But why?!

Don't buy stuff you can't afford.

I know just who to get this for.

Organized

or - You can’t make me.

A couple weeks ago Chris bought me a Day Planner so that I can be just like him! On top of things. That’s funny on so many levels.

And while cleaning out my purse to make room for this new treasure of efficiency, I found an appointment card for the dentist. (I wasn’t that surprised as I had a nagging suspicion that I was due for a cleaning. But I never wrote the info down on my calendar at work so I was unaware it was this month. Wow, I am unorganized. I do need help) So I dutifully noted the date and time in the calendar section of my new organizer. Chris was so proud.

Also not surprising is the fact that I don’t want to go to the dentist. And I’ve spent every day since then complaining about the appointment and shooting hateful looks at the innocent day timer.

At the store, Chris had encouraged me to get the Weekly layout for the calendar section. But I protested and said that my schedule wasn’t busy enough to warrant that level of detail. And I’m used to seeing my month all laid out at one. So I stuck with the monthly layout for the calendar section. And I knew there would be trouble because the weeks start on Monday. And that is wrong. When I take a quick glance at a calendar, Monday should be the second square from the left. Am I wrong? No. Stubborn? Maybe.

I thought my appointment was today. And because I want to be just like Chris, I opened the day planner before I shoved it back into my purse this morning. Of course Chris had stuck the postcard the dentist office always sends as a reminder in there. So I read it. And it said Tuesday, Dec 19th in big bold letters. Tuesday?! My appointment isn’t until tomorrow?? That’s messing me up. I got ready under the assumption that my appointment was this afternoon. I’m packing floss people.

And now I have to buy the damn weekly inserts for that damn organizer I don’t have the discipline to check on a daily basis. Damn. And that evil Chris is smiling with smug satisfaction right now. I can feel it.

For Chris(tmas)

Charlie Brown Christmas - Performed by the Cast of Scrubs

Buckle up Charlize

Julie the Puppet Master

I just got off the phone with Julie and she’s got me jumping. Again.
I mentioned that my legs were achy and she said I needed to drink Nettle tea. So when I finish this post, I’m off to the health food store. (Last week she had me buying eucalyptus oil for my sore jaw and damn if my jaw isn’t better) And she wants another post. I sure hope she doesn’t decide to abuse this newfound power. I am not sending her money!

So, as I do every Monday morning, I checked my weekly update for week 17. It said the baby was now 5 inches long – about the size of an onion. I forwarded the info to Chris and teased him a bit about onions (I love them and he’s not such a fan. Last week we had an avocado!). But later in the morning I happened to notice the ruler on my desk. 5 inches. That’s pretty big. So I measured my coffee cup and it’s only a hair over 4 ½ inches! And I promptly began to hyperventilate. There is something the size of a coffee cup in my gut!!! All the fruits and the one crustacean were no problem (what the hell is a cumquat anyways?!). But this cup on my desk is huge. No wonder I had to loosen the elastic in my pants this morning.

I happened to be on the phone with Chris at the time and while barely suppressing his amusement he told me to calm down, take a deep breath, etc. My, isn’t he helpful. It’s easy to be calm when you don’t have a matricidal mug growing inside you.

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

Well not really. He needs a new t-shirt.
The one he is wearing is 22 years old!


Go Tigers!

Ante partum depression

You would have thought is was PRE-partum but no. I looked it up.

My in-laws have voiced their concern that I’m not very excited about being pregnant. Well duh.

Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned my desire to lie down in traffic whenever P called to see how I was doing.

Don’t get me wrong – I am happy to be pregnant. I’m thrilled. Really.
It’s just that 3 long months of feeling like total crap made it a little hard to put on my happy face. Within the first month I had outgrown all my pants. Nothing says ‘fun’ like having to go to the mall to buy stretchy pants while feeling faint and nauseous. Good times.
And I am now completely sick of food since I need to eat something every couple hours or I will drop dead. Mention another chicken sandwich to me and I’ll throw a stapler at your head.

So, it is obvious I am not having that “I love being pregnant” experience other women mention with a blissful look in their eyes. Those women… well, I want to kick them in the shin. Hard.

But I’m coming around. Things are getting better now that I’m in my second trimester. I can make brief forays out of the house. I only envision naps in bed. I’ve come to terms with maternity clothing (well, it’s more of a tenuous détente but it’s a start). I am thoroughly enjoying going through the baby name books and shouting out the worst names I can find to poor Chris who is just trying to read his book in peace.

Unfortunately I still don’t have the energy to do the dishes. Sorry baby.

What to do… what to do….

You want a post. I want to read my book – which would normally take a lot less energy on my part. But the book? It's all the way over there. Next to my desk. In my bag. On the floor. And the keyboard? Well, it’s right here under my fingertips. Aren’t you lucky?!

Now…what can I tell you?
I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. And my soon to be replaced doctor sided with Chris and told me that I was in fact not dying! But could he tell me why I have this horrible pain in my jaw? No! Quack.

But it was a quick appointment and I didn’t have to get undressed which pleased me greatly. We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again. Which actually was quite reassuring because once I stopped feeling like absolute crap 24/7 – well, how am I supposed to know that everything is still progressing as it should? I seem to be much more paranoid this time around. Fun for me. I got another lab slip for another blood test. Joy. And I am now pre-registered at the hospital for the big day. So, we can check that off the to-do list.

In First Born news – Kyle decided to join the school band. We are now the proud renters of an Alto Saxophone. It was that or the clarinet. An easy choice cause you gotta admit the sax player in the Muppet Band was one cool dude.



I’m going to get my cello re-strung and a new bow. Then we be jammin’! Wait till you hear our version of Hot Crossed Buns!!

FYI

Just so you know - I will not be posting pictures of my belly on this or any other website. So stop asking!

So, what else has been going on? Not much. But I have been feeling better this week. I even watered my plants. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to spend some time not only out of my chair, but out of the house this weekend!

A girl can dream right?!

Neglect

I know… I know… my plants are dying too.

But really – I’ve got nothing. I haven’t done anything for the last 2 months. You probably think I am exaggerating. I wish. I get up, go to work and sit at my desk, go home and sit in my chair, and then go to bed. It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it is down right depressing. On the weekends I just sit in my chair all day. It sucks.
And I think about posting but I assume you don’t want to hear me whine about how I don’t feel good and none of my clothes fit.

So, what can I tell you? Well, I learned that it talks 20 minutes for the water you just drank to reach your bladder. Yep, your life is more complete now.

I’ve been reading another book about Russia. This one is about Vladimir Putin and it is doing a very nice job of pissing me off! Jerk. I also read Lamb: The Gospel Aaccording to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal. And that book I enjoyed mightily. Laugh out loud funny until the end. I won’t spoil it for you.

And I’m not feeling good right now so I’m off to eat lunch #1.

I want to verse you

It's a classis battle - the brothers Gibb vs. those mop-topped Beatles.























