Let's Reminisce with Tiff

Abby's birthday and Petunia's accident

2008-10-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody,

long time no post from me! The month of September was just basically focused on Abby's school and my work with the strange hours.

On the last week of Sept, we had a birthday party for Abby. She is now 9 years old! This was her first birthday party here in WV since we moved here. It was great to see Abby with her friends that she made over the year. My sister's family, some kids from her class, some from homeschooling group, and a couple of neighbors' kids came. No pictures because my computer still won't recognize the camera to upload!

Something awful happened the following week, on Thursday - October 3rd. Petunia's collar and the leash somehow got disconnected and she got away. I called her name, she looked at me but then went on sniffing other people's yard. I kept on calling her to come back to me but she was stubborn and wouldn't come on command. She started to walk further away from home, I followed her but she kept on going on. I was getting worried because she was getting closer to the busy road which is 2 blocks away from our house. By the time she was just one house away from the busy road, I started calling her name like crazy because I was afraid for her.

The next thing I knew, she was down on the road. I did not see the car hit her but I knew she was hit because she was down and she tried to get up but couldn't. That was an awful thing to see, and she cried and cried but as soon as she saw me, she stopped crying out and just gave me her saddest puppy eyes. I ran to her and saw that she couldn't move her back legs. There were some blood on her face, and on 3 of her legs. It just broke my heart. A lady from across the street came down and asked me if this dog was mine. I said "Yes, she's mine." I did not want to waste a minute, I wanted to take her to the vet right away. I asked the lady if she could hold Petunia while I go to get the car. She was a very nice lady, she sat down on the grass with her and waited for me. That was the hardest thing I had to do,...leaving her there. She looked at me and I said "I will be right back".

I ran all the way home and found Abby crying because she did not know where I was. I went to grab my keys but couldn't find my money for the vet. I was frantically searching for my credit card or bank card but couldn't find it. Abby was still upset about me "disappearing" and asked me a lot of questions. I told her to get in the car, but she kept on asking me why did I leave, why did I not tell her that I was going outside, etc. I was still trying to find my money finally I stopped and looked at her and said "Petunia was hit by a car." Abby got very upset and cried again because she thought Petunia was dead. I told her that she is alive but very hurt. I just gave up looking for my money and left because I wanted to get Petunia to the vet ASAP.

The drive to the vet was the longest drive I have had to do because it was just so hard to see Petunia being in pain while I'm trying my best to hurry to the vet. Abby said that she was growling, and whining at the same time or back and forth. Two nurses at the vet carried her in right away and we stayed for 3 hours to wait for the pain medicine to kick in before they could do an X-ray. They said that they have to pull the legs to do the X-ray but Petunia was obviously in too much pain for them to do that so that's why they waited which is a good thing. That shows that this Vet's team of staff really cared for Petunia.

They finally got the X-ray and showed it to me, her pelvis was broken in 2 places. Her whole left side of the pelvis was shifted down. They said that she can't have puppies because they could get stuck in the left side if she were to get pregnant. We will have to schedule for her to get spayed next year because right now, all we can focus on is her recovery. They said that they don't put a cast on broken pelvis, it have to be healed on its own! The vet said that it takes about 6 to 8 weeks for it to heal.

We brought her back home that night and she growled and whined the whole night. The next morning, my brother-in-law came over to help me take her outside to relieve herself. We used a towel and put it underneath her stomach and held both ends up like a "pulley" to lift up her back end so that she could walk on her front legs. (The nurses at the vet taught me that) She wagged her tail when we took her outside. The 2nd time around, I asked a neighbor to help me do that for the evening bathroom time. By the 3rd time, I was able to do it myself with Abby's help. After one week, she started walking on her own without the towel's support but very limited because her back legs were weak. She can walk on the grass but not on my hardwood floors, she slipped and fell down. She couldn't get up and I did not want to see that happen ever again! So, I went to the basement and took two floor rugs, and all of the colorful "puzzle" mats to put it on the floors from the living room to the front door.

The car hit her left side of the body but I didn't understand how her face got hurt. The vet said that she fell flat on her face after being hit and that made sense. Now, because of that, she can't chew food and still can't today - 2 weeks later. I try dog food kibbles everyday but she just can't so I am feeding her the canned moist food so that she could lick it. She won't eat it unless I am sitting by her and holding the bowl near her face. I've been feeding her like this for 2 weeks, just right besides her.

For the first 2 weeks, she have not been able to lay down comfortably. She just finds a corner where she leans her body against the wall and keep her head up with her front legs straight. I try to help her lay down but she refuse to move her legs down. I called the vet a couple of times and she said to just wait, she will eventually lay down when she can. I just feel bad for her because she can't really sleep "deep" because of that. She starts to fall asleep and then her front legs starts to collapse but then she wakes up and straighten up again. I have been trying many, many different ways to help her lay down by putting pillows around her, blankets, couch cushions, and all that. I tried different set ups, and etc. finally 2 days ago I found an arrangement that made her lay down for the first time.

I hope now that she is finally sleeping laying down that she will be recovering faster than the first 2 weeks with the much needed rest. I took her to the vet on Wednesday for the 2 weeks follow-up. She said that Petunia is recovering well for her type of injury at 2 weeks. They want to see her again in a month.

Oh by the way, the nurse asked if I was willing to pay for the X-ray and I told her that I couldn't find my money in time but that I would come back and pay the next day. She said no, but then she went to ask the vet and I am soooo glad that I have a nice vet because she said yes! She knows me from my 3 cats and Petunia, and that I always bring them in for their vaccinations, check-ups so she knows that I will pay. It cost me $450! Oh well, it had to be done. I think Petunia will be okay eventually, it will just take time.

Back to School, my new job and today!

2008-08-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Abby's first day back to school after one year of homeschooling. She's enrolled in a private school where they have only 9 kids in her class.
I don't know what she's doing here...my sister took all these pictures. I couldn't be there for her first day of school cuz I was at my new job at the time. Being silly, I guess! Abby sitting outside with her cousins - ready to go to school!
Kids playing around : )
On the way to school!

After school, I went to pick her up and asked her all about her first day. She said that one boy in her class likes Pokemon, just like her. There's only 3 girls in her class including her, and 6 boys. Her teacher wants Abby to teach the class some sign language. So far, she has taught the kids "hi, bye, and I want a cookie" haha. She also told me that they played an awesome math game that she really loved. (For a girl who hates math...that's pretty good!!)

I see that I haven't added anything to this blog for almost 3 months...the whole summer! I've been busy for most of June and part of July just playing outside, taking Abby to swim with friends or by ourselves at a nearby community pool, or simply in our backyard with water balloons and neighbor kids. Also for two full weeks, Abby had her 2 best friends stay with us and Abby really enjoyed having them here. She was very sad to see them go back home and asked me if we could move closer to them. They live in Frederick, MD which is 4 hours from here.

Another reason why I've not blogged is because my camera is now considered as a foreign object every time I try to upload pictures on my computer! I don't know what happened!?!? So I have no pictures to show on my blog! You see the photos of Abby's first day of school because that's from my sister's camera and she e-mailed me those pix.

Then in mid-July, I applied for a job at Pressley Ridge and got the job! You can check out the website...http://www.pressleyridge.org/about/ Between July and now, I've been training like crazy! I like working, but I just wish I could work during the hours that Abby is in school. Right now, I work the owl shift...overnight and I get off at 8am but don't get home till 9am cuz it's one hour from home. Some days, I don't get to leave work till 9:30am or so but it just depends on what happens each morning.

