Wednesday Smiles

I already have one for today!

1. After typing #1 from yesterday I had to go outside for about 10 minutes while I laughed my a$$ off.

2. Seeing how happy all of King's friends are when he tells them that we are expecting a baby.

3. Talking to Boo. I really miss her!

4. Watching Luca play games at Kid's Village.

5. Eating yummy West Indian food from Village. Sweet potatoes, potato stuffing, fried chicken, yum!

Tuesday Smiles

1. I asked King where his Aunt got her dog and he told me it was a "Used Dog". I can NOT stop laughing about this!

2. Luca called the baby "LJ" (Luca Jr.) and Steve. I'm just glad he isn't calling it Man Fred any more.

3. I think that I took care of everything with the VIBIR (Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue) so we can get our tax clearance letter.

4. The A/C in Verace. Yesterday was sooo hot and humid and I went into Verace to cool off as many times as possible.

5. Kim is back from vacation!!!!

6. Looking at two just hatched baby chicks huddle up together and fall asleep.

Christmas Bush

The only present you are going to get from this plant is a nasty poison ivy like rash. The leaves on this bush are very cool looking, so I see how some people might want to touch it to inspect it more closely. Unlike poison ivy, this bush can grow very tall so it's more likely to get it EVERYWHERE. When the leaves age, they turn a bright red color. The first picture was taken on the trail to Salt Pond and the bush was more than 10 feet tall. The second picture was taken on the trail to Ram's Head. MOM- STAY AWAY FROM THIS STUFF!!!!

Monday Smiles

1. As Cora might say it.... I can't see my Nu Nu any more. Belly is getting big!

2. A worker from St. John Spice called to say that we are doing a good job raising Luca. She gave him too much change and he said, "You didn't give me the right change. You gave me too much."

3. The hen who defies natural instinct and brings her four chicks to my deck at 4am (in the pitch dark) to eat a little pile of cracked corn.

4. A lady in the park showed me that she was wearing a bracelet that she bought from Luca. She wears it as an anklet and hasn't taken it off since she bought it.

5. Luigi spent ALL day yesterday putting up the storm shutters on his condo. I know it's kind of evil, but I had to smile over what he must be going through. That is not really his kind of thing.

Chased by an Octopus

King, Luca, and I went to Dennis Bay on Sunday. I had never been before and thought it was beautiful!!! It's a short hike down to the beach and we had it almost to ourselves. We brought our handlines to do a little fishing. I picked a rock to stand on and threw my line out.

After about 20 minutes, with my line out in the water, I noticed something in the water, beyond the rocks I was standing on, moving fast towards me. As it got closer I could see it was an octopus. I started to call out to King and Luca and to my great surprise, the thing shot up onto the rock in front of me climbing quickly over it. I jumped back a rock, and the thing kept coming!!! Up over two rocks and still making it's way towards me. I dropped my handline and ran yelling back to the sand. I had no idea those things could move like that out of the water. He was flashing all different colors the whole time he was chasing me to the beach.

After I left the rocks he settled in a little pool of water and I ran to get my camera. King kept him there until I could snap a few shots. It's head was about the size of a big mango. I have no idea what I did to piss it off...maybe I was on it's rock? I've had octopi go for my bait while fishing, but this guy was no where near my bait and quite obviously just didn't want me on the rocks.

Sunday Smiles

1. Watching King and Luca race to be the first one at Deli Grotto.

2. Luca profusely apologizing to Charlie and Alakay for being late on feeding them dinner.

3. Going to Dennis Bay (another first for me).

4. Being at Food Fair in town. All of the people, the music, the food. I had to fight back the tears it made me so happy. (I'm trying to tell myself that it is the pregnancy hormones that made me all choked up, but I think it would have happened anyway.)

5. Luca telling me not to waste my energy on scooping the rock hard ice cream, he would do it. He's become very protective of me since I showed him that picture of what is going on inside my body.

6. Luca holding my hand to help me walk through some mud on the trail to Dennis Bay.

7. Luca telling me I was the nicest mom in the whole world and he loves me so much.

8. Listening to King and Luca try and figure out what the 5th element is; Earth, Air, Water, Fire....?

9. Having fresh sheets on the bed.

10. Seeing Kelly and Jimbo at Food Fair and telling them I am pregnant.

Ahhh...it was a good day!!!!

Drunk Bay

King and I made a trip out to Drunk Bay yesterday. In the 11 years I've lived here, I've never made it out there. It was REALLY cool! There are hundreds of little creations to look at. People take what they find on the shore and make people, animals, spell things out, all kinds of stuff. The large rocks are filled with all different kinds of "sculptures". It is quite a site. I plan on going back soon with Luca to make some of our own. Some of them are very involved and it must take people a long time to make them. King and I had the whole place to ourselves and had a great time checking out all the works of art.

