We are preparing for our 6th anniversary this weekend. For this year's celebration, we are going to Sea World. Now some people might not find this overly romantic, but for us, this is a REAL treat. We're going to be able to ride roller coasters TOGETHER for the first time in almost 5 years! Kraken here we come! After we've made ourselves ill from riding so many times in a row, we're going to the "Makahiki Luau" on the Waterfront. Hurrah for Annual Passes!

Coincidentally, our youngest "niece" turns one that same day so we'll be giving my parents the kids and they will go to the party, the Princesses Ella will stay the night with their cousin and Prince Lorenzo will stay with my folks. It's a win/win situation all the way around.

Armageddon...

or not. Doom and gloom and the end of the world as we know it. At least according to my Mother who is slightly more accurate than Baghdad Bob when it comes to the dissemination of information. Uh huh.

She got a phone call from a friend of hers in Atlanta who - of course - panicked when she hear the news that a Tropical Storm named Ernesto MIGHT become a Category One Hurricane. And MIGHT come through our part of Florida. And we MIGHT need to vacate much as we did two years ago.

The Prince Consort's place of employment cancelled work for today (so he is glued to the royal Xbox 360 catching up on his games) because of the possibility of 40-60 MPH winds. Good for them.

What have we had for precipitation today? An hour or so of moderate summer rain. That's it. It's breezy and slightly overcast outside my royal chamber... No hurricane. No rushing winds that will carry us all away. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

I came to the conclusion Disney should sell the following during Hurricane Season:

I think they'd be BIG sellers - especially if they monogrammed them with the names of the Hurricanes/Tropical Storms as they happened. But then, I've always had a quite twisted sense of humour.

Carry On!

Meet the Royal Family...

Now that you've heard a little about our escapades, I'd like to introduce you to the royal family...

The Elder Princess Ella on her 4th birthday (June 10th, Instant)

Note the Cinderella dress she is wearing. At the time of her birthday (and for approximately 6 months prior) she was enamored of all things Cinderella. NOW she is enamored of all things Ariel. She has proclaimed that she wants "a fish tail for Christmas". Lords of Kobol preserve us. But of course my Mother has already complied and purchased the aforementioned tail. As we speak it is being wrapped and put away for the appropriate winter holiday along with various and sundry mermaid related things.

The Younger Princess Ella in a recent picture wherein she describes herself as Sleeping Beauty.



She is particularly enamoured of Aurora/Briar Rose and so I procured for her a singing Briar Rose doll forthwith. It too is at my Mother's abode being wrapped and put away for the appropriate winter holiday along with the "Seeping Booty" book that she so eloquently requested.

Prince Lorenzo Il Magnifico in a recent picture



And now for a picture of the mater and pater of the Princesses Ella and Prince Lorenzo... The Empress and her Prince Consort on their wedding day (6 years ago September 2nd, Instant):

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

At least this is true if you accidentally use rancid vegetable oil in your cake mix. This one good reason to NEVER use a boxed cake mix to make a cake. I should've known better. I do know better. I despise, abhor, detest boxed mixes. I don't care if Duncan Hines can make a cake mix and it only sets me back a mere 89 cents. It tastes more like fitty cent than 89 cents, but I digress.

I've been in "cake bootcamp" otherwise known as Wilton Cake Decorating class courses I & II for the last 8 weeks without a break. I am now "certified" to be able to decorate a cake. Gee. Wow. Actually, I learned a heckalot that I didn't know. Like how to make decent buttercream.

Below is the SUMMA of my cake class achievement - a buttercream basketweave adorned ovoid cake with scads of flowers made in royal icing. Looks pretty darned good if I do say so.

Front:



Right Side:



Left Side:



Top:



Front close-up:



Almost as good as the Cinderella cake I made for the elder Princess Ella's 4th birthday this past june. You should see a picture of it either here:



or in the related blog entry. Please note the use of an authorized Disney product for the doll. It adds greatly to the realism.

Veni Vidi Wiggles!

Yesterday we went to see the Wiggles at "Playhouse Dinsey In Concert" at the Disney/MGM Studios in lovely Orlando, Florida.

Although Greg (yellow) Wiggle was unable to be there due to health issues (sasy a prayer for him please!) and was on his way back to Sydney, Australia to see his doctor, we had a Wigglicious good time. The Princesses Ella and Prince Lorenzo enjoyed themselves famously. I would not have imagined a 5-month old having fun at a concert, but my gracious, he did enjoy himself. It was well worth the price of admission (and all the rest of it that goes along with a day-trip to Dinsey).