Anyway, it's Thursday and I'm off from work so I took Abby to school this morning with Petunia in the back seat. After I dropped Abby off, I took Petunia to the nearest playground to see if there's any walking trails for us. As soon as I got out of the car, Petunia jumped out and ran! I was afraid that she'll get out of the park and get hit by a car so I chased her! I love bicycling, rollerblading, swimming, but NOT running and she got me running! I ran after her for a while as she was zigzagging all over the park! Thank goodness, there's nobody at the park...it was 8am! She crouched down to take care of her nature call and I took that opportunity to step on the leash before she could escape from me! We walked around the park and there wasn't much of a walking trail so we just stayed there for a little while.

Then I saw a huge dog that was free and it was about 50-100 feet away or whatever, and Petunia saw it as it was looking at her so I was waiting for one of them to start barking but neither one of them did. They just stood STILL and stared at each other but then I noticed its' tail...it was not a dog but a deer! The deer was trying to get out of the park but couldn't find her way out cuz of the fence all around and she was banging her head on the fence trying to break it. I didn't want it to come towards us and hit us with her head so I thought it was time to go home.

Today was our first attempt in finding a walking trail...if anybody knows of one that is in my town, please tell me! I know there's one in Tom Run Park but with my hourly commute to and from work, I'm tight with gas! So I want something local where I could take Petunia for a long walk without worrying about cars.

Cell phone making kernels pop!

2008-06-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hey there, a blog showed 3 very short video clips of cell phones popping kernels. Can't believe it? Check it out! Scary to think about what cell phones could do to our bodies!! Here's the link below...

http://www.earofmyheart.com/wordpress/2008/06/07/deafies-careful-where-you-point-your-pagers/

Kings Dominion, hot weather, and more!

2008-06-07T03:43:00.000-07:00

Our puppy will be ONE year old in July! She loves being outside playing catch. She will catch whatever we throw...but she won't give it back to us!! She chews EVERYTHING that she can get her paws on. We still have to make sure there is nothing on the floor or near her reach! We have KONG toys for her, they are indestructible. She have one KONG that is for dental purpose where she can chew on it, 2 KONG that I can fill up with treats and she LOVES them, then a new KONG toy for playing catch outside. You can see the new toy in mid-air.

It have been very HOT for the last few days, up in the 80's, 90's! Even this morning at 5am! Wondering why I was up that early? My alarm clock malfunctioned and went off exactly at 5:00am! Wait...how can an alarm clock wake up a profoundly deaf person like me??? It vibrates and flashes the lamp on and off repeatedly till I get up and turn it off. I couldn't go back to sleep, so I decided to take the trash out while it was supposedly cool but I was surprised it was already hot! The Sun was not even out, the sky was blue and pink! Wow. I want to go out to the store and buy one of those plastic kiddie swimming pool just for the puppy to jump in and cool off if she wanted to. She will, she LOVES the water when Abby plays with the sprinkler or the hose.

Last Friday, Abby and I went to Frederick, MD to stay there for the weekend with Abby's best friend and her sister. Saturday morning, we left very early to go to Kings Dominion which is 2 hours from Frederick. Abby, Jovanna, her older sister Monique and her best friend, Bri all rode in the back of the SUV while the girls' mom and I chatted up in the front. Bri brought her laptop for the 4 girls to watch a movie, and then take some pix like these below! They sure had lots of fun on the way to the amusement park.

Now these pictures below were taken by my sister. She took Abby with her family to feed a horse, and 2 dogs. They are hoping to do this every week with the kids because they really enjoyed doing that. Kade and Abby looking back at the photographer. (Every time I try to upload the pix of the kids with the horse, this is the pix that shows up below..no idea why?)

Yesterday, we went to McDonald's to eat dinner and then play outside. Unfortunately, it's the only restaurant with an outdoors playground that we know of! We ate inside first cuz it was hot outside! You can see all 3 kids smiling, I thought they were really cute!

Oh, at Kings Dominion, they have an annual Deaf Day where lots of deaf people traveled from afar (most within 2-4 hours radius) to meet with old friends for fun with families. There were sign language interpreters at the ticket booths, at the plays/ musicals, and all that. Abby and I have been going there for several years, and I told her that even after we moved to West Virginia that we would still make plans to go every year. We call it our "summer kick off" because it always happens on the first Saturday of June but this time it was on May 31st.

(I just found out that the nearest amusement park to us now is Kennywood, and they have a Deaf day too.)

Anyway, we went straight to the water park first because it was already very hot when we arrived. We got there before the gates opened, so we were concerned that we wouldn't get a place to sit down because there a big crowd waiting right by the waterpark. We made it and got to sit down by the lazy river and that was the first ride the 4 girls chose! Kim and I took turns accompanying the girls on the rides (we didn't ride them because both of us can't...but we just stood in lines w/ them or waited at the exit for them). Anyway, so when it was Kim's turn to go w/ them, I laid down on the chair and read a book I borrowed from the library. I was NOT facing the Sun, but I still got seriously sunburned! We left about an hour before the park closed and got back to Frederick after 11pm. We were all EXHAUSTED!

The next day, I thought I couldn't walk due to the sunburn! OUCH! I took Abby and the 2 sisters to the swimming pool and they had fun while I stayed in the SHADE under the umbrella and went on to finish the book. I proceed to start the 2nd book that I brought but then the girls told me they heard thunder so we all went back inside. I am still trying to finish that book but still getting interrupted every now and then. Abby was sad to leave Frederick and asked if we could move there.

Most people who live in D.C., either at or near Gallaudet University, are not there to stay. They go there for college and then move away either back to their hometown or to a new place where a career awaits them. When we moved away last August, we did not know where Jovanna's family would be after her mom graduates from GU. Well, she just graduated last month! It looks like they might live in Frederick, MD after all so that's why Abby wants to move there. I just told her that it's easier to visit Frederick because it is one hour closer to us! Washington D.C. is approx. 5 hours from us plus traffic guaranteed! Also Jovanna's birthday is coming up and we're hoping that we can make it back there for that.

Fishing

2008-05-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken on our first time visiting the state park which is less than 20 minutes from home. We've been there a few times now that it's one of Abby's favorite places!

She caught a fish on her first day here, a Blue Gill.
She would rather to spend her whole day by the water than the playground that you can see

Here, Abby is showing us how to throw it in the water. She was really worried about getting the hook on me as she kept on asking me to move!

Playing baseball

2008-05-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago at my sister's in-law's backyard. Uncle Mike helped Abby on how to hold a baseball and then pitched for her and she hit a few. It's been very warm since we got back home from DC, so we've been outside almost everyday. Three of my 6 "kids" are always begging to go outside...my daughter, my dog, and my white cat!

Today, "Winter" the white cat, was outside but wouldn't respond to me when I called her because there were several men outside working with loud tools. She was afraid so I had to walk around the block to search for "Winter" and finally found her! I'm not ready to leave her out all day because she has been inside with me since last October when we found her as a stray, so I just let her out for an hour or so.

Last week, I finally purchased a car! I was going crazy being without transportation for 4 months! If I lived in DC without a car, it wouldn't be a problem because they have plenty of public transportation such as metro, city bus, train, and etc. Not here except for when I borrowed my sister's truck, or when she would come to pick me up for shopping or church. My friend, Carrie also helped out by taking us to the gym for Abby's PE classes and shopping. THANKS a bunch for your help!!

The day after we got our car, we went to Carrie's new house! Abby loved it there, and she was also glad to see her friends, finally! Today, we went to my sister's house for a bonfire and we had lots of fun! Abby asked if 2 girls could come and spend the night with her, and of course, I said sure! It's Friday, so why not?

I better go to bed but wanted to post something really quick to catch up!

