face, and Jake was soaked down the front from the hose.

I don't really know how anyone manages to keep kids' clothes in resale condition, especially BOYS' clothes. I really don't.

The Nicoletta Ceccoli print - which is the picture used for this icon, her painting "Corvi" - is incredible. First of all, in something larger than 100x100 pixels (it's actually 14"x14"), you can see the richness of the grass and the brushstrokes on the hair and it's just great. Also, whoa, it came hand signed and numbered 87/101, both in pencil. No wonder the thing cost $300. I mean damn, I just wanted to find it on allposters.com or something ;)

I really, really, REALLY wanted to go to FIU's art department's "Spring Review" tonight, and had planned it in advance, but a whole lot of things conflicted and it wasn't meant to be, I guess. Sorry we weren't there, Shaun.

Speaking of culture and glamour, tomorrow we're spending all day long de-lousing again *big sarcastic thumbs up*!!! Honestly I am so sick to death of headlice, I would like to never see one again as long as I live. Mindy's girls keep giving it back to us when they come over here to spend the weekend, and then they get rid of it but I don't realize Annie has hatching eggs again and they go home with it, etc etc FOREVER. Laura is terrified Brian is going to catch it and keeping his head buzzed, I am beyond over combing through hair, and I REFUSE to move into a new house with head lice on board. I've designated every Friday in April as "Lice Day": we're doing the whole shebang with shampoo, vaccuming, bedding through ultra hot wash with tea tree oil, couch cushion covers, spraying toxic chemicals all over the house, ALL OF IT, with boiling brushes and combing until my hands are numb. And then we're doing it again the next Friday. And the Friday after that. And the Friday after that. Mindy and Teresa are doing Patrice and Nadia's hair and entire house, too, also weekly. If there is some way that somehow something somewhere is missed after all of that...I just don't know. I really don't. The best I can come up with is, maybe the girls get it from school and can't come to our new house until we know they're totally free of it. I'm just hoping that doing it once or doing it two weeks in a row wasn't thorough enough, because it always seems as though they are totally gone after we do it, for a few days or a couple weeks, but then I guess more eggs hatch or something?

For the record, I spent months trying to use baby oil as a 3-day smothering agent AND as a one time combing aid, tea tree oil, the new homeopathic lice treatment, we've been doing the whole Suave Coconut Oil shampoo and conditioner thing...please spare me the natural tips. I know there are people who swear by mayonnaise, vinegar, and/or vaseline, but eww, DEAR LORD EWW and I've read about that taking WEEKS to rinse out and being impossible to comb through anyway. My toddler and preschooler are not going to sleep in shower caps. This is it.

Elise is just getting copious combing and nitpicking, as I can't bear to put RID on her head yet, and don't think I could safely keep it off of her hands or, thus, out of her mouth, anyway.

As far as "our house" (the house we really want, that I wrote about):

Due to all kinds of talk with the listing agent and going back and forth with Teresa and the amount of properties the bank has to deal with, etc etc etc, we ended up submitting an offer early yesterday morning for $214,000 along with a refundable cashier's check deposit of $22,000 (the bank had apparently set up terms with the listing agent that they weren't taking anyone seriously without at least a 10% deposit up front), all contingent on an inspection not revealing more than $7000 in problems with the property. We were supposed to hear an answer today but it looks like tomorrow, now. It is KILLING ME waiting. Killing me. We are apparently the only people who've made an offer on this house so far, which I think is partially because it's a very low traffic area and partially because the pictures online are HORRIBLE, blurry, non-enlargeable thumbnails that do it no justice whatsoever. Teresa expects them to counter-offer at least once as it was listed at 235k, appraised at 277 and sold last time around for 305. It's surrounded by houses that sold for 250-400k. But, if they accept our initial offer, which I feel like has to be at least a possibility with that deposit and our paying cash, our closing date would be APRIL 25. SO SOON!!

It is very surreal to be feeling almost wealthy for the first time in my life during a time period when the economy is flagging so badly...there are foreclosures on nearly every block in many neighborhoods here in Homestead, and I was reading yesterday about whole subdivisions in places like Cleveland and Denver that sprang up 2 years ago and are ghost towns now, with bank lockboxes on nearly every door. There is a nationwide spiking demand for low-cost apartments as former-homeowners try to avoid homelessness. They are estimating 1.2 million foreclosures in the past 12 months, and expect the next 12 months to be worse.

