Just A Teaspoon

Enough is Enough

2009-06-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

Random Stuff That Makes Me Happy

2009-05-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Way to go, Antwerp.

Showtime

2009-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, the good old days. When residents of Los Angeles (which basically means anyone between San Diego and Santa Barbara) thrilled to the nightly display of athleticism that was Pat Riley's Lakers. The 5 guys named above brought so many unique abilities - on and off the court - together to create an exceptional team, and such a fun one to root for. There was also Coop, McAdoo, McGee, Kupchack, and Jamal Wilkes (so many UCLA alums in that group). After years of being beaten down by those awful Boston Celtics, the Showtime era was our time to win and shine and put a song in the heart of every Laker fan. Which song, you ask? Why, Randy Newman's "I Love LA," of course.

This shirt, which can be purchased here, is a shout out to those great, great days of being a Laker fan, watching Dancing Barry in the stands at the Forum & Paula Abdul on the court. Some young foolish teenage Laker fan, who later had a life size poster of Magic Johnson on her UCLA dormitory wall, may have even worn her Lakers t-shirt, hoping to spread the love, on a visit to Boston.

Phil Jackson and Kobe and Staples Center are all OK, but they'll never be Showtime.

Blog Vomit

2009-03-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just realized that I didn't blog during the entire month of February. I know it's a short month, but still. Bad me. Between birthday, Valentine's, family visits, Uppercase Living, and the normal day to day stuff that comes with a busy household (not to mention the OctoMom), it seems my blog got neglected. Not that anyone noticed (other than my mom).

So here's a quick rundown to catch you up. I'll spare you the promises of more frequent blogging; we both know that's a crapshoot. If it makes you feel better, know that I miss this and if I thought anyone was reading it, I'd feel awfully guilty.

My baby turned 3. I can't believe it, but the potty training battles assure me that it's true. We had a Spongebob Squarepants party complete with kelp shakes and Krabby Patties. Photos to come. Someday.
I'm now in the planning stages of a Mario Kart party. It seems that my days of sparkly princess parties are behind me. Boo!
Speaking of birthdays, Ray turned 40. He seems to have survived it! Sadly, there was no big trip or party (Thanks, Economy) but we had a nice celebration and he's gotten over the trauma.
Softball season is underway. Softball practice is at the exact same time as dance. This sucks. Softball doesn't. It's fun to be back in the bleachers, watching the girls who have improved so much since last year, and the younger ones just starting out. I love that Julia loves this stuff so much. The reality is that the practices and games are quite a pain to manage, but it's totally worth it.
I backed my minivan into a parked truck yesterday and smashed a taillight. SO ANNOYED.
The bad news: my old piece of crap cell phone finally died. The good news: I got a new BlackBerry Storm. The bad news: I haven't figured out all its idiosyncrasies yet. Like why I only get some of my email. I'm fearful that this will warrant a call to the call center in Bangladesh or the Philippines.
I expect Ray to have a new job by the beginning of next week. Of course, this is wonderful news and it'll be nice to have an income again. But it's been SO nice having him around these last few months. The kids and I have loved it. The new job will be close to home (except for when he's traveling) and I expect it to be good for our family in the long run. It'll be a while before we dig out from under the financial impact of his being out of work but we'll be fine eventually. I'm proud of us for not getting on each other's nerves (much) the entire time he was home and am already trying to figure out how to minimize his office time and maximize our family time.
UL continues to be fun and rewarding. I am excited to have a new team member who also happens to be a friend. Great products and great promotions have made this a good time to be in this business.

There you have it. I would love to post some pictures of the Spongebob Party here soon. If nothing else, it'll maybe discourage some poor misdirected mom from endeavoring to punch enough holes out of yellow cardstock to make it look like a sponge. And you wonder why I haven't been blogging?

Why I Have So Much Gray Hair

2009-01-28T22:10:00.000-08:00

Ethan got out of bed tonight to ask me an important question:

"Mom, what is a phallus?"

"What?"

"A phallus."

"What?"

"Like, foul?"

"Ethan, where did you hear that word?"

"On Spongebob."

"What sentence was it in?"

"Do you mean where did I get that word?"

"YES!"

"Well, Spongebob said 'That is the second phallus thing I've ever eaten.'"

Standing Strong

2009-01-16T19:22:00.001-08:00

Old Friends

2009-01-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

I got an email from an old friend today that started out:

"Time to check in with you again because you've been on my heart."

My friend lives out of state and I think I've seen her three times in the last 10 years. But somehow, we remain in touch (thank you, Internet) and today, somehow she knew how much I'd love hearing from her. If someone's on your heart, check in with them. They'll love it.

Golden Globes Fashion Wrap-Up!

2009-01-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Because I'm totally shallow and I pretty much only watch awards shows for the dresses, I thought I'd share with you my catty comments about the presenters, winners, etc. kind of in order of their appearance.

Jennifer Lopez-Thumbs Down. Great dress, great color, but not on her. It totally accentuates her hips and butt and she doesn't really need any help there. The hairstyle is also too severe and doesn't help the look at all. Too bad.

Kate Winslet-Thumbs up. Understated, classy and that accent makes her seem even more elegant.

CNN-Big Thumbs Down. Have you heard of the West Coast geniuses? Way to splash the winners on your home page. and spoil it for those of us who thought we'd actually watch the show to learn the results.

Sting-Eh. Not loving the Castaway look but still, he's Sting.

Eva Longoria-Thumbs Up. Gorgeous color and a very pretty dress that only she could pull off. I'm not loving all the cleavage, but that's just me and the pretty scalloped edge does showcase the girls nicely. I would've liked to see some gems around her neck (rubies or sapphires would've been great), but still, she looks beautiful and very ladylike.

Miss Golden Globe-Whatever.

Laura Dern-Thumbs down. Her dress and jewelry are pretty enough, but I feel like she could have looked so much better. Her dress, though nice, was plain and she could have looked really amazing. Plus, political speeches annoy me.

Eva Mendes-Sadly, thumbs down. I would've loved to give her a thumbs up because I saw her necklace on the red carpet footage and fell in love with it. Gorgeous. But her dress looks like it's throwing up and her hair looks like my 3 year-old cousin Sophie put it up for her. No offense, Sophie.

Anna Paquin-Holy shit! When did Anna Paquin grow up? And go blonde? I like her updo, and her ability to resist the urge to get breast implants. But she has got to stop going to Letterman's dentist.

Ricky Gervais-Two thumbs up. Hilarious. Never disappoints.

Best Motion Picture, Animated-Woo hoo!!! Finally, a category I've seen all the nominees of!

Sally Hawkins-for God's sake, eat a sandwich. And some pasta. With butter. And bacon. And a chicken. I'm afraid she won't have the stamina to walk all the way to the stage to accept her award.

Drew Barrymore-Thumbs down. Drew, HURRY! Get back in your time machine and fire your stylist. Have you happened to look in a mirror tonight? I did see her purse on the red carpet and it is so pretty, as is her jewelry, but it's not enough.

Demi Moore-Thumbs up. She looks gorgeous, although the halter on her dress doesn't look like it belongs there, and also looks like it's strangling her. But she looks lovely. Too bad she looks better than her daughter.

Waltz With Bashir-woo hoo and a hearty Mazal Tov.

Maggie Gylenhaaalll-Thumbs down. Not liking the poofy curtain dress. And the updo makes her look old. And the earrings don't go.

Laura Linney-Thumb sideways. If Stacy and Clinton and I have said it once, we've said it a thousand times, "If you wear a color that's too close too your skin tone, it makes you look washed out." So, even though her dress is gorgeous and someone else would look great in it, Laura Linney, who is the same color from hair to skin to dress, looks like a big, beige blob.

Elizabeth Banks-see above. And her dress looks like it's been done before.

Seth Rogin-Looks good, sounds dumb. Find a new shtick.

Slumdog Millionaire-Woo hoo. A win for best screenplay and a bunch of other stuff, including Best Picture. Duh. It was SUCH a good story! Slumdog Millionaire screenwriter: your shirt is too big.

Amy Poehler-Good enough for a new mom. Please, please, please come back to SNL Amy.

Grim Reaper Anti-Tobacco Ad-Thumbs up. Such a good ad. Seriously, who still smokes?

Renee Zellwegger-There are not enough thumbs in California to point downward. WTF??? Is Renee maybe preparing for a role as a crazy white trash spinster? Did she piss off her stylist who put then put one over on her a la "The Emperor's New Clothes?" Has she finally gone over the damn edge? Or did someone bet her that she couldn't possibly show up looking worse than she ever has in her life? If so, they so lost that one.

Megan Fox-Thumbs up in a big way. Gorgeous dress. Could've chosen nicer jewelry. Overall, the look is wonderful, but the tattoos, not so much.

Paul Giamatti-An accomplished actor, to be sure, but to me, he'll always remain Pig Vomit.

Glenn Close-Thumbs down. She looks like the matronly 2-pack a day smoking hostess at your local family-owned Chinese restaurant. Patty Hewes wouldn't have been caught dead in that getup.

Tina Fey(lin)-Hate to say, thumbs down. She would have looked so great in a beautiful jewel tone. Her hair and makeup are also too severe. She could maybe borrow Jane Krakowski's stylist next time? Then she could look old and wear the same color as everyone else.

Pierce Brosnan-DREAMY!!!! Always. Same with Kiefer Sutherland.

Kate Beckinsale-Eh. Again. love the dress, not the jewelry and hair. And curiously, the top of her dress makes me want to go find some raspberries and chocolate shavings to put on top.

Jane Krakowksi-Thumbs down. Another white dress. Blah blah. Cute haircut but her makeup makes her look old and dated. And she needs a better bra.

Sigourney Weaver-Yawn.

Sandra Bullock-Seriously? ANOTHER white dress? The other ones look better. I love ruffles, but Sandra's just make her look like a wedding cake. And not one of those cute trendy ones on Ace of Cakes.

Salma Hayak-Surprise. A white dress and an updo. She looks a little like the mummy with the wrapping and shirring. But in a good way.

Penelope Cruz-Thumbs up. An off white dress with just enough shimmer and sparkle. Her hair down (what a risk-taker!). Pretty jewelry and makeup. Well done.

Frieda Pinto-Thumbs way down. Too bad. She's beautiful. But her dress looks like a crumpled up grocery sack. So disappointing. I would've loved to see her in something bright and gorgeous. I'm so bummed about the dress that I won't even say anything about her carrying her evening bag onstage. It's her first time at the Globes; she'll learn.

Cameron Diaz-Thumbs up. Color at last!! A pretty coral shade and her hair down and flowing. She can sometimes make questionable wardrobe choices but tonight she picked a winner!

House-Damn! I was so rooting for House. Mad Men Shmad Men.

And there you have it loyal readers. Another awards show, another 3 hours of me commenting on celebrity wardrobes as if I have a clue what I'm talking about. It was a fun show, especially with all the Brits saying "Mumbai" over and over. Loved Sascha Baron Cohen. And Tracy Morgan in his white jacket. Kate Winslet was lovely and I have a feeling she'll be giving a few more acceptance speeches before the awards season is over. Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange seemed drunk. And seeing drunk celebrities is is why you tune in to the Golden Globes after all. Speaking of celebrities, we saw Charlie Sheen at lunch today.

An 80-degree January day, celebrity sightings at lunch, and an inconsequential awards to show to blather on about. Really, a perfect Los Angeles day.

Holiday Cheer

2008-12-27T16:54:00.001-08:00

Hello and happy holidays, lovely readers. Although I meant to post more this month (um, last month), it seems I've gone from one holiday activity to another and am finally in the post holiday relaxation phase. I consider this time between Christmas and when everyone returns to work and school after New Year's to still be "the holidays," so in no way do I feel delinquent bringing you the following holiday cheers...and maybe a few jeers.

Cheers to the friends and family who sent a steady stream of greetings to our home this month. We love seeing your pictures and hearing about your adventures. Extra kudos go to those of you who were so clever with your words and funny with your photos or actually hand wrote a note. I put up all the cards we receive on our glass doors and by the end of the season, the whole thing looks like a very diverse, festive, old-school Facebook Friends Collage.

Cheers to the teachers who put together so many class parties, holiday programs and festive activities. Even though I may grumble about all the holiday projects that come home each year, I love having that stuff around. A friend of mine still decorates her home with her son's holiday drawings and artwork from the early grades. That son got married this summer! My kids' gifts to us were a gorgeous ceramic tile with a colorful hand print and a calendar with our family's birthdays and other important dates highlighted. Thanks teachers!

Jeers to getting laid off a week before Thanksgiving. Anytime is a bad time to be out of work, but it takes a special kind of scrooge to give you the axe at the holidays. I'm confident that my friend, Karma, will prevail in the end.

Cheers to celebrating both Christmas and Hannukah. Both holidays are special and fun and I feel lucky that we get to enjoy them both. What would December be without our tree and ornaments and latkes and gelt? This year we turned off all the lights other than the tree when lighting our Menorah. It provided a lovely glow for the occasion. The kids are getting into reciting the blessings and lighting the candles themselves and it's lovely to see them participating. We know so many families who observe both holidays and I enjoyed sending them this card:complete with wishes inside for a Merry Chrismukkah and L'Shanah Tova (Happy New Year). Speaking of Chrismukkah, check out http://www.chrismukkah.com/ . Here's someone who's taken the meaning of "Moses is Moses, business is business" and run with it. Very cute and clever. Although I still despise Hannukah ornaments.

Cheers to the Wii! We're all having so much fun with our new toy. Finally, there's something the family can all enjoy.

Cheers to my dad who came up with the best Hannukah present ever: all the home movies of me until age 7 on DVD. How much fun to see baby ME and my mom and dad as young parents. Way to go Baba.

Jeers to yet another family malady: this time Ray's messed up his neck and shoulder and has been in intense pain. This is in addition to 2 kids with messed up stomachs, 3 kids with colds and my stupid cough/cold/congestion that is back before it ever fully went away. Things seem to be improving slightly but it's been a difficult week for all of us, especially him.

Cheers to a great New Year's eve and day after. We went to my parents', where I effectively abdicated all of my parental responsibilities and didn't think for a good 24 hours. At least 12 of those hours were spent sleeping. It's just what the doctor ordered.

Cheers to all of you. Thanks for hanging in there with me and reading my rants and ramblings this year. I could promise more regular posts in the coming year but I know me and my crazy life and I'll just promise to do my best. Here's to a happy, healthy and prosperous new year for us all, with just enough humor thrown in to keep us sane.

Speaking of Reality TV...

2008-12-20T10:43:00.001-08:00

If you haven't already, I really encourage you to check out Fox's Secret Millionaire. The premise is that a millionaire goes incognito into a very poor part of the country and must live on welfare wages for a week. During that time, he or she must also identify three individuals to help with a minimum of $100,000 of his or her own money. I've been so inspired by the people that have been featured as the recipients of the gifts. Even in difficult conditions, many are finding ways to help others, giving of their own homes, time and resources. What I also like about the show is that it highlights problems in our country that many of us just don't think about from depressed former coal-mining towns to cities that have never recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Along with changing the lives of the people they help, I'd like to think that the millionaires also go away from the experience with a new outlook.

This show is a far cry from Temptation Island and some of the other reality crap that we've been forced to endure. I highly recommend it and hope Fox keeps it around for a while.

Biggest Loser Finale Wrap-Up

2008-12-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I'm a newcomer to the legion of The Biggest Loser fans. When I first heard of the show I thought it would be a cheap exploitation of fat people for studio profits. After hearing how good the show was from many friends, we finally got hooked last season. I no longer think the contestants are being exploited but the for-profit aspect of the show still bugs. Sugar free gum is not diet food, Bob. Telling us it is makes you look silly. Anyhoo, last night was this season's finale and it didn't disappoint. Here's my take on the winners, losers and others. Oh wait, the losers were the winners. So confusing.

Ed and Heba: So much to say about these two. First off, it was a total slap that Ed begged the viewers to vote Heba into the finale and they voted him in instead. That should be a clue as to how likable these two were. At first they seemed like the cute newlyweds and she was kind of pretty and he was the funny guy. But as the show wore on, Heba showed her true colors, her meanness and her ruthlessness. Who could stand one more second of her incessant crying and whining. I felt sorry for Bob for having to train her. She was awful to watch. It wasn't a big surprise that she won the $100,000 consolation prize. Of all the contestants that competed for that prize, she was at the ranch the longest. Amy should've won that. All that being said, they looked great at the finale. However Heba, losing 100 pounds doesn't give you license to go braless on national TV. WTF? It looked like she tucked her boobs into her pantyhose. Ick.

Vicki: Ugly is as ugly does. I honestly cannot imagine going on national TV, letting the world know what an ugly, evil human being you are, then having to go back into your community and having to face people again daily. For you non-TBL watchers, think Corinne at the Survivor finale (watch reality TV much?). I seriously can't ever imagine being that mean right to someone's face. It's one thing to be motivated to win a game; it's another altogether to be mean, nasty, cutthroat and awful to perfectly nice people who are there for the same reasons as you. Her treatment of Phil & Amy (more on them later) was beyond disgusting. I think if her children were older and watched the show they would be so embarrassed by her meanness, cheating and underhanded tactics (and their dad's too). I also think it'll be difficult for her to maintain the weight loss. They showed how hard she had to work to prepare for the finale and that it gave her almost no time with her family. That pace will be difficult to maintain without the obvious motivation she got from the possibility of beating the other contestants. As hard as she worked, she still came in last place at the finale. I give all the credit to Karma.

Phil & Amy: Oh my gosh! How great did these two look? Phil and Amy were my favorite couple and I hated the way they were treated by Vicki and her lackeys. You could tell Bob was sad when they left and wasn't overly thrilled that Vicki stayed when Amy was gone. It was so wonderful to see them back, looking amazing! Amy rocked her red dress (and I loved that she wore red when so many others wore black) and did look smoking hot! They were gracious in the face of those who treated them so poorly. And even nasty Vicki admitted that Phil helped motivate her when she was home and feeling down. Did you notice how Phil looked at Amy when she was onstage? You could see his love for her written all over his face. I am so happy for this nice couple.

Michele: Hooray for awesome Michelle!!!! What a deserving winner. It seemed like her formula for success was simply working hard and staying above the pettiness and backstabbing. How much fun was it when she hung in the glass box seemingly without a care in the world while Vicki cried and whined and couldn't get down? Her efforts were for the right reasons: to get healthy and improve her life. Along the way, she strengthened her relationship with her mom, and began to not just rely on herself, but value who she was and realize that she was worth taking care of. Such an important lesson for a young woman to learn. I imagine it must have been difficult to be the only black team member left with three horrid blue team members left. Yet she kept her focus and kept working hard. Although she scares the crap out of me, Jillian did a great job helping Michelle stay on track and WIN!

I'm so glad another season of The Biggest Loser will start in early January. It's always inspiring to see these transformations and the cat fighting is a little bonus entertainment. Hopefully they can leave the evil awful people out of the cast next time.

Update: Today's LA Times states that likability cost Heba the biggest loser title. She did, in fact, lose a higher percentage of her starting weight than Michelle. But her scheming and bullying made her a target of the TV audience who voted to keep her out of the finale. Vicky, meanwhile, has had to change her home phone number due to harassment and death threats. They both state that they were depicted inaccurately and that viewers are uncomfortable seeing such strong women. Bullshit. Viewers are uncomfortable seeing such horrible women. And Vicki seems to be reaping the proper consequences of how she played the game. Thanks again, Karma.

