a.k.a. my dad. The warden watches my parenting skills all day long. So here I am in Florida visiting with my familia and feeling the stares of judgmental eyes. I know I’m not going to do everything right…or everything they think I should do. I watch too much tv, I don’t get my son to sleep early enough, I don’t take my son outside enough, I use the computer too much, I’m not feeding my son right, the list goes on. I love my parents, but staying with them can also bring on a little tension between all of us. It’s only Day 2 without the hubby to help me out here, so I feel the full brunt of the responsibility.

So right now I am hiding out in the guest bedroom typing this post because I’m pretty sure if I sat out there right now someone would be timing how long I am spending on this computer checking my email and writing this post.

Honestly I really do love my parents…I just wish I had my own place to go to decompress from spending time with them.

Moxie Mona has been traveling all over the country this week! She stopped by our little town called Hagerstown, Maryland. Our house was just a few miles away from the Antietam Battlefield in Sharpsburg, MD…you know the Bloodiest One Day Battle in American History. I won’t bore you with all that history stuff like my hubby does to me. You can go to the website to find out more.

In March 2009, Forbes named Hagerstown #59 for Best Place for Business and Careers!

I’d like to say that Moxie Mona was treated like a queen here during her stay…but with a 2 year old in the house…that’s just not going to happen. There were some battles – Moxie Mona being thrown in a fit of anger, Moxie Mona being forced fed a powder donut or more, and the occasional being put away in a dark place that no toddler could get. But she was a true champ! She never even complained.

Here was our little adventure with Moxie Mona…

Moxie Mona and Little Monkey in front of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. I wasn’t allowed to take any photos inside the museum, but boy am I glad I went during an off time. Thanks to Little Monkey, Moxie Mona and I had to hear quite a protest against being quiet and staring at art.

City Park…one of our fave places to play at. Not only do they have walking paths and several playgrounds, but they also have the Western Maryland 202 Locomotive Display and Museum and the Hager House and Museum. Moxie Mona also helped us feed the ducks…a powdered munchkin or two…is that bad for the ducks?! They seemed to like it. I broke it up and whatever Little Monkey didn’t decide to eat (mind you he’s not a fan of the powdered donuts) went to the ducks.

And no trip to Hagerstown is complete without a visit to the Hagerstown Prime Outlets! Ooooh, how I love to shop! I tried to get a shot that showed most of the outlets, but there is no way to get all the stores in one photo! The Harry & David store is my absolute favorite with NY & Co. just opening now being a close runner up. FYI-if you live nearby a Prime Outlets…ask around to see if they have any Halloween events. We scored big last year at the outlets!

I know I was exhausted from all this fun. I hope Moxie Mona enjoyed her time with us!

We have sinced moved from Hagerstown, MD and I actually miss it a little, but I’m glad I could show you our cool little city that we lived in for 4 years.

Want to see more places that Moxie Mona has been to this week?! Click on Moxie Mona’s Itinerary. She’s been busy!

Growing up in a Puerto Rican family, it seems we are taught that food is love. If you dare tell my grandmothers you aren’t hungry, you have personally offended them and you better take that plate of food that is piled to the sky…even if all you do is pick at the plate. Just smile and say thank you. Whenever we had gatherings growing up, I remember hanging out in the kitchen with my mom, sister, and aunts.

There is just something so comforting about the kitchen to me. I love to eat and I love to feed people good food. The kitchen is the first thing I want to see when we look at a moving into a new place. I have to have a big open kitchen for me to cook and enjoy my kitchen.

For me the heart of my home is my kitchen. I cook and bake my food with love. And I hope that whoever eats it will enjoy every bite. No, not every meal I’ve ever made has been edible, but you can usually see all the work I put into it. I am still a work in progress. The kitchen and I are bonding more each year. I hope to one day be able to cook without having to read through my recipes, but it works for me right now.

No, I am not ignoring everyone. These last two weeks have been crazy. We’ve moved into a new place – not real far from where we were before. The move in date got bumped up at the last minute, so things were kinda crazy. The hubby’s job has been a little exciting…to put it nicely. I can’t go into details, but let’s just say it has been keeping us on our toes. Woo hoo! I’ve been trying to unpack the house (but ants that have declared battle at our front door/front window sill have been keeping me vacuuming like a lunatic at all hours of the day), helping out the Busy Mom website. the hubby’s job constantly coming up with something, and the hubby and I are sharing ONE laptop…I am very, very much in need of a vacation.

So I apologize now for anyone that I have ignored. My inbox is swimming. Please know that I am not ignoring you on purpose, but things have been a little crazy and I’m just barely treading water. Thank goodness mine and Little Monkey’s bi-annual Florida vacation is coming up…just in time for my birthday. Nothing better than being home for my birthday…well, it would be better if the hubby could be there, but I understand that he can’t just hang out for two weeks in Florida like I plan to do for a sweet 16 party and two babyshowers.

