slapdash and happenstance

milestones...

2012-01-06T02:40:00.000-08:00

Today my son turns 6. There's something about six, isn't there? I can’t believe it, I can barely handle it. Every year on this day I wonder why kids can’t just stay small for a little bit longer. I used to be able to talk myself out of that kind of thinking, reminding myself there’s no way I want to still be changing diapers or going through bottle feeding or needing a stroller… But this year, I’m not coming up with any of those things.

He’s pretty fun right now. He can feed himself. He can get into the fridge to get himself a juice box. He still needs help brushing his teeth and hasn’t started losing them yet. He has really cool friends and genuinely cares about them. He’ll still watch Sprout on television, but he started to like cartoons even I can handle watching over and over again. He has his own iTouch, which keeps him occupied when I need him to be. He likes learning how to read but loves being read to. He’s super smart, but not a smart-ass. It’s a pretty good age. Why is it that going up from 5 to 6 seems so momentous?

My friends and I were talking about this, and we think a big part of the difference is that after size 5T is just 6. I mean, I'm sure there are some 6T's out there, but not that I've ever seen. He will no longer be anywhere near toddler-hood, even the clothes know it. While Kindergarten is a huge step, it's also precious. First grade is first grade, and that's what happens when you turn 6 (hopefully), and somehow it seems more like the beginning of ‘real school’.

Yesterday was H's last time in the play area at Cafe Sip -n- Play, which has been our home for so long now. Now that he’s 6 he's too "old" to be in the play area now (although, let's face it, he's been too big to be in there really for quite some time - all the mommies of little ones look at him like he's King Kong ready to eat their babies). It was emotional for me - I had to fight off the stinging of tears before we left.

Then again, he's brighter, faster (well, kind of, athleticism still seems to avoid him), doing things like reading and writing, and becoming an even more impressive little artist than ever before. The last few days he’s been drawing everything he likes (Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ninjago Legos, etc.) cast as “Angry Birds”, which he claims he’s ‘obsessed’ with. Maybe not his most mind blowing work, but it’s freaking hilarious.

I know it’s always going to be amazing, watching him grow, seeing how he progresses, and I know I should learn how to appreciate these milestones that he passes. I’m not sure I’m able to quite handle 6 yet. Ok. Someone just pass the tissue and tell me to get over it. Could we at least find a way to pause my aging while he gets older? (I want you to know that I am sitting here and there’s one of those infomercials on for skin care that makes you look like you’re 20 years younger than you are, endorsed by some dermatologist with an exotic accent. Clearly, at only $59.95 and free shipping it’s influencing my train of thought…)

Happy Birthday, kid.

the boy who lived...

2012-01-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

(this post is originally from sometime in November 2011, but for some reason my iphone wouldn't upload it)

H and I are reading through the Harry Potter series, which is fantastic, because it's fun for both of us! I'm amazed at his ability to keep up and pay attention (sometimes not so much). A lot of his incentive is that he's able to watch the movie after we finish each book.

We're on the fourth book now, which I'm reading a bit more slowly, since as the books go on the language and content grow up a little, while H still remains a five year old.

At any rate, it's thrilling for me that he's so excited and interested in something I love so much. Just in case you'd like a little proof, I was getting shoes out of our shoe cabinet in the front hall when something caught my eye. This was in front of the door to the closet under our stairs:

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kindergarten = mortality, amongst other things.

2011-09-04T00:31:00.000-07:00

Whatever! How can this possibly be happening? In a few days H will be starting Kindergarten. I mean, come on. seriously? I'm pretty sure none of us will cry, but I'm making no actual promises, since Josh may drop a tear or two...

What really worries me is that H may not be ready for it - he has been really acting up lately - not listening, getting really physical with friends, and I'm pretty sure he said "freaking flashlight" today, although he won't own up to it. (Hilarious, a little, but nothing I want happening in his class!) Then again, he only has a half day, so how hard can it be? On the other side of the coin, how much can he learn? His preschool was only a half day as well, so maybe the transition won't be as hard as I think it might. Only - new school, new teacher. Who knows. He'll probably take it like a champ.

My friend pointed out to me last night that perhaps most of my anxiety is rooted in the changes that it will cause for me - no longer near my other 'parent friends' from pre-school, my mornings out and about will no longer be an assumed thing since the new school is about 5 blocks away and not across town, those kinds of things. Does this mean that I will have to come home and clean the house like a regular housewife? Please say no! I'm the worst 'housewife' in the world. (Or, home-maker for those of you who are offended by antiquated titles for people, like 'stewardess'.)

Sorry, I know this entry is sort of all over the place. I'm being distracted by Iron Chef America.

Why I am I always late? (or, why is everyone else so early?

2011-07-29T20:06:00.001-07:00

Many of you may know that I am physically addicted to my watch. I wear it all day, all night, and only take it off to swim and to shower. Which is why I have the most awesome (depending on your view I guess) "watch tan". It indicates how much sun I've been getting lately, if nothing else. I'm always checking the time, for whatever reason. And yet, as many of my friends would complain, I am consistently late.

I don't think I was always like this. My father always taught us handy nuggets of knowledge like - get to work at least 10 minutes early, so that you can get settled before your work time actually starts - getting coffee is not actually a part of the work day. (!!!)

Part of my problem started after I got married (sorry Josh). Being with him up where we lived always made me late for work, which made my work life seriously stressful, which is an unnecessary add-on in New York. The new commute never settled with me, and post 9/11 NYC always seemed delayed with cops and firemen everywhere - anyone who had to change trains at Grand Central like I did would understand...

Josh (sorry again) also comes from a family of last-minuters, hemming and hawing at the door as we're trying to get anywhere, its quite hilarious. "Did you remember to..", "Oh wait", "turn on the alarm", etc. So maybe its hereditary. And any of our friends know that sayingwe're out the door means add on 20 minutes for Josh to take a shower first. And another 5 for him to put on his shoes, which for some unknown reason he refuses to do until its literally time to leave.

But enough of blaming my husband. Having a kid doesn't help either. No one will argue with that. When they're babies, you have to do a checklist before you go anywhere - formula, diapers, wipes, bottles, extra clothes and so on. Don't forget the baby!

And as they get older, you have to pull teeth for them to do anything, least of all get ready to go anywhere, to put a toy down, to get their clothes and shoes on - so I guess I can use H as an excuse some of the time.

But really is it that makes me so late all of the time? Is it because I was raised in Hawaii and I live on an internal "Hawaiian-time" clock? (You know, cause we're so relaxed and all we do is sip coconut milk and go to the beach, so there's no reason to rush.) That would be a great excuse except that if you believed that then you obviously haven't met my aforementioned father. He is a combination of everything that makes him punctual: Japanese, very polite (which are usually the same thing), an Army man, raised in the '50s, my grandparent's son, and someone who has been the boss at his company. There are other things but you get the picture. He was raised in Hawaii and Hawaiian-time doesn't seem to have affected him in the slightest, and he would have never stood for it with us. If we were going to be even 5 minutes late for curfew, we needed to call. I often wonder how we did that back when we were teenagers with out cell phones.

I want to say right now that I don't mean to be disrespectful to any friends when I am not on time. I honestly do not. I just ask that you add an "-ish" to the decided time for me to show up anywhere. You know, like "eleven-ish".

I'm not late for picking H up from school, except that one time I was stuck on the bridge! But the last two years of preschool have done me no favors. Since it's just "preschool", and we live clear across town, I haven't been too worried about showing up on time, although I wasn't ever too late. I'm worried that my lax attitude will not be cured by the time Kindergarten starts, in a month or so, even though the school is so close we could spit on it. I guess we'll see if I can handle it. But I digress.

I think (I mean, I know) I have some sort of time management issue, if I'm really honest about it. But its only when I'm at home and trying to get ready or something. This didn't affect my last couple of jobs, mind you (note to possible future employers), just other stuff.
Somehow I can just drift off when I'm trying to decide what to wear or what eyeliner to use (which of course is hilarious considering I'm always wearing the same thing and use my black eyeliner 95% of the time). Sometimes I'll be searching through the (clean) laundry for something to wear and I'll absent-mindedly start folding it or sorting it before I realize that hey! I need to get moving! I guess this wouldn't be a problem if I ever got around to folding the clothes and doling them out to their respective drawers, closets, etc. One Day Maybe.

Just to make myself look and feel better I want to share with you about a couple of my last bosses and how they made "late for work" completely epic.

Boss #1 would show up 20 - 30 minutes late, dressed in a something from a rummage sale (with holes and all) and had the gall to lecture us about getting grant reports finished quickly and whether she thought capri pants were acceptable. She'd have work on her desk so long she'd forget about it, and all of our vendors would be sitting and waiting for us to approve stuff, and then she expected everything to still be done by the original end date even though she was days behind on her junk.

Boss #2 would literally show up late by an hour or more, then go into his office and fall asleep. I could see him from my desk and hear him snoring! But the difference between bosses was that I actually liked him a lot, and he taught me that you can use Bounce dryer sheets to ward off mosquitos!

So, how do I fix this problem? Guilt, perhaps? That doesn't seem to make it happen, although I do feel awful when I'm late, at least most of the time. Heaven knows it could really get worse with age... Maybe it's not fixing the problem, but coming up with better excuses.

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Location:Pnw

this has always baffled me...

2011-07-25T10:56:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that most of us have seen this at one point or another - unless of course, you've never been in a car or are somewhat unobservant. How is it that shoes end up on highways and freeways? Or really, the road at all? Especially one shoe?

My mother told me that the way she got me to finally give up the bottle was not retrieving it after I hurled it out of the car window while we were moving, and she said that it was gone and there weren't anymore. I hardly think toddlers are throwing shoes out the window, well, not in every case.

Are those people who put their feet up on the dashboard (that drives me crazy!) losing one shoe (that's what you get for putting your dirty feet up on the dashboard) in a strong wind or a moment of clumsiness?

Perhaps these shoes are bouncing out of the back of trucks or angry girlfriends are making a small statement of ire?

I think if the shoes could talk, they would quote Talking Heads: "And I ask myself, how did I get here?"

On the flip side, a couple years ago in Miami, Florida, thousands of shoes were mysteriously found on an expressway and messed with morning traffic for hours until they could clear it out. I'm not sure if they ever found out where they originally came from, but the shoes went to charity. Ugh can you imagine having to re-pair all of those shoes? Maybe there was some sort of lemming complex? Who knows? Here's a photo from abc news:

Oh well, whatever. Random stuff.

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Location:the couve

a new era

2011-07-10T00:34:00.001-07:00

i understand its been a really long time since i've posted anything at all. part of the reason is because i am rarely ever on my laptop these days - its fritzy for one, and i'm always on my iphone, which is a little difficult to blog from. its no fun typing one finger at a time on the screen. but, readers rejoice! if you're into the blog. i've just bought a bluetooth keyboard for my iphone.
it came in today from amazon, thank you mom and dad for the shopping card... and so far so cool!

hopefully it will serve me well. just in case you're wondering, it is compact and folds in half and is about the size of my wallet. or, as my husband says, just small enough to lose easily. so, yay to technology!

no promises, because the other reason for the silence is sheer laziness, but i'm hoping this will be the cure.

the pic above is H finally on a two-wheeler bike! unfortunately the training wheels i bought sucked and need to be replaced.

more later,

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Location:pnw

Tempus Fugit...

2011-01-06T17:20:00.001-08:00

Today my darling crazy hyper little boy turns 5. I can barely stand it. We've had really relaxing time visiting the family on Kauai- which has been nearly perfect minus a very small group of us have come down with either a really bad virus or strep throat, so we've been kinda hiding out the last few days.
And just in case you are wondering how many ppl are sick...within our family and immediate group that is always together, that's like: my sister, her husband - I'm not sure about her three boys, my brother, his wife, at least 2 out of their 3 kids, my aunt, 2 out of the 3 of my cousin's kids that she's watching while their parents are hopefully germ-free in New Zealand, my cousin Wes' wife and both their kids, plus our friend/extra brother Gregg. I think that covers it.

Ah well, we seem to be avoiding it, so H and I are out for a birthday treat and toy shopping! I have no idea where these years went. Time on Kauai moves so slowly, it's no wonder everyone says it's a great place to raise children- it takes them longer to grow up..?

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bad mommy...

