I'm Baby Jaguar. Hear me roar!

We just found the jaguar costume Petra's grand nana Steffie made for Natche eons ago. All of the B children have worn it for Halloween and now it's Petra's turn.

Two nights ago, I had her try it on. I was worried because I thought it would be too small and Natche really had his heart set on her wearing it. But no need to fret, the costume seems to fit. More importantly, she absolutely loves it. I held her up to the mirror once we had it on and although the hat is a wee bit small--Nana Cindy might have to work her magic on it--she smiled from ear to ear and giggled excitedly.

"Mommy," she said. "I'm Baby Jaguar. Roar!" And indeed she was.

So last night, the minute we got out of the bathtub she asked to put on the costume. She is so cute, how could I refuse. So we put it on her and she crawled into her bed, cradled her milk and fell asleep. Did I take it off of her? Naaah. Seriously, she was so happy.

Cut to 1:30 am. I woke up startled because something (or someone) grabbed my hair. It was Petra--no, Baby Jaguar--who had snuck into my bed and started her comfort-enducing hair hold.

I swear, she is so damn cute!

Kristen, Kristen, Kristen...

How can you like Danielle??? Oh, she annoys me in so.many.ways.

And how can you *not* like Janelle and Will? They are the best players in this game. Their game-play is actually quite impressive; Will is such a great manipulator and Janelle has won solidly more competitions than anyone else in the house.

Remember, it is a game. That's it. And I think Danielle might have forgotten that...

...for my birthday

This summer whenever Petra asked for anything (e.g. toys, clothes, more toys, etc.) we told her that we'd consider it for her birthday and to put it on her list. We've created a monster.

As it was pretty crappy out yesterday, we decided to go to the mall. Here's the conversation at the Disney store:
P: Mommy, see that Princess number thing?
Me: You mean the Princess cash register?
P: Yes. That cash register is for my birthday.

P: Mommy, a piano!
Me: Wow! That's some Princess piano, Petra.
P: Mommy, that piano is for my birthday.

And the conversation at the Ms. Field's Cookie store:
P: Mommy, that cookie is for my birthday (pointing to a rather large, round cookie with lots of frosting on it)
Me: Um. Ok.

And the conversation at Sears:
P: Mommy, see the car? (as she runs over to climb on the lawn tractor)
Me: Petra, get off the tractor. It's not a toy.
P: Mommy, I want it for my birthday.
Me: (snickering) Uh huh.

And finally, the conversation we had while watching Pirates of the Carribean for the umpteenth time:
P: Mommy, see that puppy dog? (as she points to the scruffy dog that Jack tries to lure into helping him escape from jail)
Me: Yes, Petra. He has keys in his mouth, doesn't he?
P: Mommy, I want that puppy to come to my birthday. I like puppies and he can come to my party.
Me: Oh dear.

Pirates of the Little Mermaid

So Petra is obsessed with all things Jack. Captain Jack Sparrow, that is. We made the terrible mistake of watching Pirates of the Carribean, the Curse of the Black Pearl with her and now it's her favorite movie of all time.

So to those of you who got the lovely Ariel b-day invitations, throw them in the trash (no, not really). I have a feeling the little one won't be satisfied until her birthday party is an homage to all things piratey.

Perhaps I *could* do a cross-over. Pirates of the Little Mermaid has a nice ring to it. Hey Al, remember the cake from Buffett? Don't be surprised if you see it again at the party. Instead of hula girls, though, I'll stick a mermaid cake topper next to Will and call it a day.

What do you think of the new look?

Green *is* my color. But wait, this is a blog about Petra, isn't it.

Oops!

My latest obsession: the Q

I have to admit, I am so completely over my Treo 600 it's not even funny. It's been acting strangely for about five months now (it doesn't help, I'm sure, that I've dropped it a bajillion times) and I really want a new PDA phone.

Something lovely.

Something thin.

Something like the Motorola Q.

Go check it out and take the 360-degree tour. Isn't it amazing? It's the same thickness as the Razr and it has a full QWERTY keyboard. The only problem as I see it is that it's not yet available (and I stress the word, "yet") in a GSM flavor for TMobile, my provider of choice.

I have a ring into a friend at Motorola to get the line on when that version will be out, but I haven't heard anything yet. Let's hope it's soon. I don't know that I can wait very long....

BB7 Rocks!

Anyone else as excited as I am for the eviction tonight? Will it be James? Will it be Chicken George? Personally, I want James out!

And seriously, how far up the producers' asses is Janelle? She's managed to avoid eviction by the skin of her nose; I think she's too vital to ratings and might've had some help along the way. But who am I to cry foul play. The feud between Janelle and Danielle makes for very interesting TV.

And when are people going to figure out that Will is playing the whole lot of them?

So, if you want to bet, my money's on James tonight.

Q & A with Meesh

Q. I saw your Bermuda pictures and was a bit befuddled: I don't see your Crocs anywhere! Did you finally decided to throw those ugly-looking, but-oh-so-comfortable mock clogs away? Or did you lose them in the Bermuda Triangle?

Signed, in the Croc closet

A. Have no fear my closeted friend, the Crocs not only went to Bermuda, but also never left my feet the entire trip (save when I was on the beach and wanted to run my feet through the sand because it felt so good). They were the best traveling companions a girl could have. I even put on special Jibbitz for the occasion.

I present Exhibit A:

A picture is worth...

