Flip-flops in NY (Babytease)

Happy Mother's Day

Dinner with my mom, brother and son last night was fun. We ate well and talked and talked.

This is what I made for my mom.  She loves sunflowers. It's my first attempt at a granny square quilt. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Then today I went out with my friend's daughter, Jalissa.  She got me this:

 

Meet Julia. She's a month old. She's so friendly and inquisitive. She has a great appetite and is not shy with us at all.  She's already explored the entire apartment. Bella doesn't like her yet, but I know that will change.  The whole point of another cat is to keep Bella company.  It will take some time, but Bella can be loving when you grow on her.

52 days til Christmas. Have you started?

Most of my family lives out of state.  Part of my family lives close to us, but we simply don't see them for holidays.  It's usually just my mom, my brother, my son and myself.  Last year I started a tradition.  Instead of giving each other presents that are large, we are only allowed to buy or make things that can fit in a Christmas stocking - leaving room for other presents to fit in the stocking as well.  The presents should be wrapped.  No name tags.  It's a surprise who gave it to you.

The monetary value of each gift is not important, but the size is.  Great things come in small packages.  And they don't have to be expensive to be appreciated and liked very much.  This helps the person that has less money to spend to feel better about their gift-giving.  It also cuts down on tons of wasted wrapping paper and clean up.  And there is always something you need to get but tend to forget.  Someone can get it for you, because they know you so well. And no name picking. There are only four of us so it really doesn't work out.

It was a big hit with us last year.  I love to receive watches whether it's my birthday or Christmas.  I received the watch I'm wearing now. 

There are tons of great stocking stuffers that qualify as gifts.  Here are some of my favorites:

For the ladies:

Lotion, bubble bath, nail polish, nail clipper set, pumice, loofa, bodywash, specialty soap, sachet, rollerball perfume,

pic from musingsofamuse.com

jewelry of any kind, real or not, cel phone or iPod case, fluffy socks, favorite candy, Pez, photo magnets, cute Post-It Notes, paperclip bookmarks,

pic from mychicnscratch.com

purse sized calendar, camera memory cards, USBs, digital camera, travel hair dryer or alarm clock (clock at Ikea for $.99), Tokidoki breath mints or mirror,

pic from tokidoki-blog.com

make-up case, photo mini book, craft supplies tea ball to steap tea, tea bag (ball) holder,

pic from tropicalteaco.com

favorite tea or coffee, cookies for dunking in beverages, novelty set of utensils for work, umbrella, silk scarf, gloves,

For the gents:

I don't smoke but - a monogrammed lighter, lottery tickets, special pen, Chapstick, leather embossed bracelet, Sudoku book, paperback, Swiss Army Knife,

pic from cosmopolitan.com

money clip, wallet, tie, cufflinks, a special key chain, earbuds, Sharpies, favorite candy, homemade candy or cookies, Pez, breath mints, DVD movie, cologne, razor and/or blades, rechargeable battery set,

pic from elec-intro.com

nail clipper set, monogrammed luggage tags, travel alarm clock, novelty deck of cards, dice game, framed photo of family, mass transit card from home or a city he will travel to,

pic from nydailynews.com

compact umbrella, action figures (yes, for the grown-ups, at least in my family),

And for the kiddies:

Most of this is obvious, but I'm going to list them anyway.

Hair clips, bubble bath, bath toys, Chapstick, hand sanitizer, an Archie Digest or any other comic, Barbie clothes because she already has the Barbies, cool Matchbox cars, mini Lego sets, Mobile sets, PlaySchool People, ABC hard books, Silly Putty, Play Dough, Slinky, Jax, mini checkers or chess, a small puzzle, dice game, novelty playing cards, water guns, water balloons, Army Men, fake police badge, toy wallets, fake money, batteries for "the big present", differnt coins and some dollar bills, ornament with their name on it and the year, mini flash light like for a key chain, marbles, tickets to Radio City or an upcoming movie or the circus.

And, of course, there are the gift certificates.  You can buy them almost anywhere for almost anything these days.  If you do decide to put them in your stockings, I wouldn't make them for more than $10.  If you want to spend more, get several cards with small denominations.  I try to stay a way from big stores so they are not spent on groceries and the like.  Try smaller, maybe privately owned stores, or the beauty salon or barber, or your local bookstore.  I really like homemade ones.  The kind that offer a date night or doing dishes for a week straight.  You can make them as simple or pretty as you like.

I tend to stay away from electronics and too much candy.

