CyberMinions.net

Mamapalooza

I love New York City. Tomorrow is an eye candy event for the shorties. We are hooking up with the mommies in our stroller brigade and going to a Pow-Wow and Mamapalooza. I'm teaching some newbies how to create and collect  eye candy. These events are free (and very  colorful) so if you wanna come out to play check out "NY Mommy Chronicles: Taking kids to photograph New York City monuments, Mamapalooza and a Pow-Wow."

BTW, the Brooklyn Museum of Art is free to wee people under 12. :-)

Life With Wee People: Minion Shopping 101

My schedule is pretty wild today. The shorties and I have to find a very nice woman relocating from GA a two family house. She wants to go to contract ASAP, which means I need dibs on a house this week so the contract can be signed next week. This also means that I can't take the wee people clothes and shoe shopping like I originally planned because there's no time to squeeze it in. I am juggling buyers on a tight rope (LOL).

I routinely let them pick out their own stuff when we shop and I also let them dress themselves in the morning. Sometimes that is NOT a good thing (LMAO). Not wanting to jip the little minions from enjoying a wardrobe upgrade, I called a couple of very talented friends who where sweet enough to volunteer as wee people personal shoppers. While they run around with my debit cards two counties over, I'm taking a blogging break sitting over here with my laptop watching my kids standing on their table trying to figure out how to read this scale.

I am comepletely clueless, but am reciting the information like a check list to a very lovely lady with excellent taste who is about to provide the shorties with boots and sneakers. I picked them up some blue jeans while I was at the mall earlier and Step also has new undies on the way as well. My boys are blessed with a lot of wonderful friends who look out for them and I can't wait to see what my friends bring over for the wee people later on tonight. :-)

We were poking around looking in this neighborhood after school and have two more to check out before we call it a day:

I have a thing for Tudor homes and so do my boys so I like to point out home features to them while we roam around scoping FSBOs, off market properties and MLS listings. Every time I watch Noah take an interest in a property I find myself wondering if he might turn into a Photographer, Contractor, Realtor or a  Computer Geek... He could be all four or none. It's up to him to decide, so I'm working on him now to instill the desire to want to be something. Little dude is convinced he definitely is something right now (LOL). The fun part of running the streets with the shorties is the fact that you never know where you're going to make a pit stop to entertain them between clients.

Today I have a stellar pit stop planned for the wee people (once I get them off their table). Ever been to a steak house bakery? Seriously. I love New York City. You can get anything tasty to eat if you know where to go. I am a native with really cool friends who love good food as much as I do so I know where to go to get some. My must do list is very long (LOL).

Today, dinner will be at Cositas Ricas because the fish is excellent and I'm working my way through their menu with the shorties and my gal pal Susana Isakhavora. Sana, my fave guide to all things Jewish and Russian, introduced me to this very cool Latin place. It's an amazing hole in the wall spot to chill in with a wide selection to choose from... I am soooo into family oriented foodie paradise spots with good food that is reasonably priced. There is a lot of shoopping over there so parking is going to be a real challenge if you drive.

BTW, if your kids are a wee bit non-verbal like mine are, having menus with nice color photographs is a must. Stephen, the Minion Blur, likes to point and shout "this one" in a very bossy manner if you let him have a go at ordering. Shorty has an expectation too and will get a bit fiesty if you overlook him and order first (ROTFL). I tend to let them both have a go at just about everything so yes, I know, that is not always a good thing... However, trying to teach them generally works best if I do it in a real world setting because I need them to be able to function if they tag along during a business lunch or dinner.

Noah once had such a bad melt down in public the client and I wrote her offer on my dashboard and ate our food in the car to get him out of the restaurant. Stephen was pissed because he likes eating out and wanted to go back inside (LOL).

Oh well... if you can't have fun at work where can you? (LMAO) At least my kids like to go to work with me and my clients like my kids. They really do think they are mini-Realtors-in-training (LOL). Guess what Noah just said? "Get back to work, Stephen" (LMAO).

Oh crap. Stephen is texting again. Gotta go save my address book and get back on the road. Got a client to meet. We will continue this conversation later. :-)

Letters In Nature (Autistic Photographs by Noah E Starr)

My kid is a better photographer than I am. I've been jogging in this park for years and never once noticed a letter in nature. We weren't through the fence two minutes when he demanded the camera and wandered off to do his thing. I remember him saying "W" and his little brother Stephen repeat the letter several times, yet thought nothing of it until I downloaded the simm card into my laptop. Wait until you see my upcoming post of Noah's latest points of view... I have to post a couple here just to tease you of the images to come (LOL). ;-)

Mr. Autism has discovered his calling. If Mr. PDD-NOS follows along behind him I am going to have a field day hunting eye candy with the wee people this year.