2010-12-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

I've been forgetting everything lately. I mean, everything. I can hardly believe its Christmas time - It doesn't seem like it - even though the signs are everywhere - the lights are up around the neighborhood, Starbucks has everything in Red and White and Green, there are ornaments and trees everywhere, and on top of it all, it's cold and rainy and we even had snow.

And yet, I totally spaced my son's Holiday Concert at school the other night. Thank goodness he didn't seem too bothered by it. My friend, who also thought it was on Tuesday rather than Monday night, had to deal with a crying son who told her she was a "bad mommy" (which got her crying too, wah!) - could it get any worse? I swear though, the teacher said 11 other kids missed it, so it couldn't have just been us, right?

Thank goodness I bought all of H's Hanukkah presents a while ago, or that would have been a mess too - since Hanukkah was super early this year. Maybe that's what’s getting me confused? I have to blame it on something other than my rapidly advancing age. Although, don't get me wrong, I am this close to buying ginseng to help my memory along. It is ginseng? LOL, who can remember?

I know what it is! We try to watch "Elf" on Thanksgiving. We didn't this year. Maybe that's the problem. I should go home and watch that today. Well, that, and clean my house which is still showing signs of our Thanksgiving dinner - like the extra table and chairs still next to our regular dining table. And the unwashed table cloths (oh brother) and the fact that we finally got rid of the turkey leftovers last night. We haven't bought our tree yet. That will really get me going, if we finally get it done. I started listening to my "Christmas" playlist on my iPod yesterday. That helps a little. The Barenaked Ladies version of "Jingle Bells" is so great even H was cracking up this morning.

How could I possibly be forgetting Christmas? What is wrong with me? How can a person go from being crazy about it and then completely forgetting it altogether? Here's another excuse - not enough moisturizer! If my skin is dry then maybe my brain is dry too? Ah well, whatever it is, I hope Santa still finds me worthy of presents! Tsk tsk, bad mommy!

Yawn

2010-12-05T14:07:00.001-08:00

Somehow I got swindled into selling at a holiday bazaar, although I swore last year I would never do it again...
'selling', however, is not exactly the best way to describe the action around here, after more than a day and a half no one in the room I am in has sold more than 2 or 3 things and I haven't even made back the amount of the table. Then of course I bought a pair of earrings so now I'm in the negative. Ah well. I've met a few lovely people, including the family that now lives in our old apartment.
Does anybody need some hair clips?

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Things we don't have in englan

2010-10-18T03:54:00.001-07:00

So we're in Orlando Florida, for a family vacation at Disney world, and along for the ride we have Sunita, aka the British nanny, and Uncle Brian, aka AhBee, now we're on the bus too get to the hotel.

Everytime we travel with Sunita, we have several conversations about what we don't have in England. So far she claims that in England there are no health bars. Meaning: no candy bar like foods that are for things like gaining protein or losing weight etc.
We rarely believe her, because a: we've spent a great deal of time I'm the UK, and b: the UK is actually a modern country, last I checked.

I'll try to add snippets here and there, since there's bound to be many amusing moments with this group.

Stay tuned for a short but hilarious story about our recent anniversary as well.
Mickey Mouse!

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Location:Orlando

Tv

2010-09-20T18:06:00.001-07:00

Is it a testament to the quality of kid's television these days that I am sitting here watching iCarly without my son, or does it just mean that the rest of tv programming is really that much worse?
Maybe it means my mind really is degrading, as suspected, since I can't remember anything past 30 seconds after it's happened?

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Location:The living room

Los Dos

2010-07-30T23:51:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago Brian, H and I were driving around looking for a new spot to eat. As we got further and further away from our house we seemed to get further away from any sort of restaurants.
We suddenly passed a place with a sign that said "Los Dos". Neither of us were in the mood for Mexican. But both of us were like "Los Dos? Los Dos what?"
Then less than a mile (I think) down we saw Los Dos II.
We were now twice as puzzled. The two what? As we kept driving H was yammering on about something (probably star wars) with no end in sight, as he tends to do, and we started laughing about how much he's like his father. I mean, I'm chatty but Josh is truly the verbose one in the house, and now H too. In fact y I think H is surpassing both of us with flying colors. (Just in case you're wondering, Josh has admitted that he never reads my blog so even if he cared about my ribbing he would probably never see it in this venue.)
Then, in one of our brain wave moments, Brian and I both said "Los Dos!" Its now a nick name for my boys.
Still, it begs the question. Los Dos what? Did the restaurant have a different name, become so popular that they needed more space but couldn't expand on the existing restaurant? Then they found space nearby and built a second one? Then "Los Dos" just became a thing or what?
Maybe I'll dcheck on that.
Anyways, it was humorous.

And if you're curious, we ended up eating at Top Burger- an old school drive in place up in Camas - very yummy. And on top of a hill, if that's the origin of it's name.

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Location:PNW

Do Not Follow!

2010-07-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just a photo I took on the street. You shouldn't take photos while driving, by the way. We were in construction traffic so it was barely moving. Anyways, I thought this sign was pretty funny. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but whatever. It was a good distraction from all the stop and go traffic.

Why committment is difficult.

2010-07-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

Don't be misled by my title up there. As a life-long nomad with extreme wanderlust, I'm still getting used to the idea of "settling down" - not in my role as wife or mother - but as a home owner. It's very exciting and a little daunting, as I'm sure many would agree. I mean, it's a house. We can't give notice and move out in a month. At the same time, there's a certain comfort to it all.

The one thing I've always had a difficult time committing to is well, furniture. New, expensive furniture. Before getting married I had never been able to buy anything over a few hundred dollars (like a mattress - that you really need to buy new), knowing that at some point I may be leaving it on the sidewalk as I fled the location. I've survived on hand-me-downs from friend's relatives or roommates - or bizarre junk sales, etc.

So a person like me is the greatest candidate for Ikea furniture. It's cute, functional, and usually not overly expensive, and sometimes, has the ability to be re-covered! Our first couch from Ikea is one of those that has several cover choices - whether it's to fit your mood or decor, or to replace for stains or rips, or shrinkage after trying to dye it orange... My wishy-washy mind can completely deal with this couch. I've spilled my share of coffee on it and definitely love the idea of matching to my decor whims.

However, we just purchased a different couch that does NOT have a removable cover. Its scared the pants off of me to know that one stain could be it's demise. We've tried to be very good about not eating or drinking anything that could stain it on the couch. We've kept our son away from it when he's covered in food or dirt. And yet, who is the first person to possibly stain it? ME! That is why, its 4:40 am and I am posting this blog. I'm waiting to see if the cleaning I've attempted so far has helped in any way. This is why I can't handle committing to furniture. This and the fact that if we had to move I'd have to find a way to take it with me. And yet, I love our furniture so much - perhaps it's a turning point. I'll just have to find other ways to tame the traveler in me. If this makes no sense, please consider the hour (and stress level from the forementioned stain).

Summer "Camp"

2010-07-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Up here in the PNW the weather has been a little manic. Autumn/winter lasted up until a few weeks ago (this is July) and then we had a few days of "Spring" and then 3 days of an outrageous heat wave (up to 100 degrees or so, which is pretty bad for us). Now its about 57 again, at 10 in the morning, with a prediction that maybe it will get up to the lower 70's this afternoon - which I'm not counting on, personally. Anyways, this is just me grumbling - but trust me, I much prefer the cooler weather. That's what our area of the country is supposed to be like. Overcast and cool. So Yay for a continuous autumn. If I have to wear a hoodie all year, thats fine with me. It makes fashion a non-issue.

However, the time of year dictates, no matter what the weather, that it is, in fact, summer. And this summer, H is going to his first “Summer Camp”! Ok, now, can anyone clear something up for me? When did anything that happens for kids during summer become “Summer Camp”? I get the "summer" part. But, H is not away at some soft of Camp Hiawatha paddling canoes and jumping into lakes and eating in a big wooden hall with kids and matching t-shirts. He's not sleeping in a sleeping bed on a cot with 5 other kids and an “adult” called a “counselor”. Nope.

He's going to his own pre-school and actually in the same classroom that he was in last school year with his same teachers (which I will never complain about - they are lovely and fabulous) doing school-like activities. This is hardly what I would describe as “camp”. Other kids around the country are doing the same or similar things that have nothing to do with camping, yet it’s all described as “camp”.

When we were kids, when something was described as “camp” – like for Spring Break or something it was actually somewhere that we were going to sleep in cabins or something similar, in the woods or sometimes in tents on the beach – now that’s camping, no? Of course, H is too young to go on that kind of camping trip for the summer, unless he were with his family – but these organized summer activities for kids could possibly be named something else more appropriate? I’m pretty sure he knows the difference between summer “camp” and “camping”, but still, it drives me a little nuts (can you tell?). Why do I complain? Its seriously ungrateful, considering it gives me a few hours of freedom in the morning – sitting here in the coffee shop with an iced mocha and my laptop. Ok, I’ll shut up now.

Where is all my stuff?

2010-06-23T14:38:00.001-07:00

Everytime I go to find something, I come up with stuff I wonder why didn't get tossed out before it came here (meaning it's either not mine or really is just junk), or stuff I'm not ready to deal with yet.

Or, alternatively, I see something I'd like to deal with but getting to it is like forging the Oregon trail so I get lazy and tell myself I'll do it later. Luckily my uncle is coming to visit this weekend or I'd have almost no motivation to organize. In fact, we've been encouraging all of our friends to visit now, while we still have an excuse to be messy, and then also making enough of an impression that our general mess later on won't seem so bad(?).

Well, now I've got to figure out how to properly dispose (and yes, I do mean recycle) giant pieces of cardboard (and giant amounts of it too!).

We did get our impressively sized recycle bin (paper, plastic, cans - separate bin for glass tyvm), which is much larger than our actual garbage can. But if we have to keep the recyclables down to this one container we'll be recycling cardboard until H is in college.

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Location:The garage, sea of cardboard

P.S.

2010-06-17T00:33:00.001-07:00

Now I know why so many garages are full of stuff. You move in, put everything in the garage and then give up because you're too tired to

put it away! It's not as bad as it looks, I promise.

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Location:PNW

Whew!

2010-06-17T00:23:00.001-07:00

We're finally out of the old apt.

That was a major pain! We had to add an extra day and even then we literally just got out in time: midnight. I'm glad to see so much thrown out, but an amazed at how much now there is to put away!

We're looking forward to not having to do that again for many many years.

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Location:NW 47th Dr,Camas,United States

World Cup tidbits

2010-06-12T11:57:00.001-07:00

Ok yes I've been slacking hardcore on this, and it's not because I haven't had anything to say or share. On the contrary - more has happened in the last several months than I can describe. I'll attempt anyways.
We decided to buy a house.
We found a new construction that had just broken ground and made an offer, accepted, etc.
Watched these few months the house being built.
A few visits from friends and family.
Skiing. Hudson is going to be a master on the slopes.
Some really great tv: glee, modern family, cougar town, etc.
The end of 'Lost'. Don't even get me started on that. Ugh.
Picking out a kitchen faucet. This was a major decision! I mean, you're using that faucet more than any other one.
Hudson becomes obsessed with Star Wars on a nerve-bending level.
Picking floors and carpeting.
Finding out what a 'smurf tube' is and how necessary it is.
Volunteering at preschool.
Mortgage lenders, title people, home insurance, etc.
Flying out to AZ for lovely wedding.
Taking both nephew (double ear infection) and son (severe stomach flu) to ER within a few hours.
Fly back home. (With one third of Josh's Star Wars collection from his childhood. Note: one third filled up one entire 20-30 gallon plastic crates.)
Sign on the house. (phew!)
Get stomach flu. (blar!)
Decide to paint a few interior walls ourselves.
2nd coat.
3rd coat?
Touch ups..
Give up.
Finish packing dreadful amount of crap in apartment.
Watch World Cup.

And here's what I wanted to say:
On a world stage like this, I think that the players should make the effort to really belt out the national anthem. Not only because people will think you don't know the words, but to also show your national pride! And I understand that the players are possibly wracked with nerves, but I think a good sing along would help to loosen you up.

I mean, look at this: less than 4 minutes in and the UK scored on us. (hi to our mates on the uk, much love/animosity to you today.)

The other thing I wanted to say is this: to whomever came up with these mosquito swarm sounding noise makers for football/soccer matches - oh, how I loathe you!

And now you're up to speed.