From Turkeys to Santa

2008-12-05T23:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, loyal readers. Life gets busy, you know? So, what's been going on since I blogged you last? Julia got glasses: big trauma that has turned into a good thing. I'm proud of her, and proud of how we handled it. Ethan is Ethan. He's all about play dates, Lego, and staying up 2 hours after he's in bed and playing the dark. Bunch just gets better and better. He's figured out how to give kisses. But he's sneaky and gutsy and thinks he's one of the big kids.

It seems like Halloween was just yesterday, and now here we are, less than 3 weeks from Christmas. Thanksgiving was great. Once again, my cousin Sissy hosted and I had so much fun watching the kids play with their cousins (and cousins-in-law). There was all kinds of food, to which I happily contributed. Only problem with not hosting Thanksgiving is that you don't really get to control leftovers (plus there were NO leftover sweet potatoes and Julia has been waiting for them since last Christmas), so we had Thanksgiving again last night, with Ray's mom, who is here visiting. I made my first ever real turkey breast and it came out awesome. I almost think a monkey could make it but I don't want to disparage my own turkey-roasting skills. Plus: holy crap. Costco mashed potatoes. They must be from the gods.

Oh yeah, the other thing that happened last month was that my poor husband became one of the half-million plus Americans who lost their job. The week before Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays to us. After the requisite anger, cussing, and a few days of mopiness, we're back in the holiday spirit. Maybe it's all the meds I'm downing daily for this godawful cold-turned-sinus-mess-plus-incessant-back-agony-from-all-the-nights-spent-coughing-on-the-couch (not to mention the mind altering drugs humming in the background) combined with the persistent sleep deprivation, but I'm not freaking out. I wasn't thrilled with Ray's previous work situation. Besides, we'd known for a while that this layoff might happen. He was working for a land developer. Duh. So, I'm confident that something much better is in the works. In the mean time, it's great to have Ray home, especially while I've been sick. The kids are in heaven; I'm already worried about how sad they'll be when he goes back to work.

Tonight we went Chrismukah shopping while the kids stayed with Grandma Dooley. We had a great time! It's not about how much we spent. Sure, I love buying expensive gifts for friends and family. I am a shopper at heart, after all. But it's also fun to get creative, find bargains and make our budget work. It reminds me of Christmas shopping in college. But I also know that we are so lucky, so blessed. It's not about the job, the income, or any of that. I love this time of year and an uncertain financial situation isn't going to change that. So our halls are decked, we've got visions of latkes in our heads and it's time to be jolly. We're going to enjoy this bonus family time and look forward to the next good thing. It's all good.

Belated Boo!

2008-11-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

Halloween has come and gone and while I wasn't all that much in the spirit at first, I managed to get into it by the end of trick or treating. Here are some photos for your enjoyment:

Julia, in her very original Purple Pelicans uniform, er, costume.

Halloween at Kindergarten never gets old.

Never has one Thomas costume been such an enormous value. 3rd Halloween in combat and still going strong.
Dr. Jones decided that his hat was too large and could only be fixed by wearing it in the other direction.

Hope everyone had a happy one!

The Witch Is In

2008-10-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

Any guesses what the "T" stands for?

Rants and Raves

2008-10-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Rave: My friend, Laura, who is always so nice and supportive.

Rant: People who can't be bothered to return a phone call (or 10).

Rave: The pediatric optician who finally found frames that Julia would concede to consider wearing.

Rant: Not having her on our vision plan. Ouch!

Rave: My new Uppercase Living website, and people who are as into the product as I am!

Rant: Not being able to choose what goes on my wall next!

Rave: Mommy group therapy.

Rave: Mommy wars.

Rave: It's finally fall! Hooray for changing leaves and Halloween decorations.

Rant: The 30 degree difference in temperature from the morning to the afternoon. How am I supposed to dress my kids?

Rave: The election is less than 3 weeks away...the campaigning is about to end.

Rant: I'm not overly thrilled with our choices and the one proposition I feel strongly about has a good chance of losing.

Rave: Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins are back at Starbucks!

Rant: Still no drive-through Starbucks anywhere near here.

Rave: The Amazing Race. How cute was Phil's dad?

Rant: Desperate Housewives. I need No-Doz just to get through an episode.

Rave: Being back in Mommy & Me with Brady, a few nice moms and an awesome teacher.

Rant: Listening to "I go to school today?" a thousand times each day that we don't go to school.

Rave: Julia's soccer team is doing great, they made the playoffs, she scored a goal last week (!!!!) and Ethan finally seemed to get it together in his last game.

Rant: Too many of their games are scheduled simultaneously and I hate missing one. Plus his games are WAY TOO EARLY.

Rave: Sweet 3rd grade girls who hold hands and giggle and don't even know why.

Rant: Mean 3rd graders who shove, threaten and bully, and then break the rules knowing that the other kids are too scared to tell. It's too early for this stuff.

Ethan Does Yom Kippur

2008-10-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

This awful cell-phone picture with bad lighting hardly does justice to Ethan's look for Yom Kippur services. Decked out in his new soccer ball kippah, he didn't think his outfit would be complete without his yellow striped tie. The two missing bottom teeth were the final Ethan touch. He spent most of the service decorating his tie with the number stickers from seats and making friends with the amused and annoyed adults seated around us. Brady spent his time up my skirt and asking "Is it done?" after every prayer. No matter, we were all together at the service and it was a nice way to end the holiday. The Gelson's cinnamon pull apart bread didn't hurt either.

Fun Fall

2008-10-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time for a good, mindless post about what we've been up to lately, not that it's particularly exciting.

School is going great. Both kids have great teachers and love going. E still has a hard time getting up in the morning but he loves being a kindergartener. I absolutely love working in their classes. Kindergarten is way more fun than 3rd grade, however. I continue to be impressed with my kids' school and the teachers there. Educating children is a hard business to be in and I admire those who do it well despite countless challenges.
Julia is turning back into a human being. I'm not talking perfection, but she has become noticeably more sweet, polite and responsible. The backtalk and arguing have decreased dramatically and she's much more pleasant to be with. I will remember this when she turns into a teenage troll.
I think I've gotten my election ranting out of my system. There's nothing left to do but sit back and wait for Election Day. Is it too late to put Tina Fey on the ticket?
Bunch and I are having a great time in Mommy & Me. Our teacher, who is a friend and was also Ethan's teacher, rocks. I love the time I get to spend in class with him, especially since it brings back so many memories of being there with Ethan three years ago. Brady was with us then too, but he was just a belly baby, raising hell from the inside.
I'm busier than I would like with school activities, but I enjoy being involved with all the happenings at school. I like selling ads for our newsletter and raising money in that way. I like the school administration and staff knowing that I am around and involved in my children's school. I like having my younger kids practically grow up at our school. Brady is quite a hit with the office ladies who hug him and kiss him and give him chocolate. It's like having 3 extra grandmas.
We are a soccer family and we love it. Between the two kids, we have 3 practices and two games each week. Both teams are coming along nicely, but they can both be so frustrating to watch. It is a big commitment for our whole family, and can be a big pain at times, especially when Bunch isn't cooperating. But this is so good for our kids. They are learning about trying hard and teamwork and listening and working for a common goal. And they're running their tails off and loving it. Ray is coaching Julia's team and refereeing for Ethan. We're both surprised by how much he's enjoying it. And I got to make puple, white, and black ribbon ponytail holders for the team. Soccer is a good thing.
I'm having a great time with Uppercase Living. I've gotten a lot of exposure lately and am waiting for some of my prospects to start panning out. I have high, high hopes for this business, especially in the coming months.

Still with me? That's pretty much all that is going on here. Sounds mundane, but I actually like that now and then. I like my routines and I like the everyday things that make our lives feel cozy and safe. Maybe it's the fall weather that is (finally) starting to come around. But I'm feeling like I just want to hole up in my house with my family, light a cinnamon candle and make soup. Although I'm not a fan of the cold weather (such as it is in these parts) I'll begrudgingly trade in my flip flops for shoes-that-must-be-worn-with-socks if it means I get to make soup.

Thank you arbreed for the gorgeous photo which is proof that we really do get fall in southern California.

Election Day, Part 2 - 40 odd days and counting

2008-09-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, 7 months plus since my last election post and guess what. Still no President. Half a billion dollars spent, running mates picked conventions held, interviews given and rally after rally after rally held and televised. And still this endless process continues. We still have debates to look forward to and who knows how many months of vote counting before the partisan power grab is over and we can have dances and parties and all pat ourselves on the back on our exemplary, peaceful, political process.

Most people I know, my relatives excluded, are civilized enough to keep their judgements and opinions to themselves most of the time. Maybe your outfit isn't quite ready for Vogue or you're having a bad hair day. Maybe you're making stupid decisions that are messing up your life and your kids'. Maybe your spouse is an ass and everyone knows it but you. The folks in my circle are usually polite enough to keep their opinions about this kind of situation to themselves until asked. Moreover, they wouldn't presume to tell you what to do or how to think. Until an election comes around.

For the past months, I can't open my email without some propaganda from someone about their favored political candidate. Presumably, until election season, I was deemed intelligent enough to think for myself, to make decisions on mundane things like whether to vaccinate my children, or to send them to public school, or the best way to take care of my and my family's health. Now, all of a sudden, I need to be told by my friends who to vote for and why, whose family values and vice presidential qualifications are acceptable and whose aren't, and which Facebook group to join to tell the world my political views. I need to have the news analyzed by these sudden political experts.

I didn't ask.

It seems, as a matter of fact, that everyone is an expert. As I watch the Emmy Awards tonight, I'm annoyed, but not surprised, that so many of the presenters choose to make political statements. Once again, this is not what I tuned in for.

Last I checked, I was smart enough to know where to go for political information and analysis: any number of cable news shows, magazines, political blogs, the newspaper. That one I can figure out. What I can't figure out is why people who are otherwise lovely, charming and thoughtful would be so insulting as to force their unsolicited political views on me, and then judge me for either not agreeing or asking to be spared. Wasn't it considered in poor taste not too long ago to even discuss politics and religion?

Don't get me wrong. I don't mind a healthy political discussion, a respectful exchange of ideas, of point and counterpoint between equally matched intellects. What doesn't work for me, and never will, is being told by someone not to vote for Barrack Obama because his middle name is Hussein and "Jews can't vote for Hussein," or that John McCain and Sarah Palin are "evil" and a joke. Again, I didn't ask. I notice that most people don't ask about my views, other than to ascertain whether I'm voting their way. As soon as they hear that I'm most likely not, they make it their personal mission to tell me why I'm wrong and why I should.

Now, this is my blog and you came here, so you must want to know what I think. If you're here by mistake, leave now. Once and for all, these are my views:

I hate our electoral process. It makes me sick. It's no longer about governing, or improving the lives of the citizens. It's about a power grab for one party at the expense of the other, and of the interests of the American public, who are the last people considered when policy and legislation are being crafted.
I don't like either of the candidates for President. I'm not embarrassed to say so. One is too old and one isn't experienced enough. Giving good speeches doesn't make you a great president. As the "greatest democracy in the world," what we deserve is a real choice, with more than two options.
I don't like Sarah Palin and I don't like Hilary Clinton. This doesn't make me anti-feminist.
I live in a blue state. My vote doesn't count.
I'm disgusted by the stronghold of the religious right over the Republican party. This country was founded on the tenet of separation of church and state, yet this party seeks to blur those lines further and further every day. Sarah Palin has called the war in Iraq a "task from God." Jihad, anyone? Yet her party is energized and excited by her nomination. That disconnect is frightening.
Whoever gets elected, it won't make a fundamental difference in my and my family's daily lives. This is an unpopular view and certainly some things may change. We all know, though, that what's promised in campaigns isn't what will happen anyway. But our personal challenges and triumphs will continue regardless of who has taken over the White House.

Again, these are my views, and you don't have to agree. Unless asked, I will keep them to myself. If you disagree, I won't judge you and suggest you have inferior intelligence. And I certainly won't let it get in the way of our relationship because in my world, people will always be more important, more genuine and much, much more relevant than politics.

Go Shopping. Again.

2008-09-16T16:25:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already visited Today's Creative Blog to support the Nie Recovery (and even if you have), now would be a good time to do so. I have a package of Uppercase Living items up for auction and it's all for a great cause. Go bid it up! And send your friends.

Go Shopping. Now.

2008-09-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

You know I love nothing more than when two great things come together to make something even greater. That's how I feel about what's going on over at my friend Kim's mega-hit Today's Creative Blog right now. To support a family in crisis, she's brought together some of the greatest artists you've never heard of who are donating their creations for a benefit auction. The starting bids are L-O-W and you might even find a donation from yours truly over there. Please go to Today's Creative Blog, browse the auctions or make a cash donation. Shopping is good. But shopping for a good cause is good squared. Cubed even.

He Like to Move It Move It

2008-09-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

We're pretty excited for Madagascar 2 to come out around these parts. So much so that Brady loves singing his favorite Madagascar song over and over and over. Come to think of it, he's not unlike King Julian in a lot of ways. They're both boisterous little bossy dictators who think they know everything, while those around them know better.

Open House Weekend!

2008-08-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful readers. I owe you a nice long post about summer. Don't hold your breath. I'm currently working on my Uppercase Living Open House Weekend which will be next Friday and Sunday. Between finishing display items (fun!), finalizing the menu (also fun) and cleaning my house (most definitely not fun), who has time for blog-writing?

If you or a friend are in the area, please stop by Friday evening or Sunday afternoon. For more info, times and my address just email me. Hope to see you!

Also, big thanks to Kim who gave my products a try and then a shout out on her blog. I can't wait to see the finished projects. While her personal blog is great, her Today's Creative Blog is beyond awesome: so inspiring and addictive. Go tell her Hi from me.

Julia Said...

2008-07-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

before she went to bed tonight:

Mommy, only 3 more hours until you're 37. And then you'll never be 36 again. That's sad.

I let her live because:

a) We're going to the beach tomorrow and I can't wait! I've been waiting a whole year for this beach trip and

b) No matter how old I get, Meghan will always be exactly a year older. Bwahahahaha. Happy Birthday Birthday Buddy!!!!

What I Learned From Stacy Julian

2008-06-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, my Local Scrapbook Store (LSS, for those of you not in the know), Treasured Memories, announced that Stacy Julian would be speaking at the store in early June. I bought my ticket and pretty much forgot about it until a week or so before the event. And then I started getting really excited. First of all, I'd never met a scrapbook celebrity before (stop snickering). Second, I'd been reading Stacy's blog and beyond the fact that the title cracks me up, I like her perspective. Third, I don't get out much and a night out pursuing only my own interests is somewhat of a holy grail. And fourth, I need a new approach to scrapbooking since my current one clearly isn't working.

So I got Julia ready for her dance pictures, which her father would have to take her (and her brothers) to and happily headed out the door. While I'd never taken any of Stacy's classes or read her books, I was aware of her influence on scrapbooking and was eager to soak in her wisdom. I picked up my reserved copy of Big Picture Scrapbooking and giddily sat there learning the following:

Stacy Julian is adorable. From her pigtails to her polka dot dress to her ever present giggle, she's very endearing. She generously shares her spirit and the depth of her emotions to inspire in all of us the freedom to view scrapbooking as she does: focused on process, not production. Amazing concept, this.

Stacy is smart! The unfortunate perception persists that scrapbookers with vacant minds and full albums stay up all hours playing with scissors and glue sticks. Stacy flips this perception on its ass. Her talk covered areas from philosophy to marketing to color theory to optics. She is a reader and she gathers inspiration from an enormous array of resources. Very inspirational.

The thought of scrapbooking in non-chronological order, without straight lines and with journaling in my own handwriting causes me anxiety. And anxiety is not a thing I need more of these days. However, it's so much fun to think of the layouts I could create about what my kids are doing right now rather than how far behind I am and how I am every going to do justice to properly documenting the birth of my two boys. She might be on to something. Maybe she should pursue this little theory of hers.

There is more than one way to scrapbook, and probably no "right" way. And scrapbooking doesn't mean just sticking photos on cardstock. Revolutionary thoughts, indeed. I'm still mulling over this one and think I may need to read Stacy's first book, Simple Scrapbooks, or take a some of her classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking to get a better understanding of this.

Life is good and it should be documented, but not just for the reasons I thought. One of the many things that have stayed with me from Stacy's talk is that scrapbooking serves a lot of purposes. It makes up more aware and more grateful for the big and small blessings that fill our days. And it makes us happy. And that's reason enough to do something. Again, revolutionary concept. It's not a waste of time or paper or resources or money to spend time on a hobby that strengthens our connections to each other, utilizes and inspires creativity, documents our family histories, and makes us happy in the process. On the contrary, it's a rather priceless pursuit with immeasurable positive benefits.

I should make it a point to scrapbook more. See above.

Stacy loves brownies. So much so that she has devoted a scrapbook to the brownies she's encountered throughout her travels. This interests me for two reasons: First, I can't think of a more frivolous way to spend one's time than to create a scrapbook about brownies. And if it's OK for the great, renowned, busy, working-mother-of-five Stacy Julian to spend her time on a brownie scrapbook, then it must be ok for me to spend my time scrapping something equally silly. Second: our wonderful hosts at Treasured Memories decided to provide a brownie buffet in Stacy's honor. So many yummy varieties to munch on while we waited in line to chat with Stacy. The clear winner: Ghirardelli Double Chocolate brownie mix available at Costco or your local grocery store. My family has recently enjoyed 2 pans of these.

Big Picture Scrapbooking has awesome pens. We each got a goodie bag and mine contained a button that says "Scrap Big," (love that), a mouse pad, the biggest rubber band I've ever seen (seriously, Nicole Ritchie could wear this as a belt; I still haven't figured out its purpose) and what looks like a regular ball point pen. I LOVE THIS PEN. Julia has tried numerous times to steal this pen from under my nose. She has not succeeded. I'll have to troll their site to see if I can pick up a few dozen.

Stacy is a trouper. It didn't matter how long her day had been, or how many people were waiting in line to meet her, Stacy cheerfully talked with each one of us, answering questions, finding connections and generously sharing her thoughts and ideas.

I have to give a shout out here to my friend Christine, who owns Treasured Memories. She put on a top-notch event, which is not surprising, since I know she puts her heart into everything she does. She recently celebrated her store's 10th anniversary and I'm so proud of her success. I know that scrapbook retailing is a difficult industry, especially in today's economy, but she's a tough lady and a smart businesswoman and I'd put my money on her every time. She's been so generous with me over the years. About 5 years ago, she allowed us to use her scrap space for an entire day to host a crop to raise money for FSMA. More recently, she's displaying my Uppercase Living catalog and brochures right behind her register. She's a great asset to our community.

One other thing came out of this event: I was chatting with a very nice lady in line while we waited to meet Stacy. As our conversation progressed we incredulously realized that we "knew" each other from Two Peas In A Bucket, a message board I haven't been on since just after Ethan was born. We traded information and hopefully will get a chance to scrap together someday soon. Stacy Julian is all about making connections, and meeting up with Yvonne was just one connection that I focused on that night. Now, a month later, I'm still thinking about Stacy's words and message and am planning once again to get out my scrap supplies and start playing and creating, pages as well as happiness. My mental health will thank me.

A Very Nice Summer and other stuff

2008-05-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who still check in despite my sadly sporadic posting, thank you. I'll try to do better, really I will.

It seems strange to be posting about summer on what is the coldest Memorial Day weekend I can remember since we moved back to southern California from Seattle. It has actually rained (I think most of the rest of the country would call it drizzling) for the last few days. News directors all across the Southland had a very difficult decision for last night's evening newscast: do I lead with the high speed chase du jour (which was made all the more dramatic by the slick streets, spraying water and fishtailing. Boo YA!) or Storm Watch 2008? Decisions, decisions. Of course the live feed of the chase won, and the bastards had the nerve to go to commercial and make us miss the end, which is usually the best part, and have to watch a replay. Amateurs.

