Blog of a Teenage Nanny

Friend meme stolen from ShadowValkyrie

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:36:33 GMT

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST and I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never really clicked, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. You are obviously on my flist, so let me know with whom I'm friends! (Feel free to only answer some of them if you like!)

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favourite Film:
5. Favourite Song or Album:
6. Favourite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favorite memory of us?
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it'll entertain me!)

--

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:02:17 GMT

So, I have discovered why Barack Obama won the election...

Secretly, he is Sam, the American Eagle! There's no disguising that brow! (who would have guessed?)

--

My Day at the Spa, or, the story of the two tattooed men.

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:53:30 GMT

So, in the grand tradition of really, really late entries; I thought I'd tell you all about my day at the Spa.

The Sunday before last, I was down in the Spa my Dad works at, hanging out at the pool and in the hot tub, waiting for my uncle to come pick me up on his way home. (for yea, verily, I hadst let myself be suckered-eth into another nanny job. eth.)

So I get into my swim suit, which is a cute little two-piece for the first time since I was a kid, and head on over to the hot tub. I get in, and there is a kindly older man there already, who cheerfully informs me that if I would like bubbles, he doesn't mind in the least, and the button is over that way. Declining bubbles, I get in and we exchange hellos and then sit quietly, enjoying the hot water.
A few seconds later, another man comes over and into the hot tub. Unfortunately, this is no kindly gentleman. This man is perhaps mid-forties, with long, thin, stringy hair, a Hulk Hogan-esq mustache, and tattoos covering both arms and shoulders. Not that lots of tattoos normally put me off, but these were of the sort you might find smaller versions of in quarter machines: flames, green skulls, etc.   And my first thought, while I don't want to stereotype, is that this man would not look out of place sitting in a trailer watching NASCAR with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.

With this promising start, the man joins us in the hot tub and the three of us make rather stilted conversation, until it comes to the point where it's my turn to make a comment, and the slightly dodgy man is looking at me expectantly. He scoots just a smidge closer to me, in a way that suggests he doesn't think I'll notice, and smiles.   I suddenly realize that the water in the tub is at just the right height for my boobs, in their little skimpy top, to float like something in a movie that just got the pg13 rating. I suddenly wish that I had a victorian bathing costume, instead of a two-piece. To make him stop smiling at me, I said something that usually distracts very well, while requiring no brain power on my part; "I like your tattoos."
This launches a slightly more successful conversation between the three of us, which lasts another couple of minutes, until --woe is me-- the kindly older man regretfully informs us that he is getting too hot, and has to go cool off in the pool. Off he goes, leaving me alone in the hot tub with a very sketchy person.   While I try to decide whether this guy is sketchy enough to warrant me removing myself from the hot tub until another person enters the pool room, we make more stilted conversation; (wherein I discover that he does indeed live in a trailer, ha) until he asks me if I'm 'still in school' .

...I had a moment of pure "oh no, he did not just ask me that after he's just scooted closer again' and a half-second of 'gross, he totally just did', I give him my very best "No, duh," look and say, as though it were particularly obvious, "NO."
His smile kind of freezes for a second and I can see the rusty cogs turning slowly beneath the long scraggly hair. "Oh," he says after a moment. "So,uh...how old are you?"
'HA!' I think, 'got you!'   "I'm twenty."
"Oh!" he says, surprised, but not perhaps quick enough to show it.
  'all right,' I think, 'he's just hit on me officially now, so I'm gonna have fun with this'.  So I reply, with an innocent smile, "How old did you think I was?"
He blinks, and then says too quickly "Well, I thought you were-- seventeen or eighteen...you know..."

...Now, I don't know how many of you reading this have seen me in the last year or two, but I do not look eighteen. Even with the boobs acting as personal floatation devices, I look fourteen or fifteen at the most. So I know this for a fact, and this guy has just totally screwed himself over.   Then, because I have an evil streak that I don't normally let loose among the populace, the thought went through my head 'Okay, now I'm just gonna mess with him.' Because, let's be honest, he was gross.   So I say, with my sweetest smile, "Oh, I know, I've got the baby fat," and pinch my cheeks like one would do a child's, still smiling.

HAHA HAHAHHAHAA.....that moment was priceless. I watched his eyes widen as he leaned back away from me and swiftly tried to backtrack, 'cause he knew that any form of agreeing with me would be calling me fat, and he knew that once you call a girl fat, once you even possibly maybe insinuate that a girl is fat, you're gonna be going home alone. He stumbled around verbally for a while, before arriving at the remark "Well yeah, but it looks good on you"

ech. I decided that the squidge factor had now outweighed the fun I could have at his expense, and so I made the excuse that the water was too hot for me, and stood to get out of the tub. As I was stepping out, I hear him ask  "So, uh, what're you doing tonight?"
After another second of "Oh no he didn't!" and my thought being "seriously, after thinking I was fifteen, because I know you were!" I turn and say in my best superior tones "I will be working!" in a manner that suggested perhaps he was there because he did not work.

I get out of the tub loftily, my nose in the air, and the guy follows me! Ech!!  But luckily for me, I had already told him that I was here because my father worked here, and as I stood next to the pool with the creepy guy on my other side, I look up into the big window that is between the spa and the pool room, and there is Dad! I point and say "Oh look, it's my Dad!" in perky, cheerful tones, and I wave. As the guy looks up at the window, Dad waves back at me, tall and menacing suddenly. I feel the dodgy guy cringe, and to my great relief, skulk back to his towel. Beaming, I get into the pool on the very opposite side of the room from him, the kindly gentleman still doing laps in the middle section, and swim laps for a while sidestroke, my back always conveniently towards the creepy guy, who eventually left in disappointment, when the only other woman who arrived was one his own age, wearing a one-piece. mwa ha ha.

Now the part that makes the story interesting as well as amusing.   Having lost my taste for the hot tub for the moment, I got out of the water once the creepy guy had gone, and settled down to read one of the magazines lying around. When I had finished it, I went into the locker room to check my phone (not knowing at what time exactly my uncle would call). Not finding anything of interest on my mobile, I headed back for the pool room. after a quick glance around to make sure there were no more NASCAR fans in the house, I went back to the hot tub.
In the hot tub was an interesting combination of people. On one side, squeezed into a corner, was a couple that just had to be newlyweds. They were attached at the hip, talking very carefully only to each other, and very very carefully ignoring the other occupant of the tub, a man covered in tattoos, with a pierced eyebrow, lip, and nipple.  However, the differences between this very tattooed man and the former very tattooed man were striking.  This guy looked like he took care of himself, and was fairly well groomed, with short hair and no dodgy mustaches or beards in sight. It was very hard not to laugh at this mix of people, really, but the writer in me thought this could be very entertaining, so I got in as well. Now, this is a pretty large hot tub, with enough room for maybe five or six people to get in and not be overly close; but apparently two was a crowd to the newlywed couple, because not long after I got in, they removed themselves, the woman casting wary glances at the pierced and tattooed man the whole time, and he just as obviously ignoring them completely, lying back with his eyes closed. I was rather of his opinion, really, they were kind of sickening to watch, even peripherally.

