Judge Judy, here I come...

In April, as some of you may recall, I was in a car accident. I was rear-ended and oddly enough, I was given a citation for "improper lane change" and sent off on my way. May I remind you that I was the one struck from behind...but I'll get to that part later.

Basically, I was driving along my merry way, in the pouring rain. I decided I was going to switch lanes. I signaled right. I observed over my shoulder that I was clear to go and made the move. Within 5 seconds, the light in front of me turned yellow and I opted to slow down and hit the brakes. I didn't want to run the light and chance getting hit.

Haha, very funny.

The guy behind me obviously wanted to run the light. I know this, because I've seen lots of Florida drivers do it. They love to run red lights. So, when you are supposed to actually GO on green, you don't because you don't want to get hit by someone still GOING on red.

So, being that the guy wanted to keep going and I didn't, he swerved to the right and hit the rear passenger side of my vehicle. We pulled over on the side of the road, called 911 and 20 some minutes later, the "Sheriff" arrived. He asked us to pull into the parking lot around a little ways so that he could avoid getting hit himself. At this point, we were quite a distance away from where the accident actually occurred.

He asked me, "What happened?" So, I told him. He didn't ask me anything else. Didn't ask me to point or show him where I did what. He had a repertoire with the other guy, so they bull shat with each other for a minute, stepped over to the side a bit where I overheard the other guy's side of the story (he was there for my whole rant), and the "Sheriff" climbed into his vehicle for 15 minutes to type up the report.

By this time, it was raining harder, so I went into my car to wait. He walked over to the other guy and talked to him, gave him the paperwork and he was off. He walked over to me and issued me a citation along with the report. I was in shock...and so was Ryan.

I didn't understand the citation, so I walked over to his vehicle to ask him, to which he said he believed I didn't switch lanes when it was clear. At that point, I knew I was going to fight it in court.


******
That brings me to yesterday. The court date. Anxious about it all weekend, I wasn't sure how I was going to do. I went through it all in my head, knowing that I wasn't guilty and was as ready as I was going to be to plead my case. I arrived at the County building in Plant City. In fact, I arrived 45 minutes early. That didn't serve my nerves well.


I sat down on the long wooden bench a few seats away from two women dressed in ripped t-shirts and dirty gray shorts. Across from me was a man wearing plaid. All plaid. Head-to-toe. Another was sporting an old Michael Jackson t-shirt. (He was mourning, like I was...) And as I was taking it all in, a man decided to plop himself down as close as he could get to me. (Hey dude, there IS room for you to spread out...) But, as I pressed myself up against the arm of the long bench, clutching my court letter and my phone, I decided to be friendly and ask...


"What are you here for?" (Like we were all in prison or something...)


He gave me his story, his citation story, his work story, his unemployment story, his girlfriend story, and his work history and a crime scene analyst. (I was mostly interested in the latter.) This began the strange bond I would have with this man, who had an Irish accent...his name Michele (pronounced Mee-kale)...I would look to him for advice...


They called us all into the courtroom. All 75+ of us. As we entered, several were asked to spit out their gum. Don't think that I didn't notice all the bacteria on their hands as they spit it into their hand and then threw it into the garbage. *Mental note, do not sit next to them.

As I scoured the room for a seat, I spotted Michele and sat next to him...reaking of stale cigarette smoke (and the most stain-ridden teeth I have ever seen), I reluctantly took a deep breath in to calm myself down. The bailiffs came into the courtroom and made some announcements.


"This is an arraignment. You will be pleading 'guilty,' 'not guilty,' or 'no contest.'"


I felt my stomach drop. An arraignment? Am I going to have to put on cuffs and shackles? Where is my attorney? Do I have to talk in front of EVERYONE in this room? What am I going to say? I should have had a donut or something.


I knew I was not guilty, so that was what I planned to plead. BUT, I guess the 'no contest' plea is the easiest and basically just gets it over with at that point. I wrestled in my mind as to what I was going to do. Why didn't I know that was an option? Why didn't I research it? I mean, I research EVERYTHING else, why didn't I think there was more to this?


So, I looked at my smoke-scented friend for advice. "What would you do?" He told me to follow my gut. He said that since the cop wasn't actually a witness, what would he say in court? He told me to plead not guilty if I felt like I really wasn't.


