No launch yesterday, instead, other fun

Okay, so I didn't post anything yesterday. Not because I was so overwhelmed from the beauty of the launch. Not by any means. No, the launch was scrubbed because of some hydraulic heating thing, so we ended up leaving the Space Center empty-handed emotionally. I'm beyond disappointed. But it looks like it may be rescheduled for Monday. So we've redone our plan, as we do, and are ready to head back out there on Monday morning. The problem is, of course, if it gets pushed to Tuesday. We'll see, once the official announcement is made.
So we took on Plan B, and spent yesterday afternoon at SeaWorld. Which was super fun. Sydney had never been before, so she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Today, we went to Animal Kingdom. This particular park on the Walt Disney World property caught our attention because of the DinoLand USA section. And let me tell you, that did not disappoint my budding paleontologist! She had a blast!!
We did all kinds of walking; got a bit sunburned; ate a lot of snacks; and drank a ton of water. We took so many pictures that my damn camera's battery died at the end of our trek through the safari.
Anyway, blah, blah, blah, we had a lovely day!!

Beautifully written via iPhone or iPad.

Safely landed in Orlando

Well, we've made it to Orlando!!
Our flight was an uneventful one, if by uneventful you mean that the plane was changed that morning, and we didn't get the seats we were supposed to get. Instead of sitting right behind Sydney in a window seat, I was stuck in a middle seat three rows back from her and Mom. I was less than impressed.
But let me tell you, had I been a lot less stressed about the flight, I would have appreciated the four hours of relatively uninterrupted silence and solitude I got in that seat. Mom had the kid, and I had two quiet guys sitting next to me. It was weird. I plugged myself into my iPod, and just closed my eyes. And wasn't bothered by anyone. Again, it was weird. I haven't had quiet like that in exactly four and a half years.
Also, I managed to get through a hundred pages of my book, and watched the ending of "The Tourist," without headphones.
Of course, Mom and Sydney did just fine. I did get up a couple times to check on them. The first time I checked, they were both asleep in their seats. They checked on me once, and I visited them again. Sydney had a hard time understanding why I couldn't sit with them, but she was a trooper about it. (We are all sitting together on the way home.)
Also, it's hot and humid, but our car has a good air conditioner in it. Sydney's car seat traveled just fine on the plane as well. TRAVEL TIP: The airlines don't charge for traveling car seats.
So tomorrow is the big day!! We're going to be up and moving bright and early tomorrow morning, as Kennedy Space Center is an hour away. Up at 5 a.m., leaving at 6 a.m., to be there at 7 a.m.!! SO EXCITED!!
I can't wait to see this!! ACK!!


Beautifully written via iPhone or iPad.

WWE exit, stage right

I'm so tired. I stayed up until 1 a.m. last night finishing up the iPad stuff for our trip, and Sydney had me up at 7 a.m. this morning. Ugh. So tired.
But here it is, almost 11 p.m. tonight, and I'm just about ready for bed. Most of our stuff is done and packed for the trip. I know that Sydney will have me up before 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, so I should have a ton of time for the flight.
Also, Brian and I are watching Glee. That makes us super happy.
I think we're ready!! YAY!!

Prepping for the big trip!

I got all my clothes and Sydney's clothes ready for the five days in Florida today. Mom tells me that it's going to be too warm and more humid than we'd like while we're there, so it's all about shorts, t-shirts, capris, a dress and a skirt for me and the kid. Also, we've got our plans pretty well figured out, too. Let's just hope that the launch stays put on Friday afternoon, and doesn't change to a later date. (Of course, if that happens, Mom and I are prepared for the change in the schedule. We're nothing if not flexible with our schedules. Well, not really, but we've scheduled in some flexibility. Because that's how we roll.)
Now, since I'm taking the iPad with me, and because there's free wi-fi in the hotel, I should be able to blog every night. I'm not promising anything, but I'll try to get something up every evening, as I do from home. Yay technology!! It'll be like all of you are with us on this trip! And that makes my heart super happy!

My Dancing with the Stars voting (7 votes allowed):
Kirstie Alley ~ 3 votes. Kirstie ROCKED tonight!! I love her and Maks together!!
Hines Ward ~ 3 votes. I feel like my second love on this season's cast will be the one to take the mirrorball trophy home. And I'm okay with that. As much as I'd love to see Maks and Kirstie win, Hines and Kym will make me happy, too.
Chris Jericho ~ 1 vote. I don't know why. Because.
Chelsea Kane, Kendra Wilkinson, Ralph Macchio, Romeo ~ 0 votes.

