Crap. Trina9:37 PM 0 comments

I did it again.  Totally abandoned my blog.  Life happened and I failed to post about it.  But I'm posting now, so that counts for something, right?

Of course it does.  It totally does.  It's my blog and I say it does.  So there.

I turned 30.  The big three-oh.  I am now an official adult.  I'm "old" to the youngin's and therefore a part of the club.  Insert cha-ching move here.

And all of this went down on my birthday, September 26, 2013.  I am now 30 years old.

Man, imagine how old my parents must be!

Anyway, the morning of my birthday, I was gifted with my most favorite breakfast food of recent days (years)...donuts.  I would post a picture of said donuts but...they were gone before I thought of it.  They were chocolate frosted, and pink frosted, some with sprinkles and some with a contrasting drizzle and they were oh so delicious.

And then I went to work and made everyone be nice to me.

After work, we headed over to Joe's Crab Shack for some seafood fixin's and festivities with friends.

One of the highlights of the evening was the surprise chocolate cake from my dad.  Costco cakes might even be better than Publix cakes.  Yikes.

Overall, it was a great evening.  But that's not really what y'all care about.  You remember that 30 by 30 project I made up 3 years ago and you want to know if I actually completed it.

I did!  (if you'll allow revisions...lol)

1.  Ballroom dancing.  Okay, that didn't happen, but I have attended two different dance recitals and Fallon and I do have regular dance offs in the living room.  I say that counts.

2.  Spa facial.  Didn't happen either.

3.  Professional massage.  I'm really not off to a good start here.

4.  Read a ton more books.  Now this, I have done.  I have found trilogies and series that have warmed my heart, made me cry, and induced panic-stricken moments where the world stops turning so that I can finish the page and find out what happens next oh my God what's going to happen?!?!

5.  Pay off both cars and the credit card we used for the wedding.  Done.  Hot diggity dog.

6.  30 Military Push Ups.  No.  Not even close.  But I did push out another baby.  And that's even harder (so I hear).

7.  Play at the Fox Theater.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

8.  Have two weeks of clothes that fit.  Ha!  I know when I wrote this, I intended on these being small clothes to fit a small person (which would be me).  But I got pregnant, and I got happy with the credit card in the maternity section of stores, so...technically I did fulfill this because after my shopping sprees and some very kind donations from my friends...I sure did have lots and lots of clothes that did in fact fit my massive belly.

9.  Make enough in one week to cover the mortgage.  Done.  (Refinancing helped with this...)

10.  Vote.  Yep!

11.  25" waist.  Heck no.  Not even close.  Who even wrote that?  I haven't had a 25 inch waist since I was about 12 years old.  What an idiot to even think I'd get there.

Maybe I'll put that on my next list of to-do's by 40.

12.  Learn to speak Spanish.  I still do not speak Spanish.  I should ask my students to teach me.  I did get a post-graduate degree though.  That should count for something.

13.  International travel.  Did not technically happen...but I'm going to count the stroll through all the countries of Epcot as sort of the same thing and therefore good enough.

14.  Run 10 miles without stopping.  I don't think I could run a single mile without stopping right now.  Fat and lazy, that is me.

15.  Learn a sport.  Maybe I wasn't teaching Team Sports at the point that I wrote this, but being that I actually teach the subject...I'm counting this one as a check.

16.  Learn the guitar.  I must have thought I'd be rich on my path to turning 30.  I did not sign up for nor have the time or money for lessons.  Crazy.

17.  Trip to the Grand Canyon.  Dude.  Could I be any more boring?  Heck no we didn't go to the Grand Canyon.  We went to Disney World!  No river-worn rock could ever compete with Disney World.  Sorry, big boring crack.

18.  Planting a garden and tending it to harvest.  Not really.  But I did plant a seed and it turned into a flower.  So that counts because that has never happened before!

19.  Birdhouse.  Did it!

20.  Early riser.  Has not happened.  Probably never will.  Stupid idea.

21.  Habitat for Humanity.  I signed up to receive emails, but have yet to volunteer.  This is because I am a selfish person who doesn't want to give up a weekend.  My apologies.

22.  A year's worth of recipes.  Sure, if you don't mind repeating a few of them 10-15 times over the span of a year.  Which is pretty normal, in my book.  I mean really, who only wants pizza once a year?  I say this is a check because I have managed to compile a massive array of recipes.

