NEW American Idol season

How excited am I that Ellen DeGeneres is the new American Idol judge? I can't even tell you. What could be better than my favorite comedian and my favorite show all wrapped up in one? I think she's going to be awesome and bring an element that has been missing. With Simon leaving (allegedly) next year, I think this will be a welcome change - if Ellen decides to do it again next year. I was afraid she'd be funny all the time and wondered how she would be able to give honest feedback when she's such a "nice" person, but I think (I hope) we'll all be surprised. I've watched her show for years now and I know that she can bring a serious note when it's necessary. She has a great reputation among her peers, so I think with her connections and all the other judges connections, we'll see more celebrities making appearances on the show. I suspect that all the celebrity judges at the beginning of the show was a precursor to Simon leaving anyway. I like that part and hope to see more of it. This show needed re-vamped and that's what they're doing. So far, so good.




Just a side note, I can already tell which people are going to drive me nuts this year. :) Hopefully most of them won't make it past Hollywood week.

Addison's New Mickey Sunglasses

These were Addison's new flip out Mickey sunglasses that we got at WDW.  She was so cute, but didn't want her picture taken, so I had to take her by surprise.

This is Addison's 3 year picture. She's looking so much older now!

ECard Picture from Disney

First Season 9 American Idol blog

Not much to say about it yet, but SKII BO SKI?!?! Are you kidding me? Why do they do this to me? And the big, black, angry "la la" guy---might have been the funniest thing I've seen. I loved all the big bald guys swarming in from the woodworks to chest-bump him out and down the elevator. Nice. And "Pants on the Ground" will haunt my brain. Props to a 62 year old dropping to the floor in near splits. How many of you can do that AND get back up? Yeah.


-- Post From My iPhone

Addison getting her breathing treatment

Addison's first hospital admission...

We ended up taking Addison to Urgent Care all the way out in Springboro on Monday night because they took the UC out of Dayton Children's (which is about 5 minutes from our house). We thought she had the flu or something, but her breathing was bothering me and the fact that she hadn't eaten for 2 whole days and was barely drinking. Well, they ended up transporting her over to Dayton Children's because it turns out she's got RSV.  She was admitted Monday night and we're here to stay for awhile. She's hooked up to oxygen and IV's, still not eating and barely drinking. She sleeps all day and when she's not, she is barely alert. She has (infrequent) bouts of wanting to tear everything off - who wouldn't?, but for the most part she's taking it all like a trooper. She has come to hate all the people touching and staring at her and she looks pathetic. She may have a touch of pneumonia which may contribute to her rapid breathing and we're teetering on having to admit her to ICU. They are trying everything to avoid that. Greg got a touch of it too, but it reared it's ugly head as the flu. Now he just has laryngitis to my surprise and delight! He's sore from coughing and - well, all the stuff that came before that, but he's a big boy.

Anyway, here we remain in our single occupant room. Yay for being contagious, right? And because of her severity we got to move to a nicer room. Gotta find the good in it I guess. The other good thing is that the oxygen makes a sound like the bubbling pond outside her bedroom window at home and her new antibiotic pump has a whistling like a windy day. That must bring some comfort, although I find myself having to pee more often.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day and she'll perk up a bit.  We're all a little tired of this scene.  The staff here at Children's has been nothing but stellar (although when a 2 year says she has to pee, we don't have 5 minutes to wait for a nurse to disconnect her from everything - poor thing, she's still giving it a good effort).  That's my only complaint.