Eventually he opened his eyes and we exchanged pleasantries, and, figuring, 'what the hell, why not?' I said, "I like your tattoos." (only this time I was being completely honest, his tattoos were much more interesting and higher quality). This started the ball rolling, the subject carrying us through for quite a while. I found out that he went to school to be a tattoo artist, and that his apartment had just burned down on new year's day, but, in his words "I got my cat out okay, so I guess that's what matters." And that he and the other people in his building had been really lucky and gotten a lot of help from people and organizations like the red cross, and that he had just found this "mad shit great new apartment. I mean, I really liked my last place, but this one has a yard, and so I might be able to get a dog."

All in all we were probably there for almost an hour chatting, and it was completely friendly and leer-free, and I did not once catch him looking at my boobs. Point for Kealeigh.

The only thing I regret, and will remember for the future, was that when the creepy guy had said he thought I was 'seventeen or eighteen', I wish I had asked him, in my innocent voice, how old he was, and then when he told me, I would clap my hands together and give my most innocent little girl giggle and 'blurt' out "Oh, that's older than my Dad!"
which, in his case, would have been completely true. mwa ha ha...

I'm not actually cranky, I just thought the kitty was cute. what I AM is sunburnt.

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:53:57 GMT

Hey y'all!

Had a fun and semi-relaxing weekend. Got to see Christian perform in Grease, which was highly amusing. In this performance he played Sonny, in the last one he played Eugene. ^_^ it was lots of fun. Now Soph is in camp, Christian is romping at the water park with his friends, and Dad is at work, so it is veeeery quiet at the house, with Mum and I being the only two-leggers inside.   So I am enjoying my last hour or so of peace and quiet, to bring you all this lovely blog entry! *beams benevolently*

....*snickers*

For those of you who wanted to see my new hair in it's current tempermental state, I've taken some pictures. They're a bit dark, but they'll have to do for now.   ;-}

Aaaand;

heehee...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:14:31 GMT

Soo, I've been home just about a month now. woo-hoo. Spent four hours mowing the bleedin' lawn today, then another half hour hauling all the grass shavings and spreading them between the rows of corn, as well as hacking down a few burdock with the hatchet. All in all, a rather productive day.

We all went to the drive-in last night, to see the showing of Indiana Jones 4 and Iron Man. Unfortunately, the fog kicked in midway through Iron Man, subsided briefly, and then came back in horror-movie force for the end of the flick, resulting in that nice audio-book feeling for the climactic battle and all that jazz. ^_^    But Indiana Jones was good.

Also, we had a kick-ass Solstice party a couple of weeks ago (yes, I know, I'm behind. what else is new.) My uncle Lloyd and aunt Noelle came over early and helped us prepare food, and I got to hang out with this little demon-baby:
generally known as Baby Braeden in our house. Isn't he cute? We had a good time playing together; throwing grass, playing ball, feeding him sugary treats... And I could feel Noelle studying me very carefully and plotting ways to get me down there for the weekend to watch him.   Yes, I saw that, Noelle, you can't deny it!

We played badminton as well, and that was lots of fun. While us crazies played sports, Noelle and Soph bonded over Sophie's bunny, Columbine Agnes:



and then we had the crowds converge, and we ate goodies and talked and laughed and then Lloyd and Noelle conveneintly had to leave before the soliloquies. Hmph.   ^_--

All in all, it was a grand time. We had lots of fun and should definitely do it again next year. Except, hopefully we'll be able to have the bonfire next year.

And now; to see who is still actually reading this.

In other news, I offed my dreads.

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:40:11 GMT

I am HOME...

ahh...

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:31:31 GMT

Sunday, two days before I leave...

Not much to say, really...

Yesterday I was decadent and slept in until noon, mwa ha ha...that was very nice indeed.

Mum and Dad are driving down here tomorrow (thank you thank you thank you!) to come get me, then we are all going back up on Tuesday, and then I will be back home. 0_o Whew!

Asia has a new favorite word: Nibblers...it's similarity in sound to 'nipples' is no doubt one reason for her using it as often as possible while cooking up some 'chicken nibblers' for Arianna's supper. She even brought in the package label and put it in one of my notebooks, to go with the Snorlax sticker she put on my pretty red box. >:-(

Ahh, the joys of living with your cousin. *sigh* I will miss hanging out with her though.

the Final Day

Fri, 30 May 2008 12:55:28 GMT

Well, this is it...the last day of my watching Arianna.

Whew.

*wipes brow* I made it. Asia and Josh get home late tonight...

Over all it has been a pretty decent week. We had a bad day, but the rest have been alright, aside from the occasional temper tantrum, and the meltdown each night when she realized once again that her mommy and daddy had gone away without her and weren't back yet. *sigh*

What am I going to do tomorrow?

Nap. ha.

Last night Asia's friend Cara came over for the evening, bearing pizza and a girly movie. We sat and colored with crayons, which made Cara Arianna's new best friend. When Arianna heard Cara knock on the door, she ran right to her room to put on a shirt, because she didn't want to wear just pants in front of company. ^_^ Once Arianna was in bed (talking to her stuffed animals, much to our amusement) Cara and I watched '27 Dresses' which was a fun movie.

And for those who are wondering; my icon is just about how I felt this week...

day four

Wed, 28 May 2008 13:37:19 GMT

Well, the morning of day four...urg

The day thus far has been uneventful, given that it is still morning. Arianna is watching Clifford and finishing her bahbah, after a breakfast of grilled shrimp that her grandmother brought over yesterday. Yes, she is eating shrimps for breakfast. It's probably healthier than the breakfast cereal that I had, anyway. ^_^

Ari has been good for the most part these past few days, but occasionally she will burst into tears and sob about Mummy and Daddy being at the beach and leaving her here. Poor baby.   Luckily, the grandparents are chipping in, which keeps Arianna busy and happy, and gives me some peace for a couple hours each day. Thank goodness. *wipes brow*

For your amusement; I present a partially completed joke list.

You Know You've Seen too Many Kid's Shows When:

1) You spontaneously start singing the theme of one of at least five shows, generally at the least appropriate times.

2) You know the catch-phrases for each of Bob the Builder's construction machines.

4) You know that at noon the PBS kid's shows end, but Nickelodeon has them for another hour before the dreaded SpongeBob starts.

5) You can name each of Handy Manny's eight talking tools.

6) You know that Handy Manny has, in fact, seven talking tools.

Feel free to add any you find relevant; it is a very short list. ^_^

Only two more days!! (after today. sigh.)

a break while she watches a toon...

Sun, 25 May 2008 19:55:10 GMT

Day one of my week alone with Arianna.

It's been going pretty well so far; only a few minor tantrums, but I fear that the fact of Asia and Josh's departure has not yet sunk in, and there will be hell to pay once Arianna realizes her mommy and daddy won't be here to tuck her in or wake up with her.
*sigh*
But she and I get along pretty well, so it won't be too hard, and I'll have various relatives as backup, thank goodness.

Ari and I made 'chocky-cake' together today, that was fun. ^_^ She likes to check out all of the ingredients before I put them in the bowl; which includes poking and squishing and taste-testing each thing. For some reason, she likes to taste plain flour. 0_o   Then I put the mixer in the bowl, and she counts down to 'GO!', whereupon I am allowed to mix.

This morning after getting her dressed, we painted her nails (two feet and a hand's worth red and sparkly, to match her outfit, the other hand's worth green) and put her hair up. I asked her how many 'bows' she wanted and she held up her hand. "This many!" so, now she has five ponytails, which are very cute.

