The Windy City

So, today is my very last day of work and then I'm off for eleven days. You probably do not have the slightest idea how dire the need for this vacation is. I'm so excited to see all of my family and experience Chicago. It has been YEARS.

I made a small list of the things that we want to do while we're there so that if we're sitting at my Dad's one day saying, "What do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?"... Hopefully we'll be able to figure out what to do. Here it is:

1. Eat Chicago-style hot dogs -- Which for me will be plain hot dogs with ketchup, I know they're not really considered Chicago-style, but I don't like that stuff. BUT most places do not steam the buns and that really makes all the difference.

2. Eat Pizza Puffs -- You absolutely cannot find these practically anywhere in Florida! We used to have a place called Windy City Cafe or something of the like, but it closed.

3. Eat at White Castle -- I realize these things might sound stupid and minuscule, but if you know James, you'll understand this.

4. Go to MOSI -- Apparently the MOSI located in Chicago is the best one in the US, so we plan to go there on Monday, and it's free! I'm not sure if they'll have it while we're there, but I've caught word of a Harry Potter exhibit with the original costumes from the movie.

5. Six Flags -- This is obvious. OF COURSE we're going to Six Flags.

6. Lake Katherine -- This is a really beautiful park that I remember going to ever since I was young. It has a huge waterfall, paths with flowers and wildlife surrounding you, and a haystack where we used to hide. I think Gavyn will love it there, and I'll be able to take some gorgeous pictures.


7. Rino Bar -- Wednesday night from 12-1 am free vodka drinks, what more can I say?

8. Bourbon Street and other misc. bars - I'm 21 and have yet to visit a bar.

9. The Art District -- Lauren suggested that we go to see the many hipsters to point, laugh, and possibly throw rocks.

10. I'm on a boat -- And it's goin' fast and I gotta nautical themed Pashmina Afghan. No, but really... My Dad is taking us out on the boat. He said that we'll be able to see the city like we've never seen it before because we'll actually be going all through it and looking up at the buildings through the lakes. He said I'll be able to catch some amazing pictures, too. Plus, I just love going out on the boat. I caught a blow fish the last time that we went on a boat.

11. BBQ @ Kelly's -- Kelly is throwing a little get together so that the whole family will be there.

12. Shopping! -- ...!!!!

13. Sushi -- James REALLY wants to go to a nice Sushi restaurant while we're there.

14. Quality family time - My aunt is thinking of bringing us to the Zoo and the Sears Tower (I will still call it that, I don't care if it was renamed)... And she said she's been saving up her firewood so that we can go outside and roast marshmallows, make smores, and play Scattergories. And, of course, we'll visit with all of my family, especially my Grandma. She won't be making many more trips to Florida, so that's what we planned this vacation around.

That pretty much sums it up. If we get to do all of those things I will be thoroughly satisfied.

Lauren took off the whole week so we're in for a real treat. James has been around the two of us together so he knows what to expect ;), but it has been a LONG time.

In other VERY important news... Deschanel nabbed my Gibbard :( I guess this means I'm stuck with, oops, I mean destined to marry James. :P

I didn't even know that they were dating, let alone now newly wed.

Na na na na.

I guess it's a good thing we've decided on the Batman costume:

He's practically having a panic attack because he's watching over me as I update right now saying, "Tyler and Batman!!!" He keeps saying to me, "Mommy, it's me, Gavyn!" and pointing to himself. Then once I say, "Hi, Gavyn!" he'll pull down the Batman mask and say, "Mommy, it's me, Batman!" while pointing to "Batman" until I say, "Hi, Batman!"

I just thought it was really cute and wanted to do a little update. He's telling me, "Mommy, I wanna see Batman Gavyn" right now, and when I scroll up to show him he laughs and says, "Gavyn, Batman, Cool."


Well, I have to cut this short because he's saying, "Mommy, I wanna see Ni-Hao, Kai Lain and Wow Wow Wubbzy." I can't believe how well he pronounces Ni-Hao, Kai Lan.

He actually says "Buzz Lightyear" and "To infinity and beyond!"

Oh yeah, and our favorite thing to get him to say is Oliver (from Oliver and Company)... In Gavynese it's pronounced "Ah-bib-ber"

Are you kidding me with how much he talks/knows? I think I'm getting over the part where I'm sad that he's growing up so fast and really just enjoying hearing the random things he says and watching as he learns new things every day. :D

Surprise?!