Regardless of the weather, signs abound that summer is almost here, and as sad as I am to see Julia's awesome year in 2nd grade end, I'm ready for a break from frantic mornings and busy schedules. Those of you have been with me a while might recall that for the last couple of years, I and some others declared it would be The Best Summer Ever. The first time we did this, the summer really lived up to it. There was ice cream, a new swing set, more ice cream, trips to Disneyland and Legoland and fun and relaxation all over the place. Last year, I thought, it would most definitely be the BSE. I mean, how could it it not? We had a new house with a pool for the first time ever and we couldn't wait to spend every waking minute in it. Well, I'll tell you how: start the summer by literally losing your mind to the point that you don't want to get out of bed or even know which end is up. Add a flood to the entire downstairs of said house that takes 2 months to clean up from, hole up in your steaming hot upstairs (in the dark for most of a week, as it turned out) and add a half-assed air conditioner and asbestos in your ducting. That's how.

While we've recovered from the effects of last year's summer fiasco, I'm not thinking I want to jinx things this year by setting up some crazy unrealistic expectations. So, my friends, I hereby declare the summer of 2008 A Very Nice Summer. That's it. I still plan to send my kids to camp, do a lot of fun things, go to the beach, grill, swim a ton, and eat a lot of Shave Ice. But I think I'll be a lot more content hoping to just have a nice time than to pressure all of us to make things the BEST EVER. I'm all about baby steps right now and this seems to be a good one to take. Maybe in a couple of years I won't be as gun shy. For now, let's make it a nice summer.

In other news, I'm having a great time with my Uppercase Living business so far. Every day I think of new ways to use the expressions and lettering. The possibilities are endless. I had a party at a friend's the other night and it was nice to see the positive response I got across the board. I have some high hopes for this company.

In other other news, Ray's mom is coming to spend next weekend with the kids so he and I can spend a couple of nights away. Even though we're just staying at a hotel down the street, we have a massage and a nice dinner scheduled and we plan on just relaxing for a couple of days. We so need this.

The following weekend, I'm going to my hear Stacy Julian speak at my scrapbook store, Treasured Memories. I'm really excited to hear her talk and hope to get motivated inject some sanity into my overwhelming pile of to-be-scrapped photos. Treasured Memories is a great store and the owner, Christine, is lovely and generous. Definitely good people. If you're ever in the area, stop by and spend lots of money.

Hope the weather is sunny where you are and that you have a great weekend.

A Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

It seems we've been celebrating Mother's Day for several days already. It started Thursday morning when Ray & Julia came into my room with big smiles, holding the local newspaper. Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

Our local paper does this every year. Julia came up with the thoughts and Ray helped her get it to under 100 words and it totally made my day. Especially the part about "the brothers."

Friday I got to celebrate at Ethan's school where we were serenaded by a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds who couldn't stop grinning long enough to sing. Beyond cute.

We took a break yesterday to attend Julia's last softball game. They placed 3rd in their tournament which thankfully earned them big gaudy trophies that completely erased any disappointment they may have had about losing their game. They celebrated the end of the season at a swim party at one team member's AMAZING home. The girls had such a great time and it was nice to see Julia be one of the crowd. It's a struggle to let her be herself while trying to get her to be a little more outgoing. I'd like to think this experience has helped.

This morning I got my mother's day presents that were so amazing and sweet that my teeth hurt...or is that the Starbucks donut I had for breakfast? Never mind. Julia's teacher helped the class make a compilation of artwork and poetry throughout the year that is truly remarkable. The best part is the card: Top 10 Reasons Why I Love You. It's an entire scrapbook in itself. Ray hooked me up with some salon services that my nasty hair desperately needs. But my favorite present is the Webkinz panda that Julia and Ethan INSISTED I get. I had the most fun half hour this morning adopting it, decorating its room and taking it to Dr. Quack for a checkup, all with their guidance and advice.

This Mother's Day is a lot nicer for me than last year, thanks to me being more aware of what's been going on with me emotionally and having the tools to get through it. I'm looking forward to spending the day with my mom, who has truly saved me and my family throughout this year. To all the moms out there, a happy, happy, relaxing day to you. Our work is endless and the rewards infinite and no other job is done with more love and dedication.

Batman Has the Batmobile ...

2008-04-28T09:26:00.001-07:00

And SuperViolet now has her personalized plates. She truly is a super hero, swooping down to rescue me and my family over and over again, most recently over the last few weeks as I get slowly straightened out. We are so lucky to have her.

Bear With Me

2008-04-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Let's just say the chemical soup that is my brain has needed some seasonings adjusted. Everything is fine, and I'll be back soon.

The Good, The Bad, The Odd

2008-04-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

I hate not blogging for a long time. Stuff piles up and then I never get around to telling (all 3 of) you about it. Here's a quick run-down, with hopefully more to come someday soon:

The Good

We went wine tasting a couple of weekends ago and had SUCH a great time. I'll definitely post about this soon!
Ethan's dinosaur party was a great success and may someday be its own blog post. There were, ahem, quite a few kids but they had fun and I loved all the activity. Boys are a whole different breed when it comes to group-think, aren't they? I'm not quite mentally prepared.
I got carded! I didn't have my kids with me and the waiter was wearing pretty thick glasses, but who cares?
I'm going to see Bon Jovi & Daughtry tomorrow night and will also get to meet my good friend Jacquie IRL for the first time. Can't wait!!!
My mom is sleeping over so I can do the above. She rocks.
I registered Ethan for kindergarten and now must pray nightly that he won't end up with the mean teacher who yells.
My first Uppercase Living open house is next week. I'm really excited...and nervous. But also really excited.
Brady seems to be getting cuter by the minute. Come visit him. Or call him. He'll totally talk to you on the phone.
Juji got her first hit and scored her first run in softball. I didn't think this would happen for another couple of seasons. Her team has won its last two games!

The Bad

Passover starts next week and I have not done one thing to prepare.
Julia's attitude is getting worse by the day. Is it me or is she completely psycho, going from sweetheart to complete pain instantaneously.
I have wasted my entire evening playing games online.
The Bruins broke my heart for the 3rd straight year, coming home empty-handed from the Final Four.
Ray's work sucks right now. Period.
My kids can mess my house up way faster than I can clean it.
My asshole neighbor's asshole dog got out today and came nose-to-nose with poor Brady, who was terrified. I heard myself scream primaly to the neighbor to get his dog away, which he did. He did apologize, at which point it occurred to me that that was the first time he'd talked to me the entire YEAR we'd been living here. He needs to make sure that dog never ever gets near one of my kids again.
Our friends who were going to Bon Jovi with us had to cancel, so I'm taking my sister and her friend. This isn't all bad, as now I can act like a much bigger dork at the concert and sing and dance to my heart's content. Ray will pretend not to know us.

The Odd

I really did have some odds, but now can't remember any of them. Must be time for bed. If only I hadn't wasted my whole night online, I'd head straight to sleep without the mandatory pit stop in the kitchen to clean and make Julia's lunch. Damn internet.

What I Learned At the Wiggly Concert

2008-04-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

My family's love of the Wiggles has been well documented here. Although they're no longer front-and-center favorites, all three kids still enjoy Wiggling fairly regularly, though they don't always admit to it. A few months ago, just as I was thinking how much my kids would like to see the Wiggles live, I received an email alerting me that they would be coming to LA. It's like the internet read my mind! We (actually, Grandma Goob. Thanks Goobie!) got the tickets and Saturday was Wiggle day. Who knew I would learn so much from one kids' concert? Lucky for you, I'm willing to share the knowledge:

The Nokia Theatre at LA Li ve is a great place to see a concert. The whole complex will be awesome when it's finally built out. On the day that we were there, there were 2 Wiggles shows, a King's game and a Dodgers exhibition game at the Coliseum. It's really great to see Downtown LA growing this way. Go developers!

If the music thing doesn't work out for the Wiggles, then they can always look into being aerobics instructors. Those guys have some serious stamina!
There is seriously nothing cuter than a theater filled with preschoolers dressed in Pirate hats, Wiggles skivvies, and Dorothy tails....until those preschoolers start singing and dancing.
When attending a Wiggly concert, it is proper form to bring roses for Dorothy and a bone for Wags.
Some children, who are way too used to watching the Wiggles on TV, WOULD NOT turn away from the giant screen where the concert was being shown to the stage RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM to see the actual show live.
My two year old must not be that smart.
That one Wiggly dancer who is always way too excited on the TV show is just as "energetic" live.
It really is possible to pay $6 for an Uncrustable, a juice box and a few apple slices. Ah, capitalism.
That last remark makes me sound really old.
Just because you are seven and a half years old, it does not mean that you cannot sit on your daddy's lap and sing along the entire show. It also does not mean that you will not be the first to ask. "Can we come back next year?"
I can point my fingers and do the twist.
If you want a t-shirt for your kid, get it when the lines are short before the show and don't wait. And just because you said you want a shirt, and don't have a ton of money on you, don't assume that someone else will offer to go buy the shirt.

These guys really must love the kids to do this day in and day out. They were warm and sincere and just as you'd want them to be.
Three adults to three children is a manageable ratio for a Wiggly concert.
Snacks are essential.
Just because there is a damn Wiggly concert going on 8 rows in front of you, and your (grand)parents purchased these tickets and dragged you and your siblings to the concert, it does not mean you will not fall asleep eating grapes on your grandma's lap.
If you are two years old and your mom takes you to see the Wiggles and you finally turn around halfway through and notice the Wiggles and squeal "It's Giggo Mommy! It's Jeff," she will turn to mush, and forgive you for napping later and declare that you must be the cutest and most intelligent toddler in the whole place.
A Wiggly concert is just slightly louder than Ethan.
I'd do this again for and with my kids in a heartbeat. I know I had at least as much fun as they did.
It's just not the same without Greg.

So Much to Blog, So Little Time

2008-04-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

After the busy weekend we had, one would think that we are always out and about doing fun things with our kids, or without. Ha. Now, that's funny. But somehow, the stars aligned and we did do some fun things and even got a night out by ourselves, thanks to Goobie and Baba. The fun things will be their own post. But for now, let's hear it for the Bruins in the Final Four for the 3rd straight year. As they say, Ben Howland is my homeboy.

I'll try not to throw up watching the next 2 games (yeah, I said it). I have a feeling it will be pretty intense. No matter the outcome, we've had a great basketball season and SC has had...an extra long spring break. As it should be.

Sweet 16

2008-03-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know what's sweeter: UCLA's win to advance to the Sweet 16 (it was ugly, but we won...and my family is still teasing me about how loud I screamed at the end) or USC having their ass handed to them in the first round by Kansas State.

My cup runneth over.

DYNO-Vite

2008-03-23T11:02:00.001-07:00

When I made Brady's 2nd birthday invitations, I also planned ahead to Ethan's dinosaur party invites as well. You would think that with all that lead time, these invitations would be ready well in advance. You would, of course, be wrong. However, they are done and they are here. I'm totally not happy with them but he LOVES them. So, I'm happy enough. It's not about me, right? I've had a couple of moms tell me how cute they are. It's so great for the ego hanging out with non-crafty types. The paper is from Around The Block and the bone punch is an EK punch I borrowed from my LSS. I'm on the prowl for a cute dinosaur stamp to make the Thank You notes with. Maybe I'll find one before the thank you cards are 6 months late going out.

Spring Traditions

2008-03-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

With blue skies (finally) and gorgeous weather, not to mention blossom-covered trees everywhere, spring has arrived at last. This point was brought home to me last Sunday, when my family participated a number of spring traditions all in one day.

Our day started out at a local Purim carnival. I love living in an area of the country where my Jewish kids have plenty of other Jewish kids around. When I lived in the Northwest, it was very isolating to not be part of a larger Jewish community. I either felt really lonely, or like an animal in the zoo as I was subjected to the fascination of several people who had never met a Jew before. So our trek to the carnival took all of 5 minutes and we played, bounced, jumped, rode a poor, sad pony and ran into lots of friends we knew.

From there we had lunch and headed to our former neighbors' home for an Easter bash. It never occurred to me just what a pretty holiday Easter can be. While the religious meaning of the holiday is completely lost on me, I love the pretty pastel colors, the flowers, the signs of spring everywhere and little kids dressed in pretty clothes running around in the sunshine. Besides, who doesn't like bunnies, especially the variety who bring chocolate. Our friends went all out: each child got his or her own half-dozen eggs to dye before heading out to hunt for 350 eggs! I think we adults had as much fun hiding them as the kids did searching for them. Brady LOVED sidewalk chalk and Julia and Ethan rode their sugar high well into the evening.

Just as the party started to wrap up, we headed home to get read for Julia's 3rd softball game of the season. Their coach says they are steadily improving. Their score has gone from 4-0, to 12-2, to 13-0. I don't see how allowing the opposing team to score more runs in each successive game is an improvement, but I'm not a math major. That's right friends, Julia plays for the Bad News Bears. The games are not only boring, but just bad. We have games each Saturday and Sunday, and Ray and I trade off going so as to not subject ourselves and the other spectators to Brady's incessant screams throughout the game. While it's quite an occasion when our pitcher manages to throw a strike (rather than pitching the ball behind the batter) there are small signs of progress. Besides, sitting outside watching a ball game definitely feels like spring. And the score isn't all that important, right? I know this because after every game Julia has asked us hopefully, "Did we win?"

Another spring occasion is upon us today with the celebration of Noruz (nowrooz), the Persian New Year. I wrote last year about how much I love celebrating a new year in the spring instead of in the middle of dark and gloomy winter. Being spoiled, lazy and overwhelmed with the rest of the chaos in my life, I've left the work to others this year. My sister made the traditional sabzi polo because she enjoys spending an entire day to make one pot of rice. More power to her. We will be celebrating at my parents' tomorrow night, and the eggs my kids dyed at the Easter party will be adorning Goobie's haft seen.

It occurs to me that I've gotten away with doing very little work for any of these holidays this year. No matter, I don't feel guilty. Someday I'll be the grandma or the hostess or not nuts and go all out. For now I'm happy to enjoy the fruits of others' labor, happily buy my carnival tickets and transport my family from one location to the next. However you celebrate, I hope your spring is lovely and full of sweets.

Many thanks to macieklew for his stunning photo. Check out his other work; you will not be disappointed.

A New (ad)Venture

2008-03-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

You know when you're not looking for something and something kind of finds you? Anyone who knows me knows that the last thing I need is a new job or to spend money. But a couple of weeks ago I was invited to a friend's Uppercase Living open house. You know the story: eat some food, drink some wine, buy some obligatory stuff to support your friend. The end.

Only problem was, I fell totally in love with these products. I'd been looking for something like this to decorate my sad bare walls with that was not expensive and easy to install. Besides, this totally appeals to my scrappy side, too. I love the idea of making my home warm and personal and basically, I love words. Plus it's all customizable with a variety of colors, sizes and fonts. And you know I love fonts. So after some thought and market research, I've decided to become an Uppercase Living Demonstrator. I'm really excited to see where this leads.

I'd love it if you guys would look around the website, check out the catalog and tell me what you think. You can access the entire site with the following information:

Go to: www.uppercaseliving.com
Click on: Customer Corner Login
Demonstrator's ID: 157487
Registration Token: tsp

Of course, feel free to share my ID & registration token with anyone you think is interested. If you're in Southern California and would like to host your own Open House, it's an easy & fun way for you to earn some half-price and free products. You can also host a show online if you're not local. I've promised I won't become that friend. The one who is always trying to get her friends to buy stuff, host parties, sign up for every little thing. If I start acting that way, you are hereby permitted to smack me up side my head and say "What the hell is wrong with you?" Otherwise, thanks for looking and thanks to all of you who've been so supportive so far. This should be a fun ride!

P.S. As I get some of the Expressions in my home and clients' homes, look for a new blog from me showcasing pictures and ideas. More to come on this.

Poll Update

2008-02-27T12:05:00.001-08:00

Thanks to all who voted in my food blog post. Although it would be a stretch to call it "popular demand," those of you who voted were very encouraging. I've got some ideas that I'm working on and will let y'all know when my new blog goes live.

Lucky

2008-02-21T15:29:00.001-08:00

This is what lucky looks like:

And this is what lucky looks like the next morning:

I was going to write today about Brady's haircut yesterday. How he was so overdue for it and we were getting him spiffed up for his 2nd birthday party on Sunday. How his face looks so cute and little now that all that crazy hair is gone from all around it. How I hadn't seen or felt the baby-soft back of his neck in months. And how some kid spinning the chairs around in the hair salon had him laughing so hard that people kept coming in from other rooms to see what the baby was giggling about (I took a little video but can't get it out of my phone).

Instead, I'm posting what looks like a mug shot that was taken after a street fight. My poor baby tripped and fell last night, scraping his face against the edge of a train table. I heard the thud, followed by the scream, that makes every mother's stomach flip over, and ran upstairs to find him crying hysterically, screaming "Mommy" over and over again. The skin from his nose was stuck in his eyelashes and the tears from his left eye were tinged with blood. He was consoled after a while by Wubbzy, fruit snacks and every toy his brother and sister could bring him to make him happy. The quick dose of Motrin helped too.

Although our pediatrician advised us to bring him over in the morning, because of the proximity of the cut to his eye, I took him to pediatric urgent care last night. The doctor there was very good with him and assured me that all looks well. Although his nose looks busted up, there's nothing more serious than an abrasion and some swelling. Similarly, his eye is just scraped up on the outside but his vision isn't affected. By the time we left, he was schmoozing his way out the door and making the ladies giggle over his cuteness.

Our little Bunch got very, very lucky last night and so did we. I'm trying not to think about how bad this episode could have been if he'd hurt his actual eye. I'm so grateful that our baby boy is ok, and we'll be celebrating his birthday with him healthy, if a little bruised up. I'm also grateful that we have such good resources in our community; it took the pediatrician less than 15 minutes to return my call and the urgent care facility was exactly what we needed in this situation. Like I said, we are very, very, very lucky.

If you haven't voted in my poll yet, you still have time. Speak up and let your voice be heard!

You Make The Call

2008-02-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

For a while now I've been been tossing around the idea of starting a food blog. Granted, there are plenty around, the great majority of which I don't read. Still, I'd like mine to focus on easy, good, reasonably healthy family food that my kids will (kind of) eat & that doesn't use a lot of artificial ingredients. I'll probably also have my fair share of "assembled" dinners using store-bought ingredients and a few shortcuts as I find them.

Here's where you come in. Do you think it's a great idea? Are you just dying for more chances to hear about my kitchen adventures and food neuroses? Or is enough really enough? Do you think the Internet just doesn't have room for one more food blog? Cast your vote in the poll on the sidebar and feel free to comment with your thoughts. I'd love a good idea for a blog name too. See how much power you have? Now do the American thing and go vote.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T10:20:00.001-08:00

Whether you love it or hate it, today is Valentine's Day and it is hard to escape the onslaught of hearts and roses. I know some people feel that this is an artificial, overly-commercial "holiday," and they're pretty much right. But then, aren't most holidays these days? It's not a holiday in America without the retailers getting their cut, right?

Even so, I see nothing wrong with a day to celebrate all the people we love, especially when it involves chocolate. I'm always up for an excuse to get gifts and cards and decorate, regardless of the fact that my budget doesn't have much room for it this year. All the more reason to get creative, I say. Having kids makes it more fun to make a big deal out of silly little days like today.

