Crocs at the park

We recently took a family outing to a cute--and surprisingly clean--amusement park...and had a blast!

The roller coasters were meh at best but to be fair, nothing compares to Expedition Everest or the Rock n Roller coaster once you've *experienced* those two.

We had the most fun watching Petra ride the kiddie swings and mini roller coaster. She seemed to enjoy it; at least she's eager to go back.

Here are a few shots. Enjoy.

I Itch

(Sung to the tune of High-ho, High-ho. It's off to work we go...)

I itch, I itch; It makes me such a bitch.

I shouldn't weed or go outside for fear of ivy on my hide;
I itch.

I itch, I itch, I itch.

If Poison Ivy is the devil...

...then Benadryl is an ice cube in Hell.

I'm taking the stuff every four hours and am quite sleepy. Typing is even a chore.

But since my ENTIRE FACE and NECK are covered in a red, raised, painful rash, the frogginess I'm experiencing from the Benadryl is well worth it.

And yes, I recognize that I--of all people--shouldn't have been pulling weeds without gloves. Yes, I know just how allergic I am to urushiol. And yet, I still couldn't bring myself to walk back into the garage to grab the damn gloves that would've prevented this very uncomfortable reaction.

No, I will not post pictures.

I think I made the right decision...

I really do. I weighed the pros and cons and made a very important decision and I believe it's the right one...but it is nagging at me. How does one ever know?

I immediately felt a huge sense of relief and a tremendous release of the tension I've carried around for the past two weeks. Doesn't that say something?

Or will regret be the deciding factor? Meaning, if I feel none, then it must've been the right thing to do. If I kick myself in the ass, well then....

Thoughts?

Classic...

"Petra, get your head out of the dog's bowl!"

Workout Log - week ending 7/22/06

No, this post has absolutely nothing to do with Petra.

I've decided the blog is going to do double-duty, serving primarily as a means to update family on my daughter's every move, but also as a way to keep track of my workouts.

Let me put it this way, if I don't write it down here, I won't write it down anywhere and that just doesn't work for my trainer, JP. So indulge me as I attempt to keep track of my weekly gym-related activities.

Saturday, July 21: Chest/Shoulders/Triceps

Yep, that's it for the week...so sad. I mean, I'm supposed to do four hours of cardio and two lifting sessions a week. And I didn't even come close.

Twins

It's obvious that I had nothing to do with this child...

The flight last night....

I know this blog is supposed to be about Petra, but I've been in a very selfish mood lately, so just bear with me and my ramblings.

So I flew home last night after being on the road for a couple of days. Of course my 10 o'clock PM flight just couldn't leave on time; that would be just too convenient. Instead, my flight left shortly after 11.

So I get on the plane, settle back into my seat (actually the whole row--it wasn't a full flight) and the pilot takes off. At this point, I'm about to drift off into airplane sleep when I hear a very familiar, but unwelcome sound coming from the row next to me.

WRETCHING. VIOLENT WRETCHING.

A man, who was apparently very drunk, got very sick all over himself. I'm not sure which was worse: the smell or the sound. Double ick.

All I can say is, thank goodness for short flights.

I see you!

Many thanks to Allison for turning me onto StatCounter. Now, I can see how many visitors hit Petra's World and more importantly, from whence these visitors came.

It's a great tool and it's FREE. If you haven't signed up yet, do it!

I am utterly EXHAUSTED

I had to get up at 3:45 this morning to make a flight. Now 3:45 isn't an ideal wake-up time, but it's certainly doable IF one gets to bed early the night before.

You see where I'm going with this? I didn't get a wink of sleep last night. Nope. Didn't happen. Petra took it upon herself to stay up later than late and required "mommy-only" attention.

By the time I actually forced myself to shut my eyes, it was already 1 am and all I could think about was how soon my alarm would be going off, which caused me further angst. I spent the next 2.5 hours just lying there....waiting for the alarm to go off.

