Is It Fall already?

Man.. where did Summer go? Halloween in 3 weeks? WTH? Oh well.. here is some of what you missed...

ramblings...

hey. just droppin off some stuff on my plate. i havent been posting much lately, but its not becuz nothing is going on lol

where to start... well, the job is still going good. no real issues to speak of. getting bonuses pretty regular, at least one each check so the money has been great! i report to the regional property manager, which is cool cuz she's like never here since we have brand new properties in florida and illinios. i wouldnt mind here job. she's always flying off somewhere. plus she's a really laid back easy going type of person, i think we get along very well.

been spending alot of time with my kid. she's turning 13 this year so i want to make sure i'm there for her whenever she needs me. i know the teen years can be rough, so my goal is to be available for her whenever! she's currently at sumer camp, which is a first for her. i can't wait to here about it when she gets back. the camp is run by a christian organization, so thats cool also. they have a website thats pretty interactive. you can email your child and see pics of them taken daily. the only catch is they cant email you back, which was kind of frustrating. over all i'm sure it has been an awesome experience for her. i think i'm gonna have her for the fourth, so i need to start planning eh lol

oh yeah... i still have Kitty. she no longer in heat, but she's found other ways to be equally annoying lol she has decided that i must give her my undivided attention the second i walk in the door from work. if i don't, she makes it a point to get in the way of anything else i may be trying to do. if i try to use the bathroom she'll plant herself in front of the toilet, if i go in the kitchen she'll lean against the fridge door, if i sit on the couch she'll jump up in my lap and head butt me in the chin lol once i finally give her some attention, she'll dismiss e and go somewhere and sleep for an hour or so. then its the same routine over again. this goes on until i go to bed lol good thing i love cats *grin*

...begats cellphone...

so my kid is a technophille just like her dad. and she seems to have inherited my obsession with all things cellphone lol. having played with my new phone (see previous post i.e. helio), she instantly hated her Razr *surprise surprise* luckily, her new disgust with her phone coincided with her mothers desire to no longer pay for it LOL

so... long story short...here is my daughters new phone...


and here she is enthusastically enjoying it lol its actually a cool phone, one that I would carry myself, were i not a "helion" lol its a definate texting oriented phone. virgin mobile is the company. so far so good, decent rates, excellent signal (uses verizon towers). the phone itself was only $99. i love how you can do everything online. their website could be a bit more intuitive, especially since their target market is the younger demographic, but its still pretty good. something wacky is going on with her text messaging regarding how many messages she does/does not have, but I'm sure that will be fixed with a call to customer service.

bottom line is she loves it, so i love it...thats what count right?

Great weekend. Hung out with the kid. Di

Great weekend. Hung out with the kid. Did some shopping. She won a scholarship to a week long camp, so she needed a new swim suit. MAN i wont EVEN go into the drama that entails lolOther than that we had fun. Had chinese one day and mexican the next lol I promised her Red Lobster next time. Its time for crab legs!!Oh yeah, the zoo is open! We are so there next weekend! Oh wait, next weekend s my birthday ;)

Celebrations continued....

Look at the size of her sandwich!! Its as big as her face! LOL Eating at Joe's Be-Bop BBQ in Navy Pier.
Crystal Garden in Navy Pier. Notice the leaping fountains in the background?
Aliyah getting counseling from a piece of art in Navy Pier Park.
We're dwarves!! LOL
Finally heading home after a LOOOONG day of reckless merriment and father/daughter bonding :) On the train, relaxing for the 3.5 hour ride home.

Celebrations!

Ok you've heard of the MEP tests right? If not, they are standardized scholastic tests used in Michigan to guage where your childs aptitude (is that the right word?) is. Well Aliyah took hers not too long ago and we recently received the results.

She scored well above average in just about every subject, which to be honest, wasn't a surprise. My daughter has always done well in school. What WAS a suprise is her math score. She not only scored highest in her grade (7th) but she scored highest in her SCHOOL (6 - 8th grade)!! The principle came to personally congratulate us and she received a letter from the Governor.

So anyway, to reward her, I decided to take her on a trip to Chicago, via train! Both were first for her so it was very exciting. With her about to be 13, it was her first "big girl" trip. We had a blast. Check out some photos...

This is Aliyah on a bridge on Michigan Ave? I can't remember LOL
In front of the Sears Tower of course. We didn't go up this time... line was too long.
On the water taxi, on the way to Navy Pier
Aliyah watching a group of canoeists on a tour LOL I'll post some more pics in the next post or two.

old country buffet

bout a week ago, me and the kid went to old country buffet. in case you don't have one near you, its a classic all-you-can-eat buffet with a typical assortment of food americana. i like it, she loves it. i just enjoy they time we spend together although i've never been one to turn down a chance to get my eat on LOL

i always eat too much at these places. i say "i'm not gonna pig out. just get full..." but of course they have so many freaking things i like, and you just have to taste them all LOL it's one of the few restaurants i eat at that i feel i get my moneys worth!

she always hates it when i take pics of her eating. i told her thats what she gets for stealing my hat! plus its in the dad's handbook that i have the right to embarrass her at will. which i so delight in doing LOL

my reason for life itself

i could not be prouder of my baby girl. she is beautiful, smart, talented! anything she puts her mind to she achieves. she got that trait from her daddy :) she recently received an award for scoring higher in math on her assessment tests than anyone in her grade level, in her school! math has always been her favorite and best subject. the total opposite of me lol i hate math.

thats it. i just wanted to brag on my baby girl :)