Wonka Truck

Today, I took my son to the largest outlet mall in Florida. This truck was sitting outside Wannado City, and it was so weird that I just had to snap it. Funny, but I just can't imagine Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp sitting in the driver's seat of this truck and going up the Turnpike....

Did you know this is my 101st post?



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100 things ... but not really

This is my 100th post! Many bloggers celebrate by posting 100 things about themselves. But I won't inflict that kind of pain on you. Wouldn't a list like that be more likely to be read if bloggers posted something juicy like "100 lies I've told" or "100 ways I stick it to the man?"

Anyway.

My 100th post comes a day after the author of the book "100 Things to Do Before You Die," himself, died. Dave Freeman had apparently accomplished half the things on his list and simply fell at his home and hit his head. This is scary. If the proponent of doing exciting things the world has to offer can die just by falling and hitting his head in his own home without completing his list, then is there hope for the average mom?

I haven't read the book, but some time ago, my husband and I had such a list. There weren't 100 items on the list, but there were some things on our "life wish list." We have already done some neat things in our 13 years together. Here are some yet to experience -- many are just dreams -- in no order:

1. Shake the hand of the current president, whomever it is at whatever time we get that chance.
   
   
2. See the redwood trees in California.
   
   
3. See the Grand Canyon.
   
   
4. (Warning: There are a lot of travel-related items on this list.)
   
   
5. Walk across England and especially see the Lake District.
   
   
6. Go to the Olympics. (But not be in the Olympics.)
   
   
7. Have another child.
   
   
8. Buy a large piece of property for quasi-conservation (quasi because we'd like to put a cabin or two on the property, and use the cabin as a base for exploring from there).
   
   
9. Me: Learn to scuba dive (my husband already does).
   
   
10. Him: See Niagara Falls (I already have, Canadian side).
    
    
11. See Hawaii and Fiji.
    
    
12. Kiss near a flower stand on a street in Paris. (That would be my husband and me kissing.)
    
    
13. Experience walking the red carpet in Hollywood.
    
    
14. Drive across the country in an RV (after we retire -- we might even try to collect a spoon from each state or some other hokey thing like that).
    
    
15. Go on safari in Africa and see the Big Five.
    
    
16. Me: See New York City, baby! (My husband has already been a few times.)
    
    
17. Learn how to kiteboard.
    
    
18. Rent or charter a boat and explore the Caribbean.
    
    
19. Take a week or so and paddle down the Suwannee River.
    
    
20. Take a week or so and paddle through the Everglades
    
    
21. Take our son to a snowy place for Christmas when he is old enough to remember it, so he can experience having a white Christmas.
    
    
22. Hike the Appalachian Trail. Maybe not all of it.
    
    
23. Explore Florida's coastal waters by boat.
    
    
24. (You can see we're the outdoorsy type.)
    
    
25. Him: Build a race car from scratch. (My husband is actually working on that one.)
    
    
26. Take my family to see where I grew up.
    
    
27. Be part of the audience during the taping of a TV show like The Tonight Show or Oprah or something.
    
    
28. See Banff and Glacier national parks.
    
    
29. Him: See the Silver State Classic Challenge.
    
    
30. Watch a rocket launch into space. (We tried to do this a couple times, and the shuttle was postponed.)
    
    
31. Him: Create a documentary.
    
    
32. Have a beer and sing a song in a pub in Ireland.
    
    
33. Go on an ecotour in Costa Rica.
    
    

You can see I'm nowhere near 100, but I'm sure our family will add to this list over time.

Oh, but, yeah, we'll be crossing things off the list, too, as we do them.

Well....

I'll leave the list of 100 things to others who are better at making lists. I'll just focus on the doing, not the listing!

A Whole (Foods) lotta tech, and some cheese

I know I blog too much about going grocery shopping, but it's not my fault that stuff happens there. (Like the time I risked sending a woman to jail.)