Last night

2008-04-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've been in Washington D.C. for the last several days, staying at a friend's apartment. I am babysitting 2 kids, and 2 Pit Bull dogs! I will post photos when I get back home from this trip. They're really cute dogs, Mack is 3 years old and Angel is 4 months old. Abby loves them so much that she is always anxious to get back to the apartment after we drop off 2 girls at school.

Pit Bull dogs are known for biting people, animals and killing them by locking their bite right on the neck. That is because they were taught that, or mistreated when they were growing up. Not the 2 dogs that we are caring for, they are so sweet! They love to sleep with me every night! We will miss them when we leave tomorrow.

Anyway, last night I drove the 3 girls to a shopping center right across the street from the apartment. We usually walk there, but this time we had to drive because it was literally POURING!!!

We needed to buy some band-aids because one of the girls got a scratch at the playground. We've been at 2 different playgrounds almost everyday because of the NICE weather the whole time we were here except for the day we arrived.

When I was driving, I saw white stuff flying around and I was shocked and said "WHAT?!?!?! It's snowing!?" At first, I thought it was flurries but wasn't sure because they looked too big to be snow, so I thought maybe hail but they didn't look like it. It was hard to tell with the pouring rain in the dark so I stared on the road in front of me and tried to figure out what were flying around and landing on the road. Monique laughed at me and said "Cherry Blossoms!"

AHA! Yes, it is the season for the Cherry Blossoms and it's big in Washington D.C. You can see a picture of Abby with Cherry Blossoms from last year, it is on the right side of this blog. I haven't taken any pictures of this year. Maybe I will tomorrow morning before we leave, if I remember to do it!

Firefighter's Demo

2008-04-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

Today, after church, we went to a center where they had an "expo" type of thing inside the building from all kinds of places like different businesses in the town and nearby.

Outside, there was a big orange jumping thing for kids, and a mobile home that you can see below. It's a firefighter "demo" home with a kitchen and 2 bedrooms. First, we all went into the kitchen and the firefighter talked to the kids about safety in there with the stove, oven, toaster, and etc. He showed us that there was a pizza box in the oven which will eventually start a "fire".

We went into the middle room and talked for a while, I have no idea what he said. I was in there holding my niece and with my Abby, and their cousins. Anyway, we went into the last room and the fire alarm went off so the firefighter told all the kids to touch the door first before opening the door, it was warm and there was a little smoke. We all crawled (except me, I walked on my knees cuz I had little Tara with me).

We were back in the middle room, and the firefighter asked us to feel the door, and it was hotter. He asked the kid in the front to open the door a little, and when he did, we saw a lot of smoke so he shut it closed.

We all turned around and went out the window! There's a video of Abby and other kids climbing out of the window : ) After we all got out, we ran around to the front to call 911.
From right to left: Abby, Kade, Tara, and a boy.
Inside the building, there was a table with all different kinds of bottles like Sunny Delight, Apple Juice, and etc that showed how much sugar was literally in that certain bottle. I took a picture of this Coca-Cola cuz that's what I drink sometimes! I prefer tea and I know I don't put that much sugar in my cup, whew!
Abby calling 911

I'm trying to get all 6 kids in the picture, so far I got almost 4 in this one.
Finally, I got all of them! You see the little boy, my only nephew! He wants to be a firefighter when he grows up!

Abby wanted to sleep over at her friend's house Saturday, so she did. Today, she went to church with them and borrowed her friend's clothes. After church, we all met at this place that had a "festival" for the town. I've never seen her so dressed up in shoes like those!

Now the video of kids climbing out of the room.

Nice outside again!

2008-04-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Petunia likes playing tug-a-war
Both of those girls loves sitting on the grass and just relax.

This little one stayed inside most of the time! She just started walking not long ago but still crusing. She's my brother-in-law's cousin's daugther, so cute! They visited from OhioKade and Abby on the see-saw

Bunches of kids on the trampoline, can you see Abby signing to me? She is saying "water!"
Petunia running, but you should have seen her in the basement. She ran super fast! She needs a fence so she can run faster outside in our backyard!

GPS and the Deaf?

2008-04-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hey DeafRead! I need your help!

I am ready to spend some money on a GPS because I am always getting lost. I am terrible with directions. The last time I got lost was last month in downtown Pittsburgh. I was driving and trying to read my mapquest papers in the dark and watching where I was driving at the same time. I missed the turn so I had to turn around but I couldn't make an U-turn because you know...downtown! One way streets, buses all over, people walking, many intersections, and the street signs sometimes aren't there!

Anyway, I am planning to go to Washington D.c. this weekend and I really want to have a GPS this time! I am tired of printing out mapquest directions, I've been doing that for too long!

My dad loves his GPS, and he said that it talks to him and tells him where his next turn will be in advance! There are many different kinds of GPS out there, with different features.

That is where you guys come in...I really need you to tell me which GPS you use and why you love it? I don't want to buy a GPS that talks because I am profoundly deaf, so which GPS do you think will work for me? Thanks in advance for any feedback, tips, reviews, etc!!

Have a great weekend!

Birthday party with bird feeder!

2008-03-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

Pictures are posted in NO order, I wish I could but I'm still learning how to do it on this blog.

This is a picture of my sister with the kids making bird feeders with pine cones. What a way to begin Spring!! We're anxious to hang ours tomorrow (we got home tonight after dark).

The girls beginning to ham up for the camera!
My sister drew this picture of Tigger! She's been a great artist since she was a kid!
Dinner at Flora's house which was taken few days ago, remember...I don't know how to post pictures in the proper order!!!???
My sister was taking turns taking a bite, then giving her little girl, Tara, a bite (cake). However, every time Danielle took a bite, this is what Tara does. Cute, huh?
One of our most recent spontaneous moments together. She saw a bag of potatoes and asked if I knew how to make french fries from scratch. Well, I went and looked it up and it turned out great. Not so healthy, I'm guilty!
This is a box that my sister painted and cut out holes for kids to throw balls through. They had lots of fun with this box all day long!
Aww, Abby with her little cousin who just celebrated her 2nd birthday party today.
The kids went outside for a "hike", and it was too cold for me. I almost went cuz I thought my sister was going to be the only adult out there but then her hubby and sister-in-law went outside so I was off the hook, right?

Philip with his daugther, Tara

Sophia
Kade
Tara
All the kids giving Uncle Philip a new hairdo!

Tara signing! She signed "I'm two!"

Outside!

2008-03-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Abby with my neighbor's dog, Rosco.

Abby blowing bubbles with Petunia.

Too cold for me, but not for Abby so I was videotaping through kitchen door window.

Abby with Petunia, our 7 months old lab.

I finally went outside to do a close up!.

Spring is here...or is it??

2008-03-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Spring is here finally! I have been seeing birds everywhere for the last several days! I don't have a tree in my yard, but my next door neighbor has one in her backyard. There are many birds living in that tree, and they're all black birds, the ones you usually see in a big number. On our the walks with Petunia, we are seeing those birds with orange chests. Petunia is very interested in them, always watching them and very alert!

There are 2 nests in my awning by my front door/ porch. If anyone of you have experience with this, please tell me what I should do! I don't want them there because of their droppings on my porch!! Someone told me to move them, but they are warm and "at home" in those nests, I don't want to disrupt them. Anybody have advice?????

I need to learn the names of the birds because I'm going to be teaching Abby about classifications of insects, rocks, plants, birds, and etc in home school soon!

Today, it has been very sunny and beautiful all day. I let Petunia out several times, on a leash-line that is 20 feet long. That will work for now till I get a fence installed sometimes before the summer.