As per Dad's suggestion, Asia and Josh made a video on my camera of them singing Arianna's goodnight songs, 'Twinkle twinkle', and 'ABCs' for before the baby goes to sleep, and then Asia made another one for when she wakes up, wishing her good morning and blowing kisses (and telling her to "be good for Kea-kea", which was my favorite part). So far she has watched the morning one a good ten times or so, and we'll watch the goodnight one just before bed.

And that's all I have time for now, as Arianna is getting restless again and wants to go outside to play, which we shall do.

Only five and a half days to go...

My weekend back home. finally.

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:36:01 GMT

My first day back at home was a busy one. Dad and Sophie drove all the way down to get me on Thursday, and we left quite early on Friday morning to drive back up. It is a long trip.
Dad had to work that afternoon, so we had a little time to hang out, then Soph and I waited in the car for Mum, who was coming down to get us. I was very proud of myself; I did not cry all day. Us goyles then went to Goodwill and had the most interesting Goodwill experience that I've ever had. More about that in a different post, mwa ha ha.

Then we three headed back towards home, our only detour one to pick up Christian from school. Christian began teasing me almost from the moment he was strapped in, which I took as a sign that he missed me. ^_^

We got home, and I walked in the door, and there was COLOUR! It amazed me. For those of you who do not know/remember, the fall-before-last we painted the kitchen orange, and gave it beautifully red shelves. That, combined with the red and grey tiled floor, was an explosion of color. A very pleasant one, but I had not even realized what drab settings I had been in until I walked into the kitchen. Asia and Josh live in an apartment, you see, so the walls are ENTIRELY white. And Aunt Brenda and Uncle Ralph's house is mostly regular house-colors, white and brown. Nothing at all like our 'Mexican Bordello' kitchen.

There was that, and that feeling of readjusting your borders. You get used to a height and breadth of space for being inside, and that becomes your default space sense for 'inside'. It was odd to walk back into what HAD been my 'inside' default, and feel my mind trying to readjust.

And, the dogs were very happy to see me. Thistle (my cat) was ecstatic as well, after the dogs had stopped barking and it was safe to come out of hiding. Mum made popovers for supper, and I watched first Sophie's show chorus performance, then a play of Christian's. Then, to cheer us up, (the play was wonderful, but very sad) we watched Beauty and the Beast. Yes, the Disney version. Christian wanted to show Sop how the Beast acted just like a bratty teenager. Then we were all exhausted and went to bed.

Mum and I got up nice and early the next morning to go to dance class. Mum would be clogging, and I would be applauding. After class we went shopping and met up with my Nana, then headed back over to the dance studio so I could say hi and good luck to my Irish Step dancing classmates and my dance teacher.

After that Mum and I chatted with Nana a bit more and went home, where my cruel family immediately put me to work making lupper for the ravenous crowd. (Lupper is between lunch and supper, by the way, just as brunch is between breakfast and lunch.)

No, in actuality I must confess that I had requested to cook a new meal Asia had taught me. I figured even Christian would eat it, given that it was pork and peppers over pasta. (For those who have not had to feed him in the last few years--Christian has long been rumored to eat only foods beginning with 'p'. Pancakes, pizza, pepperoni sandwiches, peanut butter, pork, poultry, preserves, etc. With the exception or two given to desserts of every kind and things like apple juice.)

After eating we all piled into the car (as Christian and Sophie grow older, this feat looks more and more like a circus act every year) and headed off to Bangor to see A Prairie Home Companion. YAY! We got there and it was so packed that the entire highway exit was backed up with cars! The show was awesome. We were actually watching, LIVE, the show we'd been listening to for so many years. Yay!

After the show was over, we zipped over to the mall and did some speed-shopping for a bathing suit for me, where we were half successful. (literally) The next morning we got up bright and early (again) to drive to the Portland Airport for my flight back to NY. And I discovered over the course of this weekend that waking up bright and early isn't half bad when you don't have to take care of a cranky child immediately after waking. Le sigh.

Dad and Mum and I headed down (significantly less of a clown act with just the three of us) and dropped Dad off at work, about half of the way through the total trip. We had a little time before I had to be at the airport, so Mum and I went over to visit Michael and Hannah, my little cousin Ava, who is just a few months younger than Arianna, and Nana, who had spent the night there. Ava is an adorable, curly-headed little girl (for pictures, see NahNah's blog) who ran around the room talking and playing the whole time we were there. We had a good visit, it was great to see them again, and we had lots of hugs all around. And Ava made me changer her diaper. Why she made me do it, I have no idea, but there you are. My first weekend back home from being a Nanny, and I had to change a diaper anyway.

Mum brought me to the airport and walked beside me all the way up to the security desk, and I made it through with only a few tears. This was followed by my first-ever plane flight (see my last blog entry) and my subsequent hour-and-a-half search for my Godfather Mike in the airport.

As it turns out, La Guardia is BEYOND huge, and Mike was in the section for the airline we'd bought the ticket from, and where I was supposed to have landed. The only thing was, the flight had been switched, meaning that although I left and arrived at the same times and airports, I was in an entirely DIFFERENT part of the airport. Sigh.

Eventually we managed to find each other, and Mike took me to Grand Central, so I could buy my train ticket back to Asia's. (ThankyouThankyouThankyou Mike!) At the other end of the line, Asia and Arianna came to pick me up from the 'choo-choo-frain'.

Earlier that week I had told Arianna that I would go on a plane to come back, and she furrowed her brow and squinted up at the plane I was pointing to. "No," she said firmly after a moment. "Too high."
I couldn't help laughing, but then I told her I'd ride the train, and she seemed satisfied that I would not only be able to REACH the train, but that I'd actually FIT on it. ^_^

La Guardia...No, Kennadeeeeoooo!!

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:45:36 GMT

So... You all would have had a nice, long blog entry to read Monday night, only the buggered computer decided to act up and shut down the window with my two-hour-long entry in it. grr.
To make up for this, I now bring to you some of the notes I took on my first-ever plane trip.

But first...Exposition!

I went to the jetport in Portland, to head back to NY after my weekend at home.   The only bad thing was that it was overcast and spitting rain. Getting through security wasn't as hard or stress full as I'd thought it would be, so I was in the waiting area quickly. The plane itself was smaller than I'd thought (nothing like in the movies), with perhaps sixty people on board, and I got a window seat!! *jumps up and down*   The seats were pretty small --meaning I fit perfectly--, but not terribly uncomfortable, so all was good. If it had been a six-hour flight, however, I'd have to take issue with the amount of padding on those suckers. The pilot made announcements, just your basic Where-we're-going-hope-you-like-it kind of thing, and he sounded exactly like Inigo Montoya. It was bizarre.
   I'd always thought that was a fake Spanish accent Mandy Patinkin did, but apparently not. Either that; or the pilot was just doing a different, random accent for each flight. Which is totally something I would do. ;>

I was seated towards the back, just a row or two behind the wings, and the engines were quite loud when they started up. Then we made our way slowly down the tarmac, headed for the runway proper. I wondered why we were going so slow, until the plane rounded a surprisingly sharp corner onto the actual runway. Then I felt the g's pile on, like we were on a fair ride. We lifted up into the air and were off. ^_^

We hit the clouds and were suddenly surrounded by white, like we were in an after-death scene in a movie. If you have never done this, you have no idea how bizarre it really is. It was like it was just the plane, entirely on it's own in an existence of white stretching as far as you could see, and as far as you could see was very deceptive, because with nothing to gauge distance, it could have been just to the end of the plane's wings, or it could be for miles.
   After a few moments (humor me, people, this is a girl with no time sense. It could have been several minutes) we rose above the clouds. It was beautiful. A gorgeous blue sky was above us, and white, fluffy clouds were underneath. The stormbank rose behind us like a sheer cliff and it stretched to the horizon on either side behind the plane.