I enjoy going to Whole Foods (I love their cheeses! Oh, cheese!), which is only a mile from my house, and I'm even following Whole Foods on Twitter. Anyway, I just found out Whole Foods has a blog! And podcasts! They are so high-tech and with it. Their Whole Body podcast has been focusing on back-to-school topics, and I know some readers have kids in school, so I just thought I'd point it out.

Their most recent entry is about safe cosmetics, and you don't have to be a teenage girl going back to school to get something out of that. I know I have definitely started looking at the labels of what I put on my face.

Upcoming topics include how essential fatty acids help boost brain power (for good grades!) and how kids can keep their immune system strong so they stay healthy. Previous topics discuss "green style," whether your child needs multivitamins and natural toothpastes.

Now I have to go get me some Whole Foods cheese. Preferably, Gruyere. And maybe some grapes to go with it.

Key West church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Key West, Florida

Someone hearts me

What a great month to be a blogger! First Morningside Mom gave me the Brilliante Weblog Award, and now super-funny Florida mom Melizzard at Breaking the Dress Code has nominated Tropic of Mom for another award:



Aw. That gets me right here. Sniff. Isn't she nice?

I am now supposed to pass along this award. Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.

I really want to share the blog award love, so I'm going to give this award to bloggers I didn't award before. (Pick seven? Oh, the pressure! Why can't I just give the award to everybody?!) Because every blogger deserves an award. I now nominate:

Jennifer at If You're Happy and You Know It. She's sweet and has a fun blog design.

Mommy Mechanics. She's funny and has really good ideas!

Imposter Mom. She does a mean haiku, and her posts are so real.

DJ at Nodin's Nest. She's a Florida mom, too, and she is super-crafty!

Outnumbered Two to One. A hysterical South Florida mom, she always has something interesting to say.

Nicole at The Nicole Show. She loves to poke fun at things!

Robin's iNest. This is my real-life friend new to blogging who is helping her daughter recuperate after a bad car crash.

So there you go -- wear your new award loud and proud!

I am going to stalk Dara Torres

But not in that creepy stalker way that gets you arrested.

No, I am just going to find out if it's possible for a humble mom blogger to get an interview with this amazing repeat Olympic medal winner who happens to train in a pool that's a 10-minute drive from my home.

See, that will be my angle, if I happen to get ahold of her manager: Wouldn't Dara Torres love to talk to a hometown girl like herself? She's a mom, I'm a mom. She's from here, I'm from here. She trains at the aquatic complex, I've been there. (I signed up my kid for swimming lessons there!) She's been to the Olympics, I've watched them on TV. She dared to dream of winning a swimming medal in her 40s, and I am daring to dream of winning an interview. We're practically twins.



How could she turn down an opportunity like this?

We'll see what happens.... What would you love to ask Dara?

Water wheel

It's the end of summer, most people believe, as kids go back to school and Labor Day approaches. South Florida will have summer for a couple more months, however. Which can be good and bad. (For example, one year I hosted Thanksgiving on my patio outside. Many of my family members were in shorts. And still sweating. It kills the Turkey Day ambiance.)

Anyway, back in May, I had great ambitious plans to take my son to all the South Florida water parks and write a review about each one.

I think I wrote two reviews.

The Man-cub enjoyed the first water park, hated the second and loathed the third. So I never even wrote about the third one.

This week, we ended up going back to the first water park he enjoyed so much, and he once again had a great time.

It kills me.

While we were waiting in line for a water slide, I looked up and snapped this picture of the big water wheel. I just loved how the light refracted through the water droplets looks like diamonds.

Ahh, I love me some water parks. And I think my son will too -- just give him some time.


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My violent and disturbed readers

For about two years during college, I was a waitress. I like to say that job saved my life because it helped me really learn about people. (But the tips were so bad it almost killed me!)

That's also why I love reading other bloggers' lists of how people find their blogs. What people search on -- just like what they order to eat in a restaurant and how they treat the wait staff -- is so telling about human nature.