James called me at work (from work, he's at the gate house) and told me that he reeeaaally wanted to order something for me. He said that it's something that he thinks I could really use and he's really excited and wants to get it for me - and that he's been looking high and low for it for almost two weeks now. Obviously there was a purpose for the phone call, or he would've just ordered it. Well, I've been trying to get the credit cards paid down. My extra money from financial aid went towards it, and all of my money that I've been making from the incentive program at work has gone towards it. So I've been keeping an eye on the credit cards more closely, making sure everything is OK, no unauthorized charges, etc. I guess he figured I'd see the charge and flip out (I told him I don't want anything for Christmas because I'd rather be able to afford to bring Gavyn to Disney for his birthday), so he asked me if he could order a present... for me, haha. Whatever it is he insists that he MUST get it for me before we go on vacation. It costs a total of $130-something and the shipping is $54 alone! Mainly because we're leaving Friday so he has to order express (overnight) shipping. Of course I said there's nothing that I need badly enough to pay $54 for it to be shipped immediately, but he seems to think so. I have NO idea what it is, and it's bothering me... But he has said on several occasions that he is terrible with surprises, yada yada yada, just tell him what I want. This time it's something he's really excited to get me because he put thought into it, so I won't ruin it for him by trying to guess. Or looking at the credit card statement. Although it's tempting, haha. You should've heard him, he sounded like a little kid because he was so excited about ordering it for me. What a cutie <3.

Me, James, Gavyn, Casey, Madden, Brandie, and Michelle went to the beach on Wednesday. We rented a jetski for an hour and took turns riding. It was so much fun, I've been sore for the past few days because of it. I drove with James on the back and every time we hit a bump we'd fly into the air. He was holding me so tight because he was afraid to fall off, the only thing keeping both of us on were my hands digging into the handlebars. Gavyn loved the beach, as always. He'd say, "Swimming in water?!?!" And that we did.

We've decided that he's going to be Batman for Halloween, and Tyler will be either Joker or Spiderman. I put Buzz Lightyear and Batman side by side on the computer and it was HANDS DOWN Batman all the way. Ugh, the Buzz Lightyear costume even lit up!

I have one more assignment for my English class and then I'm done with all of my school assignments until I get home from vacation. I want to get them all out of the way now so that I don't have to worry about it while I'm in Chicago. DOOONE. My lowest grade right now is a 94, so my classes are going really well. I'll be missing my next Intro to Teaching class since I'll be out of state, but it's part of a group assignment so I won't be missing any work.

Leaving work in 8 minutes, going to pick up Gavyn and some stuff for dinner tonight (Homemade Chicken Marsala with mushrooms and sides of rice and asparagus, mmm), then having my Mom, Ty, Rachel, and Tyler over for dinner!

G00GL3

Google, I really don't say this type of thing to just anyone, but... You complete me.

GOOSKANOFF

Capitalism: A Love Story

"We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominate men. I have unwittingly betrayed my country." — Woodrow Wilson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." — Thomas Jefferson

Haha, I'll be seeing this.

Gavyn / Disney

I just wanted to make a little post about the new Disney movie coming out this year and an update on my little sickie - in between my Facebook farming. It's their first 2D movie since Home on the Range, which came out in 2004 and it is the 49th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics. It's directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who also directed a few of my favorites like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules.

"The film, which began production under the working title The Frog Princess, will be an American fairy tale, Broadway-style musical set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A prince named Naveen from the land of Maldonia^[5] is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier. The frog prince mistakens a girl named Tiana for a princess and has her kiss him to break the spell. However, the kiss doesn't break the spell, but instead turns Tiana into a frog as well. Together, the two of them must reach the good voodoo priestess of the Bayou, Mama Odie, while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator and a hopelessly romantic firefly along the way. The film will open in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on November 25, 2009 before expanding into wide release on December 11, 2009." (Thanks, Wikipedia).

I'm just happy to see that they're finally making an African American Disney Princess. In Aladdin, they are Arabian, and that's about as close to diversity as Disney was going to get until now. The movie looks really cute and I'm excited to see it. I like that it's a little twist from the normal Princess and the Frog story, where the girl actually turns into a frog. I think little girls everywhere are going to want the Princess and the Frog Barbie :P.

While I admit that I love the classic Disney movies, I think Disney has definitely been coming out with some winners lately with their recent takeover of Pixar. Cars, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Wall-E... Gavyn loves them all, and I love that I can use that as an excuse to watch them repeatedly ;).

Speaking of Gavyn, the doctors said that he has a double ear infection and pink eye. I have no idea how he got pink eye, because no one that we know has it. I think the ear infection was caused by James using Q-tips on Gavyn. Apparently that can cause ear wax to go down into the ear rather than getting it out, so it's bad to use it for kids, even though we use the "baby-safe" ones. So we bought one of those little bulbs that the doctors use to suck everything out when you first have your baby, and we're going to try to use that on his ears once the infection goes away. I feel so bad for the poor baby. His lungs and throat are completely clear, so the ear infection was causing both the fever and the cough. Now he's on an antibiotic and we have to give him three eye drops in each eye three times a day. Let me tell you that he's NOT happy about that. I almost started crying because I felt so bad when James had to hold his eye open for me to put the drops in, but I know that we have to do it :(. Luckily, he's now feeling a LOT better and acting normal, he's just not eating as much as he normally does and sleeping pretty heavily.

