Pity Party

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

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

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:

1. 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.
   
2. 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!
   
3. 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.
   
4. 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.
   
5. 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.
   
6. 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

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....

A boy just needs his Frappucino!

This is Getting Excessive

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.
• Shave It. 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

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

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

The Upside

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Cure Autism Now

My cool cousin Sam is taking part in the Los Angeles Cure Autism Now walk tomorrow. God forbid I should actually walk myself. But I want to do more to support Sam than just make a donation on his web page (which I did). So I am entreating my generous and benevolent readers to join me in contributing to this great cause. Autism is on the rise and it remains pretty much a mystery. Imagine sitting in a doctor's office, being told that your child has autism. Now imagine if a cure could be found for this confounding condition. If you haven't blown your charity budget on American Idol, consider clicking here and donating to Cure Autism Now.

Doctors' Orders

Twice this year I've been advised by my doctors, both of whom I greatly respect and admire, to rest more, get more sleep, take some time for myself and (trying to keep a straight face here) and take a day off. From this I can only conclude, sadly, that the problem of crack addiction among our medical community is much, much worse than I ever imagined.

Tagged by Meghan

It appears I've been tagged by the lovely Meghan, who happens to share my birthday. I usually ignore these things but my blogging has been so sparse lately, and guilt is a powerful motivator. Here's what you do:

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birthday. Then list 3 events, 2 important birthdays, 1 death and 1 holiday that occurred on that day. Except for the death part is sad, so maybe I'll do an extra birthday or holiday instead. Let's see how it goes.

Events:

1769 - Father Junipero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first mission in California. The mission later evolves into the city of San Diego. Of course, if you spent 4th grade at any elementary school in California, you already know this, and have the diorama to prove it.

1942 - Holocaust: Rafle du Vel'd'Hiv: The Vichy France government orders French police officers to round up 13,000-20,000 Jews and imprison them in the Winter Velodrome. In 1995, president Jacques Chirac officially recognizes the French police's responsibility. Way to Jacque, and it only took 50 years.

2005 - The sixth book in the popular Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling is released to record sales of 287,564 books per hour in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest selling book in history. And I got my copy shortly after midnight. Thanks, Ray!

Birthdays:
1952 - Stewart Copeland, American drummer (The Police). Incidentally, he and I have a date in June when I have tickets to see The Police play at Dodger Stadium. Wooo hoooo!

1958 - Michael Flatley, Irish-born American dancer ("Lord of the Dance"). I MUST go wrap a shoelace around my head to celebrate.

And here's your bonus birthday. Actually it was a toss-up between

1967 - Will Ferrell, American comedian

and

1965 - Tina Tyler, Canadian porn star

So I'll give you both at no extra charge. No need to thank me.

Holiday:

United States - National Ice Cream Day, as made official by President Ronald Reagan. All my birthday cakes from here on out will be ICE CREAM CAKES. And who ever said Reagan didn't do anything worthwhile in 8 years? Here's proof that he did!

Now, I tag:

1. Kim
2. Beth
3. Jacquie
4. Abby
5. Nik
6. Teri-Lynn
7. Tannaz, who gets a special challenge. All of yours must be food-related.

GO!

Peeking Out From Behind The Boxes To Say Hello

Well, it seems we've survived. We're here, surrounded by boxes and piles of stuff. Almost nothing is where it should be. It's pretty nuts. The first two nights we stayed up past 3 a.m. Thank God the pace seems to be slowing down a little. There's no end in sight to the unpacking, putting away and organizing. Plus we still have some stuff to clear out of the old house. It doesn't help that it's spring break and the kids are completely over being stuck in the house. I have a few little activities planned and hopefully I can also unpack a box or two a day. I hope to be back in full Internet swing soon, browsing and posting and commenting all over the place. Until then I'll be here in spurts...