So, live it up and eat some chocolate. Send someone a Valentine. Even better, surprise someone with a Valentine and don't even sign your name. It doesn't have to be romantic, just nice. The world can sure use a little more niceness these days. And don't forget to be nice to yourself. Get YOU some flowers. And if you're one of those people who hates Valentine's Day and is determined to be pissed off all day, it's OK. It's just a silly made up holiday after all.

Happy Valentine's Day to C.P. Storm, who provided the photo for this post.

A Shout Out

2008-02-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Jennifer Lavender who featured my Valentine-making post on Two Moms In A Blog. Go check it out and then make some Valentines of your own.

Funny Valentines

2008-02-10T19:46:00.001-08:00

For some reason, I got a wild hair up my butt to make, instead of buy, Valentines this year. I think the reason was that I just couldn't stomach another trip to Hallmark while I try to throw whatever inappropriate card is within reach into my cart (my Hallmark has carts, do they all?) as quickly as possible while Brady screams at me yet again. Although I'm practically immune to the stares of the other shoppers by now, I knew that somehow I'd grab the wrong thing and my in-laws would end up with an "On The Loss Of Your Pet" card in Spanish for Valentine's Day. So I decided that I don't need any more gray hairs this week and went for the home-made variety.

The first part of this endeavor was getting them to clean all their crap off the dining room table. The next day, I pulled out stickers, cards, scrap paper, die cuts, stamps, ink, punches, markers, glue and probably other stuff and let them go to town. There was a lot of attraction in using Mommy's supplies and Ethan, especially, was quite the enthusiastic little stamper. Unfortunately for him, he was not allowed to use every color ink simultaneously. Anyone who knows him will not be surprised that he would want to.

Other than try to salvage what's left of the finish on the dining room table, I stayed out of their way and just let them create, keeping my opinions to myself (yes, Tannaz, it is possible). Therefore, we ended up with a rainbow of colorful cards in addition to plain old boring red and white. I bet you didn't know purple and yellow (together) were Valentine colors.

What I loved most was watching them create together. There was an interesting give and take in their process. They had to make some decisions together, like who the next card was for and which color it would be, and even though they disagreed, they quickly compromised and got on with it. It was like they subconsciously knew not to ruin their fun with pointless bickering. There was also an unspoken division of labor: Julia did all of the writing (though Ethan signed his own name) and most of the punching while Ethan was the main stamper. He had some great creative ideas and I was glad to see Julia follow his lead. Somehow the age difference between them disappeared and they cheerfully cooperated and created together.

They were more enthusiastic about the first card than the fifth, but we all had a great afternoon together. I'd like to think they got something out of the process. I certainly did and hope to make this yet another tradition. Hopefully the recipients of those Valentines will be able to sense some of the joy and cheer that went into creating them. Especially the green one.

A Tiny Little Project

2008-02-07T11:52:00.001-08:00

Posting the invitation for Brady's 2nd birthday party (when did that happen?!) here makes me realize how plain and simple it really is. There's a fine line between understated and plain, and I think this is the latter. Never mind, though. It's done and out and it has Mickey on it. And ribbon.
In case anyone is wondering, the font is called Minnie.

If anyone has some great ideas for a Mickey Mouse party for kids of various ages, post away. We'll be decorating Mickey cookies, and Mickey ears. There will be Mickey coloring pages. And a Mickey pinata. I think that should be enough, don't you?

My next project will be dinosaur invitations for Ethan's party in April. I'll post when they are done.

Election Day, Part 1

2008-02-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

This will not be a pretty post. There will be complaining and snarkiness. There might be profanity. You've been warned.

Here we are on "Super Tuesday," halfway through the needlessly endless process that we use in this country to elect...Presidential Candidates. And this has been going on for at least a year. And the inauguration is just under a year away. So until then we're held hostage by political ads, sound-bites, interviews, more ads, talking heads on every cable channel, phone call after phone call (our reward for being diligent voters), letters, requests for money, polls, and some more ads. Unlike Super Bowl ads, the political ones are neither amusing nor humorous, and hardly informative. But they are incessant. And they're expensive. And so are the candidates' staffs, and their jets (have you noticed, gas has gone up), and their hotel rooms, and their staffs' hotel rooms, and their conventions, and their pollsters, and their mailers and their incessant ads. We're at the point where it costs hundreds of millions of dollars to get elected President in our country.

So while the candidates are telling their voters - and they all know who their own particular voters are - what they think the voters want to hear, they also have their hands out to those who can finance their campaigns. And when the campaigns are over and one person has won, do you think his or her debt will be to the voters or to the financiers? It doesn't matter which side you look at. The Republicans have their corporations and the Democrats have their unions. Both have deep pockets, plenty of lobbyists and a lot of clout.

I'm sorry that I'm so cynical, but I've been disappointed by every person I've ever given my vote for President to. I can't embrace another dynamic candidate and think he'll be the one to change things up. I can't imagine that one person can unite our shamefully divided and partisan Congress and cause them to bring about change or improvements. And while I do believe that our public servants enter politics with the sincere goal of serving their constituencies, I don't believe that they get to stay in office unless they embrace quite different goals.

At the same time, my heart hurts when I think about the money that we spend on Presidential campaigns and the lives it could help and the problems it could solve. Pick your cause: poverty, hunger, disease eradication, the environment? Would throwing $100 million at it help? Instead of giving constant speeches about funding universal health care, let's figure out a way to funnel the campaign money to ACTUALLY FUND IT. That would be a campaign I could get behind.

As disappointed as I am with the process and the candidates, I did vote. I voted for someone who seems moderate and somewhat sane. I don't know if he'll be elected. I don't think it'll make much difference if he does. I do want our country to be safe, and secure, and prosperous. I do want equal opportunity for all. I do want us to fulfill all of the endless potential we have. I'm just not sure if the folks who are running for the White House are the best choices to help us do that.

Bad, Bad Mommy

2008-01-31T11:20:00.000-08:00

I think back to the day when I decided that I should be a SAHM and raise my kids myself even though it would mean sacrificing my career (snort) and lots more. I would engage my darlings in educational games in between teaching them foreign languages and fixing them healthy meals. We would go play outside and indulge in the wonders of nature, then come inside for some hands-on science projects.

That fantasy did not involve me laying around in my PJ's, sick to my stomach, putting on one TV show after another (on separate TVs, no less) to keep these guys entertained while I try to ignore the strange sounds emanating from my poor tummy.

Reality sucks.

Not feeling guilty or anything around here.

Now if the diaper fairy would show up to change The Stinky One, my day would be complete.

Crazy Talk

2008-01-29T09:28:00.001-08:00

It's a sad day when you realize that your fantasies involving romantic weekends away, massages and George Clooney have been replaced with dreams of one perfect day: going from Target, to Kohl's, to Trader Joe's, to the mall, to Costco all alone and then coming home to a grocery delivery, clean laundry, and a clean house.

Now that I think about it, a romantic weekend away with George is probably more likely.

Post Script...

2008-01-29T09:24:00.000-08:00

to the crock pot post: I have recently found a great Crock pot blog, written by someone who is resolving to cook something different in her crock pot every day in 2008. As if her crazy ambition wasn't enough, she's also a funny and charming writer. Check out A Year of CrockPotting and tell Steph I sent you.

One Gift, Many Occasions

2008-01-22T17:07:00.000-08:00

Remember way back when I totally blew off blogging in December, then promised I'd do some holiday posts in January? Lame, I know, but here's one of those posts. If it makes you feel any better, I've been feeling guilty about it since, like, November. So now I have less guilt and you have something yummy to read about. Win, win.

Much to my husband's annoyance, I insist on making a home made food gift for a select few friends and neighbors each holiday season. He, being of the "Why Bother?" school of thought thinks this just causes unnecessary stress and effort. I, being of the "If Anything is Worth Doing It's Worth Doing To Excess" school of thought, ignore him. But this year, with sanity, time and money all being at a premium, I had to rethink the process. God forbid I would skip the gifts altogether. This was not an option. However, I needed something that was easy to make and relatively inexpensive, since I had a lot of people I planned to give to.

It's no secret that I have an enigmatic relationship with my crockpot. Although I hear raves about it, I've yet to produce anything in mine that doesn't come out tasting and looking like, well, slop. Not ready to give up yet, I was browsing yet another slow cooker cookbookin hopes of finding something that didn't involve a can of cream-of-sodium soup. Towards the back of the book, I happened upon a recipe for apple butter. Hmmmm...interesting. My husband and I had always loved it when we lived in Washington and hadn't had any for a long time. It sounded good, easy, and inexpensive. After consulting the brain trust (who, by the way, devotes many posts to gifts-in-a-jar) and finding a cute little apple spreader from Crate & Barrel to go with the goods, I decided to give it a try.

The basic recipe is to chop granny smith apples and stick them in a crock pot with sugar. Let the apples sit all day until they release a lot of their juice and collapse slightly, then add some spices and cook overnight. The next day, take off the lid and cook some more to thicken. Puree with an immersion blender (OMG I LOVE MINE) and that's it.

I made my first batch for Thanksgiving, planning to take a jar to my cousin's as a hostess gift. The good thing about this recipe is that it lasts up to two months in the refrigerator, making it a perfect for those who like to do things ahead of time. So I knew I could test run a jar at Thanksgiving and be able to use the leftovers at Hannukah. Of course, the presentation was also important. Julia and I stamped some plain brown gift bags with leaf stamps from Close To My Heart, then used the same stamps on grocery bags to make a topper for the jar. I used the stamps again to make a gift tag. I attached the spreader with some ribbon to match and voila! By this time I was so overwhelmed with the cuteness of the stamped stuff and the whole home made-ness of the whole thing that it wouldn't have mattered if the stuff tasted awful.

Fortunately, it didn't. I never heard from my cousin the unknowing guinea pig, but the rest of us who tasted the apple butter all loved it. I immediately began massive apple butter production and spent a lot of time chopping, stirring, and pureeing. The rest of the time I spent talking about apple butter. Conversation is pretty lively around these parts.

I realized that one batch only gave me a little more than two jars of apple butter. So I stuffed my crock pot with even more apples the next time to make the minimal effort worth it. It totally worked. I also unwittingly messed up the second batch by forgetting to add the spices before I turned the crock pot on and let the stuff cook overnight. So I added them the next morning, along with some water because the stuff looked a little thick and guess what? It was even better!! By not letting the spices cook and get concentrated as long, their flavors remained a little more bright and distinguishable while allowing the fresh flavor of the apples to burst through.

As I moved into full production mode, I loved the smell of it simmering and I loved having a refrigerator shelf filled with jars of the dark, rich, apply goodness waiting to be gifted to friends and family. Starting with Hannukah (it was early this year, remember?) I must have given 10-11 jars out. It made a lovely thank you gift for a friend who helped us play Santa and when we accepted a New Year's Eve invitation at 4 p.m. on New Year's Eve, it was a no-brainer grab and go hostess gift. The only thing that had to be changed was the ribbon and the stamp I used to decorate the jar, bag and tag.

With all this apple butter flowing, you may be wondering just what it's good for. The obvious choice is on toast or bagels with butter or cream cheese (or all by itself), although we think it tastes awesome with peanut butter. Julia now takes peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches to school for lunch. At Hannukah it was a more sophisticated topping for latkes and it was delicious. I also like it on simple grilled or roasted chicken. Lately, I've been putting it on the muffins Ethan and I have been baking together.

Things I love about this recipe:

Not too sweet but plenty of flavor
Can definitely stand in for fatty spreads and actually started out as fruit
Tastes great!
Easy to make and to make ahead
Makes a generous amount
Stores for a while in the fridge or freezer
A monkey could make it
Everyone seems to love it

I'm sure I'll be making more for my own family as we're down to our last jar. But the best compliment I got was from a friend whose son has severe food allergies. Not only was he able to enjoy the apple butter on his rice cake with no problems, but her daughter apparently said it was the "best sauce" she's ever had.

If you'd like to make the original recipe, consult the cookbook. Here's my adaptation:

5+ lbs. of Granny Smith apples, washed, cored and cut into large pieces
(I overstuffed my crock pot and couldn't get the lid on, but as the released their juices and collapsed it was no problem)
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
pinch of salt
big splash of vanilla extract (I use the good stuff from Trader Joe's and splash quite enthusiastically)

Layer the apples and sugar in your crock pot. Place lid on (it may not close all the way, this is OK) and let sit all day without turning on the crock pot. By the end of the day you will have a ton of apple juice in your crock pot and the apples will have collapsed to the point that the lid will close. Turn crock pot on LOW and cook overnight. In the morning, toss the apples with the spices and vanilla. At this point I like to add a cup or so of water. Eyeball it and add as much or as little as you like. Continue to cook for several hours until you reach your preferred thickness, removing the lid if it's too thin. Cool in crock and use immersion blender (or regular blender or food processor) to puree. Store in refrigerator for 2 months or freeze for up to 3.

I'd love to hear from you if you try this recipe. Let me know how you like it and how you use your yummy apple butter.

Crap, tagged again...

2008-01-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

As a rule, I'm not a fan of tags. But I'm a lazy blogger and I can't ignore my sweet little Meghan, so here goes:

MOUTHOLOGY
Q: What is your salad dressing of choice?
A: Poppy seed
Q: What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A: Ew
Q: What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A: The Cheesecake Factory
Q: On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A: 20%
Q: What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A: Potatoes
Q: What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A: Pepperoni
Q: What do you like to put on your toast?
A: Butter, or peanut butter and my home made apple butter.

TECHNOLOGY
Q: What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A: The tropical island in the middle of the ocean.
Q: How many televisions are in your house?
A: Three

BIOLOGY
Q: Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A: Right
Q: Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A: 3 babies, one who didn't make it, and a pyogenic granuloma.
Q: When was the last time you had a cavity?
A: I refuse to answer on the grounds that I will not jinx this.
Q: What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A: Ethan.
Q: Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A: Other than by the smell of Brady's diapers, no, but I've fainted a couple of times.

BULL[CRAP]OLOGY
Q: If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A: No, but a general range would help me obsess even more.
Q: If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A: OK Mommy.
Q: What color do you think looks best on you?
A: Pink or red.
Q: Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A: Probably but I'd rather not think about it.
Q: Have you ever saved someones life?
A: You mean not counting the three I carried around in my body and gave birth to?
Q: Has someone ever saved yours?
A: No

DAREOLOGY
Q: Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A: Quick kiss on the lips...sure
Q: Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A: No
Q: Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A: Where's my check?
Q: Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A: No. And anyone who'd pay to see me naked would be one sick puppy.
Q: Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1,000?
A. How hot?
Q: Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A: Do I get to pick which human?

DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: Lint.
Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: There are worse.
Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: Hardwood downstairs, carpet upstairs. Thanks, flood.
Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: stand
Q: Would you live with roommates?
A: Only if his name was George Clooney.
Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: Several. But I wouldn't mind some new ones.
Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: When the helicopter was circling overhead as my crazy-as-a-fucking-loon neighbor was taking a leak in my bathroom and hiding from her husband. Still wondering why I couldn't wait to move?

LASTOLOGY
Q: Last Friend you talked to?
A: Julie
Q: Last person who called you?
A: Kim
Q: Last person you hugged?
A: Julia
Q: Last person to stick their foot in your face?
A: Brady

CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A: Yes
Q: Mood?
A: Sleepy and annoyed at today's UCLA basketball game.
Q: Listening to?
A: Steve Tyrell.
Q: Watching?
A: Nothing
Q: Worrying about?
A: Nothing much. It's a miracle.

RANDOMOLOGY
Q: First place you went this morning?
A: To my mom's to drop off the kids.
Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: Go to bed
Q: What's the last movie you saw in theater?
A: Can't remember. Pathetic.
Q: Do you smile often?
A: Absolutely
Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: Yes

And now, I must spread the love by tagging:

Nik
Beth
Kim
Jodi

Have fun ladies!

What I Learned Spending A Day in Santa Barbara

2008-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

On the second to last day of 2007, we took a little excursion to Santa Barbara along with my parents and my sister. After a lovely lunch we headed to the zoo. The day was not only fun but also educational. Being the giver that I am, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I learned:

Santa Barbara is too close and too cute for us not to go more often;
When I grow up, I'd love a little cottage near the beach there for weekends away from the hustle and bustle of the suburbs;
Just when I think I have the three most hellacious kids in the world and question my own sanity by taking them to a restaurant where innocent people are trying to enjoy a meal, they can completely surprise me by acting like human beings;
My family and I are just not animal people.
Some giraffes seem quite enthralled by drinking the urine of other giraffes;
Being 2 feet away from a lion is creepy regardless of the 6 inch thick glass separating us;
Regardless of the fact that the Santa Barbara Zoo is cute and small and perfect for an outing with kids, it still smells like animal poop;
Those animals there are residing on some prime ocean side real estate;
The crappy gift shop at the little zoo train has quite a selection of train-themed (even Thomas!) items.
It's never too early to start shopping for Brady's birthday;
Just because you can legally fit 8 people in an SUV doesn't make it the best idea;
Souplantation has a great concept but they can sure work out the logistics better;
There is no day that can't be improved by a train ride (if you're 4) or a trip to Starbucks (if you're me);
There is nothing cuter than grandparents interacting with their grandchildren;
Time spent enjoying family is always time well-spent, even when you have to miss a football game.

You Know You're Old When.... (Part 2)

2008-01-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

you mention to the cute little 9th grader who's babysitting your kids that you went to the same high school she currently attends and she says, "Yeah, there are a lot of grown-ups around here who went there." Oy.

Happy New Year.

You Know You're Old When...

2007-12-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

you (or your husband, in this case) breaks out the TV Frogger game he got for Christmas and has to repeatedly tell the kids that this is Frogger, for God's sake, and NOT Zacky's Quest.

For those of you who are still here, I apologize for being such a lame Blogger in December. It gets busy, you know? I hope you all had a happy and festive holiday and that you got exactly what you wanted out of the season. To make up for my pitiful neglect, I'm contemplating posting a few of my December posts in January. It may extend the festivity of the season and who really likes January anyway? Besides, it's so true to form for me to be a day late and a dollar short. Why mess with tradition?

Hannukah Readings

2007-12-05T22:25:00.002-08:00

Happy Hannukah to all of you who celebrate it. So far ours has been good, with gelt, gifts and latkes, of course. More of all of those to come in the next few days, along with yummy donuts too.

Yesterday, I was asked to go to Ethan's preschool class to talk about the holiday to his class. I loved it! I read a book, showed them our Menorah and left them a bag of chocolate coins for snack time. They couldn't have been cuter. The best part is that at dinner, Ethan said he was thankful that his Mommy went to his class. It doesn't get any better than that!

Over the last few years, we've accumulated a nice collection of children's Hannukah books (anything to try to balance out that giant tree!). Reading a holiday book each night in December has become one of our family traditions. As I was thinking about the book I read to the preschoolers, I thought I'd share my favorites here in case any of you still need a few ideas for the kids on your Hannukah gift list. By the way, these would also make a great addition to classroom libraries. Unfortunately, most classes are woefully lacking in Hannukah materials. Be a mensch and help them out!

A Blue's Clues Chanukah:This is the book I read to Ethan's class. Despite it being written for preschoolers, it's quite comprehensive. It doesn't discuss the war and victory which led to the holiday, but it covers all of the rituals and traditions of Hannukah. Blue and his pals are invited to a Hannukah party at Orange Kitten's house. Since none of them have ever been to one, Orange Kitten explains everything that is going on. From Menorahs and latkes to the dreidel game, it's all covered. There are even a couple of simple songs at the end.

