I wish I could go to camp.

As a child, I didn't even realize summer camp existed. My parent's always lived on a strict budget, at times barely able to make ends meet.

Summers for me meant summer school, not because I needed it or was a bad student, but just because it was free and we got to be there all day while my parents worked.

Hailey started summer camp on June 9th. We opted for the Girl Scout summer camp because they do a lot of different things and it's part of the Girl Scout's, which Hailey is involved in.

There are many locations to choose from. Camp Mahachee is always our first and only choice because you would never imagine the simple beauty of the place!!! Funny thing is I used to drive down this same road many years ago on my way home and never knew what was at the turn of that road.

There's an ORANGE mailbox at the turn into the camp. The camp is not really marked, for the protection of the girls.

The first time I went there, I turned at the mailbox off the main road and traveled almost 2 miles down an unpaved road. There are large trees on each side and the road was so skinny that only one car could pass at a time. Two cars are unable to pass side by side.

The area, surrounded by huge trees, is home to beautiful peacocks, squirrels, and skunks(not that I've seen them but I can smell them). I am sure there are other creatures in this beautiful forest.

I love to open my windows and hear the crunch of the car's tires against the rocks on the unpaved road. It is such a soothing feeling.

On a cloudy day, the place looks eerily peaceful.

When I dropped Hailey off at the camp this year for the first time, I really wished I were a kid again and I could go to camp with her.

Last Day of School!!!

Hailey's last day of school was June 5th. She'd been counting the days with excitement so I thought she'd be filled with joy on her last day.

The last day of school was pretty much a free day. The kids got to bring games and they had a party at lunch time. I came at lunch time and watched the kids run around like crazy little people, filled with excitement.

It was just about time for the day to end and I was chatting with another mom. I happened to turn around to see Hailey's face red, tears streaming down her face. She was hysterical. I immediately ran over to her and asked her why she was crying.

She proceeded to tell me she was going to miss her friends. It was the cutest thing because when she said that, all her girlfriends huddled around her and gave her a big hug.

I have to admit I was totally caught off guard. Hailey has always been a sensitive child, filled with such beautiful and caring emotions but the least thing I expected for her to be was sad to the point of being hysterical on the last day of school.

Depression always sets in for me at the end of each school year. It depresses me that my child is growing older so quickly and that she is moving on.

I always think about all the friendships she's shared throughout the year and how the kids will no longer spend each day together. And I always think about the teacher she's had and how he or she has influenced Hailey's life.

I still remember most of my teacher's and how they were such a great part of my life.

On the other hand, the end of the school year means that I don't have to go back and forth 3 times a day to get Hailey to take her ballet and jazz class. It also means no homework, so I can just get home from a long day's work and relax. Not worry about doing much of anything if that is what I wish to do!!!

I love summer. I love the sunshine and the beautiful days it brings. I love to feel free!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

I find Father's Day a bit difficult since my dad is no longer with me. I always say a little prayer in his memory. I do miss him so!!!

Father's Day involved lunch and going to see The Hulk movie. Not my type of thing but since it was Sergio's day, that's what he opted for.

The movie was ok but you can't judge by me since I'm not really into that type of thing.

Hailey was so excited to give Sergio a rock she painted at school for him. It's blue and says "Dad ROCKS" on it. She also made him a trophy at camp with his picture in it that says "World's Best Dad"!! SO CUTE!!!

New Addition to the Family, Mr.Crabs

We've always had a fish tank. It's small but perfect for us. Many fish have come and gone as fish will. The fish tank has had one lonely fish in it for quite some time and he finally moved on.

Sergio decided to add new fish and ventured out on May 21st to get some. He brought home some gold fish, so pretty with their orange coloring and some other type of goldfish, kind of multi-colored as Hailey referred to them.

Hailey was quite excited to see the tank full of colorful fish. The very next day, tragedy struck. We awoke to find one of the goldfish dead in the tank. Hailey was quite upset.

In order to help her through the difficult time, we decided we'd replace that fish right away and we'd take her to pick out a new fish of her own. It turned into a family trip and Hailey picked out another goldfish.

I have always loved little crabs and snails, crustaceans as they are often referred to. I've always wanted one for our fish tank. Not putting much thought into it, I decided to pick out a fiddler crab to come home with us as well. I picked the biggest one I could find. I was quite proud of my choice.

I named him Mr. Crabs, after Mr. Crabs in Hailey's favorite cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants.

Mr. Crab seemed content in his new surroundings, or so we thought although we did find him at different times throughout the day, hanging on to the tube in the tank, towards the top of the tank. I really didn't think much of it.