Smilin' Saturday

1. The sun came out!!! It's been unusually rainy and cloudy for the past couple of weeks. It was so good to see the sun.

2. The BIGGEST, YELLOWIST moon I have ever seen was shining through a cloud last night. I was awestruck.

3. The coral people at Drunk Bay.

4. Luca cuddled up next to me in bed.

5. Looking at piles of baby hermit crabs on the shore at Salt Pond. There were thousands of them in their tiny shells!

Friday's Smiles

I really have to try and stay awake long enough to do this in the evening...it's hard to remember the next day!!! I guess it's more of a challenge this way. Why is it so easy to remember the bad things and not the good thing? Negative energy is very powerful and it should just be outlawed.

1. It was FRIDAY!!!

2. Creation was on the beach carving coconut bird feeders. He is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of encountering.

3. Luca and I had a great talk about Creation and how he has seems to have found the secret to life. Luca said that Creation is the nicest adult that he has ever met.

4. Squirt, Limpy the chicken's baby, chased me into the house to get something to eat. We put some food on the run inside of the door for her to eat so the other chickens don't eat it.

5. People are starting to not be afraid to ask me if I have a baby on the way. I am big enough now that people don't think that I have been just drinking way to much beer. It is really nice to see how many people seem to be really happy for me.

That Seems Complicated

I was trying to show Luca what in might look like inside my body right now. When he saw the picture he noticed the "blue" the baby was in and asked what it was. I told him it was amniotic fluid. How the baby is inside of a sack that is filled with liquid. He wanted to know how it breathed. So I told him about the umbilical cord (belly button is what he insisted on calling it) and how that is attached to the placenta.

"You know, it's kind of like the plug. That is how the baby gets food and air, it's plugged into me and gets what I eat and what I breath."

"That seems complicated." End of discussion.

I was curious to see how far the talk would go. He has this strange reaction to stuff like this, his eyes start to water. He had to rub his eyes for about 10 minutes after our little talk. I don't think he will grow up to be a doctor.

One From the Archives

Luca eating bubbles off the floor when he was one and a half. YUM!!! Makes me smile every time!

Thursday's Smiles

1. Three kids fishing on the ferry dock. The gave up with the handlines and switched to poles. It was funny watching them try not to hook tourists. I think they actually caught a couple!

2. The G-Spot had split pea soup! YUM!

3. When I told Luca the good news about the pea soup and asked if he wanted a cup or a bowl, he told me a joke (after he got done making fake vomitting noises). "What is the difference between Roast Beef and Pea Soup? Anyone can roast beef, but no body can pee soup."

4. Luigi told Luca to stop making me bend over, "Mom's pregnant, stop making her pick things up off the ground."

5. Luca made $60 selling his bracelets!

Luca beading

Luca is busy making bracelets that he is selling for $6 each out in front of Verace. He is donating 10% of his proceeds to Wendy. She wants to go to school to become St. John's only paramedic.

Smiles From Yesterday

Since I like reading about Jeanne's smiles, I'm going to do it too. I am going to have to start doing this at the end of the day, my memory is shot!
1. Saw David in the park. He is an older gentleman that I used to see every day and he just really nice and always has a smile for me.

2. King cleaned the house after I fell asleep. When I woke up, coffee pot was ready, just had to push the button. That is the BEST!

3. One of my imaginary friends sent me a private message expressing concern about how early I was getting up and gave me some advice about how to stay asleep longer. Just really sweet thing to do.

4. Luca said he was excited that he was going to see Cora because "She is just so cute. And she always give me hugs. And she is just so cute, isn't she?"

5. Alakay, my hyper, glutenous, puppy, sits and waits for me to pet him and give him some loving before he will eat his breakfast. It is the only time he is calm unless he is asleep.

Questions dropping from the Clear Blue Sky

Luca: "Mom? Are you an almond?"
Me: "Uh, no, I don't think so."
Luca: "Are you sure? Because I am not so sure you aren't."

My Imaginary Friends

The forums...you've heard me say it before, but do you really know what it is all about? My alter ego, stjohnjulie, was born back in 2003. Since 2005 I have been going to the "forums" almost every morning. I now participate actively in 4 different forums (see other post). Why? Because when Luca was little I started to get up early and spend some quiet time on the computer while he and Luigi were asleep. It was time to drink coffee, read news, and just have some me time. After lurking on the forums for a long time, I started posting. I like knowing the answer to something and I really like to try and help people out. It has become a big part of who I am and I look forward to reading the questions and experiences of St. John visitors. I now have a large group of imaginary friends whom I only know by screen names. Here's to my forum friends who keep me company in the early morning hours!

Do you let chickens in your house?

Of course! Especially if they only have one foot and their are trying to raise a young one. Limpy, the mom, and Squirt, the chick, come into the house every day to eat a pile of cracked corn I put on the rug for them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to scratch in the dirt for food when you have but one foot???

It's 3am, what are you going to do?

So this is my new wake up time. First I hit the bathroom to take care of my ever shrinking bladder, then make the coffee, then hit the internet. This is where I go...in this order...every morning.
CNN
St. John Source
VI Daily News
News of St. John
TripAdvisor (St. John Forums)
VINOW (The Fourms)
Virgin Islands On Line (The Forums)
On St. John
Tradewinds News
No See Um Blog
St. John Summit (The Forums)

Then I read and respond to emails. But since I don't really get many, now I have this blog. I know, exciting, right????

I'm going to blah blah blog

Because I want my sister to blog.