All of the windows in my house are covered with curtains because of my Chiari Malformation which causes hypersensitivity to bright light. The only window that has nothing on it happens to be my door in the kitchen. I can handle it because the sun rises and sets from the front of my house to the back of my house, but the kitchen door is on the side.

Anyway, I am not 100% comfortable with leaving Petunia outside by herself on the leash-line in fear that she could wiggle out of her collar or something so I'm always watching her through that window. More than two times today I saw this....

Flurries!

(Originally, I tried to post a video clip of Petunia playing in the snow, but this blog spot won't let me post it for some reason. When I showed the clip to Abby, she said "What are those white spots on Petunia?") Snow! They're not staying on the ground or anything, just flurries flying along with the wind.

Since I can't post the video, I am showing you the picture of my neighbor's backyard with the tree. You can see her Basset Hound, Rosco. He's so sweet and likes Petunia even though she's overly hyper! I'm hoping that Petunia will calm down pretty soon so that the two of them can play together when the weather gets warmer. Petunia is bigger than Rosco, so I worry about her smothering him or something, ha. She likes him too, she gets excited to see him!

Let's hope the warm weather comes SOON!

Good Morning America and Marlee Matlin, KDES, MSSD

2008-03-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

http://blog.deafread.com/mishkazena/2008/03/24/good-morning-america-today-marlee-matlin-and-mssd-performing-arts-company/

I found this blog from deafread and it has a link where you can see today's clip of Good Morning America with Marlee Matlin about Dancing with Stars. They also showed some clips of deaf children from KDES dancing on stage, and high school deaf kids from MSSD dancing too.

I missed the show this morning, it starts at 7am! Impossible for me!

So I was glad that someone found the clip and posted it on deafread, now I can see it. Only problem is that it's not closed captioned, but you can at least see some people signing so I was able to follow the show somehow.

When I lived at Gallaudet, I lived at the KDES apartment complex which is on the 4th floor but right below us was the KDES elementary school. I went there many times for my education major courses to observe classes, teachers, and etc. I also went there to pick up kids for my friends who were either stuck at work or in class. Most important of all, some of these kids used to hang out with Abby. It was really great to see some of these kids on the show!

Check out the link and watch the show!

Survey

2008-03-20T10:56:00.003-07:00

I got an e-mail with a survey from my sister. I thought, why not post it on my blog. I used to do that kind of stuff all the time on www.myspace.com but I don't visit that site as much anymore.

name- Tiffany
1. Name someone who made you smile today? Abby, she was excitedly telling me all about why we should make a smoothie on our own versus following a recipe. A creative gal!

2. What were you doing at 8:00 this morning? Turning over in my bed to avoid the sunlight from my window so I could go back to sleep!

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? I was at my neighbor's house and realized I forgot something so I ran back home and saw another neighbor at my front door. She had an huge Easter basket for Abby! That was very sweet of her, so we exchanged phone numbers and chatted some more. Then I ran back to my next door's house and saw their cute little boy with a big smile!

4. Name something that happened to you in 2000? Abby and I flew to Texas to be in my best friend's wedding! Abby was 12 months old at that time.

5. When is your birthday? June 21st, officially the first day of Summer!

6. Four words to explain why you last threw up? flu after a date

7. What color is your hairbrush? Navy blue

8. What was the last thing you bought? dinner at McDonald's with my sister and her kids, Tues.

9. Where do you keep your money? in my wallet

10. What was the weather like today? sunny but chilly : (

11. Where did your last hug take place? in the kitchen

12. What are you excited about? The warmer weather

13. Do you want to cut your hair? yes, but not yet

14. Are you over the age of 25? yup

15. Do you talk a lot? too much

16. Do you watch The O.C.? no interest whatsoever.

17. Does your screen name have an "x" in it? no

18. Do you know anyone named Kelsey? no

19. Do you make up your own words? yes, to make Abby laugh

20. Are you ticklish? Yes, but Abby can't seem to find the ticklish spots so I pretend to be : )

21. Are you typically a jealous person? Sometimes if I see other moms make their kids obey with ease!

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter "C": Cindy

23. Who's the last person to call you? unknown, he/she hung up

24. Do you chew on your straws? sometimes

25. Do you have curly hair? never have, my sister and Abby both had curls as toddlers, but they grew out.

26. What is the next concert you're going to? None

27.Where did you go today? No car, so I went to my next door by foot.

28. What is something you say a lot? "Abby come here!"

29. Have you seen the movie I am Legend? Not yet, will wait for Netflix for the subtitles.

30. Do you have to work tomorrow? Taking care of the Abby, Petunia and homeschooling

31. Who was the last person you said "I love you" to? Abby

32. What should you be doing right now? DECLUTTERING

33. Do you have a nickname? Tiff / mommy / Aunt Tiffany

34. Are you a heavy sleeper? Yes

35. What are you listening to? Literally nothing.

36. What is the best movie you've seen in the past two weeks? Evan Almighty, it was funny

37. What are you reading? Harry Potter, the first book, with Abby

38. When was the last time you did the dishes? Last night, started the dishwasher

39. Did you cry today? Nope

2008-03-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

Marlee Matlin did a great job tonight! She came in 3rd place with a score of 22 out of 30! Kristi came in first, and then Priscilla came in 2nd. I personally think that Kristi did awesome and it is probably from all the years of figure skating. She said that it doesn't even compare because she isn't used to dancing with pointing toes from wearing high heels, and keeping her legs straight. Priscilla came out in the public eye after many years of hiding for privacy. Some people thought that the judges should have not said anything about her age, but they did. She did pretty good, and did a sprial on the floor which was a great way to earn better scores. I really enjoyed watching all the 6 stars dancing!

Now the audience have a chance to vote and then next week on Monday, we will see who got the most votes.

All 12 stars will be dancing on Monday night, and then at the end, two stars with the lowest scores/ votes will be sent home. I hope that Marlee stays!

Ladies' Turn Tonight!

2008-03-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched the "Dancing with the Stars", and they said that the men stars dances on Monday and the women stars dances on Tuesday. So, that means tonight is the night that we will get to see Marlee Matlin dance. It will be on ABC at 9pm tonight.

The men stars all came from different backgrounds, a NFL football player, a magician, a radio show host, a matchmaker, an actor, and a R & B singer. I enjoyed watching the show, learning about the stars, and seeing how the judges rated them. The R & B singer is the youngest person on this show, 21 years old. I personally liked his dancing the best of all the men, he had an advantage because he already knew some moves. The other 5 men never danced before! They did their best and got some tips from the judges for their next dance, next week.

There was also some clips of the women stars talking about their dances, and about the competition, etc. Marlee said, "Read my hips!", then did some moves with her hips. I thought that was funny because people are always asking the deaf people, "Can you read lips?" I'm looking forward to watching all the ladies dance tonight including Marlee Matlin, (an actress) and I recognize only a couple other ladies who will be dancing...Priscilla Presley (you all know her, right?) and Kristi Yamaguchi (a figure skater). The rest of them: a tennis player, a TV actress, and a Broadway star.

Let's enjoy the show!

Dancing with the Stars - tonight

2008-03-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

Marlee Matlin, who is a deaf actress, will be on this show as one of the dancers. I've never seen this show before, but I'm going to watch it tonight because of Matlin. I'm interested to see how it goes. I love to watch people dance so I'm surprised that I've never watched this show!? Well, probably because it's on TV, but I prefer movies. It's gonna be at 8pm on ABC, so check it out!

http://usatoday.com/life/television/news/2008-02-18-dancing-with-the-stars_N.htm?imw=Y

Updates

2008-03-10T17:11:00.001-07:00

I still haven't recieved the collar from Cesar Millan's website yet. I'm hoping that it'll arrive tomorrow! Since Thursday, it snowed for 3 days on and off, so there's snow on the ground once again. On Friday, everything was ICY including the mailbox! I couldn't open it, and couldn't lift the flag at all because there was like 1 inch of ice all around it. It was all frozen, and there were alot of icicles hanging off my front door's awning that I bumped my head into cuz they were like 20 inches long! All the phone lines, cable lines, and etc were all hanging low from the ice.