23.  Honeymoon.  Nope.

24.  Milk a cow.  Yes I did.  Her name was Buttercup.

25.  Run a mile in under 6 minutes.  No.  That's stupid.  I have a car.

26.  Make a scarecrow.  Nope.  They scare the crap out of Fallon.  Bad idea.

27.  Make a will.  Hasn't happened yet.  I know, terribly irresponsible of me, but I don't know what to put on there.  I'd better just stay alive.

28.  Stay married.  Yes I have.  To the same guy, too.  What's our secret?  Pure stubbornness.  If we're not in love at the moment, we're married to each other out of spite.  He's stuck with me.  Stuck.

29.  Surfing.  Haven't seen a wave since I lived on the west coast.  Only been about 20 years.  Crap I'm old.

30. Donate $1,000 to charity.  Not rich enough.

Final score?  15/30.  Meh, not bad.

Perhaps I'll start working on a list for my next 30 years.

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The Princess Trina11:34 AM 0 comments

There's one more member of the family who needs updating.  Mr. Almeda and I have lived a heck of a year, and Max, well, he's started one, but I'm not sure that any of us can really compare to Miss Fallon's past year.  This is going to be a long post.  Quite long.

Sure, she went to Disney World for the first time (but you already knew about that).

And, she became a big sister (you already knew about that, too, though).  She's managed a few other things as well.

In August of last year, she started Pre-K at Kids R Kids.  We managed to luck out and get the same teacher she had the previous year, so she had an advantage that her teacher already knew her strengths and weaknesses.  She also got to stay with mostly the same group of kids.  I think all of this familiarity allowed Fallon to relax in her environment and got her true colors to shine.

Most of the time, those colors were shiny, sparkly, and bright.  This was also the year we learned what a manipulative beast she could be.  She wasn't a liar, per say, but she may have adjusted her stories to shed something of a softer light on her own actions with a harsh glare on the actions of others.  Okay, she got caught lying a few times too.

I spent the better part of an hour in the administrative offices one afternoon defending my poor little angel against the bullies in the classroom.  She was coming home distraught from being pushed and knocked around.  She's one of the smallest in the class, so I was ready to let them have it for allowing such atrocities to befall my precious baby girl.

And then I find out that I am one of those parents.

Teachers know those parents.  The ones who draw back, aghast with disbelief when they say, "not my child!"  But yes, my child was the instigator, and in some cases, the aggressor.  Nice.

This became a year of the apology letter.

And severe beatings at home (I kid, I kid).

Well, she graduated Pre-K in May, and started Kindergarten this past August.

It's been a little bit of a rough start at the new school with the new classmates and the new teacher, but I think Fallon's figured out how to master the system.

After spending a whole summer home with my sweet little princess, I am no longer "that parent."  This child, with her giant helping heart and turn-you-into-mush smile, can really get fired up when things don't go the way she expects them to go.

Rather than crush that passion (because that's what we'll call it), I've been making efforts to redirect it.  When things don't go the way you expect, seek out answers.  Investigate.  Explore.  Employ the scientific method.  Take an interest in robotics and engineering because that is the future and mommy wants to retire on the beach thanks to the generosity of her wonderful and brilliant children.

Speaking of her spirit, Fallon's cannot be broken (I've tried, when my first approach to discipline was to crush her like a bug).  Spankings only work at the immediate moment and are too quickly forgotten.  Grounding her seems to bring her relief.  Emptying her room to nothing but blank walls and a mattress opens the flood gates of her imagination.  She will seek out and find joy in any and all situations if she so chooses.  And because it seems so easy for her to do, she rarely asks for much of anything, because she's already got everything she wants.

This past Christmas, she asked Santa for a princess doll and a book.  That's it.

And when we drove to Virginia to spend the holiday with Nana and Papa Kevin, she was happy as a lark the whole nine hours.

No worries though, Santa delivered.  Plus some (seems to happen whenever grandparents are around).

For her fifth birthday, she lucked out once again and happened to be able to enjoy a class field trip to the aquarium that daddy was able to chaperone.  So basically, it was a birthday trip to the aquarium with all of her friends.