One of our favorite stores, a locally owned place in the shopping plaza we often walk to, is closing down. The co-owners have been in business for 14 years but they are blaming the economy. They sell things like handmade quilts, expensive fancy candy from bulk bins, unique cards and tons of frou frou old lady stuff like antique-looking-but-actually-brand-new furniture. We bought our dining table there last Fall. Anyway, it is a little bit awesome to have a place with a lot of things I like putting all their merchandise on clearance when I am buying my first home and have some money to spend outfitting it; on the other hand, though, that was really the ONLY "class" in that plaza, and the kids LOVE going in there, and the owner is almost what I would call a friend. She's followed our whole story, with Boston and Elise and the sponge and all that crap, and sent free gifts to my hospital room. It just bites to see people struggling on all sides. I feel very grateful to be "safe" from short-term recession problems, with Grant having just landed a very good job with a ton of advancement opportunities, a great benefits package and 12 hour shifts that allow for either 3 or 4 days off in a row each week.

It is WEIRD being treated differently because we have some money; we were at the bank putting $300k in a Money Market account to gain interest while we aren't using it, and the lady helping us was like, running to the printer when she had to get something for us to sign, and being all extra-special-nice. Grant was sitting there in his crocs-with-socks, shorts, tshirt and straw hat, and he theorized while she was sprinting to our hard copy that we probably seemed "Eccentric" to her and perhaps she was seeing my gigantic, red $20 Claire's purse as being worth a whole lot more :p

Sidenote: we can actually make like $900 this month just by letting that three hundred grand sit in a money market account instead of a regular checking account. And we can still access it and everything, in the meantime (though only a limited number of times without penalty). There isn't risk involved or anything. What the heck.

I will leave you with a few other pictures that I took today.

That's Nadia with A and A, she's one of Mindy's twins.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um...Tyra of Doom.

Wow.

Alright. Setting aside your threatening icon, I will try to answer as if I am not balled up in the corner explaning this in a squeaking tone of voice ;)

Basically if Grant quits his job for me to write, we'll take a big trip before I start writing. If Grant keeps his job and I write part time on days off, we have to wait for his paid leave, which would be like...uh...*sigh*...I don't remember. It might be a whole year after he started? Which would be a little under 10 months from now? But then we would have two whole weeks - well, possibly plus some extra, if we worked it right with his normal days off and his shifts and junk...

I'm gonna level with you, what we really want to do is rent an RV and drive all over the country in it, to campgrounds and national parks and things, and stuff like showing Elise off in Boston or seeing Dama again would be easy in that time frame, but Canada - not easy. Possibly possible if we were to, I don't know, start off by flying there and then rent the RV where you are? Then it wouldn't be out of the way in a rountrip way. What would you guys say if I said, how about an all-expense-paid trip to Florida, not during Hurricane season and guaranteed through voodoo to be free of large spiders, scorpions and other potentially lethal bugs? I know you want me to see it there, and I am still considering it and trying to figure out how to make it happen, but it is like a logic puzzle to figure out...

I would freak the fuck out, for a large variety of reasons. I'm no good with flights and the jet lag honestly scares me because I went to Ontario once and was SO JET LAGGED that I almost died. I spent most of the trip passing out in exhaustion. Then again, that was a red-eye and I didn't sleep a wink on it... *finds more excuses why she should not accept*.

BUT, I know it's way easier.
And we'd have to figure out something with Curtis' vacation time.
And I'd be thinking, "Uh... that's totally undeserving. kthnx".

I actually discussed this over coffee with Curtis today, and saying that you guys SHOULD RV it to make it super fun and prevent jet lag. Jet lag sucks muffins.

RV'ing sounds really great to us, but RV'ing to Western Canada sounds somewhat intimidating, I have to admit.

So, you would not be having to DESERVE the vacation, you would have to PUT UP WITH playing to my whims and conveniences ;) See the difference? This should be much easier to accept, you can even grumble a bit as needed.

Honestly though if you were to do that, I would be more than willing to;
1. let you pick the flight times
2. let you sleep for a day and a half once you got here, WHILE watching your children as much as they and you would allow, because that honestly sounds fun to me. No really, fun. And profitable! They're e-famous, I could auction off pics and videos and maybe even local playdates.
3. be more understanding and generally normal than your in-laws, such that you would feel alright about saying, "Ugh, I feel like shit and can't go anywhere today. Make me muffins and tea. I'm getting in your garden tub for the whole afternoon. You can bring the muffins and tea in there."

You make me laugh nervously.

Um... passports! There's some sort of huge passport issue over here right now. And I don't have one, and neither do the kids.

Oh WHATEVER. Don't even try. Pfft, passports. Blood - or...whatever it is we share - is thicker than passpo-

...

You sound to me like you would be willing to come, I would just have to drag you kicking and screaming (and pay your way, and babysit your children, and make you muffins and tea while you sit in my garden tub). No problem.

Honestly, haven't you never even had authentic Cuban food? You can't tell me 2 weeks (or some other amount of time) in 80 degree weather and bright sunshine, in November or January, doesn't sound good.

Or, you know...May.

