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Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Heard From The Backseat
On the way to school this morning while eating the nine green grapes she requested (yes, she specifically asked for nine green grapes; luckily, we had both green and purple in the frig):

Sera: I Sera M***, and I can't talk to you.

Me: Why can't you talk to me?

Sera: I got food in my mouf.

Pretty hard to argue with that. I guess she is listening when I tell her not to talk with her mouth full afterall.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Take Responsibility, Too
Here it is not even 24 hours later, and I'm inspired. It was my morning drive that did it.

Months ago, Jim noticed a trend and shared it with me. I accused him of exaggerating. I hereby officially apologize and now totally buy into it. I did notice these occurrences when he pointed them out to me, but it took two recent events to completely validate his totally unscientific observation.

About two weeks ago, I was driving from my school to Sera's preschool. To get there, I have to drive down Main Street in the small town where I work. All small town main streets are similar, but none more so than those in the midwest. If you've seen one midwestern small town, you've seen them all. Narrow streets with a stop light every other block. Cars parallel parked on either side, yet they've squeezed in that extra lane to accommodate traffic.

Through the rearview of my mirror, I noticed the car behind me as it weaved its way through the traffic. I always wonder why they bother since they're just going to beat the car they've passed to the light at the end of the block. This car was worse than most. It was cutting cars off as it switched from lane to lane. I prepared as it came behind me expecting the same. I was not disappointed as the car quickly cut in front of me before screeching to a quick stop at the crimson light. I noted the license plate style before it sped off milli-seconds after the light turned green.

This morning, the roads glistened with the aftermath of the torrential rain from a few hours earlier. The rain hadn't quite ended, but had tapered to a heavy drizzle. It is spring, so even at 6:30 am the dark is starting to recede. Winter's dark mornings have finally come to an end. Since I didn't have to drop Sera off this morning (different long story, she's fine), I went to work the way I used to before adding her preschool to my routine. This stretch of road isn't as heavily travelled and has no stop lights. There are a few curves, but several straight stretches where there is plenty of space to safely pass a car. With little oncoming traffic, there were several opportunities to do so, yet the car behind me didn't pass. I was driving Jim's Tracker this morning and was going as fast as I felt comfortable driving on this rain-slickened road in the still dark, but lightening morning. Granted, at 45 mph it was about 5 miles below the posted speed limit, which is why I was expecting to be passed.

She didn't pass me. Instead she decided to attach herself to my bumper. At least I thought so when she got so close I could no longer see her headlights in my rearview mirror. She drove that way through several passing opportunities and then through the light at the major intersection we crossed. She turned left when I did and followed through the residential area, where I obeyed the 30 mph speed limit, all the way to downtown. We finally separated at the light where I went straight, and she turned right. Since I was waiting for the light to change, I was able to see her license plate.

You might wonder why the license plate of both these cars is important. It's important because it's the trend Jim noted. The most reckless and dangerous drivers on our roads all share this same license plate style.

While I applaud their sentiment, I question that maybe they aren't taking the responsibility to be a safe driver in their own hands. These drivers carelessly risk their lives, and more importantly, my family and my life. It does beg the question of whether they're putting out so much trust that they've forgotten their role in the equation.

What do these license plates all have in common? They all proudly proclaim:

In God We Trust

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Monday, April 27, 2009
Where'd She Go?
Sorry about disappearing. I think I'm on a break. It wasn't planned, but I just can't seem to get into writing anything right now. No need to worry. I remember going through this last year, too.

The end of school is so taxing. The kids are mentally done, and it's like pulling teeth getting work out of them right now. I come home absolutely exhausted. It's not helping that my school's A/C is on the blink, and we've had temps up into the 80s. My classroom is not very large and holds 32 computers, 3 printers, a TV, and about 30 bodies. Hot doesn't even begin to describe it.

Things are good here. I'll try to post here and there, but it may be sparse for the next month. One of my summer projects is going to be a massive change to my blog. Don't know what yet, but I've got to get rid of this slow-loading template. Everyone, including me, has complained about it for too long.

I'll be popping in and out here and on Facebook.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009
And She Finally Delivers
Sera and her cousins. She LOVED playing with all of her cousins and asks daily if they can all go play at Old McDonald's with her.





































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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
You Should Have Seen It
Too bad ::cough cough:: that there isn't a picture of this one.

Yesterday afternoon, Sera decided we needed to play princess. She put on her blue tutu, Cinderella tiara, and her blue heels. Then she handed me her purple fairy dress and wanted me to wear it. Hmmm.... I tucked it into the neckline of my shirt. She placed her pink sparkly slippers over three of my toes and handed me the huge purple and gold court jester hat, complete with bells, to wear as my crown. I also got the wand because she decided I was the fairy godmother.

I used magic to change the tote box to a carriage and Shadow into a horse. A good time was had by all.

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Monday, April 20, 2009
Behind
I know I promised pictures, and I haven't delivered. We're still working on one little glitch with my laptop, and it's only to humor my paranoia. We haven't been able to get the external hard drive connected back to the network so that I can access it. After I did my last backup, I moved the majority of my photo files and all of my video files to the external hard drive. When we had my hard drive replaced and restored, they all came back to my laptop. I'm not willing to delete them again until I "see" them again on the external hard drive. I know that there is no reason why they wouldn't be there, but I'm not willing to hit that delete until I see it.

Why is this keeping me from posting anything new? It's because there are so many of those files that my hard drive is full. Maybe we should have bought a bigger one? I can't download pictures from my camera. I can't even edit the ones that were already downloaded because I can't save anything new.

