How captain chaos came to be

You're probably wondering how it is that captain chaos got his name. It's really a quite simple recipe 2 parts ADHD and 1 part OCD; stirred, not shaken makes for a very interesting personality.

Sunday at the library with the balloon sculptor

Went to the dedication of Sayville's new public library yesterday. What a magnificent building. There were tours of the facility,live music,refreshments and activities for the children including a balloon artist.

There was a procession through town of people passing the last book from the old library to the new library. "A History of Early Sayville" published in 1935 by Clarissa Edwards, a descendant of one of the founding families and founder of the Sayville Historical Society. Once at the new facility there was a color guard,raising of the American Flag and comments by library staff and local dignitaries and finally the ribbon cutting.


On the main floor there was a display of local items including a map of early landowners included was the property once owned by relatives of our extended family. Pretty cool.


The children's area has plenty of tables,computer workstations and an enormous artificial tree. The princess pointed it out to me as we were approaching the area. I told here the contractors left the tree and put the building around it. She tells me "Mommy don't you know it's fake!" She chose a book from the shelf,we sat together and read. Then proceeded to wait for a balloon sculpture. The wait was comparable to lines for certain theme park rides, but not as hot.

We toured the whole place of course. The stacks/adult area is on the top floor,followed by young adult, the central circulation desk on the main floor,the children's area is below that and the art gallery and meeting rooms are on the lowest level.

The princess wants to go visit every day. I think she's hoping the balloon guy might be there! Well it's time to get ready for another exciting day of adventure with the princess and captain chaos aka dad.

Loukoumades at the festival

Loukoumades.Messy,yummy,look it up. Had way too much fun today according to the princess.

75 days til school starts again

OK,I realize that school just ended for us today,but I couldn't resist. I sang "75 days til school starts again,75 days til school." The princess turns to me and sings "Thats's the day I go to first grade and you'll be happy again" My little angel. She asked now that school is over what is she going to do? I always have a plan...She'll wish she was back to school LOL.

The report card was very good except for Gym, which I'm having trouble with. It also came along with the supply list for September and an order form for an outside vendor that will deliver the supplies in August. Thanks,but I'll shop for it myself. I think I can do better than $61 for all of it. I'm still trying to figure out why they requested 4 boxes of zip lock bags and 4 packs of baby wipes. Sure seemed like there were a lot of unused supplies when I was there on Tuesday. When I was was teaching I was lucky to get a box of tissues

Tomorrow is the post recital dance class party and registration for summer programs at the public library. Swimming lessons start next week and ice skating the following week. Mommy and daddy day camp is in full swing! Thinking cool thoughts.

Now here's something really bizarre. My sister was having a problem with the septic system, the repairman quickly discovered the problem. A baseball was stuck up inside the system vent. How did a baseball get stuck in there? The vent is an 4" pvc pipe with an elbow that points downwards. None of my sisters kids play baseball,too passive for that group. Now if it was a hockey puck I would think one of them might have done it,but they're not little kids. Too bizarre.

Citiots

Traveled to Montauk,(the end) yesterday on business. The locals are fun,the citiots are not and it was a Wednesday. While driving through East Hampton,the land of the wannabes and never was'. I felt for a moment as if I was driving in NY City as people were driving creatively and leaning on their horns.

One of the people I met with yesterday commented on how having groceries delivered right to her home was a great convenience. She tries to avoid the stores during the season as the citiots are just unbearable. A woman in line was complaining that the locals should buy their groceries during the week so the weekenders weren't inconvenienced with long lines. I'm sure most do exactly that when possible but ice cream emergencies come up too!

Give me a break. While in college(a lifetime ago) I worked in a grocery store out there and most of the summer folk were demanding and unpleasant. My co-workers and I took great joy in calling the village police when customers were illegally parked the fire zone and denying them beer sales at 8:00AM on a Sunday morning. Even though we had a place out there I got along better with the locals than than the citiots.Can't wait for tonight's installment of Royal Pains on USA Network. Watch it if you haven't done so yet.


The princess and her dad have gone to lunch together so I can get some more work done. He took a small bouquet of home grown roses with him,how sweet is that? She loves flowers so I'm sure she enjoy them.

K-Grad Day

It was the princess' kindergarten graduation today at 10:00AM. She's been up since sunrise which is very unusual for her. I'm usually calling her to get up "the mommy bus/daddy bus is leaving and you'd better be on it." Our district has limited bus transportation. Elementary students have to be 2 miles from the nearest entrance. We are 1.8 miles and walking is not an option, but that's a whole other rant I'll save for another time.