Here are some of the notes that I scribbled in between staring out the window in awe:

"At first the clouds below are bumpy, many rounded balls of cotton dumped into a box, but soon they smooth out and are low and soft, rippled like sand under ocean waves. You can see spots that are sunken or raised, like tidal pools and little islands. Then there are the clouds even higher than you; thin wisps of stuff above and equal, that you sometimes fly right through, like a fog.
"Farther on now, we are on to hills of cloud, almost looking roughly dug, with uneven, choppy valleys, more just shadowed as by stands of trees.
"Ah ha! What looked like shadowed valleys in the clouds are really gaps in between them, where you can see an infinitesimal world underneath. Tiny lakes, buildings like specks, and roads no thicker than a hastily-drawn pencil line.
"We are past the break now, though it continues on to my left and front, traveling nearly parallel to our flight. The clouds below are close and ridged like the tightly curled fleece of a newly-shorn lamb; in even rows along the gap. The fields and ponds below are laughably tiny, the biggest fields not large enough to brush your thumb over. Like a mile could be measured by the span of your hand. It is so wonderfully beyond human comprehension that there is no fear, for why be afraid when you are standing over a doll's house?
   "The towns are farther apart now, and rougher looking, as though they are jostling for their place in line. As the towns get more populous, roads circle around each other, wrapping around themselves like the lines of termite- or worm-eaten wood.   The water below pools and spreads in globs, like spilled ink, nearly black.   Almost to the City now;   the thick lines of planted trees scour along the ground like interrupted mazes, labyrinth walls missing their companions."

The flight itself was quite short, only just over an hour. We flew right over the city, and I looked out my window in between taking notes and there was the chrysler building, right below us. Well, way below us, but you get my meaning. I even got to see Central Park! It really is huge. The landing was smooth, and all around it was a fun experience.   Seeing clouds look like they were zooming backwards was pretty funny, too. ^_^

There. I hope that makes up a little for the delay in posting.
Cheers!
Kea

The blog entry of DOOM dooomy doom part 2 (of three)

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:56:57 GMT

Soo, day two of my city trip began in the twilight of Mike's apartment. True, if you look out the window and tip your head way back, you can see some sky, but it isn't really enough to light the place. As it turns out, it was breakfast time. (do you like that generalization? it's lovely being on your own time schedule for a change, as opposed to a baby's or school's.)

Mike said he would treat us to a breakfast, and as we were preparing to go (meaning, showering and dressing, no dogs to let out or cats to feed or water to clean up or chickens to tuck in or windows to shut because it is windy from the west and the clouds look threatening. Just, getting dressed. wow.) he called his parents, because it was his Mom's birthday/anniversary.   Yes, both at once, so boy are you sunk if you forget it! And she said she wanted to treat us all to breakfast, because it was her birthday. Thank you, Mrs. B!

We went to a place called 'Public', which used to be a garage-y type space, only they refitted it and made the look work. It was neat. And, as Rebecca was pleased to point out, they gave out free pencils. The breakfast was quite good, but there was a wait because the place was so popular.  So we went into a sitting room in the back where they provided free coffee, scones, and a pretty place to sit, where we sat and tried to figure out the crossword puzzle for the day.

Then we set to rambling once more, with the general idea that Mike and I were heading over to the Statten Island Ferry, and I played the role of gawking tourist and craned my neck up at the buildings, taking pictures. Almost all of the tall-buildings-photos I posted were from that second day. It was marvelously clear, but a tad on the windy and chilly side.   We walked by the park in Chinatown and saw all of the old men playing chess there, with crowds gathered around them to watch, smoke, and shout advice. We rambled our way around, going in the general direction of the water, and at some point parted ways with Rebecca, who was off to scout out good deals on cloth-suitable paint and the like.

We got to the Ferry...station? Dock? *shrug* well, whatever you call it, we got there, and it was a large, glass-and-metal building, where you go up to the waiting floor. It was big and open (I really should have taken pictures of it, duh) to afford the best view, and there were pigeons flying around inside, usually being chased by little kids. Rather like Oberon with the chickens.   There were scads of people there, waiting around on all the benches and seats and starting to crowd over by the door. If you looked out the side windows you could see the Statue of Liberty, like a little doll in the distance.
Then the Ferry was announced, and a mass of people moved as one to get through the doors. Mike and I managed to squeeze through and climbed up onto the Ferry, where we headed right up to the top level, avoiding most of the crowd.   We secured ourselves a corner spot on the balcony/porch thing outside, on the correct side to see the Statue of Liberty. It was very windy. VERY windy, and cold. But it gave you very nice views of the city as you were pulling away, and I took pictures of that as well as Lady Liberty (which had Schoolhouse Rock songs running through my head) and then I ran inside, where it was warm and Mike was already waiting for me. The ride one-way is about a half an hour, and it was nice.    When we reached Statten Island, to avoid waiting, we got off the boat, then got right in line for getting back on the boat.     We went up to the top level again and enjoyed the view on the way back. We did go past this little island that looked like something from an apocalypse movie, though. It was perfectly calm there, all the houses and lawns were perfectly tidy, there were large brick buildings and roads and a couple of docks....and there was no one there. It was creepy. I expected at any moment to see semi-intact zombies come running out toward the Ferry, drooling and dropping bits of flesh. But, there was nothing. The only sign it hadn't been completely abandoned were a couple of white vans in a parking lot...very suspicious. ^_^

By then it was getting late, so Mike and I headed back to his place, so I could pick up my stuff and head to Grand Central once more, to catch a train back home. We did stop along the way, however, to have Mike take pictures of me in front of the Lions at the library.    Mike stayed with me while I bought my ticket, and literally walked with me onto the train, where he handed me my sword (which he had been nice enough to carry for me, because it is very awkward to manage a bag and a samurai sword when one has to squeeze through those bloody revolving gateways into the subway.) gave me a hug and wished me luck. ^_^ And then I headed back into the 'burbs, where Asia was waiting at the station for me.

And that was the end of my second trip into the City.

Stay tuned in the near future for an entry with all the stuff since the city. at some point. I won't promise it tomorrow, because whenever I do that, I end up waiting for ages. ^_^

Oh, and hello to all of you out there reading this (I know you're there! I know it!) who haven't commented yet. *cough* you don't have to be signed up on the site, you know...   ;>

the Blog Entry of DOOM doom doomy doom...(part one)

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:34:26 GMT

Where to start...Ah yes, the city. it should be fun trying to get this all in order. Right. *takes deep breath*

My godfather Mike was kind enough to put up with me for a couple of days, so I took the train into the city all by my lonesome. And this time I remembered both my camera and my cell phone!

My first order of business on reaching the city (Grand Central Station, that is) was to locate Mike, and then to call my Mum and Asia, to let them both know I'd arrived safely. Then Mike and I headed out, on the slightly blustery day. After a quick trip to Mike's apartment to drop off my bag (I'd learned the last time that carrying even a small bag around for hours on end isn't much fun) he and I headed off into the wild paved yonder.    Our first destination was Central Park, having explored a little bit of it with Dad, I wanted to see more and take pictures of Belvedere castle. We spent a good three or four hours just walking around the park and didn't even cover half of it, but it was a lot of fun.