And the winner is:


And two thumbs up to the Sain't for the beautiful flowers!

No – you da ho!

This is our house in Idaho. Nice ain't it?! We've never actually seen the house we just have a couple pictures. Trusting aren’t we? ‘Sure we built your house – here’s a picture. No, you don’t need to come all the way to Idaho; we’ll take care of everything.’ Ok then.
But we make a mortgage payment each month and we receive a rent check from some Property Mgmt Group so yeah, we are Idahoan slumlords. Cool.

I have more to post but I need to upload a couple pictures from my camera first. Hopefully I can maintain this almost human feeling for awhile longer. In the meantime, check out the latest post from the Sain’t on the Heidleberg Project. Very cool. And Paris Hilton is educational – I will now rule at donkey trivia.

.hot dogs.

.hot dogs.
Originally uploaded by tEdGuY49.

Not just 'hot dogs' people - Genie's Wienies!

This is a photo taken by one of my flickr contacts tEdGuY49, who I'm pretty sure was put on this earth to drive around Michigan and take pictures for my enjoyment. Which sounds like as good a reason as any to exist right?

Anyways, yesterday he posted this photo of Genie's Wienies in Detroit and my heart was filled with happiness (which looks like rainbows, unicorns and matches in the shape of hotdogs). But my happiness was short lived. Someone made a comment that there was an article on Genie’s Wieners (it’s just fun to say isn’t it?!) in the Detroit Free Press that day so I looked it up. And now I curse the internet. Genie’s Wienies is closing at 6pm on September 3rd! Sadness fills my heart (see: deserted wasteland with no coneys, chili-fries or matchbooks full of happy hotdogs in sight!). I sent an email to Sain’t to get us some plane tickets right away but I think he is ignoring me.

I had to buy a six-pack of Vernor’s to cheer myself up.

It's a boy!

My old roommate Clem (named changed because it’s funny) and his beautiful wife had a baby boy on Aug 10th, Max. I am so happy for them.
Here he is in the arms of his lovely Aunt Julie.


I met Clem in a painting class at the local college a million years ago. He had a Kurt Vonnegut book sticking out of a Guatemalan bag and I knew he would have to be my friend. Little did I know that Clem was a package deal. I got his whole family! I’ve vacationed with his brother, worked for his father and claimed his sister as my own.

Julie rocks. Look at her! She is the best right-hand man a girl could have. And she wants to cook for you! But she can’t right now because she is moving at the end of the month. Moving sucks. You should send her food. Better yet – send her brownies! Wait. Send me brownies!

What other news have I got? Let’s see…
Sain’t kissed a girl. But he doesn’t want to talk about it, so don’t ask.
Kyle started 4th grade today. He is in desperate need of another haircut. Hippy.
I’m pregnant. I can say that cause nobody is out there.
Chris has 2 boats for sale. You should buy one.

So, not too much going on around here. I could really use some brownies.

How did I get here?

As Sain’t Christopher posted last week – he’s lived in San Francisco for 16 years now. That means that I’ve been in California almost 15 years. Ouch. Remind me sometime to tell you why I hate math.

I got the idea to move to California in 1990 while my aunt from Sacramento was visiting my folks. Hmm…California... Nothing was going on in Detroit so why stay? What cool city is near Sacramento? Hey, I’ll go to San Francisco! Why not?! Sounds like fun.
Surprisingly, the Sain’t didn’t tell me I was nuts for wanting to move across the country on a whim. (At least not to my face) In fact he was going to drive out with me and then fly home – a vacation of sorts. But it didn’t take long for him to decide to move to San Francisco too!
Now you might be inclined to say I am the reason we are both here in CA – but that would be wrong! I didn’t have a plan. I’m not sure what I would have done if left to my own devices. But the Sain’t is an industrious sort and once his decision was made he immediately started doing research - and this was before you could just Google ‘I want to move to San Francisco!’ He did all the leg work. He went out there first and found us a place to live and got a job. 2 weeks after he left, I packed my stuff, said my good-byes and got the hell out of Detroit.

That first move didn’t stick. I was back in Michigan within the month. And for a guy. When I finally left Detroit again in the fall of 1991, we (me and the guy) moved to southern California. Of course me and the guy didn’t last. And I’m not going to list all my moves up and down the state, but I somehow ended up in Sacramento. Imagine that. And the Sain’t has remained right were I left him. So, who can you blame?

Happy Anniversary Christopher. And thanks!

But you are worth the effort

I have been trying to cut back on my caffeine intake this week. I’m sure there was a perfectly good reason for doing this but I’m too tired to remember what it was. I'm too tired to do much of anything.

I’ve wanted to post a new entry all week, but eh, typing. It’s such an effort. Actually I don’t have to worry about the typing; I can’t even organize my scattered thoughts into cohesive sentences.
Hmm, I was able to pull out “cohesive” so maybe all is not lost.

Last Wednesday I took Kyle to the dentist because he cracked a tooth while on vacation. It was a rather pointless trip as the cracked tooth is a baby-tooth that was already loose, but I am one of those concerned and caring mothers so off we went. And it was worth the trip across town just to see the look of newfound respect on the dentist’s face when Kyle told him he cracked his tooth surfing in Malibu. That’s right, Kyle is that cool. So then the dentist gets all excited and asks him what kind of board he was riding etc. Funny.

Of course I volunteered to pop Kyle in the jaw to ‘help’ knock the tooth out. Remember my ‘smack down’ reputation! But I’m afraid I might have light-heartedly offered my services one to many times; I think I saw a CPS van circling the neighborhood last night.

Some people have no sense of humor at all.

Fort Bragg revisited

Aahhh. Another lovely weekend camping in Fort Bragg. This time we stayed in Pomo Campground at the south end of town. And this is good for you because it means we were nowhere near McKerricher State Park – so no repeat ocean shots. In fact, I think I only took one picture of the ocean.
Hmm, what are those 254 photos of anyways?

On Saturday, while Chris was diving, Kyle and I went down to Noyo Harbor and roamed around with the cameras. Kyle was quite pleased to find a bunch of seagulls eating fish heads. Gee, can’t wait to download his photos.


And Sunday morning Kyle and I went to Jug Handle State Reserve. But instead of hitting the beach, we hiked back into the woods in search of the Pygmy Forest. Well, we didn’t make it the 2.5 miles inland to the tiny trees – we should have packed provisions. Maybe I'll sign Kyle up for the Boy Scouts. That boy likes to hike. And one of us should know how to recognize poison oak. It’s just not a skill I learned on the streets of Detroit. The best I can do is to tell him not to touch anything green - ha!


The rest of the weekend was spent at the campground just kickin’ back.


Perfect. And now we are home and no one is itchy so I guess my ‘Don’t touch anything’ strategy worked. Although it could have been the thick layer of dirt that protected Kyle. I’m afraid to look in the bathtub after last night’s bath. I’m sure it will take a big strong man to scrub that ring away. Hi Chris!
Thanks for taking us camping.

