Celebrating 6

Gee. I just realized that it's been a while since I posted! Bad me! Anyway, life is crazy as always. I've been reading everyone's blogs but haven't wanted to post without pictures. I decided to post minus the pics. They'll be coming. Soon.

This past Sunday was Erin's 6th birthday party. We held it at American Twisters & including Erin there were 32 children in attendance. Not too bad, right? Ha! Then you have all the parents that attend. That means a total of almost 80 people.

Erin had a total blast! We couldn't have wished her to have a better time. She picked out the theme Tinkerbell & the cake - Tinkerbell white cake with custard filling. She wore her Tinkerbell t-shirt & hat. Are we sensing a common theme here? The funny thing is that she wasn't into Tinkerbell until the end of the school year.

Now I happen to love organizing parties. I'm pretty good at it, & can usually get it all finished 2 weeks before the actual party. This time I wasn't totally finished till the day before. Then there were the RSVPs. Those who said "yes" but couldn't make it at the last minute. And, of course, those who showed up without ever calling to say anything. This year I had personalized keepsake boxes so I really stressed out when a mother showed up with her twins but never called me. And let's not forget the family who told someone else that they'd see her at Erin's party but, again, didn't call me. I can't really fault them. They've only been in the US for 3 years, & aren't comfortable with English. They really are a lovely family. ARGH!!!

Either way, it was a totally great day for Erin. She came home to open her presents & had just as much fun with that part of the day. She even helped clean up!

The night before the party, Erin had an online birthday party with her friend Kerri. Kerri & her family live in Canda so we knew she wouldn't be there. Her parents & I wanted the girls to have fun & celebrate. We all went & got cupcakes so they could have cake together & Erin could open her presents from Canada. Such fun!

Yesterday was the big day! Erin turned 6. She woke up in a great mood & couldn't get into our bed fast enough for morning snuggles. During camp they went to a place called Jumpers & had black & white cookies as a special treat. For dinner Erin decided that she wanted her sushi so we ordered in & got her a shrimp tempura roll. Then she passed out & fell asleep. Yay for us!

And so my girl is now 6. I can't believe how blessed we've been. Thank you G-d above for this miracle child!

Now They Are Sisters

Erin is amazing. When my friends Lori & Marc went back to China for their Mischief Man (a/k/a Ethan), Erin fell in love immediately. Now don't mistake me here. Erin adores their daughter Katie Starr & the rest of her China friends. However, the first time that she saw Ethan, she pointed to him & said "He's mine." Erin begged for a brother for quite a while after Ethan came home, but David & I explained to her that our family is complete. I'm pretty sure that in her mind, we're not done, but yes, we really are.

Anyway, after Erin & I got home from our monthly FCC luncheon this afternoon, David & I started to go through things. Erin will be 6 on July 30th, & things are changing for her. Toys that were fine a week ago are no longer fine. It's also time for our bi-annual purge of "stuff." While deciding what to purge, David finally came across the collection of dolls I've been saving for Erin. One of those dolls is a Gali Girl doll by the name of Reyna. I kept Reyna hidden since Erin wasn't really ready for the older dolls. This past Chinese New Year, I also purchased her a Karito Kids doll by the name of Wan Ling. Erin's had Wan Ling in her room but shown no interest.

Well, David & I decided that today we should allow Erin to have Reyna. The story of Reyna is that she is from Kaifeng China. Kaifeng is known among other things for having a Jewish community which is very old dating back to the 12th century. I explained to Erin that Wan Ling is Chinese American but Reyna is actually from China. I told her that there truly are Jewish people in China but that is not the norm. Reyna came wearing her own Jade Jewish Star & also had an extra one for the little girl who would own her. Since Erin already wears one, I offered to put the Star around Wan Ling's neck which went over really well. We had a minor chat about how now Wan Ling would be Jewish & is converted just like Erin was.

I guess what we talked about made sense to her. She just assumed that Reyna & Wan Ling would be sisters. All she had to say is "Now they are sisters."

Morning Phone Calls Suck!

When my home phone rings before 8:00 am, it's never good news. Whether it's David or a family member or a co-worker, I know that it can't be good. After all, who calls before 8:00 am to say have a great day when they know you're getting ready to leave for work?

Today's call came from my sister-in-law Sandra. Gotta love Caller ID. I answer "What's wrong?" and she says "Everything's okay. Calm down." Ha! Who is she kidding? She never calls to say hi - at least not in the morning.

