Bixby17 check-in

[Bixby17]

Here's my own personal check-in thread.

The end of the school year has been very busy and my weird leg thing has been bothering me so I haven't been able to do as much as I like over here.

Things that may be of interest to thems who care:

1. I finally saw the neurologist my MD sent me to about my leg problem that hurts or goes numb when I sit or drive. (The appointment took forever to get into). I had the test where they poke you with pins and make you twitch with electrodes. EMG? maybe. It wasn't fun.

Based on the results, I had an MRI. I should be getting the results soonishly.

2. Just got back from NYC with my sister and my friend Diane. We had a whirlwind time there so I wasn't able to hook up with anyone. For one night's dinner, we sat a table away from Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider and I think, Judd Apatow (and probably other people I didn't recognize). Another night, we went to Nobu and ended up meeting one of the owners. He was very nice.

Another night, we sat next to Mark Wahlberg and a large group of his men friends. We asked the waiter what they were drinking out of large glasses, and he said sangria. He said you have to order it a day in advance for them to make it.

Shortly after that, the waiter came by with big glasses and gave us sangria compliments of Mr. Wahlberg. We toasted them. I don't even like sangria, but this was fabu. Diane abused the bartender until he said how he made it. We were overserved as we had already ordered wine, they gave us two glasses of the sangria, and then the waiter insisted we have lemoncello (sp?) as an apertif after dinner. It's ok to be overserved in NYC as you aren't driving.

I bought two pairs of gorgeous shoes for $60. I will have to find them on the interwebs to share pictures

3. Today the husband and I go to Jackson's doctor to get the followup info on the giftedness etc testing we did last month. It is one of those things I can't wait for and dread at the same time.

4. The kids are doing swim team. Jessica is pretty good at it but Jackson doesn't care for it because he doesn't like the backstroke. His arms barely go in that direction.

So there you go.

[MarleysGh0st]

Aren't you just brimming with celebrity anecdotes!

Welcome back and good luck with the various doctor reports.

[Placeholder]

Oooooh! I love Sangria! Limoncello is a bit too thick and sweet for my taste, but it's what Clooney got DeVito schnockered on, so evidently some people can drink a ton of it...

[starfish1113]

Welcome back! Just this morning, I was thinking about you and Pea and bdm and realized that none of you had posted in a while and thinking that you better not have Golo'ing without me! I'd get all Left Outt on your ass!

The restaurant experience in NYC sounds great! What are the names of the restaurants you hobnobbed with the rich and famous in? Next time I take Tracey to NYC, I'd like to do at least one fancy schmancy, see and be seen eatery....

[Bixby17]

I didn't pay near that zappos price. Michael Kors makes them, and they are so comfortable I wish I would have bought them in different colors. Mine are not gold, they are silver.

I can't find the Max Azria sandals I bought. They are tan, with a very tall chunk heel in the back with a wood inlay. I've never seen anything like them but they are very cool.

[Bixby17]

Oooooh! I love Sangria! Limoncello is a bit too thick and sweet for my taste, but it's what Clooney got DeVito schnockered on, so evidently some people can drink a ton of it...

The waiter at the table said that Clooney often sits at the same table as Wahlberg did. It would not surprise me if he got loaded there.

[Bixby17]

Welcome back! Just this morning, I was thinking about you and Pea and bdm and realized that none of you had posted in a while and thinking that you better not have Golo'ing without me! I'd get all Left Outt on your ass!

The restaurant experience in NYC sounds great! What are the names of the restaurants you hobnobbed with the rich and famous in? Next time I take Tracey to NYC, I'd like to do at least one fancy schmancy, see and be seen eatery....

Pastis on a Friday night. (the Sandler night). We were able to get into the bar at the top of the Hotel Gansevoort without standing in line because of a friend. It's basically across the street and the views are gorgeous. The drink prices, of course, are crazy.
Nobu on 57th? on a Saturday night.
Dang. the name of the extremely expensive Italian restaurant on the upper east side escapes me. Most of the items are not on the menu--and of course all of those are really really expensive, even by NYC standards. It will come to me later. The restaurant is one of those in a basement with the tables smooshed together but the food is the best Italian I have ever eaten.

[ladysoleil]

I don't even like sangria, but this was fabu. Diane abused the bartender until he said how he made it. We were overserved as we had already ordered wine, they gave us two glasses of the sangria, and then the waiter insisted we have lemoncello (sp?) as an apertif after dinner.

Am I allowed to ask where this fabulous sangria lives? I do rather like Sangria. I'm not sure I'm swanky enough to order a drink that has a waiting period, but it seems interesting.