*****
There I was, next in line. I placed my bag and umbrella on the large table and clasped my hands as I approached the podium. I realized that once I got there, that I had walked to it as if I were heading to Communion at church or walking down the aisle at a wedding. I was mortified. But the Judge asked my name and said I was charged with "improper lane change" and to what I plea?


Not guilty, your Honor.

She answered: "Your trial will be on August 11 at 8:30 a.m. Thank you."


TRIAL?

Did she mean hearing? I mean, do I need an attorney? I'm all freaked out. Anyway, my short time with Michele educated me on what I need to do to prepare myself for the next court date. I am to take lots of pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And, I'm to go into the room, completely confident. BUT, if you know me, you know I dread public speaking and that I will be sick about it for weeks. How am I supposed to pull confidence out of that?!



Ryan is going to help me get all that done. I am nervous. Not nervous about facing the "Sheriff" or the other guy...if he is coming... but just nervous about all this. Was this the right thing to do? Would it have been better to just plead 'no contest' and had it done and over with? I guess it's too late now. Time to prepare....

Daddy and his babies...

These were taken the other night...they were too cute to not share!

Future Gymnast?

Although Riley is not in gymnastics anymore (boo hoo...), she still insists on doing cartwheels and headstands throughout the house. Our motto has become, "as long as noone gets hurt!" Recently, Ronan has been imitating his big sister and has attempted to do cartwheels throughout the house. Riley decided that teaching him how to do a forward roll would be better...and he's actually really good at it. He still calls it a cartwheel, though!

Birdie go bye-bye?

For three days, we watched this bird from our side window...and then, it all came to an end. I had a local guy come cut our grass (it was outta control in the back and the gas is out on my lawnmower...) and after that, the bird was gone.

After making Ryan check and see if the eggs were still in the nest, we were all saddened to see a broken egg in the grass below. Poor little baby birdies.

The next day, I had an egg for breakfast. Not THAT egg, but an egg you buy from the store. I actually felt bad for eating it and contemplated becoming a vegetarian...but Ryan said, "circle of life, babe, circle of life."

Shout out to Ryan!

I just wanted to congratulate Ryan on being #7 out of 137 Marine Science Technicians to (cross your fingers!) advance to Chief. Okay, so I probably said that completely wrong in Coast Guard lingo, but we are hoping that he did well enough to make the cut-off to advance this year!

I'm really proud of him and I hope that all of his hard work pays off!

Love you, Ryan!!!

End of an era....

When I was 6-years-old I won a mirrored wall hanging of Michael Jackson, similar to this photo above, at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, PA. I remember listening to his RECORDS on my dad's record player (Riley has no understanding of what that is...if it's not an iPod, it doesn't mean anything!) over and over. My brother, Michael, used to wear this red pleather looking outfit, resembling the red leather jacket that Michael Jackson used to wear during his 'Thriller' days.

We practiced the "Moonwalk" and mortified the parental units when we grabbed our crotches like Michael did, with a sequined gloved hand pointed straight in the air.

Last night, Michael Jackson passed away -- and it truly left me in a strange state of shock. Although I fell asleep to the news stories reminiscing and reviewing his short 50-year life, I still could not believe that this pop legend passed away and ran to the tv this morning to make sure it was true.

I'm not devastated, as I would be if it were a family member or loved one, but it's just crazy insane that he is dead. I knew he was mentally whacked, but had no idea that he was physically sick in a way that would kill him.

Trying to explain this to Riley was hard. We fortunately, have not lost anyone close to us. But, if you would have seen Ryan and I last night, you would have seen us go through a strange state of mind...just trying to comprehend it all. We paid tribute to him by playing his music (the early stuff) during dinner, only to have to explain to Riley, "no, this isn't a girl singing..." or telling her that it would be like "Miley Cyrus dying a lot later in life." Not a good way to equate what we were experiencing. (Yeah, mother of the year award winner right here.) But, we tried to put it in terms she would understand and it didn't quite go the way we wanted. Yes, she was reassured that Miley is 100% still alive.

Anyway, I will spend the next few days or so scouring all the tv channels and will stop to watch any music videos they might play...because we all know they don't make videos like they used to! (Remember the "World Premier" of his videos that would air on every channel?!)

May he finally rest in peace.

Rochelle and Steve: more wedding pictures

Her photog finally was able to blog about it and I just have to share these pics...

Visit Chris Gooden's blog to see the gorgeous wedding photos he took of their special day! AND, there are a couple with Riley in them...

Makes me even more excited for their visit!!!!!

Am I in trouble now?