I'm at work now, after work we're picking Gavyn up from Tammy's and heading to St. Pete for Gavyn's Power Wheels Mustang. We have to drive Mike's Explorer with the trailer on the back of it so that we can bring the car back with us. I'm going to have to keep Gavyn in the car while James loads it in, and then cover it up in the garage so Gavyn doesn't see it ahead of time. He is going to LOVE it. When we were at Target the other day looking for some Christmas presents, he sat in the middle of the aisle with a little steering wheel pretending he was driving for about ten minutes. Just wait until he can actually drive in his sweet little ride that goes up to 5 mph (woo, watch out) and has a built-in "radio." I originally wanted to get him the Disney Cars car, but James has been wanting to get him a Mustang since he was born. James will probably want to get him a Mustang for his first car, too. I can't break his heart even though I secretly know that Gavyn would like the Cars car better. It does say/sing quotes from the movie. James argued that it's not a real radio and that it only goes up to 2.5 mph. I said that 5 mph seems a little risky and dangerous, lol. The Mustang we were originally going to get him is the red one, which would match James' car, but this one is blue (Gavyn's favorite color) and has racing stripes... So the choice was clear.

Sickie McGee.

Well, my Mom is on her way to bring Gavyn to the doctor as we speak. I wanted to stay home with him today but one of the front desk girls is already on vacation so we're short as it is, and James just called out last week. I feel so bad when he's sick and I can't stay home with him. It's the worst part of being a working Mom. He has a fever of over 101 and has a really bad, congested cough. My little brother, Tyler, just came down with bronchitis last week, so I'm assuming that's what Gavyn has, or at least some type of bacterial infection which is going to require an antibiotic. Poor baby.

We've gotten the majority of his Christmas and birthday shopping done, minus a few things that we'll pick up here and there that we see and he'd like and plus the Power Wheels Mustang we're picking up tomorrow. Christmas is still a few months away and his birthday isn't until mid-January, but I love getting it out of the way and avoiding the Christmas-shopping traffic. Over the next couple of months we just have to buy eachothers' gifts and our immediate families'. I'm so glad we're almost done with this! Although James knows he's getting an iPhone for Christmas, and quite possibly a lawn mower - which is more for me than it is for him, even though he'll be using it ;P... I want to think of a few things to surprise him that he'll REALLY like. Our parents/brothers/sisters are always easy. They typically want the same thing every year. I can't wait to start decorating for the holidays. This is my FAVORITE time of year (fall/winter). I need to order Gavyn's costume soon.

I've received the rest of my pell grant in the form of a PHCC One card. I can withdraw a max of $500 a day from the ATM. The cash that spits out is immediately being inserted back in and then put directly onto our credit cards. BUT this is the only time I plan (*keyword: plan) to do this. I'd like to start putting any extra money from my financial aid into a savings account which is not linked to our checking (so that I'm not tempted to touch it) and put it away. I don't touch Gavyn's, and since it's linked it's easy to transfer money in there, but that's different. That's his money. I'd be tempted with this. But I'd like to put it away because during my last year of school as a teacher, I'll have to do three internships. Level one is interning 2 days a week at the school. This lasts an entire semester (15 weeks) and is unpaid. In fact, I actually have to pay for the internship hours, as if it's school (which will hopefully qualify me for financial aid during that time!). The second level is interning 3 days a week, which lasts another semester. The final internship lasts another whole semester and is full-time, so five days a week. At that point you're basically teaching the class with a real teacher watching over you. I'd probably be able to work part-time for the first two internships, but the last one would be impossible. So I'll have to rely on a) financial aid money that I put away or b) student loans. I want to do everything in my power to STAY AWAY from student loans. I want noooo part of that unless I absolutely have to.

I can't wait for our vacation, less than two weeks away! Gavyn's first time flying, we're all going to go on the boat with my Dad, the weather is beautiful right now, shopping, family get-togethers, Six Flags, spending time together, sears tower, the city, Chicago hot dogs, pizza puffs!, Lauren meeting Gavyn for the FIRST time, seeing everyone, NO work... I'm so excited. James and I remind eachother every day how many days are left until vacation. Ugh. Excited. Much needed.

While on the subject of vacation, it's going to be a tough squeeze after Christmas and everything, but I reaaally still want to go to Disney. Gavyn is going to absolutely LOVE it this year, and I want it to be a part of his birthday gift. So I've decided that I need to get the credit cards paid down ASAP so that we can still afford to bring him for his birthday. HAVE TO.

Bored of this now.

Emma-Button.

Mrow. Or shall I say, "Rawr?"

Ty & Gav

Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of taking pictures more often.