Regarding overserving, it's true. I've rarely seen people get cut off in the city, usually they'll only pull the plug on you if you're being disruptive or look like you're about to hork on something.

[Bob Juch]

Welcome back! Just this morning, I was thinking about you and Pea and bdm and realized that none of you had posted in a while and thinking that you better not have Golo'ing without me! I'd get all Left Outt on your ass!

The restaurant experience in NYC sounds great! What are the names of the restaurants you hobnobbed with the rich and famous in? Next time I take Tracey to NYC, I'd like to do at least one fancy schmancy, see and be seen eatery....

Pastis on a Friday night. (the Sandler night). We were able to get into the bar at the top of the Hotel Gansevoort without standing in line because of a friend. It's basically across the street and the views are gorgeous. The drink prices, of course, are crazy.
Nobu on 57th? on a Saturday night.
Dang. the name of the extremely expensive Italian restaurant on the upper east side escapes me. Most of the items are not on the menu--and of course all of those are really really expensive, even by NYC standards. It will come to me later. The restaurant is one of those in a basement with the tables smooshed together but the food is the best Italian I have ever eaten.

Scalinatella?

[Appa23]

Sorry to hear that the leg thing has not been resolved (or even diagnosed) yet.

Did your kids just get done with school? The school PTB keep shortening summer. My kids have only 10 weeks of summer, and most are filled with activities.

Good luck on the testing results for Jackson. Near the end of the year, the school finally gave us the results of our son's standardized HAL tests. Thankfully, we now how the piece of paper that will spark his teachers into challenging him more in English and Math.

Swim team sounds fun. Good exercise that keeps them occupied -- what can be better?

[Bixby17]

Scalinatella?

Hahahaha. I knew you would guess, and likely guess right.

Yes, that is the home of the delicious sangria and really high prices. It actually wasn't a terrible bill because we only had one bottle of wine and didn't do too many dishes. (Nobu ran into money because we keep ordering appetizers until we are stuffed--though the drinks are cheaper because I like beer with sushi not wine).

On the leg front. The good news is that they ruled out really really bad things like MS and stuff. My back has the normal arthritic signs that somebody old has. Yay I'm old. He believes that it is sciatic related and is sending me to physical therapy.

The kiddos won their swim meet last night against the toughest swim team in our league. (They do year round swimming because they have a heated pool).

Jackson's testing came back. He is off the charts high in reading, vocabulary, comprehension, writing. He has a learning disability as it relates to math and handwriting. They believe due to his learning style, he needs to receive one on one tutoring with math and handwriting. (Hey, I wish I received that diagnosis when I was a kid). This isn't to say he won't be able to do math or handwriting, but that it is something he will just have to learn in a different way.

He did not believe that Jackson is hyperlexic now though he might have been when he was little. That his comprehension skills are too high to be diagnosed with hyperlexia.

I know at least for me, I stink at math, but it turned out that inexplicably, I scored higher on the math part of the SAT than the english. Handwriting is the only thing I ever got a D in.

He also has difficulty with listening/processing skills, namely being able to retain oral instructions. I'm thinking that lots of ear infections as a baby didn't help, but also I have those issues too. I once worked as a intern for a lawfirm, and sometimes I filled in for the receptionist. I was the most disasterous person ever trying to write down phone numbers that people give me. I've gotten better at it, but the worst is when someone gives me a phone number quickly, and I'm just supposed to remember it and dial it. The husband can't understand why I ask him to repeat it.

We are going to do some KUMON math tutoring this summer along with some speech therapy. They also suggested that for sports we should get him one on one instruction when we can because oral instructions, especially in a group setting is going to be hard for him.

The doc said that a lot of things are diagnosed these days that were never diagnosed in the past because the demands on kids are greater these days. That handwriting or math deficits were less of a problem back in the day because the pace of learning was slower, so it gave kids that had harder times with things more time to learn stuff.

Genetics is a weird thing. I have to say that I've learned more about myself and my husband after we had kids than before we had kids.

[Bixby17]

I don't even like sangria, but this was fabu. Diane abused the bartender until he said how he made it. We were overserved as we had already ordered wine, they gave us two glasses of the sangria, and then the waiter insisted we have lemoncello (sp?) as an apertif after dinner.

Am I allowed to ask where this fabulous sangria lives? I do rather like Sangria. I'm not sure I'm swanky enough to order a drink that has a waiting period, but it seems interesting.

Regarding overserving, it's true. I've rarely seen people get cut off in the city, usually they'll only pull the plug on you if you're being disruptive or look like you're about to hork on something.

The sangria recipe as I understand it.

Cut strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries. Pour an inexpensive Italian wine over them in a pitcher. Keep in the refrigerator one day to ferment.

Before serving, add Sprite to taste.

mmmmm.

