Just a little type A

Zest screenshot Fun San Diego

A Plantation

While going to Temecula Valley Strawberry Farms this morning (more on this in future post), I was debating taking a short cut vs the freeway, speaking to myself, when a large truck owned by "A.... Plantation" pulled up to my right, effectively limiting my options.

Me: "I guess, we'll just take the freeway or we'll be stuck behind that big plantation truck."

The Big One: "It's ok, mom. They're going to turn right there into the nursery."

Me: "How do you know that's where they are going?"  

The Big One: "Duh, because it says, "plantation" and that's a nursery. So that means they grow plants."

Love the teenage years...

I guess in satisfy No Child Left Behind and teaching the kids on studying for the test vs studying to learn history, the California school system glossed over that whole section about what's grown on plantations and possibly even the Civil War.

Type-A Conference Pass Giveaway

Ella Media is teaming up with Type-A Parenting and giving away a FREE conference pass to the Type-A Parent Conference being held in Charlotte, NC from June 22-24, 2012.

And you know this conference is right up my alley. How I have never heard about Type-A Parent before this week is beyond me.  

Interested in attending?  Visit the Type-A Parenting Conference Page.

Want your chance to win a conference pass giveaway?  Head to Ella Media's blog and enter.

 

Only Once A Year

Image credit

Jeff and I went out to dinner Thursday night and when we got home the Big One told us that one of my cousins had called while we are gone.  Having deciphered which cousin called, "I think it was Terese." I have no cousins named Terese but I do have one named Patrice. I called her back.

She congratulated me on our anniversary.  

What?  Anniversary, no, we celebrated that a few months ago.  Thank you very much.

The Big One told her we went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary.

 

How sad is that?  Obviously we don't go out often enough so the rare times we do they think it's a special occasion?

 

Girls and Boys

My sister and her family were in town a few weeks ago. None of us remembered to take any pictures, but I did manage to catch a few shots using my iPhone while we were at Souplantation.

 

Camera Shy

 

Playing coy with the camera.

More, Please

 

 

 

 

A couple of weeks ago, American Airlines  was having an amazing sale on Business & First Class seats to Panama, where you could fly to Panama in Business and First Class for $700 roundtrip, this was less than the price of a Coach ticket.               

  

Naturally, I put a couple of trips on hold.  While I did not need a Visa to travel to Panama, I did need at least two blank pages in my passport. Turns out I had exactly four blank pages.  

  

This was a bit too close for my comfort since I remember the days of Manuel Noriega, and I did not want to chance arriving in Panama with only four blank passport pages and Spanish limited to four years in high school (so long ago) and 10 years of medical spanish mostly consisting of "No empuje."  "Tienes tarjeta de Medical?" "Quantos tiempos embarazada?" that I realized I needed to get some pages added to my passport and pronto!

 

So I made an appointment at the San Diego Regional Passport Agency (more on this experience in a later post) for the following week.  Not only did I need to add pages I wanted it expedited just in case another amazing deal came along. (I decided to not book the Panama trip in case I couldn't get my passport back in time.)

 

I got my passport back in 3 business days with the extra pages, but it looks like they gave it to a child to add in the pages.  

 

First, someone tried to take off the front and back covers from my passport. I guess they thought, they could just slide in the pages in the binding?

 

Then, realizing that this would not work, they taped, yes taped, pages into my passport. And it's quite obvious the pages are taped in as you can see by the photos. 

 

I could have saved myself $153 dollars and 3 days if they had just given me the pages when I got there. I could have taped them in better than that.

But now I have 52 blank pages (4 existing plus the new 48) and can continue to fill up this passport for the next two years.

Like Mother, Like Son

The little one broke his wrist last week.  Hoping he heals quicker than I do.

Yes, my foot is still broken...10 months...just how long does it take a metatarsal stress fracture to heal?

Reality TV Real Or Fake

Has the Bachelor and the Bachelorette no longer become shows about finding love but shows that launch stardom?  Become the villain and you're guaranteed air time and possibly, fame and fortune - appearance fees after the show airs, party invites, etc.  You've now made the D list.  

Which brings up the question, how much scripting is there on reality shows?  

Bethenny Frankel, Behthenney Ever After, and her "boat rescue."  The captain claims they were never in danger and the drama was all scripted.

Are the networks pandering to what they believe viewers want - drama and more drama?   Or are they pandering to the pockets of sponsors who see increased exposure to their products through more views because of the villians and drama that have now become part of the show?

What do you think?