Like how people have found my blog:

"Poison red berry ground" -- So this person wants to grind up some poison red berry. Maybe s/he's suicidal. Or trying to kill another person. In any case, do you really think you should be grinding it up? What if you're allergic and it gets on your hands? Then you're sunk. Perhaps you should step away from the berries and talk to someone who can help.

"Lizard pesticides" -- This person wants to kill a defenseless little reptile. (It's a vicious bunch, these people who visit my blog!) Well, you're not going to find any help at this blog, reptile murderer! I happen to like lizards. May lizard zombies haunt you!

"Mom senior sexy" -- Uhhhh.... Mom? I didn't know you read my blog.

"Weighing pros and cons" -- This person is trying to make a decision. S/he is taking a long, hard look at things. Important things. Just don't fall for that old joke, "Which weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?"

Most disturbing, however, is my blog currently turns up the #1 search result for:

"Mom makes son wear thongs" -- Um. I'm very concerned here. And likely this person is too. I don't think anyone should be forced to wear a thong. And anyway, do they make thongs for children? Or should I get my mind out of the gutter and focus on feet -- as in flip-flops? I have had my share of problems with flip-flops, too. For boys, I recommend basic sandals, Crocs, sneakers -- and/or Underoos.

Update: someone found my blog by searching for "sexy mom.com." Oh, thank you....

Human nature. Endlessly fascinating.

Cape Florida Lighthouse

This lighthouse is on the southern tip of Key Biscayne in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.

The maybes of Tropical Storm Fay

Tropical Storm Fay has passed. I'm relieved all she did was dump a lot of rain here because I didn't really feel like polluting the environment with our gas-powered generator and because dealing with insurance companies is a pain.

However, part of me is really disappointed Fay didn't give us a show. I know that sounds twisted and selfish. I think maybe I just get caught up in the excitement.

Maybe I enjoy seeing reporters on the beach getting whipped by wind and stung in the face by rain while tsk-tsking the surfers. And maybe I miss Brian Norcross but feel Phil Ferro will do and neither my husband nor I can turn off the TV weather while storms are a-brewing.

Maybe I just wanted something to blog about.

Or maybe I've been through too many storms and hurricanes (including one that had me driving home from work in the middle of a hurricane because my boss didn't let me go sooner) and I'm the kind of person who looks forward to a challenge.

I'm not sure why I wish Fay was more than a couple of rainy days.

Maybe it's because when I see this:



but the view of my backyard is this:



it's just a little bit of a letdown.

Maybe I should have been a storm chaser or hurricane hunter.

Maybe I'm just crazy!

Fay, Fay, go away

So Tropical Storm Fay is coming our way. Or maybe it will be Hurricane Fay by the time it gets here. The cone of uncertainty (don't you just love how forecasters are so good at being wishy-washy?) has Florida pretty well covered -- in any case, we're going to get hit. I mean, look at the size of that thing! It's almost the size of the entire state!

Today was supposed to be the first day of school. Right now, there are tens of thousands of kids cheering while their parents are smiling through gritted teeth. Or perhaps banging their heads against a wall.

For my boy and me today, though, we're just taking it like another day. My husband and I did some storm prep over the weekend. We have some things out in the yard to bring in before the storm comes, but other than that, we feel we're set.

Just, oh, please, Fay -- don't get any stronger than a Cat 1. Think you can do that for us?

Graphic pilfered from the Miami Herald.

Boy toy, no -- bargain, yes

I admit I love a bargain. I have been married, and happily, for 13 years, so I get my thrill-of-the-chase on looking for stuff on the cheap. Who needs a boy toy when you can find a Vera Wang dress at TJ Maxx for $13?!

OK, don't answer that question....

Anyway, The Parent Bloggers Network and Couponers.com are asking for bargain-hunting stories and tips. One of my favorite ways to feel like I'm getting something for free -- a feeling second only to that rush you get from a roller coaster -- is to take advantage of kiddie clothing store Gymboree's Gymbucks. If you're not familiar with how Gymbucks works, you go into the store during a certain time period and spend $50 to get a $25 off coupon to use another time -- like the following month. Then you come back to Gymboree during the designated redemption time, find $50 worth of clothes, present your $25 coupon and get half off.