Fillin' up the iPad

I'm looking forward to loading up the iPad for our trip this week. Sydney has no idea what five hours going cross country on a plane is like, so I'm determined to make it as painless for her ... and me ... as possible. That means a movie or two, and a bunch of new games.
You would think that, given my intention to fill the device up, I might have a good idea about what I want to put on it. But no, not really. I'm rolling into this with a clean slate, with no preconceived notions, as it were. It's kind of exciting, knowing that the iPad needs to be filled, rather than guiltily picking something because the kid likes it. Now, I get to shop 'til I drop to surprise and delight the child.
And myself, because she might share.

I haven't had a single Peep this year

Number of Easter eggs: 14.
Contents of Easter Bunny snack plate (per Sydney's specific direction): 10 carrots EXACTLY; half an apple SLICED; four chips in different sizes; graham crackers, because they are a plant and the Easter Bunny is a herbivore; a piece of Brian's German chocolate cake with a dinosaur fork; and milk in her favorite sippy. All on the dinosaur placemat.
Contents of Sydney's Easter basket: three books (two Dr. Seuss and one about dinosaur baseball); Ariel sparkling princess doll; Easter Bunny Pez dispenser and a package of refills; chocolate bunny; spinning Cinderella pool toy; Cars dive sticks for the pool; two Toy Story 3 toys; Hershey's kisses; Easter-shaped gummies; two ViewFinder reels; and Mega Blocks. ... ... I cut back, drastically, on the amount of candy in the basket because she went so crazy on a chocolate high last year. I've decided to treat the Easter basket like a mid-year Christmas stocking, and fill it up with goodies that she'd play with, rather than eat. And it's making me feel good. I love doing this stuff!!
Easter egg hiding places: I haven't hidden them yet, but I know that I'll have one on the staircase, in a plant, on a chair, in the easel tray, and elsewhere. I'm waiting for midnight before I hide them, because if Sydney gets up to pee, it'll be before then, and the chances of my being caught in the act are minimized.
Easter holiday activities (tentative): find eggs; eat breakfast; eat chocolate; go get lunch; see Rio; make some dinner; go to sleep. Of those activities, I am positive that only "find eggs" and "eat chocolate" will actually get done. That's the beauty of Easter!

Really? The hand flat on the burner? Yep.

I dislike it immensely when I hurt myself doing something stupid. And let me tell you, today's injury was a doozy of a stupid one! I did a fantastic job of boiling the eggs for dying this afternoon. I turned off the stove and went about my business preparing for the dying process. I pulled out most of the mugs we'd need, and went to move the bowl of pears from the counter to a cool corner of the stove.
And how does Kimmie determine which is a cooler corner? By placing her hand, flat, on a burner, of course. Unfortunately, the first burner I chose to check was the still HOT one, though it was no longer red. I burned the shit out of the palm of my hand, and it hurt like the dickens. I immediately put my hand under cold running water, and set about calming down my body and my head. I was freaking out, and my hand hurt like hell. My entire focus though, was on NOT freaking out too much, or passing out, because I was the only person home with Sydney.
So I kept my hand under the water and calmly (I thought) asked Sydney to bring me my phone. I called Brian first (he wasn't able to pick up), and then called Mom. I was still pretty calm, I thought, while I explained my situation, complained about how bloody stupid I was for doing it, and requesting help. Keep the hand under the water. Pat it dry. Take some Tylenol. Maybe some Neosporin later tonight. Unfortunately, that's all that can be done.
I left my hand under the water for a good 45 minutes while I waited for Katy to arrive (we had dinner plans). When she got here, we dried my hand and loosely wrapped it in some gauze. Also, I took four Tylenol. Then, we all piled into the car and headed off to dinner and Target. At Target, we picked up some additional gauze, some wrapping tape, and some antibiotic cream.
I'll tell you, my hand is feeling much better now. It'll still blister in a couple places, but as for pain, it's pretty minimal. I'll take some more Tylenol before going to sleep, but as of now, I'm feeling really good about this ridiculous injury.
Honestly, you can see marks on my palm from the burner coils. I'm an idiot.