The eagle has landed

Kyle is home. He’s very tan and at least 5 inches taller.

Uh...

Well. I’m so tired I can’t think of anything else. Apparently what they say about the elderly is true – you sleep less as you age. And now I officially feel old. After a late night of fun fun fun birthday revelry*, my plan was to sleep in nice and late Sunday morning. Only I couldn’t do it. I tried. But it was not working and I finally admitted defeat and got up with less than the minimum 8 hours of sleep. And then I spent the rest of the day on the verge of a nap. And I don’t do naps. At least young me never did. You’ve seen those old people – the ones who get up at 4:30 in the morning and then nap all day in their rocking chairs? That is going to be me. And I will have officially become my dad when I start falling asleep on the toilet!

Last night I couldn’t sleep at all. I tossed. I turned. I got up at 4:20 and did some yoga. I must have finally fallen asleep because when Chris woke me up to kiss me goodbye - as he does every morning at 6:10am - he’s lucky I didn’t pop him in the nose!

So. I’m tired. And the coffee seems to be broken. And I’m feeling snug from the extended forward folds done in the dark. This must be why a number of old people are so irritable. “Hey! Keep the racket down you whipper-snappers!”

And I mean it!

Cranky Old Lady (formerly elfini)



* I had a lovely birthday dinner on Saturday night. Even the legendary Sain’t was there! Chris and Cynthia prepared the food and it was fabulous. The wine was flowing, the conversation lively and I couldn’t have been happier! And I managed to get one great shot with my new lens


Of course there are more on Flickr. But be kind, it’s going to take some practice to get the hang of the 50mm f/1.8. And I’ll tell you about the experiments with the new Lensbaby after I take a nap under my desk.

What to talk about

I would hate for you to think that I have been reduced to talking about the weather - as if nothing else is going on in my life.
Unfortunately that’s an accurate assessment. It's been too damn hot to do much of anything except sit indoors with the air-conditioning draining your bank account. But I’ve managed to keep busy. The laundry is done. And there is this:



Go there. And when you have finished viewing the last essay, the air will be crisp again and the leaves will be falling...

Sweet Relief

I left the house this morning expecting to walk out into a furnace on pre-heat but instead was hit by a cool delta breeze. Oh my god. I swear I almost wept with joy!

If you didn’t know already, Sacramento and the Central Valley have been in the midst of a hellish heat wave. I think there have been at least 10 heat-related deaths in the last week. And there is nothing funny about that. To make matters worse it's not just hot during the day; it’s been a 24/7 kind of hot. When we got home from Santa Cruz last Sunday it was 93 degrees at 9:30 at night! So wrong.

Ya’ know what else is wrong? Barring this heat wave with it’s round the clock misery; during a typical Sacramento summer, 5pm is the hottest part of the day. Not noon. Not even 2pm. 5pm. Right when you are leaving work and have to pick up the kids, or go grocery shopping, or breath…

But today’s high is only 96! Saturday 93 and Sunday 92!!!

No one should be this excited about 92 degrees.

But it’s older than I’ve ever been!

And it keeps happening to me!

That’s right – it’s going to be my birthday and I’m giving dirt a run for its money. I’m turning 40 on the 30th. That’s this Sunday if you don’t have a calendar handy. You should come by and help me celebrate. To accommodate everyone’s schedules, I have been forced to have a party on both Saturday and Sunday. How I suffer for the people I love. Pick an evening or show up for both celebrations – there will be food, wine, cake (or Bananas Foster if Cynthia really cares) and of course me! What more could you ask for?! Oh don’t worry, the extreme Leo vibes will settle back down to acceptable levels next week.

And to make sure I come back down to terra firma sufficiently, Kyle will be home next week! He’s been visiting relatives in Malibu since the 17th. Yeah, he suffers even more that I do. And please don’t make the erroneous assumption that I miss the little bugger. Cause I don’t. Twitch. I haven’t had to get up early and drive him across town to Summer Camp. Twitch. Haven’t had to stand over him with a stick to get him to brush his teeth. Ok, Chris hasn’t had to do that. But still. Twitch. No Kyle popping up 20 minutes after his bed-time to get another hug. Twitch twitch twitch.

Ahem. Well. Yes. Back to me. I’m having a birthday!
And then Kyle will come home.* And then we’ll go camping again in Fort Bragg. Sounds good.

*Shall we take bets on how many days before I’m annoyed as hell with him again? Hours??

Losing my happy place

Blogger is pissing me off. Again I have a post all ready to go and can't upload any pictures. Ugh.

Can…almost…reach…my…toes….

In most areas of my life I am quite flexible and adaptable. It even says so on my performance review. But every now and then I hit a speed bump in my ‘go with the flow’ attitude. This usually involves someone else rearranging things in a room. And sure, I might end up really liking it the new way – but the initial change causes me great distress. Weird.

I also seem to react out of character when plans are suddenly changed. For example when we decided mere hours ago to go to Santa Cruz this weekend. If you had heard me hesitating you would have thought I was being shipped off to Beirut. Yeah, my husband is so evil, making me spend the weekend at the beach where the high will be 83 degrees instead of staying home indoors all weekend trying to avoid another case of heat stroke because it going to hit 108!

“But you’ll go diving with Trent on Saturday and be gone the whole day! And then you’ll have to clean gear. And you’ll be tired and want to take a nap”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to convince my mom to go shopping. Or you could come with me, take the car, and then cruise around all the galleries in Carmel.”

“Alone?”

Do you want to smack me yet?! I don’t blame you. It’s some form of temporary insanity caused by the sudden switching of gears in my head. My brain tightens up and says 'but you had plans! Only dead fish go with the flow!'
Um, right.
Thankfully with a little time I loosen up and start to think clearly again. I can postpone my hair appointment. And would I really have gotten any painting done this weekend? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t have taken any pictures if we stayed at home. But in Santa Cruz… Oh come on. Now you’re the one whining!!

The Scenic Route Down Mexico Way

“Well, that was a superb meal. I’m so glad you could join us this evening. Would you care for an after-dinner drink? Wonderful. Shall we move to the den?

Oh look, someone left the projector and screen out… Hey! Would you like to see the slides from out vacation?

What?! You have an early meeting? You need to take the babysitter home? Your 12 hour antihistamine just wore off? Well, sure. I understand. Some other time maybe…”

But while you’re putting on your coats, let me show you the highlights. Really, it will only take a minute. ”


We flew to San Diego and then spent the day at the San Diego Zoo.
I didn’t take many photos because Chris and I went last year and I took a picture of every animal in the place! I could pull out that album if you want to take a look – no? Ok. Back to the trip.