Tickets to Disney to see the Wiggles: $118 and change

Character Lunch with Little Einsteins & Jojo and Goliath: $46 and change

Wiggles Concert T-shirts: $38 and change

Mouse Ears hat for Lorenzo: $13 and change

Seeing my beloved children have the TIME OF THEIR LIVES...

PRICELESS!

Sure this set me back a couple of benjamins, but it was so worth it for this once in a lifetime experience. Add to that I scored a pair of Tinker Bell flip-flops and a birthday present for my dad and it was a GREAT day.

Personally, I have a thing for Cinderella, but since the oldest Princess Ella has co-opted her, I guess purple Tink flip flops will do.

Now then...

Having finished the update of all previous blog entries from that *other* blog space.... We are prepared to amuse you with the anitcs and escapades of the the Princesses Ella and Prince Lorenzo Il Magnifico.

Onward and Upward!

Didn't I almost have it all?

June 22nd. Instant:

Oh yeah...

You may or may not know this folks, but I'm a ballroom dance teacher (or was). Well, an opportunioty recently presented itself for me to start teaching again on a volunteer basis at my local YMCA. I'm ecstatic to be doing this. I really do love imparting some of what I've learned over the last 9 or 10 years, and there's no high like that of having a student finally *get* what you are trying to give them. Truth be told, over the last 6 years, I've kinda missed that. So you can bet I'm grinning from ear to ear over this.

And because of this volunteer work a the Y, I'm in negotiations with my daughter's dance studio to teach there one night a week as well. I'm telling you, I'm on such a high right now that even the 10 loads of laundry I did today don't have me down. Sure, I've got every item of clothing we own (and let me tell you THAT is a LOT of clothes) and our towels and sheets and all, too in HUGE-MONGOUS piles according to what they are waiting to be folded (yeah, yeah) but I'm not sweating it.

The false dichotomy that women can't be fulfilled/intelligent/whatever at home with the kiddos OR that women who work (outside the home) are somehow missing out on something just doesn't apply here. The "have it all" mentality of having to work outside the home to be fulfilled thing just isn't applicable here. Do NOT get me wrong. I love caring for my kids/home/family. It's what I do (second) best. I'll admit I'm a lousy housekeeper. But I'm a damn good dance teacher. I'm funny, I'm smart and dammit, people like me. That's from Soapdish (IIRC).

Anyways, let me just tell you how much more FUN household chores are when you KNOW your time is limited. It's nice to have a deadline rather than a line that stretches out into infinity. And getting out of the house and playing hooky for a while is a delicious treat, like sneaking a snickers bar when no one is looking...

Happy June and a May update...

June 1st, UInstant:

Well, I did get my car fixed and returned to me. My service advisor went above and beyond to make it a pleasant experience since the issue was NOT fixed the first time. Including getting me a rental car. Sweet. However, said rental car (Dodge Stratus) is NOT fuel efficient. Hoo boy.

Anyways, the dearly beloved got sick (again) and it's solely my fault. Well mostly my fault. I cleaned the air conditioner intake filter. Actually, I didn't *clean* it per se... I only changed it. But he's SO sensitive to dirt and dust and yada yada yada that he gets sick Every Stinking Time we A) Clean a paddle fan; B) Change the air filter; Paint a room (which of course requires cleaning the TOPS of doors, etc). At least THIS time he didn't end up with Strep. I'm grateful, really.

Oldest daughter is having her dance recital this weekend. She looks SO cute in her costume. See?

This picture was taken by one of the moms in the class. All things considered I think it's pretty darn good.
Said daughter turns FOUR next week - which reminds me I need to get off me arse and sned out party invitations... Her dance recital number is Cinderella and *irony* so is her birthday party. This was NOT planned like that, it just happened.

Well, off to be productive. I've got a lot to do before our trip to the museum today at 10AM.

Road Righteous?

May 10th, Instant:

I'm not prone to road rage. Really. So I'm a member of the VRWC (vast right-wing conspiracy) and have the blinkie to prove it...

Doesn't mean I go around blowing people away because they piss me off on the road...

That said...

What is is with people who speed? And I'm not talking about 5 miles over the posted limit. I'm talking about the drivers who are a blur when they pass you (on the right) and who ride your bumper because you slow them down to the posted limit or maybe 5 MPH over it... What's wrong with going the posted speed limit? 65 MPH is sufficient to get you from point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time. And if you MUST break the LAW, please do yourself a favor and get some goof-off and take all your "WWJD", "Praise Jesus" and "God is My Pilot" sitckers OFF your car. They mark you as a rank hypocrite. Especially when you flip the bird to the driver who is OBEYING THE LAW...