If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out.

[silvercamaro]

The sangria recipe as I understand it.

Cut strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries. Pour an inexpensive Italian wine over them in a pitcher. Keep in the refrigerator one day to ferment.

Before serving, add Sprite to taste.

mmmmm.

If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out.

This sounds magnificent, and I'm not even a big Sangria fan. I'm going to try it ASAP. (That doesn't necessarily mean "immediately," because in my state, where you can't buy wine at the grocery store, it will require two separate shopping destinations.)

The extra fermentation period explains why it has to be ordered in advance, so there's the answer to that puzzle.

[Bob Juch]

Scalinatella?

Hahahaha. I knew you would guess, and likely guess right.

Yes, that is the home of the delicious sangria and really high prices. It actually wasn't a terrible bill because we only had one bottle of wine and didn't do too many dishes. (Nobu ran into money because we keep ordering appetizers until we are stuffed--though the drinks are cheaper because I like beer with sushi not wine).

On the leg front. The good news is that they ruled out really really bad things like MS and stuff. My back has the normal arthritic signs that somebody old has. Yay I'm old. He believes that it is sciatic related and is sending me to physical therapy.

The kiddos won their swim meet last night against the toughest swim team in our league. (They do year round swimming because they have a heated pool).

Jackson's testing came back. He is off the charts high in reading, vocabulary, comprehension, writing. He has a learning disability as it relates to math and handwriting. They believe due to his learning style, he needs to receive one on one tutoring with math and handwriting. (Hey, I wish I received that diagnosis when I was a kid). This isn't to say he won't be able to do math or handwriting, but that it is something he will just have to learn in a different way.

He did not believe that Jackson is hyperlexic now though he might have been when he was little. That his comprehension skills are too high to be diagnosed with hyperlexia.

I know at least for me, I stink at math, but it turned out that inexplicably, I scored higher on the math part of the SAT than the english. Handwriting is the only thing I ever got a D in.

He also has difficulty with listening/processing skills, namely being able to retain oral instructions. I'm thinking that lots of ear infections as a baby didn't help, but also I have those issues too. I once worked as a intern for a lawfirm, and sometimes I filled in for the receptionist. I was the most disasterous person ever trying to write down phone numbers that people give me. I've gotten better at it, but the worst is when someone gives me a phone number quickly, and I'm just supposed to remember it and dial it. The husband can't understand why I ask him to repeat it.

We are going to do some KUMON math tutoring this summer along with some speech therapy. They also suggested that for sports we should get him one on one instruction when we can because oral instructions, especially in a group setting is going to be hard for him.

The doc said that a lot of things are diagnosed these days that were never diagnosed in the past because the demands on kids are greater these days. That handwriting or math deficits were less of a problem back in the day because the pace of learning was slower, so it gave kids that had harder times with things more time to learn stuff.

Genetics is a weird thing. I have to say that I've learned more about myself and my husband after we had kids than before we had kids.

I guessed that one because it is near Bloomingdale's.

If they had all the diagnostic tests that they do now that label kids as whatever, I would probably have had "special" education that would have resulted in holding me back.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

I don't even like sangria, but this was fabu. Diane abused the bartender until he said how he made it. We were overserved as we had already ordered wine, they gave us two glasses of the sangria, and then the waiter insisted we have lemoncello (sp?) as an apertif after dinner.

Am I allowed to ask where this fabulous sangria lives? I do rather like Sangria. I'm not sure I'm swanky enough to order a drink that has a waiting period, but it seems interesting.

Regarding overserving, it's true. I've rarely seen people get cut off in the city, usually they'll only pull the plug on you if you're being disruptive or look like you're about to hork on something.

The sangria recipe as I understand it.

Cut strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries. Pour an inexpensive Italian wine over them in a pitcher. Keep in the refrigerator one day to ferment.

Before serving, add Sprite to taste.

mmmmm.



If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out.

The Sangria at the Columbia House in Ybor City comes with my recommendation.

[Bob Juch]

The Sangria at the Columbia House in Ybor City comes with my recommendation.

Yes, but you have to buy 12 CDs with it.

[gsabc]

The sangria recipe as I understand it.

Cut strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries. Pour an inexpensive Italian wine over them in a pitcher. Keep in the refrigerator one day to ferment.

Before serving, add Sprite to taste.

mmmmm.

If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out.

We have done this in the past. Not sure if we bothered with the Sprite. Usually included slices of orange. It's good.

A better drink that takes a bit longer is rum shrub. Can't recall the recipe, but it involves Rose's Lime juice, rum (duh!), sugar, and at least a week of fermentation. Mighty fine stuff. I'll have to look it up at home.