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: This newest addition to our collection is by Lemony Snicket. So already you know it's going to be a little on the strange side. It's about a screaming latke who escapes the pan of hot oil and runs into different symbols of Christmas. Each time he has to explain why he has nothing to do with Christmas. The subtitle of this book: A Christmas Story, might lead you to think that it is about celebrating the two holidays in peace and harmony side by side. That is not the case. It's more about the fact that Hannukah seems to get swallowed up by Christmas and that so few people understand what the holiday is really about. It's a great depiction of what it feels like to be the only person celebrating Hanukah in a world covered with Christmas lights. Plus it's funny!

It's A Miracle: I love this book and have purchased several copies as gifts. Luckily, it's available in paperback this year. It is about six and half year old Owen, who this year has become his family's O.C.L. - Official Candle Lighter. Each night of Hanukah, Owen's grandmother tucks him in and tells him a different story. From Palominos to aliens, her stories are quite diverse. As it turns out, the stories tie Owen more closely to his own family. But the book also includes positive references to celebrating Christmas and acknowledges that in our country, celebrating Hanukah goes hand-in-hand with that other December holiday. What I love is the theme of family that runs throughout the book. Owen celebrates the holiday not just with his parents, but also grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles. The illustrations in this book are also great. Kids are going to love Owen and his grandma.

Light T he Lights: We've had this book for a couple of years and my kids really enjoy it every year. It's about a little girl, Emma, whose family celebrates both Christmas and Hannukah (sound familiar?). It deals with the holidays respectfully and sweetly, and focuses on the commonality of Hannukah candles and Christmas lights. Emma's family honors both traditions and the result is a sweet but not preachy little book with pretty illustrations.

Thank you Aviruthia for the lovely Menorah picture.

Fun and Games with Ethan

2007-12-03T16:13:00.001-08:00

Once again, we happen upon the adventures of young Ethan, who, although thankfully (seriously, I thank the Potty Gods daily) is now toilet trained, still needs an adult to wipe him. The other day he was upstairs in need of a hand so he yelled down at the top of his lungs (of course while his brother was napping) for me to go help.

I headed into the bathroom, noticed a Patrick toy and toothbrush from the sink and placed them on the counter (moms really do pick things up everywhere they go) and got down to business. After discussing the shapes of today's particular creations, I was washing my hands when the following conversation ensued:

E: Mom, you need to wash Patrick.

T: Why?

E: Because he fell in the toilet while I was pooping.

T: So you decided to throw him in the sink on top of your toothbrush?
E: What color is the toothbrush?

T: Blue.

E: That's not my toothbrush. That's Julia's.

And yes, he does accessorize his outfits himself.

What I Learned Over Thanksgiving Weekend

2007-11-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days, I re-discovered that Thanksgiving weekend is my favorite time of the year. It starts with the planning and the lists. Actually, it starts with the elder members of my family, otherwise known as The Sisterhood, fighting over who gets to host. Then we decide who brings what, when do you start cooking, etc. The gringo husbands have to put in their requests for real Thanksgiving food while lodging their protests against rice in all forms. There are many logistical details to cover.

This year, my happy day was the Wednesday before the big day. My mom came over for a while to help cook, my cousin from the East coast was in town and hung out for a while, and it was just a great day to be home, cooking and looking forward to the next day.

The whole weekend turned out to be pretty great. We spent the day at my cousin Sissy's, something we hadn't done for years. Thanksgiving itself was lovely, and so was the extra long weekend. As much as I love the relaxing and the shopping and the cooking and the eating and just the festive vibe of being together eating and drinking and enjoying loved ones, I managed to pick up some lessons here and there. In the seasonal spirit of giving, I hereby share them with you:

It's nice to break tradition and spend the holiday with a different group of family members. The more the merrier, right?
The thought of celebrating Thanksgiving with among others, 7 children age 7 and under, is less desirable than a root canal to many people.
It's not Thanksgiving without corn with butter, according to 4 year old Ethan. Apparently, it's also not Thanksgiving without 2 kinds of rice, salmon, and guacamole.
Turkey breasts have been engineered to be so big that turkeys can no longer reproduce naturally and need to be, ahem, assisted. So, no turkey sex. Strangely, this doesn't bother me as much as it probably should.
Peeling sweet potatoes is much easier for 7 year old hands than 6 year old hands.
Apple butter doesn't contain butter. Actually, I already knew this. What I didn't know that it is fairly easy to make and makes a nice gift. More to come on this.
Caterer turkey that is cooked in the same bag it is stored and transported in ends up kind of stewy and not great. Everyone should learn to make turkey like my mom: breast down, with saffron. The end.
There is nothing better than a 4 day weekend.
I can survive my daughter being out of school all of Thanksgiving week. Barely.
Black Friday is much, much more enjoyable when you spend those early hours asleep in your bed.
My good friend from 4th grade, whom I hadn't talked to in 25 or so years, is doing well and living in the Bay area. She's lived all over the world, is writing a novel, and has had some really interesting jobs, including a stint as a dominatrix.
My cousin is an, ahem, naturalist. I didn't peg her for this one.
My life seems to be quite boring in comparison.
You can have pumpkin pie and pumpkin pecan pie and all kinds of other desserts at the Thanksgiving table and still think you'd really like some pumpkin cheesecake.
Hannukah is way too early this year.
It turns out that I'm more of a "Board Game Night" person than a "let's see how many chemicals we can ingest" partier.
I've never been more thankful for my home, family, good health and all the loved ones who enrich my life every day. Bring on the holiday season!

The Writers' Strike

2007-11-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

I've just realized that all the media coverage of the current TV and movie writers' strike was incomplete without my commentary. How irresponsible of me.

Those of you who regularly listen to me rant may be surprised to know that I'm supporting the writers. As a rule I hate unions and find them only marginally necessary, if that, and only in very few specific cases. This happens to be one of those cases.

Some might find it hard to sympathize with well-paid writers. I happen to know, though, that their jobs, while rewarding, can also be discouraging, frustrating and downright infuriating. They must be creative and brilliant under the confines of crazy deadlines, often having to juggle conflicting demands from their show runner, studio, network and rabid fans. They work crazy long hours with few guarantees of consistent work. And their work makes the studios very, very rich.

Here's the take of someone more eloquent and better-informed than I. Plus, he has graphs!

I'd like to see the strike end and everyone go back to work. It's true that I hate unions, but I hate greed and inequity just as much.

We Could All Take A Lesson

2007-11-06T20:46:00.001-08:00

Because Ethan is so outgoing, easygoing, exuberant, and always just so happy, he seems to belong in a completely different family. Ray and I can both relate to Julia and her hesitance in social situations, her moodiness, all that drama. Ethan, though, is a totally different story. For example, if I try to punish him by taking away a favorite toy, he'll inform me that it's OK because he's not all that interested in playing with that toy. I can never win with this kid.

This weekend, he simultaneously blew me away and cracked me up at Julia's soccer game. We ran into some friends whose daughter also plays and whose son is Ethan's age. As guilty as it makes me feel, I just don't like the son all that much. He's too rowdy, is never told no, and just doesn't act like he's that bright or has that much of a personality. Maybe it's not fair to compare him to Mr. Personality, but maybe he shouldn't come over and mow down Brady or spill pizza and watermelon on my brand new rug.

So Ethan and his friend, Jake, come over to say hi to this kid and without saying Hello or anything else he says:

"Hey Ethan, guess what. I can do math and read."

Ethan, who can read the word "cookies" and knows what 5 plus 5 equals, looks at him and says, "Guess what. I have a new friend and his name is Jake." He and Jake walk off leaving the other boy wondering what the hell just happened and leaving me about to pee in my pants.

I love this kid.

If The Broomstick Fits...

2007-10-31T09:55:00.001-07:00

Ride it!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!

Hooray For Halloween!

2007-10-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's almost Halloween. When our big flood nightmare started, we hoped we'd be done with all the repairs by Halloween. And you know what? We just about are. There a few minor things that still need to be done, but they are cosmetic and not at all urgent. So it's meant a lot to me to be able to get a few decorations put up and actually get excited about the holiday. On Sunday, I took advantage of having my kitchen back by making Halloween pancakes. I used the molds from Williams-Sonoma, but Amazon.com has a variety of shapes.

I am not a pancake pro, and there was a definite learning curve to this process. I learned very quickly not to overfill the molds and that there's no such thing as too much vegetable oil spray. It also helps to have your pan and the molds pretty well heated before starting. After rejecting my first few attempts, I added a little more milk to the batter and achieved much better results. As usual, I ended up with more than I needed, which I love. They went right into the freezer for a little Halloween fun in a couple of weeks.

I'd love to say that my kids were amazed and impressed with my festivity, not to mention my mad culinary skills. At best, they were slightly amused. Except for the little one who wouldn't even taste a bite. My husband said some nice things, but I know he thinks I'm nuts for doing stuff like this. Fortunately, he keeps those comments to himself...at least half the time.

As for me, the greatest thrill was not the actual pancakes. I mean, after all, they're pancakes. It was having a kitchen to cook in and to be able to walk around without fear of stepping on nails or worse. Floors and counters will never again be taken for granted by me. And more than that, it was the fact that I'm once again taking interest and pleasure in the silly little things that bring a smile to one's face. This is huge progress for me and again, something that I'm definitely not taking for granted.

P.S. The last guy kind of looks like a burn victim, but I think that just makes

him look more authentic.

Leaving Lost Vegas

2007-10-22T16:53:00.000-07:00

You know when you're in Las Vegas or some other adults-only destination, and you see a family loaded down with a bunch of little kids and strollers and diaper bags and all that goes with them? And you think to yourself (or in my case, sneer out loud), "What kind of complete idiot would bring small children to Las Vegas?" Well, as it turns out, I would be just the kind.

And you know how Las Vegas is now supposed to be hip and trendy and cool and high-end and even, dare I say, classy? Well, apparently the Imperial Palace was stuck in 1981 and never received that particular memo.

Combine these two facts and imagine the fun my family and I had in Las Vegas this past weekend. We were there to join my mother-in-law's family as they celebrated her dad's 90th birthday. Most of the gang was there from the East coast, and as we had missed the official celebration in August (being that we have all these kids and live on the West coast and Poppy lives an hour plus away from the nearest po-dunk airport and 3 from JFK or La Guardia), we agreed to drive out and meet everyone there.

We knew that the trip would be challenging and we were alarmed that the family had been led by an imbecilic travel agent - probably the only one in America who's never actually been to Las Vegas - to stay at the Imperial Palace. Still, we were glad that Julia was getting over the sore throat and fever she'd had all week and we were hoping to make the best of the trip. So, armed with snacks, drinks, books, DVDs, crayons and more than a few prayers, we set off on the 6 hour trip. Miraculously, we got on the road early, the kids did great on the drive, and we got to the city in great time.

We got our first taste of things to come when we hit Friday afternoon rush hour traffic just as Ethan announced that he needed a bathroom. We had no choice but to pull over to the side of the off-ramp and let him moon the entire city while cars inched by. Classy.

The kids ooh'ed and ahh'ed as we drove past the giant hotels and beautiful facades. And then we reached our hotel.

The Imperial Palace is neither imperial nor palatial. It is a shithole.

To ramble on and on about just how bad the IP sucks would result in much too long of a post. The decor, the smell, the service...it's just all bad. We shared a swanky 2-bedroom penthouse suite with Ray's mom and his aunt. The mini-fridge smelled so gross that my kids refused to drink the milk I had stored in it, complaining that it tasted like cabbage. They've never even tasted cabbage. The toilet seat was worn away in so many places that I think Frank Sinatra himself probably used it at some point. I shudder to think what a regular room is like.

When Julia was 4 months old, we traveled to Florida to visit Ray's elderly grandfather (the other Poppy). We drove in from Atlanta and had to spend the night in Alachua in the grossest, creepiest motel I've ever been to. There were blood stains on the towels and I refused to step into the nasty shower. It seriously grossed me out to take my perfect sweet baby girl and stay in that filthy room. The Imperial Palace is the Alachua of Las Vegas. Other guests joked that the initials IP really should stand for ImPlode.

Mercifully, we finally got out of there for a while the afternoon after we got in, but not before having two meals at their nasty coffee shop, the Tea House (which came to be known by us as the Pee House). We headed to Circus Circus and the kids had a great time. It was like Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. It actually brought back happy memories of my own trips to Las Vegas as a child, begging to go to Circus Circus and playing the camel race with my cousins. A more recent addition to Circus Circus is the Adventuredome, a smoke-free mini-theme park with rides, junk food, and more games. This was a great way to spend our day.

From there we headed to Paris and tried to survive another meal while Bunch screamed. I have to say, he was fairly cooperative on the trip as a whole. Between his new obsession with Legos ("eggos") and the few words he now uses to communicate, the screaming has decreased. However, going from car seat to stroller to high chair back to the stroller is not his idea of a good time and even he's got his limits. The big kids got new Webkinz from a store there, which helped to allay their disappointment that we couldn't go up the Eiffel Tower due to the high winds. In fact, the fountains and volcano were also turned off because of the weather.

The highlight of the trip for me was jumping out of the car at the Bellagio to show my two older kids the stunning Chihuly installation in the lobby. A while back, they had seen some photos of Dale Chihuly's work on the internet and had showed some interest. I've been a fan of his work since we got exposed to it while living in Seattle. I couldn't resist the opportunity to show them the actual work when it was so readily accessible. I figured they should know that Las Vegas isn't just about worn vinyl and giant belt buckles. Ethan wasn't that impressed but Julia was very interested. We also went to the conservatory which never fails to stun me with its beautiful seasonal decorations. This time it was an autumn theme and was absolutely gorgeous. Even Ethan enjoyed the "waterfall" of apples. The only bad part about our little 15-minute excursion was that it underscored just how crappy our own hotel was when we returned to it.

I could go on and on, but why? Everyone knows that when you travel with a lot of people, decisions made by the group are not always best for certain individuals. This is magnified when one member of your group is a spry 90-year old birthday boy who still needs to get a nap in now and then. Going on this trip was the right thing to do, and it was lovely to see Poppy and his "girlfriend," whom I'd never met. She is a sweetheart and couldn't have been nicer to me and the kids. Everyone else did their best and we even got to leave the kids with Grandma and go play a little blackjack at night. Our itinerary and accommodations did nothing but make me long to go back to "Lost" Vegas, as Ethan calls it, this time in a nicer hotel, with better entertainment, different traveling companions and no kids. Like I said, what kind of idiot would take kids to Las Vegas anyway?

P.S. Thanks to everyone who's been concerned about our safety during the fire season. Although we drove through some fire areas on our way back from Vegas, our town is not affected. Our hearts are with the firefighters and those who are in the fires' path.

Thank you dpdixon for the photo of the Strip and ladnlins for the gorgeous picture of the Bellagio lobby.

Blog Action Day

2007-10-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't heard, today is Blog Action Day, a day for blogs all over the net to post about the environment in a way that pertains to their particular readers. So far, over 15,000 blogs with a readership of over 12 million are on board.

Whether you agree or not that are planet is in an environmental crisis, there's no question that we can all do small things in our lives that will add up to a big difference. For example, with curbside recycling in most communities, it takes little effort to separate your trash. Other things, however, do take some effort. And with all of us leading super-busy lives, it's much easier to pick convenience over the environment. I feel guilty about this every night as I pack my kids' school lunches with plastic bags, individually packaged snacks and juice boxes.

So, I'd like to make this post an interactive one in two ways. First, if you have a blog, I encourage you to register and create your own Blog Action Day post. Second, leave a comment about real-world things you do in your own life to reduce your and your family's impact on the environment. Maybe we can all pick up a few tips to improve our efforts in a small way. One of mine is to reuse my scrapbooking scraps in any way possible. What's good for the planet is also good for my wallet!

Our small efforts will add up to a big result. And then we'll hold hands and sing Kumbaya. And isn't that what this is all about?

4 Good Things

2007-10-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

At the risk of sounding like Martha, here are 4 things that have made life a little bit better, easier, and/or happier around these parts lately:

My new Halloween spatula, purchased today and waiting to go into my clean DONE kitchen tomorrow.

Ice peas: what Ethan calls frozen peas, right out of the bag. My two older kids love them and I love a no-cook vegetable they'll actually eat. Tonight Ethan had 3 helpings (i.e. shakes of the bag into his plate). This is my kind of veggie. Here is my top secret recipe:

Remove bag of frozen peas from freezer. Dump on plate.

Gross? Sure (although I can usually stomach a few myself). Nutritious, absolutely!

The gum ball jar. I brazenly stole this idea from Julia's brilliant teacher. She has a picture of a gum ball machine taped to the board and when the kids behave well, she sticks some colorful circle stickers on it. When the gum ball machine is "full," they get a pizza party. Well, we're planning on going to Disneyland in the next month or so. We decided to tie the trip to our own gum ball jar. The idea has worked wonders. I've caught Ethan being nicer to his brother, both kids are being more helpful and Julia, in particular, is being more responsible. Woo hoo! This is a no-brainer of an idea.

The secret dot. After about the 14 millionth time of having Ethan ask if his shoes were on the right feet, I remembered an idea I read in a magazine once. With a permanent marker, I put a dot on the inside of each shoe and told him the dots need to kiss. Easy peasie lemon squeezie! This is one thing out of 11 million I no longer have to do every day and Ethan feels so smart and empowered.

Power to the Mommies!

Cheerios, Spongebob, and God

2007-10-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Almost a year ago, a Jewish family from Atlanta moved next door to us. Their kids were the same age and gender as our older two, and they loved hanging out in the cul de sac. The mom and I soon became good friends and chatted about everything from husbands to politics to religion and then some. I loved having a new friend right next door and I hoped I helped her feel a little less lonely after making a cross country move she didn't want to make. Sadly, we're no longer neighbors but we do remain friends.

One of the things we have in common is our religion. And although she's much more observant than I am (and feels way too guilty about way too much stuff), it's always nice not to have to explain things like holidays and traditions like to other folks. She just knows. She joined a temple within a week of moving here (9 years after moving, we have yet to do the same) and always invited me to accompany her to services and other events. We'd been to a couple of holiday things but never to services. Maybe it was residual Yom Kippur guilt, or the fact that Ray was going to be home late from work (again), but I decided to drag my kids to the Family Service with her and her kids a couple of Friday nights ago. I will not repeat this mistake again for a long, long time.

We get there and meet up with my friend and our other neighbor and her daughter and after chasing Brady around the grounds a bit, we file into the sanctuary where the boys grab their kippot and the older kids promptly march to the front row. It was interesting watching Ethan, who hasn't been inside a temple for a couple of years (for reasons which became very apparent in a few short moments). He had no idea what was going on but followed his friend, with Julia keeping an eye on him. We moms and Brady finally got seated a couple of rows behind the big kids and then the screaming started. That's right. Brady's current method of communication is to scream as loudly and ear-piercingly as possible. When he's feeling particularly verbal, he'll scream "Neh" to express his displeasure at the current situation. Otherwise, he'll just scream.

I scramble through my bag, grab a half-empty container of Cheerios, and get Bunch settled on my lap. For a few moments of bliss, he munched happily while I linked arms with my friends and sang some of the Friday night prayers. Pretty much at the same time as the Cheerios ran out, a tearful Ethan came back to my seat to inform me that "this place is dumb" and he was ready to go home. Crap.

