Squirrel!!

Saturdays at my house usually begin the same way. Around 7:30 in the morning, Olivia comes in and almost always says the following "Mommy, I want some cereal please. My tummy is hungry." which is followed by me or Anthony saying "OK, in a minute". This Saturday started a little different. Anthony was up because he had to go to work which meant I got an extra hour of sleep!

So, Olivia and I shared some cereal and watched her favorite cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants. She then asked me if we could go for a walk. For some reason, Olivia really likes to take walks no matter the weather. I am not really sure why, but I sometimes wonder if it has to do with the fact that during pregnancy Anthony and I took a walk almost every night after dinner. Or, maybe it's because as a baby we took a lot of walks with her too. Either way, it is not uncommon for her to ask. I told her we would go in a little while.

Around 12:00 we got her shoes on, brushed our hair and got ready to go. Now, for those who know me, I love taking pictures. I worked part-time at two different studios for the past four years, just recently leaving one. Because of that love, I thought to myself this would be a great day to get some pictures. We headed out the door and began our walk.

I thought I would ask Olivia to give me some shots over by some trees. Here is what I got...

Now parents of photographers know that kids of photographers usually go through a phase where they "hate" the camera. They usually run, complain, whine or even give the usually fake "cheese" smile. Olivia did all of the above. I decided to just let her do her thing and catch some shots if I could. We headed to the playground and that is when the fun began...

To me, the best part of our walk was when Olivia went squirrel chasing. As she was playing on the playground she started noticing the little furry friends running around the trees. And for some reason, like the dog in the movie Up, Olivia would stop what she was doing, yell "Squirrel" and chase after them. I laughed so hard as she kept trying to catch them...

While she didn't catch any of them. I can say without a doubt that she had fun and so did I. It was a great Saturday afternoon spent with my "mini me"!

When Goats Attack...??

For some of us, before we become parents we like to think of all the possible things we are going to do with our children. We try and say that we are going to make every game, play recital, chorus performance and occasionally we throw in the field trip. Well, Olivia is not at many of the stages I mentioned above but she is at the one for going on class trips with her daycare center. This would be her first so I decided that I was going to make every attempt to go with her. Let's just say that after two reschedules by the center, it finally happened.

Today was the day I went with Olivia to her first field trip and it was to Cox Farms. Neither one of us had ever been, I have heard so much about how much fun it is. There is a hay ride, free pumpkin, slides, free pumpkin, animals, free pumpkin, music stage...wait, did I mention the free pumpkin? Yes, I was most excited about receiving a free pumpkin at the end of the trip and the keyword was free.

Now, just to give some visuals here, it read ALL day yesterday and it was pretty warm. They had already cancelled due to rain the day before so I was thinking they were going to cancel again. Well, woke up today and it was nice, sunny and in the 70s. I was ready to go and prepared to get a little muddy. We started with the slides, which each kid had to ride each one at least twice to satisfy their "need for speed"!

Once the sliding was done we walked over to see the pigs...

As you can probably gather from the "smell"...I mean pictures, you get the point. They smelled horrible given the heat, mud and hay. Following the pig visit, there was a trip to see the cows and then...you guessed it, goats. Now, I am not familiar with any farm animals except for what I read or hear or see on TV. I figured that they were like I had perceived them which was that they rammed people. I guess this goats were friendly because they had them set up in the Goat Village. You could go inside and feed them. So we got the food and headed in with the kids. I was handed the bag of food to distribute to the kids so that they could feed the goats (boy did I regret that job).

As soon as we got in with the kids we were surrounded by "hungry" goats who knew exactly what was in the brown paper bag that I was holding. Let's just say, I turned to the fours kids next to me to try and get them ready and when I turned back around...can you guess what was in my face? No...well let me tell you, I was face to face with a goat. It had put it's to front legs on me and was trying to get the food. Turned back around and another goat had done the same. At that point, another parent was shouting for me to just dump the bag of food on the ground and let's head out. No matter how fast I was throwing that bag around, the goats would not let up. The kids started crying and the goats just kept on coming. I finally emptied the bag, grabbed the child next to me and we hurried out. Remember the part about mud...well, I was the only one from the trip that ended up being layered in mud.

After that, we did our hay ride, ate snack and went down another slide. At that point it was time to head back to the center so that the kids could have lunch. Then kept the part I was most excited for...pumpkin...I mean "free" pumpkin time! The rule was one pumpkin per person which made me even happier. So, at the end of the day what did I learn...