But wait, it gets better! If you use the Gymboree Visa, you get 5% off all Gymboree purchases made with the Visa and 1% back on any other purchase you make with your Visa. So I use the Gymboree Visa to buy groceries, gifts and other regular, everyday items -- and pay off the bill when it comes due every month. About six weeks later, I get a gift card for $10 or sometimes $20 to use at Gymboree.

So then what I do is take that gift card to Gymboree during the Gymbucks redemption time. Last time I went, I had a $20 gift card from using the Gymboree Visa and $25 in Gymbucks. I got my son three pairs of shorts, two T-shirts and two tank tops for $9 that way! Not only were all the items on sale, but with the gift card and Gymbucks, they were practically free. Mmm-ahh! The smell of bargains!

Now tell me, what boy toy would appreciate that kind of excitement?

Smiley face

Before the Man-cub was born, my husband and I traveled. One of our favorite places in the state became the Herlong Mansion in Micanopy, which is just south of Gainesville and near an excellent state park, Paynes Prairie Preserve. The owner at that time always served breakfast in a smiley face pattern. Sometimes, I do the same for the Man-cub. Why not start the day with a smile?


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Local blogger receives award

SOUTH FLORIDA -- Bloggers have a lot to say, but for once, one blogger was speechless.

"I really have no words," Holly at Tropic of Mom said. "I didn't expect Morningside Mom to give me the Brilliante Weblog Award. I haven't even written 100 posts on my blog yet."



Tropic of Mom stood before the swarm of news media at a brief press conference to announce her award.

"It's unexpected, it's humbling, it's a total surprise, it's more adjectives than a person should use in one sentence," Tropic of Mom said of receiving the award. "Coming from another Florida blogger who writes posts that are almost exactly what's on my mind, too, is more than I could have hoped for."

When asked if the rumors are true about her foray into the entertainment industry, Tropic of Mom said her son already considers her an entertainer -- but if movie offers came her way, she would get an agent before looking at any scripts.

Tropic of Mom also indicated there are rules attached to receiving the prestigious Brilliante Weblog Award:

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on his or her blog.

She nominated the following bloggers, who no doubt will hold their own press conferences and entertain their own movie deals:

A Mom, A Blog, and the Life In-Between -- She is a South Florida mom who writes honestly and poignantly about her life and her son.

CassandraRae -- She is a bright spot in the blogosphere, a life coach and mother.

Cool Zebras -- She has three children (including a newborn), is the creator of Midwest Parents, runs a cool Etsy shop -- and is one of the nicest bloggers ever.

Hope4Peyton -- She is a Florida mom who is so funny that you just might pee from laughing, and she creates awareness of childhood cancer in a way that anyone can relate to.

Momisodes -- She is a former South Floridian and writes both wickedly funny and tender, thought-provoking posts -- she's the whole package.

Raindrops and Whiskers -- She has a new blog home, so there aren't many posts up yet, but she is a longtime blogger, photographer and dedicated South Florida mom who recently went back to college to finish her degree.

What Works for Us -- She is a clever writer, always extremely complimentary and the co-creator of Photo Story Friday.

- 30 -

Hollywood Beach

My friend Guinevere graciously let me use her camera for this picture at Hollywood Beach -- and then she gave me the photo.

Win Pet Roundup

I'll get to the point: I have another giveaway!

Nice folks at Disney sent me two of their latest DVDs for kids: Little Einsteins: Flight of the Instrument Fairies and Handy Manny: Manny's Pet Roundup.

The bad news is I got only one copy of each. So I figured I'd review one, and give the other away. The good news is someone is going to get a brand-new copy of Handy Manny's latest DVD!