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Location:SE 17th Cir,Vancouver,United States

Blazer Update

2010-02-15T23:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot of Cris Collinsworth in the infamous brown blazer during tonight's Olympic broadcast: (note that I believe he actually makes this blazer look good.)

The Winter Olympics NBC Brown Sportscoat Conspiracy

2010-02-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, we have no solid proof, but there's someting weird going on with the NBC commentators during their coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

We noticed that Tom Brokaw had a seriously ugly brown sportscoat on the first night - during the opening ceremonies. Then, the next night, Olympic standard Bob Costas had on a very similar jacket. Then, the next night, another one (we can't remember, do you?), then tonight, Cris Collinsworth took his turn with the v. ugly sportscoat. I'm wondering, is there some sort of dare or inside joke going on? If so, right on. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll be trying to get some.

My personal Olympic coverage is much less than the Summer Beijing Games I realize. What can I say? I'm actually v. intrigued by all the skiing and snowboarding. Maybe I'm watching too closely to blog? Maybe Jonny Moseley is too distracting? Maybe I've had too much chocolate celebrating Valentine's Day? Probably a mixture of all of those things. Anyhoo.

What’s in a Name?

2010-01-11T13:23:00.001-08:00

A bunny by any other name would still be Chinese…

My son and I have this hilarious tradition of naming all of his "friends" – his stuffed animals. It started fairly early, before he could even talk. I started naming his animals. My mother was worried that he would get confused and think that all baby tigers were called "tigers" and instead were called "Kumar". He seems to have survived the confusion, however. I wanted to name him "Sanjay", but Josh said it was only because I thought CNN's Dr. Gupta was really handsome, which was true, of course. So Kumar it was. Kumar, Kumar the tiger! (Sung to the tune of "I Dream of Jeannie") Kumar was probably what started it all. There's a whole other list of animals that have been named since. Frank, the penguin (I mean, with the tux and all he kind of looks like a Frank, really). I named Frank. I've named a lot of them, but lately H has gotten into it too. There's "Reggie" the lamb – who knows where that one came from!

just in case you think the process is all willy nilly, there seem to be some rules,. If a name belongs to someone we know, it usually is off the table. However, there is "Scout" – his very special dog from Build a Bear Workshop – who is directly named after his Aunt Allie's dog, "Scout", who he loves, although he is slightly afraid of him. We got him the way overpriced Christmas Bear at Starbucks – even though I knew it would soon go on clearance for half the price – he also got last year's Halloween bear – with a little felt trick or treat bag – somehow he has escaped getting a formal name and just goes by 'trick or treat bear' – and he was bought half price. Anyways, Christmas Bear was named (by H) "Caboose". That one was surely a surprise, and even though I keep forgetting his name, I'm humored by it every time H reminds me what it is.

Tonight we named a bunny that he's had for years – the bunny was sitting in the kitchen for a couple of months on the dining table chair – and finally tonight he was given a name. H was using the naming ceremony as a way to hold off going to sleep so he was turning down all of my suggestions, although we did decide that his first name was simply "bunny". He quickly shot down "Bunny Cohen", which I thought was pretty funny. I thought the bunny really looked like a "Phil" but, Grandpa's name is Phil, so that was also tossed to the side. To get the process moving along I asked H if the bunny was Chinese, Japanese, Caucasian, Korean, Filipino or what. So, now the bunny is named Bunny "Sunnyhead" Chang. He doesn't look very Chinese to me, but then, H is part Chinese and he doesn't look very Chinese either. Hey, whatever works. And the creativity is top notch. Gotta love it. Well, I do, anyways.

sigh

2010-01-06T18:23:00.001-08:00

All I have to say is that my son is four today. What happened to my little baby? Sunrise, sunset, swiftly go the years...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Full circle

2009-12-18T03:37:00.000-08:00

We're home on Kaua`i visiting my family for the Christmas holiday season (and simultaneously celebrating Hanukkah) and having a blast. H is certainly having fun - with his 6+ cousins around every day, going to the beach, playing on the trampoline, running around the yard, all kinds of stuff. Some stuff they're doing these days we didn't do as kids - rocking out on the Wii - but sooner or later, everything that is old becomes new again and comes full circle.

H and the other kids have littered the floor at Grandma and Papa's with Hot Wheels tracks, when we can't find them, they're hiding under the mango tree, and Legos are everywhere. Today, I found my son waiting on the porch steps at my brother's house (which pretty much shares the property and the main yard with our childhood home, just in case you weren't aware of the layout of the unfortunately dubbed "Taba Compound"), waiting to be called by the other kids. When I asked him where they were, he pointed across the lawn to the two towering pine trees that have been the obvious identifying landmark for the place since we moved in. "They're in the tree," he said.

I peered into the branches and sure enough, small bodies were making their way up one of the trees. H ran over and started to get into the act. I didn't know what to do. After all, he's not yet 4 and those trees are scratchy and sappy and he hasn’t had much experience with tree climbing yet. I tried not to hold him back, although the thought of him falling scared me. But watching him navigate his way up that tree made me proud too! I honestly didn’t know whether to call the fire department or take pictures. Their set up was a little more sophisticated than our was - I think we only had cardboard on the branches, and they had actual plywood (nailed down?) on each "floor", with little hinged doors to climb through to the next "floor" (we called them floors too - as someone who sometimes holds on to traditions a little too tightly, this thrilled me to no end).

Speaking of my unhealthy preoccupation with traditions, a lot of things have changed around here - especially when it comes to the holidays. My mom and my aunt no longer host all of the parties - they were happily replaced by the next generation; my sister, cousin, sister and cousins-in-law. I don't live here I don't host anything, and while I'm a little relieved that I don't need to plan and clean and decorate and clean (and man, do I love my sisters/cousins for all their hard work – and don’t think I don’t know how lucky I am), I miss a few things of the holidays of our youth. I miss the arguing over board games, the crazy white elephant game we played every Christmas Eve with the bizarre gifts that had the strangest way of reappearing and then disappearing every few years, making up our own silly (read: kind of daft) words to “The 12 days of Christmas” – all of that kind of stuff that I can remember doing for all of the years growing up and even into college.

So while H gets to play in my parent’s yard and climb our tree (up to the 2nd floor next year!), I wish he could experience some of the other things we did as kids. But hey, no complaining – the kids in our family get to open a present on Christmas Eve night these days! They get a special delivery from the big man while we’re all hanging out at my cousin’s house after church. I’m pretty sure they’re cool with that new tradition; even if the presents are actual new toys and not weird white elephant ones (like ceramic nut dishes with squirrels on the lid, or copper water fountains, or even used golf balls rescued from the water hazards at the local course.

Let’s face it, there’s really nothing like being at home. The weather is warm, the beaches are gorgeous, I don’t need to find my gloves every five minutes, and I get to catch up with all of my nieces and nephews, and the food is really good. And the best part is watching H sit up in our tree and making life go full circle for me – even if he did need his dad to help him back down again.

Signs I love.. Karaoke style

2009-12-11T22:54:00.001-08:00

Back in one of our old haunts.. Time to clear the throat and belt out as many 'Glee' inspired tunes I can handle!

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Signs I love, ramen style

2009-12-11T17:25:00.001-08:00

Ok, I've taken a lot of complaints lately, some in person, some over the phone and email, about the obvious absence of blog entries here at slapdash. I apologize and promise to try and amend this.
Right now we're on Oahu visiting my grandparents and other friends and family before going to Kauai for Christmas, and today over a really good ramen lunch, Josh found a sign for me to share.
So, it's signs I love, once removed.

Where My Imagination Isn't.

2009-10-06T01:26:00.000-07:00

One of my current dilemmas: how do I get a few hundred pages written about a small handful of pages of information? (I know, I know, research.) I guess I'll go and see "Where the Wild Things Are" in the theaters? How did they get a whole movie out of that? Not that I'm complaining. It looks fantastic, and I loved that book. And Maurice Sendak and I share a birthday. There's your random trivia of the day.

Just an iPhone test...

2009-10-02T15:57:00.001-07:00

So supposedly I can now post from my iPhone. Let's see, shall we? Even I may be too untechworthy of such iPhone goodness.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mildly Uninteresting Oregon Competition Rears its Ugly Head in My Imagination

2009-10-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

So as some of you may recall, my parents came to the PNW to visit last year – and we went on a road trip to Hell’s Canyon, out on the very eastern border of Oregon. While driving around I snapped a photo of a sign welcoming us to a very tiny town called Imbler. The town sign state that they were the “Grass Seed Capital of the World” – which seemed like a pretty big claim, even though I know nothing about the grass seed industry.

Then, sometime a few months later, we were driving south through Oregon on I-5 and I saw a sign that I thought said “Welcome to Linn County, Grass Seed Capital of the World”. Being on the interstate with other traffic I decided not to turn off the highway and pull an illegal u-turn just to verify what I had seen. After that, any time I was going a long enough distance south on I-5 I would bring my camera and hope to see the sign, whose location I couldn’t remember.

We either kept missing the sign or something, because finally, on our drive south to California this summer, we finally saw the sign. I tried desperately to slow down enough for Josh to snap a photo. Then, I kind of forgot about it until today. I’ve been going through photos putting a family ABC book for H and came across the picture from Imbler, Oregon.

Sure enough, both signs claim to be welcoming me to the Grass Seed Capital of the World. I’ve done a smidge of research on this today – first I made sure that Imbler wasn’t actually in Linn County, which would make Linn County rather large, and then I Googled the statement “Grass Seed Capital of the World Imbler/Linn County” and it seems I’m not the only person to have noticed this. At least one other person has raised this question, although when they saw the Imbler sign they had the pre-existing knowledge to ask themselves, “I thought Linn County was the Grass Seed Capital of the World?”

It turns out that of course there is probably some technical thing to each claim; the types of grass seed, etc. Stuff that I’m not guessing anyone who reads this will care too much about. But, technicalities aside, I’m pretty sure that someone in Imbler thought they were being pretty funny or cheeky or something when they decided to put up the sign. Perhaps they were throwing a grass seed gauntlet out there, who knows? Anyways. While I greatly value America’s farms and farmers, I doubt there will ever be any further discussion of this, but if anything interesting in the Grass Seed world should happens and I don’t mention it, please feel free to bring it to my attention.

(sorry that Linn County Photo is hard to read - we were moving at the time)

A Hilarious Time at the Gym…

2009-09-09T23:45:00.001-07:00

So its day one with our new gym memberships. Yesterday was supposed to be day one but just as we were meeting to go and work out, Julie found out she was scheduled to work. Ok, one more day to slack. Then today, waiting for her call, she was offered a free ticket to tonight's Blink 182 concert – I told her that either way would be fine with me – we start today or tomorrow. No big deal. But, we decided to start today after all. In true slacker form, we decided to first meet at a store to buy locks for the locker rooms, and then while there we started to look at work out clothes…

By the time we got to the gym we would have about an hour to work out – which seems more than alright, considering it's the first day and all. So we get to the gym. We have to drop H off at the play/babysitting area. I have to fill out all the paperwork (which is reasonable, I mean, I am leaving my child in their care). I need to get their names and explain to H that they are in charge and that he needs to be a good boy. So then, finally, it's off to the locker room! Why didn't I just leave home dressed for the gym? Oh, well, it's because we were supposed to go to the gym the day before and I was going to be somewhere pre-gym that I didn't want to be dressed in gym clothes for. And again, in pure slacker form, I left my gym bag in the car overnight and somehow couldn't find the time/energy to go down there to get it out today so I could be dressed before I left. So it's changing all of my clothes and shoes. Then we realize that we need to MacGyver our new padlocks from their government issued plastic wrapping. Thank goodness for that rogue pair of fingernail clippers that I found in my purse!

Ok, now we have 30 minutes to work out. Oh dear. We walk around the track a couple times to loosen up and take a pair of bikes in a corner. I basically get to do 10 minutes on the bike, some ab work on a ball, and then it's off to get H from the play room, which closes at 8:15 and therefore dictates my time in the gym tonight. I was a couple minutes late so I got a little lecture from the play room girl, a warning that being late again will incur a $1 per minute, blah blah. Ah whatever. At least we went.

My Son Joins the Educated Citizens of Earth

2009-09-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

So today was the first day of school for H. Building up to this day has been really exciting. He has been dying to go to school ever since he started to make friends that went to school. We finally found one that we liked (and that we could actually afford) and signed him up for 2 half days a week. Since he's a January born he'll be in pre-school for 2 years, but he's being underserved educationally at home, so this is the right route for us.