Christmas 2009 slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas with Addison

This year's Christmas season has been quite fun to see in Addison's eyes. The day after Thanksgiving we went downtown to the Grande Illumination. They had carnival rides, a scavenger hunt, the lighting of the tree and the Children's Parade. We started off with hot dogs, french fries and fried pretzels, of course. Then we went on the scavenger hunt. This starts out with a map of all the participating businesses and a bag to carry your goods you get along the way. It was a clever way to get us to visit places we probably wouldn't know about. Also, it's about the only way anyone would EVER get me to go to the RTA bus depot downtown. After we collected (most of) our loot - we went to ride the carousel which is one of Addison's favorite rides. Because of that, she ended up briefly on the news! It was quite exciting to see her face on tv. After the carousel she wanted to ride Dizzy Dragons which is essentially a Tea Cup type ride that you control the spinning with a wheel in the middle. She wanted to do this over seeing the tree lighting up. The downside to this was a group of little kids who kind of weaseled their way in front of us even after I told them at some point that they actually came after us. The little punks still ended up in front and we had to catch the next round of rides which actually worked out better because I think I might have caused a scene if I were stuck in the same dragon as them. So, here I am...the mom who has to ride with her kid (she was way to little to ride alone and the ride was very spinny). I'm in a dragon's belly with a crew of sisters ranging from 6 to 9, I think. And they spun. They spun FAST. I don't normally get queasy on a ride, but I glanced out the door for a second and lost my bearings for a moment and for the seconds after that, I had to convince myself that I wouldn't get sick on a bunch of little girls. How embarrassing would that have been? Even after the ride stopped, I thought Addison was looking a little green as well, but she held it like a trooper and quickly got over it. I was glad the camera wasn't around for that. She had a blast and laughed the entire time, so it made it all worthwhile. After the ride, we were a little late for the parade, so Greg had to hold her up on his shoulders. She's not good at this. She lets her arms fly wildly around and throws off the balance by dipping her butt down too far. Always an inch away from peril - this little daredevil. Overall, kind of a dull parade, but it lasted forever. We learned that Addison likes loud, big black men and the drum corps. Not sure what that will bring for us in the future, but she enjoyed it immensely.








The next day we decided to take a chance with our pictures with Santa. We stood in line at The Greene and finally it was her turn. We missed out on Mrs. Clause which may have helped, but she tried to be brave anyway. She got choked up as soon as it was her turn to see the big guy. I did a drop-and-run which was probably the first mistake. Her lip was trembling before I even let go and then we were both standing about 5 feet away from her just staring at her and talking to her while she tried very hard to keep a straight face. She fell apart for a few moments, regained her composure and wiped her eyes and tried to keep her lip from trembling again. I'm convinced once you get the trembly lip it's nearly impossible to stop tears from flowing, so she didn't have much chance. Finally, a pseudo- non-weeping picture was captured...but we were done and I officially became the worst mom ever for that minute. We're over it now, until the next time.










Next was our trek to cut down our Christmas tree at the tree farm. She wanted to help like no one's business, so she pulled the sled and helped pick out the tree. Once we got it home she even helped decorate it (until she saw the Barbie ornaments, then she was off to create scenarios with them while I was left to decorate the rest).















Later that evening, we decided to chance a Santa again. This time we went to the Mall at Fairfield Commons. It was a much better set-up and not many people. I had hopes that it would be much better this time. Addison even brought a card for Santa. I thought that was a great idea (her own) and it would give her a reason to approach him. Her card was actually the cardboard part of a pack of stickers you get, but it was a prize to her anyway. So, finally our turn arose. Immediately she buried her head into my leg. This was not a good start. I picked her up and we slowly approached the man in red. I've never experienced a child so glued to me ever. I knelt down and Santa and I gave each other high-fives and he held my hand. No go. She flat out refused to cave and look at him. She was the ostrich. We stepped aside so she could see a few more kids go through. I think I remember the first kid crying, which just feeds into her doubt. Not a good method. A few more went through unscathed, so we tried again. This time she still wouldn't look, but was half-way willing to stand in front of him. The photographer grabbed a rocking horse and after peeling her off of Greg we got her to sit through a few quick pictures before she had enough and got up. I'm surprised she didn't flip us off and storm out. Anyway, that ended up being our Christmas picture. Not horrible and no tears were shed that time. As a reward we let her ride a quarter ride (more like 3 quarter ride) and then she played in the play area upstairs until Greg and I got fed up with the dropped-off-too-big-and-too-old-to-be-running-around-in-a-little-kids-playarea kids. I think it's really just a test to see how long parents can withstand the bad kids knocking over all the small ones while they chase each other around. Can't say anything though, cause I could be arrested for harrassing a child. I'd rather just get up and leave.



