We arrived here in Miami yesterday. It's very hot. Very, very hot. Yuck. But it's worth it, the in-laws are awesome. We met John's sister and her kids at a restaurant for Nicole's 16th birthday last night and she ended up taking them all home with her (her husband's away on business) - six kids...brave woman!
I zipped up to Cuqui's house this morning and ended up taking the girls (x4) to see Mamma Mia this afternoon. I shed an awful lot of tears through that movie but it was amazing! Especially impressive was Meryl Streep's performance. Who'da thunk Meryl could sing like that??
Tonight I've been suffering with a headache from lack of caffeine. I'm trying to cut down and paying the price.
Another note regarding my baby girl turning sixteen. She wore a big cloth crown with tall cloth candles on it - the front read "Birthday Princess" - all day yesterday. At the airport in D.C. we were buying some sushi for lunch when a group of teenage boys broke out into "Happy Birthday to You" from the railing above us. Precious moment! :-)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
We're In!
The school in La Paz has "conditionally" accepted my wonderful son. I would really love to tell this principal where she can shove her stupid school but first we have to visit the competition and decide if the warm fuzzy feeling would be worth it. Perhaps I should be the one they should have accepted "conditionally"? Nah, that would have taken too much thought processing. They're not too good at that.
So off we go to Bolivia. I promise more regular entries once we're settled.
If you have ever wondered what life might be like at 13,000+ feet, the welcome mat is always at our door!
So off we go to Bolivia. I promise more regular entries once we're settled.
If you have ever wondered what life might be like at 13,000+ feet, the welcome mat is always at our door!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Trip was Great!
The kids and I are back from a week long trip to check out universities. We only looked at three but the other two are in Miami and we'll be there in a few weeks.
First off, FSU. Florida State University is in Tallahassee, FL. None of the three high school kids wanted to stop there but as we were driving right by it, I thought we should. Good idea. Great school, beautiful campus...small campus considering they have 40K students but very nice! We were all very impressed. Coolest thing - a circus class.
Second stop, UCF. University of Central Florida is in Orlando, FL. It's HUGE! 48,000 students and it's spread over a million acres. Well, it surely felt that way after our walking tour. Very nice campus as well but it did feel a little massive. Jake voted for it strictly due to its location...oh, and they have a chocolate lovers club.
Lastly we went to Flagler College in Saint Augustine, FL. We were all very excited about visiting Flagler. An absolutely stunning school...from the outside. It was a big let down. Smelly and old, the classroom we were shown stunk to high heaven and the main hall, while it was architecturally beautiful, was run down and rank. Our tour guide was barely tolerable, not the least bit enthusiastic. Obviously intelligent but it was also obvious he must have been volunteered for the job.
So, it was definitely worth the trip. The kids behaved extremely well. We were able to visit some great friends on the way too. FSU went to the top of the list, a surprise first place finish. The girls have also seen and love Duke University. We gathered a bunch of good information about the application process, scholarships and housing.
Today I took a pile of pictures of our possessions. Then I started packing and separating. I'm done in the living room and halfway through the kitchen. Lisette is about finished in her room and Jake is almost done with sorting through his toys in the basement. Tonight is movie night...I'm finally going to see "Transformers" - oh joy, oh bliss! :-)
First off, FSU. Florida State University is in Tallahassee, FL. None of the three high school kids wanted to stop there but as we were driving right by it, I thought we should. Good idea. Great school, beautiful campus...small campus considering they have 40K students but very nice! We were all very impressed. Coolest thing - a circus class.
Second stop, UCF. University of Central Florida is in Orlando, FL. It's HUGE! 48,000 students and it's spread over a million acres. Well, it surely felt that way after our walking tour. Very nice campus as well but it did feel a little massive. Jake voted for it strictly due to its location...oh, and they have a chocolate lovers club.
Lastly we went to Flagler College in Saint Augustine, FL. We were all very excited about visiting Flagler. An absolutely stunning school...from the outside. It was a big let down. Smelly and old, the classroom we were shown stunk to high heaven and the main hall, while it was architecturally beautiful, was run down and rank. Our tour guide was barely tolerable, not the least bit enthusiastic. Obviously intelligent but it was also obvious he must have been volunteered for the job.
So, it was definitely worth the trip. The kids behaved extremely well. We were able to visit some great friends on the way too. FSU went to the top of the list, a surprise first place finish. The girls have also seen and love Duke University. We gathered a bunch of good information about the application process, scholarships and housing.
Today I took a pile of pictures of our possessions. Then I started packing and separating. I'm done in the living room and halfway through the kitchen. Lisette is about finished in her room and Jake is almost done with sorting through his toys in the basement. Tonight is movie night...I'm finally going to see "Transformers" - oh joy, oh bliss! :-)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
My Computer's Back!
Yeah!
The Geek Squad took care of it...for a hefty price but now it's working just fine!
We're in the "on again - off again" mode. The embassy is working on getting John down to La Paz for a couple of weeks but there's no way to know if it's going to happen. In the meantime, we're looking at bringing him on our university tour next week. Of course, if he has to go to Bolivia, those plans will be moot. I do hate this back and forth nonsense! I'm a planner and it drives me crazy for things to be so up in the air.
The hysteroscopy is tomorrow so I'm packing for our college road trip today...expecting to be a bump on a log for the next 24 hrs. Thursday will be somewhat busier, picking up a rental car and Lisette has a doctor's appointment before her Theater camp production Thursday evening. We're hoping to be on the road Friday but that's still to be determined...depending on how I feel, where John will be. The miracle of it all - my blood pressure was fine at my pre-op appointment. I laughed out loud when one of the questions was "what's your stress level right now?" Hee hee. Where to begin.
Seems Lisette is full-blown teenage "you don't understand me" now. John can't give fashion pointers and we can't possibly understand how much she misses her boyfriend. I know this is nature's way of making our separation easier come next summer but it's incredibly annoying. Shake my head, throw up my hands, or roll my eyes, sometimes all three. I wouldn't be 17 yrs. old again for all the tea in China and this is part of the reason why not. Not being in control of your life, your future is a big question mark and you've got these people bossing you around. Wait a second...my life's still like that!!
The Geek Squad took care of it...for a hefty price but now it's working just fine!
We're in the "on again - off again" mode. The embassy is working on getting John down to La Paz for a couple of weeks but there's no way to know if it's going to happen. In the meantime, we're looking at bringing him on our university tour next week. Of course, if he has to go to Bolivia, those plans will be moot. I do hate this back and forth nonsense! I'm a planner and it drives me crazy for things to be so up in the air.
The hysteroscopy is tomorrow so I'm packing for our college road trip today...expecting to be a bump on a log for the next 24 hrs. Thursday will be somewhat busier, picking up a rental car and Lisette has a doctor's appointment before her Theater camp production Thursday evening. We're hoping to be on the road Friday but that's still to be determined...depending on how I feel, where John will be. The miracle of it all - my blood pressure was fine at my pre-op appointment. I laughed out loud when one of the questions was "what's your stress level right now?" Hee hee. Where to begin.
Seems Lisette is full-blown teenage "you don't understand me" now. John can't give fashion pointers and we can't possibly understand how much she misses her boyfriend. I know this is nature's way of making our separation easier come next summer but it's incredibly annoying. Shake my head, throw up my hands, or roll my eyes, sometimes all three. I wouldn't be 17 yrs. old again for all the tea in China and this is part of the reason why not. Not being in control of your life, your future is a big question mark and you've got these people bossing you around. Wait a second...my life's still like that!!
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