That's how cool it will be ... when it's on

I know I've told you all about the noise issue with my loft apartment, but I don't believe you've heard too much about the heat problem.
We are on the fourth floor, in an afternoon sun apartment. My bedroom is in the loft, upper floor of the apartment. So, you can imagine how even the strongest air conditioner would have a hard time keeping this particular space cool. (Sydney's room, of course, is the coldest in the whole place.) So, the hot-air torture is mine and Brian's alone. Well ... and Oliver and Daisy's, too.
At Lowe's the other day, we saw some stand-alone air conditioners. We went back today, and picked one up for the bedroom. It's actually pretty awesome. It's not on right now, but it's awesome. (Why is it not on? Because the instructions to not transport it on its side were inside the box, so now we have to wait six to 24 hours to turn it on, otherwise the sky will fall.)
This contraption, when it's on, will be a pretty fantastic thing. We should be able to live pretty comfortably in the bedroom, before and during the warmer summer months. After all, it's been hot in the place ever since we moved in, and it's not even hot outside yet.
Our little machine is actually quite cute sitting in the corner. He's our new best friend.

Off to school ... a better one!

So I had to go and find Sydney a different preschool in Texas. The school that she had been accepted to was good enough, until we got their liability waiver in the mail the other day. The waiver completely and fully holds them without damage or any responsibility for anything, including (this is my favorite part) negligence, gross negligence and negligence per se. So this school wants every parent to sign off on their child's safety ... in full ... as not being at all the responsibility of the school. What is a school, if not a place you know that will take responsibility for the safety of your child once you leave them there?
What. The. Hell.
I read the waiver, and got freaked. Brian read the waiver, and got freaked. Everyone I consulted got freaked, too. This kind of thing is not normal. And it's a big, fat, red, screaming red flag that tells me that I sure as hell won't be leaving my kid there. (I find myself curious about all the parents that sign that thing.)
Well, the fear of a bad experience has thrown us back into the arms of the more-expensive private school under the same curriculum umbrella as Sydney's current school. I got scared, of course, that there would be no room for Sydney at this other school, because I know her current school was full a month or so ago. But I read on their web site that their registration just started last week.
And when I called them this morning, I was told that there was plenty of space, and that they'd be happy to send me the packet, and that they're looking forward to having Sydney in their school.
It's funny how a simple, little conversation can change your entire day, making you a happier person in every way. I just about skipped everywhere today. Yay good school!!

Model exit, stage right

Dude, you all, vacuuming stairs is hard.
I have never had to vacuum stairs. First of all, I've not lived in a house with stairs in a long time. Second of all, the last time I lived in a house with stairs, I was not responsible for the vacuuming of those stairs.
In my camping spot, we have stairs that are covered in carpet. Thus, they must be vacuumed. This time around, vacuuming the stairs is my responsibility.
Make it better by realizing that I have no vacuuming stairs attachment, so this afternoon, I got to struggle with my 10-year-old upright Hoover vacuum on my staircase. Of course, the whole time I had two dogs alternately getting in the way and running away and hiding, and a kid covering her ears and yelling at me about how much loud noise the vacuum was making and she COULDN'T HEAR DINO DAN!!

These sweatpants are ridiculous

It's official. Longjohns really work.
Back story: I've got these thin sweatpants that are cut off below the knee, that Mom and Howie bought for me when we all visited Nantucket several years ago. I love these sweatpants, and their short legs and thinner material make them pretty perfect for walking the dogs in the warmer weather. (I refuse to go out in just my pajamas. I put on the shorter sweats, as they are more modest, I suppose.) Anyway, when these sweat pants are in the wash, I am at a loss. I miss them.
I did see  some similar sweatpants at Old Navy. And I intend to buy some, but haven't made my way back to the store yet.
Ever the industrious person, I decided to work with something I already have. So, I thought, I can just cut short my longjohns, create some pseudo perfect sweat pants, and have something to serve the purpose until finish my laundry and/or I get to Old Navy this week.
And back to my initial point, which is that longjohns really work. No matter how short the longjohns, the body bits covered by them stay nice and warm. Well, maybe not "nice" and warm, but definitely warm. I'm a toasty, toasty fake sweatpants wearer. That's unfortunate.

p.s. I picked this picture of sweatpants because it is ridiculous. They're fake denim. I keep hoping this is a joke.