Around 5pm we drove to the border and entered Mexico. Kyle, always the drama queen, bemoaned the fact that he was now a ‘foreigner’. My that boy can carry on. We headed west with the border fence on our right and Tijuana on the left. The first thing we learned in Mexico was this handy home security technique: to keep people off your property, cement shards of glass to the top of the wall like this:


I’m thinking of doing this to our back wall at home. They are building a Jr. High right behind our house! But I will keep it classy and only use Merlot and expensive micro-brew beer bottles. I don’t think the city would have a problem with that do you?

Our vacation destination was Chris’s partner’s condo 6 miles south of Rosarito. On the south end of town we were greeted by Jesus Muy Grande:


That Dude was huge! He was lit from below at night and had a blinking light on his head that we could see from our balcony. Very comforting.
And speaking of our balcony, here is the view from my side of the bed:


Not a bad way to start the day eh?!
Here is the view to the south:


And the north:


And here is Chris doing his impersonation of Michael Jackson and trying to dangle Kyle over the balcony:


Funny.
And what about this- There was a circus in town and as we drove through Rosarito one morning we saw the animals walking down the street.


Was it an actual parade? Were they just exercising the animals? Is so, the lions in the cage-on-wheels didn’t seem to be benefiting much. They were the carnivore caboose.
In contrast was this lazy herd of cows


We found this door in a building that had a café and half a dozen artist studios. Here is the top of the door:

Postus Interuptus

Sorry about the interuption. Here is the rest of the door.


And here is one of my favorite signs!


Sounds like my kind of place (wink wink nudge nudge)

And while I fawned over all the Frida Kahlo items I saw in the shops, I'm not clear about her affiliation with this dental office.


And since I am a fount of interesting information, I can tell you that the hand earring she is wearing in that painting was a gift from Pablo Picasso. Neat huh?!

So... when we weren’t going into all the funky little shops and art galleries


or riding ATV’s on the beach


or visiting Ensenada for a day


We slept in, ate great food, played many games of Life, and of course there was a lot of this:


Some things never change. And Cartoon Network would be one of them.

One Year Anniversary

Pointing to a yellow t-shirt at the bottom of the drawer, a t-shirt so bright it out-shines the sun.

Chris: “Should I wear this? I would be safe in intersections.”

Me: “Sure. Because I’ll be pushing you into intersections!”

¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?

I’m back! And after 6 days on non-stop Kyle, I can’t even begin to express how pleased I am to be back at work. Who would guess that this is my happy place?! And you would probably assume that after missing 4 days of work I would be spending several more days just playing catch-up. But you would be wrong. It’s 10:30 and I’m done. And that includes entering the expense report data, talking to the Saint, and catching up on all the snark at Go Fug Yourself. This means I’ll have the rest of the week to compose my epic Mexico post. ¡Con fotografias!

Hasta luego.

A picture is worth a thousand words

We had a lovely time in Santa Cruz this past weekend. Not only did we get to see Chris’s folks, but also his aunt and uncle, cousin and her family and then some. We spent both afternoons at the beach. Kyle got a new skim board and Chris’ dad was the last to get out of the water on Saturday. And of course we ate too much. The only thing that wasn’t perfect was the fact that both Chris and I had to work on Monday. Oh well, I can’t complain – we are leaving tomorrow for 5 days south of the border.

¿Dónde está el baño? Ok, I’m ready.

I’ve been spending most of my time on Flickr this past week. In addition to adding photos; I started to explore. Wow. You better have a jumbo bag of breadcrumbs and a hydration system because you could get lost out there. I’ve added favorites, made contacts and joined a few groups. I found this guy in Detroit and somehow has access to abandoned buildings! Oh the beauty of urban sprawl. I told Chris that these were the pictures I wanted to be taking. I think I mentioned that I was getting a bit burned out on taking ocean shots. My surrounding weren’t inspiring me and I was feeling frustrated. And then I found the Utata group. They have projects and I am so excited about them. In addition to weekend projects there are the Iron Photographer Projects. They give you 3 elements that you need to include in the shot. The latest elements for IP-06 are 1- round object, 2 – shot through a window, and 3- the color red. So, while walking around the block I found this.
I am quite pleased with the photos I took this weekend. Santa Cruz sprawl will just have to do. Before we left on Sunday afternoon, Kyle and I went for a walk and let him use my old camera. He took some great shots. I’ll try to post some when we get back.

And the 4th was a blast - HA! No pictures, but a wonderful dinner with Cynthia - thanks again chickie! Let's climb next weekend. And then have abalone. And more Bananas Foster!! Damn, that girl can cook.

Have a great week. I’ll be taking more pictures, nursing Coronas and trying not to get burned.

Stick it to the man

Or – The beginning of the end…

Last night I bought Kyle his first stick of deodorant.
We stood there blocking the aisle while he sniff-tested a dozen different scents after I had narrowed the choices down to a couple brands. He was so pleased. He won’t even let them bag it with the rest of the groceries; he carried it all the way home.

So, there on the bathroom sink, next to his toothbrush and his retainer, sits a stick of Right Guard Fresh.

How did this happen? Where did my baby go?
Now it’s all pre-teenage attitude, eye-rolling, and deodorant. What’s next? Pimple-cream? Gah.

This morning he was telling me how the majority of people mispronounce Johann Sebastian Bach’s last name. He even has opinions about the president and the war in Iraq. WTF? I probably didn’t even know who the president was when I was 9.

At least I can still give him a hug and peck on the check every morning - in front of everyone!

For now.



I was going to post a baby picture, but then I found this one of Kyle and his kindergarten teacher. Ha! Do you still doubt that he has three sixes on his head?

It's all for you Damien!

A quickie - I came, I saw, I went home

Or – Do you rent your rooms by the hour?

Now, I don’t want to turn this into a what I did this weekend play by play kind of blog. But, if the last thing I mentioned was that I was meeting an old friend at a hotel – well, I can’t really leave ya hangin’ can I?!

I could. But karma baby.

I met up with the Sain’t after work at the Super 8 Deluxe in Dixon. Deluxe meaning the hallways were inside. I can’t comment on the rooms because we didn’t get any. Christopher was unable to stay so we never left the lobby. We chatted for a couple hours and then he got the call and had to leave. Lets classify it as a family emergency and leave it at that. It was great to see him but 2 hours was not enough time. We never even got to the beer. And worst of all – no pictures.

I ended up back at home by 7:30 and in an off mood. Christopher had given me the first two volumes of the Lucifer series by Vertigo – a spin off from the Sandman by Neil Gaiman. He had already sent me the first few issues a couple years ago when I was still living in the apartment. At that time I thought they were ok but eh. And I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to start reading them while teetering on the edge of a funk. But I'm a devil-may-care kind of gal (HA) and well, I had the time. I guess I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind back then, because I’m totally enjoying them now. In fact I went to Borders on Saturday night and purchased Vol. 3.

So, after a lovely Saturday hanging out with Cynthia, I spent the rest of the weekend alone, reading graphic novels and John Irving, painting, and watching Amadeus with the volume cranked. I don’t think that has affected my psyche at all. I feel fine.

Thank god Chris is coming home tonight.

