My niece Nicole was selected to play on the US Womens National Volleyball Youth Training Team aka the farm team for the US Womens Olympic Volleyball Team. Have they selected the host city for the 2020 games? I gotta know what to pack...

USA! USA! USA!


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As of 3:15 this afternoon, there is a new member of the Aunt Colony:

Major Graham Benitez. I already know his nickname is gonna be Major Big. He weighed in at 8 pounds 13 ounces and a petite 21 3/4 inches long. At this rate he'll be driving himself home from the hospital....

Josh and I went to see the "Out of This World" traveling exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center this morning. A geek-tastic time was had by all...


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It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding. My sister had spent every spare monment (and a small fortune in mulch) getting her backyard in shape for the big event. But Mother Nature had other ideas, and the toad strangler she unleashed on Tampa Saturday necessitated a late change of venue. Despite the scramble, the ceremony went off nearly without a ( Read more... )

Eddy & Steffi have been visiting for a week before they head to Alabama to continue E's home leave. Eddy's been introducing Steffi to "American things" this trip. They spent a day at the Bucs training camp and went to a Rays game. Friday we went to Busch Gardens so she could experience "a real roller coaster". Our first stop was Sheikra. ( Read more... )

Me at the wedding. In a dress...


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No need to don your parkas! Hell has not frozen over. It was not MY wedding. But you might want to grab a sweater, because I did wear a dress to my niece Katie's wedding Saturday afternoon on Clearwater Beach. This rare fashion occurrence fascinated my nieces--all of whom swore they couldn't remember EVER seeing me in a dress--so every time I ( Read more... )

My sister sent me pics of the snow she got at her place over the weekend. Waa! I haz snow envy! We had a teeny-tiny bit of frost here this morning. Oooo ahhhh. So not even close. My niece was bummed that it snowed on Sunday thus depriving her of a snow day from school. I want a snow day! I'll trade somebody one of my false alarm hurricane days ( Read more... )

I hope Santa brought everybody what they wanted. My whole family came down with that respiratory plague that seems to be sweeping the nation in the days leading up to Christmas, so we wound up passing kleenex and cough drops along with presents at my sister's on the 25th. Three weeks later, I stll have a cough that doesn't want to go away ( Read more... )

After an hilarious conversation with Josh yesterday, I've been wracking my brain trying to think of movies (other than Braveheart) that feature men in skirts doing battle. :) Can anybody help me out here? I'm trying to get my little nerd boy interested in his roots.