Top 10 Reasons to Get Honked at in Miami

I have already been honked at more times in one month of living in Miami again than all of the four years in the Bay Area. I am NOT exaggerating. It is at least a daily occurrence. Here is my accumulated list of top offenses that warrant being honked at according to my fellow Miamian drivers.

Top 10 Reasons to Get Honked at in Miami
1. Slowing to allow someone into your lane.
2. Stopping for a pedestrian.
3. Not lurching forward at the exact moment a light turns green.
4. Not running a yellow or red light.
5. Being leered at by disgusting guys.
6. Not making a risky left turn into ongoing traffic.
7. Not vacating a parking spot fast enough.
8. Having out of state plates. Of course you don't know how to drive appropriately in the crazy Miami traffic!
9. Being on the road in front of another driver.
10. Giving the appearance that one might do something that would impede the progress of the driver behind.

Now here is my list of top ten reasons to have your license revoked in Miami.

1. Littering
2. Talking on the cell phone while swerving through traffic (or alternately driving 10 mph while talking.)
3. Not using turn signals and then "merging" suddenly and dangerously.
4. Cutting through gas stations or shopping centers to make a right turn rather than waiting for a green light at the corner.
5. Driving up over the curb and on the sidewalk in order to make a right turn at a red light when you're 3 cars  back.
6. Driving on the shoulder of the interstate to "pass" other cars.
7. Tailgating through a 15 mph school zone.
8. Turning left from the far right lane or turning right from the left turn lane.
9. Rolling into an intersection at 3 mph on a red light (that's not a problem is it?!)
10. Obnoxious use of the horn.

Almost Home!

I don't know the details for closing and all that just yet, but the bank approved our house bid. Woooo-hoo!!!!!!!!!

Lorelei's Florida Checkup - The Money Racket!!

In order to be enrolled in a licensed daycare or school here in Florida, the child must have blue and gold papers from the doctor's office showing immunization records and physical condition of said child. Okay fine, but what if your child has recently been for a checkup but it was in California where they don't have the blue and gold papers? Well, then you pay to go again. Humph! So Lorelei went today expecting nothing more than prodding in her ears and peering in her eyes and mouth. Instead she got a TB test, blood sample, and three vaccinations. Ouch! It was terrible holding her to my chest through the ordeal. She was screaming and physically moving away from the nurse by the last vaccination and the blood draw. Oh, my brave baby girl crying. I tried not to cry myself. It was really more of a misting of the eyes.

But here are her updated stats for a 4 1/2 year old. 39 pounds of solid muscle puts her at the 63rd percentile. Her 42 1/2 inches put her exactly at the 75th percentile. She is a healthy girl who will be much happier when she never has to have another shot. I did tell her that getting her ears pierced is a bit like getting shots in the earlobes, except that it continues to hurt longer. No comment from her on that thought.

So I go to pay (second time in 8 days) and I mentioned to the cashier that I had paid $35 last week for Emma and our co-payment is only $25. "Did you get the blue and gold papers?" she asked me. "Oh, maam. There is a charge for those forms." Ten dollars to give me my child's information! From her own doctor! The one that makes tons of money off of me anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, maam. Go blue and gold.

My Birthday

 
I had a very low-key birthday but that felt fine given the back-to-back weekends of birthday parties. My blood sugar level has been elevated for two straight weeks!


Instead of going to the beach as was suggested to me by one friend, I was studying again. Don't get me wrong, I do love to study. I hope that this final third class to clear my California teaching credential is awesome. It has a good title "Culture and Content Instruction". A bit vague, but hey I like culture, content and instruction so bring it on! I got a late start with the readings so yesterday I had to do all the readings in order to submit today's assignment.

We had a nice dinner and the girls jumped out of the closet to suprise serenade me with songs and drawings. It was frankly the best part of my day.

Tacky Birthday Party

Last night the Pfefferkorn family was living it up at the Restrepo's with a lively celebration of Virgos - Juan and myself! Goodwill got a lot of business from the attendees in order to pull off some awesomely tacky outfits. Andres was the California high-tech exec (completely out of place here in Miami!) and I was "Inappropriate in the workplace" except that when I saw the photos it turns out that I really fit in well with Miami's sense of acceptable. I just wasn't crazy enough! The girls had on gorgeous digs that just arrived from the Munns grandparents. Perfect timing!  It is additionally ironic to me that this is our first Family Picture  of the four of us since June!

Juan and Jenna decided to take a different tact with tacky - Trailer Trash. Jenna was perfect in her pjs and robe with her pregnant belly hanging out. The only thing that would have improved the look would have been a cigarette and a can of Pabst. Juan's new white polyster tank was the envy of several of the male attendees.


The girls stayed awake for the whole thing! They made lots of new friends (babysitters?) and learned how to play Hungry Hippo. I'm still working on getting the eye makeup off my face!

The Invisible Net

This morning before heading off to school, Emma wanted to stop and play in the "park" (on the playground). There is an element of the play structure that will be immediately familiar to all moms, dads and other such people that hang out in parks these days. It is similar to a ladder but made of metal and arched liek a half rainbow. The steps are far enough apart that I could easily slip between them - let along small children. The top of the ladder reaches about 6 feet high. It is the only aspect of our playground that I worry about - especially because Emma loves it. So this morning I was thinking about my personal style of parenting and a very important component is the "Invisible Net". I want my children to grow up unafraid. Being strong, independent and adventurous are all valued character traits for me, and if I can influence the adoption of these traits, I will. So far nature seems to be on my side with both the girls. So now I nurture that spirit by giving them almost free rein.