Then on Saturday, the sun came out and melted most of the ice off except for the snow on the ground. Every step I made, it would crack into blocks which was cool cuz I liked the way it felt (crunch crunch).

Of course, Petunia was so happy to be outside in this cold weather! Pulling me like crazy as usual. I almost slipped but didn't fall down, whew. It was very cold, I forgot my scarf and my ears hurt! I walked with Petunia for 15 minutes which is an improvement from 10 minutes. I truly hope that with the new collar, I can start walking for half hour like Cesar suggested!

Today, Petunia made a breakthrough! She did NOT jump on my sister or on her kids at all. Yay! I'm so proud of her!

Abby and I are both trying to train her to "stay" and to "give" whatever she has in her mouth. She's still a puppy, so she's chewing EVERYTHING she finds. If she knows that she have something in her mouth that shouldn't be there, she will NOT come to me when I call her name. Just like a toddler sometimes, if they found something "forbidden" and then will run away from mommy. That's exactly what Petunia does when I see her chewing something!

Let's see if the collars arrives tomorrow!! Please, please do!!!

Cesar's Way

2008-03-06T16:00:00.001-08:00

I read the book, "Cesar's Way" by Cesar Millan and I really liked it. He started the book by explaining where he grew up, how he learned about dogs, and how he got where he is now. Then he started to explain about dogs' psychology, and about how dogs function in a pack with one pack leader. We, the owners, should be the pack leader but often the problems that Americans have with their dogs is because they're not being the leader but letting their dogs do whatever they wanted!

First, I have never heard of him till last October, when I went to visit a good friend of mine in Maryland. She bought his book, and his DVD and asked me to watch the the DVD with her. I was pretty impressed with what I saw because Cesar was able to fix the problems within the hour!

His most important advice for the owners was to exercise the dogs by taking them out for a long walk, preferably 30-45 minutes. He said that it's very calming for them, however some people substitute exercise with playing fetch, tug-a-war, or whatever but it doesn't work because playing is excitement. Also during those walks, the dog must be either behind or besides the owner because that shows his/her position as the pack follower while the owner is the pack leader.

Now with that said, Petunia is still hyper as ever. She still jumps on me, and she gets all excited when she sees other dogs or people on our walks. We haven't mastered the proper way to walk yet, as she's still pulling me and always in front of me. It drives me crazy! I have already tried 4 different kinds of collars, but they all fall on the base of the shoulders and bottom of the neck. According to Cesar, that's their strongest point which is why it's so easy for them to pull their owners!

On the days that it snows, Petunia is even more hyper because she LOVES the snow. She pulled me across my backyard for like 5 feet when I fell down. She is able to pull my weight! I have a scab on my knee from several weeks ago and it's still hurts when I kneel down to do something.

Today, there was NO snow, no ice on the streets or sidewalks, nothing that could cause me to slip or fall. I thought that it would be a good day to train her to walk properly but again, she pulled me like crazy. It was not enjoyable at all, I was fed up!

I decided to go back on the website of Cesar Millan's and order his collar, because if that 5Th collar doesn't work then I'll have to hire a personal trainer or something! I truly hope that this special collar will work!!!!!!!!

When it arrives, I'll let you know if it really works.

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/products/i-collar.php

Barely online!

2008-03-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

The previous owners sent me some pictures of Petunia when she was such a little puppy, so cute! I have no idea when these pix were taken, or how old she was in those pix. She's 7 mo. now, and we got her on Feb. 1st. Her birthday is in July. She is not that small anymore, she's already 5o lbs now.

I can barely stay online for more than five minutes because of Petunia! She is still a puppy, but according to the several books that I've been reading, she's now starting her teenager years.

For example, I just typed the first 2 sentences above and before I was able to type the word, "teenager", I was interuppted by Petunia. She came to me and nudged her nose under my arm. That's a big improvement, she usually jumps on me and scratch my arm! I'm trying to teach her that jumping on people is not acceptable, ever. I wasn't sure what she wanted but then at the same time Abby asked me for lunch. I decided to just toast bread instead of grilling them to make grilled cheese sandwich for her. While I was in the kitchen, I turned on my camera to see if it's working. At the exact same time I said to Petunia to sit so I could take a picture of her, the toaster popped up. She was startled. Now she is nervous every time I say "sit"! Poor thing.

I'll give her few minutes and try "sit" again and hopefully she'll be ok with it.

I was able to take few pictures of Petunia, the first time ever since Feb. 1st! My camera is acting up and will turn on only if it wants to. Now it won't turn on for me to upload those pix for this blog. However, you still got to see some pix from the previous owner. I got a few more from her and I'll add them in the next blog or so.

I gotta go -

Brief Hiatus

2008-02-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hey there,

Sorry about the 15 days' hiatus, I've been busy! First of all, we got a new puppy! I saw a post on the "freecycle" website in my town. A lady was giving away a 6 months old black lab.

We wanted a puppy eventually, but I was planning on getting one in the spring. I talked to a friend of mine at Gallaudet, who got a new puppy last summer, about training him to use the bathroom, etc. She told me that she had to watch him very closely, and take him out every 45 minutes, then every one hour and continue to add to the time as he was able to hold it in longer. When I learned that I would have to do the same thing in the beginning, I decided to wait till spring time so that I wouldn't have to take the puppy out so often in the cold weather.

Well...guess what, I am going outside every hour now and it's pretty cold up here! Today was actually warm for me at 37 degrees with snow on the ground. Several days ago, it was at 18 degrees with wind chill making it feel like zero degrees. I did not like going out every hour during those days, but I had to! It also has been snowing for few days but not today, the snow is still on the ground. Abby have already sled in our backyard for 3 days straight. She LOVES it. The puppy loves being outside in the snow! She's so wild, running around and eating snow. Labs are originally from Canada which is what I just learned recently from another friend of mine.

I knew that I had to get her because labs are known to be the best kind of dogs for families with kids. I used to babysit for a family who had a black lab and she was so wonderful! I've known her for 6 years, and she never barked, growled, or bitten anyone. When Abby was a baby, she crawled over the dog's whole body while she was sleeping but she didn't care. Then when Abby was learning to walk, she accidently stepped on the dog's tail, her head would pop up to see what was happening but then just get up and move to another place to sleep!

Now I am noticing the something about our new puppy! She likes to follow me EVERYWHERE and I feel bad for her when I'm in my cleaning frenzy bceause I'm going back and forth all over the house, 2 story plus the basement. I have 2 bedrooms, an office, game room which is also our homeschooling room, living room, kitchen, the hallway/foyer and I have to count that one because it gets messy with all the gloves, boots, and whatever I dump there when I come in the house like mail, etc., basement, laundry room, and the guest room.

The guest room used to be simple with a bed and a futon but now it's our "dumping" room because our puppy likes to CHEW! Everything that she will chew, we have to throw them in the guest room to keep them out of her reach.

She likes to chew cardboard, stuffed animals, plastic toys, shoes, our 2 rugs, wood, pencils, pens, crayons, basically anything that she's forbidden to chew,...she wants them! Our guest room is now filling up with all these things listed above!

