Sundays in my City - New York

I don't live in New York, but sometimes I wish I did. It is close enough that we can drive up there and back the same day. We go there often.

I thought I would share some pictures I took during one of those visits.

The Red Ship
Standing in Line
Liberty

And while you are here, all you Sundays in my City contributors (and other bloggers), check out my Friday Find. I'm sure some of you would relate.

For more Sundays in my City from around the world, go to Unknown Mami.

Friday Finds

Story of my life.
How many of you see yourself in that short-haired, naked stick-gal?

http://xkcd.com/77/

'What the Hell??!!' - Wednesdays

There are too many times in one's life when one feels the need to say, 'What the hell??!!'

These moments don't necessarily happen on Wednesdays, they can happen anytime, anywhere. But since there seems to be a popular trend in keeping the title of a category to rhyme OR sound similar to OR start with the same letter as that of the day its posted, (Foto Friday, Wordless Wednesdays, Sunday Shout-outs, etc.) I thought I would be doing the trendy thing, by writing about these 'What the Hell??!!' situations on Wednesdays.

So, I don't hold any particular grudge against the day Wednesday. It just happens to start with the letter W. Sucker.

I will keep it sugar-coated the rest of the week, but on Wednesdays I will let it all out. You know how you feel bloated after eating beans, or something milk-based if you are lactose intolerant, and you HAVE to fart to feel good. And once you do, it feels sooo good. On Wednesdays, dear readers, I will fart. Or burp. Whatever helps.

So, this past Monday as I am visiting some of your blogs, and my kids are happily watching some crap on TV, and I have the living room blinds and windows open to let the kids see the beautiful day outside (keep in mind, I had no intentions of actually taking them outside. So like a bad Mom I was just tempting them), I hear voices too close to my windows for my comfort. Two big guys discussed drilling, banging and making my afternoon a nightmare for that day. They used different words, but all we care about is what they meant.

I closed the windows, pulled down the blinds. I did not want some strangers looking into my living room, and complaining about me to the AAP about how much TV I let my kids watch.

I thought that would make bad things go away. But I was naive.

After I put my 18-month old, coughing, sneezing Giggles down for her afternoon nap in the girls' bedroom upstairs, and take 4-year old Dimples in my bedroom upstairs so she does not wake little sister up, I see shadows outside my bedroom blinds. What the hell??!! How am I supposed to put a kid to sleep with two big guys hovering outside my window? Has anyone met a 4-year old recently?

'Who are those guys, Mama?'

'What are they doing there?'

'How did they get there?'

'Did they use a ladder?'

'Can they see us?'

And the creepy thing is, they probably could.

So, there goes naptime for one kid. And as if that wasn't enough, they start drilling and banging and pulling off the walls for all I could tell by the noise. A sick kid sleeping in the next room, hello!! I mean, what the hell??!! Seriously.

After a few failed attempts of trying to get Dimples to forget about the HUGE guys playing rock-climbing (for all I knew, since I did NOT get any notice from the community management about any kind of drilling and banging needed on my windows) and to ignore the LOUD noise all that drilling and banging made, I gave up. And went and grabbed my phone. No not to call anyone.To make a video of the huge guys playing peekaboo with us through my blinds.

Yeah. Let them know how it feels to have one's privacy intruded. As one of them sorta, kinda peeped inside, and caught a glimpse of me aiming the phone at them, I could almost hear him say, 'What the hell??!!'

Maybe I will share the video clip on an upcoming 'What the Hell??!!'-Wednesday. Because right now I don't know what the hell is wrong with my phone's downloading capabilities.

Sundays in my City (Love birds)- revised

What should a couple do when they get a chance to spend time alone with each other, after months if not years? Clean thoughts needed here you dirty-minded people.

Why are they not able to spend alone time with each other more often, you ask? Good question, but I can confidently say that you don't have any kids, if you even thought of asking that. You haven't met MY kids, for sure.

Kids. Crying, screaming, whining, complaining, demanding kids. Possessive kids who pull on Mama's hair and push Papa away if they get a glimpse of the two of them sitting on one couch. Kids who yell,'Mine!' and cling to Mama's legs when Papa asks Mama to sit by him. Kids who keep turning Mama's face towards them with their tiny hands when she is trying to listen to something funny or important said by Papa. Kids who bang on their toys with all their might, and yell at the top of their lungs when they catch Mama having a conversation with Papa from across the living room. (Since Mama cannot sit on the same couch with Papa, remember?)

So, the best date for parents of such kids?


Para-sailing. You get to sit next to each other, and all you hear up there in the sky is each others' voice. And if you are lucky you might even see dolphins. We did.



Photos taken by the boat crew at Virginia Beach. And yes we did tip them.

For more Sundays in my City from around the world, visit Unknown Mami.

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It was not scary. It was the most romantic date. Not scary and recommended for all couples who have kids.

There are Some Things Money Can't Buy- (Post-pregnancy Edition)

Some people are ungrateful, they just cannot help it. They always see the glass half-empty.

Or, maybe they are just hormonal, since they just had a baby a month ago. Who knows.

A Facebook friend's status stated:
Was so excited to fit back into my pre-pregnancy outfit, only to have my 4-year old spill grape juice on my jeans, and my 2-month old pee over my shirt.

I commented:
Detergent to wash away grape juice and pee stains: $10 (more or less)
In case stains don't go away, buying new pair of jeans and shirt: $50-100 (depending on where from)
Fitting back into your pre-pregnancy clothes: Priceless.

A Song (as we walk towards Target)

Walking towards Target, I lock the car, and give Dimples and Giggles my hands to hold.

Me: I have two little princesses (I croon)

Dimples: Holding your hands

Me: Holding my hands

Dimples: One has a doll in her hand

Me: One has french fries in her hand

Dimples: One is wearing a green dress

Me: One is wearing a pink one

Dimples: And another princess in the middle.
Her name is Mama

Two Hearts

She always argued about having two hearts. Hubby and I tried explaining to her that she has one, but she would not listen.

'I have two hearts,' she would always say.

And I finally asked Hubby to back off, thinking that maybe somehow she means she has a bigger heart, maybe that would mean she would grow up to be a very kind person, kinder than usual. After all, she has two hearts instead of just one that Mother Teresa had. I am a mother, and I tend to think good things about my kids. I'm a mother, I don't have to explain my reasoning. So stop snickering at me, please.

Today, she kept pulling down her shirt and laughing. It made me a little uncomfortable since I don't want my daughter growing up to be a flasher, you know. So, I asked her to stop. She giggled and kept going at it. I asked her why she was doing that. She said she wanted to look at them, pointing to her *gulp* nipples.

Now I am not even sure if they are called that on girls her age. And before writing this post, I tried doing a search for the right word as I didn't want to sound anatomically incorrect. But as I sat there with the vacant Google bar staring at me, waiting for me to put in a word, a phrase, a question, I did not know what to ask for without generating pictures or sites of X-rated nature. After a few failed attempts, (that DID generate the stuff I was afraid of, even though I was being cautious) I gave up, and hoped I was using the right term in terms of anatomy.

Anyway, so I asked her why she liked looking at them, and after the obvious first answer, 'because' she shared with me that they are funny. I asked her if she finds her nose funny, and she replied 'No!' in an offended tone.

'Then why do you find these funny? These are also a part of your body', I said.

'But what are they called?'

'Umm. . . that's your chest.'

'Yes, but this is my heart,' she pointed to one of them.

'No, baby. Your heart is inside your body.Remember we read that in the book?'

'No, its outside. See? One, two.'

This heart, Mother Teresa also had two of.

*Sigh*