1st Few Days Of 1st Grade

Monday August 21 was the first day of school for my kids. They were so excited about going. I was excited for them - anxious about how they'd handle the transtion, though, and the longer days. (Our Kindergarten was only 3 hours - 1st grade is a full 6.) My son had no issues early on - he eagerly ran into his classroom Monday morning, hung up his backpack and started coloring the picture left on his desk by his teacher. No tears, no fear, no clinging... Such a big boy!

My daughter, on the other hand, was a bit more nervous. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, she was placed in a 1st grade class with not one single child she knew. This year, our school had a large influx of children who graduated from a Montessori Kindergarten. Instead of dividing the Montessori kids up and putting 2 or 3 of them in each already-established 1st grade class, a new 1st grade class was created and they were all put in it along with one child from each of our schools' Kindergarten classes last year. (My daughter was the one chosen from her class.) The classroom was unfamiliar - the kids were not known to her - even the teacher was new (hired to teach the class just last Thursday!) and my poor little girl definitely felt out of her element. She put on a brave face and insisted that she was o.k. but her face (especially her eyes) told a different story. I hated leaving her - knowing how uncomfortable she was. She is a great kid, though - well-adjusted, friendly, social and popular... I knew (hoped) it wouldn't be long before she felt better about things. And - in fact - it wasn't long... My best friend (who teaches special-ed Kindergarten at the school) took a picture of her at lunch - happy as a clam with a big smile on her face - and sent it to me to ease my worries.

They both are noticing the longer days. They're exhausted when they get home and asking to go to bed before dinner! Things seem to be going as well as can be expected, though. I know (have heard, anyway) that the transition from Kidergarten to 1st grade is a big one for most. My son did cry a bit Monday afternoon but I was told that half of the class did. Both children are still enjoying it and are excited to go every morning so that's a good thing. I have learned that some of my son's stims (verbal "chirps") are re-surfacing as he copes with the new environment/children/teacher/curriculum/expectations. I cried for 2 hours last night over it. I know it's understandable considering the circumstaces but my heart just hurts for him. I'd like to help him find a more "socially-appropriate" way to regulate his anxety - I just don't know how (or if it's even possible at this age). Poor litle guy...

Both teachers seem to enjoy the children (they are personable little people - even if I do say so myself!) and my son's teacher has commented that she is especially impressed with the reading skills he's showed thus far.

Right now, I just wish I could fast-forward to October!

I was looking into swim lessons, gymnastics, tae kwon do, dance (etc.) for the kids as possible extra-curricular activities but I have decided to hold off for a while until both kids are comfortable and settled in.

Weekend Ramblings

I had a great birthday yesterday. My kids gave me cards (store-bought and homemade) in the morning as well as a bottle of this new cologne I've been wanting. I received a few birthday e-mails and was serenaded with Happy Birthday a few times.

After lunch, we attended a Meet-The-Teacher gathering at the kids' elementary school. We were able to finally meet their 1st grade teachers and check out their new classrooms. In the afternoon my daughter had a girlfriend over to play while my son and I baked peanut-butter cookies.

We had a baby-sitter in the evening and went out for Italian food with my parents and our best friends. My Mom surprised me with a few great gifts - a computer program I'd been wanting (Master Cook Deluxe 9.0) and three books on my Amazon WishList. My sister sent me a lovely bouquet of lillies and our friends brought me a huge basket filled with New Orleans foods (mix for beignets, gumbo, jambalaya and dirty rice) as well as bottle of Bacardi Hurricane Drink Mix and one of Emeril Lagasse's amazing cookbooks. I was completely surprised by my husband with a gorgeous peridot (my birthstone) necklace presented to me just before dinner. He told me that he and our jeweler had been working on it for a while and I absolutely love it - it's not like anything I've ever seen before.

I'm not a fan of getting older but had a rather excellent day regardless!

We did a lot of work in he yard today and took the kids for haircuts before having dinner at The Elephant Bar. Tomorrow (Sunday), we will take it easy and enjoy our last day with the kids before they start the 2006-07 schoolyear. I think we're in for another heat-wave so we'll probably spend most of our day in the pool. It's Hard to believe that the Summer is over already!

Happy Birthday to me!

Your Birthdate: August 18

You are a cohesive force - able to bring many people together for a common cause. You tend to excel in work situations, but you also facilitate a lot of social gatherings too. Beyond being a good leader, you are good at inspiring others. You also keep your powerful emotions in check - you know when to emote and when to repress. Your strength: Emotional maturity beyond your years Your weakness: Wearing yourself down with too many responsibilities Your power color: Crimson red Your power symbol: Snowflake Your power month: September

Other August 18 birthdays...

