Oh, it’s a look all right

And we have not yet begun to embarrass you little girl. Or ourselves.
Or each other as the case may be.

Exhibit A:

And yes there is an explanation for this. Or at least I can tell you how this fashion statement came to be. It all started last year when Chris got this free blue camo baseball cap and a t-shirt (a disappointing solid navy) from a free-diving magazine. Then early this year we ran across this SkipHop diaper bag that came in blue camo. Now this was a diaper bag a man wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen carrying. At least not my man. So I bought it for him. He was already quite pleased with his matching hat and bag, but then I saw this blue camo onsie for $3.99. Oh there was no way that I was not going to buy this for him. It even had matching booties! And Chris was happy. I would catch him giggling to himself with gleeful satisfaction, just waiting for the day he could spring this daddy/daughter abomination on the world!

And that fateful day was Wednesday May 16th. The day Chris took Erin to her first dive club meeting.

“This guy is nuts”

“Hey lady, why don’t you put down that camera and help me?!”

"I am not a boy"

Next week, I’m going to dress the baby in black! Mommy-style.

Q: Where am I? What is this strange place?

A: The kitchen!

Oh dear. Is this some uncommon side-effect of postpartum depression? Has being at home the past 2 months finally pushed me over the edge? This is not normal behavior. Clearly this is a cry for help!

I’ve been in the kitchen for the past 2+ hours!

And just what have I been doing all afternoon? Prepping for tonight’s dinner! Which doesn’t involve the microwave, defrosting or the telephone. Something is definitely wrong with me.

It all started on Monday when I looked through a couple cookbooks, picked out a few recipes that didn’t look to daunting and added what I was missing to the grocery list. I should have known then that I was headed down a slippery slope.

Tonight I am going to make Pecan-encrusted Chicken. That’s right, I chopped pecans. And parsley. But here is the really sick part – the recipe called for fresh breadcrumbs. I have a container of breadcrumbs in the cupboard. And I didn’t use them. No I did not. I made toast. And then I crumbled that toast into little breadcrumby pieces. Yup, I made fresh breadcrumbs. (FYI, 3 pieces of toast yields 1-½ cups of breadcrumbs)

Who the hell am I?!

And since I was already in the kitchen, I figured I would prep the veggies for the side dish. Now, this was not part of the original try a couple recipes plan. Julie (my own Bad Home Cooking Kitchen Goddess) posted a recipe for Vegetable Couscous on Tuesday that she claims is a ‘sure thing’. And who doesn’t love a sure thing? Or couscous? I even had some in the pantry. In fact I had all the ingredients but the onion and zucchinis. And since I was going to the store again anyways, I figured I would give it a try. I’m clearly easily influenced in this unstable state.

So now I have my pecan-encrusted chicken chillin’ in the fridge. My vegetables are chopped, spices mixed and chickpeas rinsed and drained. When Chris gets home, all I’ll have to do is throw the chicken in the oven, cook the veggies and couscous and it’ll be Miller-time (except without the bad beer).

See?! I’m obviously sick. What’s next? Home-made cupcakes for Kyle’s class?
Oh crap – I already did that.

Promise me that if you see me in the grocery store with pearls around my neck and anything other than Crocs on my feet, you’ll ram me with your cart and drag me to the pharmacy for an emergency dose of some ‘Mother’s Little Helper’. Or Thorazine if the shoes have heels!!!

Last call!

Oh glorious day, the baby only woke up once last night! We fed her at 8:30pm and went to bed an hour later. Erin woke up at 2:00am* and then slept until 6:00am! Now that I can handle. What wasn’t so nice was Kyle knocking over my one and only cup of coffee! Luckily I was up and ready early enough to make a coffee stop before dropping Kyle off at school. So put those worry beads down, I’m caffeinated and ok.

I have to pack again today for Santa Cruz (I know, life is rough) but this time I’m not stressin’ it. Most of the stuff we need is either still in the bags or close by and ready to go. Now that we know what to bring and how to pack it – no worries – I only need to do a couple small loads of laundry and run the dishwasher. And this time I only have to over-pack for two! In fact, I just gave the Bean her bath and already have her clothes picked out.

Since Erin’s umbilical cord stump fell off last Sunday, we’ve been avoiding the onsies and dressing her in a t-shirt only to let her creeps-me-out belly button heal. This morning I put her in her first dress. Yes, I’ve gone all pink and girly. Don’t judge me.