From my diaper bag I pull out some giant Lego blocks for Bunch, a sheet of epoxy Spongebob stickers for Ethan and peace was temporarily restored again. As Ethan covered my arm with 20 or so different Spongebob faces then moved them one by one to my leg (who needs to go get waxed?), and Brady played with his Legos I once again got to enjoy the feeling of being in a temple on a Friday night for the first time in way too many years. The kids were actually quiet for 13 seconds until Ethan started going through my bag and found his toy hammer. Crap. First, he started banging on the epoxy Spongebob heads. Then he moved on to the chairs themselves. Then he continued with the potted plant next to our row of seats. By this time his friends in the front row had to come check out what all the noise and fun was about. And that's when Brady decided he wanted to play with the big kids too. Mind you, the service is going on this entire time.

The other kids were quickly shooed back to their seats by their mothers while Ethan, under threats on his very life, came back to his own seat where he sat on the floor and hammered the chair cushion. Brady, however, was completely done at this point and voiced his displeasure as loudly as possible, compelling the rabbi to remark on the strength of his lungs. And then my cell phone rang.

Mercifully, the service eventually ended and we headed over to the Sukkah to say the blessings over the wine and bread. My kids actually enjoyed that part, because it involved food. Just before we left to get our traditional Shabbat dinner of Wendy's drive-through, my friends actually had the audacity to ask when I was coming back.

It's interesting, attending services at 2 different temples within a week. You get a great urge to compare and contrast. Let's just say that this small, suburban congregation, with its almost makeshift bubble-like sanctuary and its rabbi and cantor combo who seem like they're auditioning for the next season of Last Comic Standing, falls short in a lot of ways to Valley Beth Shalom with its amazing rabbis, 1000+ member families and lovely facilities. But there was love, and caring, and friendship, and community here. There were smiles for my screaming baby and songs that captivated my daughter. And for me, there was the feeling that I was doing the right thing as a mom, even though it was hard, and stressful, and embarrassing. This feeling is hard to come by. I still don't plan on returning soon but I'm definitely glad I went.

Well, Hello

2007-09-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I don't know what I've done the last couple of weeks but let me assure you, it's been vitally important. Right. For the interest of my blog readers, one of whom I happened to meet the other day (Everyone say "Hi Dave!"), I will try to jump-start my feeble, medicated mind and update you on my oh-so-exciting life:

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur happened. Rosh Hashanah was fun, except for the stress and the staying up late and the hyper kids and the cranky relatives and the heat. But there were beans (black-eyed peas if you're being persnickety) and tongue (how has Tannaz not blogged about this?) and the little cousins were so cute together. Yom Kippur was also nice. Julia attended her first Kol Nidre, in the rain no less. Both of these facts completely traumatized her but she conceded later that it wasn't as bad as she expected. Last year, when I was lucid, I wrote a Yom Kippur post that sums it up well. Go back and read if you care. I've learned that when you attend services once or twice a year, that you tend to get a little more out of them. It's either that or the rabbis at Valley Beth Shalo m are truly phenomenal. Or, as my husband says, they have the direct line to God. Any of those are possible.
Things are going well at school. Ethan is so "inciting" when he gets to go and Julia loves it. I could not be happier. Well, I could if preschool weren't so expensive, but then it wouldn't be so good. At least, that's what I tell myself.
My mind seems to be percolating along in its new chemically enhanced state. Some minor adjustments may be necessary, but there has been a huge improvement. I might even graduate from therapy soon, which only means that either my therapist is not very perceptive or that I put on a pretty good well-adjusted act.
Progress is afoot on the home front. We have floors!!! And new counters!!!! And the island is no longer in the back yard, though the toilet is. Baby steps, people. Today I went to the bowels of the San Fernando Valley yet again, this time to shop for tile. Tomorrow I get to do the same thing locally. I can't wait to be done! Plus, how much do I love saying "afoot?"
We are in the middle of annoying Southern California fall weather, which I hate. We have cold mornings and hot afternoons, which means that at some point during each day, my kids will look like the person who dressed them is a complete moron. While this may be true, I don't appreciate the daily opportunity to advertise it. Pretty soon I'm going to have to knuckle down and drag Ethan to the mall to buy some sneakers. I will pay $20 to whomever would like to accomplish this for me. I'm tempted to start shopping online. Hmmm....
My sweet friend Lissa is closing down The Untamed Scrapper. My heart breaks over this because I know how much of her time, energy, money and soul she has put into it, but I also know that it's the best thing for her family and that is what's important. I know she'll be up to something else in no time and I can't wait to see what it is.
My baby sister turned 30 and we had a fun celebration with all her friends. This is turning into an annual event! Her friends are lovely and now I can make fun of her for being old like me. Totally a win-win.

Lucky 7

2007-09-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is my second grader (!!!!) on the first day of school. She's wearing the shirt that she picked out herself, even though I liked the other choice better. She accessorized the outfit herself and I love that along with the big girl clothes is a Princess Jasmine necklace that tells me there's still a little girl wearing them. For the first time since she started elementary school, I am really excited about her teachers and so is she. I'm already seeing a big difference from last year, her class is filled with friends and I'm really optimistic that this will be a great year.

This is my soccer player at her first game. After our Parks and Rec experience last summer, I didn't think she'd want to play "real" soccer this year. Still, I encouraged her and it was her choice and she absolutely loves it. I couldn't be more surprised. As this is her first year playing - she's the only rookie on her team - everything is still new and fun. She works really hard (most of the time) and has a great time. The coaches are so positive and she loves her "highlighter green" uniform. Although her brother said today, "I wish there was no such thing as soccer practice," I think this will be a great experience for her.

The cutest part? She wanted to be #7 and she got it. Why? She says it's because she's 7 years old, of course. I say it's going to be a fantastic year.

The Before Pictures

2007-09-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

I think I've hesitated to post these pictures before now because they were just too devastating to face. Even though we've been living in this construction zone daily, the photos just make it hit home and bring back the whole ordeal of the night our pipe burst. Now that the repair work has started and we can see some progress, I thought I'd post some "before" photos to put the "after" pictures I'll post later into context.

The first picture is our office, under a layer of water, before the carpet was ripped out. The second is the kitchen, after they cut out a foot of drywall to prevent water from seeping up into the walls and causing mold to grow. I think the ripped up drywall has been the worst part of this, visually. It has felt like our home had giant gashes in it. Interestingly, Julia mentioned that she thought this was the most disgusting part of the mess. I see what she means. Fortunately, it was also the first thing to be repaired and we all felt better once we saw our house healing. We also have our new floors almost completed. I can't tell you how good it feels to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. Hopefully I'll have more pictures to come soon!

What I Learned While Not Having The Best Summer Ever

2007-08-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Well it definitely was NOT the best summer ever. It wasn't even close. I'm trying to think of a few days, or even parts of days that were really really good and am having a hard time coming up with more than just two or three. If someone had told me a few months ago what the summer held in store, I would have laughed (nervously) at the idea of so many things being piled on all at once. But, as Forrest Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get," and while I didn't know what I was gonna get, I did manage to pick up a few lessons from the summer vacation that officially ends tonight:

Knees are delicate objects and do not enjoy being pulled apart in strange directions. They heal slowly and can manage to screw up all kinds of other body parts while they do.
What may seem to be the most well constructed hose under a relatively new sink can burst suddenly with no provocation or warning and create the most unbelievable chaos in its wake.
Not all friendly contractors are your friend.
Celebrating your birthday at a restaurant with your three children, no matter how much you love them, does not make for a relaxing evening and
One table with three children can make significantly more noise than another with four, five, or more. Who the hell can count with that screeching in my ear?
My favorite relaxation DVD is immensely more effective if I turn on the DVD player and actually go through the routines.
No matter what, it's always a good day at the beach.
It doesn't matter how old you get, you still need your mom and dad.
Even the most stubborn four year old can be taught to swim.
Scrapbooking really is therapy. My therapist told me.
Not all home inspectors inspect for asbestos. It is a good idea to verify this before signing closing papers.
Going out to eat gets really old, really fast.
Certain four year old boys think nothing of dropping their pants and showing off their tushie at the public library, say, or at a nice-ish restaurant because their mother hasn't been humiliated enough yet.
Of all the cute things babies do, talking is the cutest.
I need to spend more time in my unconscious, whatever that means.
Soccer camp is fun! Especially when there are cute coaches with cute British accents! It's fun for the kids too.
Depression and anxiety are very real things with emotional and physical symptoms that can leave you reeling. Luckily, there is all sorts of help and relief out there when you start looking for it.
I am blessed to be surrounded by a network of friends, family and others who I've learned I can depend on for so much. While learning to accept others' help is difficult, it's a wonderful feeling to know that I have my own, strong, personal parachute that keeps me aloft and prevents me from falling too far.

It's A Wiggles World

2007-08-21T07:45:00.001-07:00

It all started when Julia was a toddler and the Disney channel would play short clips of 4 Australian guys singing cheery songs in between shows. Little did we know that the Wiggles were on the cusp of world domination.

We bought her a Wiggles CD and joyously all sang along and laughed as she mispronounced all the words. Eventually, the CD got stolen out of my car, she outgrew the music and we became a full-fledged Thomas family. That's right, by this time Ethan had joined our family and as much as he liked an occasional Elmo or Blue's Clues, he was, and still remains, a Thomas fan through and through. That is, until a couple of months before his 4th birthday (the one he almost didn't get to have because boys who still wear diapers have to stay 3) when he suddenly fell in love with Greg, Murray, Anthony and Jeff and declared that he wanted a Wiggles birthday party. The stars aligned, I found a bunch of Wiggles party stuff on clearance and the party was a success.

Of course by now Mr. Bunch had also joined our family and little did we know it but his little ears had been listening to all that Wiggles music all along. So much so that when he started saying Giggo Giggo and we all thought it was so cute, my MIL correctly deciphered it as actually his attempt to say Wiggles. All of a sudden our Tivo went into Wiggles overdrive. This kid whose attention span is shorter than a Lindsey Lohan stint in rehab (i.e. don't blink) will actually sit through a 25 minute episode of the Wiggles.

This was a really really good thing until we went from having three working televisions to one. As anyone knows, the youngest member of any family runs the household. So here we sit in our overheated master bedroom, watching episode after episode of Giggo Giggo. Though we have several episodes recorded, it's not uncommon to find us watching the same episode more than once a day. The little guy will not still sit for Sesame Street or, much to his older siblings' dismay, Wow Wow Wubzy or Spongebob Squarepants or anything else. Giggo it must be. And in the car, we get to watch and listen to Wiggles DVDs. This is what I mean by world domination.

Thankfully, I've always liked the Wiggles. Their songs are cheerful and catchy and they don't get on my nerves like they do several of my mommy friends'. I'd much rather listen to an endless loop of Hot Potato than one performance of insipid Barney, for example, singing I Love You, You Love Me. So our little Wiggles obsession could be much worse to tolerate than it is.

The funniest part of all this is that now Julia is a born-again Wiggles fan. She loves the shows, she likes the songs and she jumps out of her seat to dance along. She's even got the choreography down. She probably would prefer that her friends think she spends her days watching Hannah Montana, but the truth is much sweeter.

You might be tempted to post a comment about the perils of too much television for children. Don't bother. I have no floors; basically, no downstairs. If Giggo is going to get my kid to sit still while I feed him and save me from having macaroni and cheese smeared into my bedroom carpet, then bring it on. If three kids will sit down and be quiet and not ask me for one more thing for 25 minutes so I can figure out which fire to put out next, then thank the Lord. And if these Wiggles will distract my babies from the fact that their house is a disaster, their mom has lost her mind and their dad is a little broken, then it's a miracle indeed.

Beach Day

2007-08-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

As far as I'm concerned, it's not summer until I've been to the beach. From the time I was little, I remember family beach trips where my dad would bury me in the sand up to my neck. As a teenager, there were many spur-of-the-moment beach trips with my friend Susie. Just one phone call and we'd be on our way to pick up our favorite deli sandwiches (which we had to guard from the seagulls), put the top down on her convertible VW Bug and head down to Zuma. From Hawaii to the Virgin Islands, I've spent a lot of happy moments at the beach and love going back whenever I can.

Now, with a family of 5 and a husband who doesn't share my love affair with sunshine (to put it mildly), we don't go very often but still manage one or two trips every summer. Usually our favorite spot is Paradise Cove which is a little more secluded and has parking right there, a restaurant and a pier to explore. When we showed up yesterday, however, it felt like the rest of L.A. had gotten there first. Not only was the weather hot hot hot but the beach was crowded and the restaurant was a madhouse. As we sat there sweating and waiting endlessly for our lunch I started questioning the wisdom of leaving my quiet, sand-free backyard pool for the heat, sand and chaos of the beach. We must have looked like some pissed-off Orthodox family, sitting there with our clothes on, huddled in the shade of our umbrella.

After we ate, Julia wanted me to help her get some water for her sandcastle and that's when everything turned around. It was a case of "just add water" and all of a sudden the fun started and the day was perfect. The breeze at the edge of the water was cool and refreshing and it was so hot that the normally icy Pacific water felt positively pleasant. My kids, who until yesterday, steered clear of the cold water eventually made their way closer (after a couple of cold and traumatic waves hit them and hysteria had to be abated) and couldn't get enough. Poor Brady was a little confused for a while. There were a lot of new sensations for him to take in. But by the end of the day even he was having fun playing in the sand with his brother and sister.

I was finding it hard to imagine that a day at the beach could actually turn out bad and I was happy that my predictions were unfounded. My happy beach memories remain intact and we added a few new ones. It doesn't look like we'll be making it back this year. It's just too hard to coordinate with the little one and all our junk and needing an extra body there to help keep an eye on everyone. But I look forward to spending much more time at the beach as the kids get older. The ocean is such a wonderful part of living in California and I'm thrilled that my kids have taken to it and love it as much as I always have.

It's My Mommy's Birthday

2007-08-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

I can't count how many times I've posted about being in a tough spot and having my mom totally save me. Today, on her birthday, I'll do it again. It's impossible to imagine getting through the last few months without her. Even before our little water episode, she was here practically every day just to take the kids off my hands so I could sleep, rest, go to the doctor and figure out my messed up brain. She took the kids out, did my grocery shopping, fed everyone (which is her specialty), and was here whenever we asked. She's my go-to babysitter and almost never says no, even if it means dragging my 3 crazy kids along to one of her many social engagements.

So today, on her birthday, what will she be doing? She'll be cooking, of course. And then she'll be helping my sister get ready for her big charity bake sale this weekend. Those are some things that can never be far from my mom. She's an amazing cook, to a fault. Sometimes, it's OK to close the kitchen! And she's been donating and raising money for various charities for as long as I can remember. She gives blood regularly (the thought of which makes me a little squeamish) and is constantly hitting up friend and stranger alike for one of her current causes. That is to be admired.

Of course, I feel guilty that between my delicate emotional state and my disaster at home, I haven't been able to properly prepare for her birthday. Nevertheless, we'll be getting together for a family gathering this weekend and we'll have our celebration then. When the kids wake up this morning, there will be a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" and we'll go from there.

Happy Birthday Goobie. We love you!

Noah's Ark at the Skirball

2007-08-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

This week is Ray's long-planned vacation. We didn't think it was wise to spend the money to go out of town somewhere, so we had planned on staying home, eating out a lot, going to local attractions, spending time in the pool and going to the beach. We had not planned on having our floors ripped out and our furniture piled in a corner underneath drop cloths. Nevertheless, the flood gives us additional motivation to get out of the house so yesterday we took the kids to the new Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

The exhibit is comprised of a practically life-size ark and all the animals you could imagine. What makes it phenomenal for kids, however, is that the entire exhibit is interactive. There are buttons they can push to create the storm and the ensuing flood. They can load the animals on the ark, two by two, of course. There are puzzles, lights, stories and all kinds of things for them to play with and discover. The animals have been created out of everyday objects, like our friend the hedgehog, above. There is a zebra with a piano mane, tire crocodiles, and a polar bear whose body is an overflowing bathtub. And much, much more.

Everything has been designed with kids' exploration in mind and you never have to say "Don't touch!" On the contrary, they are encouraged to touch, and peek, and poke, and play, and climb. That's right, climb! There is a climbing room where kids (and parents....and grandparents) can go up rope ladders to explore the ark and make the elephant move his trunk and trumpet. While it took Ethan 3 tries to finally muster up the courage to go all the way up the ladder (having come back down after climbing halfway up the first two times) there were other kids who were able to get up but then were scared to come down. Luckily, the gallery security guard is a good sport and climbed up to get each of the little ones who would otherwise have been stuck up there indefinitely. When the kids have had their fill of climbing and searching, there is a rainbow room where they can relax and color their own set of animal cards. The down time is great after the excitement of the ark.

Reservations are recommended, but we got in without one after a long wait, which we spent having lunch. If you go, you might consider bringing your own snacks because the snack bar pickings are a little slim (decent salads and sandwiches but nothing other than PB&J for the kids) and the snack bar doesn't take credit cards.

My older kids both expressed their delight at the exhibit and have already asked to go back. Brady was just excited to be out of his stroller with so many new things to explore. I was thrilled to find out that this exhibition is now permanent. We will definitely return with our kids and I look forward to showing out of town guests one of the newest things L.A. has to offer.

Pity Party

2007-08-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Despite my best efforts to find silver linings and bright sides to my current predicament, there are some things that I'm having a hard time overlooking:

The sound of chisels, hammers, and even a jackhammer coming from downstairs, pretty much all day for the last two days. And we got an extra early start today.
Having spent more money than we ever imagined we could on a nice big home, only to be holed up in one hot hot hot sweaty bedroom...half the time in the dark.
The fact that all these fans and equipment running in the house are putting such a strain on our home's overloaded electrical equipment that I can hardly turn on a light, or a fan, or try to make toast for my kids without tripping a circuit. Taking a shower in pitch black is not a fun adventure.
Our plumber telling us that in 13-14 years of work, he'd seen a "spontaneous burst" like ours (i.e. total fluke, no reason for it) only 4 times.
Hearing my kids tell me that they no longer like their new house.
That my poor little toddler has nowhere to toddle.
The collective B.O. of 7 workers wafting up my stairwell.
Being back at square one with so many aspects of moving, organizing, decorating.
Not knowing when this will all be over. And just what the next catastrophe will be.

There, I feel a little better.

When It Rains, It Floods

2007-08-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

Suffice it to say that this summer hasn't quite turned out exactly the way I was expecting.

It started back in June when my poor husband who was content to stay at his desk and work while his cohorts attended a golf tournament was pretty much ordered by his boss to go along. A misstep off the wet grass resulted in a dislocated knee and a long recovery which still isn't over. The knee problems led to very painful back problems which led to a hypersensitive nerve that causes even something like the sensation of his shirt on his skin to be uncomfortable.

This happened as I was congratulating myself for weaning my little guy and therefore, I thought, hastening the end to the months of hormonal flux that was causing me more than a little emotional discomfort of my own. It turns out my relief was short-lived and definitely premature. Last week when the waves of anxiety came back and brought back with them terrible fatigue, nausea, and other emotional and physical symptoms, I realized that this isn't anything I can try to handle on my own anymore and talked to my doctor again. My current theory is that this is post-partum depression that has been there all along, unacknowledged and untreated, waiting for a break in childcare, moving, etc. to show up and demand attention. So it's getting attention and I've been feeling hopeful that these days will pass and I'll be back to my old self again soon and feel better able to handle life and all its ups and downs.

I didn't realize that I'd get the opportunity to test myself so quickly. This morning, when Ray got up to take some medicine around 5, he head the sound of running water. When he went downstairs to investigate, he stepped off the bottom step into two inches of water.