As far as I am concerned, Noah deserves his own hyper-local series and I am going to give it to him one post at a time. I may turn it into a publishing project. His work would make a beautiful coffee book and would also bring Autism/PDD-NOS issues to light. Even when people don't want to be bothered by my kid sticking a camera in their face he finds something interesting to capture (LOL). He was quite charming about it and readily shared what he was capturing. It made a lot of people smile today.

Can you say, "Talk to the hand?" (ROTFLMAO). The little girl in the playground soon befriended him when she realized all we were doing were taking pictures and filming clips while Stephen ran a mini-marathon around us.

People become curious when you don't talk and just capture the moment. They want to see what you see and she was shocked at his shots. If a kid with speech delays can get another kid excited about photography, imagine who else he might be able to excite if I keep encouraging to express himself through art...

I shall show you more of what he saw a later on tonight. I may be biased but I think my boy is amazing with his curiosity and attention to detail... Here is one more peek at his work until I sort through the 75 shots taken today. Some of them are mad blurry. He got so close to some objects that I have no idea what they are...

I am really beginning to enjoy discovering what he sees when he looks up and zooms down. :-) If you are going to teach a child photography, the magic hour before sunset is the best time to have them discover the value of dramatic lighting and how not using a flash will color your world in the most unexpected ways...

Insanity Is Teaching Your Three Year Old Guitar Hero And How To Drive (LMAO)

I am waiting for one of my brick and mortar friends so now is as good a time as any to chat about my day.

Today's after school adventure was by far the best evening we've had out yet with the shorties in 2010. If my simm card wasn't so full I would have filmed this. Seriously!!! I was verbally bashing myself the entire time we were playing there because my kids were mad cool and endearingly funny concerning their discovery that some machines have been upgraded since our last visit. They have this place memorized and tend to get bent out of shape if something goes missing. Stephen, the Blur Minion, will even try to move the machines to look behind them for what's missing so you really have to keep an eye on him because shorty is stubborn and quick.

Hmm... Stubborn and quick may be a serious understatement (ROTFL).

I like this spot because there's lots of shopping and free parking. My Little Minions think this place was built for them and have marked it as a "dibs" item in their virtual play book. Who am I to argue with the speech delayed? My 3 year old is known for his circular arguments. You try to reason and he simply repeats truncated demands, tells you to "be quiet" or "shhhhh" while running circles around you (LOL). If you tick him off he screams in really high octaves and sometimes throws things. Can you say drama? Seriously... I have been tempted to embed him in Wikipedia but the YouTube might go viral (LOL). I may have to introduce him to Opera, but I digress... We were talking about play spots, right? Okay, okay, I'm back on topic (LMAO). BTW, everyone who knows me knows that I have a thing for the Unisphere and the Alice In Wonderland Pavilion so having fave spots to play is okay. Actually, having a fave place to get away to is almost necessary. Sort of like a mental spa day (LOL). ;-)

The only down side to the visit was the fact that after three shots in the game room my camera battery died. That was really bad timing. I even whipped out the back up camera (but that simm card was left in my laptop from this morning) and the sight of the phrase "No Memory" really freaked me out.

Seriously. What if I were on a job instead of out playing with my kids? I rarely do that (forget to return the simm card to the camera), so it seems I am going to have to buy a couple of cards and leave them in the glove box of both cars just in case. I have to say that I am very happy Noah decided to play TomTom today. The game room was an excellent choice. We all enjoyed ourselves for hours today.

Did you know that video-games can be very educational? Even the frivolous ones?

One of my goals is teaching Stephen how to drive. He is car crazy and the purpose is to get him to comprehend left and right as well as staying between the lines. Eye-Hand coordination can be very tricky when you are dealing with hyperactive wee people with attitude and issues. However, if you capture their imagination, you can get them to pick up on all sorts of things.

My kids are visual learners, so I have to keep the eye candy coming while sneaking in an educational moment between play. Games rooms also provide socialization. One fave socialization moment? Another little kid gave Stephen a smile and made the peace sign. Shorty promptly responded by yelling "two" and tried to sign back but instead made an L shape, holding up the wrong two fingers like the kids in Glee making the "loser pose" (ROTFL). I have sooooo gotta work on his social skills because greeting people with the loser pose is so not right on too many levels (LOL).