I already bought her 2 KONG toys which are supposed to be something that dogs can't destroy. I read the reviews on those toys and many dog owners raved on how wonderful they were because they lasted long, their dogs spent hours chewing on them, and so on. Guess what, our puppy doesn't chew on them for hours, only for 10 minutes! She also have many toys like rope to play tug-a-war with us, balls to fetch, a bone to chew on but she's interested in it only for a short time, few others, and squeaky toys too.

She's really cute, she loves to play alot so we go to the basement and she runs around playing fetch with us. She is just a big baby! I am unable to upload pictures. Something is wrong with the features on this blog!!!

On another note, I'm homeschooling Abby and preparing her for the test coming up in April. In the state of WV, the law for homeschooling is to inform the school board with a letter (notice of intent) in the beginning of the school year. Then on June 30th, we are required to provide test scores, or a portfolio summary for the school board. Originally I wanted to do a portfolio but I haven't found a certified teacher to review Abby's school work. So I went ahead and paid for the test which costs $35.00.

During this process, I learned that there are 75 kids in our county who are being homeschooled. I thought that was a big number for this little town! Especially since I haven't met very many homeschooling families. There are only 10 kids in Abby's PE class that meets once a week. Last semester, there were 18 kids but some of those kids commuted from Pittsburgh or nearby areas, not from our town.

I think I am more nervous about the test than Abby is! I explained to her about taking a test, and she said "Mommy, that's fine. It will be easy, I will do just fine." That's a great positive attitude!

I better get going, I am planning on painting a portion of our living room wall with a special paint that will make it turn into a chalk blackboard. I am looking forward to using it for homeschooling on school days. Then whenever my nephew and niece, or friends' little kids comes over, they can play with chalks on that wall!

Keep warm!

P.S. please excuse my misspellings because the spellcheck is not working!

PepsiCo's deaf commercial will air on Sunday superbowl!

2008-01-31T22:29:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to tell you that there will be a commercial during the Super Bowl on Sunday that will show two deaf men communicating with each other in ASL! What is even better, they will show one of the deaf community's well-known jokes! I think that it's great they will be bringing awareness to the deaf culture in a positive light.

Check out the link below, CNN wrote a report on this commercial out of ten commercials that they chose to make reports on.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/news/0801/gallery.super_bowl/8.html

New Challenge

2008-01-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

I can't believe it's already the end of Jan. I feel like Feb. crept up on me!

This morning, I read a post on a homeschooling yahoo group and somebody said something about a challenge where you commit to making something a day. Anything. Knit, crochet, draw, bake, cook, craft, painting, or whatever. I went and checked it out, and it sounds like fun. The only requirement is that you make something, and you document it on their site. The best part about it is that it doesn't have to be big, they said just spend 20 minutes on it, no more than an hour. Tonight is the last day to register, by midnight.

Considering my struggles with sticking to something as a commitment...I thought I'd take up the challenge. It's only 29 days, the shortest month of the year! It'll help me tap into my creative mind (eventually) but I will start with ideas from the magazine that my brother gave me for Christmas as a subscription. It's called "Family Fun", and it's always filled with simple crafts and fun food to make with your kids. On the days I feel like cooking, I'll try out new recipes from my "Cooking for 2" magazine.

http://www.thing-a-day.com/

I'll probably post some of our creations on this blog. I wonder what we'll make tomorrow!

Dinner at my house

2008-01-30T10:41:00.001-08:00

My brother (Anthony) and his girlfriend (Lara) came to visit WV! They stayed at our place for 2 nights, then flew back home to Boston. My sister's family came over, and a couple of friends. I think it was my first time to cook for 10 people! I actually had fun cooking up a storm! Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. We really enjoyed having Anthony and Lara here with us, so it was a great week with bunches of people around all the times!

Abby and Uncle Anthony chatting

My turn to catch up with my bro!
Tara waiting for dinner by playing w/ puzzles
Anthony and Lara listening to Mark. See the clock on the table? It sings a bird tune at every hour. Anthony got that for me for Christmas, it's a long story about why he gave it to me. I loved it! He put it up on the wall for me with all of the ladies' help on making sure it's centered and all that, ha. Fierce cat in action!
Kade playing w/ his daddy. My sis in background.

family & friends
My nephew & niece! Kade, 3 and Tara, almost 2

Babysitting my niece, Tara

2008-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

Tara playing in basement w/ toys

Tara found Abby's toy and liked the music that played on it.

Silly Tara!
She likes purses, bags, or anything that you could stuff things into. She found 3, and we had to encourage her to share one with Abby!

Last week, my sister and her family finally moved to West Virginia from Florida! They arrived on Monday night, then the next day they moved all day. I babysat Tara so she could play and have fun while her parents worked hard moving stuff from the truck with her older brother's help (Kade, age 3).

Cooking for 2

2008-01-22T09:12:00.000-08:00

http://recipes.cookingfor2.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=39210 (copied and pasted this photo from the link above, so I wanted to make sure credit is included)
My little helper! She wants to learn to cook now!

Hey, I found a new magazine that I like! It's called "Cooking for 2" by Taste of Home publications. I saw a few laying around my friend's house and I looked at them and wanted to get one of my own. They show recipes with pictures and it's perfect for just 2 people. NO LEFTOVERS! There was one page for whenever one person is away for the weekend, so they have recipes just for one person. I made Broccoli Crescent Appetizers, and it turned out great! It has homemade cheese sauce and I was able to put them in all the crescent, and there was NO sauce left over. Awesome!

My VP not working!!!

2008-01-19T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hey,

For those who haven't heard of VP, it's a videophone and it's a way deaf people can communicate with each other (it's been around for a couple of years). It is hooked to a TV and a high speed Internet service or DSL. As you can see in the photos, my daughter Abby and her friend, Jonah could see each other on the TV. The VP has features where you could click for a full view of the other person instead of seeing 2 pictures. I usually use that full view because I can see my friends more clear that way. They have relay service on the VP which is called VRS and I like using that to call my hearing friends, order pizza, make reservations with car rental, or stuff like that.

Anyway, today I had a VP call with somebody in Pittsburgh to talk about a deaf event that's coming up soon. That was about 2:30pm today, and it went well. Then another friend wanted to talk to me on VP tonight, so I went to call her at 9:30pm and it wouldn't work at all! I am desperate for it to get fixed because I have an VP interview tomorrow! While I'm trying to do all the trouble-shooting, I thought I'd do a blog about Abby's very first VP call.

Abby misses her friends in DC, so she asked me if she could VP one of her friends (back in Aug). She got on the VP for the first time with Jonah, and instead of chatting like I had expected, they got a pad of paper and started drawing pictures for each other! Cute, ha ha. They drew Pokemon, of course. In the next series of Abby's VP calls, she would run and grab one of our 3 cats to show them to her friends. We have a friend who has a little girl, and she likes to see Abby's stuffed animals. When I'm trying to talk to my friend, her daughter and Abby are shoving one of their stuffed animals in front of the cam, interrupting our conversations! During my recent VP conversation with my Texas friends, at my end it was just me and Abby but on the other end, it was a couch full of my friends and their kids! The kids were excited to see each other, so VP calls are fun!

See both kids are drawing at the moment.
Jonah was done first, then waiting for Abby to look up, so he started spinning in his chair.

Our cats

2008-01-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

This was taken in November. Whitey, Taz, and Midnight.