Not Too Much Going On

The last couple of weeks have been pretty humdrum. Between packing, endless trips to the new house, taking care of the kids (school, activities, award ceremonies, play dates, even baths and meals), a birthday party, and not one but two nights of Passover to celebrate, I hardly noticed when our computer and Ray's car both died on the same morning.

Still, I feel like the end, or at least a major milestone, is in sight. The movers come Friday, ready or not...and the way things are looking, it'll be not. We're so excited to move, and even though the next 3 months will be spent unpacking, getting into a new routine and figuring it all out, we can't wait.

Tomorrow we celebrate Ethan's 4th birthday. It'll be (flourless) chocolate cake and Matzah, but our whole family will be together. He has grown up so much in the last few weeks. Now that potty training seems to be miraculously behind us, he seems so much more mellow and loving. I think over a year of stress was weighing down his little shoulders. I'm really proud of my little guy.

Internet service will be spotty for the next few days. I'll check email when possible but I have no idea when I'll get a chance to post here again. Be seeing you soon and happy Passover to those who are celebrating it!

April 6...

...is our moving day! The house is ready inside: rooms are painted, cabinets have been de-pinked, Container Store closet has been installed (and OMG it's just so cool!!!), we had a very productive weekend (props to Ray's mom who did major childcare) and it's time. The next 10 or so days will be hellish, but I can see the light at the end of the boxes. Wish us luck!

Happy New Year. No, Really!

Today is the beginning of the celebration of Persian New Year, or Norooz, which translates to "new day." Of all the new year celebrations, I think this is the smartest of all, falling as it does at the beginning of spring, when the world is waking up again, blossoms abound and the air is filled with the sound of chirping birds. Seriously, who feels like celebrating when it's -9 degrees outside?

I'd love to tell you all about this holiday, but I'm on my way to go celebrate it at my parents'. Instead, I'll let you read my sister's version of it here. If you read her blog, you'll find links to her and our mom's haftseens, hers funky, mom's traditional. Me, barely being in survival mode this year, have opted to skip the extra work and enjoy the fruits of their labor instead.

Happy New Year to you all. May it be full of love and light.

Progress

Potty Training-The Eagle Has Landed. REPEAT: The Eagle Has Landed!!!! Woo hoo. After much torture, whining, begging, crying, yelling, and discomfort (and not just on the part of the trainee) we seem to be getting somewhere. I'm not saying it's all perfect yet, but we're definitely making progress. THANK GOD. There wasn't a magic moment where it all came together, but I planted the seed by telling him that he couldn't have his 4th birthday party if things didn't improve, that he'd have to stay 3 until he was out of diapers. That got his brain working and I think he's decided that mom is much more fun and happy and his life is much easier when Mommy isn't changing poopy diapers. Here's to more success.

Moving-Although we're making headway, things, as usual, are moving way too slowly for my taste. 90% of the work inside the house is done. Now it's all about getting this house organized, packed, and moved. Life is definitely getting in the way of that; there's always a lot going on and it's impossible to devote big chunks of time to that stuff when 3 kids need your care and attention. Standards must be lowered and time lines extended. That's all there is to it. Otherwise the stress will go up while the productiveness doesn't and we all know that is a recipe for my head exploding.

Letters

I've sadly realized once again that the retail world is going seriously awry without the benefit of my guidance. Therefore, I'm graciously giving my wise input in the following letters:

Dear Target:
You know I love you and you know I can't walk out without spending massive amounts of money in your store. But listen up: you cannot open a new 2-story store in a ritzy mall with a Nordstrom and a Neiman-Marcus and then cut corners in the bathroom. The family bathroom is definitely a nice touch but do not for one minute think that you can get away for one minute without seat covers or paper towels in the women's restroom. Gross. Gross. Gross. Figure out a different place to save money cause this one will not do.