Actor Edward Norton born 1969
Actor Christian Slater born 1969
Actress Madeleine Stowe born 1958
Actor Patrick Swayze born 1954
Actor Robert Redford born 1937

Happy Anniversary

Those close to me knows how big anniversaries are to me. I celebrate (or, at least, acknowledge) anniversaries of just about everything.

Exactly one year ago today, I wrote my first blog post!

So Long Desktop...

Am I the last person on the planet to trade in her trusty old desktop for a laptop?

When shopping for a new computer a little over a month ago, I headed straight to the area of the store that carried the (goliath) desktop computers. My Best Buy salesguy, however, asked me why I would want a gigantic desktop when a streamlined laptop could do just as much - if not more. I let him pitch me and ended up buying an HP Pavilion notebook and signed up for 3 years of Geek Squad help ("just in case"). We also bought a new HP Officejet All-in-One, the necessary spyware and anti-virus programs and a wireless router. We were online and wireless within a few days! I love it!

Blue Man Group

We saw BMG last August while in Las Vegas (before they moved from The Luxor to The Venetian). It was an unusual but totally enjoyable show. I read this morning that they will be making appearances on the NBC Show America's Got Talent both tomorrow (Wednesday) night and Thursday night.

They are also going to be on tour this Fall. We hope to see them at The Arrowhead Pond in November for their How To Be A Megastar 2.0 show.

Edited to add: I did not see whether or not they were on Wednesday's show but I did manage to see them do Baba O'Reiley (by The Who) on Thursday - loved it!

Fallin' Asleep At The Wheel Again, Baby...

Tuesday August 8 - Tuesday afternoon, we packed up our car and headed east to Vegas for our annual anniversary trip. Like last year, we went with our best friends. They are so much fun. We stopped at the Bun Boy restaurant in Baker (where the "tallest thermometer in the world" claimed it was 120 degrees!) only to find out that they were "closed for maintenace" so it was gyros and greek salad across the street at The Mad Greek instead. We pulled up to The Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino at about 8 PM and checked into our rooms. At 9, we met in our friends' room for Jagermeister (and chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne - an anniversary tradition our friends started last year) while we watched the episode of Rock Star : Supernova that we attended the taping of last weekend. Once that was over, we went down for dinner (and more drinks) at the Micro Brewery Pub. We gambled a bit (slots, roulette and blackjack) and were back in our rooms and asleep by 1 AM.

Wednesday August 9 - We had a leisurely morning, enjoying our Starbucks and playing roulette while the guys attended a Craps lesson at the hotel. Once they were finished, we walked down the strip to The Aladdin Hotel for lunch and shopping. We had heard about the 25-cent martinis they have for lunch at The Commander's Palace and planned on taking full advantage of that. The restaurant was amazing. The martinis were incredible and the food was great. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to real New Orleans cuisine. We had (aside from the martinis) pecan crusted catfish, boudin blanc, beignets...

Feeling no pain, we rolled out of there and decided it was time to shop. We've been to the Desert Passages before and really like it. Where else can you shop and drink beer, Jello shots and/or Everclear all at the same time?!

After a day filled with indulging, we (somehow!) ended up at Caesar's Palace and had a late dinner (and lots of water) at The Cheesecake Factory before heading back to our hotel at around midnight.

Thursday August 10 - The guys had a 5:45 AM tee-time at Las Vegas National Golf Club so they were up and on their way early. My girlfriend and I met at 9:30 AM for Starbucks before heading to the gym and spa for massages. After another Craps lesson and some roulette, we all met up for lunch at the Micro Brewery Pub again and then drove over to the Fashion Show Mall for more shopping. In hindsight, my girlfriend and I should've gone and left our (exhausted) husbands at the hotel to nap. We were back in our rooms around 5 PM and spent a few hours recuperating and napping. At 8:30 PM, we walked over to the MGM Grand and had drinks and appetizers at The Studio Cafe before heading over to see La Femme. (My first nudie show!) We all enjoyed it - it wasn't the best Vegas show I've ever seen (Mystere will always be my favorite, I think) but it was fun. We gambled a bit more back at our hotel and were in bed by 1:30 AM. (My girlfriend and I were, anyway - I don't think our husbands came up until close to 3:30 AM - they discovered the fun of Let It Ride and Texas Hold 'Em!)