My Dancing with the Stars voting (8 votes allowed):
Kirstie Alley ~ 3 votes. Because she rocks, and because John Travolta was their dance doctor. Awesome.
Hines Ward ~ 3 votes. Because he's so frickin' cute, and because they're really that good.
Chris Jericho ~ 2 votes.
Chelsea Kane, Kendra Wilkinson, Petra Nemcova, Ralph Macchio and Romeo ~ 0 votes. We're halfway through the competition, and it's crunch time. If I don't like them to win, I don't give them the votes.

Also, LISA, CALL ME ABOUT THE REUNION! I LEFT YOU A MESSAGE LAST WEEK, DEAREST!!

I'm liking these red ones!

I've discovered that the headaches and bad mood swings that I seem to develop while, and after, riding around in Brian's car is due to one big thing: the sunshine. The fact that I do not seem to have an "extra" pair of sunglasses around to put in Brian's car is ridiculous to me. So, I'm off to Target tomorrow (since really, I haven't been there in two whole days), to pick up some Brian's Car Sunglasses.
But I think I do have an extra, cool pair somewhere for the pool. Actually, I have one pair that are so wide they fall off my head. I need to get them tightened. And maybe, after doing that, I won't need any new glasses. Yes, that's the ticket. I need to inventory what I've got, and then move on from there. So first, tomorrow, I dig around in the car and collect any and all sunglasses and cases.

I'm also pretty happy with the swimming pool downstairs in the apartment building. We've been down three times so far in the last few days, and the experiences have been good ones. Even yesterday, when the place was pretty full up with college kids, Sydney and I found our little corner, and she got to jump around and swim here and there. The water is still a bit too cold for a completely comfortable swim though (which is why I'm still sporting shorts and shirts to the pool; Sydney is the only one eager enough to jump in), so our visits have been short and sweet. Give it another couple weeks though, and the water will be a nice, balmy temperature for both of us to enjoy.
In Our Corner though, we've decided to name the trees that give us the most shade (Max and Lucy), and Sydney also decided that the pool itself needed a name: The Big Pond.
I'm looking forward to spending time at the pool this summer. It'll be a good energy release for Sydney, and will be a perfect afternoon adventure for us, too.

Penguin energy > Kimmie energy

I've been staying up too late a lot lately, and it's beginning to really wear on me. of course it is, because I'm not 20 anymore, but more than that, it's forced me to lay down my head on the sofa the last two afternoons and take a little nap. Not that naps are bad things; on the contrary, I'm a huge fan. But I like the naps better when they're taken by other people (*cough, cough* Sydney), and I can get some quiet in my day. The last two days I've been imploring her to be quiet while Mommy just closes her eyes for a couple minutes. And she's been a good nap enabler, too. I've gotten a good 45 minutes of decent dozing both days.
But tonight, I hope to go to bed early, and I hope to be allowed to sleep in a bit in the morning.
I hate blogging about how tired I am, but when I'm tired, I just don't feel like I have the energy to get all worked up about anything else. And that bums me out, because you all (or I could say, "y'all" in my preparing for a life in Texas), deserve better than that.
I'll try to make it up to you over the next few days, weeks and months. But first, I'll get a good night's sleep.

Suddenly, my afternoons are open

So, I had this random mommyhood epiphany the other day, well, a couple months ago. I realized that I've been kinda keeping Sydney and I home in the afternoon, and been incredibly resistant to leaving the house. I got to really thinking about it one day and discovered that my problem is a matter of habit. For about four years, my entire life revolved around the afternoon nap. And that nap was sacred. And nothing would make a wave in that nap time frame. I was keeping the nap schedule without the nap. It was getting tedious.
Obviously, my child no longer naps, and now, I have afternoons to fill. It finally occurred to me the other day (and this may sound incredibly ridiculous) that I should be able to go out with my kid and do things in the afternoon. While my preference is still to hang at home and just play, I have begun branching out and including afternoon adventures in our day. We went to the zoo last Wednesday afternoon (because it was cooler out. Believe me, during the summer, ALL afternoon activities will be indoor).
Today, we visited the aquarium. I was pleased to see that the aquarium wasn't packed with a ton of after-school visitors. And that the adventure itself was not a painful one (morning adventures are always better on my temper and attitude). And then, we met the Japanese spider crab. Dude is really, really big! And kinda scary to see.
I need to come up with some additional adventures for us. Besides the pool downstairs, of course. Once it really warms up, the pool will become our go-to afternoon activity. But we'll need other distractions, too. I'm on it!