It is kind of a random place, the Park, because it is this huge park built on bedrock, with man-made lakes and such, lots of trees, and many many paths, some for cars that even had traffic lights! Attractions were set up in seemingly random places throughout it, some that Mike hadn't even seen before. We even came across a Carousel, which was going quite fast and playing the carousel-version of   'The Wicked Witch is Dead'.   The designers of the Park did an amazing job though, everything is so intricate and beautiful. There are positively scads of little bridges (technically I suppose they are overpasses) so that the walking trails, car roads, and horseback trails don't ever have to cross each other; and each bridge is in a different architechtural style.    The flowers were starting to bloom there, so I made sure to take plenty of pictures for Mum, and even posted a few.

Then we wandered off in the general direction of china town, as it was late afternoon and Rachel's bus was due in. We meandered around, checking out the litle shops, and went to Mike's favorite dumpling place.   It was actually much less crowded walking through the city than I had thought it would be, even on a weekend--Mike says that those shots you see of foot traffic in the city is always at rush hour in good weather, when everybody and their brother is out and about.

We went into this neat store Mike calls 'the Chinatown K-mart', as you can find anything and everything there, and I *cough* bought myself a samurai sword. (a fake one, obviously. It actually says 'made in China' right on the blade. 0_o ). Which Mike then had a grand time carrying around New York, disguised with a number of white plastic bags. ^_^   by the end of all this it was very late, so we headed back to the apartment to rest and decide what to eat for dinner. Before we decided of course, Mike had to play with the sword a little more. Not that I blame him, it is quite fun; though now that I'm back here, I make sure Arianna has nooo idea I have it. Because boy, can you imagine a two-and-a-half-year-old girl with a sword bigger than she is?? I can see her now trying to kill ants with it. *shudder*

And thus ends day one of my trip into the city.   tune in next week for The Blog Entry of DoOOM part two!
lol, just kidding. I'll write some more tomorrow, honest.

My trip into the city, WITH my camera. yay!

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:36:06 GMT

Ha! Finally done!

This was a bloody lot of photos, and it has taken me all morning, inbetween playing with Arianna, to upload and sort all of the bloody things. but I'm finally done! yay! Now, of course, I have no time to post, but here are the pictures, and I'll put up a proper post later, hopefully today. Cheers!
love,
kea

http://pics.livejournal.com/jerusalembaby/gallery/0000zh8t?page=1

Oh, mum, how about Room With a View icons?

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:12:57 GMT

Ladies and Gents, here is the tattoo at last!

http://pics.livejournal.com/jerusalembaby/gallery/0000q4fp

Yay!

I hope this is somewhat more satisfying...

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 03:13:22 GMT

Okay. So. Sorry about my two rather unsatisfactory last entries, herein you will find most, if not all, of details previously left out. ^_^

Most pressing piece of news: my tattoo. I have been considering getting a tattoo for quite some time and have finally decided on the design I want, which I will be getting done tomorrow! SQUEE!!
*ahem* Now the long(ish) story behind all that--
    Asia and I decided to get our tattoos done at the same time, so I looked up nearby places on the internet (which ended up giving me the phone book's website, how weird is that?) and I wrote down a list. The first place we called, a place we had seen driving through town, we got a wrong number, because of some error online. (blegh) So we called the place that was around the corner (literally! It is so strange living in a populous area!) And set up an appointment for Friday (this was Monday at the time) and agreed to meet at the place the next day to bring in my design and get it drawn up--but also to check out the place and see if it was clean enough and not dodgy or anything. (Obviously we didn't say that to the guy running the place).
Asia, who is now nearly finished her training to be a nurse, told me that she KNEW what sterile was, dammit, and she wasn't letting anyone near me with something that didn't check out. ^_^   So, come the meeting time the next day, we drive over there. (Mind you, Asia had been sure that we had the correct address when she set up the appointment) We had called the guy (I think his name was Freddie) a couple of times throughout the day, to double-check that he would be there, as they only did tattoos by appointment, but we kept getting the answering machine. Which, by the way, informed all potential customers that they had a myspace page for the business. I should have known then and there.
We show up at the building, and the tattoo place is around the back, (along with a sports equipment shop, go figure) we drive around back, and there are a few doors, no windows whatsoever, and the sign for the business--that was propped sideways against the wall!   We go up to try the door, no dice--it's locked. So we wait for maybe ten minutes and try calling Freddie again, as he said that he had an appointment before this and would be there. Nothing, we just keep getting the answering machine. So we finally say 'screw this', go get the baby and head back home.   By the time we get there I am royally pissed and call the place again. I get the answering machine, and leave a message saying "Hi, this is Kealeigh, and I am calling to cancel my appointment for friday, because we agreed to meet today to drop off my design. My cousin and I waited there past the time you said, and you didn't bother to show up, so you've just lost all that money. Goodbye."

Upon reflection I can think of several more scathing things I could have added, like the fact that a two-hundred dollar tattoo would probably pay two months rent on that shitty little back room, but I thought I made my point sufficiently.

Annoyed and pissed off at the waste of time and energy that was, Asia and I agreed to drive over to a couple other places today, to check them out before bothering with phone calls and all that. We headed over first to a place perhaps ten minutes away, that had an actual storefront and had been around for a few years. We went in, and it was a nice open room, with everything laid out in plain sight and a woman getting a tattoo done right then. We spoke to the guy behind the counter (a teenager, who seemed to be the artist's son) and he went back and forth between us and his dad, a rather professional-looking man, and once Asia had pronounced the place satisfactory we set up an appointment for tomorrow (Saturday) at noon. Yay! And Asia promised me yet again that she was going to be watching like a hawk as he prepared, to be sure everything was absolutely alright. ^_^

And that's the news from Lake Woebegone...

ha, I can't believe it took me so long to say that. ;D

Soo, it should be quite something, and tomorrow I should have before and after pictures (of course, when I'll get to posting them, I don't know) so stay tuned!

Love and hugs,
   kealeigh

Oh, and here are the pictures I posted last time, for those who don't dare the maze of lj....(of which I am one)

http://pics.livejournal.com/jerusalembaby/gallery/0000ks5k

couldn't resist. tee hee

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:15:23 GMT

Star trek quiz; dad will be proud.

Your results:
You are Mr. Sulu

Mr. Sulu		80%
Worf		70%
Uhura		65%
Chekov		50%
Beverly Crusher		50%
Mr. Scott		40%
Deanna Troi		40%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		35%
Jean-Luc Picard		35%
Geordi LaForge		35%
Will Riker		30%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		30%
Spock		25%
Data		22%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		20%

You are able to master many
skills such as swords,
plants and martial arts.

Click here to take the "Which startrek character are you?" quiz...

Man, I really need some star trek icons...*sigh* Oh mum, you should try to find one of Witch Hazel from Bugs Bunny!

zip zilch zero

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:15:35 GMT

Word. *guy handshake*

ha. Couldn't resist, dad. ^_^

So, updates, updates. I should start keeping a list of stuff that happens every day. Oh, Arianna has started saying her 'k's, to an extent. My name is now "Ty-Kea", which is very cute.
My plans for getting my tattoo this week have kind of fizzled, due to the very dodgy tattoo parlor Asia and I went to go see. Ick. long story. I will now test if this is still online by trying to post this entry, and then if I am indeed online, will continue with my ramblings. Cheers!