Today may not be the day to do this (LOL). I tried, but failed miserably. I kept saying Peace and he kept responding Two. I eventually left it alone because shorty is learning his numbers. I don't want to confuse him any more than he already is. It's bad enough nine comes before four but if Two becomes Peace I may be in big trouble later on. My little minions don't un-learn as fast as they learn... Oh, the things I could say here about that but wont (LMAO). ;-)

Noah drives beautifully and can actually stay on the race track so don't let him play with your car keys  (LOL). Stephen is a terror, presents with road rage and crashes into every item as if he would get extra points for road kill (LMAO). Dude giggles when he destroys stuff too. What is up with that??? I really have my work cut out for me with this kid because he obviously needs to channel that into something positive and productive. At least it is never boring and shorty can prove he exhibits the skill set of "aim" (LOL).

I'm thinking no more virtual driving unless it's tennis balls. It appears he may enjoy smashing balls into people (I own a racket and yes, I have been hit by flying balls, hot wheel cars, toilet paper, shoes, socks and soiled pull ups). I am having more inappropriate thoughts on the matter but true is true and three year olds find a lot of strange things funny.

I may have to revise that because I am 44 and find all sorts of stuff funny. I am sooooo easily amused and so are my shorties. If Stephen's flying pull ups are any indication of his skill with a racket then yes, Tennis is a very good idea. Virtual first. Real later. BTW, if you have any words of wisdom about nipping the flying undies issue in the bud, please feel free to share because that quirk needs to go like yesterday (LOL). In a temper tantrum my cutie pie will throw anything handy. Nothing handy? He goes for the clothes or charges in with a head butt. You can distract him, so it's not that bad. Think I'm kidding? Say Pop-Pop to my kid. He likes ice pops and will chirp that with a big grin and tell you to C'mon and drag you into my kitchen. It is a magic poof begone pill to banish all tantrums. Sometimes, a short attention span can be a good thing (LOL).

Hmm... I am really preoccupied with the Tennis idea. I may have to negotiate with Daddy for a Wii. I keep thinking I really want to see Stephen discover that because he likes aiming for people when he whacks items with my tennis racket. I know, I know, bad blogging Mommy (take the damn racket - LOL). We do. Frequently... Did I mention my kids are climbers? Nothing stays on the top shelf for long (LOL)

Hubby stores his golf clubs in the trunk of my car. Smart man (LOL). I think we let them play with the racket because they both are interested in it. Can you imagine the two of them playing Tennis? Should I end this post now? Hahahahahaaaaa! I'm thinking Wii University and Tennis would be a very good thing for them. We can create a Minion Trophy and fill it with M&Ms. Of course, that means I may have to throw out the living-room rug and buy a gym mat because you can get a lot out of Stephen for M&Ms if they have peanuts (LMAO).

Ahhh the things we do for our kids...

I Love End Of The Year On-Line Deals. Take A Look At Microsoft...

Office 2010 is coming out so you can get a great deal on Office 2007 Home and Student. $89 bucks if you click this link and digitally download that puppy. I am using MS Office and Adobe for all of my newsletters and will be teaching people how to monetize their blogs with them. The price is good until January 2 so if you were sitting on the fence go buy that down-loadable puppy at the discounted price. From $249 to $149 to $89 bucks. How can one go wrong, eh? :-)

BTW, the Beta link for Office 2010 in on the same page if you bother to read it (LOL). ;-)

I also promised a few of you I would post more newsletter pages. I shall in a little while. Right now we're doing the Drano thing. Stephen had a moment of creativity in the bathroom while I was out with a client. Mommy and Daddy are not too happy about this particular turn of events, I assure you... Might laugh about it later if everything turns out okay because I have to admit spending $40 dollars on Drano at RiteAide makes for a very interesting blog post (LOL). The cartoons in my head wont stop quipping about this. Did I mention that my cartoons have a wicked sense of humor? They do (LMAO).

No, I will not take a picture of this mess... so don't ask. Go buy Microsoft and start reading your help files because this really is a nice suite. Class will be in session in two weeks. The shorties are going to help me. Oooooo... we all know what that means: ANYTHING might happen... My kids like MS Office (LOL). :-)

Designing Across Media...