Seriously there is a passport thing! May would not work for just that reason. :-P
And because your spiders scare me. May sounds far too warm. If I so much as glimpsed the legs of one of these, I swear to god I would run screaming back to Canada.

Ok, seriously, I swear - I have never, EVER seen a spider that big in my life. *I* would go screaming to Canada if I encountered that thing. Damn.

The biggest, scariest thing we have here (in my experience, in the suburbs - I"m sure it might be different if were living in a tent in a swamp or something) is banana spiders. They are about two inches across. BUT! You see them around groves, strung between tree trunks at dusk, and up in the power lines. I have never, ever encountered one in a house or on an open sidewalk (meaning, I've seen them strung between trees across a canopied-sidewalk at dusk, but never a sidewalk without trees closely spaced on either side, or in the middle of the day, which means really rarely). I think it's been two years since I saw one at all.

The only spiders I have seen inside of houses are daddy long legs, which are wispy-thin, and an inch across at most. They cannot bite, have no venom, are fragile as tissue paper and run for the hills when they see anyone. Even those, though, I don't see frequently or anything.

For the sake of honesty I am going to admit that I just remembered, I did find a dead wolf spider in my car once, after it had sat in the yard not running for 6 months. It was identified by a random friend of Grant Sr's, this was about 5 years ago, and it was my lone experience with such a creature. It was probably 2.5 inches across when fully splayed out - I only saw it curled up and decomposing. It freaked me the hell out, though. *shudder*

I'm just saying, that was 5 years ago, and it was a single dead spider in a long abandoned vehicle. Otherwise there are the banana spiders, if you are venturing around in groves or near them at night - but I live a block from a grove and really don't think I've seen one in two years. We're outside all the time.

All in all I think the chances of you encountering anything like that are very, very, VERY slim. What you might see are crab spiders, if you examined bushes or went searching yards for them: they are smaller than a dime, colored like a lady bug, and look like tiny crabs. My sister and I grew up with our dad finding them for us and handing them to us so we could let them crawl around on our hand. Again, outside.

Florida sounds to me like a foreign land filled with toxic bugs and surrounded by danger. And apparently old people. And Cuban food?

You are really selling us short. You forgot the palm trees AND the alligators.

There are not so many old people where I live. Those are mostly communities on the west coast of Florida, and pockets of Miami. Here there are a LOT, lot lot of illegal mexican immigrants, most of whom live many to a single small residence and drive crammed into packed pick up trucks, quite a few 2nd generation cubans who were born here and spoiled but grew up listening to tales of parents that escaped by the skin of their teeth and then struggled to make something out of nothing, some Haitians that have French accents and wear very bright colors, and...well I won't get into all the South American variances or the tensions, but the point is most people are younger and we have a really different thing going on here.

Anyway, the tree and the plastic car and the trike in the yard? Those are all in Florida. And that necklace you wore when you gave birth, and Isaac and the pretty beaches we go to and the playgrounds and mall play areas. We could go to Key West and you could see real drag queens performing in full regalia.

Your beaches sold me alone where do I sign up? Really, our beaches are...rocky...smelly, and full of our raw sewage.

That's not true. :-P Just a few are shit.

True. true.
And if you want some of the best rocks in the world...come here. You'll never run out.
Actually Parksville has some of the most wonderful beaches on the island.

Haven't been there in a while, not since childhood.

You are swinging me with the drag queens.

Well, I mean there's more... but having you as accompaniment is certainly a prospect.

Edited 2008-04-04 09:23 (UTC)

It's not that bad. My sister inlaw went to Seattle just last weekend, and she got through and back just fine. Although she didn't mind the anal probing and tit squeezing.

But did she have a passport? I get held up in customs every damn time. When I was 18 or something they decided randomly that I was coming into the country illegally to attend their glorious schools and detained me in the back room while I sobbed for half an hour. They cleared it up and then made fun of me for crying.
Apparently this flagged me because I got pulled aside EVERY TIME after this.

Not really that bad. Yes, they preferred if she had a passport, asked her some questions told her to have a good stay. She drove with a friend. her friend had a passport though. I don't know if that helped or not.
Um, I know that my other sis inlaw jumped the boarder when she moved to Memphis Tn.

Ha, see that?! All you have to put up with is a little anal probing and tit squeezing!

Honestly I don't know anything about any of this. If you're coming here, I assure you, NOBODY will think you're in it for the schools.

I don't know why they thought it then, either.

No, you don't need a passport. http://www.ppt.gc.ca/index.aspx?lang=eng

It is unfair of you to gang up on this, too.

Well, you know, it's my journal and I say it's fair as fair can be.

You might have noticed I have not jumped to offer anyone else plane tickets, lady. Let alone tea in the tub.

LOL sorry Just...You need to meet Tina...really! :D

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only