The kids have always been interested in music. Riley wants to play the piano AND the violin (preferably NOT at the same time!) and Ronan...well, he is the one that bangs on all my pots and pans when I'm in the kitchen.

As much as I love the sound of drums, I don't know that I would want them in the confines of my small home...especially in the hands of my little dude. BUT, when we went to Best Buy the other night, Ronan made his way over to this contraption and I couldn't help but think about how adorable he was sitting there...

Should we get it or not? LOL. We could have our own little 'Rock Band' and I can manage it.

Quick moments of love...

And then it ended when they started slapping each other. At least it lasted a minute or so...

Knock Knock

Last night, Riley taught Ronan a "knock knock" joke and surprisingly, he was able to deliver it...enjoy!!!

I'm a bad Asian...

Believe it or not, I haven't been taking many photos of the kids lately. Since Riley's been done with school, we've been trying to get the pool as much as we can and I hate taking the camera there...so I've been quite the slacker.

Updates:

a) We all have great tan lines. This is the most tan I have been since 2001 because I refused to wear any sort of bathing suit when I was pregnant and most of the time thereafter. Not that the body is nearly anywhere it should be, I have decided to embrace the Florida heat and cool off at the community pool. This has been a great thing for all of us because Riley is really doing well with the swimming part and Ronan is totally entertained in the water. Now, if only I could remember to put sunscreen on my lips. Man, do they hurt when they are burned.

b) Decluttering the home is difficult. It's so hard to let go of things. Especially when you know you paid good money for it or spent any money at all. I have been trying to simplify our lives a little and clean random rooms out each day and it's so hard to say, "donate" or "trash" or "sell." Every item seems to have some sort of emotional attachment, yet hasn't been touched or looked at in years. This seems to be worse with DVDs. Why we buy what we do, I have no idea, but someone is going to make out with them when I sell a bunch at the next garage sale.

c) Beer tastes better when you are stressed. Yeah, that's all I have to say about that.

d) Will I ever be a size 2 again? Along the lines of decluttering, parting with clothes has been draining. I was a size 2 at birth. So, it's hard to get rid of my baby clothes. Kidding. No, but I guess it's the realization that the body has shifted and changed and I should probably accept that I won't ever squeeze into those lime green leather pants. (I don't have those, I swear. They were donated.)

e) The strongest desire for chocolate comes immediately before and after each meal and then sometimes in between each meal. Do I have lots of chocolate in the house? No, I do not...but I should put it on my list when I go grocery shopping again. Wonder if that candy bar from Halloween last year is still good...hmmmm....

Speaking of chocolate, I am going to go to the pantry and see if I have a piece somewhere...

Will update you with new pictures next time, I promise.

The Hangover

I cannot remember the last time I saw a movie that was this funny. Slightly vulgar (which I love), Ryan and I laughed the entire time. If you haven't had a chance to see it, you need to go see it. I am slightly tempted to go a second time, just to catch the parts I might have missed when I was laughing. This is a definite DVD purchase. Can't wait.

Excitingly Boring

Although there are days when it feels like we haven't done anything, we've actually done a whole heck of a lot! Yesterday was one of those days.

This is what I had to do yesterday:
1. Panera for Ronan's muffies.
2. Library to return books and get more out. Riley is a reading machine.
3. Stop at the church to turn in paper for Ronan's upcoming baptism.
4. Gym-- scratch that, not enough time.
5. Lunch at Sweet Tomatoes with the kids...me, alone with the kids, at a salad bar.
6. Vietnamese grocery store for Yan-Yan crackers to bring to therapy.
7. Get Ronan's baptism outfit from Ave Maria in Brandon, FL.
8. Go back to Wendy's and get Mandarin Oranges for Ronan's feeding therapy.
9. Therapy with Ms. Janet.
10. Dermatologist appointment.
11. Pool.

Believe it or not, I finished everything on that list. That is the most I have ever been out with the kids...and in-and-out of the car. Usually, I try to keep it to one or two places, just to avoid having to get Ronan out of his carseat excessively. I didn't have a choice yesterday, as there was just too much I had to get done. It was excitingly B-O-R-I-N-G. I didn't go to Target, which usually brightens any errand. LOL.

P.S. Riley has been shocking us lately. She is reading more than ever and above her level AND, she is swimming now! I thought I was going to have to get her lessons, but last night, she proved us wrong. She was swimming in the 5 ft section! How awesome is that!?

