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!

All vision and no voice

I may have made a mistake when I decided to jump on the blog-wagon. I don't think this is good for my mental health.

I have until now easily resisted those occasional urges to start my own blog. I had a hard enough time just bringing myself to post comments on Sain't Christopher's blog (Happy Birthday Sain't!). It is just so much easier to call him than to think up some clever comment that the whole world might read. Who needs that kind of pressure?!

But then Julie told me about her new blog. And damn that Julie - always encouraging me. Rah Rah Rah. So here I am. Slowly driving myself crazy.

(I'm thinking about calling her a name right now. And it's not a nice name. I would ring her at home but she's in Spain! Hmm - there's that name again)

When I finally set up my account I had a vision of what I wanted the page to look like. Of course Blogger tells you that it is oh so simple to change the look of a template. But they lied. And now I am up to my aching eyeballs in code. Code! I certainly didn't want to have to teach myself code. And yet that is exactly how I've spent the last couple days. And I know how this story ends. I'm going to have a page that pleases me and absolutely nothing to say.

My head hurts.

But I'll be enjoying the scenic route all the way to Belleview.

Look - there's the cliff!