Hard Good-byes

Sadly, today was Sheridan's last day at Liz and Gene's for daycare since they are moving on Friday. I started crying the minute I pulled into their driveway this morning to drop her off. Surprising I KNOW! You'd think that growing up as an Air Force brat I would be accustom to handling change pretty well. But no, no. Not so much. As it turns out we don't mesh very well together and I am not a fan of change nor it of me. So how did I grow up dealing with it? Well, in my teenage years (as any rational teenager would), I played the current, most depressing song over and over and over again and cried. A lot. My poor father didn't know whether to shoot himself or me when I did this for the entire drive from Phoenix to Austin when we moved here seventeen years ago. But now that I'm an adult and all grown up, I prefer a bottle of wine and a box of Kleenex. Yes, change is inevitable, I know. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. But I do like parties and that's exactly what we did on Saturday to say good-bye and thank you to Liz and Gene.

Gene and Jack

Liz (double fisted) with Roman and Luke And again with Luke and Isabella. Now that I think about it, she might actually be glad to have her lap back because there is always at least two kids in it at any given time.If you asked Bella if she was going to start going to her sister's school, she would shake her head 'no' vigorously.

Ella and Alex in the background

We all made photo albums for Liz and Gene so they will always remember how our kids grew up with them over the years

How easy is it to get 9 kids to take a picture? About this easy...
I have no idea how they dealt with this madness all day, every day, but I'm forever grateful that they did!
And then it was time to let the kids burn off some energy

Thank you Liz and Gene for everything! But above all, thank you for loving Sheridan and helping make her the happy little girl that she is. We love you dearly, miss you already, wish you well, and expect you to visit often!

Diapers be damned

Well, I drafted this post the week we came home from Jamaica and St. Thomas. But life was a little hectic that first week back and on top of it, I was dealing with the little "situation" below. (Side note: The Jamaicans refer to their problems as "situations". It does sound better so I'm trying it on for size. Let me take you back to that glorious week.....)

Sheridan's new favorite trick is to take her diaper off after we've put her to bed. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this can create a very unfortunate mess that I have to clean up. I've changed her sheets four times this week. I haven't even been home FOUR DAYS! You do the math on how frequently this is occuring. Not only am I having a hell of a time keeping clean sheets on hand for her little escapades but I'm starting to wonder if this is her way of telling us she's decided to become a nudest and will be frequenting that "beach" on Lake Travis. I forget the name of it because that's just not my cup of tea. I'm sure you're going to tell me it means she's ready to be potty trained. And well, if potty training means putting any and all toys in her little potty, then yes, she is indeed ready for that and has already mastered it.

Obviously, the same tactics I used to potty train Harley will not work on Sheridan since she is not AT ALL concerned by peeing in the same space where she sleeps. Liz and Gene recommended I put her diaper on backwards and if that doesn't work, "just use duct tape" they say. Right. That ought to be interesting. You wouldn't happen to have a straight jacket that I could use to keep her still long enough to duct tape her diaper on her, would you? She is barely still long enough to assemble a diaper with just the tabs.

However, I am desperate and I'm honestly debating which option is less "trashy"....a half naked toddler running around and peeing everywhere or using duct tape to secure her diaper on. I'm sure if I can figure out the small detail of how to keep her still long enough to rig her diaper, then my next action item will be figuring out how to convince the world that duct tape is in fact, the latest in diaper fashion.

Jamaican Me Crazy.....

Crazy that I'm not still there! Life honestly doesn't get much better than vacationing in Jamaica on Dell's dime, except if we had had Sheridan with us and a full-time nanny. In which case, we may never have come home. This was my second vacation to Jamaica and it did not disappoint, it still remains my favorite place in the world. The island is gorgeous and the people are so friendly and laid back. Everything is "no problem Mon" and "Erie", which means everything is alright/fine. In fact, on one of our tours the guide was giving us a little language lesson on some of the Jamaican lingo and he told us that instead of saying they are drunk, they say they are feeling "sweet." He advised us to drink until we are feeling sweet and everything will be Erie. And far be it from me to argue with the locals, so that's exactly what we did for five days.

I must admit that as excited as I was when Cameron told me he won the trip, I was even MORE excited when I found out that our friend Trevor had also won and would be there with his wife, Jamie. We've known them for almost two years but Jamie and I agreed on the trip that we felt like we've known each other forever! We spent all of our free time together and had the best time! Here are a few highlights, actually, who am I kidding? I took a gazillion pictures so here are A LOT of highlights from our fabulous vacation! I'm pretty sure you'll feel like you were there with us.

Jamie and I enjoying the first of many pina coladas Jamie and Trevor
On the first night there was a happy hour followed by dinner and entertainment on the beach.

