I'm down two kids

Bella and Gabriel jetted up the East Coast to Rochester this morning. I was not particularly excited about having to be up at 3:30am, drive 3 hours to Orlando airport, then drive all the way back with a whiny husband and 4 year old. Now, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy all the non-fighting. No more arguing over toys. No more complaining about who did what to whom and why it all resulted in ripped coloring books and 3-wheeled cars. On the other hand, Sofia isn't my biggest helper. She can't empty the dishwasher for me or fold clothes (even though they complain throughout the process, it gets done). And my official Cat Poop Litter Box Man is not here. That means I'll be doing the scooping...yay..so..excited.. Plus, I'm just plain jealous that as I write, they are probably having a blast and seeing everyone and eating all that yummy Rochesterian food. While I'm here..scooping poo.

Speaking of all that food up there (did I mention the clam bakes and homemade cheesecake), Mauricio decided that his naturally skinny frame should diet prior to going, that way he wouldn't put on too much weight during our 10 day trip. Not me though. No dieting here. I bought elastic-waist shorts :)

I'm officially old

Today I turned 30. I never liked birthdays and this just gives me one more reason. Mauricio is happy because now when people ask him how old I am he doesn't feel like such a cradle-robber. But then again just a couple days ago he told me I looked much older than I really am. I know, romantic he is not... Maybe now that I've entered a new decade (heave) I will start looking younger.

Yeah right.

Semi-quick update

Yes, I've been neglectful. You really have no idea how much. (you would if you saw my kitchen floor....)

Things have been insanely busy here. Finally school is out and I now am the sole entertainer of three kids 24-hours-a-day. It sucks. It's been a week and I am totally ready for school to begin again.

This was a hard school year. We had the Gabriel issue in the 3rd semester - which I am SO proud to say is no longer an issue. His tutor, Ms. Smith, is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Seriously. He went from a C- on his interim report in reading (with questionable promotion) to finishing with a high B. He really has worked his little butt off. And he better, 'cause tutoring isn't cheap.

Unfortunately Bella didn't finish so well. Her grades were fine. It was the damn FCAT. This could really be a whole separate post. Basically, for you non-Floridans, the FCAT is a state-mandated test. It's graded 1-5, with 5 being the best and 1 being state-required retention. Bella got a 1. I have spoken to her teachers and the school countless times, and we were all figuring a 2 would be likely. The 1 destroyed me. At first I was sooo mad at her. She's moody, she misbehaves. I literally broke the door frame to her room (I warned her I'd break the door down if she didn't open it). I've been at my wit's end. But, I've also been at the school since the middle of 1st grade wanting her to be tested for reading disabilities. I keep hearing that she doesn't qualify. Ok, so how long am I going to keep playing this game or can they just test her already? The answer to that is that Ms Smith, the tutor, is working with me and the school this summer. I will not go through this again. Even this week at tutoring she misspelled gabriel's name "gadriel." But, she did get promoted even with the 1. The Clay County School Board felt her grades were high enough. I told them, if she needs to be held back, then do it. I will not make her suffer every year and struggle to get by. I'd rather she stays back now than in middle school. But everyone has assured me she'll be fine. I'm not completely through with this. Wait until they deal with me on the 1st day of school. They think I hound them as it is....ha!

Our trip to Rochester is planned. Bella and Gabriel are actually flying up a week ahead of us. Then (and can you freakin' believe it) Mauricio will actually be able to come. Of course, I just bought his ticket today. A nice $406.81. If everyone could have just made up their minds a month ago when I bought the rest of our tickets, I would have paid $160 round trip. Oh well, I'm just happy he's going. We already have plans for 4-wheeling at my mom's land, using my dad's boat on lake ontario, and eating. a lot. Mauricio is counting down the hours until he can get to Charlies :) Me, not so much, but if anyone's looking for me, I'll be in line at Abbotts....oh God, Abbotts.....mmmmmm..

What was I saying?

Oh yeah, and hopefully a nice picnic at Hamlin Beach. I can't wait.