There is nothing wrong with pink toenails!

It's late. I'm all fired up about this J.Crew ad thing, but I don't have the energy to type it all out right now. Maybe tomorrow. But I'm hoping that tomorrow the whole thing will be gone. I agree with the J.Crew publicity department that the whole thing is a non-issue, and not worth comment.
I look at this picture (which has gotten a lot of heat today because it shows a mom putting hot pink nail polish on her son's toes) and I see a mom and son sharing an incredibly sweet and fun moment together. She's not shuttling him off to play a video game. She's not putting him in front of the television.
Some of the best moments you can have with a kid are when you're enjoying a quiet activity together. Painting a child's toenails is an incredibly cool thing to do. I love doing Sydney's toenails, and I do them up in whatever color, or color combination, she wants. And she thoroughly enjoys it.
That people in the blog and "news" world look at this picture, and would malign this mother for putting pink nail polish on her son, and accusing her of confusing him about his gender, or pushing transgender issues, or not treating him as a boy, is ridiculous. I'm sorry, I meant to say, IT'S RIDICULOUS. I've never been a fan of gender-specific anything. And that anyone would accuse such an innocent activity as evil, or of her not taking care of her son, or of her pushing him toward a life of therapy just pisses me off.
Sydney loves, loves, loves her dinosaurs. She doesn't care much for princesses. Does this damage her gender identification? No, not at all. She wears boy t-shirts (because of the dinosaurs). Bad for her self esteem? No. She insists on wearing BLUE toenail polish. Too masculine a color? No, because it's her favorite.
We tend to avoid the pink aisle in the toy store. Does this make her less of a girl? She'd rather play with her dinosaurs and Cars, rather than dress up. We have no baby dolls in our house. Will I be paying for her to go to therapy in her teens?
My god, this gets me pissy. I'm annoyed. I hate that this kind of thing ruffles feathers and gets people all tweaked out. Leave this kid and his mom alone. They're having fun.

p.s. I guess I had the energy to blog about this after all!

Boxer > Reality TV person

I'm starting this new post, and I have no idea who's been kicked off Dancing with the Stars yet. I'm watching the results show right now, fast forwarding through the commercials and Brooke Burke, so it shouldn't be too long until I know which "star" got their walking papers.
I think I got my list of random fixes done in the apartment. Today I bought a faucet aerator that allowed for the water manipulation. I replaced the doggy door with a new flap. I've re-screwed in the bottom of the closet-door guide so it moves freely. I've replaced my kitchen rug. All that's left is for maintenance to come over and fix the seal or whatever that thing is that keeps the water from coming through the bath faucet when the shower head is on.
I feel super productive, and I'm happy with that.

Now, to comment on DWTS, because I just saw that Sugar Ray Leonard was asked to leave to dance floor. That Leonard was kicked off while Kendra Wilkinson is still on this show is a ridiculous thing for me. Besides my love for Anna Trebunskaya, his partner, I think Leonard had a chance to make it a few more weeks into the competition. I'm a bit pissy about this, and I'm ready to write a letter ... or a blog ... about the unfairness of this show, yet again.
Ho hum. I get way too involved sometimes, and this season is shaping up to one of those times.

Fun movies = attitude improvement

Lately, I've been bemoaning the fact that I boxed up all my movies. I'm a freak about my flicks, you know, and tend to pick up random films here and there to watch as background noise.
But my love for movies has been giddy over the last couple days.
First, Brian is my hero because, for whatever reason, he had our DVD of The A-Team in his bag. So now, I am able to watch it whenever I want. And as ridiculous as the movie was, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've been secretly pining for a viewing.
Second, I discovered Star Trek on Netflix's Watch Instantly queue. I've been missing that movie, too. And I got a chance to watch it this morning.
It makes me happy when I can watch movies that I like. I never realized what a drag it was to me to not have my movies at my fingertips. I'm a movie junkie.


