Erica’s Blog

Note to self:  Don’t drink a bathtub of caffeinated soda at an 8:30 p.m. movie if you hope to go to sleep before, say, 1:00 a.m.

Yupp, last night Hubby & I went to go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and I couldn’t sleep afterwards.  We were SO glad to find that Florida movie tickets are much less than San Francisco movie tickets.  Yippee!  We were especially glad after the movie.  Oh, and to clarify for Michelle:  It’s not that we hated it; we just thought it paled in comparison to the first one.  And the ending was weak.

Today, I slept really late.  We got our act together and went to the 12:40 showing of Cars.  OK, that was really good, and had some very clever stuff in it.  Even Hubby, who is very hard to please when it comes to movies, really liked it.  Poor Grandpa stayed home from work today with an ear infection (but he’s going back tomorrow).  Stopped at Costco after the movie to get our pictures.  When we got back, Hubby hit the golf course, even though it started raining right after he left (it IS Florida, after all).  Grandma came home early, and she and the Things hit the pool.  Later, I lay down “for half an hour”.  Right.  Two or three hours later, I got up after Grandma, Grandpa, and the Things had had dinner already.  Ate, watched a little Food Network w/Grandma & the girls, then Hubby came home.  I think we’ll all hit the hay early tonight.  We gotta get on a saner schedule.  Of course, it would help if I didn’t take Phenergan w/codeine and super-duper Sudafed at bedtime.  (Despite what Hubby says, my cough/whatever is MUCH better than it was.  Really.  Really.)

Oh, and I discovered something new yesterday (OK, not new, but new to me) — white rum and Diet Coke.  Mmmmm.  Susy?  Linda?  Celeste?  Anybody know the Points value on that?  Bueller?  Anybody?  Anybody?

Yawn.  Such a hard life on vacation. 

Mexico…

(Ahem.  Note the open Negra Modelo in his hand as he walks down the street.  Uh, yeah.  NOT the U.S.)

And M is for Museum in Mission…

So, have I mentioned lately how much I love this family I’ve married into?  Adri bought flowers for Paul’s niche today, and Rick (and his buddy Joe - thanks, Joe) took them over to St. Joe’s and took pictures for me.  Grandma Ruthie had told us she had a little memento for us.  It turned out that she had a star named for him.  How cool is that?!   I don’t have the coordinates in front of me, but it’s near Ursa Major (the Big Dipper) — below and a little to the left.  We got a framed certificate and a map of where the star is.  Very cool. 

Today was just right.  We acknowledged Paul with cupcakes & candles and a song, and Hubby and I wore our buttons with his picture on them, and that was all we really felt we needed to do.  Yes, folks, the healing has come along well.  Losing your child isn’t something you ever get over, but my heart’s a LOT more at peace about it these days.

Oh, and thanks again to all of you who emailed me and/or lit candles or put up tributes on his page.  I know you didn’t do it for attention, so I won’t “steal your reward” as a former minister of ours used to say, but I thank you.  It means a lot to me.

Here are highlights.  The rest of the pictures are here.

Happy Birthday, Baby Paul.  We miss you.  Part of me can’t believe that it’s already been two years, and the other part of me can’t believe it’s only been two years b/c so much has happened.  It’s all kind of surreal. 

I’m sorry we can’t come visit you today, but here at Grandma & Grandpa’s is the best place we could be other than home on your birthday.  On your angel day, we’ll be in Rome, which somehow seems appropriate. 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy.  (And thank you to those of you who lit candles/left special notes on his page today.  You all made me smile.)

Honey, I hate to bother you, but I can’t get the toilet to flush, and there’s a frog in the bathroom.

[soft chuckle] Did you take a picture of it?

I thought about it, but with my luck, as soon as I got close enough to get a good shot, it would jump up in my face….actually, I think it’s dead.

Edited to add:  Texas pictures are now up.  They’re here.  Enjoy.  Yes, Adri, I made sure to get one of Lorna & Neil together.   

Things slept in really late our last day in Texas, but that was fine.  On the way to the airport, we visited the Mission museum where Grandma Lorna works.  It was a really cool little museum.  Of course, the Things’ favorite part was the room with all the old wedding dresses in it.  Of course.    Half the “Sports Room” was taken up with Tom Landry stuff, since he’s one of Mission’s most famous natives.  Well, was; he’s dead now.  Anyhow, it was a cool little place.

We barely made our plane.  When Hubby went to check in our bags, they were already boarding. Thank goodness McAllen is a teeny, tiny airport — two departing gates, one arriving gate — so we didn’t have far to go to make it.

Poor Thing Two cried on the last leg of the flight to FL b/c she had to go to the bathroom really badly, but we were in turbulence, and they wouldn’t let anyone get out of their seats.  Hubby even asked the flight attendant, but she said Thing Two couldn’t go till we were at the gate.  We put a folded-up blanket underneath her, just in case (Hubby’s idea, smart guy/great dad that he is).  The moment we were at the gate, I handed her to Hubby, and he rushed her back to the bathroom.  She made it.  Barely. Poor kid!

I didn’t go to my Tuesday knitting group, but at 6:30 Texas time and 6:30 Florida time I was knitting (working on a baby sweater for Jubal & Nichole’s baby), so I guess that counts.

