What Did Justin Ever Do To You?

My daughter does not have Beiber fever.  She will vehemently deny any feelings for him loudly.

Methinks she doth protest too much.  Seriously.

Angered by the fact that we tease her (not too much) about loving the Beib, she created her own Little Big Planet 2 Level, the as-of-yet published "Destroy Justin Beiber."

Poor Beib.  What did he ever do to deserve the ire of our 7 year old Angel?  It's not your fault, Justin.  We teased her one too many times.

I give you......."Destroy Justin Beiber."

Little Big Party

Yes!  We are done with Isabel's birthday party.  Her birthday is on 03/01, but due to travel and Spring Break, we had to push her party up & up until we decided on the 26th.  That gave me plenty of time to prepare, or so you would think.  :)

She decided on Little Big Planet as her theme, which was a little tough because the makers of LBP are NOT marketing enough. There are no birthday party supplies.  I decided, then, to use ALL the junk from birthday parties past.  :)  Why not?  We had tons of table cloths, cups, plates, etc. that were never used.  The goody bags were Wall-E, Disney Princesses, Hello Kitty, etc.  There were toys from various parties in the bags, too.  I saved a lot of money and cleared out a lot of items taking space in the pantry.

We created our own "Pin the Arms on the Sackboy Game."

I created a Little Big Planet Cake. See my cake blog for more pictures.

We invited (very late; long story) her classmates and then we headed off to a local park for the party.

Three classmates came, as well as two cousins her age. 

Hot potato, only it was hot sackboy.

Isabel is out!  

Pin the arm on the sackboy.  The kids liked it and asked to play it twice.

This is the family, back at the house.  Everyone was pooped.

Hello Kitty Lava Lamp!!  Thanks Titi & Tio Lissy and John!

I love that our family will drive 10 hours (David's mom, brother, brother's wife, brother's baby) and my dad, step-mom, two sisters, their kids and one bro-in-law will always drive the 2.5 hours to be at her parties.  They make my heart super-happy.

It was a fun day.  Isabel thanked me for her "awesome cake" and said she "the party was really fun, right?"

Catch 22 with Stupid Friendster

Once upon a time, I had a blog with Friendster; a paid blog that would not allow commenting unless the person was a member, etc.  Paid!  I paid for it.  After realizing that there were free ones out there, I quickly cancelled my Friendster account and deleted my blog.  Or so I thought.

It's still out there in limbo land.  And I can't delete it because I no longer have an account with them.

But I still get e-mails in my in-box asking me to approve comments (all spam) on old blog posts.  They come to my e-mail address.   When I go to log in and ask them to "remind me of my password" I get told that the e-mail address does not exist in their data base.  The e-mail they're e-mailing me reminders to.

GAHHHH!

I went to their Blog section, to send them a note asking them to cancel it already.  In order to send them a comment, you have to log in.  With your e-mail.

WHAT. THE. HECK, FRIENDSTER?!?!

Spring Break at Home

Ah, Sunday.  The last day before going back to work & school for me and the kids.  We spent the last week hanging out and about.

Sunday we went over to Lakeland, FL to have dinner with some of David's friends/former co-workers.

Monday, the kids & I spent the day at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure.

Tuesday was spent just hanging around at home, making cupcakes.  :)

Behold!  Mint Chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate mint filling, covered in chocolate ganache, topped with mint chocolate candies.  

Wednesday we drove to visit my two sisters in West Palm Beach.  We had dinner at one sister's house and spent the night at the other's house.

Isabel and Miss Diva

My nephew Jon and me.

A new niece is coming!

Thursday we went with the sisters to City Place in West Palm Beach.  

Sloan's Ice cream shop is AMAZING.

The bathroom at Sloan's is funny.  When you lock the door, the glass goes foggy and you cannot see in. If you don't lock it, the world is going to see you doing your business!

At Barnes & Noble

Me & my sister Vicky at "Cheeburger Cheeburger" for lunch.

Friday we headed back to Universal Studios to meet up with an old pal Karen who was up from Miami with her daughter for Spring Break as well.

The "Ka(a)rens at Islands of Adventure.

We watched the Mardi Gras parade at Universal Studios and got lots of beads.

Saturday and Sunday were spent vegging at home and grocery shopping for the week to come.  It was a fun Spring Break spent near home.

A Geekdom Carve: The Claddagh Ring

On the carving front, I joined a new ring where we get to carve our geekness.  Be it Star Wars, chocolate, Harry Potter, Tim Burton, Godzilla, History, whatever.  If you geek to it, you can carve it.  There was only one little caveat:  It could not be larger than an inch squared.  Eeeep!  I stink at carving teeny detail, but I did it anyway.

I tried carving the Firefly ship Serenity.  Uh, no.  An inch to fit a firefly was not happening.  I thought & thought and thought. Then, boom!  I came upon an idea to show my Whedon-love.

I carved a Claddagh ring and then carved the Buffy "B" because I had room.  I added a little bling to the middle of the heart, just because.

I sent 30 of these off to the group's coordinator, but still have enough bling to make 30 more.  So, if you're interested in an inch of my geekdom, let me know and I'll send you one.  :)

PRHS Concert Choir MPA Performance

M.P.A. = Musicianship Performance Assessment.  

Each high school's choral department in our district gets assessed by a panel of judges from the FVA (Florida Vocal Association.)  The MPA performances and Site reading tests were this past Thursday night at a local high school.  There were over 8 schools present and the performances ran for 6 hours.  Graded were the beginning and advanced womens' choirs, mens' choirs, mixed/concert choirs, etc.

Jacob's school was there late.  The Advanced Women, Men's Choir and Concert Choir for his school got the highest marks and are moving on to State.

Below is a video belongs to a fellow choir member, Jeremiah Jimenez (he is singing too; it's being recorded with his camera).

The first song is called "A Gaelic Blessing."  The second one is "J'entends le Moulin" and it is AWESOME!  Pay attention to the choreography.  The audience, comprised of mostly other schools' choirs and some parents, erupted when they were finished.  

Robert Carlyle Commercial

I saw this commercial featuring Robert Carlyle from Stargate Universe , thought it was brilliant and want to share it.  It's so well done!

A New Panama Trip

Hello!  I am back from a week in Panama City, Panama!  Yes, I was there Sunday the 27th through the 5th of March.  I just don't like announcing these things until I am done. I am weird, deal.  We live in a too-wired world anyway.  :)

Click the "Panama" label to see more.

This is my 4th work-related visit.  Again I stayed at the beautiful Sheraton Four Points in the financial district of Panama City.

The outside of the hotel.  Photo from their website.

The Lobby and Reception Area.  Photo from their website.

Their pool is actually on the third floor.
The hotel's restaurant is off the pool area.  Photo from their website.

I really like this hotel. The staff is SO polite and cordial.  I see the same people every time I go.  It's the same hotel all our business partners stay in, so they recognize us all now.   Everything is very clean and formal.  What I wish every American hotel could be.  The following pictures are mine.

My first morning there, Monday, I see this beautiful arrangement  in the main table of the lobby.

This lovely lady greeted m every time I got off the elevator on to my floor. I really like it.

One of the reasons I like it is because of what she represents.  The Central and South American view of beauty is so much different than the Northern and European standards.  A woman with nice full hips and large buttocks is seen as wonderfully sexy down there.  I totally fit in!  :)

The hotel is *right* on a busy Panama City street.  At all hours, people walk.  There are cheap cabs and crazy buses everywhere.  I would get back to the hotel, work out for 45 minutes, shower, change and then head out to get something to eat.  Even at 8 p.m., people were walking.  It's a pleasant place.  It makes me wish we are as content with out lot here as they are down there.  Truly.  

On my last day there, Saturday, the arrangement was changed.  

Some of the roses from the previous arrangement were used in a smaller vase on one of the lobby sitting areas.

As lovely as they all are, I was missing my family and after a LONG Saturday (left the Panama hotel at 7:30 a.m. and due to delays, got in to Orlando at 10:00 p.m. and home at 11:00 p.m.) I was back home with them.  

Seven

Please. Stop growing.

Happy 7th Birthday Isabel!!  You make my heart super-happy.