That evening I was lying in bed and Hailey comes in screaming that Mr. Crabs has gotten loose. I'm thinking, loose out of what? What the heck does that mean? Low and behold, Mr. Crabs had gotten out of the tank and made his way into the living room. Ariel, our kitty, had already spotted him and was pawing at him. Sergio happened to look across the room at that moment and spotted the happenings. I couldn't believe it that little crab had climbed all the way to the top of the tank, up the tube and out a hole!!! We put him back into the tank but after all the excitement, I couldn't help but laugh at the crazy ordeal. How could something so small get out of the tank, jump 4 feet down(it's a long way down) and make it all the way across the room?


The following day Hailey proceeds to tell us that Mr. Crabs had been sticking out his big claw and swiping at one of the goldfish. She told us Mr. Crabs had almost ripped off the goldfish's fin. We did notice the goldfish's fin a little torn but Sergio and I thought nothing of it really and I just told Hailey that he was probably just moving his claw around, not that he was actually trying to get anything.

The day after that, we came home to find Mr. Claws with the goldfish stuck in his claw, pretty much eating it. Hailey was pretty traumatized and I felt horrible. How could Mr. Claws eat our fish.

Upon searching on the internet, I did find information saying that Mr. Claws, who is a fiddler crab, will eat slow moving fish. YIKES!!! Not to mention that they climb up the tubes because they need to be on the surface as well, not just in water. Now what? I couldn't' just toss Mr. Crabs out but if we didn't get him out of the tank, he'd eat our fish.

So opted for purchasing a small tank to keep Mr. Crabs in. We even bought him a cute rock and put it up towards the top of the tank so he could sit on the rock and not be totally submerged in water, whenever the need struck him.


I have to admit the tank is so cute with him in and he appears to be happy although has no fish to claw at!!!

My Ballerina

Hailey's dance recital took place on May 22nd. It turned out beautifully. Hailey had two performances. One was for ballet, the other was for jazz. The theme for her ballet dance was Mary Poppin's. Her ballet outfit was darling. It featured a long tulle dress, burgundy in color. It was absolutely beautiful. Her jazz performance was the Pink Panther and it featured flare pants with a top that was off the shoulder on one side. She had been practicing for months, dancing and spinning in front of the tv. She has always loved pretty dresses and dancing and she was extremely excited about this year's performances. We were so proud of her, she was gorgeous.

May you always dance my little ballerina!!!

My Mom

My mom called me on May 15th, around 2 PM, right in the middle of an extremely busy workday. First thing out of her mouth was, "I fell and totally messed myself up". She laughed at the end of that sentence.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She's telling me she fell and then she's laughing as if there is no importance to such an event. Caught totally off guard, I quickly asked her how it happened and if she was ok, did she need me to go get her, take her to the hospital, etc.

She proceeded to tell me she had ice on her knee and hand. She was fine she said!! She did sound ok but my mom is a trooper, she won't admit anything is wrong unless it's extreme.

After we hung up, I was pretty much a basket case, wondering if she was ok, if she had told me the entire severity of her injuries and also wondered what unknown injuries could be lurking after such a fall. I am a worry wart by nature so my mind was racing in a million directions.

Mind you, my mom lives alone and I am constantly telling her to be very careful when walking, if she needs a light bulb changed, to wait for me or my brother to come over and do it, etc. But my mom is a stubborn one and likes to think she can do everything herself.

Anyways, she told me that she had put up a new curtain in the kitchen. Mind you, she had to get up on a stool to do this. I had told her a week before that I would help her with that next time I came by. I told her I didn't want her getting up on any stool. Automatically, when she tells me about the stool I'm thinking she fell off it. But no, that is not what happened at all. She put the curtain up just fine and moved the stool over to the side of the kitchen instead of just putting it away. She went to the sink to get a plant she was going to move from the kitchen window and as she was walking out of the kitchen, she tripped over the stool she'd left to the side. Totally forgot it was even there. She was still holding the plant when she fell. The pot cracked in her hands from the fall. I believe the pot is what broke her index finger. The blunt of the fall appears to have been taken by her right knee.

I called my mom back about an hour after we spoke and she said she was still sitting, with ice on her knee and hand. She then told me that my brother was supposed to come by later that evening to have dinner with her. She was going to cook something for him. She asked me to call my brother and tell him she wouldn't be able to cook. As soon as I heard that, panic set in. My mom would do anything for us, even if she's not feeling well and for her to say she's not going to cook after she had invited my brother over, scared me to death!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told her I'd tell my brother and hung up!!!

I automatically called my brother and informed him of the situation. He told me he'd stop by to check on her after he got off work. He called me when he got to my mom's house and told me her knee was extremely swollen, like the size of a softball and that one of the fingers on her hand was black. The finger was was extremely swollen. He told me my mom still insisted she didn't need medical attention.