Friday August 11 - We packed, retrieved our Starbucks and were on the road by 10 or 11 AM. (Not before stopping at a roulette table one last time and winning another $125 though!) It was, again, a great trip - such a fun way to commemorate our anniversary. We are thinking about going for New Year's Eve later this year - in all of the 15 years we've been travelling to Vegas, we have never been for New Year's. We'll see... We'll certainly be back next February for a convention my husband attends every year - our reservations are already booked - another Super Bowl weekend in Vegas!

Rock Star

We went into L.A. for another Rock Star : Supernova taping today. We left early and headed straight for The Cheesecake Factory at The Grove. We enjoyed Godiva cheesecake and lemon drop martinis (the lunch of champions?) before heading over to the studio. We were there earlier than we were last time but could tell right away that things were "different". We were told by a P.A. almost immediately that they couldn't guarantee anyone admission - that the VIP list for the taping was long and they weren't sure how many more they could fit on set. (We later realized that it was some type of "family day" - Storm's Father, Ryan's girlfriend/significant other, Lukas' possi etc. were all present.) We did end up making it in - but we were in the very last group of 20 allowed to do so and didn't get in until - literally - two minutes before the first performance began. We were in the balcony this time - the suspended balcony - what a trip that was - yikes! Here is my (brief) summary of the songs and performances...

Dilana - Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who) - Loved it. Gilby played with her - they sang together (no humping!) - sharing a microphone and it all just seemed so "natural". She's a strong contender in my mind.

Jill - Mother Mother (Tracy Bonham) - She's such a pretty girl and she looked so good on the TV's in the studio... Her vocals, though, just do nothing for me. I always feel like she's screaming her head off - not singing.

Ryan - Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones) - Trippy and dramatic performance. I loved it! Dark, hairy hooded sweatshirt, black eyeshadow on his face... Killer.

Storm - We Are the Champions (Queen) - She was gorgeous and sang what I think is a difficult song fantastically well. I just love her. I still don't know if I see her singing for these guys - but I love her.

Zayra - All the Young Dudes (David Bowie/Mott the Hoople) - Holy crap. Miss Z came out in a skin-tight (we're talking painted on) gold lame one-piece outfit, what must've been 6" black stripper heels and a black top-hat. Wild, wild, wild. Like with Jill - her vocals just never do anything for me. She's fun to watch, though, and definitely provides "entertainment". Magni accompanied her on guitar.

Josh - Interstate Love Song (Stone Temple Pilots) - I like Josh but I have to admit that I am in the camp that believes he sounds a bit like Kermit the Frog... Usually. I loved how he sounded live tonight though - such a good song too. He's adorable and definitely has an audience - I'm just not so sure it's a Supernova audience. Tommy Lee surprised everyone by jumping up and asking if he could accompany him on drums. I think it was spontaneous too - his kit wasn't there - he just jumped onto Nate's... What a thrill to see him perform!

Magni - The Dolphin's Cry (Live) - Excellent. This was my husbands' favorite of the night.

Patrice - Instant Karma (John Lennon) - I liked it! She was strapped to her guitar again but did try to work the stage a bit anyway. I think her voice is great and I'd pay to see her sing... Again, though, I'm not sure I see her fronting this particular band.

Lukas - Creep (Radiohead) - What a great performance - vocals (he opened his mouth!), the House Band, the lighting... He redeemed himself BIG-TIME after his sub-par song last week. Wow. Lukas was incredible and has my vote for the encore Wednesday night. He's still my #1 pick to win this thing!

Toby - Burning Down the House (Talking Heads) - I hadn't heard that song in years - what fun! The performance was enjoyable for me - until he pulled a megaphone (draped in an Aussie flag) out! Ugh - been there, done that - saw it last season.

Listening To Today...

Rafael Moreira is an amazing musician. Listen to clips from his musical CD titled Acid Guitar. Don't be turned off by the name - I wouldn't classify any of the tracks as "acid". They're beautiful - melodic, jazzy - addictive!

11 Years

Today is the 11th anniversary of the day I married my husband. We will celebrate next week with a few days in Vegas.

We met in the Fall of 1991 and began dating in the Spring of 1992. We moved in together 6 months (to the day!) after our 1st date and were then married in Las Vegas (at Treasure Island) 3 years later. We've been blessed with 2 beautiful and very special children. Life is good!

You know who you are...

Come on out and POST A COMMENT TO ME! Nobody here bites! You can stay anonymous if you want to - pretty please...

The Toothless Wonder

The Tooth Fairy was busy at our house last weekend! My kids lost three teeth (and gained three dollars) in just two days! My son lost one Friday night (his 7th) and my daughter lost her 3rd and 4th on Saturday and Sunday. Much like her brother almost exactly one year ago, she is now sporting the crazed jack-o-lantern look. (School pictures should be fun this year!)