I’m also going to try and get over to REI this afternoon. I have a 20% off coupon that expires this weekend and a need for shoes. Now before you go making any ‘what a girl- always buying shoes and bags’ assumptions, my Tevas broke last week while taking the baby for a walk. I am not happy. This was my second pair of Tevas that have broken in the exact same spot! Both pairs just over a year old! And I am not hard on my sandals. I walk in them. And since I am a girl and have shoe options, they aren’t the only pair I wear (unlike Chris who has had the same pair of Tevas since I met him and wore them continuously until the croc purchase of ’06! Again- don’t judge.) So, I’m gonna try on some Chacos. Tevas are dead to me.

Hopefully I’ll find a sandal replacement at REI and won’t have to spend all my Santa Cruz shopping time in the shoe stores. Danger Will Robinson Danger.


*For whatever twisted reason, when I looked at the clock and saw it was 2am, I imagined a large black woman stomping around in the baby’s head shouting “Last call!”

Travel tip for new parents

Get a vehicle that is big enough for all your crap! And I’m not talking about a mini-van. See that word there in front? Mini? Well, that is not gonna cut it. You need a real van. A man’s van! Like this:


Yes, our maiden voyage to Santa Cruz in the van with the baby was a complete success. We packed everything (except the bathtub) not knowing what we would end up needing but having the room for all of it. And we ended up using everything we brought. Although I did over-pack the clothes for the baby (and me and Kyle if you want the whole truth) – but that’s just how I pack – always too much but covering every clothing possibility. This weekend I’ll leave all the extra shoes at home. Of course that will be the one time I need a different pair of shoes! I’m all over that Murphy and his law.

But lets get back to singing the praises of the man’s van. So, not only were we able to pack all the stuff for the baby, we had plenty of room for 3 duffle bags, all of Chris’ dive gear and guns, plus the pillows, a pile of jackets, Kyle’s Game Cube container and then some. All of this was behind the 3rd row bench seat. I'm sure there was room for more but Chris doesn't want to encourage me! And I will admit that it was nice to be able to climb back to the bench seat and sit next to the bean and feed her as we cruised down the highway. Oh yes, Chris is mighty pleased with himself! Good thing there is plenty of headroom.

And the baby had her first trip to the beach. She snoozed the whole time in her little pop-up shade tent. Kyle got his surfing fix. I took some pictures – and they weren’t all of Erin! My favorite car was still parked outside the condos:


So was this nice old Ford. The roof was rusted but the body was in great shape:


It wasn’t until I passed it the second day that I noticed the little red Dorothy shoes hanging from the rear-view mirror of this roached out Isuzu:


But I did manage to take a few pictures of Erin. As predicted, this is how that baby spent the majority of the weekend:


And since Chris didn’t get to do any diving last weekend, we are going back down this weekend. Kyle will be at his dad’s so we’ll have a bit more free time. Chris can go spearfishing on Saturday and I’ll get in an afternoon of shopping with Grandma and Erin. Sounds good to me. I need a new pair of shoes!

The Bean Giveth and the Bean Taketh Away…

Wow, Erin is 3 weeks old today. How the hell did that happen?!
Today is Friday correct?

Erin is a joy. Although a little more sleep would be nice. 2 nights ago, she slept from around 8pm to 2am – a 5 hour run! It felt sooo good. But then she went and ruined it by not going back to sleep and fussing for the next 2+ hours. Not good. Chris and I were dog-sh*t all day yesterday.

Last night she did the 8:30 to 2:30 5 hour run again. Nice. But this time she went back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until 5:30am. Now that’s how to do it baby! So, I’m feeling pretty good this morning. Good thing too since I’ve got a lot of packing to do today for Santa Cruz.

I’ve actually been really busy this whole week. I’ve been working on all the financial stuff to get our health benefits and flex spending accounts updated. Research, claim forms, math. So not fun for me. But I think we’ve got that all squared away now.

And the last 2 days I’ve had to go into the office for a couple hours to train my temporary replacement, the lovely Sharon. And only 2 months after I started my maternity leave! So of course there was a huge stack of expense reports that hadn’t been processed. Looks like I really am a ‘vital cog’ – at least to our sales guys and their Amex bills!

My neck, shoulders and back are all jacked up from lugging the baby around in her car seat – I think I’ll add ‘Schedule a massage’ to my to-do list!

What’s left?
I need to call around to local daycares to get the going rates.
More laundry.
A shower. (Hey, I’m not doing to bad today – I actually ate breakfast before 10:30!)

My life summed up in a picture:

Roll me Amadeus!