I am trying to figure out how to create visually rich content to engage the shorties while I work on the year in review. We have a lot of new tools to use and Stephen has spent the better part of 30 minutes counting buses (LOL). It appears I may have to do a school post to make him happy. The cool thing about having an outside office is you can work from anywhere. :-)

Noah likes the park pictures and we're sorting the shots I took while in Albany. The legislative buildings are a real treat. This file is starting to look like the East Coast in review across the seasons (LOL). We are going to arrange music for the project and see what new thing we can do with animating some floating titles.

Gotta go. We are going out on another eye candy run. They have their fave toys and they like playing TomTom. :-)

My next post? My Christmas lunch with Susana at Piu Bello. I promised Candice I would update my food porn but I got distracted and never did get around to blogging live from another fave foodie paradise spot. I apologize for being remiss in my duties Candyland. My next post is for you, BloggyAnna. Will call you later, of course (LOL).

Running With Your Eyes Closed

How do little kids do that? They zip around, map out an area then act as if they have radar (LOL). Dude thinks running with his eyes closed is a super power (LMAO).

I was waiting for shorty to do his Napoleon pose. That's always fun (LOL).

Watching Stephen run his version of a marathon around the Planetarium was mad fun. Especially when he closed his eyes and started skipping backwards (LOL). Kids... ya gotta love 'em. They frolic so well... :-)

Mike and Noah came out to play. We've managed to do Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Will be in the Bronx, then upstate tomorrow. This should be very interesting (LOL). The kids are telling us where to go. Literally (LMAO). I think I like having them be my Christmas TomTom. We should do this more often. :-)

Oh For Crying Out Loud...

I am not going anywhere, I'm just creating other things to link back to in 400 words or less (LOL). Geez... You would have thought I offended the Pope or something for doing this yesterday (LMAO). Okay, so you clicked the "W" and had a cow because I blurbed blog about going back into the art scene. I can't think of one reason not to. Can you?

Art is fun. Music is fun. I do it anyway so why not (LOL). Besides, I have to gradually do something about my odd widget stats and they need a place to go to have a conversation with me so I am making a place that points back in this direction. I may be making more than one pointing this way so lay off the "W" e-mail. I am not going anywhere. It's a cross link. That's what SEO people do - we link to stuff, preferably within our own sphere of influence (LMAO). Alicia will eventually be writing over there as well. She can't write here. She doesn't do anything real estate related. :-)

Besides, we're doing live gigs in Manhattan next year and I have to advertise the venues. Ad spam in AR is something I don't do, although we do have some music spam coming up (ROTFLMAO). ;-)

So instead of working a 60 hour Real Estate work week I'm cutting back to 45 hours and having more fun elsewhere (LOL). Pssst... I will confess that I may be taking one day off during the week now to do other things with the kids... Saturday probably. After all, hubby is Jewish and i need to balance my life in that respect. :-)

Gotta run. Unfortunately, my shorties don't feel very well right now so I am debating whether or not they are going to school today. If not, I may be on lock down with them, making this a very short work week. We shall see...Will pop back in and fill you guys in on my day later. Going on an eye candy hunt and I have to talk hubby into the new version of Photoshop for Christmas. I have two days to pull this off people. I am a woman on a serious software mission (LOL). I also want a Platinum Raincamp pass. Mikey is trying to negotiate one or the other but I want both because I was only mildly naughty this year and recently very, very nice (ROTFL). ;-)

We will chat about my situational Santa ethics later. The fact of the matter is I was supposed to be on vacation with the family, but a closing (his closing) got screwed up because of an illegible fax that caused a two day delay, so I am here instead of 1100 plus miles away trading ammo with my fave FL Rainers... The kids are very happy that we stayed because of the blizzard. Snow is a very powerful motivator with my kids (LOL). I have leverage... Might be posting Snow Minions later... if they feel better... we shall see. ;-)

Time to hit the shower. Will chat with you later. I have to go act like a big kid and get Daddy Santa to crack open the goody bag to keep Mama blogging happy. I have PDF e-books to create (LOL). ;-)

Life With Wee People: Cyberjam

If I could keep the Wee People in their clothes I'd make a film, but alas, my shorties like playing in their shorties (so no musical clips of the wee people today).