I can't find my wire for the camera to upload current pictures of our cats! I've been searching for that wire all day! Probably one of the cats played with it and it got stuck underneath something. So I'll just post old photos of when they were little. We got Taz on Sept. 9th which was one day before Abby's birthday. In early October, we saw a white kitty but we thought she had a home. One week later, we saw her again and that time, she had a buddy, a black kitty. We asked around the neighborhood to see if we could find the owners of these 2 kittens. We were told that they have been roaming the neighborhood for 2 weeks, so they were strays. Abby begged me to take them in, I told her that it'd be for temporary until we can find homes for them. Four months later, they're still living with us! Yep, they're family now. That week in October, I took them both to the vet, and he said that Whitey was 6 months, Blackie was 3 months exactly the same age as Taz.

Taz was so small in this picture, I couldn't believe it! He's bigger now! This was taken in Oct.

Taken last Oct, her name is Midnight. She is still our smallest kitty! Taz and Midnight are both 6 months old now but Taz is growing big!

Science Center and Car Trouble!

2008-01-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

The 2 photos are tiny models on a huge table where they have Thomas the train and other trains go around the table. See the baseball fans below, they're made out of Q-tips! I like going there because it shows all 4 seasons, and the lights will dim as if it's night time, then brighten up. Funny because Carrie said to me, "We've been here 2 days already" but it was only few minutes!
These two activities were Abby's favorite. Playing in the water, of course and playing the digital drums. She thought it was hilarious because there's a microphone where your voice becomes distorted when you speak into it. That's Abby's fave part about the drums because she records her voice and hits the first button which sounds like a chipmunk and the end is a boy voice.

Look at Abby's face, that's how she reacted when she saw the TV with the brain jello that we can eat! Abby said EWWWW!!!! (That's her friend, Isaac, on the left). Josh sat in the front, and Bing Xia sat with her mommy eating snacks.
I liked this one because it's cool. It looks like gel is inside and you can move the Earth one way to see it spin, then stop it and spin it the other way to see what the gel does. It looks like a hurricane.

Today, Abby and I went into Pittsburgh to drop off my car at a Volvo dealership. I've been having some trouble with my car lately, and 3 local places couldn't help me because they didn't have the parts. To make long story short, my car is no longer driveable. It's parked in my driveway and I'll put it up in the newspaper to see if anybody wants to buy it for the parts.

What am I gonna do about transportation? It's too cold for me to walk, so that option is out. I know alot of people walk everyday in this weather, but I can't! Bicycle would be fun, but Abby doesn't like it. Since she's with me all the times, that mode of transportation is out! I'll need another car, indeed and I'm working on it with some advice from my friend's brother.

Anyway, when we dropped off the car this morning, my friend and her 3 kids came to pick us up from the shop. We went to a sandwich shop in Pittsburgh, called Uncle Sam's Sandwich Shop. Abby said that it was better than Subway! The service was quick, and she liked having french fries. I had onion rings, but it was too much for one person!

Afterwards, we all went to the Science Center, which Abby loved. We watched a "kitchen" show about brains, and they made jello using a model of a brain. Abby thought it was gross, and so did I. They used red jello mix and added yogurt (I think to make it look pinkish and more realistic). The kids all had fun, and this time I have photos! The last time we went, my batteries died. Now I can share them with you.

Oh yes, it also snowed this morning. Alot at once, but not enough to play in it.

Please pray for me to find a car within my budget!!!

Free Books! Well, kinda...

2008-01-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

My sister told me about a website where you could swap books. It's called...

http://www.paperbackswap.com/

To start an account, you have to post 10 books that you are willing to mail out to other members. You will receive a free credit for doing just that. Oh, the credits is what you use to receive books from other members, and when they get the ones you mail, you will earn a credit. If it's an audio book, then it's worth 2 credits. The only thing you pay for is the postage when you mail books at media mail rate.

Anyway, I joined the club a week ago, or so...and posted 10 books and within the hour, there were requests for 6 of my books! I mailed them all out and as of today...all have been received! Today, a member requested a book from me. I'll be mailing it out on Monday.

Yep, that means as of now I have total of 7 credits. I got the first credit on the day I started the account, so I already received the book that I wanted. It's easy to find books because the website has a search engine. You can search books by titles, keyword, authors, etc...but you also can search in "posted book list" so I would know what's available. If I searched for a book in general, and it's not posted then it'll go on my wish list. As soon as a person post that certain book, the first person in line will receive that one.

For my first book to receive...I just typed "deaf" in the search and they showed a list of all books that is related to deaf. I clicked on 3 books and none of them were available : ( Now they're on my wish list and I am number 4 in the line. Then I found one that was already posted, and I got it. It's a book written by Marlee Matlin, "Deaf Child Crossing". I haven't started reading it yet.

I can't wait for my other books to arrive!

Photo of the Day

2008-01-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have nothing to say about today. I would like to post at least something on the blog everyday if possible. If there's no news, then I'll just post a picture that I want to show. It can be anything, not necessarily current ones. I chose this picture because it's the earliest picture I have on my computer. This was taken by Rick's father with his digital camera. On the right side of the blog, you can see a picture of Abby in her dance dress. That was also taken by the same person in the same month, May of 2004. He took pictures and I asked him for copies, and these are two best pictures that came out of the CD. I didn't get a digital camera till March of 2006!

Jordan (9), Rick (5), Abby (4), and Wolfgang (7) showing off their new tattoos at Six Flags on Mother's Day of 2004.

Busy Week!

2008-01-10T10:34:00.001-08:00

It's been a busy week for Abby and me!

First of all, Monday was the first day we got back to homeschooling again from the Christmas break! A friend showed me a link to try out for Abby, it's called Time 4 Learning. That link allows Abby to do some work in different subjects such as math, language arts, science, social studies, and etc. The first day, she was upset when she saw the "timer" on the screen. I had it set for 30 minutes in total, first half is for homeschooling, and the 2nd half is for free play. She said, "Mommy, 30 minutes is a long time!!??" By the time she was done, she said she liked it. I thought she was just trying to make mommy happy. However, on the 2nd day, she didn't even go to the free play online, she stayed on the school part the whole 30 minutes.

Of course, that's not all we do, we have books to read, writing activities for Abby to do, and lots of math activities. We're going to start P.E. again which is swimming and gym at the community center, just five minutes from home. We go there every Tuesdays. My friend told me that it was going to start again in Feb. but then the center called her last Tuesday and informed her that it actually started that day! We'll start back next week, and it will continue through May.

There's another group that meets in Pittsburgh, which is about 25 miles from home. They meet on Wednesdays, and a new group developing and that group will meet on Fridays. Both groups will have classes such as art, science projects, music, foreign language, and many more. Abby haven't been enrolled in either one yet. I'm waiting on the registration dates, and the prices, etc.

Tuesday, we went to play at the local park with our friends, it was in the high 60's temperature!!! Beautiful weather! Abby had fun with her friends, and a little toddler was following her around the park. I told her to stop going all over the park because the cute little boy made his poor father follow them all over the place! She said, "But he is following me." I said, "Well, he obviously likes you!" All the kids there had fun, including the little boy who copied everything that Abby did!

Yesterday, we went swimming with our friends and Abby wants to do that more often, she LOVES the water. Afterwards, we went to eat at Subway for lunch and then two boys came over to our house and played with Abby and video games for a while. Then we all went out to eat at an Asian Grill in Robinson Center, and did a little shopping. When we got back, we watched a movie and by the time I got home, I was officially worn out!!!

Today, we're doing homeschooling and then I'll mop the floors. This is my very first time to live in a home with hardwood floors. I have to sweep everyday because of 3 cats, and I mop every now and then because of footprints or whatever.

Abby's best friends

2008-01-05T18:16:00.000-08:00

New Pokemon plush dolls!

Silly!

Happy!