After 9 long months I've finally got my sushi fix today! Chris and I had lunch at Mukuni's and it was just as wonderful as I remember it. We had the BBQ Tuna and a couple order of rolls. So good. Now that I'm free to eat all the seafood I want again, I think I'll ask Chris to make abalone soon. And the Dive Club has a crab-feed coming up (we had to skip the one we usually attend in February). Hmm... where can I get some scallops?!

I should have eaten more than yogurt for dinner tonight.

Keeping with the theme of things I can do again - next weekend we are planning a trip to Santa Cruz. Kyle has been especially anxious to get back to the coast. He even suggested leaving me at home! Like that would ever happen kiddo.

Grandma and Grandpa will spend the weekend holding the baby. Chris and Kyle are going fishing. And me? Well, my camera doesn't seem so heavy anymore...

But you're not tired of baby pictures already are you?!!



And if you're only an hour or so away and you mentioned making me some perogies...
Cruise on down!

A quickie

Last night in bed -

Chris: I love you Dawn.

Me: I love you too sleep.


Tomorrow I'll tell you about Kyle's first band concert last night. And how the checker at Trader Joe's carded me this afternoon for the six-pack of Red Seal Ale. Life is good.

Now with more baby

It seems I’m not very good at this napping thing. I’m so very tired. But so very happy! Erin was 5 days late but that means she was born on Friday the 13th, which seems much more fitting for a baby of mine. And that was already 12 days ago! Crazy.

It started with an all-nighter. Again let me say – I’m too old for that kind of thing! But I was restless Thursday night and couldn’t sleep. So, I sat up watching TV and then around midnight my water broke. We got to the hospital at 1:30am Friday morning and Erin was born at 12:46pm Friday afternoon. And Saturday afternoon we were home. If you want more information than that you’ll need to call and talk to Chris. All I remember was that things were getting pretty god awful right before I got the epidural. After that it was smooth sailing. And apparently Chris got tired of being handed the phone yet again to relay the story, so he wrote down all the details and times etc for me but I’ve already lost that piece of paper.

The important thing is that the baby is perfect and I’m recovering nicely. In fact, the hardest part has been taking it easy. Which is strange because that’s all I’ve been doing for 8+ months. But I’ve been feeling really good (thanks in part to the Motrin prescription) and I don’t feel the need to sit in my chair 24/7. You can’t image how wonderful it is to have my body back! Or at least a slim (HA!) resemblance to my former body. I can tie my own shoes. I can lie on my stomach or flat on my back. I can twist and see what’s behind me again – which is very helpful for backing out of parking spaces. I’ve spent the last handful of months counting on my mirrors, moving extra slow and praying no one is behind me because I just can’t see them!

So, we’ve been busy getting used to life with a newborn. Which means we are trying not to walk into any walls. Kyle is adjusting well. It’s a bit harder to keep him on task with the distraction of the baby but he’s also helping out a lot. He likes to feed and hold her and walks around repeating, “She’s so cute!” Yes she is.

Behold!










And of course there are more pictures on Flickr. Click here to go directly to the Erin Set. I've spent the last couple days printing pictures between feedings. A smart person would run out and buy stock in Canon inks and paper! I might be a cheap date when it comes to beer and wine but I more than make up for that in printing costs.

I hear squeaks from the other room - gotta go!

She's here...

Erin Christine
Born on Friday, April 13th at 12:46pm
7 lbs 3 oz and 19 3/4"

Stay tuned! More baby after this brief nap.

Do they charge late fees?

Well. The Easter bunny came and went and yet - no baby. Crap.
I just got back from another doctor’s visit – no change. Crap.
If I haven’t gone into labor by then, I have another appointment set for Friday - when we’ll discuss the possibility of inducing me. Holy crap.
It’s all so very annoying.

Other than the threat of a never-ending pregnancy, things are fine. I spent the last week with Kyle at home each and every day on Spring Break and we both survived. In fact it was no problem at all. And no one is more surprised than I am. I might even let Kyle stay home the last half of June before I go back to work.

Work?! Hmm… after one month off I can barely remember having to go to the office every day. It’s much nicer here. And the cat seems to enjoy having the company.

So, that’s it. We wait. I haven’t gotten desperate enough to try vacuuming or mopping the floors in the hopes of starting labor. If those things really worked I would have had the baby already since I did end up cleaning the fridge last week. But maybe a couple laps around the bookstore would help. I just whipped through "The Namesake". What should I read next?