Since he's been so excited about getting to today, Josh and I have been excited too - until last night when I started to get his little bag together with the things the teacher wanted them to bring. I started to freak out just a little bit and then couldn't fall asleep. Then this morning I woke up, with the help of my cell phone alarm - I haven't had any use for an alarm for quite some time now - and it dawned on me. My one and only kid was starting school today. And he would be in school for the next 20 years (or more, depending on what he decides to do, I guess)! This was the first step to him leaving me to go to College. I know its dramatic, but really, as fast as these last 3.5 years have gone, university is really lurking around the next corner.

We both drove him to school today, since it was his first day. He barely had time to come back and say goodbye to us once we got him to his class. I tried to take some pictures of this very momentous occasion, but he was too excited to stand still and so they're less than perfect. We stopped to pick him up a special present for his first day - something Josh's mom did for them every year - we ended up getting him some Lego (not Duplo, mind you, big kid Lego), well, because, we all love Lego in this house.

When I went to pick him up, Teacher Denise assured me that he had behaved well and was playing nicely with the other kids. She told me that they were taking names from each kid for their class pet fish - H, voted for Greg, like any other Wiggles purist would. I'm just surprised he didn't vote for Murray, since Murray is his favorite Wiggle.

I asked him questions all the way home, and from what I could gather, he really did have a blast, and I'm not sure, but they either had real orange juice, pretend milk and crackers for a snack, or they had pretend juice and real milk and crackers for snack. To be honest, I'm not sure they had a snack at all. All I know is he ate his lunch much better than he usually does and went down for his nap a little easier as well. This school thing kinda rocks.

Always Be Closing

2009-09-03T01:48:00.001-07:00

So I was going to do a big summer sum-up summary kind of thing before H starts school this Friday – I still might. But today a friend of mine and I embarked on what should have been a short trip and ended up being a 3 hour tour of nonsense.

Personally, I've decided that I'm fed up with being fat. Before you get all excited, I am not saying that I have found that inner will to exercise and get healthy and all that stuff. I'm hoping to find that part of me sometime in the near future. Other than this post – honestly, I'd rather not talk about it.

So why bring it up at all, you might ask? Why not do it in the cover of night? (Don't worry; the rest of this journey will most likely happen that way.) It's because I need to grouse, of course. Who would I be if I didn't have something to gripe about?

My friend Julie and I just started to talk about working out last week or so. I had been wondering aloud what I was going to do with my limited time during which H would be in preschool every week. He's going to be in for 2 days for a little less than 3 hours. Other than drinking coffee and working on my book, there wasn't much I could think of doing that wouldn't be a waste of gas or time. The preschool is too far for me to go to, return home, and then go back to in less than 3 hours. It dawned on me that if I really wanted to make use of my time I could go and work out. Josh and I have been tossing the idea of a gym membership around for a while now.

Julie mentioned she wanted someone to work out with and needed to join a gym as well. As most girls know – this is wonderful! Having someone to exercise with (um, read, having anyone to do anything with, i.e. going to the ladies room, shopping for shoes, etc.) is like the female secret to success in the gym. If you can get past good intentions and actually get to the gym, of course. Having someone hold you accountable, to call you and remind you what day it is, and to get you excited about going to the gym is practically priceless.

Our plan became this – we would go and visit a couple of different gyms and then decide afterward which was right for us. One of the places was a local community center that not only has a large exercise area, complete with yoga and zumba classes and all of the equipment of a modern gym, but it also has a huge pool with play areas for little kids, the largest water slide in the county, and other kid-friendly things for the family. Being members opens up a huge amount of activities that you can be involved with, outside of the access to the gym facilities.

The other candidate is a national chain – and the best reasons to join this place would be that it would be all about exercise – so the focus would be clear. We would also be able to work out at any and all hours (but really, is this something I need to worry about?), and best of all, go to any one of their branches, should I need to.

We went to the community center first. As we were parking I told Julie that the reason I was drawn to this place, even though I had never darkened their doorways, was because I didn't think that we would feel intimidated like we would at a gym. She wasn't as convinced. H was immediately excited when he saw the pool and the kids' play center. It's a gorgeous new facility. We asked if we could take a tour around and were given a nice smile and a pass with a few instructions as to what was where. We were approached a couple of times just to see if we had questions as we walked through, but weren't put under any pressure.

We got in the car and headed over to the other gym – and even in the parking lot the attitude was different. We walked in and asked if we could take a look around the facility and were immediately put together with a sales guy who sat us down and started asking questions about our fitness goals and other personal stuff. After he got fed up with H wandering around and taking my attention he said, hey! Let's let him check out our kid's play area – it's on me this time. He wasn't very good at hiding his irritation. Now, before I go on, it's not totally my intention to just slam on this guy. He was doing his job the way he was told to do it.
After firing personal questions at us, he said, ok, let's take a look around. Granted, they have a good system and some really good equipment. But that's expected. What I also expected was that we would have to endure this full court press kind of sales pitch – exactly what I told Julie I didn't like – she didn't like it either.

We were given statistics – 90% of people who leave here without joining immediately never come back. That without sessions with a personal trainer (for the small amount of $$ on top of membership fees…) we would inevitably fail. That he was shocked we knew that losing weight was all about burning more calories than we consumed, and that muscle burned fat more efficiently – which is why resistance training was just as important, if not more, than cardio – most people – 70% don't know that – especially women.

There were a lot of the "especially women" comments being thrown around. It's fun to be told that he assumed we were ignorant – that because we weren't already members that we wouldn't have already been around the block or done some of our own research, no, heaven forbid we have any inkling about losing weight, especially since we were women. What's up with that? It's like going to buy a car and having the salesperson show you how great the vanity mirrors and glove compartments are, especially for women. Whatever.

He was obviously upset when we told him we were there to only take a tour, not to join immediately – even though we had mentioned it before his spiel. Even after explaining that this was a joint effort, therefore a joint decision, one we would need time to discuss. Even after I explained that my husband would most likely want to be a part of the decision making process. Even after we explained that money was a factor – we were still being hounded. Julie thanked me afterwards for standing up to him. She admitted that she would have signed up under the pressure without really having being sure of her decision.

Here's the thing. I've been in the marketing game. I've been in sales. I understand about commissions and closing a deal. ABC – Always Be Closing, yeah, yeah, I know all about it. So I know this guy was just doing his job. Here's my take on it though:

I want this kind of pressure – from the person who is helping me to exercise – whether it's a friend or a trainer. I don't need it the minute I step in the door just to look at the facility and see what kind of people are going to be minding my child while I work out. What I don't want is the auto spiel – the mid-sentence pause to high five some guy – then turn to me and say coyly – 'we like to know all of our members by name – it's a real family here' – I know it's all BS. Maybe they Do like to know everyone's name, that's just good business. But I don't need the theatrics.

I want the Bob and Gillian kind of pressure – the kind that comes from knowing where I am coming from and knowing what I need to succeed because of a built relationship. I want it when I'm unsure of which machine to be on, or how to keep myself from getting in an exercise rut. I don't want to be pushed and shoved by some guy who asks me 30 seconds after he gets my name what my problems are and how much I need to lose.

Here's what I want to be sold on with: The people who work here do so because they believe in good health. They want to see you succeed in your fitness goals. They want to get to know you and what you need from them to do well. You should work out here because they're experts at what they do – they can help you when you need it. It's their job to help you attain your goals. They're here to push you, to kick your butt when you need it, but they're here to encourage you as well – because we all need it sometimes – maybe a lot of the time – especially in the beginning. We've got fun classes with teachers who love what they do and love fitness and want you to love it too. We know that just coming down here is a step for some people.

Does it sound weak? Maybe it is? But you know what? I know why 90 % of people who don't sign up immediately don't go back. They're too intimidated to do it. All they got was some drill sergeant treatment when all they wanted was some information – and maybe a good glimpse of a light at the end of the tunnel they're in. Get us to join – and then it's ok to kick our butts and tell us what to do.

On a totally unrelated note – well, not totally unrelated – I've been re-reading the Twilight series (I really need to go book shopping) and I was wondering: What happens if you get bitten and you're a chubby person? Do you turn into a gorgeous thing vampire? Or are you forever a chub? Can you become less chubby doing vampire exercises? Just curious.

Finally, a challenge (mostly to me) comes from Garfield the cartoon cat: "I may be fat, but you're ugly, and I can lose the weight." We shall see.

Summer Vacation

2009-08-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

It seems that I have taken some time off. I keep meaning to stop and blog - especially with all that's happened since I was last here - but I just couldn't find the energy to do it. Sad, right? Anyways, I plan on returning soon. I have a lot of pictures from our summer adventures. Not to mention, H will be starting preschool in 2 weeks - that should provide me with a lot of stories to entertain you with. Until then - I leave you with one of the best signs I've ever seen.

The latest edition of....Signs I Love!

2009-06-12T00:35:00.000-07:00

These are all basically from around the same area in Ridgefield, which is north of us.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-06-11T00:21:00.001-07:00

What a great birthday! Every year on this day at 9:44 am, I listen to my birthday anthem – Happy Birthday to Me, by Cracker. I'm immediately transported back to my college years, jumping around with my dear friend Leslie, singing the songs on this album, all of them hilarious and random. I don't know if she still listens to it, but I can't pass a new year without this song. It's a great way to start off my birthday – which for the 'adding an age' thing I don't ever look forward to, but for all of the love and possibility of presents I do…so selfish!

My husband is taking me to a lodge this weekend, and I'm getting a special manicure/pedicure treatment, along with a night away with Jen babysitting H, so it's destined to be a nice break for both of us. H presented me with a smattering of chocolate (all fantastic so far) and a really adorable Elmo card, adorned with his scribblings and at least part of his name written out in crayon. For the most part he was on good behavior today too, in honor of mommy's birthday. Uncle B took us out to lunch and ice cream, and got me a brand new "pirate" laptop carrier, which I desperately needed, since my other one practically disintegrated after only a few uses. I went to a bookstore and treated myself to a new book and had homemade enchiladas for dinner – could it get any better?

On top of it all, I got a lot of phone calls and emails from family and friends, and a ton of birthday wishes from my friends around the world on Facebook. Gotta love facebook, even though I am still not good at remembering people's birthdays myself! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday love!

Fistfuls of hair!

2009-06-09T12:40:00.001-07:00

H is going through a really rough patch right now. He doesn't want to do anything that we ask him to do. Potty training is totally forgotten, and he spends more time in time out than in time in. We understand that he really should be in school – he needs the socialization, organization and discipline, not to mention more challenges, since I and anything I offer are no longer interesting or taxing enough for his crazy little brain. The other day at the doctor all of this was confirmed. He's simply too smart for us and he needs something a little more exciting to keep him interested. What I want to know is what happened back in the days when there were no pre-schools for kids under the age 4 or at all? I guess as soon as kids were able to manage a bucket they were probably milking cows or picking berries or something. Or they had governesses that spent all of their time entertaining the kids.

It doesn't help that dad is home all day working in his "office" but is totally unavailable. I realize that H doesn't understand the concept of 'work' and why dad has to do it all day. I also get that he doesn't understand that most parents go somewhere else to work. It's got to be tough knowing dad is down the hall but will kick you out of the room as soon as you darken the doorway. I wonder how other parents at home do it – working at home but still taking care of the kids? Who can get any work done with a 3 ½ year old running around? Even any of you will notice it's been a while since my last entry. Partially it's because we've had a few guests in the last several weeks, not to mention another failure of a craft fair (why do I keep doing that to myself?).

The thing that gets me the most is the constant complete 180 switches in attitude throughout the day. One minute he's stamping his feet and yelling something like "I don't want go to my room!" and then the next he's hugging everyone saying "I love you". He's showing more and more talent every day with his drawing and his speech and reading. So while we're extremely proud, the challenges seem to outweigh the laudable moments. We can't imagine what our neighbors must think of us screaming all of the time. I suppose most parents of pre-school aged kids go through this – what I want to know is, how do I retain my sanity?

walden

widget

wubbzy (all from wow wow wubbzy)

and a bird eating a sandwich

Happy Mother’s Day!