The program was simply fabulous. The princess was front and center and having a great time with her classmates. They sang several songs,one was cuter than the other. We then joined some friends for lunch at the diner,french fries are my friend LOL. The princess had a classmate come for a play date and she was fast asleep at 4:15 PM.

After a short nap the princess was ready to run. We took her to "The habitrail" aka McDonald's PlayPlace. Coffee,apple pies,milk and ice cream! Then home to trip down memory lane to watch some videos.

She's still running like the energizer bunny. I need a nap,seriously.

Another opening,another show

Well yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. The princess and I went to get our hair done along with all the usual Saturday errands.

Viva Las Vegas was terrific, there was a good crowd. All of the kids did a great job. No costume malfunctions. I was concerned as she had grown quite a bit since they measured her. The princess received a trophy for three years of participation and announced she is now retired from dance,we'll see if she decides to come out of retirement as she has done in the past

We took captain chaos to White Castle for post theater snacks. She likes the pink lemonade,he likes everything else. She was tired and kept insisting I was lost, I wasn't.

The princess keeps asking me to get pink lemons at the grocery store. She just doesn't want to accept the fact that there is no such thing. we will have a quiet inside day,we're all pooped and need to recharge our batteries for the parents vs kids kickball game Monday and kindergarten graduation Tuesday.

Going to do make another batch of chocolate shortbread, some oven fried chicken for dinner and watch the Mets game. Decided to skip the Big Apple Circus this weekend due weather and U.S. Open traffic concerns.

A special shout out to Patti O', Studio 24 and The Fish Store for their generous support.

The dress rehearsal

The Princess had a very busy day. First there was the Father's day program at school then off to the dress rehearsal.

Dad tells me the princess recited a poem she had composed for him in front of the class. "Dad, I love you. Happy Father's Day. You are a boy." This was not part of the program,some good old kindergarten improvisation.

The students were allowed to wear hats yesterday as part of a "Hats On Day" fundraiser. The princess had a great straw hat,she placed it on her father's head, teacher took a picture. I need a copy of that. For more infomation about "Hats On Day" visit http://www.childrenwithcancer.org/?page_id=95

Here's the only video I was able to capture. The recital has a No Flash Photography or Video Policy. Enjoy.

Let Prishie get used to the day.

The princess first words of the day "Let Prishie get used to the day." I'm still waiting to get used the day and it's bedtime.

I'm looking for a twirling ballerina musical jewelry box for the princess. She' got her recital this weekend. Three years of dance school,she'll be getting an award. I want to give her a little something that will last longer than the requiste flowers. I'll have to look in Wal Mart or K-Mart or someplace.

There's a father's day event tomorrow at school,can't wait to hear about it from dad. the dress rehearsal is tomorrow afternoon and with any luck I'll have some better video on you tube over the weekend.

I've become a fan of the new show on USA Royal Pains, saw Mark Feuerstein on The View a few weeks ago; check it out if you haven't done do yet

The fifth and final of the Scholastic mommy blogs http://www.likemerchantships.org/ There are a lot of great household tips. Simple layout that's not overwhelming.

Todays review http://www.theivanovskys.blogspot.com/ very busy lady indeed. I especially enjoyed the elephant post.

Waiting for our logo to come back,can't wait.

The sounds of snoring...at least I hope so

The princess has retired for the evening. She was certainly ready,cranked as she puts it.

Sometimes I think she would give Ian Falconer's Olivia a run for her money. If those stories hadn't been published before she was born I'd swear he'd met her,seriously.

Now getting back to the remaining mommy blogs from Scholastic Parent & Child.

Next on my list momisodes http://www.momisodes.com. Spiffy looking site,authentic honest content.

Three down,two to go.

In the princess' own words O Night.

Random act of kindness

Wanted to share this with all of you. Went to get some quick lunch. While waiting for my order, a woman was digging through her purse to get enough change to pay for her meal. Apparently she hadn't read the sign on the door that the credit/debit terminals were out of service. The young man that was working the counter offered to pay for her order,even took out his wallet. She did manage to find enough change to cover the meal but it was refreshing to see a teenager that cared about someone other than himself. Kudos to Anthony,hope he goes far in life.

Flag day celebration

The school had a flag day program today. The children were given small paper American flags. There was one thing however I found rather disturbing about the flags. "Made In China" was printed along the bottom. of one of the stripes. Need I say more?

Amusing things I heard today : "The shirt bit me ma!" and "I am made of candy floss and I WILL melt"The princess started singing one of the songs for kindergarten graduation program. The melody is New York, New York. "Start spreading the news, we're leaving today..."She stopped claiming she'd forgotten the rest of the words. I don't believe that for a New York minute. She then started singing "Gotta have a gimmick" from Gypsy. Today she was Tessie Tura.