The room

As promised - and only a day late! Not too shabby.




And now I need to get ready for my weekly doctor's appointment. Oh the joy.

Finally!

No, no baby yet. But still a fine accomplishment. After almost 2 years we have finally wallpapered Kyle's bedroom. And by 'we' of course I mean Chris. He worked his fine ass off for 2 days this past weekend. I was on hand to sing his praises and um... well that's about it. I might have made him a sandwich.

Chris bought one of the model homes so the house was already filled with some random decorator's choices of wallpapers. Unfortunately for Kyle when we moved in he ended up in the room that had been decorated for a little girl. Teacup wallpaper with a sickeningly sweet tea party border.


How charming. And even though Kyle did not complain, Chris and I have talked about the need to change it and looked at samples dozens of times with nothing ever getting done. But on one of our recent trips to Lowe's we came across this skateboard border and the race to beat the baby was on! We took Kyle back to Lowe's and let him choose between the border with the blue background or the black background (he has many times over the last year requested that we paint or wallpaper his room black. Um, no. You're too young and do not yet have the requisite teenage angst to pull it off!) As you can see he choose wisely.


Yes little girl - look upon your fate!


And here it is! A room fit for a 10 year old boy.


And it works with the blue surfboard/tiki bedding, blue lamp, and blue/orange/green locker style desk he already had in his room. I'll get a picture of the room posted later today. Maybe tomorrow. All this typing has been exhausting.

Nesting

Greetings from Week 2 of my Maternity Leave.* Life here at home is good. I am feeling much better now that I’m not spending my days slumped over my desk in that uncomfortable chair. My back isn’t hurting as much and the sciatic pains have diminished also. And even though I’ve kept busy, I can take things at my own pace and not over-do it. A couple errands completed each day and then I just take it easy. (And yes Chris, the day-timer is coming in fairly handy. Shut up.)

I’ve managed to get quite a bit done around the house in just a week. I’ve gotten caught up on our Flex Spending files for last year and set up the spreadsheet and files for ‘07. I’m just about done with all the pre-washing of baby stuff and her room is almost finished. Just a few more incidentals and we’ll be done. Then I can get to all the fun stuff I was planning for this free time. I need to work on my painting, make some more prints (and mat and ship the ones I’ve printed for Julie) and damn, I haven’t even gotten around to playing any Zelda yet!

I’m getting my hair done this afternoon. And not a moment too soon. This streak down the center of my head has been transformed seemingly overnight from a nice wide suburban street to a major 6 lane super highway. And if you reorient the road so that from forehead to crown is the width of the 6 lane super highway – then all those white stripes up there are the lane dividers. Hmm… must be 6 lanes in each direction. Anyway my hair - it’s growing fast - so off to Tami I go. Must resist the urge to chop it all off!

What else – tomorrow Kyle has an orthodontist appointment, Thursday I have my weekly doctor’s appointment and that’s about it for this week. Then this weekend we are finally going to wallpaper Kyle’s room. No more tea party wallpaper for him! Now there will be skateboards. Very cool. Very blue.

I need get some copies of the pictures taken at my shower. I’ll add that to my to-do list. And I’m thinking about reorganizing the kitchen cupboards. The thought of cleaning the fridge has even popped into my head – but that’s one that I know I can resist.

* Which means I’m in my 37th week of pregnancy. The baby is now considered full term and my due date 19 days away. That’s less than 3 weeks! I guess I should finish packing my hospital bag. We are all starting to feel a little anxious/excited/nervous - although I’m still the only one who is feeling increasingly uncomfortable and getting beat up from the inside. There just isn’t room for the 2 of us in this body. And I was here first so…yeah… lets go baby.

Ask and you shall receive

Wow. Things must be bad when the infrequent readers start complaining about the lack of posts. The pictures off my handsome boy just not cuttin’ it anymore?!

That’s ok. I’ve been meaning to post for a while now but I usually do the internet thing while at work and things here have been rather hectic lately. This is my last week before I start maternity leave. And it has taken me months to get the details of my benefits squared away with our HR dept. My company is based in another country eh? So, they had no plan in place for a California employee seeking disability benefits. Oh it has been fun. If you live in CA and have SDI questions – call me! I can probably answer your question and you won’t even have to wait on hold for 30 minutes first!

Hmm…beside the unnecessary work-related stress (I really shouldn’t have had to do HR’s job for them!) what else has been going on? Not too much. I’m becoming more uncomfortable each day. And I have 5 more weeks to go. I suffer moments of great doubt.