A pipe had burst under our kitchen sink, and you can imagine the rest. Water everywhere. Everywhere. We spent the day in clean-up mode. Mold is a real threat. So our beautiful walls that we had painted before we moved in 4 months ago have had the baseboards ripped off and a foot of drywall cut out to prevent water from seeping up into them. Our gorgeous wood floors are now ripped up and our furniture is all over the place. The kids were out of sorts this morning as they tried to figure out why they couldn't watch TV or play with their toys. Julia has announced that she no longer likes our house. Hopefully she'll feel differently when this is all over. Who knows when that will be?

Of course there's a bright side to every calamity and ours is no different. This could've been much, much worse. Offers of support have come in from friends and family. My parents were here practically as soon as I called, taking care of my boys and me and everything all at once. Never mind that my mom has been nothing short of an angel for the past week, here practically every day, with the singular focus of helping me get better (and feeding me). We don't call her Saint Violet for nothing.

Throughout this crazy day, I only had one moment of sheer despair. That was when I realized that years worth of pictures, probably close to a thousand, meticulously organized and sitting in a giant canvas basket on the floor of my scrap room, had been subject to the water. Along with my awesome dad and husband, we were able to save just about every single photo, although I did lose some lovely memorabilia. I got very, very lucky. My pictures will never again be stored in anything that's not water-proof. Of all the things I ever thought would attack my photos and my home, a flood wasn't ever on the list. Now I know better. But it'll be OK and we'll get through this intact. I can't promise the same for my sanity.

Rock On

2007-07-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

You know what's awesome when you feel like something the cat threw up? Being told that you rock. And that is exactly what has happened to me.

It turns out that I am a Rockin' Girl Blogger! I never would have thought! My buddy Meghan, who is quite rockin' in her own right, has tagged me. I'd like to thank all the little people, particularly the three who provide me with so much blog fodder. As stated in the rules, I must now tag 5 others. Of course, I can't narrow it down to just 5 so I'm throwing in a bonus at no extra charge:

Of course, my curly little Tannazie of All Kinds of Yum. Even if you don't appreciate her meandering posts about the most arcane food news and information, you'll love her photos, including the occasional very cute child model or two, and her blog is sure to leave you hungry and itching to visit her cute neighborhood in L.A. Stay tuned for her big blog remodel. It is gonna look great. Now we just have to bring her over to the dark side and get her scrapping.
The lovely Rambling Tara herself of Tara's Ramblings. This girl is a military wife, has 5 adorable kids whom she homeschools!, and still manages to crank out gorgeous detailed scrapbook pages. Amazing!
Tara Whitney, who I'm sure doesn't read my piddly blog but is still rockin' nevertheless. She is a mom of 4, a photographer whose family pictures have been made to make even bitchy me teary, and a really awesome scrapbooker whose emotions for her kids come through in all of her pages and photography.
My darling Just Nicole of Nik's Notations. Truth be told, Just Nicole hasn't posted in a while but she just turned 30, started a new job and is traveling this weekend so we'll cut her some slack. Her blog treats us to a slice of her life in Australia and when we're lucky we get pictures of beautiful scenery, her lovely lovely scrapbooking and awesome Indi, her precocious and foul-mouthed daughter. Hmm...wonder where she gets that from.
Speaking of daughters, mine is certainly rockin' at All About Me. Certainly, she would post more often if she wasn't so busy feeding her Webkinz or devoid of computer privileges for the infraction of the day.
Finally, sweet Lissa of Life's Reflections. She has such a lovely way with words that even when her posts don't include cute pictures of Dalton or her gorgeous scrapbook pages, her blog is a treat to read.

There are several other blogs I read daily who are definitely written by rockin' girls (Kim, Jax, Beth, Teri-Lynn, and others). However, I believe those have already been granted official rockin' status. Hope you enjoy the ones I mentioned here. Tell them I sent you and thanks again Meghan!

Odds & Ends, Mostly Odds

2007-07-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

So the summer is half over (sniff, sniff, sob, sob) and it's been a good one so far. The days have been sufficiently busy, with a little bit (not enough) down time here and there. Here are a few things that are going on:

We finally got a desk ordered for Julia's room. I don't know which 6 year old begs and begs for a desk but mine did. We promised her she'd get one before second grade and it looks like the promise will not be broken. She'll need a chair, but that can be procured easily I'm hoping. The arrival of the desk will necessitate some rearranging in her room but more importantly, once it's here, I can start the project I've been dying to do for her room. I want to make a homemade version of a combination of Pottery Barn Kids' and Pottery Barn Teen's bulletin board systems. I recently found out that you can buy Dry Erase paint to make any surface a dry-erase board. How cool is that?! This was the last bit I couldn't figure out for this project and now I have. I can NOT wait to get started. It will be a big project (by my scale anyway) and I'll be amazed if I can pull it off and manage not to get divorced in the process. I can't wait to start shopping for fabric!

If you like baking or baked goods or ice cream or eating or supporting a good cause, read this post from my sister's blog. She and her friends are organizing a local bake sale and could use contributions of either baked goods to sell or other items for a raffle. Feel free to spread the word to all your L.A. area friends. Or better yet, organize a bake sale in your own neighborhood.

On Friday Ray took my big kids to the office with him. One of the people who work there is a nice lady by the name of Erica. Well, never having heard that name before, Ethan assumed it was America. And walked around all day calling her....."Miss America!"

A while back I mentioned Julia's birthday cake and how I might post a picture if it turned out OK. Well it turned out OK, but not much better than OK. I was in the grocery store and found a packet of edible flowers in with the fresh herbs. I picked them up hoping to spruce up her birthday cake and here is the result. The assortment of flowers wasn't the greatest and by the time I got around to using them, they weren't so fresh. They would've probably looked much better on white frosting, but we're a chocolate family. I think next year I will strive to do better than a cake mix cake and store-bought frosting. I can do better than this, much better. However, the novelty of the flowers on the cake went a long way. No one was brave enough to actually eat one, however.

Sometimes....

2007-07-27T22:45:00.001-07:00

A boy just needs his Frappucino!

This is Getting Excessive

2007-07-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

You know those articles in scrapbooking magazines where the designer picks say, a shoelace or a goat, and shows all the different ways it inspired her to create fabulous projects? If you're like me, you usually snort as you quickly glance at the article and then flip to the ads to see the cool new stuff you just have to buy. Whatever with finding scrapbooking inspiration in magazine adds and common daily objects.

But on a recent trip to one of my favorite places in the world, I spotted these, and they just scream "Summer" to me. Aside from the fact that I'm hearing voices, wouldn't these just look cool on a fun, summery layout?

One Just For Me

2007-07-17T10:08:00.001-07:00

I recently finished this layout of a sweet nickname my mom made up for Julia. The nice thing about it was that it wasn't for a design team or deadline; it was just for me. It's not the best scan. There's a weird shadow on one side, maybe from the lumpy ribbon.

Product details: Papers: Frances Meyer, Treehouse Designs; Stamps and Ink: Close To My Heart; Rub-Ons: Making Memories, 7 Gypsies (by the way, how annoying is it when alphabet rub-ons and stickers don't also include numbers? This seems like such a basic thing but the manufacturers don't get it.); Flowers: Prima; File tab and rhinestones: Heidi Swapp from the Costco kit that I bought forever ago but just opened. Letter stickers are ancient from The Sharon Ann Collection. That tells you how old they are. The ribbon is a scrap from a gift, I think.

Hard as I try to break out from my style a little, here we are again: pink, green, flowers. I can't help it. It just looks pretty to me. I do have ideas brewing in my head for some other designs but next I'm tackling a project that I've put away for a couple of years. It won't be that fancy, and the products are now a couple years old but that's OK. I'm looking forward to completing it.

In the mean time, thanks for looking.

Birthday Greetings

2007-07-16T15:08:00.001-07:00

A lot of notable people are celebrating their birthday today:

One is Orville Redenbacher, which is interesting, since my husband and his dad have this weird love affair with popcorn. The gene has been passed down to my kids and therefore our trips to Target now have a singular focus.

Another is Stewart Copeland, who we have already established is just really cool.

Next is Will Ferrell, who if he wasn't funny enough on Saturday Night Live, did this crazy video with Pearl the drunk landlady from hell.

And then, there's my sweet friend Meghan, whose amazingly cute little boy, Ethan,
was born on my mom's birthday last year. Click on over and wish her a happy one, would ya?

Oh yeah, and me too!

A Food Blog, This Is Not

2007-07-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

And I am neither a food photographer nor a food stylist (if only...). But once in a while, I do cook something that didn't come out of a Trader Joe's box in my freezer. I know, take a moment to recover from your shock.

A few days ago, my doorbell rang and I was greeted by a lovely older woman who presented me with a bowl of plums and started talking to me in Hebrew. I don't know what amazed me more: the fact that she somehow decided I would be able to understand her, or the fact that I actually did. It turns out that her daughter and her family have moved in next door, by way of Russia, Israel and the San Fernando Valley, and she takes care of her granddaughters while her daughter and son-in-law are at work every day. The next day when her granddaughter came over to swim at my house, considerably more plums arrived and I found myself in a plum quandary as to what to with them all.

A quick internet search and consultation with the food brains of the family resulted in the conclusion that I would neither be purchasing vallina beans, nor creating fake buttermilk, nor rolling out pie crust for this little endeavor. I wanted to make something easy and good that I could share with my generous new neighbors and so I decided on a simple galette, made with store bought pie crust. I sliced the plums the night before and planned to assemble and bake while Ethan was at preschool this morning. The bonus would be that this is a very kid-friendly recipe, with lots of steps that Julia could help with. Good plan, right?

Well, I soon found out that pie crust is a seasonal item at Trader Joe's. D'oh! And I also found out after I got home that the apricot jam I purchased to glaze the tart with is actually apricot-orange. D'oh. Not to worry. All of this was dealt with and the result was pretty, if quite tart. I'd add more sugar next time. For now, I'll just pile the thing with vallina ice cream or yogurt and continue my amazement at myself that the plan actually worked.

Plum Galette
makes 2 tarts, one for you and one to give away

10-12 sliced pitted plums (or in my case a whole bunch more so Brady could munch while we cooked)
2-4 Tbsp. brown sugar
Vallina extract - as much as you like
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Zest of one orange, or more if you have them on hand
1 box refrigerated pie crusts (two crusts)
3-4 Tbsp. jam in a flavor you think will go well with the plums (I used apricot orange, by accident)
Turbinado sugar (like Sugar In The Raw)

Combine plums, sugar, vallina extract, cornstarch and orange zest in medium bowl. Let sit. This is called macerating, while the sugar releases the juices from the fruit. Because I have the maturity of a 9 year old, this word makes me giggle.

Preheat over to 425. Unroll each pie crust onto a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Stretch a little to enlarge the crust, but don't go too thin or you'll tear your crust.

Arrange sliced plums in a pinwheel pattern on the crust, starting in the center and leaving about a 1 1/2 inch margin all around. Or arrange them in whatever pattern pleases you. Try to fill all the little holes with more plums.

Fold and pleat the edges of the crust over the edge of the fruit. It doesn't have to look pretty; rustic is good. Generously spoon some of the juices over the fruit.

In a small bowl, microwave the jam for about 30 seconds until it is melted and runny. Brush the jam generously over the crust and fruit, being careful not to mess up any design you may have created. This will become your glaze. Incidentally, I used my favorite new kitchen tool for this step. I've had this brush just a couple of weeks and have already used it twice. I like it because it's easy to wash and I don't end up with bristles all over my food. And it's red. OK, on with the recipe:

Sprinkle some of the turbinado sugar on top of the crust and fruit. Now repeat the entire process with the other crust and remaining plum mixture.

Bake in your preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, switching racks halfway so both pies brown evenly. Cool in baking sheets on rack. Serve with whipped cream or vallina ice cream. Or both.

This is my favorite kind of recipe: simple, made with ingredients that most of us have on hand and fresh, seasonal items. If you actually do attempt this recipe, I'd love to hear about it and also about how you varied it to suit your taste.

Like I told my new neighbor when I took hers over: "B'Teavon!"

Cutie Cousin

2007-07-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

Those of you who hang out at www.theuntamedscrapper.com may have already seen this page. These pictures are of Julia and one of my favorite cousins. I don't remember much about the products I used but I do recall that the epoxy tag is Marcella by K and the letter stickers are Me and My Big Ideas. Another layout done and I'm actually reasonably happy with this one, although it doesn't measure up to so much of the stuff I see out there.

On another subject, are you feeling extra lucky on 7-7-07? I hope the Dodgers are, since we're going to see them play in a few hours. I also hope it's extra special for my Auntie Parvin, who's celebrating her birthday with her beautiful daughters and grandchildren today. She's the best.

Birthday Baby

2007-07-05T10:48:00.001-07:00

Today is my baby girl's 7th birthday. She's had a great day so far: Starbucks for breakfast and playing The Price is Right with her dad and brother. This girl so belongs in our family. I think Toys R Us, Chuck E Cheese and Shave It are also in our future today, after swimming and before cake (incidentally, I have a vision of her cake in my head that if the reality turns out anything like it, I'll post some pics). In a couple of days we'll be getting together with her friends to celebrate at Build-A-Bear. Her grandma is visiting for her birthday this year, which makes it extra special.

I'm trying to be sappy and sentimental and weepy today but I'm just not feeling it. I'm incredulous that the little newborn we brought home from the hospital is 7 years old (and has two younger brothers!) but mostly I'm just excited for her and hope she has a great year. Hopeful that she has a fun year, with a little bit of growing up and some great friends. Wishing that she'd get out of her own way a little bit, learn to let some things go, and just be her own sweet self. Thankful that she's my girl, especially since it's just her and I among all these boys, that she loves scrapbooking with me and insists that we snuggle when we watch So You Think You Can Dance.

Happy Birthday Juji! Your family loves you more than you can imagine!

His First Haircut

2007-07-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Before:

and after:

Brady got his hair cut for the first time Tuesday, which was about 4 months too late for his father. He was so tired he almost fell asleep in the chair. So much for my fears that he'd be so wiggly he'd get stabbed with the scissors. Although I think his haircut makes his giant head look even bigger, it's grown on me and even I have to admit he looks pretty cute.

The Police at Dodger Stadium: The Good

2007-06-26T22:54:00.000-07:00

Of the infinite number of things one could be doing on a summer night, seeing The Police play at Dodger Stadium is right up there near the top. I mean, hello? It's The Police. And they haven't toured in 20 years. And they're here. In L.A. And I got tickets. Good ones. And it's The Police. With Sting. At Dodger Stadium. Is there anything about this scenario that could possibly be less than amazing?!!!

My regular readers (all 4 of you) know by now that I'm not usually at a loss for words. But in this case, I'm having a hard time describing just how great this concert was. My brain seems to be fixating on words like "awesome," "so cool," and "phenomenal."

The evening's entertainment started out with the opening band, The Foo Fighters. Not being an enemy of Foo, I don't quite understand why it needs to be fought, so I'm not a big fan. Still it was pretty good, high-energy music and the FF fans in the crows were really into it, so it must've been great. At one point the lead Fighter jumped off the stage and waded through the crowd to the back where he climbed up some equipment and played his guitar while we all screamed. Cool stuff. Still, by the end of it we were all ready for The Police to get started.

They definitely didn't disappoint. The cool thing about seeing a band that hasn't recorded anything new in 20 years is that you don't have to sit through the crap off the new album that the concert tour is promoting. Every song is an old favorite. It was such a treat to hear hit after hit after hit with Sting's distinctive vocals. Plus, he's amazing to watch on the jumbo screen. Stewart Copeland was amazing on percussion. Drummers are just cool, and he was great (even if he is a year younger than my dad). Plus he played this strange cymbal/xylophone hybrid instrument that I'd never seen before on "Wrapped Around Your Finger". Extra cool. Andy Summers was also cool, doing his thing on the guitar, kind of not into the whole thing, just cool and aloof and sounding great. It was great to have just the three band members and nothing else onstage: no backup singers, hokey dancers, crazy acrobatics. Nothing but three great musicians playing awesome music. Here, take a listen:

Because this is a pseudo-review, I'll stick in a couple of token criticisms. First, it could've been longer, especially for what the tickets cost. A couple of songs were just missing and I was bummed. But I got over it. Second, I'd rather have heard more songs and less meandering guitar solos. Again, I'm over it. While I've been to concerts with better music, or a more elaborate stage show, or cooler lighting (that didn't cause you to practically have a seizure), everything came together so well here and it worked beautifully. Ultimately, each song sounded so good that I wished they'd play it again.

Like I mentioned, our seats were great (notwithstanding the ordeal we went through to actually get to them), some of the greatest I've ever had for a concert, thanks to the gougery of The Police Tour fan club. Our companions, my sister and her roommate, Beth, were tons of fun. Beth, who actually admitted to seeing The Police play 23 years ago, was quick with a song title and album reference when the rest of us may have been a little slower on the uptake. Our section was lots of fun, except for one ice princess that we all despised on first sight. Seriously honey, how do you go to a Police concert and manage to look so unhappy and pissed off? Her poor boyfriend. But other than her, we were surrounded by tons of happy fans, from the drunk guy a few rows ahead that looked like Newman from Seinfeld, to the girl a couple rows back that spent most of the concert giving her boyfriend a lap dance (no wonder he was happy).

This is definitely a fine and fitting way to start the Second Annual Best Summer Ever. For me, it was the fulfillment of a long-time wish to see Sting play live. I'm kind of still riding the buzz and definitely have the concert bug again. This was so worth missing my high school reunion for.

Big thanks to pancho2323 for the great photo and to papitourso for the video footage.

The Police at Dodger Stadium: The Bad

2007-06-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

A word of advice: if you find yourself injured in some way and happen to be going to Dodger Stadium, do not expect one iota of help from the unhelpful, untrained, uninformed and unsympathetic staff.

After having paid over $100 each for tickets to see The Police Saturday night, we decided to spend the extra $15 (over and above the exorbitant $20 charge for regular parking) for preferred parking, hoping to reduce the amount of walking my poor hobbling husband had to do on his dislocated and contused knee. We asked
the parking attendant which lot would be closest to our seats and were directed to the appropriate place. When we got to the entrance, we were directed to one entrance (more walking) only to be told when we got there that we needed to be elsewhere (walk right on back to where you came from). And then, when we finally got in, we realized (you know what's coming, right?) that our seats were exactly on the opposite side of the entrance we'd been directed to. Seriously, when you work at Dodger Stadium, do you never have to look at a map of the place as part of your training?

At this point, I was sure on of the seemingly millions of ushers and various staff hanging around talking to their buddies would be happy to help my obviously injured husband, in his big, black knee brace, and I reach our seats as quickly as possible. Luckily, there seemed to be this giant FIELD right in front of us that we could simply cross to get right to where we needed to be. But no, apparently you need to be personal friends with God himself (herself?) to be granted access to the field. Never mind that our seats were less than 10 rows up from the precious field. No amount of begging, pleading, or explaining would get us past the gate to the field. We were offered a wheel chair, which Ray wasn't interested in, and that was it. And forget trying to talk to a supervisor. It was like trying to find the Customer Service phone number on Amazon.com. It just wasn't happening. So, around the stadium we limped.

Fast forward to the end of the show (more to come on that in the next post). At this point, I figured that it would be OK for us to walk back across the field, seeing as the SHOW WAS OVER and EVERYONE WAS LEAVING. Ha! At this point the ushers were tired, cranky or just pissed off and once again the answer was "No." Not "Sorry, no." Not, "I wish I could." None of that. Forget courtesy. Forget that our ticket sales pay their salaries. Forget that we were just trying to get the hell out of the stadium. The rudeness was disgusting.

