The long awaited post

I should probably be posting like crazy right now because of so many things happening lately, however, I'm just looking through other people's posts, commenting and... just forgetting my own blog. But, some wise woman said "set time each day for yourself", so I might as well do it right now.
Anyway, to the subject of being busy lately.

April was an extremely busy and happy month for me and our family. We bought our first home (yay!) and were moving, painting, cleaning, fixing, gardening, watering, unpacking, and a whole bunch of other -ing. It is by far not close to being done, but right now I can tell I'm happy with what our kitchen and my teeny garden up front look like.

There is still ton of work with the lawn, bedrooms, living-room, but, as another wise woman told me "work on one area at a time".

Besides, my mother-in-law came to visit us for 2 weeks during spring break. It was really nice to have her over. Dianne really is a great grandma to my kids, she would get down to play games with them, like slip-n-slide, build sand castles on the beach, teach them how to play Farkle and how to play out "Three Little Pigs" with the voices and personalization. When she was here, we also went places.

The trip to the Kennedy Space Center was great - we almost got to touch the shuttle (well, not really, but we saw it on the pad ready for the next mission).

By the way, the little side note, shuttle program is coming to an end soon, and they will be retired by 2010 I believe. Put it on your list of places to visit and come witness history-in-making. Being russian, I feel a certain pride for Soviet Union putting first man in space and everything. However, I bow my head for United States' ability to make an amusement park out of government's space science and research technologies.

Alright, back to grandma.

We went to the beach twice. The first time she wanted to drive on Hwy 1 in hopes of finding the pretty beach scenery. Little did we know, Hwy 1 is not great for that, however A1A is better. Sorry for Florida road technicatities. I discovered that I actually love maps and can read them pretty decently accompanied by mapquest. While driving on one of those roads, we found this really nice beach - Jensen Beach. They had all the amenities, little food place and the parking was free. So, if you're a fan of ocean side beaches, it is a great place. However, us being a family with little kids, we prefer calmer gulf side beaches. We found a really nice one in Anna Maria island.

The water was greenish-blue and clear, the sand was pleasant, the waves - almost non-existent, and you can walk a mile untill it gets actually deep. While exploring the deeper side Eric and I stepped on some flat rocks. But only close observation let us conclude they weren't rocks at all, but sand dollars (they are actual living creatures). Well, I have to confess, we brought some home with us, and now they almost look like this. I love this little legend/story about sand dollar:

THERE'S A PRETTY LITTLE LEGEND
THAT I WOULD LIKE TO TELL
OF THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF JESUS
FOUND IN THIS LOWLY SHELL

IF YOU EXAMINE CLOSELY
YOU'LL SEE THAT YOU FIND HERE
FOUR NAIL HOLES AND A FIFTH ONE
MADE BY A ROMAN'S SPEAR

ON ONE SIDE THE EASTER LILY
ITS CENTER IS THE STAR
THAT APPEARED UNTO THE SHEPHERDS
AND LED THEM FROM AFAR

THE CHRISTMAS POINSETTIA
ETCHED ON THE OTHER SIDE
REMINDS US OF HIS BIRTHDAY
OUR HAPPY CHRISTMASTIDE

NOW BREAK THE CENTER OPEN
AND HERE YOU WILL RELEASE
THE FIVE WHITE DOVES AWAITING
TO SPREAD GOOD WILL AND PEACE

THIS SIMPLE LITTLE SYMBOL
CHRIST LEFT FOR YOU AND ME
TO HELP US SPREAD HIS GOSPEL
THROUGH ALL ETERNITY

On this note, I shall conclude this post and write back hopefully soon.