A postcard from Africa

Petra received a postcard from Africa today; you can't even begin to imagine how excited she was to receive mail...and a postcard nonetheless.

The card, which has a picture of an elephant on the front, came from a dear friend who just got back from a safari in Kenya and thought enough of Petra (and us) to send her a note from across the pond.

So, many thanks to Allison. Petra will cherish the card forever...or until she drops it down the air vent.

We're headed to...

...this family amusement park. Natche's company offers discount tickets so today we're headed there for a nice, fun, family outing.

According to meteorologist Dave Epstein, temps will be in the high 80s so I expect it'll be fairly hot, but not unbearable.

Should be fun!

Favorite New Product!

Have you seen the commercials for or already purchased Bare Escentuals (BE)? If you answered yes, then you know the stuff ain't cheap. The foundation alone starts at $25 and they've added so many complementary products you could easily spend $150 on BE products alone.

And I considered buying the BE set; really I did. UNTIL I found Loreal's Bare Naturale (how's that for potential patent/trademark infringement) mineral-based makeup. The stuff is fantastic.

Now I can't speak to the coverage power of BE, but I can tell you that BN works really well; it doesn't feel heavy or look cakey. It's wonderful.

If you haven't tried it, go out and get some. It will set you back $12, but compared with BE, that's a baahgain!

A Fashion Poll

Q: With the NB Andare running skirt now available on the market, I ask: Would you consider wearing a skirt to workout?

(please choose one)

1. Hell yes! A skirt is much more flattering than either sweatpants or lycra tights ever could be.

2. Maybe. If I flipped through US Weekly and saw a celeb wearing one, I'd consider it.

3. Probably not. Skirts remind me of tennis players and ice skaters; I am neither.

4. Uh, I don't think so. No hardcore fitness buff would be caught dead in a skirt.

5. Other __________________ (fill in the blank)

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a pic of the new Andare running skirt. And I've just asked Natche to order one for me.

The Vineyard

I recognize that I *still* haven't posted pics of our trip to the Vineyard. And for those of you on my Kodakgallery.com Friends and Family list, you'll know that the Vineyard pics are noticeably absent from the most recent album.

So as not to disappoint, here are a few photos...

An ode to Kristen on her birthday...

You battled traffic on the Pike, but still you came
to help us tame our wild garden and spend some time.

All of the plants we chose, oh, those long names...
were set into the ground for nary a dime.

Kristen, we thank you for adding beauty and pleasure
to our home and are grateful for your knowledge.

You are our own gardening treasure,
And for horticulture, we're so glad you went to college!

Petra-face...it needs no introduction.

I'm offering a prize...

...to whoever can tell me how to fix the fonts on this blog.

Nevermind...I think I just figured it out. Let this post be a test.

"Natche! Your child!"

It's more of a moan actually, accompanied by headshaking, shoulder slumping and the inevitable picking-up of whatever my child just destroyed.

I just said it again; first to cement in my mind that the behavior exhibited comes from *his* side of the family; second, to ensure that he knows just how distressed I am.

In this particular case there was no destruction of property, but instead an exhibition of certain OCD tendencies. I mean, she took a WIPE and started cleaning the refrigerator and the floor and then ASKED for the glass cleaner so she could go finish up with the french door windows. What almost-three-year-old child does that, I ask you?

The holiday weekend

I know I promised pictures of our holiday weekend--biking on the Vineyard; running the Merrimack, NH 5K; celebrating the 4th at Uncle Joe's house; etc.--but I won't be able to post them right away.

We lost our camera.

Well, we didn't actually *lose* it. We *left* it at Joe and Joan's house and since they live a good 45 minutes away, we won't be getting it back until the weekend. I hate to disappoint, but you'll have to wait until the weekend to see all of the great pictures we took.