I asked him to take her over to an URGENT CARE FACILITY that is close to her house. These are new in our area. They are run by the major hospitals but cater to smaller, non emergency situations. He told me he'd take her there and would call me once the doctor checked her out.

I got a call about an hour later and my brother proceeded to tell me that x-rays revealed that my mom had a broken index finger and that her knee was extremely banged up but thankfully no other fractures. He also told me that her blood pressure was extremely high and that the doctor wasn't willing to send her home with such high blood pressure. They gave her some blood pressure medication and advised that we'd have to wait and see if her blood pressure would go down before she could be released. The doctor indicated that her blood pressure was probably high due to the fall and the entire experience.

An hour and a half later, her blood pressure was still extremely high and the doctor still didn't want to release her with such high blood pressure. He suggested we take her to the emergency room where they could better monitor the blood pressure, etc. He advised that an ambulance could transport her from the urgent facility to the emergency room.

So off she went to the hospital. I met them there. She arrived in the emergency room about 10 PM. I spent the entire night with her while they monitored her blood pressure and finally got it low enough to where they could release her. I took her home at 7 AM the next morning and spent all day with her that day plus the entire weekend. I actually spent 5 entire days at her house, taking care of her. I was terrified that her knee would give out while she tried to walk to the bathroom, through the house, etc. I just couldn't leave her home alone.

I finally left her alone after 5 days and although her knee was still bothering her severely, her spirits were up and she was thankful that she hadn't broken anything else but her index finger.

I bought her a blood pressure monitoring machine and her blood pressure still seemed to be abnormally high even a week after her fall. I finally got her to go to the doctor to have that checked out and they changed her regular blood pressure medication.

I have to admit, sleep has been the best for me since her fall, constantly worrying about her.

My Blog!

I was so excited to start this blog. It would be easy to maintain, I told myself. I could even document something at lunch time each day. Who was I kidding, I practically always work through my lunch hour. I'm such a workaholic. And even though I know I should take a moment, I just don't do it. But I must!!!!!!!

This blog was going to be a great way to document happenings in my life, like a diary and keep my friends and family up-to-date. As you can see, I have completely slacked on my blog entries, they have been missing in action since April.

My good friend Carmen keeps her blog updated daily. She is my inspiration. She tells me that even if it's a small entry, she takes a moment each day to document something. I will try to live up to her legacy and use her as an example and will try to document something each day.

Escape of Mr. Crabs

Friday, the 13th, June 13th to be exact. I should have known it was going to be a bad morning!!!

This morning as a I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom, I instantly noticed that our devoted feline Ariel didn't automatically appear at my feet when the I turned on the faucet. It's our daily ritual, I turn on the faucet to brush my teeth, she jumps up on the toilet top. As I brushed my teeth, I contemplated on how strange and out of character that was for her so as soon as I finished with my teeth, I went out to the living room looking for her.

There she was, playing with one of Hailey's hair clips(yes, she has cat toys but prefers human items). Just like a little kid, give them toys, they don't play with them, give them a box, they spent hours playing with that and it's so inexpensive. Strange world!!! I am still half asleep and haven't even put my contacts on, I'm wearing my glasses. I am still not seeing clearly at this early hour of the morning. As I watch Ariel play with the clip, I notice what I think is a clip is actually moving. Automatically I think, oh, she's found a bug of some sort. The more I look at it, the bigger it seems to me and suddenly it dawns on me, could that really be Mr. Crabs she's playing with. I run to the aquarium and sure enough, no Mr. Crabs in there. I bend down to take a closer look and sure enough, it's Mr. Crabs Ariel is pawing at.

I brush her away and run into Hailey's room. Sergio has already left for work. It's just me and my little girl. I say, "Hailey, hurry, get up, you have to help me. Mr. Crabs has gotten out of the tank and Ariel is playing with him."

I am amazed at her speed to jolt of the bed and run after me. She automatically grabs the net we have for the fish and tells me to get a cup. She's screaming at me hysterically, yet still in command. I hand her a cut and she scoops Mr. Crabs into it with the net. We toss him back into the tank. He appears to be alright.

After all the hysteria, Hailey proceeds to ask me what was I thinking, thinking we could just pick up Mr. Crabs with the net. She explained that if we picked him up with only the net, he would claw right out of it as we walked him over to the tank. That is the reasoning behind her asking me to get a cup.

I have to laugh because here she is lecturing me as if she the grown up. I have to admit her taking command instantly in such a situation shocked me. She is but a mere 9 years old and yet so grown up in so many ways.

The top on Mr. Crabs tank is a lightweight plastic. He apparently climbed up on his rock and somehow pushed the top a bit off the tank. Then I can imagine him hanging his claw off the ledge of the tank and sliding all the way down the counter, towards the front door where Ariel apparently found him.

We have taped the top of the tank. If he gets out again, we'll have to call him HULK!!!