So Much to Blog, So Little Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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...

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

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)

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.