Meet me at that seedy motel down the road

I am going to see the Sain’t tonight! It has been over a year since we’ve hung out together. But as I’ve said before – I’m not bitter.

-Oh wait! Yes I am! I just got off the phone with this so called Sain’t and found out that he is NOT current in regards to reading this blog!!! He hasn’t read it in over a week! And the post about Irving was aimed expressly at him. Who else would get it?! Boy, he had better throw a few more gifts in his car.

Sorry. Where was I? Oh yes, Sain’t missed my wedding last summer (don’t worry, the migraine card will always work with me) and we haven’t been able to coordinate a day to get together since. It really shouldn’t be that hard, we only live a couple hours apart. But you know - life – it can get in the way sometimes. So, after a couple aborted plans for him to visit earlier this month, this weekend we were both free. And I am really free – maybe to free. Chris is gone on his annual So Cal free-diving trip and Kyle is at his dad’s. After tonight, I don’t know what I’m going to do for the rest of the weekend. What I do know is that whatever I end up doing it will be indoors. It’s going to hit 110 degrees this weekend. We won’t see the 90s again until late next week. Oh god, I am so doomed.

Back to the plans. Originally I was going to drive to San Francisco on Saturday and come back Sunday morning. Sounded good. I haven’t been to the city in ages and was looking forward to spending some time in a nice metropolitan setting for a change. But due to technical difficulties, we decided yesterday to just meet somewhere in the middle. After all the whole point was to hang out together and this would be the easiest way to do that. The half-way point seemed to be Vacaville but the Super 8 there was sold out so we are now meeting at the Super 8 in Dixon – which is even closer for me. No complaints here. And it just wouldn’t be right for 2 ex-Detroiters to reunite at a Marriott or some other nice hotel with an indoor hallway.

So, we’ll get some dinner (probably in Davis where all the college kids will make us feel old) and then hang poolside and drink some of Sain’t homemade beer. Perfect. All problems solved. I’m not crashing at his place (remember Chris hasn’t even met him yet) and he’s not staying at our house (good for him since he’s allergic to cats and we only have the one but she’s fat enough for two) and neither of us has to play host. And the fact that we are meeting at a seedy hotel – well, that doesn’t look bad does it?!

And I know that Sain’t is bringing me some books to read. What he doesn’t know is that I am making him a present. (No, I’m not worried about spoiling the surprise – we now know he’s not reading this!) I was able to dig out my old box of pictures and letters in the garage last night and I’m bringing a nice selection of photos from our past for us to laugh at. But the real prize is the stack of letters and short stories he sent me. I’m not going to give him the originals (I might need them as evidence someday) but I am making copies for him. Which isn’t the easiest task since I don’t want to separate the continuous sheets of printer paper from his very first computer! Boy does that age us. And the double sided pages ripped from a spiral notebook? They don’t go through the auto-feeder on the copier. Oh well, its worth it because he is going to crap when he reads some of this stuff. There are some real gems in there. And you should see the stationary!

Shit we were young once. Long long ago.

Recon Mission II - Consumnes River Gorge

Yesterday we went to Consumnes River Gorge to go climbing. We found the top-rope Field Guide at REI Friday night and discovered that there were quite a few easy routes for a beginner like me. It's only an hour away and we could pick up Kyle from his dad's on the way back. Perfect. We have a new rope and Chris re-strung his gear Saturday night. We were ready.

To quote Dickens: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
It went like this: Sunday morning - got up, got coffee and got going. Drove out past Diamond Springs and parked on the side of the road. Pulled on the backpacks and started down the path. And I mean down the path. We were going to the Consumnes River Gorge. Gorge...hmm...hadn't really thought about what that meant. So, we started on the rim and had to hike downhill to the river. Oh. My knees have issues with downhill. Luckily I didn’t end up needing the brace. After some time on the dusty path we hit granite and could hear the river. Scrambling over and around boulders, we found the first climbing area. Now the actual routes looked pretty good - plenty of knobs in addition to all the cracks - but the base of the routes was a smooth slab of granite that slopped down towards the rocks and river below. Kinda sketchy. I didn’t feel comfortable belaying Chris on a hill and he must have not liked the idea either since we quickly decided to move on and check the other formations. We hiked to the other side of the rocks and we came upon some climbers. Chris and the climber guy roamed around a bit scoping out the other routes. Unfortunately by this time the sun was having its way with me and crack climbing on the hot granite in a spot with no shade didn't sound that appealing. We decided to call it a "had a nice hike" day and head on out of there. Well, if my knees where unhappy with the downhill part of the hike, think about how my heart and lungs felt going uphill! And let's not forget the scorching sun! Can you say heat stroke?!
I think you can. And I did. Repeatedly. From the time we got home until I got up this morning. But all I could actually do was groan and whimper a bit. There was no articulating that I was felled by the heat and sun and now in the throws of a migraine and would it be better for you if I went to the bathroom down the hall to throw up?!
Happy Father's Day Chris. Thanks for going and getting Kyle for me. And then feeding and bathing him and getting him to bed. You rocked while I just rolled from side to side, trying not to die too loudly.

But I want to go back and try again. In October. When it’s not over 90 degrees in the shade. And because I care and don't want you to be disappointed that I took no photos - you can go here or here to see pictures of other people climbing at Consumnes. From my comfy seat, here at my desk, in this nice air conditioned office, it really does looking like fun climbing! But all future summer activities will be in Tahoe -where it is usually 20 degrees cooler.

And it is suppose to hit the 100’s by Wednesday. Not good.
11 more days until we're back in Santa Cruz!

TA-DA!!

It is with great pride and severe carpel tunnel that I present you with….

The Throw!

Yes, it is finally finished. I did a happy dance and burned my knitting needles in victory! Believe me when I say that this baby is one of a kind.

Unless it is like childbirth - where after several years of snuggling under its warmth and fading softness, you have blissfully forgotten the pain and suffering you went through to make it, and you foolishly decide you want another one. One that is fresh and new!

Well, if that happens I want you to drag my ass up to the laundry room, shove the damn thing -the throw, not my ass- into the washing machine (on gentle, cold water, with just a touch of Woolite please) and then hit me over the head repeatedly with that iron I never use. And don’t tell me you can’t find the iron – it’s up on the shelf. Keep looking... There - behind the dusty bottle of Mop’n’Glow and the dried-up sponge.

Take a break Driver Eight

Last month someone (Hi E!) mentioned that I am thinking too much.
–hey, be nice –
And it's true. I have been a bit too much “in my head” for awhile now. Just look at what I’ve been reading this past year!