Let me state for the record that I'm Christian, so it's not on philosophical grounds that I hate seeing those types of stickers. I'm also not the *most* charitable driver on the road, so it's not that I have a problem givig someone holy heck for being an idiot on the road. Shoot, even my (almost) 4 year old daughter can tell who is an "idiot" or "moron" on the road. She can use those words properly in a sentence related to vehicular travel. My parents don't know whether to be appalled or amused by her when she points out the "idiot car" or "moron driver" that cuts them off in traffic. But at least I'm not advertising to the world that I'm a person of upstanding moral character by plastering religious slogans all over my rear bumper - even if I do call a moron a moron in the privacy of my own car.

You'd think I'd learn...

May 8th, Instant

To sleep when the baby sleeps, right? Generally that would be true (at night anyways), but tonight, for some bizarro (anyone remember that Superman comic issue from back in the day?) reason, I can't seem to make myself sleep.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I've spent the last 2 hours cleaning up my hard drive and decluttering all the files that seem to have accumulated since my last re-build (ca. 2004). I'm still sorting out what needs to be reinstalled and updating my Outlook (sux when you have 50 email addresses that need to be re-imported by hand).

The up side to it all is that at *least* I've got a clue what is what and what goes where. The tricky part is having The Administrator (hubby) do it all. And since The Admin is HYPER careful about security and what-not (good for him), I'll leave him to it. The only problem is, he has to do it in his spare time.

This is me after a rebuild and before my stuff gets re-installed:

Well, I better take the advice and get some sleep while I can. 5:30 is going to feel pretty early, here...

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? More like Oblivious...

May 7th, Instant:

I don't write game reviews for a living.

Let me preface my "review" of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion by saying that both my husband and I are avid gamers (almost to the point of geekdom).

We have a "modest" collection of games for both PC and Xbox/360 in *almost* every genre. That said, neither of us care much for Oblivion.

And here's why...

It's supposed to be an RPG - role-playing game, not rocket propelled grenade. Although, if it *were* a rocket propelled grenade, it might be more interesting or fun to play with. As far as RPGs go, this one doesn't really compare with Baldur's Gate (PC or console) or Neverwinter Nights/D&D, etc. Oblivion is more of an "action-RPG", but even so, it doesn't compare with Fable as far as game-play is concerned. It's quite similar to Dark Age of Camelot except for one tiny detail... It's not an MMORPG - if it were, it would be awesome...

My chief complaints with the game-play are that the block and attack are static. You use the *same* blessed move each and every time. And when you are being attacked, you just kind of sit there and take it. This wouldn't be so bad except for ONE minor detail... If the physics of a dead body rolling down a hill *after* a battle can be coded in, then why can't the battle itself be more dynamic?

And what is it with people walking *through* doors rather than opening them and going through? 1980s much? It's not as if every blooming character is otherworldy or something. If Sam Fisher can stealth-open a door, then certainly it could have been coded in here. Shoot... Even DAoC has that capability.

And can SOMEBODY please tell me why every.blooming.one of these type of game starts with ginormous rats in a sewer? Can we please have a bit of originality? How about bats in belfries or *something*... Anything??? Anyone??? Bueller???

Sure, the graphics are great, but graphics aren't *everything*. I can forgive so-so graphics if the storyline is good to great (Tenchu/Final Fantasy VII anyone?) but good graphics can never compensate for a lackluster story or (even worse) sloppy coding. All the fancy-schmancy fractals in the world aren't going to help me when I'm so frustrated with the AI that I want to throw my wireless controller through my HDTV screen.

Overall, I'd give this game a 6.8 out of 10. I'm being generous, too. We rented this from GameFly and we will not be buying it. I *might* consider it IF and ONLY IF it were re-released as an MMORPG. In my (not so) humble opinion, unless a game like this is party-based and/or an MMORPG, it's not worth the innumerable hours necessary to play through it.

Maybe I'd like this more if I didn't know how computer-games were made. But I don't think so.

It's going to be a better day...

April 30th, Instant

After two sleepless nights and anxiety over my dearly beloved's health, I watched Mass via the internet as I could not leave my house. A real sense of peace came over me as I was comforted by the words of the Our Father:

Pater noster, qui es in coelis. sanctificetur nomen tuum: adveniat regnum tuum:
fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da
nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus
nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem: Sed libera nos a malo.
Amen.

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy Kingdom
come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, Give us this day our daily
bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against
us; and lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil.
Amen.

As Mass was ending and my husband's stress test was beginning, a dove walked up my sidewalk and stayed in my garden for a while. I feel very comforted.

Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

April 29th, Instant:

Today is not a good day for me. It started yesterday when I had a wicked headache brought on by sheer exhaustion due to lack of sleep and nightmares. I couldn’t get out of my own way and the best laid plans of mice and men went to Hades in a hand-basket.