My mother-in-law is (no surprise for those of you who know David) a stubborn woman with a will of iron. She hasn't been well for a while now but we all deal with it. After all, she's going to be 82 in November. It seems that her stomach has really been bothering her the last 5 days or so. My father-in-law took her to the doctor who did a workup. The results came back normal but something isn't right because she's really in pain. She was sent to the hospital where they did a ton of testing - last night.

We were told that my mother-in-law needs surgery. The problem? At 81, she really isn't in the best of health. If she truly has to have it, we're not even sure she'll come out of it & be much better. Needless to say, we're all a touch stressed out. David left work early to go up & visit with his mother. When he left, he called me to tell me that she's in better spirits than he was told but she isn't happy with the thought of surgery. And best of all? The results of today's testing indicate everything is normal. HUH???? And now we wait for more info to come our way.

I was right. Morning phone calls suck.

Oh Where Oh Where . . .

. . . has my Cingular gone! I'm a very loyal person. Whether you're my friend or a company I do business with, I tend to stick with you. Unless you tick me off that is. I guess it was this past year that Cingular Wireless merged into AT&T Wireless. Now I know that there are people out there who just adore AT&T, but I am NOT one of them. Ever since the merger, I have more problems than I should. Their level of customer service sucks.

I have been on the phone with customer service since 8:00 pm (it is now 8:31 pm) trying to get help understanding my way overpriced bill. The young man who answered my call can't answer my questions, has no knowledge of the English language & grammar & can't understand why I've asked for a supervisor - not 1 time but 6 times. He thought it was enough to issue a credit so my bill wouldn't be sky high. He was a bit concerned that giving me a refund wasn't satisfying me. Do I want a refund? No. I want an explanation because a refund this month means a phone call next month in yet another attempt to understand my bill. Duh!

And now I've been disconnected at 8:36 pm. Here I go again! Let's see what happens next. And now that this is the 2nd time I've had to call, I plan on participating in their "customer service survey." Wanna guess how they rate in my book?

UPDATE!!!!

It is now 9:15 pm, & I have just gotten off of the phone after speaking with a lovely lady. She immediately understood what I was asking. Granted it took a while to figure out what happened on my bill, but it is done. Unfortunately, she did advise me that this will occur on my next bill but that I should call back, pray I get her (her words, not mine) & have the bill fixed one more time.

Am I a satisfied client? No.

Ugh. What a Weekend.

This past weekend was a bust. Pfffttt! Just like that.

I had such a nice vacation but last week was really hard on me. I guess traveling for 2 weeks really took its toll on me. When Erin & I travel we usually go without David since he totally hates going away. Of course, Erin hates being separated from either one of us so this makes things harder on me. She does great during the day but will cry herself to sleep at night. "I want Dada." "I want to sleep in my own bed." (Read: I want to sleep in bed with both you & Dada.) "I not tired." You get the picture. And she never sleeps through the night. Which means that I get no rest.

Well last week was time to get back to reality & return to work. Because I was gone for 2 weeks, I had tons of work & email to go through. Yay. I fell asleep by 7:30 each night last week. By the time Friday came, I felt awful - tired, cranky, not willing to be happy with anyone or anything. I spent the entire weekend feeling out of sorts. Thankfully, David put up with me & my garbage. He let me sleep on & off all weekend & let me pass on all of my usual chores. By Monday night, I was back to myself. And my hubby being who he is just let me be grumpy the entire time.

Thanks Sweetie!

My Life in 6 Words

My friend Sandra decided to tag me with this one a few days ago. Now all I have to do is figure out which 6 words to define my life! I've really been having trouble figuring it out.

Let's see:

• Retentive - yup, everything has to be in the right place.
• Territorial - don't touch my stuff without asking & certainly don't move it.
• Emotional - cry at the drop of a pin but laugh openly when I find a funny in life
• Freeing - I do my best to get away from anger. I get angry easily since I have an awful temper but I live by the motto that "It isn't worth staying angry over. If It Won't Kill Me, I Let It Go."

Won't Kill Me, Let It Go!

Yup! Those are the words I live by. Since I really do have an awful temper (blame it my parents since I get it from them), I try very hard not to let others see it.

• When David & I have a disagreement, I apply those words.
• When Erin wants to wear nothing that matches, I apply those words.
• When the bosses at work want me to do something that makes no sense, I apply those words.
• When I see friends doing things that "get my goat," I apply those words.
• When I know I'm doing something stupid, I apply those words.

Now I have to tag 5 other people. Let's see:

• Gretchen
• Vivian
• Lori
• Shari
• Magi

Ta Da! (Part 2)

These are a few of the pics from the California part of our trip!

We visited the California State Railroad Museum for the day.

Ta Da! As Promised, Here They Are . . .

These are some of the pics from our Travel Group Reunion in San Antonio