She's been able to open a few gifts already and is on her way to mastering the art of unwrapping. At mom and dad's house she meticulously ripped 1X1 inch squares of paper and handed them to my dad. Eventually she realized that she could rip bigger sheets of paper, but she still has to get every single little piece off before she can open the box to see what's inside. I hope no one uses a lot of tape in the future. I almost can't bear the anticipation myself of seeing what's inside. It seems that she's nearly forgotten that there is a gift inside underneath all the paper and wants to go off and do something else. Her joy is simply unwrapping and the gift is just a bonus I guess. She's in her stage of apathy right now too, and she, being who she is lays it out sometimes that she doesn't care about her gifts. We know differently though. She has announced already that she "doesn't want" something that she's gotten and an hour later it's her "favorite thing". Once in awhile you might see the truly amazed gasp of delight escape from her, but it's not often.



Christmas carols have been fun to hear her sing as well. One day we heard her singing along to a song in the backseat "Fleece Nobbynob". She'll ask to sing "Frosty the Snowman was a Jolly Happy Soul" and occasionally she won't know all the words to a carol, but you can hear the last word of the sentence quite loudly as she belts out the parts she knows. "Watch out" "not pout" "Telling you why".



Yes, this Christmas has been a joy so far in the eyes of my child and how she's starting to recognize the magic of the season.

Here's the second part of the video

This is a video of Addison seeing for the first time a dollhouse a friend had given us.

Merry Christmas!!

Such a face

This was a no-you-can't-have-a-Funyon moment.

This is a video of Addison and Greg playing in the leaves

Addison playing in the leaves

Past Blast

I’ve recently been listening to a podcast of “Our Miss Brooks”. Some of you may remember her from the late 40’s through the 50’s as a radio show turned television comedy show. It’s a delightful half-hour show about an English teacher (Miss Brooks) who is in love with an awkward science teacher named Mr. Boynton. Most episodes feature a student character named Walter Denton and his off and on girlfriend Harriet who was the daughter of principal Conklin. I’d love to see the television version of this show, but haven’t been able to locate any. Listening to this while glancing at my growing collection of 50’s memorabilia surrounding my desk on folders, sticky notes and notepads, I feel like I’ve been transported into the years in which I should have been growing up. I love everything 50’s. I love the fashion, or rather looking at the fashion. I can’t imagine me wearing any of the clothes.  I love the art and the emergence of pop art from that time. I love the tiny little girl power revolution that was quietly happening. I love the gadgets that were being invented to make lives easier. Sock hops and drive-ins.  Black and white tv and the great television shows that were being shown.  Dagwood and Blondie, Ma & Pa Kettle, Shirley Temple, Howdy Doody, Roy Rogers, Mr. Ed, and Lassie.  Bubble gum pop music.  It was a great time. I’m sure it had a lot of strife as well, but it seemed to be a “cute” time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading "The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson and it would probably be one of those books I would read it again (but I think I passed the book on). Perhaps I’ve been reincarnated from someone who grew up during that time and that’s why I’m so attracted to it. Who knows? So, I’m continuing to immerse myself in all things 50’s for the present time and enjoy the time travel happening in my brain. I can close my eyes and pretend.

Addison's Halloween 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Addison's ISR refresher part deux

Here's the latest, greatest Addison video of her ISR refresher lesson.  She's swimming to the edge (kicking and everything) and she thought it was great fun to launch herself backwards.  She always goes to her float though.  Her instructor says she's a fish and a natural swimmer.  *beaming*  :)  She also says she'll have a huge advantage when she starts with traditional swim lessons which will probably be next year.  She'll be our little guppy.