I have a love/hate relationship with the Little Einsteins. What I love about the Little Einsteins shows is they focus on music and art, and their global culture is a bonus. You always find out the composer of the music and the name of the artist whose work the show is based on (no matter how loosely). The Little Einsteins characters, though, do things that just aren't logical. For example, they have Rocket. They can and do fly anywhere in the world with Rocket. But on this DVD in The Puppet Princess episode, when Leo, Annie, Quincy and June have to get three puppets that fell out of their traveling puppet theater back to the theater in time for their show, what do they do? They walk through the forest. Another strange thing is there don't seem to be any other people in the Little Einsteins' world -- not at the puppet show, not at the Glass Slipper Ball or anywhere else that I have seen. A show that can manage to combine the art of Andy Warhol with the Blue Danube Waltz and hold kids' interest while doing so is OK, though.

The DVD includes four separate episodes and some nice bonus features. You can preview the Flight of the Instrument Fairies here and Little Red Rockethood here.

Now for the Handy Manny giveaway! Manny's Pet Roundup DVD has four episodes with Manny (Wilmer Valderrama of That 70s Show) and his talking tools. You can see a preview of Gopher Help here, and another fun preview here. All of the episodes have to do with animals. If you have an animal-loving kid, this DVD should be a lot of fun.

To win, just leave a comment at this post, and I'll use random.org to pick a winner on Saturday.

Update: Random.org picked the fourth commenter, Sandy of Momisodes! Congrats!

Just say no to Future Ant Farmers of America

My son and I were eating at the kitchen table when he decided to play a game.

"Head!" he said, his spaghetti-sauce-covered hands reaching for his hair.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes!" I sang.

The Man-cub looked down and pointed in my direction.

"Knees?" I asked. "Toes?"

He kept looking down. Finally, he got off his chair and bent very close to my toes. What was he doing now?

"Bye-bye," he said, and waved.

What the ...?

I looked. I squinted.

There was an ant on the floor. It was one of those barely-there ants, about a quarter of the size of his fingernail. I hate those things!

The Man-cub wasn't looking at my toes as part of the game -- he was waving to an ant.

Then he found another ant. And another.

"Bye-bye," he said, wishing them on their merry way.

Great. Not only do I have ants, but my son is showing them the best hospitality they'll see anywhere.

It's OK if he likes bugs -- but he's never going to have an ant farm.

To Infiniti and beyond

This week, my friend's son brought Buzz Lightyear along on an outing to the airport to watch planes take off and land. Buzz somehow ended up on my car hood. I thought Buzz would make a great hood ornament.

If you don't know Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story, this probably won't make any sense!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Cruising with Grandma -- on the roof of her car

What do three-year-old girls like to do for fun? Maybe ride on the roof of a car while Grandma drives -- oh, but really slowly, and while holding onto the girl's leg? That makes it fine, right?

That's the crazy news of the day from the Florida Keys. A woman was arrested after people called police about a woman driving in a parking lot with a small child on the roof of her Lexus. She apparently told police she didn't think what she was doing was wrong and she just wanted the girl to have fun! She was arrested anyway, for child abuse.

Thank goodness most grandmothers know kids belong in car seats, not on top of moving vehicles!

Everyone knows grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren and show them a good time. Landing in jail for a bit of revelry, though -- don't you think you should wait until your grandkid is 21?

Sunrise on Elliott Key

Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park

Find the drink

There is a game here chez Tropic of Mom that I call Find The Drink. Unfortunately, it's not a fun game. It's a tiresome hide-and-seek exercise in which my son hides his sippy cup and I have to look for it.

Every! Single! Day!

It typically goes like this: mid-morning rolls around. My son gets thirsty. I prepare a cool beverage for him in his cup. Then as I prepare to get us ready to leave the house for the morning's fun activity -- don't be too impressed, sometimes we just go to the post office -- his drink is nowhere to be found. If I don't find it, he will be thirsty and cranky on our outing. I could use another sippy cup, but then that one would just get lost too.

So I search. I seek.