Update on Ronan, in a nut (I mean not a nut because he's allergic) shell...

1.  The man of little words is stringing together sentences.  I asked him to come over to me so I could change his stinky butt and he said, "wait a second momma."  Uhhh, okay, I guess I'll just have to wait.

2.  He still hits.  I hate it and I don't know what to do about it. I am clueless and nothing I do is working...

3.  He told his first lie last week.  He goes to feeding therapy every week to help him with his textures.  Last week, Ryan took him.  He was having a tough time, not wanting to do anything and clinging to Ryan.  BUT, when I asked him what he did with Miss Janet (the therapist), he said without a pause, "my put my hand in applesauce, momma."  His nose is growing as we speak.

4.  He now calls his scooter a "cooter" and I can't help but laugh everytime I hear it.  

5.  He threw a hairbrush and it hit me in the mouth.  It hurts and now my lip is swollen.  For a split second, I wanted to walk out of the house and never come back, but then an hour later, sitting at the dinner table, Ronan broke out into opera and I'm still here...laughing.

6.  He screams like a girl.  It hurts and doesn't sound as pretty as Mariah Carey's belches.

7.  He asks to look at his poop in his diaper.  I think it's disgusting, he thinks it's "gwoss."  Why he does it, I'll  never know.  

8.  He says I look like a "Pwincess" in my wedding pictures.  Makes up for my anger during #5.

9.  He thinks it's funny when anyone pretends to get hurt.  Ryan pretends to run into a door, he laughs.  Riley pretends to slap herself in the face, he laughs.  Not sure if it's something I need to worry about.  

10.  And now, he loves 'hide and seek.'  And I love scaring the crap out of him when I hide and he seeks.  Probably traumatizing him, but I freaking love hearing him scream and run away. LOL.

Goofy Girls!

Today, I had the pleasure of hosting a playdate with Riley's two friends, who happen to be sisters... Knowing that I had 3 girls (ages 6-7) and Ronan, I needed to find something for them to all do and not have Ronan be a "bother" to them. I took them to Playmania and let them play out some of their energy. You would have thought these kids had never seen toys before. They were so excited to see the most simple objects. Riley and Holly had a blast on the roller coaster thing they have there...

The best part, was that they did this over and over and over so I could take as many pictures as I could handle. Then I took them to McDonalds and gave them lots of sugar, so I could give them back to their mama on a sugar high. LOL...

A Citizen of the Year: Our Riley

End of the year = award time. Thinking that Riley wasn't going to get any because of all the times we took Riley out of school, I didn't have my hopes up for anything too exciting. She received "honor roll" which was good but the big surprise was the last award....
She was one of about 15 students to receive the Citizen of the Year award at school. I was pleasantly surprised and extremely proud of her! As part of the reward, she has a free meal at Applebees!

And on a side note: She's not the tiniest child in the first grade anymore! She's actually taller than the classmate next to her in the picture above...I can't believe how big my little girl is getting. Now, if only she'd clean her room.

Riley-ism #127

If you don't want to be slightly grossed out, then please do not read. Otherwise, continue...but do not judge us. Thank you. LOL.

So last night, I was in the shower and Riley was sitting on the potty in my bathroom. As I was shampooing, this is the conversation we had:

Riley: Momma, one of your butt hairs is on the floor.

Me: (repulsed!) No, Riley, it's not mommy's.

Riley: Oh, then it must be daddy's....eyelash.

Me: (laughing silently) Yes, it's his eyelash.

I was dying. Dying. I could not stop laughing, but I didn't want her to think I was laughing at her. So, when I came out and she said, "why are you smiling like that? All goofy..." I said, "oh, momma is just happy to have had the chance to take a shower today."

It was so innocent. But hysterical. And slightly gross. I guess that means I need to go clean the bathroom a bit.

Dinner...Done! But not so yum....

I do not position myself as an expert in the culinary field. I will take this opportunity, though, to say that I wanted to be a pastry chef and my dreams were smashed by my dad who told me I had to get "real degree" and well, look at me now. I change diapers and sing songs from freakin' Yo Gabba Gabba. I digress.