My Dancing with the Stars voting (9 votes allowed):
Kirstie Alley ~ 3 votes. I know she thinks she's a mess, and that they have no real shot, but I have faith that they'll pull this together and have a good showing. My votes are not in vain. I know it.
Hines Ward ~ 3 votes. I am loving, loving, loving Hines Ward! I can't wait to see how far he takes this competition!
Chelsea Kane ~ 1 vote. I don't care much for Mark Ballas, Kane's partner. Unfortunately, that is the problem I have with this couple. She's cute. And she's good. But I don't really want Ballas to win.
Chris Jericho ~ 1 vote. They're cool.
Sugar Ray Leonard ~ 1 vote. He's also cool.
Kendra Wilkinson, Petra Nemcova, Ralph Macchio, Romeo ~ 0 votes. I'm kinda over all four of these stars. Any one of them can leave at any time.

Shoes or dessert? COBBLER!

We attended a Disney on Ice show yesterday. It was a decent show, and Sydney enjoyed it thoroughly, which really is all that matters. Of course, she was more interested in Cars, but the show was focused on princesses, so she wasn't totally enamored, but it was better than sitting home.
Before the show, as we wandered around looking for Alice Cooper'stown for lunch, we passed a little store along the light-rail tracks. It's signage said "Cobbler Shop." Brian inquired to me about it, and I said that it's probably a store for a guy who fixes shoes. Upon better reading of the window paint, we realized that it is, in fact, a store for buying fruit cobblers.
We stopped after the show to get a couple cobblers (Brian chose peach, I prefer apple). They were good enough, though the store itself smelled a bit like a snack shop inside a T station in Boston. But anyway, we persevered, and therefore, enjoyed some dessert.

We'd live in Sydney, of course

I like Australia. It's a nice place. I had a wonderful vacation there several years ago. It's beautiful.
Also, as I told Brian this morning, Australia is my fall-back country.
You know, for when life in the United States gets too crazy ridiculous, I will pack up my little life and move to Australia. Today was a perfect example of this country's politics getting out of hand. I was one midnight-shutdown away from checking out the visas for Australia. I still may, depending on how this whole thing shakes out. But really, sometimes, I'm totally ready to go.
Not that Australia is perfect. I'm sure it's not. But what it doesn't have is the issues of a "world leader." (World babysitter is more like it most of the time.) In Australia, when the country decides to participate in some international thing, it seems to be at the country's leisure, discretion and benefit. I don't hear about Australia having any issues with all this crazy international bodyguard garbage. In fact, I don't hear much about Australia in the news except for during the Olympics, or when a particular movie star from there warrants some attention. I like how it seems to fly under the radar, doing its own thing.
At any rate, the politics are getting such in this country that a move to Australia may just be in my future. The economy. The defense responsibilities. The political parties. I'm about over it. Really.

And that's that

I think, tonight, rather than blather on about nothing, because I really don't have any big news, information or issue to discuss, I'll just post a picture of frozen cherries on a branch and turn off my computer.
Because that's just an awesome random thing to do on a Thursday.

A more graceful daisy than my Daisy

It's a weird feeling when I start catching up on my magazines. On Sunday, I read the January issue of Vanity Fair, with Johnny Depp on the cover. This afternoon, I read the February issue of InStyle. Tomorrow, maybe I might read the March issue of Vanity Fair. And after that, maybe the April issue of InStyle. (It's important to note that my Entertainment Weekly magazines always get read the day or two after they arrive.) The Raising Arizona Kids gets read for nothing but its calendar, so that doesn't really count.
Now, if only I could get to reading a book again. I've had Sin and Surrender on my nightstand for two weeks without a single page being turned. I have a very impressive stack on books on my bedroom floor, and I am sure that I probably won't make a dent in it for several more weeks.
However, summer's coming, and that means less television to watch. And that means, more reading to be done. It's all good. I love me some reading.

I like this photo a whole lot. It's a daisy floating face up in a barrel of water. The photo is just stunning, I think.

Sunburns already??!!

I got a little sunburned from our morning at the park today. So did Sydney, who is currently sporting a most excellent farmer's tan on her arms. Obviously, I need to get back into the SUNSCREEN ALL DAY, EVERY DAY habit.
I've hit a wall with my struggle with sugary sweets today. I'm officially embarrassed by some of the items I've been consuming lately, and I won't tell you about them. But what's worse is that I know that, if I would just cut these sugary snacks out of my daily feed schedule, I'd be in a much better place, calorie-wise. This is a bad problem to have so close to Easter, but it's the one I've got.
Also, I really need a pedicure.