The Yard Sale Diaries

So, you meet interesting people when you have a yard sale. Since having 2 yard sales in the span of about a month, we made over $500. The remarkable thing (not just that we made pretty good money) was that we had everything priced for $1. Some things were 2 for $1 and if you were nice, I might make you a deal even more than that. This means I have a lot of stuff. I have so much stuff that we could easily have another yard sale and perhaps make a few hundred more dollars. It’s absurd really. Granted, we had a few things in the side yard that were a little more, but not much. But that’s not the most interesting part of all. The most interesting are the people. You meet stupid people (lots of those, in fact), lonely people, people who will talk about anything – which could also fall in the previous category, people who will haggle over $1, people who want to be your friend (these are the scariest of all), and your neighbors. I think the latter makes me most uncomfortable. Not sure why. Perhaps it’s because we’re not very close with any of our neighbors. We don’t stand around and chitty chat at the fence or anything. I don’t think much of that goes on anymore. I think I feel like they are just scoping out my stuff and I feel a little guilty about them buying my things. It’s weird to know that my neighbor is touching things were mine. Voyeuristic in a way. I dunno.

The lonely people and the people who talk too much are the most painful. We had one guy who came over a few times with his wife and while his wife perused my vast selection of junk, he felt the need to engage me in conversation. This usually resulted in a circular conversation about how cold it was getting and then a loud discussion about “the black running the city of Dayton”. Since I have several neighbors who are black I wanted to shush him, but it wouldn’t have done any good because 10 seconds later he was repeating the same thing he had just said 10 seconds earlier. It was a very uninteresting exchange. FINALLY, they would leave but only after he had to pretend to be put out that he was spending sooo much money on my stuff.

The stupid people aren’t so bad and can be funny but also infuriating. I was approached by one woman who stated she ONLY reads true stories and did I have any? “I don’t want to waste any time reading anything that ain’t true”. Well, who am I to judge. I might be a little more concerned if it were the other way around. I was glad to help and followed her over to the book section to point out which stories were true. I had to convince her that Force Recon is NOT a true story, but “Tuesdays with Morrie” is a true story. She proceeded to have a 5 minute argument with me about why she didn’t think that was a true story. She couldn’t find anything on the jacket that indicated that it was and she’d never heard of it. Well, it’s hard to reason with a person like this. I mean, for $1, can’t you just take a chance? I finally talked her into it (without whipping my iPhone out to Wiki it and prove it once and for all), and a true crime novel as well. ChaCHING!

The people who haggle over $1 are generally not nice all the way around. I did have one guy haggle over a $5 air pump though too. I did not make a sale with him. He asked what the lowest price I would take on it. $3, I said. How about a dollar? I say, “I can’t go that low”. Dummy. I might have if he were nice about it, or maybe buying some other things, but if I wanted to sell the pump for $1, I woulda put it on the other side of the lawn where all the $1 things were! Then there was the guy who wanted to know how he could be assured that the computer processor we had out really worked. Um, it’s a GARAGE SALE, not frickin’ Big Lots, dude. You take your chances. One woman offered me $1.50 for $2.00 worth of clothes and then bought a $10 Pack-N-Play too. Really? You HAD to keep that .50? I think sometimes people haggle just to haggle.

I have to mention I’ve made some frequent shopper friends as well. One woman came 3 times in one weekend. Poor thing had recovered from a brain tumor and had to ride her bike to my house because her abusive boyfriend refused to drive her anymore. The second day she came she had band-aids on her knees, so I asked her about it. She says because of the brain tumor her depth perception is impaired so she sometimes runs her bike into poles…then falls off her bike. Seriously? I wanted to give her my car. I tried to give her extra things like clothes and bags and things that she wanted but didn’t have enough dollars for, but she refused to take them saying “you’ll never make any money if I take all your things.” Another frequent shopper just came every day to see if I had anything new. She seemed truly delighted and snatched up a few things excitedly. I like that. I like when I hear people call their friends and say “I found this really great yard sale, you have to come!” I don’t like the people who just drive slowly by and don’t take the time to get out of their car to see my nifties up close and personal. You can’t win them all I guess.

All in all it was a success and I tried not to be offended when someone didn’t want to pay a full dollar for my treasures. I think I succeeded. Can’t wait to see who comes to the next sale!