Today I went to pick up two girls to spend one night with Abby at our house. Abby was so excited to see them! She was counting the days till today! They're our former neighbors in the aparment complex at the Gallaudet campus. We lived directly across the hallway from each other. Both girls are Abby's best friends, since they met in fall of 2003. They're the people who Abby misses the most since we moved to WV.

We went to the store to buy some groceries for dinner. We also went to Wal-Mart where Abby got to spend her $20 that she got for Christmas. She decided to spend it all on three Pokemon plush dolls. At the check-out, the cashier looked at the 3 girls. She giggled, and I was wondering if they were loud. She looked at me and said "They are singing!" I said, "Oh I can't hear..." As if I had to tell her that so she would know why I wasn't regulating thier voice volume! She laughed and said "Oh, maybe that's a good thing." I wonder why she said that?

Anyway, I cooked dinner with Monique by my side as it have always been for 4 years when we lived in the apartment at Gallaudet. She loves to help me cook, and she said that she helps her mom and her grandma cook also. Abby and Jovanna were busy playing so when the timing was right, I gave them the job of cleaning off the table and setting it up!

We all played a few board games together and then the kids played with our 3 cats, video games, legos, "model clay", and stuff. They're having a blast!

Christmas Eve at Mary's house

2007-12-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

Abby teaching

"Jingle Bells" to Sophia

Gianna and me

Jaci and her dog, Oscar

The white cookies in the middle are my FAVE!

See the cookies from the middle are GONE!

Abby ready to bake cookies for Santa!

Friends, 2 movies, and a deer!

2007-12-22T10:37:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we went over to our friends' house to watch a movie, "Home Alone". Abby was so excited to go and was ready at the door! Usually it's me waiting for her, but it was visa versa! Abby didn't want to watch the movie. I made her stay in the living room for the first few minutes, so she played with a cute little girl, named Audrey. She's 17 months old and so cute! I wish I had my camera with me last night. Abby played with Audrey's kitchen set, fake food, and took Audrey "shopping" around the living room. Abby made her laugh by putting a butterfly net on her head like a hat. After maybe 15 minutes, she left and played alone in the playroom.

After the movie, the 2 boys went to join Abby playing with legos. The adults stayed and watched another movie, called "Ocean Thirteen" with Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Al Pacino, Matt Damon, and more. As the movie was beginning, my friends informed me that this movie was a sequel to two previous movies called Ocean 11, Ocean 12. I thought, "Oh no, will I be able to follow this movie??" It took me a while to put names to the faces because often as the characters spoke, their faces were turned away from the screens. I couldn't tell who was saying what, but the subtitles had the names "Linus:.....", so that was the only area where I had a little trouble following. There were two or three parts where my friend paused to explain (something from the previous movies). It was an interesting, and funny movie. When the movie was over, it was almost 11pm!

I went into the playroom and 3 kids were still playing legos and as soon as Abby saw me, she ducked under the table. She didn't want to leave. She have been giving me hard time about leaving thier house in the last few visits. I had to tell her that if she continues this, then I would have to stop bringing her over. (Of course, I wouldn't but that's the only way to make her cooperate!). She got up and put her coat, and shoes on but she still had a frown on her face.

We got into the car, and I like to let it warm up for a while. It's 10 years old! While we waited for few minutes in the car, Abby and I used that time to chat. She was still upset about leaving. I told her that we will come back on Sunday. We started to go up the street and saw a deer! It was in the street, right in front of my car. I had to move very slowly because usually when I see one deer, there's more around. We waited and watched the deer, I think it was a young deer. Finally, it got on somebody's front yard and started eating grass. I drove by very slowly. Abby got so excited and wanted my pager and said "I am going to call Carrie!!!!!" I told her that she couldn't call Carrie because it was too late, (11pm). She got upset and then complained about making her leave. I think she was cranky and tired. I put her to bed right away.

Today, Abby is in a happy mood. I went to my next door's to feed thier dog, Rosco. He's a pretty dog, the same colors as a Beagle dog but it's a Bassett Hound dog. He was happy to be outside, especially because it's a beautiful day. It's in the 40's, considered warm to me!!

Abby wants a puppy for Christmas!! I'm not ready for a dog, not yet. One day, though.

Miso Soup

2007-12-19T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hello there,

I've been thinking, what should I post in my blog? Well, I have friends and family in
Houston, Austin, and Cypress TX,
Salisbury MD,
Millsboro and Laurel DE,
Washington DC,
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina
and many more places all over the states!
So now this blog has an audience, ...my friends and family!

I will post whatever I could think of that could let you know what I have been up to. It could be like "What did I do today", or a reflective moment, or even a retrospective moment. It will not be focused on one topic or one goal. Let's say...I'll just go with the flow of my thoughts.

Now for my 2nd blog, I want to tell you something about miso soup. Most of you know that I grew up in Texas eating my dad's BBQ with his famous sauce, and my mom's homemade potato salad, and pinto beans. To this day, I have never tasted BBQ that was as good as my parent's ANYWHERE! I moved to Salisbury, MD in 1998 and never had my parents' BBQ again, unfortunately. Soon after I moved there, I was invited to somebody's house for crabs, and it was my first time ever! I loved crabs ever since that day, and couldn't get enough. Even Abby loves them.

Then I moved to Washington D.C. in 2003 and was introduced to Sushi for the first time. I became addicted to them, but they were expensive to order at restaurants if I wanted to eat them on a regular basis. So I decided to learn how to make them. Making sushi is very time consuming, so I only make them for special occasions. In D.C., I was also introduced to many different cuisines and can tell you that my favorites are Thai food, Sushi, Crabs, Shrimp, and other Asian food.

When I decided to move to West Virginia, I wanted to go to a restaurant in D.C. that I had never been to before I moved away. I went to Woks N' Rolls because I heard they had good Sushi. I ordered a meal which came with Miso soup, my first time to taste that soup just when I was about to move out of D.C.! I like having appetizers before meals but most of them are fried, or too heavy like chips/ bread with dips, or salad. I'm not that big on salads, so when I had the miso soup for the first time last summer... I thought that it wasn't bad, not too filling but just right for me.

Now I'm here in WV and we met new friends, a family of fab 5, and have been hanging out with them. Last week or so, we went to the Science center together in Pittsburgh, and our kids had a blast. Abby didn't want to leave! She even wanted to have a slumber party there! Afterwards, we went to Fuji Sushi, a restaurant near Pittsburgh. Everyone including Abby had miso soup and it was so good, and perfect for a cold night. Supper was great too.

In conclusion...I want to learn how to make my own Thai food, miso soup, and brush up on my sushi making skills!

My first blog

2007-12-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Hey, welcome to my very first blog. I have tried blogging on myspace.com but for some reason, my computer freeze often on that site. I'm gonna try this one and see how it goes. My goal for this blog is to post pictures. Some blogs might have no pictures, but I'm going to be tweaking with this blog for a while till I get the hang of it. What do you think of the title? "Let's reminisce with Tiff"? Does it sound silly? Should I change it to something else? I want something original!

I'm gonna post a little video. This was the day it snowed around 3 inches! I'll post pix after this video to show you around my house with the white snow before any footprints!

Front of my house. It's snowing as I'm taking those pix.

Right side of my house, that's my front/ backyard and my next door neighbors.

Nice to see all the snow without any footprints yet! That's my backyard. That thing you see in my yard is kinda like a gazebo.

My driveway and garage. You don't see my car in the driveway cuz I always park the car at the very end of the driveway. That way I get in my front door, instead of the back door.

There it is, my car as I'm standing on my front porch.

As I'm standing in the front porch, that's what I see across the street. A nice house with a sweet couple who likes to fix up thier garden.