The first few tweets I saw were a little after 8pm, saying “RIP Patrick Swayze.” I thought it was a mistake at first since this wouldn’t be the first time he was reported dead since he let the world know of his cancer. But sadly it is true, Patrick Swayze died today. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/14/entertainment/main5310962.shtml May he rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

How cool would it be to be a part of a 21,000 member flash-mob dancing?! On Thursday, September 10, the audience of Oprah’s Kickoff show became the biggest flash-mob dancing since Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It’s kinda cool because you can see Oprah come out from the side when The Black-Eyed Peas start, but then no one is dancing except the one lone girl, so Oprah seems to slink back to the corner until the some more people in the crowd start to dance. Oprah looked genuinely shocked to see the crowd dancing in sync.

Watch the making behind the flash mob (tip: pause the video as soon as it starts let it upload completely then press play to minimize the break up) The Making of Oprah’s Flash Mob Video

I’ll admit it. I cried watching the video this morning…whatever, I am a big baby, but it was one of the coolest things I’d seen.

Have I mentioned that I am a part of the Maryland Mom Bloggers (MDMB)? It is all still pretty new and downright awesome. There are these fabulous bloggers that got together to form a group not only forming our own blogging community, but putting in face time with those bloggers. It is amazing to meet these bloggers in real life. I don’t feel worthy of scraping the gum off of these group of bloggers’ feet but I am so honored that I was able to be a part of the first MDMB Girls Night Out (GNO) in Baltimore.

I must admit I tried on at least 6-7 outfits…yes…I am pretty sure women dress to impress other women. I didn’t want to look like the bum of the group resorting to showing up in baggy jeans and a too tight top which in most cases is what I might attempt to wear to sort of dress up. Unfortunately for me and my misshapen body (thanks to Little Monkey trying to create his own planet in my womb) I no longer fit in my fashionable pre-pregnancy clothes, so most of those clothing items went to my local Goodwill once I gave up the dream of ever fitting them again and looking hot in them. Fitting in them I could somewhat do…looking hot in them is a whole other story. The last outfit I tried on was not complete until I added my camisole top shapewear to hide the lumpies around my mid-section. Always a confidence booster to know you need support sucking it in. I’ve got an excuse though I had a c-section and a 9lb. 11oz. baby…what’s yours?

For our first MDMB GNO we met up at La Tasca in Baltimore. We ate outdoors which for those of you who have had the experience of wearing one of those shapewear camisoles you know that it can get EXTREMELY hot wearing it on a reasonably warm night…such is a little misfortune for such a grand night. Here we are with a great view overlooking the Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Tapas and sangria…what more could a girl ask for?! Special treatment from the staff…we got that, too! Thanks to Santana (no, not Carlos Santana – the La Tasca manager Santana) and our waiter, Brad, who is waiter by night and a teacher by day. Yes…there is more. We actually got sponsors for our GNO!!! Okay, I can’t say I brought in any sponsors (tsk, tsk on me), but I am more than thrilled to give a shout out to all the fabulous sponsors that made our GNO super fab!

Sponsors that gave us blogger love were:

• Dunkin’ Donuts (@dunkindonuts) – Lara at CNOW is giving away 2 – $10 gift cards to DD.
• WAT-AAH! (@WATAAH)
• Piggy Paint (@PiggyPaint)
• Shaklee by Clean Mama
• Candlelight Ghost Tours of Frederick
• Dancing Bear Toys & Gifts (@dbeartoys)
• Met – Maryland Ensemble Theatre (@MDEnsemble)
• Author Kristin Kish Whyte of “One More Minute“
• Maryland Life Magazine (@MarylandLife)

Here we are in all of our fabulousness. From left to right – Amanda (@thenagainphoto) from Parenting By Dummies, Safire from Living in Maryland, me, Lara (@dipaolamomma) from Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom (aka CNOW), Mary (@marymac) from Pajamas and Coffee, Jennifer (@MammaMania) from Hip As I Wanna Be, Jill (@ScaryMommy) from Scary Mommy, and Lolli (@1momof5) from Better in Bulk

I think the first MDMB’s GNO went great. I had a fantastic time. And I had a great hostess, Lara at Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom, for letting me hitch a ride from her place and crashing in her spare bedroom since it was a pretty decent haul from my house. It was nice to have her little ones around me since that was the first night I have EVER spent away from Little Monkey. Of course, Little Monkey didn’t even notice I was gone because he was so excited to see his grandparents (my in-laws).

Thanks to Lolli at Better in Bulk for sharing the photos!