Entry into the farm...$9
Food for the hungry goats...$1
Being "attacked" by hungry goats in mud...priceless!

But, at least Olivia and I got what we were really looking for anyway...

Ctrl...Alt...Argghhh!!!

Ok, so many of us that use computers on a daily basis know the timeless "fix all" function for computers is usually "Ctrl+Alt+Delete". This is the magic function that is "supposed" to fix almost anything that is wrong with your computer. System freezes..."Ctrl+Alt+Delete". Get an error..."Ctrl+Alt+Delete". Child jumps on CPU..."Ctrl+Alt+Delete". Computer gets infected by a bunch of different viruses..."Ctrl+Alt+SOL".

I have had my desktop computer for almost nine years now and of those nine I have probably used it for two of them. Why you may ask? Didn't not have regular Internet for most of the time, which would have been the main reason for using it up until now. I am currently going to school and need a computer more than ever. So I dug out my Dell and hooked it up! It worked fine for the past year, that is until...that's right you guessed it, it became infected! Whenever I try to get on, I get a big black box that says "STOP, your system has been infected...". First thought was "Yay, new computer" and then reality sunk in which was "With whose money?"

On that note, computer shopping began and I realized my dream computer would be an IMac (they are so beautiful!). Again, reality sunk in and a PC was it. We have been to Best Buy, Dell.com, Wal-Mart, etc. and finally took the hint that we do not have the budget for a new computer right now. So, Anthony and I decided that the next option would be to purchase some Antivirus software and try and fix it ourselves.

This past Sunday we went to Best Buy and purchased the latest Norton Antivirus software. I was excited to get home, pop it in and show those viruses who the boss was. Boy was I wrong! I couldn't even get it installed. I called the company that makes Norton and conversation below...

"Yes, I am calling because I purchased your software because my computer has been infected and the problem is that I can not even load it."
"Ok ma'am, I know exactly what the problem is. The software is to "prevent" attacks and your system has already been infected. We can "easily" fix this by having one of our technicians completely clear out your system, wipe the hard drive and install the software. It will be as if your system was brand new!"
"Ok, great! When do we start." And here comes the kicker...
"No problem, we can get started right away. We offer this premium service for $139.99."

And with that, I politely said no thank you and hung up the phone. (Ok, for those who really know me I kind of let out some sarcasm and then hung up the phone). Then like in a cartoon, that little light bulb went off over my head and I realized that I should just ask my IT guy at work.

Went in this morning and got some advice and a CD with software to blow those virus to...never mind, you get the picture. So here I am at home, ready to fix the problem. Turned on the computer and this is what I got...

What happened to the days when all you needed to do was a simple "Ctrl+Alt+Delete"?

The Beginning...

Many interesting stories usually begin with the lines "Once upon a time..." or "Long, Long ago..." but my life is not that magical or spectacular. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty interesting if I do say so myself, but no Oscar winning story here. (Or, maybe I'll let you be the judge of that!) Blogging is something that I never thought I would really have the guts to start until my dear friend Susan, or Susie Q. as I like to call her sometimes, inspired me. So, where to began...

As I have learned throughout the years, life just happens whether we want it to or not. There are those really good days that keep us smiling for years and then there are those bad days that we would like to forget but seem to overpower the good. For example, good day...the day I married my best friend, bad day...the day I lost my baby boy Marcus, good day...the day my beautiful daughter Olivia was born...bad day...the day after I lost Marcus. And the list goes on and on.

I have been "happily" married for almost seven years (December 16th for anyone that is wondering) to my best friend and the man of my dreams Anthony. Ok, Will Smith is the man of my dreams but the hubby comes really close! Now, when I say "happily" I don't mean that we are perfect, we don't argue and that everything is sunshine and roses. What I mean is that with the good/bad and ups/downs, there is no one else I would rather be sharing this journey with. We are the proud parents of our 3-year-old daughter Olivia, who constantly keeps us laughing. (Don't worry, you will see!) She is always letting the funniest things come out of her mouth and she probably doesn't even know it.

Ok, so this is probably not going to be one of the best posts ever, but this is to give you a little taste of who we really are. This is to suck you into my world. Make you want more...I hope it's working.

Either way, the key thing to remember and something that you will see is that throughout these many years of life together as a couple, through the death of a parent, the loss of a child, financial issues and some negativity from the outside...we still manage to remain "Curiously Happy"!!