Ha, and ha again!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:29:12 GMT

Ah ha! I have finally gotten the picture thingie to work, so hopefully there are now new pictures up!

Not much by way of new happenings here, just the little day to day things. I had been hoping to go into the city today, but now am glad I didn't, it is blowing snow out there, and looks very cold and windy. brr.

Just when I think I have finished adjusting to life here, something new pops up. The other day Josh brought back some little box cakes from the grocery store, the label said they were chocolate with 'rich ribbons of chocolate fudge frosting'. It didn't look as good as the homemade kind, but I shrugged and tried some. Josh came out into the kitchen while I was having a piece and I asked him if he'd ever had feathery fudge cake. He said he hadn't heard of it and asked what it was like, I told him it was like this cake, but fresh.
"Oh, you make that, too?"
"Yup."
"From scratch and all?"
"Yeah, of course."
"What, you can even make frosting from scratch?"

0_o ....I am surrounded by heathens. *sigh*

We finally got a decent amount of snow down here and Asia, Josh and Arianna went outside and made a 'fwow-man', and I of course took pictures. ^_^ Then the other day it was beautiful and sunny out, so I took Arianna out to play, and we (aka, she) decided to make a baby fwowman, and luckily I had brought my handy-dandy camera, and so proceeded to take more pictures, because I am a picture addict or something. :-) aka a photographer. One of those photos is on here, if I can only find the smegging link.

Then I found out that I can hook up my camera to the tv, and as they have a freaking huge tv here, it was quite an effect, and Arianna was thrilled. She absolutely loves to see pictures of herself, and I'd taken a video of her hiding under the blankets of my bed, which she also loves, especially when she can leave random pointy objects there for me to discover that night when I go to bed. But I propped up my camera on a desk next to the tv and she could see both of us moving on the tv.
She was delighted, and waved to me on the screen and said "Hi Ty-ty!" so I looked into the camera and waved back and said "Hi Arianna!" so that I was looking out of the tv at her. It was fun.
Asia and Josh are currently in the living room, taking turns reading 'There was an old lady who swallowed a fly' to Arianna. It would seem Josh was not familiar with the story before now, because he's just commented on how it's full of death and dying.

Yesterday Asia and I did a bit of pre-spring cleaning, and had a grand old time of it. I took on Arianna's room, which wasn't dirty so much as disorganized. I went through her tox box and crate, collected all her bits of toys from around the house, and threw away all the broken ones. Asia cleaned up her and Josh's room and put up Arianna's Princess curtains on her window, and because they were (of course) pink, they gave a lovely warm glow to the room when the sun shone through them.

I am also busily converting Arianna to my musical tastes. Music is nearly always on back at home, so it's been very strange not having it on, here it is the tv instead. So I've been putting on music for the baby and I to listen to when it is just us around. Only, she tends to not like music (because it is not a 'toon') and puts her hands over her ears, saying it hurts. (cue eyeroll) But, I let her look through my music binder the other day and had her pick which cd we would listen to, and got no complaints when I put it in! Since then this strategy has worked, but she does tend to pick the pink discs over and over again, given that I only have two of them this can be a problem. Slowly but surely I am converting the innocent to my music-listening, homemade-food eating ways!

Mwa hahaha!
^_^

Goddamnit all to hell!! this has taken me almost four hours to post correctly, so I've given up on the bloody picture. Here is a link: http://pics.livejournal.com/jerusalembaby/gallery/0000fyt8 click on the pictures to see the bigger versions. frakka frakka frakka.....

At long last...

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 04:53:43 GMT

Hi again, oh faithful fans and impatient cows! ^_^ j/k.

Here, finally, I am posting again. And, if I can figure out how, I will set in a link to the lovely pictures I have put in my galleries.

So, the settling in is going well, I am feeling more at home, and Arianna is more and more convinced she has me wrapped around her little finger. I haven't posted in a while though, (sorry about that), so everything of the past two weeks is sort of a jumble, but bear with me.

Hmm...notable things that have happened...Asia and I are trying to teach Ari how to play hide and seek, which she has grasped about halfway. She loves to seek, but you don't have much time to hide when she is counting, because she can only count up to two. Actually, all numbers are 'two' to her, so it is something like "Two...two! I find you!"
When she is the one hiding she seems to believe the point is to hide for about two seconds, then run out to behind the seeker and yell "Supise!"   So, Asia and I would take turns going with her to help count and seek, or to help hide. Sometimes she got bored with that and wanted us to hide, so one of us would hide and the other would help her seek. Favorite hiding places are behind open doors and in closets. Even though it is a small apartment, there are plenty of good hiding places for such a small child, if she can remember to hold still long enough. I even scared the heck out of Asia, to the point of her collapsing on the floor laughing, when I hid behind the door in Arianna's room. Asia was helping seek and thought she heard me hide in my closet. So, to make it more interesting for the baby, she was starting out in the 'wrong' rooms and came into Ari's room and banged on the door. Then she got far enough into the room to see that I was actually there and nearly had a heart attack. ^_^ Mwa ha ha...

My Aunt Brenda has proceeded to take me to the bookstore two or three more times now...this last time I bought 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Pride and Prejudice', and a map of new york, because I hate not knowing where things are in relation to where I am. Either that or I am a map addict. When I first got here and Asia mentioned a town name, I'd automatically look to my right, to see the state map and usa map on the wall, like we have at home.

Another thing I noticed that was a reflex from back home; a week or so ago at dinner I was getting seconds in the kitchen and dropped a piece of pasta, and automatically jumped back. It took the lack of a three-dog-whirlwind heading towards my feet to realize that I wouldn't get chomped, and that the food was miraculously still there on the floor in front of me. That, and Josh gave me a weird look. It was the first time I've had to pick up food from the kitchen floor in almost ten years, and it was very odd.

Oooh, lesse....I should really stop updating these at night, I'm afraid it doesn't make for very lively posts. I think I'll just try a link to the pictures and write some more in daylight. ta ta!
*hugs*

Pictures, in theory...or not....bah. If you want to see them right away, click on my user name in the corner there. Next time I update I'll set a link up, when the link thingies are acutally working.
Night!

And so we begin Week Two

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:54:56 GMT

"Krooonk, get the Emperor his.....drink!"
I love Yzma. She is a cool bad guy.

So, today was the first day of my second official week being a teenage Nanny. The baby was inclined to be fussy today, and was possibly testing my limits; because when I stopped paying attention to a fit, she would cease her (terribly fake) crying and come over to investigate why I wasn't interested. Kind of amusing in the end, but tiring all the same.

But, it was a good day, in terms of kids. We went outside to play for a while before lunch, as it was decent and quite sunny out.   We started out playing in the remains of the snow, then she wanted to walk around the house, so we did. Then we got back to the front, where the apartment is, looked around and said "Again!" So again we did. About four more times total, before she had finally gotten sick of shedding her mittens and wanted lunch.

Ari has also taken to tucking me in at night. As an effort to ease the going "ni-night" transition, Asia brought her into my room a few days ago and said "Oh, it's time for Kea-Kea to go ni-night, say goodnight and give her a kiss." She said goodnight and gave me a kiss, and then tucked me in by shutting off my light for me and closing the door. Alternately, she will come in fresh from the bath dressed only in her puppydog towel and give me a wet hug goodnight.