What isn't apparent to a casual observer is that while my children are running around seemingly unfettered, I am constantly vigilant. I anticipate dangers and do my best to mitigate them without it being overtly obvious to my children that I am protecting them.

When my mom was out visiting us in California in July, I was reminded of this hidden protectiveness. Grandma Becky wasn't comfortable with what  looked like I wasn't watching enough or concerned enough about what the girls were doing. She also learned that she is suprisingly more protective of her grandchildren then she was of her own children - too long off the job I think.

I do hope that at some point my children will assume responsibilty for maintaining their own safety within reasonable bounds, but as much as I can help them learn it now, it is still my duty to be the invisible safety net.

Super Emma

Emma is finally two. It seems like she has been "almost" two forever!  I can't believe how amazingly able she is for such a little kid. She looks so little to me walking around in the world (until she's next to a baby), but she's such a real person with a big personality. She loved all the singing and cake eating that comes with having a birthday. That's right - breakfast of champions!

Emma had her 2 year check-up today. She received the usual suprised remarks from the doctors and nurses about how calm and cooperative she was. Lorelei was and is the same way. Her height is 35 1/2 inches (93rd percentile) and weight 29 1/2 lbs. (82nd percentile). She seems to be holding steady in terms of her growth. For the first time since she was born (at least that I remember) the nurse pricked her toe for a blood sample. She didn't cry, though. She mostly looked on with interest. They ran the blood sample through immediately right there on-site. Turns out that her iron level is low. It could be that she doesn't eat enough meat (or other iron-rich food) - possibly because she isn't that big of a fan of meat, or it could just be that she is growing so rapidly that her body isn't keeping up. In any event I have to buy some new vitamins that include iron and work on getting more iron-rich food into Emma.

The other weird thing (and no photos of this part!) they wanted to run a urine sample and so the nurse taped a plastic bag to Emma and then put her diaper back on and we waited. No luck. In two hours there was nothing but a few drops. So now I have to collect a sample at home. The nurse showed me how to put the bag on (kind of like a maxi pad sticky system). After school, I taped on a new bag and served up all kinds of liquids. Several hours later she had a full diaper, but nothing in the bag. So much for my application skills. I had one more bag so I tried to really cover the territory and she's asleep right now with it tucked in there. If we go bust, I think I might just surrender. No way I can get her to pee straight into the cup they gave me!

First Days of School

Lorelei started her pre-K class one week into the school year. She was so excited to be at school again. She said good-bye like nothing. In the afternoon she ran to me yelling "Mami!" and then wanted to show me what she had drawn and the puzzles and toys. When I asked about her teacher, she said, "Um... I don't really like her that much." Ouch! I have to agree with Lorelei on that assessment, but it hasn't interfered with how much Lorelei loves to go to school and do school things and be with friends.

There was space at Lorelei's preschool for Emma in a two-year old class, but the instruction is strictly English and that isn't what we wanted for Emma at this point. It took longer for us to find a place but today (on her birthday) Emma started at a bilingual preschool. The teachers' are native speakers of Spanish and most of the kids speak Spanish at home. Emma moved right in and I see her taking over the place before the week is out. She also had no second thoughts about seeing me walk out the door this morning. Such independent children I have. Score one for Mami!

Eating My Words - and Choking on Them

Once we knew that we would be moving back to Miami, I celebrated the fact that we would become reacquainted with an ocean that one can actually swim in and seeing our good friends again. Then I started thinking about all the annoying aspects of the place; customer service, traffic, road rage, the heat, the humidity, the mosquitos. After describing Miami to my friend's Egyptian mother (who has never been here), she asked, "So why are you going back?" Good question. Miami has a pull on our family. What can I say? So I did complain in advance to everyone that I talked to in the Bay Area about how horrible the customer service in Miami is. So here comes the eating my words part. Since we arrived we have had the normal level of service that I have come to expect and then some superb service to boot. Hmmm... Maybe MIA is going for a new image? So I feel a bit guilty about having spread such a negative vibe about Miami so I wanted to spread the good word too.

Oh, but then today I set down my Sally purchase (Buy 2 hair goo products and get the third free) in the self-checkout lane at Winn-Dixie and forgot it. I realized my mistake an hour later. That bag was gone. I don't know whether to suspect another customer or an employee, but I am confident that in Mountain View I would have easily recovered my $16 purchase.

Bienvenidos a Miami!

After 4 years in California, our family moved back across the continent to Miami. It all happened very quickly and frankly our heads are still spinning. Andres is in a new job, Lorelei started not just preschool but pre-K classes and on Monday we are testing out a school for Emma. And we are trying to buy a house but are waiting to hear back from the bank. Patience may be a virtue but it isn't one that I possess in abundance.

So now that I find myself unemployed and soon to have both of my beautiful girls in school, I am hoping that I will faithfully post updates on this blog. I changed the name because it really is more about me and my experiences rather than the whole family. After all, you only hear my side of things!And trust me when I say that being a Mama in Miami is very different from being a Bay Area Mama.