2009-05-11T00:09:00.001-07:00

Today was a nice mother's day. I woke up to cards and chocolate, and a ring that yes, I had ordered and chosen myself, put on my card and everything, but still, when it was delivered it was held hostage by my husband until today, as if he had actually gotten it for me. Who cares? I have a really pretty new piece of jewelry that I actually want!

The cards and chocolate weren't a surprise either – since H announced to me the other day that he had gotten chocolate for me at the store, but still, he picked the box of candy out himself – it was pink and had flowers all over it. He was very proud of himself, and pointed all of his doodles on his card, including the very well penned "H".

I had an awesome breakfast cooked for me – Hawaiian sweet bread French toast, strawberries and bacon, yummmmm. With the usual iced mocha – double yum.. Aren't I spoiled?

Several days ago Josh asked me what I wanted to do for Mother's Day – I figured I was already getting the ring, so expensive brunches and outings weren't necessary. But, I did request a little time to myself – which now, after listing all of the ways I am treated so well sounds incredibly selfish, yes, but I did it anyways. Went to see a movie in the afternoon, a chick flick that no one else would have gone to see with me anyways, complete with a Coke and peanut M&M's. Lovely!

When I got home, I spoke to my own mother on the phone for 40 minutes – a rarity – since she's always so busy on that end watching my niece or nephews or working on her lesson plans or, yes, watching Korean soap operas (v. important business), or I'm busy on this end trying not to pull my hair out over potty training. It was amazing to just sit and catch up on what was going on with each other for once.

I was telling my mother about how we have been missing our back pack for about 6 months – and that it especially worried me, because H's passport seems to be also missing – and the back pack, which we used almost exclusively as a carry on for traveling, would have been the most obvious place for it. We have both torn our closets apart several times in the last 6 months, making our place an even worse disaster area than it usually is (which is death defying-ly scary, if you know us).

Well, it's been on my mind again in the last few days, who knows why. And all day today, I've felt a little sick to my stomach – almost nervous, like I was missing something or on the verge of a panic attack. I decided to attack both closets again – Josh's first, because – well. His closet is a wreck. All the time. Whereas mine is only a wreck lately because of this backpack debacle. And because he would have been the last person to have used the backpack. Which HAS to be back in Washington State, because he used it to bring home his lap top, which is sitting on his desk. Anyways.

I found a lot of things in his closet, but no backpack. So I moved on to mine and after digging through a few purses that have been out of the purse rotation I did manage to find H's passport, which makes finding the backpack more of a minor nuisance than a must do. But I also found a small black suitcase – the one that I brought back a few of my recently passed mother in law's things for Josh and H and myself. There were a couple of her sweatshirts – one that she had bought on her last trip out to visit us to ski at Mt. Hood, and one she bought at an Arsenal game while visiting Josh in London during his University years. I noticed that they no longer smelled like her and while looking at all of the stuff, I found my eulogy for her. I re-read it, and realized that I hadn't taken any of those things out of the suitcase because if I did, they would just become a part of the chaos of my closet, just junk bunched up in a ball or stuffed in a storage box, whereas now, they're still clean and folded, together in one place. I sat there for a while, crying a little bit, realizing that it was our first Mother's Day without her, and that it was probably one of the causes for the weird feeling I had carried with me all day. That and the over load of sugar.

A true definition of 'bittersweet', if I've ever come across one; I appreciated and basked in Mother's Day more than ever before, but it was still one of the hardest days this year so far. At any rate, I hope all of you moms out there had a lovely day full of sugar or whatever floats your mama boat and a special dose of love and appreciation for all of the H's aunties – thank you for being there for us and for H.

Lastly – to my mother – thanks for everything. Even when it's just to reassure me that H will use the potty sooner or later. Love you!

(PS, for those of you who would want to know, the ring has a green amethyst in it.)

April Showers Bring May…Showers?

2009-05-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

So, I had a whole entry about our first time visiting the Japanese Gardens here Portland, which are gorgeous, and even though we were hoping to get there in peak sakura (cherry blossom) viewing time, we didn’t, but it was so lovely we didn’t mind at all. But, I kept it from being published because I started to rant about some stuff that I decided might be offensive to way too many people I know. If you want to read it and will risk being offended I’ll be happy to send it to you. I’ll post some shots anyways.

We weren’t sure what H would make of the gardens – whether he’d be bored out of his skull or what, but we were happy to find out that they are quite prepared for the younger crowd. They have a cute treasure hunt map for the kids to use throughout the entire gardens – looking for different items – some plain and simple, like a small statue of a frog and a deer chaser fountain, and some not quite so obvious, like the abstract stone art in the rock garden that represent ‘Buddha and the tiger cubs’, or the maple tree that looks like a dancing peacock. We look forward to seeing the garden in fall when leaves will no doubt make the place seem as though it were on fire.

deer chaser fountain

It’s that time of year when all Pacific North westerners play that inevitable game of cat and mouse with the good weather. Sunny days are few and far between during the ever rainy winter to spring move, so when the sun is out, so are all of the people. News casters will do their annual piece showing a bunch of people playing hooky from work, with all of their faces fuzzed out, of course, to protect them all from getting fired.

This of course means that if it’s even at little sunny we’re out at the park with the kids letting them get some fresh air and physical exercise while they can. The kids are certainly enjoying it – the bikes and scooters come out, along with the kites and bubbles. H and his buddy were having a blast sharing H’s superman kite the other day. Until a downpour started, of course, in perfect PNW style. Anyways, some spring-y shots for your perusal.

spring snow

for fun - one of h's recent drawings - a fine rendering of a duck

check those blue skies!

kite flying

kite flying with a buddy

What? No, really, what?

2009-04-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

So anyone who is truly deaf will probably be offended by this entry. But I’ve been partially hard of hearing for almost a month, and it really is debilitating. Not like pain is, but, even my 3 year old is getting impatient with me and is tired of repeating himself over and over for me. After the round robin of flu and cold symptoms, including my predictable ear infections, lots of amoxicillin, finding out amoxicillin gives me a rash, worried about getting addicted to nasal sprays, and basically being a disgusting mess and passing all of it back and forth between H and myself, somehow my sinuses have not quite cleared out fully and whatever’s left has decided to lodge itself in my head in a way that blocks my ears from doing their job.

It only took about 5 people harassing me to decide to actually go to the doctor to get this checked out. Now, what you may or may not know is that I had to get an ear tube put in just last September while in Tucson - my ears were so full of fluid or whatever, and one needed an ear tube and a serious vacuuming session. So today, I went in the ENT clinic. After having to admit to the receptionist that I hadn’t understood what she said to me - partially because I wasn’t paying attention, but mostly because I couldn’t hear her (you’d think that they’d be a little more sensitive to that particular issue - considering about a third of the people they see are coming in to see them because they can’t hear very well) - I was ushered into the back of the clinic by a guy who is definitely from an Eastern European country, one of the kind whose residents sound half like a Russian Spy and half like Dracula, and he puts me in a little sound-proof room - and I swear, if the other doctors and medical staff hadn’t seen me going with him, I would be a little worried about myself at this point.

This sound-proof hearing test room, well, it was downright nightmare inducing - for kids and adults alike. First of all, it had a lot of equipment that just seemed “that much” too old, and the walls looked like the inside of a tool shed - you know all of that sound proof stuff that looks like drywall with the little holes in it - like really large, white graham crackers? Well, that was the décor. Kind of a ‘70’s psychological thriller setting. Anyways, that along with the heavily accented doctor asking me to repeat words (for me, its difficult to just repeat the words, and not the accent) - the whole scene was a little bizarre and hilarious, and kind of scary.

It’s not difficult to surmise that they get a lot of younger patients at this clinic - what with the play area in the reception room, and the child-geared art and informational posters plastered on the walls. Inside the soundproof room there was two paintings of animals - one was a cat, I forget what the other was. Its obvious they’re put there to put kids at ease while hooked up to crazy beige audio equipment and headphones bigger than their head, but they were done in sort of a cartoon-y Alice in Wonderland kind of way that’s GOT to make them more freaky than comforting. Why not just get a cute poster of an actual cat doing something funny, like popping out of a coffee mug with the caption “hiya!” or hanging upside down from a tree with the caption “hang in there” instead? We’ve all seen/had those at some point.

Just when I started to worry that Vlad the Impaler was going to be my new Ear Doc, he took me out and sat me down in the hallway and told me that someone was going to be with me soon. (In my head a diabolical laugh like Count from Sesame Street came out as he walked away.) Another nurse sat me in a room, asked me a couple questions, tapped on the computer and left, saying that someone would be with me soon. Then finally, my new ear doc came in and he asked me a couple questions, loudly enough for me to hear, thankfully. And then took me to yet another room so that he could look into my ear with the microscope.

Why, why is it that when the non scary, actually quite good looking young ear doc comes to check you out, he’s the one that finds and sucks the disgusting ear wax out of your head? Yuck! Its like - “Hi, I’m a mom, I’m married, I no longer work out, brush my hair, or clean my ears. Take a look!” Thank heavens I still brush my teeth.

Anyways, now I’m back on antibiotics, and some nasal spray, and get to go back in a month, with the possibility of having to get yet another ear tube. Ok, in deference to the cute guy who actually is deaf on the Amazing Race, I’ll stop griping.

The Kugel results have come in....

2009-04-15T00:46:00.001-07:00

And the verdict was - pretty good, although, it could have used more salt. I have to admit, that I am very gun shy when it comes to salt. I don’t think my mother used much salt in her cooking when we were growing up, and yet her food tasted great. I did follow a recipe - and used, I think, as much salt as it required. Maybe subconsciously I left some out. Or, recently I heard that using Kosher salt is much less “salty” than table salt, however that works.

Anyways, glad its over. But now I’m afraid that I’ve set myself up for a lifetime of making kugel for Passover. Not that I mind contributing, I’m happy to. Its just so nerve wracking, trying to keep the potatoes white (which I did, thank you very much), and to keep myself from getting terribly burned by the hot oil (which I did as well). It’s a big wet and potato-ey mess, and of course I smelled like onions for a few days afterwards. No, I’m just glad it was edible and actually pretty good.

Everyone else’s dishes came out lovely as well. I think that we were pretty pleased with how our family Seder turned out, to be honest. We had fun, as we usually do, the food was good, we were organized and the kitchen was never too messy. H ended up being the eldest child (at 3 this is rather hilarious) and found the affikomen - for which he bargained (hardly, more demanded) probably one of the largest payouts anyone of us will ever see for an oversized cracker - $100.00! I asked H if he would buy me some new shoes - and he was more than happy to. Don’t worry. Its going straight into his piggy bank.

Getting the loot from Gramps

And watch out for next year's affikomen comptetion:

Giovanni - cute, but tough. Comes with his own motorcycle pack.

Ethan: a quick learner and talented actor

Taryn, the only little lady, definitely distracting with the cutey-pie-ness with all the ruffles and bows....watch out boys!

the Seder plate

The second Seder (which has to do with the timing of the Hebrew calendar and the moon, or something, and not because people have in-laws and need to appease both sides of the family, although that sounds more practical to me) was held at our friends’ - the Heislers. We were thrilled to join them again this year. They, as predicted, had excellent food, and H ended up being the eldest of the kids again, and somehow finagled another $20 for the affikomen out of one of his biggest fans, Uncle Bob (owner of the Cowboy House that H and I love so much). I’m not sure, but, I’m starting to think we can really make money from this kid’s wit and cute mug…

Seder at the Heisler's

H's house of matzoh - architectural digest, here we come...

Grandpa Phil took the boys (and Allie and myself) to a Mule “Resort” - the kids really seemed to enjoy it. I never realized that mules could be so huge! Some of their bellies seemed to be higher than my head. I guess people travel with their mules and stop at this place - the mules get to be out in pens and the humans hang out in their motor homes or whatever. They also breed mules - there is one male donkey in the joint - he must be exhausted because there seemed to be a lot of pregnant mares around.

hold on tight!

Post-mule bath

All in all, we had a great time, visiting with family and extended family. It was a short visit, but a good one. We didn’t have time to do everything we wanted to - this always seems to happen in Tucson - I’m not sure if it’s the heat - that it slows us down , or just that it’s the home they all grew up in, where you feel so comfortable that there seems no reason to move, or whatever. We were lucky that we had time to party it up a little with some of our friends at our favorite Tucson hangout - the Shelter. This is really the only bar (like bar, bar, not restaurant/bar) I feel really at home in Tucson - that I’ve found anyways. I reminds me of New York somehow.