Also, I think I am having far too much fun picking out new icons/picture thingies for myself. I now have nine, where the day before yesterday I had one. Mwa ha ha. (Mum and Dad, I think you will like my new ones) Tomorrow I will have been in New York for two weeks. It seems both longer and shorter than that so far.

I am nearly through with my copy of Jane Eyre, Aunt Brenda having bought me a copy of my very own the other day, she says she loves it, and also pointed out Pride and Prejudice, which was on the same shelf.

Blast...I know there was more I wanted to say, but my brain is fried right now, what with staying up way too late last night writing, and waking up at 4ish. urg. I will have to call a raincheck, dear readers, and comment more later.
cheerio!

"THIS isn't poison; it's extract of...LLAMA!"

Ta da! The end of backstory!

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:29:00 GMT

Sooo, where did I leave off...*thinks*

Ah, yes. Dad and I were picked up at the train station by my cousin Asia and we went back to their house for a little bit, while we were waiting for my Aunt and Uncle. My future charge, Ari, was being absolutely adorable, singing her version of the ABC's, which usually goes something like "A Q U B S T Q!";and calling me Kea-Kea, because that is easier to pronounce than my full name, and it is what my little sis used to call me.
When my Aunt and Uncle arrived, they dropped off my younger cousin, Johnny, who is just a few years older than Ari, and took my dad out for dinner, leaving me alone and abandoned. lol. Okay, not really, I just hung out with my cousin and the kids, and finally got to meet her husband, Josh. When my Aunt and Uncle came back, they snagged me and Johnny and we all went back to their place, which is not very far. When we got there, Johnny showed us his video games, my Aunt showed us her video game and convinced Dad to play it; (Guitar Heroes, which is color-coded, and my Dad is color blind. What else are big sisters for?) and my Uncle showed us the herd of deer heads he has on the wall. We stayed up and talked for ages and I chatted with my Mum on my mobile, and totally managed not to cry on the phone. Yay me! ^_^   After that, us grow-up types watched my Aunt's favorite creepy tv show and then went to bed thoroughly creeped out.

By the time I woke up the next morning, Uncle Ralph had gone to work, Johnny had gone to school, but Aunt Brenda stayed long enough to give hugs and tell us to eat anything we wanted out of the fridge. (My family is big on Food is Love. "Honey, you've hardly eaten anything! They'll think I'm starving you!" "I'm okay, Aunt Brenda, really."  "No, please, eat something before you go. Have a cupcake." "No thanks, I really am full." "Are you sure you don't want a snack for the way home?" "Aunt Brenda! It's only a half-hour ride home, I think I can make it!" --actual conversation after one sleepover at my Aunt's house, when I was maybe eleven.)

Dad and I hung out there for a while, gradually approaching a state closer to being 'awake', until Asia and Ari came to pick me up. Asia told me that the baby had been running around the house that day saying "Where's the Kea-Kea? Where's the Kea-Kea?", which inspired the typical "Awww!" reaction, and then it was time to say goodbye, as Dad had to drive home. I only got a few tears, mostly sniffling, because I didn't want Ari to start crying too, you know how toddlers are. (humor me and believe that line, would ya?) And then it was off to Asia's, to start my new adventure.

Ari was still calling me Kea-Kea, only since she cannot yet pronounce k, it comes out Ty-ty, which is really just as cute. She also quickly discovered that I was a sucker for a cute kid, and was now her new best friend and favorite interactive play-toy, ready to pick her up, tickle her, hide under the covers, or read her scads of books at the slightest hint. Ari, like most babies, speaks Toddler-ese, so the first two days was spent with Ari saying something and Asia translating it for me, until I picked up the basics, such as the words for juice, blankie, bath, and come-here-now-slave, which is usually accompanied by a tug on the finger/hand/arm/hair/shirt, whatever is closest. She was also fascinated with the beads and bell in my hair, and the fact that it was not, in fact, a funny hat that I was wearing and would, indeed, hurt when pulled. All in all the joys of toddlerhood.

The first few days here have kind of blurred, so I will say it was probably the first day I unpacked, "helped" by Ari, who put my clothes in the bottom of the closet for me in a very lovely, if rather disorganized, pile, and Asia, who did actually help. Ari discovered that a big suitcase makes a really swell hidingplace/spaceship/choo-choo/bed, and was kept busy hiding inside and throwing back the lid to yell "supise!".    I also got to see her kitchen set, complete with pots and pans, spoons, the occasional stray puppy figurine, and various plastic foodstuffs. there is one orange and pink concoction that I would swear is alligator tongues and pink roses, but Asia says is pasta and meatballs. Pheh. Just makes me wonder if the artist who designed it had ever actually seen pasta with meatballs.

I learned my way around the house and kitchen (it's an apartment, so it took about ten minutes, most of which was Ari taking me back to her room to play again) and Asia said "Okay, you live here now, so don't be afraid to go ahead and get into the fridge and eat what you want. Seriously. I will smack you if you ask permission to eat something in there." lol. Wonder where she gets that from?

Skipping ahead a few days (just fill the gap with endless bouts of being climbed on, giving scoops, reading stacks of Dr. Seuss books and hiding under her blankie so that we can giggle, then throw it back and yell "Surprise!"), yesterday was my first day of officially being a Nanny. Armed with juice, blankie, various foodstuffs and a backup arsenal of cartoons and the Little Mermaid movie, I began. Thankfully, the day started off with her sleeping a little late, so I was closer to a functioning level when she got up. We hung out, played lots of games, watched a movie and ate cereal and soup together. Ari eats kix when she wants cereal, and she uses a little bitty half-teaspoon cup measure, which is just the right size for a few kix, because they roll off an ordinary spoon. The two of us made it through the whole day (well, until 2ish, when the reinforcements arrived) without any major meltdowns or anything, and I was very relieved, and absolutely exhausted.  And then my little sister had to top this off with calling me at eight o'clock at night, absolutely distraught, to tell me that Heath Ledger, her first actual movie star crush, had died. Honestly, what a way to say goodnight! Sorry Demongirl, no longer will you be able to sigh after his hair, high cheekbones and pretty accent. I don't want to be disrespectful, because I honestly did like his work, but it was rather shocking to hear, so it automatically gets put in the comedy bin.

Which leads us to today, the second offical day of Nannyhood. Today was a little longer, Asia had a longer day at school, so it was just the baby and me until 4ish. We played more, we ate soup, and shared a muffin (Ari only ate the chocolate chips, so I ate the rest). At Ari's request, we watched the Little Mermaid. Again. Well, really only half of it, she still gets bored if something is too long. She decided I was her new climbing toy, and we made more pretend food, her munching on a 'chicken leg' while I had a 'pretzel'. Not being able to resist, when I had 'finished' with the 'pretzel', I set it on the floor when she wasn't looking. When she looked back at me and I didn't have it, she said "Where is it?" and checked my mouth and both my hands. I said "I ate it, it was very good." and she gave me a look of absolute horror, because even she knew it was plastic.  Then I laughed and showed her the pretzel, and she was very relieved.

So here I will leave you, at last caught up with the goings on. Except for one brief detail of our trip down that Dad reminded me of: We were going through Mass, and were both rather annoyed at the slightly loopy driving of the cars in front of us, so I referred to a common Maine lament and said "Oh, well, they are Massachusetts drivers." To which Dad laughed and said "Look at the car in front of us." So I looked, and to fulfill the whim of some deity of irony, the license plate said "Maine".
(by the way dad, that is a great icon you have. Where did you get it?)