Same launch channel, different launch day

I'm disappointed, but incredibly so. Apparently, NASA didn't check the reservation sheet at the International Space Station, because there was a conflicting date in the station's driveway with a Russian cargo space ship. So, because, I imagine, Russia made their reservation first, the shuttle launch that Mom, Sydney and I are attending was pushed back 10 days, from April 19 to April 29.
This is problematic because Mom and I had a perfect trip planned, and now, instead of a five days in the middle of the week in Orlando, we're stuck with a weekend in Orlando. I assume that the population at the destinations will be different on Saturday than on Wednesday. Oh well. Our flights changed fine, with no financial penalty, and we're on the right track for our days again. This is good. But now, it's like, much longer until we all get to go!

My Dancing with the Stars voting (10 votes allowed):
Kirstie Alley ~ 3 votes. She and Maks fell during their dance, and managed to keep it together and finish the routine. Also, they're awesome.
Hines Ward ~ 3 votes. I am loving Hines Ward and his pro, Kym, during this competition.
Chelsea Kane ~ 1 vote. She's happy, and she's from Scottsdale.
Sugar Ray Leonard ~ 1 vote. I like that he feels like the underdog.
Ralph Macchio ~ 1 vote. I vote for Ralph from a purely '80s angle. I don't really care for him staying. I can take him or leaving.
Romeo ~ 1 vote. I like that he apologized for acting like a baby to his pro, Chelsie.
Wendy Williams, Petra Nemcova, Chris Jericho, Kendra Wilkinson ~ 0 votes. I'm not a huge fan of any of these stars, so, no vote love.

Big headphones for a big problem

I think we may have come across the one piece of equipment that will make our time spent in this apartment more pleasant. Is it something for the kitchen? For the bathroom? Someone to walk the dogs five times a day? No. In fact, today we bought wireless headphones for my television set-up in the bedroom.
In our new apartment, mine and Brian's bedroom is in a loft space. The living room is right below, and the television wall of the living room is the same as the half loft-wall in the bedroom, where my TV is located. The space between is nothing but a big, fat echo space where TV shows bounce around. When we're watching TV, both televisions are in a competing noise space. When my TV is on, the volume bugs Brian. He turns his up, which makes it hard for me to hear. I turn mine up. He then turns his up. And shortly thereafter, we have two TVs in the apartment that are way louder than either one of us wants.
Brian's first suggestion was wireless speakers that we could place next to me on the bed. Headphones were a second suggestion. At Best Buy, the wireless speakers were only available on a Bose system, which cost upwards of four figures. So, second suggestion was investigated. And we found some awesome headphones that are wireless, easy to use, and, as my head can attest at this very moment, comfortable. Sony wireless headphones rock right now. I love them.
And, like I said, they will make television viewing in my house so much more enjoyable over the next few months while we're camping in the apartment.

You can call me "Commander"

I would hope that, for obvious reasons, you all know why this particular avatar would be my choice for April. Currently, we're in a bit of a countdown ourselves. Counting down to AWESOME!!
Let's see if I can add this up right in my head: I am 16 days away from heading to Cali; 17 days from flying to Florida; and 18 days from watching the shuttle launch. WOO HOO!!
It's all kinds of fantastic for me over the next several days!

Digging for dinosaurs!!

I'm pretty surprised with how tired I've been over the last couple days. It gets to be about 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m., and my eyelids are super heavy, and all I can think about is putting my head down and knocking out some sleep for a few hours. That's why, tonight, I've spent the evening downstairs, and once I'm done with this blog, I'll go straight upstairs and go to bed, without turning on the television.
My day though, was pretty awesome. Sydney and I went to the dinosaur museum (her choice), and spent some time in the place's Dino Dig. I'll admit to you that I've known about the Dino Dig for a few months, but ignored it, knowing that, once discovered, I would never get to visit the museum without spending an hour outside in the dirt. Sydney ended up following some kids outside, and found the Dig. I'm pleased to note that the "fossils" aren't covered in dirt or sand, but chopped up bits of recycled tire what isn't as gross as it sounds right there. There are a bunch of brushes for sifting through the ground cover to find the fossils, which consisted of a T-Rex skeleton, some dino nests and other preserved dinosaurs, animals and plants. It really is very cool, and I'm mad at myself for not letting her get into it before. She thoroughly enjoyed her day, and I'm very proud of my budding paleontologist. She rocks. And it's always a good day for me when it's a good day for her.