It started out innocently enough with a nice 614 page book on evolution and genetics: The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins
And then came the physics books:
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality – Brian Greene (I need to finish this one which means starting again from the beginning. Some other time.)
Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang – Marcel Gleiser (a hand-held walk through the history of cosmology - very easy to understand science)
The Universive in a Nutshell – Stephen Hawking (this hurt my head)
Then a slight shift to social and then political science:
Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World – Mark Kurlansky (surprisingly entertaining)
From Beirut to Jerusalem – Thomas Friedman (great book that unfortunately started my obsession with the news)
The Assassin’s Gate; America in Iraq – George Packer (this one had me banging my head against the wall)
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century – T. Friedman
And what was that about? Economics?! What the hell am I doing?

Well, the first thing I did in my bid for balance was to stop paying such close attention to the news. Of course I still listen to NPR in the car, but I try not to get too sucked in to current events – especially the Middle East! I just can’t keep up and it’s not good for me when I try. I know for a fact the Chris doesn’t like it when I start raving about rivers of blood. So, I’m totally wasting the $50 I paid for an on-line subscription to the New York Times, but I’m sleeping better at night.

The next book I was going to read was Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond, but I just couldn’t do it.
I was in desperate need of fiction!
Remembering a story I heard on NPR, I picked up Absurdistan: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart. A novel?! (Novels…hmmm…those are fiction right? It’s been so long.) It was a diminutive first step in the general direction of light and fluffy. And it was wonderful! A blend of Nikolai Gogol (oh how I love those crazy Russian writers) and The Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy – fun for me!

(And while looking up these 2 books on Amazon I found them both on someone’s “Listmania – Books You Should Have Already Read” reading list. A very interesting collection of books that I'm going look at again later.)

But the real homecoming is that I am now reading John Irving!
It almost doesn’t even matter which Irving it is because by the second page all was right with the world (It’s Until I Find You). I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. But don’t worry; I am well aware that by the time I get through the 800+ pages I will have been kicked in the gut at least twice! That’s just Irving. At least I’m not ready Flannery O’Connor! And I am painfully aware that Irving is never "light and fluffy" (Owen Meany anyone?), but this is how good it is - I started the book 2 days ago at the gym, and both days I didn’t look up once during the 30 minutes I was on the stationary bike. The other books were set down for at least half of that time. Yesterday I was just pedaling away until I finally noticed that it seemed far too easy. Looking up I realized my session was over. How long had it been over? Who knows?! Today I’m setting the bike for 40 minutes!

Seeing spots

Santa Cruz was wonderful as always. We finally timed things so that we had Kyle with us when Chris’ folks were there. They hadn’t seen Kyle since Christmas. Lucky bastards.

Oh come on, I'm kidding.
But because of Kyle, P baked chocolate chip cookies. She was pulling them out of the oven as we stepped in the door Friday night.
I love my mother-in-law but she is obviously trying to kill me!
Who can resist warm cookies?! And let’s not even discuss the apple strudel birthday cake we had for Mr.B on Saturday night – good gravy that thing weighed more that Kyle!!

The ocean conditions were just bad enough (poor visibility) that Chris didn’t go diving – sad for him but nice for the rest of us. So after a slow start on Saturday morning (I was fighting another damn headache) we were on our way to Carmel with Kyle and his new wetsuit. We met up with friends and took the boys to the beach. It was overcast and a bit chilly but when has that stopped a kid from playing in the water until they can’t feel their hands anymore. And those lips – what a lovely shade of blue! We got back to Santa Cruz in time for Saturday night pasta and that evil cake. Sunday morning after a fabulous breakfast (quiche from the Farm, fresh fruit and scones), we slid Kyle into his wetsuit and Chris’ dad took him boogie boarding while Chris and I went shopping for a couple hours. Kyle had a blast but was so wiped out he slept most of the way home. Sure, the drive was peaceful but getting him to bed that night? Not fun. Next time we poke him with sharp sticks all the way home.

And unfortunately the dust spot fix didn’t happen as planned. Apparently it wasn’t a job the shop owner could do. I would have had to leave my camera there for 3 days. Not in Santa Cruz my friend – we won’t be back until next month! I ended up taking only 28 pictures over the weekend. I’m not sure if it was because of the dust specks and all the editing I just did, or the overcast sky but I just wasn’t in the mood to take pictures. I’m also a bit burned out on the ocean shots. I had my camera with me as we strolled around downtown Santa Cruz but nothing really caught my eye. Even Umbrella Man didn’t prompt me to pull out my camera. So, only 14 new photos on Flickr.

Hey! I heard that sigh of relief! Don’t get too happy – I’m taking my camera to the shop today at lunch.

Brethren

As we walked along the bluff the first day in Ft Bragg, Kyle decided he was a flying squirrel. (Don’t ask because I don’t know) But, much like Icarus, Kyle’s attempts at flying ending in a resounding splat.
Behold!


When we spotted a couple squirrels in the brush and pointed them out to Kyle, he yelled “Brethren!” Again, I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff. But that boy is funny – and I’m not just talking about his hair.

We are going to Santa Cruz this weekend. Life is rough eh? But don’t worry; you are going to have a fun filled weekend too! You’re gonna need 2 whole days to look through the promised set of photos on Flickr. Enjoy!

It's been so long...

Don’t worry. I haven’t abandoned you. It’s just that I am still working on that batch of photos from Fort Bragg. It appears that I have dust on my camera sensor resulting in the need to edit almost every picture! So, I will be making a visit to the camera shop this weekend for a quick lesson on cleaning the sensor. Because all this editing is killing me.

As for my life outside of Photoshop, well, there’s not much to tell. We had a nice, mellow, Kyle-free weekend (it was also Sain't-free but I'm not bitter). And while Chris was productively working on projects around the house, I was making sure the couch didn’t float away. Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Still, I never got around to working on my painting and I certainly had plenty of time. Oh well, I’m going to blame the dust specks for sucking all the creative energy right out of me.

And now I've gotta go. Those pictures aren't going to edit themselves ya'know. But here is a speck-free sneak preview to keep you going during these trying times.

Looks like we made it

The rumors are true – we survived our grand adventure (even Kyle lived to tell the tale) and are now getting back into the swing of things at home. Like feeding the cat. I would love to tell you all about our trip – the waffles, the hiking along the bluffs, the beaches and the tide pools, the cacophonous sounds of a dozen men beating abalone. But I can’t right now. Too busy. To busy sorting and editing 339 photographs! Yes – 339. We had to buy another memory card when I realized my 1GB card was almost full by Saturday afternoon. Soon I will have a slimmed down set uploaded to Flickr for your viewing enjoyment.

In the meantime, click the comments link below and tell me about your weekend.

Patience is a virtue my arse

I have been waiting for this Peace Lily to bloom for 3 years now. And finally it's happened. Just in time for me to leave for 4 days. Where is Alanis Morissette when you need her?

Oh well. We are packed and leaving this afternoon. Kyle's behavior has not noticably improved during the week. Pray for us - it's a 4 hour drive.

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend!

Holy Backbends Batman!

I’ve said it before and I'll say it again - Yoga cures what ails you. And if you are suffering from afternoon ennui, it’s yogabeans! to the rescue!