Kate & Brian (complete with man-perm)

The night before we were leaving it started to rain - pour actually, much like the monsoons that hit the Southwest in the autumn. I’d never seen weather like this in Tucson before. It was something to see! And right before we left, Aunty Allie gave H his own private (indoor, due to weather) Easter egg hunt. He had a blast, finding the eggs around the house. It was so sweet - she gave him little toy cars and even more money (change, not to worry), and little capsules that you put in water that grow into different sponge-shapes. So, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

what cats & dogs look like in tucson

easter egg hunting!

basket of eggs...

check me out!

Ah well. Home again, for a few months at least.

H & baby Ethan!

What have you done for me lately?

2009-04-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

So, I’ve been gone from the blog for quite some time. The thing is - there’s not much to report. H and I have been passing colds back and forth for a while, so for the most part at least one of us has been sick and I’ve been either lolling about in bed complaining or trying to keep my son from having to go to the doctor - we each went once, I think.

We flew to Hawaii on a last minute deal - and while we were on Kauai, it was in the 60’s most of the time, 49(!) one night, and very rainy and windy. It may sound ok to a lot of you who have much colder weather, but the funny thing is, when you get there, you acclimate really quickly. By the second and third night, we were definitely in long pants-long sleeve t’s for the most part, and jackets every night eating outside (why do we do this? If its so cold, why don’t we eat inside? Who knows, it’s a Taba thing).

Of course, other than the weather and being sick while we were there, we had a great time. H played with all of his cousins and had a blast. It makes me feel a little guilty for only having one child - but then, I think about the potty training (that is not going so well) and I’m reminded that I, as a parent, am only capable of doing this once, and hopefully not too terribly. I got to spend time with my sister, when she was available, and my parents, when my mother wasn’t teaching English as a Second Language or watching Korean Dramas, and my dad when he wasn’t volunteering or asleep on the couch with the National Geographic channel in the background. It makes me think how nice it would be to live there with everyone else - built in baby-sitters, being so close to family all the time, but then, I remember, sooner rather than later, I’d get itchy feet and feel the need to get away. Not so much from the family, but just from being away from so much of the world.

One of the great things about being home in March was that we got to help celebrate my grandmother’s 93rd birthday! With all of us - minus one uncle and aunt - we pretty much took over the restaurant (thankfully my sister and her husband are friends with the owner). I’m sure the servers were thrilled with the thirteen great-grandchildren running all around the joint. Yep, thirteen. From 12 years old to 1. That plus 6 grand-children, their 5 spouses, 2 sons and their 2 spouses. Bless those waiters.

We also spent a couple of rushed days on Oahu, visiting my other grandparents and that part of the family, and seeing a couple of girlfriends with their kids over a hilarious dinner. That was a super blast. We all have boys, each of them almost literally a year a part - 3, 2, and 1. I hope, that even though we don’t see each other that often, that the boys will end up being buddies as time goes by. I can already see them rolling their eyes as they listen to their moms telling lame stories about high school.

Anyways, a couple weeks later, another round of colds, and now we’re back in Tucson - the first time since we left after my mother in law passed away. Its Passover this week, and it’s a little difficult to be here, but so far we’re holding up. There will be major holes in our celebrations this year - obviously a large one missing Elaine, but also some friends and very unfortunately Josh’s older sister and her family. With their kids in school its tough to get out here. We already miss them, but we’ll get to see them over the summer in San Diego (yay!)

Tomorrow, Allie (Josh’s younger sister) and I are having our first attempts at making major parts of the Passover Seder. She will be making the haroset (an apple/sweet wine/nut concoction that represents the mortar of the bricks the Hebrews used while in slavery to the Egyptians - the sweet wine represents their freedom), and I will be making the potato kugel, which thankfully, has no religious significance, as far as I know. I have read through many recipes and lines of advice on how to properly make it, and its all about the timing, from what I can grasp. In order to make the kugel before the shredded/mushed/whatever potatoes start to turn grey. A “white” kugel is the aim. Luckily, there are two seders, and for the second, we’ll be guests to wonderful and close friends - and let me tell you, their seder food is rocking.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned my cooking prowess before this - I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m not that much of a cook. Its not that I’m a bad cook. I’m just not that into it, and so, I don’t have a lot of skills or learned knowledge of what is what when it comes to the culinary arts. Most of what I cook is versions of 1970’s casseroles I loved as a kid or anything cooked with cream of mushroom soup. If I were still single, I would probably still be eating what I did in my 20’s. Frozen waffle peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fried saimin (ramen) noodles with veggies, and whatever I can get for lunch near the office. Along with my daily latte(s). (Now that I think of it, I still eat those things pretty often.) Josh, however, loves to cook, and even though he’s a total mess while he’s cooking, I love that he’s daring and exploratory in the kitchen. Not everything is a winner, but most of it is good, and a lot of the times amazing. I am a little worried that he uses too much butter - but, I don’t complain, because well, I love butter.

We’ll be home in time for Easter, and that’s a whole other ball of wax (or chocolate, hopefully).

fish fish everywhere!

2009-03-02T01:02:00.000-08:00

We got H some guppies for his birthday, along with a 10 gallon tank and everything you need in a tank, plants, pirate ship, rocks - all that stuff. Growing up I had several fish - I’m pretty sure my tank was larger than 10 gallons, and I’m sure I took a lot less care of the tank. Guppies are hardy and easy to take care of, o they’re good for kids and lazy folks like us.

Well, a couple months later, we’ve had two big explosions of births… The first gave us about 50 fry, and we maybe ended up with 30. Today, we had both females giving birth at the same time - and we probably had close to 100 of them when they were finished. Thanks to the circle of life (cue Elton John‘s “Lion King theme song“), some have already been, ahem, eaten, but we still have a boat load of them.

And they’re cute and all, but really, what are we going to do with all of these baby fish? So far one chain pet store has told me that they won’t take them. We’ll see what happens. I’m reminded of the Henry Huggins book by Beverly Cleary when he gets his guppies, and they keep breeding and breeding until he’s got jars (including all of his mother’s pickling jars) all over his bedroom. I can’t remember what happened in the end - I know the local pet store took some of them.

Ack! What to do? I’m trying to figure out what I did with my guppies as a kid - obviously those had to have been breeding over and over, but what did I do? All I know is I lost almost a tank full of fish when some kids who came over for my sister’s high school graduation party decided to take them and feed them to my brother’s disgusting oscar fish. Talk about a double murder - all my guppies ended up in pieces everywhere, and the oscar died from overeating. Which, to be honest, was a relief, because he was huge and scary and kept jumping out of his tank. He was bigger than my foot! Grody, ugh.

Maybe I’ll google it. Surely someone has some great idea for (legally and ecologically) getting rid of immense amounts of baby fish. Hmm. No help. Guess I’d better call around. Anyone need fish?

Aiya! What fools these mortals be!

2009-02-18T01:20:00.000-08:00

So, for someone who has been coloring their own hair for more than 20 years (you can confirm this with my mother if you don’t believe me), today I made a massive blunder. Now, over the last 20 years I have also gotten my hair colored professionally, but those were usually times when I wanted something a little more adventurous than just the one-process all over color.

Not that I haven’t done adventurous things on my own - amongst them, bleaching my hair only enough for it to become orange, ending up once with pink hair (not an attractive pink), letting my friends bleach a strip on my hair (ending up with a skunk line down the middle of my head - that one had to be FIXED professionally), foiling half my head in the attempt of low-lights (that one came out pretty good), and also, using the 90 volume white lightening bleach that the punky kids use and then covering with bright hot pink for Halloween (as I’ve said before, I commit for Halloween).

Anyways. I’d like to say that today’s gaffe was a rookie mistake, but to be perfectly honest, I’d like to think that anyone who is just a beginner in the world of home permanent hair coloring would be more careful when reading the bottle labels, etc. If you’ve ever colored your hair before, you know that you add bottle two to bottle one, shake up and then apply, roots first. When you first mix the color, it doesn’t look like its changed much, but then as you color, the mixture looks a lot darker (not sure what it is for blonde hair color, not because I haven’t used it before, but because I can’t remember), and its pretty smelly and potent, no matter what kind of secret essences they use to promise a less toxic experience. Leave it on for set time, and try not to get your face all stained up - and then use bottle 3 - conditioner - after you rinse the color off in the shower.

Here’s what I did today. This particular box had something called a “retexturing” gel that you put on first. Somehow this helps your ‘greys’ accept the color better? Maybe this tripped me up a little, and yes, I’m admitting that the main reason for me to color my hair these days is to hide the 30% white that I’ve acquired in the last several years. I have so much hair that having a few white hairs never bothered me, but now, its obvious no matter how much thick crazy hair I have. Then, I donned the “professional” gloves, as directed, took the little tab off the applicator bottle, also as directed. Then took what I thought was bottle two, and dumped the entire thing into bottle one. I shook it, until completely mixed, and started to apply it to my hair.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, the mix usually is quite smelly and starts to turn darker as you apply it. This, however, did not smell bad, and was not turning color. Of course, it took me quite a while to realize this. Then, as if a light went on in the dark caverns of my head, I checked the remaining bottle in the box and realized that I had not put the actual color into the applicator bottle, but instead, the ENTIRE bottle of conditioner (which is supposed to last you one application a week for like 4 weeks). Now what? I quickly put the bottle number two into the applicator as well, thinking, maybe it could be salvaged.

I shook and shook and shook, but to no avail. It just stuck at the top of the already too thick mess in the bottle. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a glass bowl (never ever use metal, only plastic or glass, when mixing color in a bowl) and mixed it all together my gloved hands. It was a creamy off white color, and I reasoned with myself. Surely it wouldn’t be BAD, right? It would either somehow miraculously still work, or it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t, say, make all my hair fall out. Its just conditioner. I slathered it all over my head, and combed it through with my Japanese hair coloring brush (which I got with a box of Japanese hair color) - its like a comb, all hard plastic, but with short ‘teeth’, to make sure the color gets evenly distributed.

I left it on for the whole 25 minutes, as normally instructed. About halfway through, I pulled a white hair from my head and rinsed it, just to see if anything was actually happening. Sure enough, the hair was closer to a taupe than white, so something was working. Eventually, the mixture also started to turn darker, and the only difference became that it really didn’t smell much, and was much creamier than usual.

When I rinsed and dried my hair (and conditioned, again) - I was pleasantly surprised. It actually worked like normal. I mean, don’t know if it will be as permanent as it supposed to be, but my hair doesn’t smell the way it usually does right after coloring. Its soft and dyed. Now, I do not recommend replacing the traditional instructions included with your hair color, but, I do want to give you hope. If you ever mess up and accidentally add the conditioner instead of the color, don’t sweat it. It may still work! Now, if you run into me in the next few days and I’m bald, well, then, I take that back.

Vacation Rocks! Exhaustion Bites!

2009-02-08T22:57:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the extremely long gap between posts. We were really lucky to be taken along to Disney World with Josh’s sister Alison and her husband and son (Dan and Baby Ethan) - and it was a SUPER blast! I’ve only been to Florida once before, long story, but never to Disney World.

This was H’s first trip to Disney anything, and let me tell you - there’s really nothing like watching your young child marvel at everything Mickey Mouse and beyond. That first pair of Mickey ears is like nothing he has ever had before. Only now is he stopped wearing them (over a week later). But, he still sleeps faithfully with his newly acquired stuffed Mickey and Donald.

Anyways, here’s the thing - all of those wondrous moments came with a price. My feet, my body and especially my brain, have all need extra time to recover! My feet are still swollen - no kidding. The first two days we were there, jet lag hit me like crazy - worst its ever been while traveling only within the U.S. But its all of the late nights here at home and then going to bed at like 10pm in Florida that really messed me up. So the first couple of nights I didn’t sleep more than 1-2 hours total. That added to walking around for 8 hours daily - they say the average “all day” WDW visitor walks about 11 miles - can you stand it? - made it hard for this vacation to be a relaxing one.

But I will tell you this. It was relaxing - it was so nice to be with Allie and Dan and the baby, just having a happy carefree time. I wish more of the family could have been there. It was much needed, and an awesome way to start out our new year. (Not to mention, having 78 degree weather in the middle of January was v. nice.)

the much anticipated ears!

how can you beat that smile?

teacups scared him at first...

fireworks scared him every night...too loud, mommy!

in the "Toy Story" car at the hotel

"Safari" ears at at the Animal Kingdom

Meeting Mickey and Minnie!!