Love to you all,
    the Knanny-errant

Oh, and I've finally decided a name for my fish of indeterminate gender. Lancelot. It seemed appropriate.

The Crazy-long post filling in all the details

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:13:08 GMT

Hello all!

It is my second evening here at my cousin's place, and so far we are all getting along nicely. Honestly, the hardest part of the stay so far has been getting used to this laptop so I can post and email!

So, where was I? Hmmm. Well, after our considerable amount of driving, (or, my Dad's driving and my directing, crying, and navigating), we reached NY. First we found my cousin's house, where we unloaded my considerable amount of luggage and stretched our legs. Then we went to the train station and had our first-ever train ride. The train ran right along the Hudson, which is quite pretty and very wide, so we had a good view for as long as the light lasted.   We got off at Grand Central station, in the rather disappointing underground part, which was all concrete and metal beams. But, upstairs from the trains is very lovely. The main room is absolutely huge and the high ceiling is painted with constellations; Orion, Gemini, Cancer and others. There we met my Godfather, Mike, and delighted greetings and hugs were exchanged. Being perhaps a little crazy, Mike had agreed to tour us around the City while we were there and to let us crash at his place, rather than take the train back so late.

   The view outside was amazing. It was dark long before we arrived on the train, so we didn't get a chance to see the City before we were right in it, and it was quite something. I don't even know how to describe the massiveness of the surrounding buildings, so I will settle with saying "they were freakin' huge!", which about does it. Structures of metal and glass shining in the night, rising up into the sky surrounding you, sometimes with gargoyles or spikes or bizarre twists and angles, all glinting by streetlight, the tops so high that we could only see where they ended because the lit windows suddenly stopped.

To humor us gawking tourists, my godfather took us to see all the nearby sights, pointing out various buildings, taking us through a little park where there were dozens of people skating, past the biggest, most drool-worthy library I have ever seen, even into Times Square. Though I forgot to ask if he knew why it is called that, as it is not actually a square. More of a tilty rectangle, to tell the truth. The Square was lit up bright as morning by the huge adverts growing on the walls of the buildings like consumeristic tumors, and taxis and buses rushed to and fro through the streets, along with a few very brave people on bicycles.

We didn't have much time before our show, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat from a street vendor, four dollars for a large chicken pita, which was really, really good, and cost only slightly more than one mashed potato had on the menu of a nearby eatery; no joke. Then, our minds still boggling and our legs already starting to ache, Mike led us back to Broadway to see our show, where he said he would meet us later. It was time for our show, the thing we had been looking forward to for weeks, SPAMALOT...

   *sigh* It was really wonderful. It followed the movie 'Quest for the Holy Grail' just enough for all the Monty Python fans, but had so many new jokes and gags that it had us cracking up. And, I knew all of the songs. *smug* The Lady of the Lake had her Laker Girls, and helped Arthur and his knights on their quest for the Holy Grail. Arthur starts out on a mission with Patsey to find Knights for his round table, and he is first joined by Galahad, who has very nice hair and an eye for the ladies. Then Robin and Launcelot, and Bedevere join Arthur for a sing, "all for one", wherein the knights line up and place their hand on the shoulder of the knight before them. All except for Launcelot, who comes up and slides his arms around Robin; until he notices that's not what the other knights are doing.
    The French Guards were wickedly funny, as always, with a few new lines, insults, and a lot more rude noises thrown in for good measure, including rude signs from both sides of the big pond.   God, voiced by John Cleese, lands in the shape of a large pair of feet, his voice booming out from the clouds above them. After telling them he can't stand groveling ("Jesus Christ!"); and not to avert their eyes, he scolds them for looking up his skirt, whereupon they quickly avert their eyes again. Backup singers are dressed, among other things, as Dingo, Knights, nuns, and various not-dead people. Launcelot is slightly overenthusiastic with his killing, as always, but Herbert of Swamp Castle shows him who he really is inside, flashy, show-dancing, and quite gay. The sparkly sheild codpiece was also quite entertaining.
    All in all, the show was a wonderful time, very funny and a wonderful way to spend an evening. Anyone wanting a play-by-play will have to call me, so ha.

After the show, my Uber-cool and exceedingly tolerant godfather met us and toured us around some more, before we collapsed in his apartment in the midst of Harlem. Oddly enough, the buildings in that part of Harlem reminded me somewhat of the ones on Sesame Street, so I was having flashbacks of Grover and Big Bird as we were walking around at midnight, lol. His apartment was pretty cool; smallish, being in the city, but with ceilings any trapeeze artist would be proud to own.   Slightly recovered the next morning, we three went out for breakfast, walked about some more, and then Mike got us tickets to the Museum of Natural History. We said our goodbyes, and Mike invited me back up on any weekend I had off, so we could hang out. Mwa ha ha. Little does he know I plan to take him up on the offer, and soon he will grow sick of me! *insert evil laughter here* ...of course, I expect he will know once he reads this. See children? This is why evil genuises never post their nefarious plans on the web. You never know who might be reading.
   Dad and I tromped (well, it felt like tromping) around the museum, looking at dinosaur bones, Bhudda statues, ocean videos, and the exibit of giant bouncy-balls from around the world. It was seriously cool.    Once we could absorb no more scientific information for the day, we headed into central park in search of the Castle. Belvedere Castle is, in a word, cool. Built in the late 1800's, the pint-sized gothic castle is a lookout point and Observatory, with a gorgeous veiw of the park. It is built on a huge rise of bedrock, spots of which occur throughout the whole park and generally make it more lovely and interesting. It is built of the same kind of stone that it sits on, and appears to have grown from the rock itself, a natural form of the landscape.   After this, we caught the train back to my cousin's, to spend the night at my aunt's and uncle's house.

Oh, blast. It is getting late, and I have to surrender the laptop my cousin and her hubby have lent me, so I will end it here for the night and try to finish tomorrow. Farewell until then, my adoring fans... *princess wave* Hopefully this will satisfy my hordes for a while, anyway. ^_^ Love you all, and goodnight!

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:05:58 GMT

Hi everyone!

Where to begin?

Yesterday, my dad drove me down to the City, a seven plus hour trip. We met up with my cousin at her house, and her little girl, whom I will be the nanny for, sang and chatted to us the whole time and was very sweet and cute. Clearly this is all part of her clever scheme to take over the world, one person at a time. Cuteness Prevails!

My cousin drove my dad and I to the train station, where we took our first ever train to Grand Central Station. It was a very pretty ride while the light lasted, the train followed the Hudson for most of the way. Grand Central Station is exactly like it's name. We got off the train underground, of course, and came out into a low corridor made of concrete and metal, with a very sketchy painting job. I made a sarcastic comment, as I am wont to do, saying that I expected it to be slightly more 'grand'. well, I wasn't disappointed when we entered the upper floors, it was quite grand indeed. The ceiling in the main hall is huge, and painted with constellations, possibly to make up for the fact that you cannot see whole ones in the city itself. After a bit of wandering, we met my godfather and headed out.

What will happen next? Find out Next Week, on "blog of a Teenage Nanny"!

lol. Okay, not really, but I have to go right now, and I'll fill in more later.

ta ta!