It was raining when we landed in Fort Lauderdale.  Got our big rental SUV w/only a minor Erica-freaking-out-b/c-Hubby-went-somewhere-w/o-telling-her-so-she-had-to-leave-the-Things-to-get-the-luggage-and-was-terrified-something-would-happen incident.  Welcomed to Grandma & Grandpa’s house by a lizard.

NO idea how late the Things were up last night.  I think it was about 1:00 Florida time.  We got all settled in, ate, and the girls played w/Grandma for a long time, then she left them in there w/the light on as Thing One read and Thing Two played w/her Barbies (uh, Thing Two’s, NOT Grandma’s). 

Thing Two put up quite a fuss today about wanting to swim in the pool and just couldn’t understand why we said it wasn’t wise — even with a grown-up — for her to swim outside during a thunderstorm.  Poor kid.  Grandpa came home from work early b/c he’s hurting with an earache.  Grandma’s due soon.  We’ll probably go see Cars later.  Or maybe we’ll just hang out and do that tomorrow.

I’m almost done uploading all the Texas pictures.  I’ll post as soon as I have them up.  The last of the Disney pictures are here.

Tonight or tomorrow, we’ll hit the Costco across from the development to pick up the prints.  Gotta love that!

Don’t worry — I haven’t forgotten that this is supposed to be a knitting blog, not a travelogue.  I finished the sweater for Baby Shawna two days ago during the party.  I  haven’t woven in the ends, though, b/c I don’t like how the neck turned out.  I’ll probably frog back an inch or two and re-do the neck, then finish it off.

Last night, I cast on for a sweater for Jubal & Nichole’s baby boy.  It’s a different one from the Baby Knits Two book. 

Oh, and I *will* have pictures for you eventually….

Yesterday, Hubby golfed w/Lorna’s friend Doug, who holds the record on the local course.  Pretty cool.  After that, we had a bit of a tour and drove down to Ebanos (named for the ebony trees, nothing to do with banos) and took the hand-pulled ferry across to Mexico.  Hung out a few minutes, ate some ice cream, then took the ferry back.  Next, Lorna drove us to Pepe’s on the River, one of their favorite hang-outs.  In the winter, the place is packed, but with the 96 degree weather, there were only four other people there besides us.  Margaritas for us, virgin daiquiris for the Things — two for Thing One b/c she spilled one all over her — and a huge plate of Nachos Supreme.  We kept an eye out, but we didn’t see anyone trying to swim across (Lorna says that every once in a while, that actually happens). 

Last night, barbecue again.  B/c Thing Two slept so much in the car, she didn’t fall asleep until about 1:00 in the morning.  She’s still asleep!  I have a feeling we won’t make it to the museum before the airport.

Assuming Thing Two wakes up in time, our plan today is to stop at the museum, then go to the tiny McAllen airport.  We fly out at 1:40 — McAllen to Houston to Fort Lauderdale.  Next stop, Grandma Ruthie’s!  The Things are so brown, she won’t recognize them!

Definitely enjoying vacation. I got up to iron Hubby’s shirt around 7:00 and to take some Sudafed (breathing is a good thing), but then I went back to bed and didn’t get up again till just after 10:00.  Oh, yeah.  I could get used to this…. 

Lorna & Neil hosted a big party today — barbecue and karaoke.  Their friends are great.  Most of them know they can’t sing worth beans, but they have a lot of fun doing karaoke several times a week.  About the only thing that got the girls out of the pool (about 3 ft by 6 ft by 2 1/2 ft) was when Lorna’s friend Crystal arrived with her puppies.  They are both SO brown already!  (Uh, the Things, not the puppies.)

The biggest excitement of the day was when Thing One’s first tooth came out!  Good thing we brought her “tooth fairy pillow” along, and good thing she left that note @ home, letting the Tooth Fairy know where she’d be.  The one next to it will only be a day or two behind.  Then there’s on the top that’s getting loose that will probably come out next week at Grandma Ruthie’s house.  Boy, will that look great in pictures!

Speaking of pictures….yes, I’ve been taking them, but I can’t get my computer to connect to the internet here, so either I’ll have to find a Starbucks or wait till we get to Florida.  Don’t worry, Adri — I got some pictures of Neil.  Actually, I even took video of both Lorna and Neil doing karaoke.  Lorna didn’t realize that the camera was recording sound, too.  Hee, hee!  It was great to meet Lorna’s friends and see how happy she is down here.  Neil is really good to her.  He comes off a little bit like a hick redneck, but he’s got a degree in engineering or something like that.  He really loves Lorna, which wins him points in our book for sure.  In September or so, they’ll be moving to Palestine (pronounced Palesteen) and renting out this house which Lorna’s put so much work into.  I’m glad we got to see this place after hearing about it for the past three years as she’s fixed it up.

Hubby’s got a heat rash from golfing in the 90+ degree heat, but that’s not slowing him down.  He’s meeting one of Lorna’s friends at 8:30 tomorrow.  This guy holds the course record at the place they’ll be playing, so it will be a good challenge for Hubby.  Good thing I got those “Cubano” summer shirts for him before we left (hat tip to Bobcat).

Lastly….did you see it?  Italy won!  I’m surprised Zib hasn’t posted about that yet.  Then again, she’s probably too busy celebrating.  I have a feeling they’ll still be celebrating when we get there on the 19th.  Hubby already wanted to get a soccer jersey in Italy; now he REALLY wants to get one