Looking forward to summer!

So, all the dance craziness has finally subsided and the school year is winding to an end (only a week and a half left!). I'm very much looking forward to the "break" that summer will afford me but also a little afraid of Kora getting bored and am trying to plan different things to do with her during the day. So far, I have a creative movement class on Tuesday mornings; that apparently I'll be teaching!; and am planning on taking her to the library once a week as well. I also have a fellow mommy friend who I semi lost touch with during the school year and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with her and her daughter during our summer break. Kora is getting more and more fun with each passing day as well as more and more challenging. She talks a lot, mostly babbling but she does say ice, thank you, please, all done, mommy, daddy, papa, kitty, woof, chickadee, and up to name a few. She likes to imitate me (if she's in the mood) and the other day she was playing with a sound toy and was imitating the animal noises ( I heard her doing cow and elephant). She definitely has a mind of her own and has no problem letting us know when she doesn't like something. We're having a problem with her throwing her food and I'm currently trying to figure out exactly how to deal with that while still letting her eat! She finally seems to be well, knock on wood, and the only thing bothering her lately seems to be her teeth. Next week, for the last days of school, they will be having water days so I am looking forward to seeing her in her cute new bathing suit and getting some cute pics to post. We also have taken some good videos of her lately that I will put up in the next couple of days. Till then......

If my head wasn't attached to my body....

So you ever have one of those days? It seems like it's been happening to me more and more lately. I keep misplacing things left and right and I feel, literally, like I'm losing my mind! I lost my wallet in the library because it fell out of my bag, look frantically for my keys when they are in my hand, run around trying to find Kora's shoes when they're on her feet, etc. Today, Kora and I went to Wal-Mart to try and find dryer vents and I hear my name being announced over the loudspeaker. I looked in the diaper bag as I'm heading up to Customer Service and realize my wallet is gone! The lady who had kindly brought it in said it was in the parking lot! I swear to God I have no clue how it fell out of the bag but luckily some kind stranger picked it up and brought it in intact! Then, on top of all this, I've been feeling very "feisty" lately and the hubby and I have been bickering over the silliest of things, who got up the most during the night, really?! We all know who wins that one! I feel like we really need a date night but just don't know how we can do it. I also feel like we need a vacation with just our family unit; i.e. not to my brother's or dad's house but it's so convenient and nice to just hop over to either one of those for a weekend or a couple of days. Not to mention free lodging and yummy meals are always included. I mean you couldn't ask for a better deal really but I really would like to get away with just the three of us somewhere to relax and soon before my head explodes! I think the pressure of the dance shows, end of the year with school, and all that entails is starting to really get to me and I need to just take a breath and be thankful for what I have. Guess now might be a good time to finally use the massage gift certificate I was given close to two years ago, huh? Well, that's my venting for now, smell dinner burning......

A second Post!!!

Okay, so it seems I'm off to a somewhat good start although I don't want to jinx myself. But hey, I'm actually writing a second post people (or should I say self?) so this should count for something. I had a fairly busy weekend with the hubby gone fishing all day Saturday so baby girl had to accompany me to the 2 dance classes that I teach on Saturday morning, then home for a break, and back again for an hour rehearsal later that afternoon. She did really great and actually seemed to enjoy hanging out and watching the dances so I was happy with the end results. Kevin actually got home from fishing at a decent time and I was able to fully deck myself out for my night at the THEATRE (cue British acting voice) with Stacey to see Wicked! This show kicked butt! I LOVED it from beginning to end. If you've never been to a show with me know that I am an edge of the seat kind of viewer and I was there the entire night. I am so glad I had the opportunity to see it and spend some quality time with Stacey as well. Mother's Day was okay, not too much different from any other day except I got a rose from the waiter at lunch and we hung out at Stacey's for an early birthday party for her youngest. Today was a staff lunch at work so I got to eat at a new place in downtown Raleigh that was good and had a free lunch as part of the deal! Kora finally seems like she's getting better (no more congestion, coughing, fevers, ear infections - knock on wood!) and has been great for me the past couple of days. Unfortunately one of her little friends got a nasty bug on Mother's Day and ended up throwing up the whole day but, so far, we're out of the wood with that. The end of this week culminates 2 months worth of rehearsals for my dance classes in Apex and I am looking forward to the madness finally coming to an end! Then, just a few more weeks, and school will be out, my class will be graduating and Kora and I will have the whole summer stretched out before us. I'm a little nervous about us getting stir-crazy but have been trying to plan things to do to get out of the house so hopefully that will help. Probably won't post again until next Monday when all the dance craziness has died down, till then......

And so it begins.....

I have recently been inspired by the blogging of friends and friends of friends so....Drumroll please, I've decided that I am going to undertake becoming a blogger myself! As of right now the only person (other than myself) who knows of this is my husband and he is currently mad that I am not using our family blog and wanted to set up my own. However, I think the process of having to set up my own will actually force me to visit it regularly and hopefully continue adding to the postings rather than just glacning occasionally to see if either of our mothers have commented on the post we put up a month ago! So here we go peeps, or should I say self? Hopefully I will actually persevere with this project and some other soul will take pity on me and occasionally read my ramblings, until then, let me begin at the beginning.
As my profile states I am a native California girl (think the Beach Boys song people except I have brown hair and hazel eyes but whatever) who has been transplanted to the heart of the south about 5 or so years ago. Initially I woke up every morning wondering what the hell I had done to myself and longing to return "home". That feeling has slowly been changing over the past year since the addition of our adorable daughter to our family, the purchase of our first home, and me making some good "mommy" friends. Now, I occasionally yearn for the crash of the waves on Carlsbad beach, "real" Mexican food from any Alberto's type location, and the comfort of old friends but have come to the realization that NC is the best place for us at the moment. For starters, the friends we have made out here are some of the best people on this earth, they jump at the chance to help out and always ready to lend an ear when I need it. Secondly, we own a home out here. Now, this may not seem like such a big deal to some of you but we both know (Kevin and I) that if we were back in San Diego this would NOT be a reality. Not to mention my job, the one that I love and allows me all the extra time with Kora I wouldn't trade for the world, would not work for us out there. We would both be working out butts off at full-time jobs, paying for child care, never seeing our child, and still not able to own a home! So,needless to say, this is a huge blessing to us and has made us realize how lucky we are to be out here right now. Oh sure, initially there was a lot of culture shock, I mean how hard is it to call someone back about a job within a week?! But, we've slowly gotten used to the slower pace of things here and have even begun to love it. I know I adore where we live now, though we are hoping to move into a bigger place soon! It does help that we have Trader Joes withink walking distance and can get some of the staples from home that we so miss but Cary in general is just such a great place to live when you have kids. We have great greenways, parks, libraries, and shopping all within walking distance to a couple minutes drive away. Not to mention a great hospital where our lovely Kora was born. So, to wrap up this long winded post, Cary is our home now and we wouldn't trade it for the best beach apartment in San Diego (okay maybe for a vacation!).