I've been writing so much for work these past two weeks, I almost can't bear to blog. My brain is so exhausted, it hurts to just think about writing.

Instead, I'll share some pictures of my trip to Bermuda. Once my brain settles down I'll write a recap worth reading. Until then, eat up the eye-candy; Bermuda is a lovely, lovely place.

Let me summarize...

Went to Bermuda. Had a blast. Visited Hamilton and St. Georges. Saw the wench get dunked. Got sick on the glass-bottom boat. Sat by helplessly as Petra had the meltdown to end all meltdowns. Left the island feeling a bit sad and wishing we could've stayed longer. The end.

I'll write more details later, I promise.

I've lost SIX pounds!

In four days, no less! A miracle, you say? Hardly.
Water weight, I say.

The six pounds I lost are indeed the very same six pounds I gained at the Jimmy Buffett concert.

SIX POUNDS GAINED IN ONE DAY. How does one put on so much weight in one day, you ask? Well, it happens when you:

Eat this:

And drink too many of these:

And do too much of this:

Without enough of this to compensate:

Invitations

I promised myself after K's bridal shower that I would never, ever attempt to make custom, hand-made invitations for anybody or anything.

That was before my sunshine of a daughter told me she just *had* to have an Ariel (aka The Little Mermaid) third birthday party AND that she loved me *so* much.

Oy. So help me justify the time, effort and expense of my Little Mermaid custom invitations.

1. The party store invitations on which you fill out the party particulars in black ink just look so incredibly sad (sorry to anyone who's used them!).
2. All of my friends hand-make their own invites.
3. Years from now, when she's 16 and so PA towards me that we've stopped speaking to each other, I'll pull out one of these invitations and remind Petra (and myself) just how much I love her.
4. I love to torment myself.

All very good reasons why I spent half of last night cutting, pasting, writing and sticking those damn invitations together.

Happy Birthday, Dad

I just want you to know I remembered. And that I'll never forget.

Don't worry, Petra will know you kept a folded picture of her in your wallet and talked often about her. I promise.

I miss you, love you and hope you're at peace. Happy birthday.

The sickness...

Petra has the sickness again...or at least a very bad cold. It kept her and me up most of the night; yes, I realize that of all nights I needed sleep it was last night.

Never-the-mind. I managed to sleep in a bit this morning. Petra even brought over her favorite Aunt Molly dime-store teddy bear for me to hug while I slept.

And good ole Natche: the car was cleaned and fully stocked with party supplies while we slept.

But back to Petra. She doesn't have a fever and appears to be her normal self today; the poor thing, however, has a bright red nose from blowing it so much. But she's wearing those darn Cars pajamas--she refuses to take them off when we're home--and she's drinking chocolate milk while watching the Wiggles Hot Potato Live tour DVD. I think she'll manage through the cold.

Songs you know by heart...

Yes, people...tomorrow is the BUFFETT concert. And yes, I am *so* excited.

How, you ask, can someone go every year and listen to the same songs over and over again, and in pretty much the same playlist order? Really, when was the last time that man actually recorded something new?

No matter, I say. Buffett is Buffett and all of his songs are timeless, never growing old and never getting dull. He does one mean Southern Cross and I never tire of hearing it.

Plus, I say, at what other concert can you party all day like you did in your 20s with many folks who are easily 20-30 years older than you?

So for all of the Parrotheads out there, keep searching for that one particular harbor and if you can't find it, just head on down to Margaritaville. I'll be there.

What? I can't bring my coffee on the plane?

Oy.

As if air travel wasn't enough of a headache, now I gotta worry that the guy next to me with the steaming cup of Dunkin' Donuts in his hand is actually a terrorist who has figured out a way to detonate that faux-coffee using his iPOD and blow up the plane.

Seriously, feed my neuroses a little more. Pile on a little more angst and tension. You know, I didn't have enough to begin with.

I LUV Southwest!

I was in the Philly airport last night waiting for my usual (and very late) flight back home when the Southwest gate attendant decided to play a little trivia game with the 20 or so folks waiting for the plane...FOR prizes.

I'd already finished my People mag cover-to-cover AND I noticed the first prize was a bottle of Korbel Brut, so I thought, what the hey, I'll play.

"Who are the two founding fathers of Southwest Airlines?" she asked. "You have five minutes to find the answer and claim your prize."

So, I thought about it for a few seconds but only came up with the one name: Herb Kelleher. At that point, it was time to use the phone-a-friend option. I called Al, who miraculously came up with the answer in all-of-about three seconds; strided up confidently to the gate agent; and gave her the names of Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. And yay, the Korbel Brut was mine!

So many thanks to Southwest Airlines for making last night's late flight bearable and, in fact, entertaining.

Oh, and lest you think me a bad friend, Al and I will enjoy the spoils of our victory at this weekend's Buffet tailgate.

My new lunchtime obsession

OK, I just have to say it:

Knowfat Lifestyle Grille ROCKS!

Many thanks to Eric Spitz and his company for opening up a location quite close to my office.

Speaking of Buffett...

Just SIX days until the big concert (and the all-day party that *is* the Buffet parking lot)

And no, we haven't made final preparations.

And yes, Natche is FREAKING OUT.

Fins

"Momma, you no have your hands up," proclaimed my daughter as the Jimmy Buffet tune, Fins, came up in the CD changer.

Petra, of course, was entirely prepared--hands over her head in the make-shift fin position--ready to move her "fins to the left; fins to the right," as soon as Jimmy told her to do so.