72 Cheesebugers,please

I did a drive by deposit at the bank this afternoon. When the teller asked me what I wanted to do the princess replied "I want 72 cheeseburgers,please." Well the teller must have been cracking up as she made an error on my deposit that I did not discover right away. Now,don't go thinking she put too much in my account like what occured in Australia a while back.

While working today I was unceremoniously detained by an accountant who was attempting to purchase tickets to the very concert I wrote of yesterday. When he returned to conclude our meeting I inquired as to if he was successful and when could I expect to receive my tickets; we both had a good laugh

The second blog I reviewed was Is There Salsa in China http://www.salsainchina.blogspot.com Another very amusing blog. Check it out.

It's a Pink Day

It's a pink day according to the princess. She wished to have a complete pink outfit,certainly possible. She suggested I wear pink as well. I'm not in a pink mood today,I'm thinking something a bit darker,perhaps brown or blue.

The princess had a copy of Scholastic's Parent & Child June/July issue in her backpack the other day. (Sorry no bagel with turkey taste.) I am reading the article about the winners of the mommy blogger awards. I plan to visit each of the winning blogs over the next couple of days.

I read some of the posts from http://themeaneastmom.blogspot.com. She sounds as if she's having just as much fun as I am.

The princess has informed me that the students have taken over the school and run all the adults off. She told me that some first grader that could cook prepared today's lunch of blueberry pie. Guess they ran out of bagels with turkey taste. The things she thinks of,LOL,must be the company she keeps.

plotting & planning

Field day was simply fabulous. Kindergarteners tug of war was nothing short of spectacular. The pink princess was at the end of the rope. I was holding my breath hoping she wouldn't get crushed if the rest of the kids fell back. They did, but she managed to get away.

My pda is going to spontaneously combust. Too many days with things to do...not enough hours in the day to get them done. Between dress rehearsals,the recital and graduation I'm hard pressed to squeeze in a play date or two. Oh and maybe even get some work done.

A girls night out with the mommy mafia would really be a treat; plotting and planning. Got a few surprises up my sleeve for the princess too.Need to get some tickets for the Big Apple Circus, a Mets game and Paul McCartney. Plotting and planning,time to go trolling on eBay.

Raisins for breakfast

Feeling somewhat evil today. 4hrs of sleep just doesn't quite cut it anymore. The princess was up earlier than usual and decided I should be up as well; she is relentless sometimes.A character trait she did not get from me.


I received a message from Wretched Harpie,I'll will share it "National Geographic snippets right at your fingertips...amazing! I'm just now finding out how to navigate this information superhighway. Somebody please tell me which exit to get off!" You can check out but you can never leave.

Checking my list for the princess' field day,aka kindergartners gone wild. Everything looks to be in order.

The princess reads

A very eventful day. Full day of work for me,full day of school for the princess.

Dance school photos. Full costume,hair, make up, accessories and yes, rain. Trying to get the princess ready is always fun, dressing a Ferrel cat might be easier.

Having a Starbucks in lieu of food for lunch kept me going.

While waiting at the BK drive through the princess asked me what the sign "Let us know what you think?" meant. Surprised at first by her inquiry I quickly realized she had just read one of the stickers on the window. I explained the sign, we then continued on our adventure.

The T shirt is not pink,it's yellow

The princess came home today with the shirt for field day. Yellow,not pink but not bad either.

All ready for the recital photos tomorrow afternoon. Costume,accessories,makeup and rain in the forecast.

Will leave you today with some of my profound wisdom: Multi-tasking is highly overrated. I prefer to screw one thing up at a time. ;-)

The princess wears prada,ok not really

The pink princess is well, a princess. She prefers to wear a dress or skirt,preferably pink every day. It's not always practical but try to explain this to her. Those of you that know her understand completely. My little fashionista. Must have been all that Lily Pulitzer and Baby Lulu I put on her. I let her watch some of The Devil Wears Prada. She loves the clothes and Anne Hathaway.

Recital photos with full makeup are this week. The princess still hasn't accepted the fact that the costume is not pink. Field day is next week. Can't wait to see what color the t-shirt is; I suspect it wont be pink.

Wild thing, show tunes and shortbread.

The pink princess is nearing full recital mode. She's practicing the routine (sans taps shoes) when she thinks nobody's looking.

She's also imitating Baby June from Gypsy. Let me entertain you...

Tried a different shortbread recipe tonight. Not as good as the last batch.

She informed me tonight that she does not care to have room with a balcony when we go on our next adventure. Good,she wont be disappointed.