Winnie the Pooh...

and Tigger too!

Oh, yes, and Piglet!

Baby Ethan's ears! (and mommy and daddy, too)

with Daddy on the Aladdin ride

Aunty Allie acted as an "extra" in the Indiana Jones stunt show...

but the boys couldn't care less.

Since we’ve been back, its been one week of dragging my rear, and now starting today, the potty training begins. We had a couple of successes today, and a couple accidents. Don’t worry, the only accompanying pictures will be of H with some of his newly acquired “big boy” undies on his head. I asked this earlier on Face book - what is this? This need to put underwear on our heads? Do all children do it? Is it an inherent behavior? Comes as a part of the human double helix? Who knows. Must be something like that. You tell me that you can honestly 100% claim never to have done it.

Oh, and in other news - H has started soccer practice. Its more hilarious than anything, but you can already see the coach in Josh coming out. I’m sure he dreams of H in a Gunner’s Kit, making stadiums rock all over the U.K. I’m pretty sure H’s coach “Coach Ivan” has v. different pictures of H’s future in the world futbol arena.

Oh, WOW

2009-01-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

So we’re sitting here early this morning watching history being made - its Inauguration Day, of course. And as the outgoing and ingoing wives come out, you wonder who they’re wearing - Michelle Obama, I think, made a fab choice, the color is vibrant and unexpected, and those gloves - what a surprise! The Obama girls look adorable as well, don’t they?
(p.s. - sorry for picture quality - after all, I'm a couple thousand miles away)

And as Bush comes out, I find myself feeling a little sad. Not of course, because I’m going to miss him as a President, but the kind of sad you feel when an old person loses on “The Price is Right”. And then, watching Mr. Obama walk down the hallway towards the doors, I said to Josh - “what do you think is going on in his mind? Omigodomigodomigodomigod…” Meanwhile, H is shouting like an elderly Jewish robot - EH, EH, EH, EH, EH!!, and “Hey, Mommy, I see Barack Obama!” He’s up on world events, I tell you.

Ok, and one more question to the universe. Who is putting the scarves on all of these folks and making them look so perfect? I love it.

Oh, wait, wait. Aretha just got on stage. Have you seen this HAT? Now I am a fan of hats, have always been. Have been collecting them for quite some time. Gotta find out who did that hat. It is a country unto itself. Ok, this is going to be a lot like my Olympics blogs - comments here and there that have no grammatical influence. Sorry.

Who is the strategically placed Asian guy sitting behind Barack Obama - anyone? And how hilarious to see Michelle’s brother who got caught peeking during the prayer and rubbing his eyes? Back to hats - there are some really great ones out there. And a lot of ugly ones too. And surprising have only counted 4 people so far wearing sunglasses up on that balcony. I mean, its really bright.

And now it’s the very ethnically diverse quartet - you can hardly get any more diverse. An Israeli, a Korean American, an African American, and a Hispanic American, packing serious talent. Although Josh pointed out that you really were missing a white person. He thought he heard Feinstein say that the piece was arranged by John Williams, and he’s white. But, is it some sort of Classical unauthorized club remix? Because I swear I heard some sampling on Aaron Copland in there.

Oh well, its over. And it can all be summed up by a sign I saw a woman holding out in the crowd. “WOW”.

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Benadryl! (Or, Its a Pirate Party, Ahoy There, Me Hearties!)

2009-01-18T23:39:00.000-08:00

So today we held H’s birthday party - for his big 0-3. It was nice to have a little bit (little being the operative word) of a break between all of the holidays and his actual birthday to celebrate. Every year will be tough - he’ll get all of his presents and celebrating within a few weeks of each other. Unlike his parents, who both were lucky enough to have summer birthdays - so Christmas/Hanukkah and birthdays were about 6 months apart - every half a year you knew you were going to get presents! But, poor H will have 11 months of drought and nothing in between. Ah well. There’s always Easter baskets and stuff like that, I guess.

Almost everyone was able to make it (bummer about these winter birthdays - someone is always bound to be sick!) - and hopefully everyone had a blast. H himself had a bit of the sneezles, and was a bit medicinally groggy during part of the bash. Which hilariously, was most evident during his present-opening bit. We were all cracking up at his slow un-wrapping and the sleepy excitement checking out his new loot.

The little guy really did make out like a champ - he has really great friends, all with good taste and all with lovely parents who really did think of Josh and I before purchasing - not a single pot of play doh (not that we don’t love it - but my carpet hates it) or any paint either. Really, when you rent, those things are not high on the craft activity list. He loves crayons just as well, and now that those are washable and non-toxic, you can’t go wrong!

all of his pals checking out his haul

all the mommies/daddies/aunties/uncles chilling out - at least aunty autumn wore the pirate bandanas i got the boys...

Along with a lot of really cool pirate-related toys and music (rock on!), he got some car toys, play foam he’s been dying for, some books (yay!) and even a video game system for little kids - so now he and daddy can be parked in front of the tv mesmerized in game play. Before you balk, this video game system is completely educational and big fun too. He also got Pirate Undies, gotta love it!! Perfect for upcoming potty training…. And, of course, some cool clothes from Aunt Jodi from Quiksilver and Gymboree - we can always count on her for the cool duds. Nice to have someone who works in a clothes shop!

Even though he was wiped out, as soon as we got home he had to check out a few things. 1. The new Radio Flyer scooter from Grampa Phil - v. cool, just like his buddy Will’s, of course. 2. Pop-up Pirate - super cute game that we played about 6 times at least. 3. Grand Championship 500 - a race track that works with pulleys and gravity - let me be perfectly honest. While H clearly loved this toy, it was Daddy that was the most excited to play with it. He also got a new pirate ship (our house is going to be a pirate ship museum soon) - and although he kept begging, it was bedtime and I had to promise he could play with it tomorrow.

new scooter!

playing trains with baby b!

So, a big thanks to all of our friends who came - we are really glad you did! Some people gripe about all the birthday parties they have to haul their kids to - I think at this age there aren’t as many kids’ parties you have to attend, since its no school or just pre-school. And honestly, once they start school, I think it’s a good sign that your kid gets invited to birthday parties, don’t you? I mean, if they didn’t then you’d have to worry that your kid was a big dork or something. And besides, its cake and presents. Even if the presents aren’t for you, you get to eat cake, right? Can’t be anything wrong (besides fat and calories) with that!

cake ..... yummmmm!

I had a blast putting together their “loot” bags too - some pirate coins, stickers (pirate for the boys, cutesy stuff for the girls), pirate pencils, tattoos, pirate candy (whatever that is, guess I should have tasted it), and then kites (non-pirate) too. It sounds like a lot, but it wasn’t really. This year, though, we had no pirate cake. Josh insisted that we get a different cake from last year, and all the pirate cakes (except for the one we had last year) were either too scary (Pirates of the Caribbean, tentacles, etc) or something he wouldn’t understand (like Peter Pan, which sadly he has not seen yet).

What’s fun(ny) at this stage is that kids love pirates, but they don’t know what pirates really do. We’ll see what happens when we go on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World later this month. Scary? Cool? Who knows, he may freak, he may love it and want to ride it 7 times in a row like my brother when we went to Disneyland in 1978. So, what kind of cake did we get, you ask? Well, a Wiggles cake, of course! Totally incongruous with the theme, but, he was stoked and got yet another toy “Big Red Car” to take home. Gotta love it.

at least my little ladies wore their pirate tiaras. who wouldn't?

So, now we can rest for another year. Right?

Thanks to Aunty Diana and Uncle Al at Café Sip n Play for letting us party at your joint! What would we do without you? If you’re in the Portland area, and you are lazy like me, this is the best place to have a kid’s birthday party. Play area, good food, everything taken care of - decorations, the whole gamut, and on top of all that - you’re in arm’s reach of an espresso machine. Nothing wrong with that. Yawn!

OUCH!

2009-01-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

Accidents, galore!

Yesterday H fell down and scraped his back on the frame of his bed. Tonight, he was running and tripped and hit his face (yes, his face) on the same bed frame. If you check back to many many posts previous to this, we were very excited about this bed. Tonight I am less in love it with it, and will kick it happily when I am checking on H before I go to bed, to make sure he doesn't have a concussion! (Thank heavens for a mother that was an R.N.)

[picture above is after tonight's accident - thankfully its not too bad...]

Anyways. I know the bumps and bruises are a fact of toddler life, but don't they just get your heart racing? You know its bad when there's a pause before they scream in pain. And now, he'll have a lovely shiner for his birthday party this coming weekend. *sigh*

Not to worry, he seemed to be fine after a little extra cuddle time, and an extra 30 minutes before bedtime to watch tv with mom & dad. And to prove he was ok, he started running around and preformed his new big trick for me before going to bed. Check my facebook for the video. Or, ask me and I'll email it to you.

In other painful news, he got his 2nd ever professional haircut. Otherwise I have been cutting it - and I really wanted the girl to cut it "long" - leave most of the length and just give it a little layering and texture, so it didn't look like Sonny Bono, circa, well, pre-political career (long and hanging over the ears).

pre-cut

post cut

still adorable...

Happy Birthday & Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T00:09:00.001-08:00

So 3 years ago today, our son was born. Its so hard to believe that he’s 3, after all, I’m still sort of shocked that I’m a parent. H’s Grandpa Phil flew in for the day from Tucson, and he had a blast, even though we couldn’t find his present (shh, don’t tell, it’s a scooter) anywhere.

After a great breakfast at Kornblatt’s on Nob Hill (super yum yum), we went to a few of the staple PDX toy stores. Then off to Mimosa Studios in the Alberta Arts District to paint pottery. Cannot wait to see our stuff! Finally got a good handprint after 3 years of trying.

Thank goodness his hands are still small and cute. His official birthday party will be in a week and a half with all of his little buddies. Promise to post pictures then.

Anyways. Looking forward to a good year filled with a lot of good things. Seem to be at a loss for words, so I’ll just post more pictures.

in the hospital

at home relaxin'

in the short-lived bassinet

h & cousin bailey

rocking out v. early in life.

how cute am i? no really, how cute?

sporting my vintage sweater made by my great great grandmother sophie

this is serious business!

success!

that's right, three whole candles!

best...presents...ever!

2008-12-31T12:21:00.001-08:00

Well, sorry for the lack of reporting. We did eventually get out of the apartment, no thanks to the weather or the area’s lack of proper equipment to haul the snow out of our driveway.

Hanukkah and Christmas were lovely - and its always a trip to me, every year, when the holidays end. How quickly its gone after all of the stress it seems to cause for weeks on end beforehand. Thanks to the inclement weather, we got to prolong the gift giving a little bit, since our stocking stuffers (v. big in our family) came late, and the one BIG present for H arrived just yesterday. We thought of holding it off for his birthday, but we were too excited and had to give in. For those of you not in the know - H is now the proud owner of both a “Captain Feathersword” pirate hat and “feathersword.”

For the last two days he has not let go of either item, not even to sleep. He’s loving slept cradling the sword and wearing hat on head. Its rather hilarious. By fervent and multiple requests, I have attempted to take pictures of him with his new toys - but for some reason they’ve all come out a little less than worthy.

The only other presents that have captured him even close are the pirate ship from Grandma and Papa, a ukulele from his Aunty Richelle and Uncle Robin, straight from Hawaii - it was supposed to be a birthday present, but oops. And then there’s the new Wii from my Uncle Dennis. Not surprisingly, both Josh and I (mostly Josh) have logged many more hours on it than H has, (after all, he’s a toddler, and must sleep at some point) but, ahh, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t luurrvve it. We got Rock Band, and he is more enamored with the drums and drumsticks than we expected. Not only that, but we have awesome video of him “playing the trumpet” on Wii Music.

groovy pirate ship from grandma and papa

What a riot! I don’t know how we can prevent him from getting real drums at some point - maybe we (our ears and the neighbor’s ears) will luck out and he’ll stick with guitar. (Not to worry, Uncle B has promised to rear our child if he should be come neglected due to Wii Play.)

wii rock band drums

So the big question remains. Now that he’s gotten everything he could ever want - (H, that is, although Josh is fairly happy) what do we get him for his birthday? Any good suggestions?

lighting the hanukkah candles

making cookies for santa

cookie break

Crazy Winter Wonderland

2008-12-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

Well, its day who knows what of being stuck at home! As you may have heard, our area has been at a stand still due to the big winter storm that we’ve been having. Right now, there’s nothing going on in the sky - just a lot of clouds, but the snow on the ground is piled high and for the first time in a couple days, the roads are starting to get cleared so people can actually get somewhere. We’re hoping we’ll be able to get out of our complex (up a big hill with lots of snow and ice may stop us) to get to the grocery store today. Supposedly it has to be today, since tomorrow will be the start of another bad system!