Dear Chuck E. Cheese:
You have managed to actually create a place where annoyed parents willingly go to get headaches and buy bad, overpriced pizza. But this time you've blown it. Target the teenagers with arcade style games if you must. But don't do it at the expense of your littlest customers who want slides, ball-pits and the occasional ride with Barney and Bob the Builder. The little ones are so disappointed to find that their favorite rides and activities are gone and have been replaced with video games and stupid machines that take your token and spit out tickets instantly...only to have the kids rushing back to mom and dad for another token. Maybe, Chuck, you're in cahoots with the gaming industry and are breeding the next generation of slot machine junkies. Maybe you forgot that certain 3 year olds have been known to ride Bob over and over and over, prompting Mommy to spend an entire twenty dollar bill as they say "another money." And maybe it's escaped your attention that most self-respecting teens will not be thrilled to hang out anywhere there's a giant goofy mouse walking around. Don't screw with the little ones and bring back Barney.

Dear Gap Corporation:
I was thrilled when your new concept, Forth and Towne opened at my local mall. Imagine, grown up clothes in a wide range of grown up sizes! Do my eyes deceive me? I was a little concerned by the size of the store (a huge investment in real estate, to be sure) and a little annoyed by the overly chatty saleswomen. But then one brought me a bottle of water, pointed me to some sale stuff (wow, great deals too!) and I forgot all about it. So you can imagine my disappointment this week when I read that you're giving up on the concept and closing one of my favorite stores. Huge bummer for me and the other ladies I've turned on to you. I understand your company is bleeding money and you have to do something drastic. So close Forth and Towne if you must, but for the love of god, increase the size ranges at the Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy, and give me a reason to continue spending with you.

Dear Cheesecake Factory:
You have got to get a clue about service. Just because your food is really good (also expensive) and your decor is lovely doesn't mean that customers will continue to put up with your snooty attitude and bad service. Here are some suggestions:

• When someone calls ahead to get a table, give it to them. They want to spend money at your restaurant and you'd much rather have them doing that than pissing them off by making them wait in your overcrowded lobby from hell.
• Train your dumb teenage hostesses to do their job. They are the first person a customer sees when they come in. Do you really want them looking that vacant? If your hostess doesn't know what to do with a large party, don't make the customer wait 10 minutes while she gets a manager, and then add that customer to the cue after everyone who's walked in for the last 10 minutes.
  
• Don't tell a customer that you'll seat them in a half hour and then make them wait 45 minutes. And once you let them know their table is ready, don't have them hang out in the lobby from hell for another 15 while the hungry kids run and scream and the sleepy baby cries. It was all under control until you called us for a table that still wasn't ready.
• When you've completely screwed up the seating process and have a table full of hungry, angry people, you might inform the server to provide some really great service. Like get the kids their drinks first. Or give them something to eat right away. Or comp them some free appetizers while they read the menu. JUST DO SOMETHING.
  

I usually consider myself as someone who doesn't get angry easily. I try to be patient in restaurants and not give the servers any reason to ahem, augment, my food. I say please and thank you and teach my children to do the same. I do not indiscriminately yell at people. In fact, I never had. But you drove me to it, and I'm not sorry. Do your job, and I'll do mine. Otherwise, the food just isn't worth the hassle.

Dear Craigslist:
I have been intrigued by you for a while but only discovered your true potential a couple of weeks ago when I listed a baby item for sale and sold it in 8 minutes. Amazing! Thinking it would always be like this, I listed more stuff...and it's sat there. Boo! I've been spoiled, admittedly, but it sucks when I actually have to wait for buyers. Today I got another bite so I'm thinking maybe our relationship will work out after all. Let's hope so because there's a lot of stuff I need to get rid of before I can finally move out of my house.

Dear Advil:
If I had a penny left after all the house spending, I would buy stock in whichever genius company makes you. Once again you have come to my rescue and allowed me to continue caring for my family, albeit slightly hunched over and tense, in the midst of a really bad and scary back attack. Please do not forsake me in these busy days of birthday partying and moving and general life and I will continue to sing your praises to all who will listen.