We should get that resolved within a few days, and I promise to post many photos then.

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Saturday, April 18, 2009
Enjoying Her Gifts

We celebrated the completion of her life-sized Princess Barbie puzzle with a tea party. Shadow was even invited. That's his cup to the right.


Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry



Friday, April 17, 2009
I Fwee On My Next Burday
Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl. She's been excitedly telling everyone that she'll be three on her next birthday, and it's here. She's wearing one of her favorite "ballerina" outfits today and brought cupcakes to school. The school requires store bought treats, so she picked out the ones she wanted. She was disappointed at first when they didn't have any princess cupcakes, but she was happy with Curious George and Thomas the Train.

I'll post photos as soon as I can. I'm still dealing with a minor issue from my harddrive crash that's preventing me from posting any right now. It's very minor and should be resolved soon.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Beauty Within - UPDATED
Last night, I saw an amazing Youtube video. I was going to link to it here this morning, but all the links I found weren't working properly. I'm hoping that's no longer the case.

When I had a chance, I was going to sit down and write my thoughts with that link, but now I don't need to.

Have you ever read a post and thought to yourself that's exactly what I wanted to say? But they said it much better than you ever could?

Here is that post.

UPDATE:

I found another link. I still recommend that you read the post I linked above.


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Monday, April 13, 2009
Home Again
We got home yesterday about 4:30. Jim got the car unpacked, and I got laundry started. We normally come back a day or two early to settle in at home before going back to work. This year we decided to stay one more day. We're all tired, and I have evenings of laundry ahead of me, but it was sooo worth it.

I'll post some pictures after I unpack my laptop.

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Monday, April 06, 2009
View From Our Condo

Yesterday was a foggy sunrise, but this morning is beautiful.

Sera is having the time of her life playing with her cousins. Now I'm just hoping the wind dies down so we can go play on the beach. The water is way too cold to swim in the Gulf or outdoor pools, but thankfully there is an indoor pool.

Sera is chomping at the bit for some sand and pool time.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry



Sunday, April 05, 2009
Working On Her Form

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry


Easter Egg Hunt & Frisbee Toss

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry


View From My Sister's Bayhouse

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry


Saturday, April 04, 2009
Where Are We Now?

We're just coming up on Nashville.

Have I mentioned how much I love my Blackberry?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry



Friday, April 03, 2009
Ahhh...
We made it. It seemed like Spring Break would never get here. It's been one long, cold winter. Would you believe they're predicting snow here for Monday? Hah! You can't get us, we'll be warm and toasty on the beach in Gulf Shores. We head out this evening and should be there tomorrow night.

My laptop even made it. I got it back last night. Of course, I had too much packing to do to play with it much, but I do have one thing to say.

BACK UP YOUR STUFF!!!
Seriously, back up your computer files. I was foolish and didn't back up my files for the longest time. It was always something I was going to do. For some reason, I started to get really nervous on our Christmas break. I started burning all of our photos to cds. I still haven't figured out how to burn our videos though. Then one day in January, I went to Amazon and did an impulse purchase. Jim usually handles our electronic purchases, but I ordered a 1 terrabyte external hard drive. It arrived in a few days. We asked a friend over, and he hooked it up to our home network. It's large enough to hold the backups for both our computers, so Jim did a partial backup of his while I did a full backup. It took forever or about 15 hours. I had a lot of stuff on my computer, mainly photos.

In the two months since backing up, I really hadn't taken too many photos. That's actually a good thing because I hadn't updated my backup. When my hard drive crashed last Sunday, I was just filled with the sense of inevitability. I wasn't upset. I wasn't worried. Okay, maybe a little worried.

Jim took my laptop and our external hard drive to our computer store. For well under $200, they replaced my hard drive and did a complete restore. Everything is back. The only thing I lost were any files I saved since my January backup. Some photos and some recipes. That's it. To make it even better, my favorite photos from those two months would have been posted on my blog, so I can still retrieve them. And the recipes? Odds are good I would never have made them anyway.

Now to get off my backup soapbox, I never posted Sera's new stats. I've got to keep track on my electronic journal here.

As of April 1, 2009, Sera is 34 1/2 inches tall and weighs 26.8 pounds. She's in the 10% range for height and between 10 and 25% in weight. Her doctor was very impressed with her language and motor skills. She's a tiny peanut, but she's no pushover!

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Thursday, April 02, 2009
Two

April 2, 2007

April 2, 2008

April 2, 2009

Do those pictures even need more words? Today is two years since Sera was first placed in our arms. I can honestly say these have been the best two years of my life. This little girl has brought such joy into our home.

Yesterday was a big day for us. Jim and I both took the day off because Sera had a dentist appointment, her 3-year check up with the pediatrician, and a haircut appointment. She came through all three like a champ. Afterwards, we went to grab some lunch. Sera was being her usually bouncy happy self when a lady passed our table. She smiled and said what a doll. Sera loudly replied, "I not a doll. I Sera!" We all laughed. The woman then asked me if Sera was always so happy. I could honestly say yes.

If I had to choose one word to describe Sera, I would choose JOY.

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Wednesday, April 01, 2009
I Hope This Works

Sera enjoying a bowl of chicken noodle soup while I test emailing a post since my laptop is still in the shop. Didn't I mention the hard drive self-destructed?

To those of you waiting for your big news, I'm eagerly waiting with you. I can easily read with my Blackberry, but it is harder to comment.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry



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