And that evening, she was surprised with a ridiculously fancy cake (I love Publix bakery) and a little celebration with a few more of her favorite people.

Turning five also led to increased responsibilities.  So, right before Max made his debut into the world, she went with her daddy to the Humane Society and picked out Tank, the cutest, sweetest little kitten ever in the whole wide world.  He was born on April Fool's Day, and he fooled us.  This cat is nuts.

But so are the rest of us, so he fits right in.

Also, just before Max's arrival, Fallon had her second dance recital.  This time, she had two performances, and Pop Pop was in the audience!

And once again, we were all blown away by the whole production.

This kid is prepped to conquer the world.

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Oh, Baby. Trina10:49 AM 0 comments

To the parents of two children, I nod to you.  To the parents of more than two, I bow.  To the parents of just one child, I smile because I know you have no idea how luxurious it can be to have just one child to reckon with.  I didn't know either.  I thought I knew, but I had no idea.

Doesn't matter now, I have two children.  Two beautiful children who can light up a room with their smiles and send you slamming your car into a concrete wall with their simultaneous wails.  And I'm stuck with their precious little faces.  Well, until they turn on me.  Then their faces aren't quite so precious, but I'm stuck with them anyhow.  And before I sound too negative, I am so blessed to have two adorable children in good health who are just a little bit smarter than me (which is saying something, because I am really gosh darn smart...look at all my college degrees!!...and my student loan debt!!  Oh, wait).

Back in early October, the Mr. and I learned that we would be welcoming a little bundle of joy sooner than we could afford (isn't that always the way?).  We had no nursery, no baby gear, and no plan.  Mr. Almeda had no job.  But this baby was coming, so I got to work on what I do best...planning.

Did I mention we had no nursery?  We did have an extra room, but the 18"x18" closet would be inadequate.  It could fit a thin coat (if you angled it just so).  So, we began the construction process.  Long story short, the process cost us more money than we budgeted, the loss of a friendship, and three different contractors, but...I love how it all turned out.  It's easily the best room in the house.

When it came to announcing the impending addition, I decided to get a little creative.  With Fallon, I called everyone announcing my pregnancy before I even took a test.  I just knew.  I even knew she was a girl.  Man, that was a long pregnancy.  This time, I opted to wait a bit longer (drove me nuts holding it all in) and make something of a big to-do about it.

My initial plan was to have a get-together a few weeks before Christmas with several of our good friends and surprise them at the party.  Unfortunately, one of the things with having friends who have lives and families of their own is that sometimes these things get in the way of our social endeavors.  Two people showed up.  On to Plan B.

Christmas cards.  We hired Viktoriya Evich Krudu to join us at Stone Mountain Park for some family pictures, and brought along our little announcement piece.  She did an absolutely amazing job, her rates were very reasonable, and she doted on us like we were her own family.  I totally, totally recommend Viktoriya.

Well, by Christmas, the world knew that we'd be having us a baby.  But what would we name him?  Or her?  Would it be a him?  A her?  A boy?  A girl?  A prince?  A princess?

Well, since the theme with this pregnancy was to milk it for all it was worth, we opted for more shenanigans.  Enter "gender reveal party."  First, we went for an ultrasound and had the sonographer write down the gender on a card and place it in an envelope.  We then took the envelope to the Publix bakery and had them make us a cake.  If the card said "girl," the frosting between the layers would be pink.  If the card said "boy," the frosting inside would be blue.  We would find out the gender of our baby along with everyone else as we cut the cake.

Our party was held at Carrabba's, and thankfully, more than two people showed up this time.  In fact, when we cut the cake, we had the whole restaurant joining our party.

The baby was going to be a boy.

Time to plan on a name!  (I love planning things)

Over the next few months, we had a small baby shower (three people were able to make it), and I couponed my way to furnishing the nursery and stocking up on diapers, wipes, and other baby essentials.

Finally, at the end of June, I was tired of being pregnant.  My doctor was tired of seeing me.  So, we decided to bring the little guy into the world.  My mom came down on Saturday morning and we headed to the hospital on Saturday night.  On Sunday, June 30, at 2:26pm, Maxwell Lee Almeda entered the world weighing 6 lbs, 10 oz, measuring 19 inches long, healthy as an ox.

Mmm, boy.

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