Apparently, having the preferred parking did get us out of the park faster, but that was the only benefit. I hate being one of those customers who is constantly complaining about things, but in this case, I don't think it's too much to ask for parking attendants to know which side of the stadium is odd or even, for entry attendants to know which entrance they happen to be manning, or for ushers to be polite and courteous even if they can't be helpful. While Dodger Stadium is a phenomenal place to watch a baseball game or concert, and Dodger Dogs are the best in the world, that doesn't eliminate the need for customer service. Los Angeles residents have a lot of entertainment options, including another baseball team down the freeway and a dozen or more other concert venues. Why go somewhere where you'll get ripped off and be disrespected?

Big thanks to malingering for this great shot of Dodger Stadium.

The Weaning Post

2007-06-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

When my mind and body started doing screwy things over the last couple of months, the brain trust that I consult about most issues (made up of my mom, sister, aunt, a couple of cousins and a few select girlfriends) came to a consensus that the breastfeeding hormones were at odds with the regular hormones and it was resulting in chaos, especially certain times of the month. All of a sudden tons of friends were telling me stories of strange issues they had from long-term breastfeeding. This theory kind of correlated with something my beloved OB/Gyn mentioned at my last annual exam and I kind of went with it.

Problem was, at the time, Mr. Bunch was firmly ensconced in his 4-5 times a day nursing habit. What's worse is that he'd recently begun toddling around and would come grab my shirt whenever the urge struck him (so like a man!). To make matters more difficult (so like a man!) he likes neither cow's milk nor pacifiers. Spoiled baby!! I didn't think there would be any way to get him off the boob!

My beloved pediatrician, with whom I generally disagree about breastfeeding matters, advised me to cut him off cold-turkey. "You'll have a couple of difficult days," he predicted, "and then it will be over." Easy for him to say, not getting to live through those agonizing days. Cold-turkey would not work for us.

Still, I knew the time had come. Although I always, always get sad as my babies leave behind a stage of their babyhood, I also realized that this was best not just for him, but for me and the other 3 people who depend on my (quickly-diminishing) sanity daily. As I turned it over in my mind, I realized that I just can't feel guilty about nursing my 3rd baby exclusively for over 15 months. Therefore, new routines were put in place, Dad took over Brady's bed time, and I broke out the bottles so he could still have something to suck. To my amazement, he did great. He still grabbed my shirt once or twice, but was easily pacified with a bottle of water, a snack, and a snuggle. His 5 times a day turned into just one: first thing in the morning, just before falling back to sleep for a short while.

I can so totally live with this. I get my fix and he gets his. All nursing takes place within the confines of my home, which means I get to go back to wearing my lovely non-nursing bras all day and no longer get funny looks from strangers as I try to wrestle a giant breast-feeding toddler while yelling at my other kids and trying to maintain some semblance of modesty.

Still I'm starting to get signals that this, too, will end soon. Not only have my hormonal issues not completely gone away, but Brady skipped our regular morning appointment today. And never seemed to miss it. Of course, I'm so happy this is his decision instead of something I force him to do for my sake. But I'm still sad, wondering if I've missed our last time in my early-morning grogginess. I hope not. I hope I get one more morning with my little Bunch, to snuggle and nurture and kiss his feet while he looks up at me with smiles in his sleepy eyes. I hope he give me at least one more time to soak it all in for the last time and sadly say good-bye to one of the most fulfilling, lovely parts of motherhood.

Edited to add: Brady indulged me Saturday morning and we had a great time. I don't know if that was the last time. If it was, it was a good one!

Signs That It's Going To Be The Best Summer Ever

2007-06-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

Thank God it's summer at last and The Best Summer Ever at that. Well, the Best Summer Ever since last summer, and definitely The Best Summer Ever until next summer. It's already looking to be a great one:

2 days of summer vacation so far and 2 play dates already. Both involved ice cream. Excellent.
This summer there is an actual pool in my backyard...something I haven't had for almost 20 years. And it's finally hot enough that the water temperature is starting to inch up a few degrees. No more schlepping to other people's pools. No more listening to "Moooooooom, why can't we have a pool too?" Woo Hoo!!
Last year's infant is this year's Toddler-Who-Sleeps-Through-The-Night.
A new house that we're no longer embarrassed to have people visit. Welcome Friends and Family.
Sha ve I t. Heaven on a spoon. If I could afford it, I'd have the Shave It Van parked permanently in my driveway. Since I can't, I'll have to drive like the rest of the riff-raff.
Two kids in school means more friends than ever. And they all want to hang out with us. Hooray!
Preschool starts in July. As much as I love him, I also love that my little bundle of energy (and noise) has someplace to be 3 mornings a week.
Our babysitter, who we love, has agreed to come over one morning a week. Mom's sanity, which is in short supply, will benefit greatly. She's looking to work a lot. Hopefully this means a couple of movie dates too!
My friend around the corner wants to scrapbook as much as I do. I love a good enabler.
The credit cards haven't been rejected yet. Keep the fun coming!

Hats Off to Dad

2007-06-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

Although in my self-absorbed little mind, I'm convinced that the world would fall apart if I wasn't there to manage its every detail, it's hard to argue that Dads are pretty nice to have around, too. They light the barbecue, hunt down and kill any insects or rodents who invade the home, fish various items out of toilets, assemble things (sometimes correctly), perform home repairs (sometimes correctly), and still manage to give a bath and change a diaper once in a while.

Of course, Dad does all of the above while managing a commute, bills, annoying bosses or coworkers, Mom's PMS, inflation, babies who don't sleep through the night, deadlines, and kids who discover his secret chocolate stash. No wonder he needs a day all to himself. In our house, days like that are hard to come by, but hopefully the day was a nice one for Ray anyway. This mom knows for sure that she couldn't get along without her kids' wonderful Daddy, even in his current banged-up state.

Thankfully. my mood is much less melancholy today than it was on Mother's Day this year. I have a soft spot in my heart for Dads. Despite all their faults, their failure to understand teenage girls, their grumpiness at times, their tendency to believe that their lectures actually matter to 4 year olds, or that their kids actually care about the score of the football game, they mean well. They love their kids, and their kids' moms, and want to make it all work (but can't help but look wistfully back to the days when their sleep and money were more plentiful). I love and admire the good dads, and similarly feel great contempt for the ones who can't be bothered with their children, who don't get that happy moms make happy families, that their time and love is the greatest gift they can give their kids. Also, my heart hurts a little for all those dads who are serving in the military far away from their kids who just want to wish their dads a happy Father's Day in person. How many of those will never make it home for another Father's Day? Let's pray the number is few, and that all the wonderful dads who fill our lives are blessed with safety and good health. And if they can get a nap in now and then, so much the better.

Hey, You Got Your Chocolate In My Peanut Butter

2007-06-12T21:40:00.001-07:00

My worlds have collided in such a good way. starbucks paul mccartney

The Upside

2007-06-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to those of you who have expressed concern since my last post. I'm happy to report that things are definitely feeling better, with some ups and downs along the way, but still better. I'm hoping that as Brady's breastfeeding decreases and my hormone levels increase, the worst is behind me. In the mean time, I've discovered that even this has had a silver lining. In fact, several:

I've discovered at last the immense power of sleep. Without it, lunacy is just a few nap-less days away. With it, the whole world feels different. I feel so much better skipping the gloom and doom and Paris Hilton updates of the evening news and getting to sleep that much earlier. It's a win-win all the way.
Effortless weight loss...the holy grail! The only other time I lost weight this quickly and easily was all three times I was pregnant (proof that God has a sense of humor), and God knows we don't need that right now. I'm almost starting to wonder if a couple weeks of hell a month are worth the ensuing weight loss. I'm thinking probably not, and it's not something I can control anyway. Still, it's definitely worth hoping the trend continues or at least use it to jump-start some healthy changes.
My sister got me this DVD: Yoga For Stress Relief as well as these yummy cookies for Mother's Day. The cookies are long gone but the DVD is definitely the gift that keeps on giving and giving. I so look forward to my 15 or 20 minutes of Yoga each night before bed. Mostly I've done the breathing and relaxation exercises but I've tried one practice for easing neck and shoulder tension and it was great. There are also choices for relieving headaches, stomach problems and "quieting the mind" which is terrific for those times when my mind will not shut up. So far I have not encountered any moves where you have to "twist your foot and stick it in your butt," as my mom delicately put it. Mostly it's really relaxing breathing and stretching and I can't recommend it highly enough. I'd never done any Yoga before, but if it is all this wonderful, I'm a convert. Check out this DVD for yourself and all the stressed out people you know. I plan to buy several as gifts.
The gift of communing with friends and sharing my burden. The more girlffriends I talk to, the more I realize how common my little problems are. Hormones are tons of fun, it turns out, and I am not actually going crazy. I've gained the perspective that this is not going to be my permanent state of being and it will pass, with or without further medical intervention. What a relief!

Sometimes A Girl Needs Her Girlfriends

2007-06-05T13:32:00.001-07:00

So it goes like this. On top of the daily exhaustion of moving in early April, unpacking (ha!), and being a mom of 3 kids who keep me totally busy, over the last few months a sort of weirdness crept in. Sadness, sometimes. Other times, a feeling of hopelessness that the world is nothing but disease and death and we're all doomed to an unpleasant fate which makes the rest of our days mundane at best and not at all worthwhile at worst. An anxiety attack, and the anniversary that you already know about, and icky symptoms like headaches, killer fatigue, nausea, stomach loveliness, etc. landed me back at my doctor's office early last week.

The result, thankfully, is that all my blood work is normal. This is, therefore, some hormonal/depression thing due to either:

a) irregular periods caused by Mr. Bunch who still has no interest in being weaned;
b) delayed post-partum depression, which apparently can hit any time in the first 2 years after childbirth;
c) PMDD, which from what I understand is PMS on some heavy-duty steroids.

Whatever it is, I hate it. I want my happiness back. I want my energy back. I want to enjoy my home and my family and the summer without wishing every morning that I could just crawl back into bed. I want to stop thinking about everything awful in the world and just take delight in the dumb little things that used to make me so giddy.

Now as dire as that sounds, it's not all gloominess around here. The kids keep me laughing every day. I do notice some things helping and there is definitely a monthly cycle component that I'm exploring. If things get worse, my doctor is in the loop and pharmaceutical avenues will be followed. Of course, that brings us back to weaning that stubborn boy, but that's another post.

So, thanks to all of you who've expressed your support and concern. I really appreciate all of you so much. It seems this stuff is pretty common, but no one ever told me until I mentioned it. Along those lines, if you could share your own PPD or baby blues, or PMS or PMDD stories along with what helps/helped you get through, I would sure appreciate it. There are good moments and hard moments in every day, but I find that the easiest ones are the ones which I share with my wonderful friends and family. Thanks.

A New Generation of Blogger

2007-05-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

She got her way and we set up her blog tonight. Lots of rules and regulations have been discussed. Scrapbook pages will need to be scanned. Her cuteness through all this was unbelievable. This is going to be fun.

Check her out: All About Me.

I'm In For It

2007-05-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

My not-yet-seven-year old wants a blog. She wants to write all about everything and post her scrapbook pages. Where does she get these ideas?

She will not be deterred.

Stay tuned.

Our Family's Birthday

2007-05-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. For years we've called this day "our family's birthday" and try to make a big deal out of it for the kids, too. So in the morning we all went to see Shrek the Third . The movie wasn't the greatest, but Mr. Bunch cooperated by falling asleep pretty quickly and we had a good time. From there we dropped off the kids and headed out for an afternoon of shopping, including a blissful hour at The Container Store. Ah, such fun. For dinner, we had reservations at Mastro's Steak House, a much recommended Beverly Hills restaurant which we had both looked forward to trying. That's where things started going downhill.

Somewhere between the nice-enough appetizer and the not-very-flavorful Caesar salad, I started losing my appetite. By the time my gigantic steak got there, 2 bites were all I could manage. The sides were too rich, the steak too tough and the wine made my head feel quite strange. Pretty soon, I couldn't even stand the butter and meat smells that permeated the restaurant and nausea started to set in. Needless to say, this did not enhance my poor husband's enjoyment of his meal.

For those of you who don't know, I've been having some strange and unpleasant emotional ups and downs for the last month or so. This has been taking a toll on my husband as well. As the conversation turned to this subject, our dinner took another turn in the wrong direction. In the end, we did talk a lot more than we have recently, and I know we'll get through this together. Things just haven't been easy lately. But I've always said, just because something isn't easy doesn't mean it's not worth it (except for dinner at Mastro's; that's definitely not worth it).

By the way, on the way out of the restaurant, we passed a homeless woman who was asking for food or money. We had our leftover sides of much-too-rich creamed spinach and nowhere-nearly-as-good-as-it-sounded lobster mashed potatoes and it took about a second to decide to give them to her. I love thinking about her eating her lobster and hopefully going to sleep with a full stomach for once.

Flattery Works

2007-05-25T09:15:00.001-07:00

You all were so nice about posting lovely comments about the last layout I posted. So now I'm sharing this one, which I created for the National Scrapbook Day 20 Layout Crop at The Untamed Scrapper. Our mission was to create simple layouts that could easily be copied and modified. Because the background paper is so busy, I really had no choice but to keep the rest of it simple. This layout was an exercise in perseverance. I think I had to print the journaling out something like 11 times to get it to work right. Maybe I'm just a moron. It's possible.

Boring details: pattern paper: Daisy D's; title: American Craft rub-ons, journaling font: can't remember (email me if you're dying to know and I'll look it up); really cool brass filigree photo corners: Abby's Awesome Offerings. The link is to Abby's blog. Post there if you'd like info on how to join her yahoo group to shop. I don't remember who makes the vellum, but I did learn that vellum, especially colored vellum, is becoming harder to find. Bummer.

The pictures are of a trip we took before Julia was born. We stayed at The Inn on Summer Hill, a lovely lovely bed and breakfast in Summerland, just south of Santa Barbara. If you're ever in the area, you should definitely check it out.

A Page Completed

2007-05-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's taken probably a month, but I did actually finish a layout last night. This brings our grand total for this year to 4 pages done, which actually doubles last year's output. Pathetic? Yes. Miraculous? Also yes.

Boring details: yellow paper is from Two Busy Moms from my stash and is ages old. The orange is Scenic Route, I think, maybe? It was in my scrap pile. Foam stamps are MM, paint is cheap stuff from Michael's. I had a thought to sponge ink over the letters and emboss with clear embossing powder and then the rational, lazy part of my brain took over and it didn't happen. Ribbon is Carolee's Creations, I think. Font is Whackadoo, which isn't really all that important, but I just like saying Whackadoo.

When coming up with this color scheme, I knew I wanted to use the yellow and blue from the high chair but wanted to add a third color. I googled "online color wheel" and played at a couple of the sites that came up. One suggested the orange which I liked. This definitely isn't my favorite page ever, but the fact that I got another one done is pretty huge and I like it enough to not want to redo it. That's definitely good enough these days.

I really need to stay away from Nordstrom

2007-05-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

Although this particular pair of Christian Louboutin lovelies isn't the one that made me swoon yesterday, they're still pretty killer, aren't they?

On a recent retail therapy trip to Nordstrom, I realized, unfortunately, that I seem to have a taste for Christian Louboutin, Dior, and Chanel shoes. No matter that one pair would cost more than an entire month's tuition at my son's preschool. Or that 4-inch heels are just not practical in the sandbox.

Note to self: schedule next retail therapy trip to Target.

Moms On My Mind

2007-05-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

We've all had Mom on our mind lately. Between Hallmark and all the jewelry store commercials on TV, you'd have to be pretty out of it not to know today is Mother's Day.

My brain has been doing some wonky things to me the last couple of weeks, so I've been much, much more introspective than usual when it comes to today. I've been thinking of all those who are missing their moms so much today, and the moms whose arms and hearts are aching to hold their babies but who can't. I've been thinking of the moms who wonder if this will be the last Mother's Day they'll spend with their kids, if illness or accidents will take them away from each other all too soon.

Through the darkness that I've found myself in recently, some rays of light have been starting to shine in. So I've also been thinking how very, very fortunate I am to get to spend every day with my 3 healthy children. How already we have experienced so much good fortune than some families ever do. I find the joy in my baby's squeals of laughter, in our family dinners together, in our first months living in our new nest. And while I tremble at how frail and fragile and precious it all is, I also marvel at the family we've created and pray for good health and happy days ahead.

I also pause to appreciate all the moms around me. From my friends who are as frazzled every day as I am, to my own mom whose endless help allows me to better mother my own babies. It's true what they say: once you become a mother, it feels like your heart no longer beats in your own body. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful moms.

Birthday Party Saturday

2007-05-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Ah, picture a beautiful spring Saturday at the local neighborhood park. The sun is shining, there is a mild breeze blowing, and the air is filled with the sound of children laughing and playing. A little pizza, a little cake, what could be better?

But this is LA, or at least the LA suburbs, so you know it doesn't end right there, right? That would be boring.

For one thing, it really is a picture perfect day and there are not just one, but two birthday parties going on simultaneously. Two piles of presents, twice as many kids running around and twice the number of Israeli party guests. To entertain all the little cherubs, we have not just Tinkerbell and Peter Pan (and their teeny tiny little dogs which they stopped every so often to hug and kiss) but also Superman, whose pinata likeness ended up being sadly decapitated later in the day.

Our particular birthday girl was adopted from China by her American/Israeli family and, in addition to her school friends, there are a lot of other Chinese girls running around in their princess makeup. While the girls decorate angel wings, the boys create pirate hats. My boy, scary swashbuckler that he is, decided to go all out and put all kinds of sparkly glitter and jewels on his hat. As the kids work on their crafts, they are serenaded by a random guest who sings operatic Princess movie songs a Capella. I am not making this up.

Because this is LA and you can't go out and get your morning paper without tripping over a celebrity, we notice that one of the moms at the party is an actress & director, most recently from ER. Much whispering and pointing ensues as we pretend that we are all so cool and not at all star struck.

Finally, as if all this weren't enough, a guest at the other party provides this:

even without the front view, which would showcase her Cleopatra pony tail which is not quite the same color as the rest of her hair, she has inspired me to start my own civilian version of GoFugYourself, which I would do if I was one iota as good of a writer as the Fug girls and had given up all hope of ever getting into heaven and also didn't mind getting sued.

Where else can you get all this, and birthday cake too? I love L.A.

Mommy's Helper

2007-05-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Help this cute isn't easy to come by. And I might add, it ain't cheap!

And now, because it's Friday and I'm feeling generous, here's a bonus toes shot...because you just can never get too many pictures of baby toes.

A Toad Among the Fairy Princesses

2007-05-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

My friend Kim is not only a great scrapper with a keen eye for decorating - I mean, she has a red front door; how cool is that? - but she has a really cool new blog that's taking off big time. Today'sCreativeBlog is a blog blog in that each day Kim showcases another creative blog of some sort. So far she's touched upon decorating, scrapbooking and photography. Who knows what she'll find next? Each of the blogs she features are inspirational, with lots of photos and plenty of eye candy and ideas.

So far I see two major problems with this. First, checking out all her cool posts is going to seriously cut into my computer time for things like ordering groceries. Second, it's starting to give me a complex about my own scrapping and decorating (ha ha, as if) not to mention this pitiful little blog. I feel like all these other talented ladies are fairy princesses and I'm a big brown bumpy toad.

Seeing as that kind of pressure will only lead to anxiety, and I don't need any of that right now - oy, that's a whole other post - I'll just focus on how cool Kim and her blogs are and encourage you to check them out. I, for one, am definitely stockpiling inspiration for when I'm out of boxes and unpacking mode and decorating and scrapping for real.

On a side note, this marks my 100th post here. Thanks to those of you who have come by and read and commented, or just lurked. Hope it's been worth the click.