Anyway, now that we are more budget conscious, I've been trying to cook at home and it's been difficult coming up with ideas that don't involve chicken. I mean, really, how many times do you need to eat it, right? So, I bought shrimp the other day and figured we could marinade and grill it...and this is what it turned out to be:
I grilled pineapple rings with a ginger-sesame marinade, the same I used on the shrimp, steamed some broccoli and made a side of couscous. Looks real pretty, right? I was so excited and so proud of myself for veering away from the usual. We sat to eat and I thought Ryan was going to be sick. I took a few bites, washed it down with my beer and went back at it, thinking it was just that piece of shrimp. BUT, apparently, the marinade is so enriched with sodium, that it made the shrimp taste awful. I couldn't stand to take another bite. I could barely look at both Ryan and Riley, who tried hard to eat it...at least until Ryan said, "I can't eat this, it's awful." Now, I know it was the marinade, but I felt so bad. I felt like I wasted money and even though I knew he wasn't taking a stab at my non-culinary skills...I still was upset about it.

I tried to eat the other foods I prepared...they were fine. But, the meal didn't feel complete and it was just such a bummer to have been so excited for something and then have it turn out so yucky.

That's the last time I cook! Kidding. I mean, it's the last time I use the Sesame Garlic marinade by Lowry's. Yeah, that's what I meant.

Short Weekend Update

On Saturday night, I went out with a couple of my friends (which I'll have to save for another post!), but the kids stayed with daddy and poor Ronan spiked a phantom fever that has taken almost 3 days to recover from. On Sunday, he was spent...and fell asleep on the couch like this:
So, Riley and I headed out for her friend Mya's birthday party. It was ice cream themed and absolutely adorable. Her mom had a "create your own flavor" contest and an ice cream eating contest. Riley came up with her "Chocolate-Vanilla-Strawberry Sherbert" and somehow, a handful of MALTBALLS, not meatballs, ended up in there. Not too appetizing looking, but she seemed to think it was delicious. I had a bellyache just looking at it.

And normally, Riley wouldn't participate in a contest of any sort. She's so quiet and shy and easily embarassed that it wouldn't even cross her mind to join in. She spent days talking to me about this contest and said she was going to do it. Well, it came time and last second, she freaked out and decided not to. I said it was her choice, but she might regret missing out on something fun. Right before the contest started, she jumped into her spot and held her hands behind her back and dove in.

Within seconds, though, she got upset that she couldn't hang or figure out what to do, so she got up and walked away from the table, pouting. I felt bad for a split second, but then beckoned her to get out of her moody funk. She finally did and then it was time for cake. (Like these kids didn't already eat enough junk, right?!)

She loved it, though...black icing and all! And it only took about 3 hours for the sugar-high to come down. Not too bad!

The Monday List of Issues.

1. I cannot truly function without the garage door opener. This is especially a problem because my car is parked in the garage. There is something really annoying about opening the garage, getting in the car, backing it out, running into the garage to close it and having to go out the front door and lock it before getting in the car again. The same issue arises when I return back home, except in reverse order. Mental note: Do not leave the garage door opener in Ryan's car, ever again.

2. I almost threw up in my mouth, watching a gentleman on "The Dr.'s" show on NBC today. He literally bit chicken RAW off the bone and stood there advocating how much more healthy it was to eat foods raw. I eat my bananas raw. I will eat some veggies raw. I will never, ever, ever eat my meats raw. Considering what a bacteria-phobe I am, I'd probably die of stress before actually participating in the act of eating raw meat.

3. Yo Gabba Gabba can put me into some serious moods. After one episode, I'm pretty much spent. Ronan, on the other hand, could watch it all day long. Thank goodness for the word "no" in my vocabulary. Granted, I don't use it all the time, but for Yo Gabba Gabba requests, I'm happy to bring it out.

4. I am so sick of the letters I get from Verizon FIOS, asking us to switch. I get them literally 5 times a week, it's not even funny. I don't want to freaking switch, okay? Stop sending me the letters.

5. I have an intense fear of potty training Ronan. I'll be honest, I want nothing to do with it. Do I want to change diapers for the rest of his life? Not really...but the whole prospect of trying to get him to pee in the toilet is daunting. For Riley, not an issue. She was easy. Potty trained withing a matter of weeks. But, I think it's easier for girls. Naturally, they sit to pee. Not the case for boys. So what did I do? I bought a little potty and then a little seat for the adult potty. Problem? Well, the little "shield" they have in the front to protect innocent bystanders from being sprayed with pee pee isn't quite tall enough to protect us from anything. And I'll be darned if I have to tell the little dude to point it downward. I don't know what to do and I am afraid it'll be forever before he'll be potty trained. I know you momma's of boys out there will have some advice for me. Please help!