These are my suggestions - most tried and true, but I also came across a blog post from Jenna at:

Jenna's Journey Blog

Many of ours are the same, but she has 150 suggestions on her list.  Some of them are fabulous. Go check it out.  You will never stuff your stockings full of dollar store candy again!

My son's graduation present

Today is my son's last day of high school.  Yes, class is still in session in the NYC public school system.  And will be for another two weeks.  But my son has passed all of his tests for graduation so he doesn't have to go back to the school for about two weeks.

My dad and his girlfriend are giving my him a cruise for his graduation present.  I was invited to go with them.  This was a very generous present.  But for some reason I couldn't get excited about it - until now.  My son and I have never been on a cruise before, so I'm sure that is part of it.  I also don't have enough vacation days for this trip, but my boss is letting me slide because of the occasion.  Isn't that amazing?  But that part is still stressful to me.  We also let our passports expire, so that was an ordeal.  But we have them now.  And since I've never been on a cruise, I am scared about the extra money I'm going to have to spend, that I don't have.

But I have been looking at photos online and at the website and it's picked up my mood.  I also made myself a promise that I wouldn't ruin it for my son.  He deserves this.  He as worked really hard to graduate this year, without having to go to summer school.  I am so excessively proud of him.

I found this incredible list online.  It's everything you might want to take on your cruise, but haven't thought of:

Cruise Checklist

 There are several other lists available on the right margin.

This is a pic of what our cabin might look like:

Courtesy of Bermudacruise.com

Of course, this is what my son is looking forward to the most.

 

Courtesy of Cruisesca.net

I don't have the really nice clothes to eat dinner with my dad and his gf every night. I'm struggling with what I should take.  But a casual dinner each night, in a comfortable sundress, is my idea of living.  Especially when no one has to complain about washing dishes.

Pets: Petkeeping on Hallmark

Have you watched an episode of "Petkeeping with Marc Marrone?"  I love this show.  He explains the keeping of many different pets in the most basic of ways.  But it doesn't feel like he's talking to a child.  No, he's helping us understand the habits and needs of these animals in a very simple way.  He actually throws in a few psychological tidbits here and there, but nothing to overwhelm you.  In just a few short episodes I have learned so much about my beta and hamsters.  I also learned some new fact about cat food and dealing with my Shiz-Tzu.  I already knew some of the material, but in each episode I learned something new.

If you are a pet owner, of any kind of pet, I suggest you tune in:

http://www.marthastewart.com/tv/petkeeping-today

I think you can check the show schedule there.

This beta is at least 2 or 3 years old.  They are only expected to live one year, so I must be doing something right.

I have only had the white hamster since Christmas and the Russian Dwarf belongs to someone else, but I'm babysitting, long term.

I have a blog about Bella, but she just wouldn't let me take her picture after a while.  She's been better behaved lately, so I'm going to try again.  I love her to death, but she reminds me of a rebellious teenager.  Love comes and goes only on her terms.

And this is the senior man.  He was first and is the oldest.  He is about eleven years old now.  He's also a cancer survivor.  He used to be my son's dog, but now he insists on sleeping in my room and ignores my son almost as much as my son ignores him.

I love them all so much and want to do the very best for all of them.  This is from when we first got Bella.  Boha thought she was a toy for him.  She had ear problems and he nursed her.  So sweet!

One of these is the survivor I still have.  She never actually got any of them.  All she did was drink their water! Yuck! So I moved them where she couldn't get to them anymore.

 

Random: Passport Office

My son is being given a cruise to the Carib for his high school graduation from my dad.  But in order for us to go we need to renew our passports.  I put it off because of a problem with my ID.  So ID in hand, with everything else the website told us we needed, we were sent packing.  I even called to make sure we were filling out the right forms, but I was so incredibly misinformed.  Luckily, the lady that took care of us had plenty of patience and I can get my hands on everything else we need.  But it was a real bummer to be so mislead by the website and the call center.  We will return tomorrow for another try.  It's not like my son is going to complain that he's missing first and second periods...

Happy St Patty's?

 

No, Happy Bday Aunt Emi. 

My Aunt is a wonderful woman and I want to remember her on her birthday.

Love Kim

 

The Twins

Bianca's twins were born in June.  Harley and Henry are the sweetest boys I've ever had the pleasure to be around.  You can see a bunch of pics of them on my Flickr.  Thank goodness, there were no problems with their birth.  Daddy is very happy, and helpful.  He's a great hands-on dad.