We had my baby shower last –no wait- 2 weekends ago! (I am behind on things) It was wonderful but exhausting. Everything was beautiful and of course there were fresh flowers on the table – P~ and Aunt Rita did a fabulous job. The food was fantastic. And so many of my friends and family were able to attend - I couldn’t have been happier. Even Dr. Kim made it and I haven’t seen her in a couple years. I told her that under no circumstances was I going to go through such extreme measures again just to see her! My only regret was that I didn’t get to spend more time with the Fresno family contingent that drove up for the shower and then had to turn around and head back home. And unfortunately Sharon was out of town that weekend. But it was still a great party and I am almost done writing out my thank you cards. And the best thing is that I think I’m finally over my cake/cupcake obsession.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time, ink and paper on printing photos with my new printer. The quality is amazing! I’ve filled 2 photo albums with vacations photos that have been languishing on my computer for the last year. I sent a bunch of 8”x10”s of Kyle to my dad. And just this weekend I picked up some 13”x19” photo paper. So, now is the time to look through my Flickr photo stream and if you see something you like – ask and you just might receive!

Maybe I’ll even take some new photos. Kyle’s haircut is growing out fast!

Birthday Boy

Hair cut is next Saturday.

10 years - 10 weeks

Today is Kyle’s birthday. I’ve been a mom for 10 years. And in 10 weeks I’ll be a mom of 2. I will not be doing this again in another 10 years. Or any amount of years for that matter.

Last night I made cupcakes. 2 batches! And besides the 3 we ate (and the second one that Chris snagged) the remaining 32 cupcakes were packed up and sent to school this morning with Kyle. All that work and I got one cupcake. It just doesn’t seem fair.

We decided to buy Kyle a small boom box for his birthday. It was just too pathetic to hear him trying to rock out to his punk mix cd on his tinny dvd player speakers. If you’re gonna kick out the jams mother f@#%er* you gonna need a little bass!
And I bought him a Replacements cd because the kid has some fine musical taste. He loves the Clash (I'm so proud) and I'm going to recommend that he pick us up a copy of London Calling with his birthday cash.

Kyle also has a fondness for classic rock thanks to his dad. He likes the Stones, AC/DC and Guns n Roses. Oh joy. And then he is surprised to find out that I am more than familiar with Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”. Like I haven't been subjected to classic rock for the last 20 years. In fact I’ve seen Ozzy’s butt! Not that I would recommend that to others.

Not too long ago Kyle asked me if I was going to make ‘the Bean’ like punk music too. I explained that you can’t make someone like a genre of music. All you can do is expose them to it and see what happens. I just happened to get lucky with Kyle. And then a horrifying realization hit me – ‘the Bean’ – she’s a girl. And that means there is a high probability of …oh sweet mother of Jesus and the Mary Chain help me - I can hardly bring myself to type the words…Boy Bands!!!

And there are no more cupcakes!


* Regrettably this MC5 number was cut from Kyle’s version of Punk Mix. While I take great pleasure from hearing him sing along to the Circle Jerks and Fear from the back seat – I must draw the line at the obvious cursing. So, no Dead Kennedy’s “Too Drunk to F*ck” for him! I also left off the Suicidal Tendencies “I Saw Your Mommy” because well no.

All my friends are doing it

And by ‘it’ I mean writing about food.

Although I’m sure most of them wouldn’t mind doing what you first thought. Maybe just not with each other. Oh dear, I’ve gone someplace icky. Think happy thoughts. Rainbows and puppies. Think about cupcakes!

Mmm…cupcakes.
I'm ok now. Thanks.

Back to food. We’ve got our favorite Bad Home Cook who seems to be riding high on a string of kitchen successes. And the infamous Sain’t - although lately he seems to post more pictures of babies than his culinary creations. Works for me – those kids are cute. Soon we will add Cynthia to the mix.
Ha! Funny.

I finally managed to get Cynthia over last Saturday afternoon for lunch (which she of course made and it was wonderful), laundry, and artistic endeavors. We didn’t get around to the watercolors but I printed some of my photos and now we are both newly inspired to paint. And we finally got Cynthia set up with her very own Blogger account. I can speak no more about it until she gives me the ok. But I will say that I was quite upset when I saw all the new features for customizing your template that the new version of Blogger provides. Bastards. I had to teach myself code and now it’s all right there for you ‘Johnny-come-lately’s that are just now setting up a new blog. And can I with my ‘I already upgraded to the new version’ account access these new tools? No. Not without having to start from scratch with one of the provided templates that I could then customize thus loosing all the work I’ve already done! Bastards.