And just as if you were at class, warm up with Suryanamaskar A and proceed through the series in an orderly fashion.

I’m going to go practice a post-prandial savasana* in the conference room.

Enjoy!


* Loosely translated - that's an after lunch nap

Maiden Voyage

We are going camping in Fort Bragg for Memorial Day weekend!

This will be the first time we’ve:
1. used our pop-up trailer
2. towed anything with the Highlander
3. taken the Highlander on a road trip
4. gone to the dive club’s Memorial Weekend event
5. stayed at this campground
6. gone camping with Kyle*

That is a whole lot of unknowns. Needless to say, we are in “list” mode and did lots of shopping this past weekend. I picked up a new duffle bag so that I will have plenty of room for numerous jackets and a pair of shoes for every condition imaginable.

* I haven’t camped with Kyle in over 4 years; and this will be the first time Chris, Kyle and I have camped together as a family. I wouldn’t be worried about this except Kyle has had an awful attitude the last couple days. We are not too happy with him right now. Hopefully he’ll get his act together by Friday or it’s gonna be a long weekend – and not in the good way.

But even with lippy boy, I am so excited to get back to the north coast!
I’m happy anywhere on the coast but Ft Bragg has WMDs! (Aloha Waffles at Café 1) And MacKerricher State Beach - which has fantastic tide pools for Kyle and I to check out while Chris is diving. And one night we’ll have dinner at the North Coast Brewing Co. where I
ll try to finish my Red Seal Ale this time.

And let’s not forget the abalone! Who want to come over for dinner in 2 weeks?

Mixed messages

Kyle made a book for me at school last week - Memories of Mom. Apparently each day there was a theme such as what makes your mom special, happy, etc. And they drew pictures. How very charming.

Although CPS might not think so.
I am sharing Kyle's memories with you because frankly I'm a little concerned. Things start out well enough...


My mom is special because she is a great artist. She sketched a wonderful picture of me. She has done so many very pretty painting. My mom is the best artist. That's why my mom is special.

Wow. I can't find any fault with that. Nicely said Kyle.



My mom is happy when she is at the mall. I remember when my mom was happy at the mall because she was shopping. She looks at everything. I hate the mall. Thats why mom is happy.

Ok. That seems a bit over the top. I don’t like shopping that much. Although I do like the looks of that little green purse. And is that a squirrel?



I remember a funny time with my mom. Once when I went to give her a hug she stretched and her hand hit me on the face. We hugged, then talked about my soreness. Then we laughed and I left. That was a funny time.

WTF? That's his fun memory of me??
But I am laughing again as I type so I guess that works.



My mom always says "Clean your room!" She says that because it's a mess. She says this so much it's scary. I listen to her because I have to. It annoys me so much I scream.

Oh.My.God. What kind of mother am I?! Look at that huge finger pointing at him! I think I would be more disturbed if he wasn't so damn funny.



Thanks mom for all that you do. You help with reading and you take me on vacation. Thanks for everything that you do like make dinner and buy food and drive me to school. You do lots of stuff for me thanks.

He likes me. He really likes me!
Unless Chris is around and then I am dead to him.



Meanest Mom Ever! I've still got it.
I think I'll use this as the content of the "About Me" section.

And I am definitely going to use the smack-down drawing as my profile picture!

Elfini - all about the peace, love, and cheerios...
and eager to knock your block off!

This is not a knit blog*

I have been fighting a migraine for 2 days now. I think I’m in the clear, but I’m trying to be very small just in case. And I normally wouldn’t mention a knitting project but I think it might be contributing to the current tightness across my back and shoulders, which increases the probability of developing another migraine.

Last spring I started knitting an afghan for Chris. We were sitting in Borders flipping through magazines one innocent afternoon. Chris had a stack of boating magazines and I was looking at an issue of Knit It - a collaboration between Better Homes and Gardens and Lion Brand Yarn. Oh yes, it is bad. Full of ponchos and vests made with fun fur. Horrible stuff. Except for one pattern - a throw which wasn’t ugly at all. A geometric square within a square pattern that is sure to appeal to anyone with an engineering degree. And suddenly there I was, agreeing to knit this for Chris’ birthday. Ok then. One year and 2 birthdays later, I’ve got the 20 mitered squares completed. And last Saturday I spent the afternoon hunched over, stitching them all together. Yesterday I started the border, picking up 127 stitches off a 48” edge on 29” circular needles! Did I mention that the temperature here has hit the mid-90s? Did I mention that this thing is wool?! I think it’s time to retire the knitting again for the summer. So close...sorry Chris.


*Please sing to the tune of ‘(This is Not a) Love Song’ by Public Image Ltd.
And to change gears, I’ll tell you about the time the Dragon and I met Johnny Rotten. It was long ago in a far away land… Fine. It was 1986 in Detroit. And we had tickets to see PIL at the Royal Oak Music Theatre. (It helps the story for you to know that the night before the concert we heard Johnny Lydon baggin’ on Ted Nugent during a radio interview.) So, at the show’s after-party at St Andrew’s Hall, Amir had people queue up to meet the infamous Johnny Rotten. We snaked through the room while Johnny sat in a high back chair swigging tequila and spitting on the floor. As we slowly filed past, the Dragon says “so, I hear you’re gonna jam with Ted Nugent…” and Johnny hisses “Fuck that!” and flips us off!

Ahh the memories…
(Dates and locations verified by the Sain’t. ‘Cause the memories aren’t only warm – they’re fuzzy!)

Public Service Announcement

Even though I can think of several exceptions, this is sage advice.


On the weekends that Kyle is with his father, Chris and I get to shop* as often and as long as we want without whining or complaints (unless I’ve made a poor shoe choice). Sometimes we have a list and other times it’s just to walk around after a nice dinner (another treat saved for alternating weekends). And on lazy Sunday mornings, after sitting in front of Starbucks with our coffees and pastries**, we will go roam the aisles of Home Depot.
I love hardware stores. And I’m pretty sure hardware stores love me back because I have been given a gift. I am a hardware store savant.
I can find anything in a hardware store – even when I don’t know what it is that we’re looking for!
“What? A chamfering router bit? Follow me; I think they’re over here.”
My spidey-senses start to tingle, I turn, point and voila!
“Is this the 1/2in Barb Coupling you were looking for?”
Scanning the list-
“Hold on, we passed the extension adapters 2 aisles back!”
It’s really quite amazing.

But the hardware store doesn’t have everything. This weekend I would like to go here for one of these.


* No- that is not code!

** We have a great location for people watching – next to a Sun City senior development and a rodeo. You get cowboys and golf carts careening through the parking lot. It’s fun for the whole family.

It’s that time of year again

Mother’s Day.