So that's about it. I'm doing the summer semester, so I'm swamped with homework and text books. In fact, I have a quiz on Labor Relations this afternoon. But other than that we're all still here and hanging out at the pool.

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far :)
See all my NYer friends very soon!!

Happy Tears

I finished my first semester at Penn State.

Here's a copy of my grade report:

PLTS PLCS & PPLE A
INTRO TO HD FS A
INTRO VIS ARTS A
EFFECTIVE SPEECH A

I never would have imagined at (almost) 30 yrs old I would, not only be a student (again), but make the Dean's List at Penn State. Sometimes it really blows my mind. My summer semester classes start on Monday...here we go again :)

Still Here and Clueless

Just survived:
-Parental visit (more on that later...or wait until Mom puts up the pics from the CaddyShack tournament...yikes...)
-Termite infestation
-Shower remodel

Still surviving:
The wrath of a nine year old. I am officially "THE MEANEST MOM IN THE WORLD!!!" Yup, that's me. She makes me seriously doubt my parenting ability. And my sanity. If she's like this now, I'm of soo-oo-oooooo screwed when she's like 14. She's stubborn, mule-ish, whiney, tattle-telling, aggressive, drive-me-up-the-freakin'-wall annoying. I honestly am lost with her. You love your kid so much, and then they just seem to change into this alien life-form screaming and crying, and stomping and slamming. So you scream and cry and stomp and slam back out of frustration. And what do you get? Guilt on your end, and more crankiness on hers. She questions everything I say.

Tonight's Example:
"Pick up that sock laying on your floor."
"It's not mine."
"Okay, but can you pick it up and put it by the stairs for me to bring down?!?"
"It's not mine."
"Yes, I heard you, but please help me out here before I start to get angry."
"But it's not mine."
"BELLA, PICK UP THAT SOCK RIGHT NOW!!"
"I DON'T WANT TO, IT'S NOT MINE."
"I'M GOING TO COUNT TO 3 AND YOU BETTER PICK IT UP OR I'M TAKING AWAY ALL YOUR WEBKINZ!!"
"I DON'T WANT TO. IT'S NOT MINE."
"PICK UP THE f&*$ING SOCK RIGHT NOW, I SAID PICK IT UP, SOCCER WILL BE GONE THIS WEEK, I SWEAR IT, I REALLY DO, PICK IT UPPPPPP."
"No."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PICK IT UP PICK IT UP PICK IT UP."

That's when she ran downstairs to do her "You hate me, you're so mean, it's not my sock" fiasco. And that's when the other two looked at me and decided it was best to clean their rooms up before I saw the giant mess in each one and turned my mood on them. I went downstairs to do homework in my room and Bella just stood there in the family room. I thought it best to ignore her before my blood pressure spiked again and I didn't look for the nearest bridge to jump from.

Seriously. What do you do? I am totally open to suggestions.

blah

Termites in the shower
Shower pan leaking and/or open in cement slab...inviting termites in
House was wired incorrectly for a dryer
Front lawn is dead

So..house for sale...?

Suckity Sucked

That's how I feel I did on my Family Studies exam today. Actually, I know I passed. My guess is mid-80s. That should be ok, but it's not for me. I got a 96 on my last exam, so I had higher hopes. Yesterday I took a bio exam. I totally switched an answer right before turning it in, and when I came home I saw that the first one was right. My brain is now fried. I crammed for both.

This is how I study: Imagine cupping your hands together, filling them with water, and rushing somewhere...say across the room, to dump said water into...well, whatever you want to dump water on. That's how I study...I open my brain, dump facts and stupid shit into it, rush to take the test, hoping not too much spills out before I get there, and then dump it down on scratch paper. I make acronyms out of the things that make no sense. Like today, Piaget's Stages of Play...F-C-D-G. Piaget sounds like that Euro car, so F-C reminds me of like FC Bayern (Luca Toni............), or FC Barca...you know, "football club." D-G? "Dolce and Gabbana." Duh. Now what does it really stand for? Damn it if I know. It spilled out as I sat down to take the test and evaporated from there.

I'm dumb. For reals. :P