In the meantime (so as not to disappoint too terribly), here is another picture from our wonderful, wacky Disney vacation. Petra just *had* to have her face painted and she wanted the pink dinosaur. I think the artist did a phenomenal job and luckily for us, the paint stayed on for a good two hours before it started to look like a pink blog that had grown mold.

Reason #1 to go to Disney: they *cater* to the kids and everyone, including the adults, has a wonderful time.

Reason #1 to stay away from Disney: every little thing costs money...including pink dinosaurs on faces.

Snoozer...

Now that I've started blogging regularly, I'm very interested in what other people publish in their blogs, partly because I want to see who writes well and mostly because I want to see who doesn't. So today, I visited a few high-profile blogs, hoping that I would find some great content and thusly get inspired.

Didn't happen. Most of the blogs I read were B-O-R-I-N-G.
Note to writers: I don't care which preschool your three-year old will attend in the fall nor do I care how difficult it was to get him into said school. And, I hate to break it to you: I have little interest in your daughter's first birthday party and the hoops you had to jump to pull it off. I just can't seem to care. Is that horrible?

But that's their right, you say. Blogs give people the tools to write and publish ANYTHING--even the most inane content--for others to consume, yes? And even though a site might not interest me, it doesn't mean that it won't be of interest to someone else, correct?

Begrudgingly I accept that not all blogs are designed to entertain me; as such I'll just have to ignore those I find yawningly bad.

__________
Now, if you're interested in reading a couple of great blogs, I recommend the following. But note, I tend to go for the snarkier ones, so if you don't like gossip and bad-mouthing, go elsewhere.

Go Fug Yourself, a hilarious, celebrity-bashing site that makes even the most serial fashion victim among us seem sartorially sound when compared with such Fug fixtures as the Peldon sisters, Sienna Miller and Bai Ling.

Manolo's Shoe Blog, which I read despite the fact that the writer has dubbed Crocs, " the hot trend in the footwear for the lazy person," and has consigned my rubber darlings to the Gallery of Horrors to sit alongside Uggs, Danskos and Birks.

Q & A

Occasionally--that is, when you ask--I'll respond to questions from readers. Today's question:

Q: Were you wearing your Crocs when you had your celeb sighting on the Vineyard?

A: No. I have clipless pedals on my bike, which require that I wear special bike shoes (or boots, in my case) with little clips on them. Mine are Cannondales and they look something like this:













"Whew! ", this one reader thinks. "What if Beyonce had seen Meesh wearing Crocs? What would she have thought?" and "The Vineyard is way too high-brow for those rubbery attempts at shoes."

Well, I hate to disappoint, Suz...

While I didn't wear my Crocs while cycling, they were in fact tucked in my saddlebag waiting for the moment we pulled into Edgartown. I strolled around town proudly wearing my Crocs for all to see.

Don't believe me? Just wait. I will devote an upcoming post to my Crocs and all of the wonderful places they will have visited this holiday weekend.

Super Celeb Sighting!

Natche, Petra and I went over to Martha's Vineyard yesterday to do some biking. The Vineyard has wonderful bike trails that allow you to see a good chunk of the island without ever having to venture on a main road.

So, we were on the road from the airport to Edgartown--West Tisbury Road--when I noticed two guys biking towards us. They were helmet-less, which made it easy to see their faces. I looked at one of them and thought, hmmm, that looks just like Jay-Z.




But then I thought, well, if that was Jay-Z (because by this point, he'd just passed by me), where in the hell is Beyonce?



About two seconds behind her man, is the answer.


There she was, on a bike with a floppy straw hat in one hand, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else.




And then they were gone; we still had three miles to go before I could grab the phone from Natche's pocket and call Mel to tell her all about my celeb sighting!


DISCLAIMER: Natche asked me to write this. He, in no way, endorses my passion for or encourages my writing about celebrities. In fact, he's pretty disgusted by my love of People and Us Magazines. He was also quite embarrassed when I told pretty much everyone with whom I came in contact yesterday that I had just seen Beyonce and Jay-Z!