Ever deal with hyperactive, learning disabled kids? Makes for a very interesting blog life (LOL). I can barely walk in my house. There are toys everywhere.... Hmm... Can we benefit from less shopping? Yeah... probably... Can we benefit from a change in snack-age? Yup. Too much sugar can be a bad thing... My shorties are prone to do just about anything once they get going and in fast forward mode if you give them enough Vanilla Waffers (LOL). Maybe I should go eat hide the cookies... Sometimes, we have to protect or kids from themselves... (LOL)

Okay. I admit it. I am a cookie monster, so I think they get their Vanilla Waffer fetish from their Mama (ROTFL). I don't give them all of their fetish ideas, but I wish I could influence them more regarding their quirky behavior (said their very quirky Mama - LOL). I do not know where Mr. PDD-NOS gets his "good ideas" from, but it has to be from a very interesting section of his tiny little three year old brain. Mr. Autism isn't too bad because he seems a bit more self-aware regarding what is going on around him. Thank God. There are days when my seven year old is my first line of defense (LOL). Noah knows when Stephen is starting to act crazy... How do I know? He keeps announcing that, "it's Stephen's fault..." I think we're up to the fifth announcement right about now... When that happens, that is usually a red flag for me to immediately go into their room because Step is doing something even more inappropriate than his usual inappropriate routine... (LMAO) I don't go in for the first four. Those are routine madness Noah interrupts on his own... ;-)

When my crazies start acting crazy, I can't afford to be lazy. I have to stop what ever it is I am doing and go entertain/distract the little buggers or they will entertain themselves by... um... er... well... hmm... Oh snap, the list is kinda long... (will burning down the house do? Just sayin - LMAO). ;-)

Today, I am distracting the little minions from their usual wreck the room routine by letting them wreck the keyboards under the guise of playful occupational therapy. It is time for their music lessons, which usually makes my eyeballs twitch because Noah tries to follow the glowing red keys but not Stephen.

Stephen, the Blur minion, is doing his usual hyperactivity routine. He's more interested in choo choos and hot wheel cars than learning how to play, although he does bang away on the keys with an awful lot of gusto. Maybe I will make a music video of them later. If I can get them to keep their clothes on long enough for me to write and present an offer for my buyer. Will keep you posted on the upcoming music spam (LOL). I don't want Heather and Karen to think I forgot about them.

Time to go into the office... :-)

Okay, it's Friday. We took the test... Looks like we have to adopt (LOL)

Damn... already picked out furniture, baby names and primed the boys for more company (LOL). Oh well... the morning ritual of cookie tossing continues and I hate the fact that I am bunless... Not being preggers is also a concern for me and my Doc so I gotta monitor myself concerning the dizzy thing and Big Daddy Minion is gonna have to figure out another way to get Daddy's Little Girl while I deal with the noggin issue and go get tested for the ongoing puke drama.

For the curious, you can also add memory/concentration issues, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise (ringing ears) and general irritability to the list.

Hmm... Am I irritable for being irritable or irritated for not being preggo? I'm not quite sure yet, but am a bit disappointed there isn't another shortie on the way. I may start stalking the hubby because my fall has triggered insane thoughts of creating a baby agenda (LOL). "They" say this may go on for a while (being off kilter). Being concussed is a b*tch, eh? (LMAO) In a very weird way it is also a wee bit fun because I like being babysat by my girlfriends. :-)

I need a vacation. I shall start planning a wee one... Will let you know how it goes when I get back. ;-)

BTW, I still want drums for Christmas (LOL). They will make a lovely housewarming gifts for the boys. Noah and Stephen were a trip at Thanksgiving. How can I not get them something they love? We are nuts about music.:-)

Looking forward to painting Mikey's new investment designer colors and swapping out some stuff (why is my toilet in a closet?). My social media peeps are helping me pick out furniture on-line. My kids destroy while they play so feel free to post links to real wood, nothing flimsy. The twin beds have to survive lots of jumping and they perch on the dressers all the time (LOL).

Time to call my fave stager, Kathy Passarette. Got a FL job for her if she wants it (ROTFL). When we're done there I have to find a builder for my SC cabin. Chicka has two interiors to do. I like hiring professionals and getting out of their way. I may meddle a tiny bit on this one because Mikey is very excited about getting his house and I like spoofing on him. Besides, wont that make for fun video? How can we not have fun with this? (LOL) ;-)

Yup. It's true. We're doing our Donald Trump thing with the relatives and our friends. The entire project is one big social media experiment on networking to get what we want out of our real estate investments: a home, vacation spots + passive rental income for the shorties to inherit.

A blank house is a blank canvas that needs to be filled and Mikey is going first. The boys and I are having a lot of fun planning the FL make over. Since Mike and I are going to split the den I am on the hunt for a portable fireplace that burns alcohol and corn gel. I always wanted a mantel to put my sentimental crap on (LOL). ;-)