12 Degrees North of the Equator

We are back in our home away from home: Aruba

We left last Wednesday and have had a wonderful vacation. Today is our last full day and it is a bit cloudy out there right now. The Doc is out for his daily run, Madigan is playing games on the Disney website and Stepson #2 Ben is still sleeping (quite acceptable behavior for an 18 year old). We keep it pretty lazy on these trips. Lots of sea and sun. Since we come so often, there is no pressure to have to go sightseeing or exploring. It is just a full on relaxation trip. I have read three books so far. I borrowed my father's Kindle. I love it!! I just went on Amazon.com and ordered one for myself. If you do not know what Kindle is, go check it out! It is like an ipod for books. Kindle is great for avid readers because all those pages are contained on one device. No more stacks of books sitting all around the house. The drawback is that you cannot lend out your favorite titles to people.

We have also hit out favorite restaurants during the trip as well as done some home cooking on the grill. Tonight, as we always do on our last night, we will go to Madame Janette's. This is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. If any of you ever go to Aruba, please be sure to add this to your itinery. The food is beyond compare!

Hope Spring has sprung wherever you are!

Two Days Late and 5 Dollars Short

It finally happened! Madigan "lost" her first baby tooth! Big Brother Sam was visiting us on his college Spring Break (poor kid has his break a week before Big Brother Ben and Madigan so he gets screwed on the trip to Aruba) and spent some quality time with his sister. She was showing him her wiggler. Sam told her he could probably pull it out for her if she wanted. She did. He did. Out came the tooth and out came the blood! I was on the phone with my D.A.D. so Papa got in on the live action! She was so excited she had to call her dentist (who happens to be the Doc's cousin). Sam the Dentist (no relation to Sam the Butcher from the Brady Bunch) told Madigan that it is standard protocol to split the Tooth Fairy's monetary gift with him! Smart girl knows that is a bunch of crazy talk and told him "NO WAY!!!!"

In the midst of the tooth excitement, Madigan was also dealing with a real honest to goodnesss case of the flu. She came home from a great playdate on Saturday with a temp of 102. It came and went all day Sunday but would rear its ugly head once the motrin wore off. She missed school on Monday and Tuesday. She almost stayed home today but told me she was ready to go back. The congestion and cough started last night along with complaints of ear pain although the NP at the pediatrician's office said her ears were clear. Dr. Daddy stalked the on call pediatrician today on the postpartum floor and explained that in his medical opinion, she needed an antibiotic. Amoxicillin meet Madigan! The kid is a royal pain in the keester when it comes to taking medicine. We forced it down and is all set for the next 12 hours.

Meanwhile, the Tooth Fairy was very generous on Monday night. When she woke up, there was a crisp 5 dollar bill and a lovely note from the Winged One. It was very hard for Madigan to wait two whole days to show her class her exciting news. And now, all is well in the Landcruiser Kingdom.

The End

"IT's WIGGLING!!!!!!!"

When: Friday, February 13, 2009 approximately 07:00 hours

What: Madigan discovered her first loose tooth



I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my darling daughter has been anxiously awaiting this moment in her young life. She is constantly asking me why none of her teeth have fallen out yet. She cries because everyone else in her class has lost at least two teeth and have awoken to a magical monetary surprise under their pillows. She is upset when the second grade boy on her bus tells her that because she has baby teeth, she is a baby. Well, things are about to change.

Every night, we check to see if that one little tooth is more wiggly than it was the day before. We are making progress but I think we still have at least another week to go. Madigan is wishing for it to fall out before we go on vacation. She is very concerned that the Tooth Fairy may never find her way down in Aruba. I remember getting silver dollars from the tooth fairy when I was young. I am guessing with the rate of inflation over the last 30 years, Madigan may be a richer girl than I!

Yes Way Hosea

Hoorah!!! Hosea won Top Chef last night! The competition was tight between Stephan and Hosea. Each has some serious culinary chops and came up with some amazing dishes. Stephan's ego is bigger than Europe! He is an incredible chef though. I loved when Hosea assigned him to work with alligator! I would not have tried that soup. Poor Carla did not go with her own recipes and that proved to be her downfall. She will be regretting that decision for the rest of her life.

Next we will find out if anything is happening between our winner and Leah. They had a huge flirtation going on all through the season and even gave in one night and had a quick daliance! Although they had said it was a one time screw up (did I really just saw screw???), I did take notice of the congratulatory kiss and hug last night and it was very different than the ones he got from all the other ladies in the room! Can't deny the attraction!

My reality shows are all coming to a close in the next few days. It must be time for America's Next Top Model to start and we always have Survivor!!!

Reunions and Give Aways

Did any of you watch The Real Housewives of Orange County Reunion Show last night? Then we gotta talk!! But first, great news for those of you who are looking for some free stuff! You MUST go visit Ladybug's Picnic to find out about her gorgeous headband give away. It is very simple to enter and her blog always makes me laugh.

On to silicone, I mean Orange County. I readily admit that I watch a lot of trash tv. I love it. These gals out on the West coast are completely crazy with their fake hair, their fake boobs and their fake friendships. I watched every episode this season thanks to my trusty DVR. Tamra and Vicki went way beyond being b!tchy. They were down right evil in the way they treated Gretchen and Lynne. Neither one of them could see anything wrong with plying Gretchen with enough tequila to practically kill her and then sticking that digusting Ryan on her was just plain sick. They claimed in one sentence that they weren't forcing her to drink when in the next sentence, Tamra admitted to being ashamed of her behavior. Well, which is it? Jeana is textbook case enabler both with her husband and her children. She lets everyone walk all over her. She needs to step up and gain some self respect. I actually liked Gretchen and think she really did have some kind of real relationship with Jeff. He seemed like a very smart man and I don't think he was conned by her in the least. I am sure she made his last days better. As for Lynne, I am actually hoping to not see her on Season 5. She is way too boring and her kids suck. Raquel needs to wake up and do something with her life. I wonder if Lauri will be back riding on her horses and getting her lips plumped up next season. I for one cannot wait to use some of Ashley's skin care line!!!

Checking In!

HI Everyone, how have you been? Things have been pretty quiet around here lately! Just been going to work then home, then back to work, then home again. I think we are all feeling stuck in the winter quagmire and that damned groundhog didn't do us any favors! I am very much looking forward to Spring. The snow has finally started melting away so that you can actually see some grass again. The sun is setting later and later each day too. I feel so ready for bright colors, fragrant flowers and sunshine! Here's to the coming of Spring!

6 1/4 Celebration

Madigan turned 6 in October. We had her family/friends party then and it was great. However, we were not able to get our acts together to have her school party until this past weekend. She wanted to celebrate at her gymnastics place which was great news for me because it is very easy and we've gone to about 1,000 parties there already so most of the girls already know the drill!

These were the party favors:

I got T-shirts and fabric paint to decorate any way the girls liked. I also threw in a ring pop!

These are my helpers:

They really did not help. They played with the bag ties and sat on everything!

Madigan is obsessed with polar bears so her cake reflected that:

The best part of her party was the Bungie. Only the birthday

girl gets to go on and Madigan's face said it all!

I am so glad The Birthday is finally over!