Now I don't know about you, but there are just some things I won't do and trying to limbo under fire is one of them. But I'm glad these people were willing to do it because it made for some great entertainment.

One of the things we learned very quickly was that they make their drinks VERY strong in Jamaica, which we did not have a problem with. When you are paying $10 for a pina colada at least you really feel like you're getting your monies worth! The bartenders also liked to make "special" drinks at all of the events we attended. I believe here we are toasting with the "Mario Special" and I cannot tell you what exactly was in it other than a ton of alcohol. I will also spare you the pictures from the end of the evening, when someone and I won't mention any names (Cameron) was beyond feeling "sweet."

It rained everyday while we were in Jamaica (usually around 2 o'clock) but that didn't stop our guys from playing volleyball. You can't really tell in this picture but I promise it IS raining. And while it rained, Jamie and I opted for enjoying our pina coladas at the barAnd watching our bartender balance bottles on his head while singing and dancing...talk about multi-talentedThe second night was our dine-around Jamaica evening where we were split into groups based on what segment our spouses worked in and each group went to a different restaurant in Montego Bay. We had dinner at Marguerites which overlooked the ocean and the food was fabulous even though we didn't have lobster.

Our first excursion was a catamaran cruise where we snorkeled and I swallowed about half the ocean.We had lunch on the beach afterwards under the palm treesHere Andrea and I are toasting with and to our favorite new drink, Jamaican Rum Cream over ice. It's like a lazy man's white russian (one of my favorite drinks by the way) because you don't have to mix anything. Nothing. Nada. It's already done for you, just open the bottle and pour. JACKPOT! My souvenir was a bottle of this.

One morning I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. Probably because we went to bed early the night before at 10:30 (trust me, that's early to me people) and by 5am I had already gotten more than my normal 5 or 6 hours of required sleep. So I got up and took a walk on the beach and watched the sun come up. It definitely beat tossing and turning while Cameron snored.

The fourth evening we had a free night to do whatever we wanted but Dell gave us the option to dine at one of the other restaurants from the dine-around Jamaica night and they would provide transportation for us. Jamie and I scoped out the menus from all of the restaurants and picked The Day O' Plantation House. Our waiter seemed a little confused as to what his job as a waiter entailed but they had lobster. With lemon butter. And that's all that mattered to me.

The Ritz was not too shabby for Julie (if you are a true 'Friends' fan, you will appreciate that statement and I won't sound like a complete snob)

Our last night...sniff, sniff

Thank goodness we went straight to St. Thomas to help me get over the sadness of leaving Jamaica.

Survey Says....

We're back from paradise and I'm still in denial that there won't be turn-down service and gifts waiting on our bed every evening. Or every time I pick up the phone the person on the other end won't say "Good afternoon, Mrs. Treece. How can I help you?" Or end the conversation with "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Or that there won't be free mimosas every morning until eleven. I think that one gets me most of all! But thank goodness I had a little flea problem to come home to and give me a swift kick back into reality.

Oh, you're wondering how I did on my vacation goal? Well, let's take a look...

1. Goal: relaxation. Result: When my vacation started off with seriously the best massage I've EVER had I knew it was a good sign. Add to that, not having to cook or clean or change diapers or pick up a hundred toys every evening and the only result possible is relaxation.

2. Goal: drink. Result: When the morning starts off with drinking mimosas it's pretty damn hard NOT to accomplish that goal.

3. Goal: get a tan. Result: Well, that depends on what body part we're talking about. Arms = tan. Chest = tan. Stomach = somewhere between albino white and tan. Back = burnt. Legs = I am 100% convinced that it will be a cold day in you know where before my legs will ever even THINK about tanning. They simply are not interested in participating.

4. Goal: not to gain back the 22 pounds I lost before our vacation. Result: After depriving myself of carbs for 6 months I splurged and along with that splurge came 7 pounds.

5. Goal: eat lobster at every meal. Result: I only ate it once and now Cameron is required to take me to Truluck's for a lobster dinner in the very near future. BUT I substituted pina coladas for lobsters and had one every day. Or two. Or three. Or ten. Hence the extra 7 pounds and totally worth it.

6. Goal: read a book. Result: I'm about 60% through "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" and I'll probably finish it next time we take a vacation, which based on the frequency of our trips will be in four years.

And there you have it. My vacation in a nutshell. I'm sure most of all you'd rather see pictures and I'll definitely post some this week or within a reasonable timeframe. Today is devoted to Sheridan Lovefest 2008 because she grew about 5 feet while we were gone and I'm pretty sure she's leaving for college tomorrow.