Each year, somewhere between the endless commercials for diamonds and the inevitable plaster cast of my son’s growing hand, I start to think about moms. My moms. Or should I say my lack of moms.
Oh yes, I have issues.
I was adopted at birth which quickly takes me from mom #1 to mom #2. (Remind me someday to tell you my theory on why Ted Nugent owes me money). Mom #2 was a fine mom; a leader of Brownie troops, a maker of costumes, and singer of lullabies. But in my first year of Jr. High as I started to need her for more that just bandaging skinned knees, she got sick. She passed away 2 years later when I was in 9th grade.
Not good.
10th grade brought mom #3; a stranger at the time who has now been my step-mom for over 20 years. When mom #3 married my dad, her children were already in their 20’s and she wasn’t really interested in raising any more kids. So my younger brother and I were still basically on our own. And even though we have developed a loving relationship over the years there is still something missing - she’s not “mom”. It was too late, too soon, too forced, for us to forge that kind of bond. And I know I have missed out on something great.

So go kiss your mom – because I bet she still has every one of those handprints you made for her. They are more precious than diamonds or gold.

Mommy Yoga - get yours today!

Check this out - Julie's new book is the latest craving at the Mommy Times. Very cool. Buy two. Even better - buy three! Share the joy!

Too much good stuff

Hey, do me a favor – remind me to do a headstand every Friday afternoon because all that joy and happiness lasted the entire weekend – even through the car buying process!

In lieu of climbing Friday, Chris and I went out for burgers and then hit the REI sale – a fine way to end a busy week. Saturday morning we went to the dive shop to send Chris’ watch in for repairs. And since Dolphin was also having a big sale we ran into several friends from the dive club and that is always nice. And Holger told me about another camera store in the area! Poor Chris.
After lunch we spent a couple relatively pain-free hours at the car dealership and drove home in my new Highlander. Then we had Sharon and Cynthia over for Chris's famous macadamia nut encrusted abalone. He also made fish tacos with the cabezon he shot last week. Fantastic! We had a great time. Thanks again for salad, sorbet and the lively conversation ladies - I think Chris only blushed once!
Sunday was the day of “finally”s – I finally started working on a new painting and we finally went to the climbing gym. Both felt great!

Then we picked up Kyle. I think we need to stand him on his head!

Turn that frown upside-down!

Well. After a nice long headstand in the conference room, I could already feel my mood shifting. The yoga works people – go do some! Add some fresh air, food and a bit of retail therapy and life is all rainbows and unicorns again.

Inner turmoil

Yesterday afternoon I started a post about Kyle’s haircut being rescheduled and the tortuous path of bad haircuts that lead me to start taking him to my stylist at the swanky salon across town. I even had pictures.
And while I couldn’t sleep last night I contemplated writing a post on the subject of the strange pre-purchase fear (usually reserved to buying airline tickets) I started to feel due to the fact that we might be getting the Highlander tomorrow!

But all of that went crashing out the window this morning when I developed a seething rage directed at Kyle’s father whom we affectionately call Stuppetto. I’m not going to go into details – suffice it to say that it has left me in a foul mood with nothing nice to say.

I think I'll go stand on my head for awhile.

On a silver platter

Sain’t called last night. I had finally sent him a link to the blog with the comment that I am not old enough to be Andy Gibb’s mother. He thinks Kyle looks like Bobby Brady in the last season. I can see that.

But then there was this:

Elfini: After climbing yesterday, Cynthia mentioned that Kyle looks like me.
No one ever says that!

Sain’t: Oh yeah Kyle looks like you.
We don’t say anything so that we don’t hurt his feelings.


…


Damn.

Get a haircut and get a real job

I am all for letting your freak flag fly but this is border-line Bee-Gee hair and it's gotta go!

When I started this post last Friday I was going to question the fullness of the moon and the alignment of the planets because Kyle had been exceedingly affectionate all week. Not only were there many hugs and declarations of love - he would even hold my hand walking to and from the car at school. Strange days indeed.
But I’m afraid one Sunday of him and I without the buffer of Chris has turned the tides. When I pick him up from school today I will have to remind him that his lippy attitude last night got him grounded - for 2 days! Lead balloon anyone?
And to make sure I retain the title of Meanest Mom Ever on Wednesday I am taking him to get his hair cut and then to the dentist!

Keep smiling pretty boy...

It ain't easy being green

I think my brain is eating itself.
Soon I will get a new car. A car with a higher egress. And more umpf – a V6 for my inner Motor-City self. A car that will be agreeable until I can get my hands on a Quattroporte (Don’t give me that look - it's a "mom" car. Read the Italian, it's got 4 doors!)
After much research, I decided upon a Toyota Highlander. We couldn’t swing the extra 10k for the Hybrid version and I had made my peace with that. All that was left to do was pick a color and wait for the tax return. Nothing more to think about…la de da…

Really?! You thought that was the end of the story too? Oh no, what fun would that be? Last week we found out that our friends had bought a new Ford Escape.The Hybrid! For the same cost as my pretty Highlander Limited. Damn.
And you should have heard the praises being rained down upon that car! It was obviously god’s gift to all those who care about this planet. Well. That is all fine and good but I don’t like the Escape. It is smaller and the interior isn’t nearly as nice. It’s a Ford. Don’t tell me about the gas mileage - I don’t want to know! I want a Highlander.

And then something strange happened. All the Highlanders I would see started to look wrong. 10 inches too long wrong. What the hell is up with that? And when discussing the subject I would mistakenly say Hybrid when I meant Highlander. Could I really be happy in an Escape? Could I still be happy getting into my Highlander everyday knowing that I wasn’t getting 33 mpg? Would I be a bad person by not getting the hybrid? It was getting heavy…’who am I?’ heavy. As Chris noted one night – I was guilting myself into the Escape.

Then last night I found a glimmer of hope in the form of the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue. Maybe I won’t drive myself crazy over what to drive. The reviews and rating for the Escape – not so good. Safety first people. And the article about Hybrid Hype – salve for the guilt-ridden soul. Apparently you can expect to pay around an extra $5-10,000 in extra-costs with a hybrid over the first five years! And depending on the vehicle, the fuel savings isn’t always that great. So…the Highlander…lookin’ good.
I'm thinking red...

Been there - saw 1/3 of that

Chris took me on a reconnaissance mission to Yosemite National Park this past Saturday. I had never been but Chris practically lived there during his college years. (He said he took a light enough course load to be able to get all his work done during the week so he could go climbing every weekend. I guess that is how you can end up at 40 without ever having been to a concert - a fact that still boggles my mind!)
We spent the day cruising around the valley; Chris pointing out all the routes he’s climbed (and ledges he’s slept on!) and the routes he’ll take me on this summer. Right…
The valley was socked in with fog so the top 1/2 of El Capitan and the other peaks were hidden. You couldn’t see Half Dome at all. So I didn’t get the full effect of 3,000 foot walls - and I'm ok with that because the next time we go we'll have our climging gear with us. Let's not think about that. La la la - I have a pretty skirt!

And this was the only spot of blue we saw all day.








There might not have been blue skies but the lush greens and the fine ass I followed around more than made up for it!