(Deep breath)

(One more)

I’m alright. But just to be sure - let’s go back to thinking about cupcakes. I’m going to make some! For Kyle’s birthday on Thursday. And if he can manage to behave himself for the next 2 nights, I’ll make enough for him to take to school for for an in-class party. I don’t want to go into all the trouble he’s gotten himself in during the last 2 weeks. (I just managed to get myself calmed down again) But we did end up canceling his birthday party and he is still grounded. That kid can be more vexing than Blogger!

Crap. Can someone please come check my blood pressure?!

Om cupcakes om….repeat…

That's beautiful (wipes tear from eye)

So, every week Kyle get a list of spelling words. On Wednesdays, their assignment is to write a sentence using each word. Typically Kyle writes 25 of the shortest sentences he can. Things like:
I cough.

That boy is lazy when it comes to writing. But last night something miraculous happened. Kyle decided his sentences whould have a theme. Then it became a story! And oh what a story it is. Checking homework just got a little more entertaining for Mr. S.

It starts out a little slow but you will be rewarded in the end. Enjoy! (Spelling words are green)


1. There was a dancing baffoon outside.
2. The dancing baffoon skipped.
3. The baffoon was the best hiker.
4. When the baffoon reached the top he flipped.
5. The baffoon landed in a snapping turtles mouth.
6. Then the turtle had to go wee-wee and he raced to go.
7. He tripped, landed head first in the toilet.
8. When he was done he saw a pleasing young lady.
9. He started checking her out.
10. Then the turtle’s friend said “Dare you to ask her out.” So he did.
11. Then the lights dimmed
12. Rubbing his neck he asked her out.
13. She was a redhead with brown stripes down her hair.
14. “You’re wasting your time on me go away” she said to him.
15. He drew a picture of her and traced it.
16. For there first date they stripped wall paper.
17. Then they went tanning on the beach
18. He started smelling her perfume.
19. The turtle started phoning his friend “She’s wearing perfume.”
20. Then they kissed and he fainted.
21. He was breathing hard.
22. “It was so tiring to breath like that” he said.
23. She urged him to kiss her again he fainted
24. That night he scrubbed his forehead.
25. Then she knocked at the door striving to get him to open the door.

I think Kyle's got a future in writing and I see Fabio on the covers!

Buy or Lease?

Kids. They’re like cars right?! You trade one in when you get a new one?

Are you sure?

Damn. Because Kyle is cruisin’ for a bruisin’ as my dad always said.
What is up with the attitude and lip these last couple days? Right when we are planning his birthday party. Not good. I feel far less inclined to spend a whole lot of money on his requested party location when all he does is growl at me to be quiet and yell that he does not have to listen to us. Alrighty then… let me get right on the phone to book the indoor pool at the dive shop for a 3 hour party. No problem mutton head.*

In other happier party news, plans are being made for the baby shower. I was trying to decide between 2 equally nice restaurants and well, you must know by now how I am with making decisions. Ha! So, I emailed the lovely Karen to ask her opinion. The Italian restaurant with the light and airy banquet room and easy parking or the restaurant at the Galleria (one of my favorites) with the windowless party room and mall parking? Well, all she had to do was say “I don’t think the lack of windows will be an issue because it helps people focus more on you.” and the choice was made. You just need to put things in Leo terms. See how easy that is?

And now K and I are engaged in a long email exchange about cupcakes. I really want a cupcake!

*Chris just called the guy at the dive shop a 'mutton head' for putting the party deposit on the wrong credit card after a detailed discussion over which on file card to use.
Mutton head! Who says that?!
Apparently we do. It just seems to work.

Climbing the walls

Look at what Chris and Kyle did yesterday - they built a climbing wall in the garage!





This is only phase 1 - there will be 3 more sections complete with overhangs before it is finished.

Let the bouldering begin!

Obligatory Christmas post

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t do a Xmas photo highlights post? Don’t answer that. Just sit back and enjoy the festive goodness that is Kyle getting too much good stuff. Oh how he suffers – just ask him.


A new bike from Chris’ folks. Awesome. There was even a ramp set from Santa waiting for Kyle at home.

In the finest Christmas spirit – here is Kyle asking P for her new ipod. I guess he didn’t get everything he wanted. See suffering mentioned above.

And of course there were presents for “the bean”.

After Kyle was done with elf duties he disappeared until it was time to leave.

Priceless.

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.