Last night, my dearly beloved went to the ER because he was having stroke symptoms. Lucky for him (?) he’ll be in the hospital at least until tomorrow being check out. I spent a pain-filled sleepless night *again* although the nightmares weren’t there. Who needs a nightmare when you have your other half missing?

Frankly, today I have been struggling with a lot of emotions I thought I’d never feel. Helplessness for one. I’m generally a pretty self-sufficient person. I rarely ask for help and am quite capable of taking care of myself and others if need be. But today… For the first time in a VERY long time, I feel like life is completely out of my control. I’ve said more prayers in one day than I’ve said in a very long time. “Pray without ceasing” could be my motto for the day.

Here’s some of the things that have been floating randomly through my mind today when I was eating lunch – alone – at what is generally my favorite restaurant (and which my dear husband doesn’t much care for)…

Food just doesn’t taste right. I ordered my favorite meal and it just was *there*. It was neither good nor bad. It just was.

I feel like half a person – as if I’ve lost half of me. I don’t feel *all there*. I was sitting there thinking and my body seemed diminished somehow.

Sounds around me seem very distant and far off. It’s like hearing from a long way off.

Dazed and confused – like I’m wandering in haze – no purpose or direction.

Thinking about the unthinkable and wondering how I’d cope if it were to happen.

Trying to avoid the above thoughts because I just can’t cope with that right now.

Even retail therapy doesn’t work. I had errands to run that were time sensitive and even a trip to my *favorite* store couldn’t brighten my mood. I just went in, got what I came for and left. Not even 50% off could tempt me to look around.

Visiting my beloved in the hospital was an odd experience. This isn’t the first time he’s been hospitalized with this kind of thing, but this time is different. The symptoms were different and so on. This time was a “for real” kind of thing and freaked the ever-loving daylights out of me. I’m not sure how soon I’ll be “normal” again – if I ever will.

When I went to Confession right around Easter, my priest counseled me to always look at my husband and children as blessings – even if I was put out and about to lose my temper – because not everyone has a loving and supportive spouse. He said that God had truly blessed me and I should always remember that. It’s times like these that really drive that point home.

Do me a favor – don’t take anything in life for granted. You never know when it might be gone.

I *heart* my PT Cruiser...

But I don't love the dealership.

It all started when my engine light came on. As I'm leaving the house to pick up my kids of school, I noticed the engine light was on. It hadn't been on earlier in the day when I was running errands, so I thought it was somewhat odd and mentioned it to my husband that evening. And like all good tech-heads do, he got all anxious and had to whip out the manual and read up on what could possibly be the problem. He went online and searched through a bagillion PT Cruiser owner/maintainance sites and learned how to self-diagnose the problem. The problem? A faulty O2 sensor (that's oxygen sensor to us lay-folks).

So the requisite appointment was made at the dealership to repair said faulty sensor (it's the front one) since we have the Chrysler Corp. Service Contract (which basically means that this $300+ repair is costing us a whopping C note.) I dropped the car yesterday at lunch time and was *assured* that my car would be done *that afternoon*. Yes, I need the 60K miles service and NO I don't want it today ($380 is a little much for me this week in addition to the repair). Yes, I'm sure I want to do it next week. Very good.

Borrow hubby's Integra (1994 GSR model). I do NOT like this car. Yes, it's built for small Asian people. Yes, I'm small. But it's darn-frigging uncomfortable and hauling the baby-bucket in and out of the back seat is a MAJOR PITA. Oh yeah... And one of the seatbelt clips broke in the back seat, so now one of my kids has to sit in front since her car seat can't be buckled in the back any more...

So I'm thinking I can handle borrowing the tin can for an afternoon and I'll have my car back. Right? WRONG!!! What they failed to mention to me was that - oops - they are all out of O2 sensors and they can have one shipped in tomorrow (which is today). Now that's JUST PEACHY. I have 3 kids in carseats, appointments out the wazoo today and NO CAR and NO RIDE. Greeeeeeeeaaaaaat.

I'm supposed to hear from my hubby this morning at 9AM what the ETA for my car is. If it isn't 2PM or sooner, I'm going to holler like mad for either A) a loaner car so I can do what I need to do or B) rental car re-imbursement for same. It's UNACCEPTABLE that they can't figure out that they are out of the part needed before the take my car away. It's not like they didn't know at 9AM that the car was coming in that day. We called early. We made an appointment. We did our part. Now fix my car and return it to me when you promised it or make arrangments so I'm not unduly inconvenienced.

That is all.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Throne Room. We will be consolidating our random musings from various places here so it might look a little bizarre at first. Bear with us as we think it will be worth your while... OR ELSE!