I ask my son where his drink is, but he doesn't say. I think it's part of the game. He's not even two years old, and already he's great at hide and seek.

So I wander the house calling out, "Drink! Driiiiink? Da-ri-ink!"

The Man-cub thinks this is funny. He even starts calling for his drink.

One time, I found his cup in the bathtub. Another time, under my bed. Today, it was in the office next to an abandoned toy. One day, I just know the drink will turn up in the parlor with Professor Plum and a lead pipe.

Sometimes I don't find the drink and it turns up days later under a pile of blankets in my son's room. As Mom's Law would have it, those are the times there was cheese -- I mean milk -- in his sippy cup. Yeah.

So I am getting an avalanche beacon for his sippy cups. I should be able to get a good price on those here in South Florida, if I can find them. And a beacon will give me quite an advantage in the Find The Drink game.

Meet the Barefoots. Barefeets? Barefeeted?

You know how they say you never get a second chance to make a good first impression?

I just blew it yesterday.

See, we have new neighbors.

Sort of.

After more than two years on the market (I know!), the house next door finally sold. The first clue was late last week, with a couple of trucks in the driveway and workers pressure cleaning the roof while strange children wandered in and out of the front door. Then a large Dumpster appeared in front of the house. Hmm.

My husband likes to make and fix random things in the garage with the door wide open, so he sees a lot of people going by. (Unlike myself, who is usually too busy preparing gourmet meals in the kitchen sitting in front of the computer with the blinds closed.) He was making and fixing things this weekend when he saw Mr. New Neighbor and went over to introduce himself.

Then, my husband gave me the scoop. The new people are moving from another house in our same town and won't be moving into the house next door until they renovate it, which won't be for a couple of months. This makes me think either these people are rich and just downsizing, or the housing market isn't as bad as the newsmakers are saying because A) these people actually bought a house and B) have money to rip out walls, floors, cabinets, etc. and replace them while living in another house. (Because, really, replacing that stuff is key.)

Then yesterday afternoon, I went out to spy on what exactly my husband was doing in the garage and saw a group of about three families -- kids, dogs, everyone -- from up the street gathered around Mr. New Neighbor, grilling him welcoming him to the neighborhood. I wasn't planning on meeting anyone, and I didn't look very special. There might have been a spot on my shirt, and my hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. I wasn't even wearing shoes. Neither was the Man-cub, just barely awake from his nap and sporting super bed-head. Yet what did I do? Went and mingled with the crowd. Let my child run barefoot in the street. My husband left the garage and joined us, and I noticed he wasn't wearing shoes, either -- but he was wearing an old T-shirt.

Perfect! I can just imagine the report the new, rich neighbor gave his family: "Everyone in the neighborhood swarmed around me, and our next-door neighbors are a bunch of barefoot hippies! What have we done?!"

(Then at some point, I think Mr. New Neighbor mentioned he wanted a cold beer, and one of the guys from up the street joked, "Oh, we don't drink around here.")

The next time the new neighbors see us, we better be dressed like we're going to the Oscars to make up for our poor first impression. Then maybe they will get past that first impression of us and let the Man-cub play with their kids (two boys and a girl -- all under five, I think -- and a baby girl on the way).

Do they make tuxedos in size 2T?

Watch for falling reptiles

My first Photo Story Friday!

The Man-cub and I were headed out for a fun day, and as I went to put him in his car seat, I saw this critter on the back of my car. It's a knight anole. They can get up to two feet long and reportedly have a mean bite. But I couldn't have a reptile clinging to my car for dear life as I drove, so I shooed him off with a stick -- not before I took his picture, though!

One time, a knight anole fell down our chimney and got in the house. Gah! Freaked me right the heck out. I scooped him up with a pool net (because it has a looooong handle) and took him outside. In winter when the temperature drops, these guys fall out of the trees, where they live. And a bright green reptile with permanent eyeliner falling from above has surprised many South Floridians, let me tell you. Falling from a tree may have been how he got on my car, come to think of it....


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek