just wondering

does chocolate REALLY soothe the raging beast?

Georgie-isms & Luke-saids

When i first met Luke and George a little more than a year ago.....their speech was almost non-existent. Their dad, Tom...my grammar school classmate and birthday buddy, explained to me that for unknown reasons both boys are speech delayed and they are attending a special needs pre-k to try and help them catch up so that by the time they get to kindergarten they could be reintegrated into the 'mainstream' class. 

Over the past year i have had the joy of watching them grow and develop and learn LOTS of new things. One of the most amazing things is they have both mastered the computer!! NickJr games is their favorite place to go. And one of the MOST EXCITING things is hearing them learn how to speak. In one year's time, they have progressed from grunts, screams and pointing to 3-5 word simple sentences!!! Their vocabularies have grown by leaps and bounds and they are now almost caught up to their age appropriate levels and we have high hopes of them both entering kindergarten in the 'regular' classes!!!!!!

As with all kids when they first learn to speak, they mispronounce words and say things kinda grammatically funny. George has a tendency to drop the first syllable of words - for instance my name (judianne) became anne and he pronounces his own name using the spanish word gorgie (first g sounds like a 'h').  Luke loves to sing the songs on NickJr, he has to work very hard at it but his speech is becoming clearer and clearer everyday and not only has he learned to spell both his first and last name, but he can also count to 10 in spanish! (george & i are working on counting to five in chinese!!! heheh) i know i'm going to miss Luke's 'mouth full of marbles' as he learns to ennuciate his words.  

I am so very proud of them! Today, i sat down and wrote a list of all my favorite words and phrases that i get to hear Luke and George say every day.  I will cherish this list.

GEORGIE (4.5yrs):

(hands raised palms outward) SOWEEEEEEEE
(one hand up palm out & waving) soweeee anne snot you tuwrn.....sdaddy's tuwrn
(said over the shoulder as he's running) 'mon wuke wet's go pway
(while jumping across the floor) wabbit wabbit (he's a frog)
my name horgie
more please juicer
more please hopsicles
more please sicken (chicken nuggets)
go donalds (the GOLDEN ARCHES!)
watch yego (Go Diego Go)
no go swaight (straight) go wight (right)
i bite you
i find you (you found george)
i hold you (you hold george)
i find me (here i am!!!)
i MAD!

LUKE (5.5 yrs):

yo ya ya ya (yo gabba gabba)
team zumi zumi (umi zumi) mili geo bot
fwisher no fwishing (swiper no swiping)
tasur (tasha), awtin (austin), pablo, niqua (uniqua) and tiwron (tyrone)
power dog (flower dog - nick jr character)
NO PATIENCE! PATIENCE GO NIGHT NIGHT
patience georgie! (heard while boys are playing in the bath)
no pee-pee potty. pee-pee potty night night
no night night! night night go night night
NO (fill in the blank with whatever you want luke to do) (repeat same word) GO NIGHT NIGHT
now lukes turn
time out georgie (brings the red time out chair to wherever georgie is)
police car......am'blance truck
hopperchopper (helicopter)
wanna go fraight (straight)
L - U - K - E spells GOOFBALL
B - L - A - C - K enter

i've got a secret...............

i feel like i could burst with excitment.............i think i've stumbled into MY GOOGLE OPPORTUNITY....you know the one......that chance of a lifetime....

GOOGLE OPPORTUNITY: when everything falls into place and you are the right person in the right place at the right time. ex: all those lucky lucky people that just happened to jump onto the dream when google first was conceived....they created this HUMONGOUS internet presence that can search for information, locate directions, help you write (blog) 'your story', store & share your pictures and so very very much more! they turned this vision into a multi-million (or is it billion?) dollar company......they created a work-space for the way they wanted to work.....and we all sit on the sidelines and WISH we had been there at the beginning and could be reaping some of those rewards now....

well, i do believe that THIS is MY GOOGLE OPPORTUNITY! i've signed on as an independent consutant...i've sponsored my first team-member....AND i've already completed my work for the  month....and we're only seven days into the month!

the BEST THING about being an independent consultant with this company...i do NOT have to sell anything. i do NOT have to book parties. i do NOT have to keep an inventory of products. i don't even have to have any 'special training' or extensive knowledge of a product. and i NEVER have to convince a single person that they NEED to buy one let alone ten of 'these amazing things'!!!!!!!!! ....all i have to do is collect my data and submit it on my webportal and then collect my commission.....easy peasy pudding pie! :)

low risk

easy to do

offers a competitive long-term opportunity for those willing to put in the time and effort needed to build a substantial organization.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?

what DOES it take? .......ok fair question!

well, if you are reading this you have already achieved the FIRST requirement (READING)

secondly, the ability to write

and third.......about 40 minutes per month

that's it!

so NOW.....do you have what it takes? if you do.....take a look at this video http://www.dollars4information.com/ (it's only about 5 minutes long) to get a better understanding of the job and the benefits

...then contact me (650)219~1355

it's my birthday & i'll cry if i want to cry if i want to cry if i want to

Three hundred sixty-five more days have passed.......i am another year older (and as the saying goes......deeper in debt!

friday was my birthday.....i had to work. i was supposed to get off early but i still left later than i had planned. i rushed home. it took me two & a half hours to get there.  TRAFFIC SUCKED. i went to tom's house first. the girlies were there and had tangled hair. he needed my help. tammy came back but we had to rush because we had a seven o'clock date with destiny.................actually it turned out that a group of our classmates came to meet us at bucca di beppo in the City for dinner to celebrate....but i'm jumping ahead of myself......who is this 'WE' that i keep speaking of?........my bff tom & i share the SAME birthday.....only he is 365 days 7 hrs & 20 minutes older than me ;)

but i digress.......

we were running late.....we had to get the boys ready and then to my house to get rob & so i could take a shower & change clothes......we were late! we finally got everyone ready & in the car and traffic was at a standstill..........good thing tom knows the backroads....we made it to the City in only one hour!!!

dinner was at bucca di beppo's delicious....we had calamari & bruscetta as an appetizer, antipasti salad and apple walnut salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, ravioli pomodora, chicken parmigana, grilled salmon with pesto sauce, garlic smashed potatos and spicy italian sausage....and for dessert cannoli and cheesecake and the piece de resistance.......a SAINT HONORE CAKE from DIANDA's

time-clock tick tock

if you wake up tomorrow and the world seems the same as it is today. will anyone notice?

i can't take this on again off again. needing me now....then pushing me away again. don't you see i know the score. don't you understand i see the writing on the wall. the signs are all there. i am not crazy. it's not just in my head. one day you'll wake up only to discover i am gone and this time i won't come back. deliberate. permanent. forever. you won't be able to hurt me again.

muddled in the middle (aka the truth hurts)

how do i find myself, yet again in this place. 

walking on thin ice 

afraid of making a crack

the yo-yo string goes up

the yo-yo string goes down

you pull me into your confidence only to push me away

hot & cold

you torment my soul

you do not love me, i am left empty

2nd annual california derby day

growing up, may 1 always signified the first month of the year dedicated to mary, queen of the rosary.....may crowning and the beginning of the end of the school year....

when i lived in hawaii, may 1 took on the further significance of lei day.....everyone wore a beautiful fragrant lei and/or haku on may day!....and there was an awesome concert at the waikiki shell with music by the cazimero brothers and hula dancers galore

now as i am (what statisticians would call) middle-aged.....may 1 has taken on yet another meaning........this saturday we held the 2nd annual run for the roses at the black house.......a good time was had by all. ESPECIALLY after the official race was run and we began our own race. my horse (#3) placed and showed a couple of times but never quite pulled through for a win.....maybe NEXT YEAR! also, last year we had the traditional mint juleps but no one was particularly fond of them so this year we opted for margaritas (afterall cinco de mayo IS just around the corner!) dad's mr. ponce de leon recipe was a SMASHING HIT!

amy made henry baine's sauce (this is also a kentucky tradition) for the meat......and everyone enjoyed a FEAST topped off by DERBY PIE and a chocolate ganache cake in celebration of 'stine's birthday!

h'mmm maybe NEXT YEAR we can convince amy to take the derby to the islands & combine the run for the roses with lei day!!!! .....i'm just sayin'....