In the midst of all of this, people are trying to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas - many people are stuck at home when they are meant to be traveling elsewhere - the airport finally got a bunch of flights out starting last night, but over 200 flights were cancelled. I’m not sure what’s going on with the buses or trains. We may be celebrating with just the three of us, since we may not be able to travel the usually 10 minute drive to pick up Uncle B. And if we DO get him here, we might not be able to get him back home! So.

Also - who knows if our stocking stuffers will come from Grandma and Papa’s on time? I hope so - but I’m not holding my breath. And, the biggest worry is now that the main present - the only one that H actually asked Santa for, may not get here on time either. I hope he’s not disappointed. He’s not old enough to totally get the idea of Santa - so hopefully he’ll understand when I tell him that presents were delayed by the snow! Especially being shipped internationally from Australia… I have a good feeling that the present sent by Grandma and Papa (shipped separately straight from Amazon) will keep him stoked for a long, long time. (I won’t say what it is, it’s a surprise! But the first word starts with ‘P’ and ends in ‘rate’ and the second word stars with ‘Sh’ and ends in ‘ip’.)

Not to say its not pretty outside, because it is (maybe not in our parking lot - where a guy got stuck for 3 hours yesterday, almost hitting our car a gazillion times in a big U-Haul truck). H has had a lot of fun playing in the snow, being pulled on his sled and making snow angels. I made one too (no photo available).

Being stuck inside has also inspired the opening of a couple of Christmas presents a little early - my Uncle Dennis generously gave us a Nintendo Wii for Christmas - so we’ve been playing with that - leaving a couple games for Christmas. The Wii is supposed to be for H - so we made sure to get games that he would be able to play - not easy to find for 3 years old, but so far, he’s loving Wii Music - and when his Diego game gets here he’ll love that too, I’m sure.
Ah well, we’ve at least been industrious and started to clean the house. Might as well, since we’re going to be sitting here staring at each other for who knows how long. Funny thing - even though I feel like I’ve been wearing the same clothes for the last several days - (read, pajamas and/or sweats) the laundry pile still grows and grows. Ugh.

I swear I will cease to being such a scrooge as long as we can get to the grocery store soon and re-stock on food.

not much snow on day one...

a lot more on day 2 or 3

enough for snow angels

our little chiminera on the balcony

the parking lot - you're not going anywhere, buster!

picking up the mail yesterday - they really do deliver!

outside our front steps yesterday

Our Son, Mini Picasso?

2008-12-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Now I don’t want to be one of those mums that brags about their kids incessantly about this or that - but, this is one instance that I really can’t help. H has always shown - from the moment he could control a crayon, that he has some innate artistic talent. At first we weren’t really sure if we were just being typical parents who think their kid excels at everything, but then as we spoke to other parents and did a little rooting around online - it became pretty clear that he was a little ahead of the curve artistically, compared to other 2 year olds. Now, yes, he’s a skip, hop and a jump from being three, but I think he’s still holding his own in the art department.

So, just to show off a little, here’s some of my baby pirate’s art.

His favorite Wiggles character - Captain Feathersword

Captain Feathersword's Pirate Ship

A Wiggles Shirt (are you seeing a pattern form here?)

Shane and David from "The Upside Down Show" (does this kid watch too much tv or what?)

And, for you traditionalists, the sun and some flowers.

Man Alive!!! Its stinking cold!

2008-12-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Bah. There’s not much to report, obviously. We are in the middle of a very bad cold snap here in the PNW - supposedly one of the worst in quite some time. I certainly don’t remember temperatures in the teens last winter. Of course, we did spend some time in Hawaii last winter to warm us up. We’ve had one day of snow so far - surprising only one - but we are supposed to get more in the next several days. H was ecstatic about it - he was begging us to take him outside to build a snowman even before the snow started coming down.

Other than that, its been shopping, putting up the tree, and for H - watching the Wiggles and discovering a new fear or the heater vents. Evidently the fan scares him and wakes him up at all and every hour of the night. There probably is a lot more interesting things that I could be reporting about, but I don’t have the brain power to recall them. In the last few nights we’ve been up several times trying to calm the fears of those dastardly heater fans. Those along with the even more aggressive stalling at bedtime tactics lead to very late and frustrating nights. So, yawn, that’s it for now.

If you build it, they will come!

2008-12-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Portland Children’s Museum currently has a Bob the Builder exhibition in addition to all of their other groovy little kid attractions. H and W had a blast as the old folks looked on. Ok, I admit, I liked the clay room, and Josh clearly had fun crawling around too.

By the way, that is H's very own "bob" hat. Don't leave home without it!

Thanksgiving, SoCal style.

2008-12-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

Every year my sister-in-law Jori hosts Thanksgiving at her house in San Diego. We don’t always go, but this was a very important time for all of us to be together. Like many other crazy people, we faced travel on Wednesday. It was a good time, visiting with friends and family, and we got our first real taste of playing with a Ninento Wii, which was great, since we are getting one for Christmas!

H was especially happy to be with his cousins again, and unlike our last long trip to Tucson, the only thing he ruined with a pen was his dress shirt. (Unfortunately beyond repair even by bleach. Oh well, it’s getting too small for him anyways, like all of his clothes.)

It was also his cousin Bailey’s 10th birthday on Friday - and for a 10 year old, I think she made out pretty well! Along with all of her gifts, she’s getting a new ipod, her second, mind you. I mean, I don’t know what 10 year olds fill their ipods with - Hannah Montana? Probably not so with Bailey; she’s always been mature for her age. Although I don’t expect she’s downloading any Tony Bennett either.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, H got to ride his first Tilt a Whirl, and none of us could tell you if he enjoyed it or not. He also rode the kiddie boats with dad, submarine with Grampa Phil, and the Carousel with mom. And somehow we got out of there without having to buy him the blow up monkey toy. Even though we didn’t get to go to Lego land (supposedly we’ll go there this summer), word is we may be going to Disneyworld in January. We shall see.

We did at least go out one night to downtown San Diego - to the popular gas lamp district. One of Josh’s co-workers, Brooke, left New York as well, and telecommutes from LA, and was in SD for Thanksgiving, so we met up for dinner. H had a blast with her roommate (and we loved the reprieve, frankly).

At any rate, other than ridiculous travel itineraries, it was a good trip and on top of it all, I got a much needed pedicure. So what are we thankful for? Family, friends, food, guitar hero, and pedicures, of course.

Twilight fanatic? Pretty much, yeah.

2008-11-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

OK, I promise, no spoilers here. But the other night, after about a week of avid reading (during which time, I will admit, the house got messier and H watched way too much TV), I finished the 4 volume series by Stephenie Meyer. As bummed as I am that I no longer have anything else to read (although she is supposedly finishing the additional book told in the voice of Edward, 2nd main character of the series), I’m also excited that I will go and see the Twilight movie this weekend - and have that sort of instant-gratification I did when I finally started reading the Harry Potter books - sometime around when book 4 came out and the first movie was on the screens. I think, who can remember?

Anyways, it was lovely. I couldn’t put them down! I spent days in a dream like state - lulled by the fantasy and romance of the characters’ relationships. I pondered, too many times, how cool it would be to be a vampire, like the ones in the books (they’re slightly less violent, you’ll know if you’re a fan). But, of course, reality would sink in and I would remind myself that it wouldn’t be good - because I have a husband and a young son - would they be vampires? Would I want them to be? How stupid can you get, right? I’m not very good at fantasizing. Although, I’m sure many people are wondering the same thing. Who wouldn’t want to have all kinds of strength and speed and interesting special gifts, not to mention, immortality.

There are two sides to the immortality thing - who would possibly want to live so long? I mean, yeah, if you’re ‘turned’ early enough in life - you could literally be 21 forever - or 18 forever - personally, I would at least want to be old enough to order a drink in a bar, even if alcohol doesn’t appeal to my vampire taste buds. At least I’d be able to hang out in a bar. Ugh, but to be alive that long…doesn’t that get tiresome after a while? But, on the other hand, vampires tend to be rather well to do, because they have so much time to accumulate wealth. They have the opportunity to be super smart - because they live through so much history and can probably go to school as much as they want - as long as they don’t eat their teachers and school mates. Oh, and think how many books you’d have time to read. Now, that’s worth the lifetime of forever to me. Powell’s would make out like champs if I was a vampire.

Other advantages? Well, you could probably travel rather easily. Store closing in Seattle in an hour? Just run there and get there in time to shop. Concert sold out? Hey, just hang out in the rafters or nearby trees. Never being too hot or too cold? Looking gorgeous all the time? Not bad. Saving people’s lives - if you’re able to keep from feasting on them, I suppose. Yeah, that’s a downfall. Oh well.

Anyways, the whole thing is rather silly, I suppose, but, living right in the middle of the area that they filmed Twilight really makes me think about it even more than the average bear. I look outside to all of those tall evergreens and I think, hey, is that a vampire sitting in that tree? Cool. And for those of you cringing of the thought of going to see the movie and being surrounded by screaming girls (and women), don’t worry about us. We’re going to see it at Cinetopia, in the Living Room, which has food service complete with vino and waiters, and is 21 and over. (Not to mention, soft, big cushy seats, ottomans, and cushions, should you need one. www.cinetopiatheaters.com)

So I may have some women melting in their seats, but no 14 year olds screaming, crying and passing out like the Beatles just landed. And apologies to Josh, but, I have a feeling that even if the movie is a flop, I won’t be minding v. much - that Robert Pattinson is quite the dish. Chomp!

My Very Own Non-Celebrity Playlist

2008-11-20T00:43:00.000-08:00

So every once in a while, I hear one of the djs on the radio station I listen to speak to celebrities, and they go though their play lists - playing all of the songs one by one. Then today as I was blog-roaming, I came across this girl’s blog that had a play list from www.playlist.com - and thought.. Hmm. I need one of those.

I perused my I-tunes library, thought about what I loved, and just like when you go book-shopping without a list, you can never remember what you wanted - it was like that. So I thought I’d cheat and look at some celebrities’ play lists. I can’t say I’m a celebrity-phile, but it was fun learning a few things about people that you wouldn’t otherwise know about them - even if they are strangers.

So. Hence the new play list. But, I can’t say that this play list is completely indicative of my life, nevertheless, I’m going to try and spit one out for you.

Step On My Old Size Nines - Stereophonics - when I met Josh, we connected on so many weird levels - and we still do. One thing we discovered is that even though our music tastes were extremely varied - we loved a lot of the same stuff - especially the stuff that we didn’t really consider our favorites. But we also introduced each other to stuff we came to love - like Stereophonics. I’d never heard of them, but since he had been living in London for so long, he was bound to know some obscure UK bands I didn’t. We danced to this song - our first dance, at our wedding. It was an odd choice for some, but if you listen to the lyrics, there’s no denying it’s the perfect way to start a marriage.

The Tide is High - Blondie - this song always brings back a really hilarious memory for me. I was in the third grade when this was at its height of popularity - and we were on a class field trip. When this song came on the radio, the entire bus of kids started singing it. As a joke, the bus drive turned the radio off and we were all caught singing a cappella. It was silly, and it still makes me laugh.

Ghost - Indigo Girls - Like my sister before me, and many other girls, I got to know the Indigo Girls during college. We thought we were tapping into our inner intellectuals and poets - maybe we were, reading more EM Forster and Virginia Woolf, etc. Every time I fell into an infatuation, I though this song was speaking to me about my love. Or, unrequited love? How stupid. I still love this song, though.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow- Israel Kamakawiwo`ole - I don’t think you can be from Hawaii and not love this song. Why, yes, everyone has poached this song from toy commercials to my wedding video editors, but still, when I hear the `ukulele start, I get very nostalgic for home and the local music.

Surfin’ USA - Beach Boys - When I was a v. little kid, we had this on a yellow ‘45. Or someone we knew did. Anyways, it started my love for the Beach Boys, even though I had no idea where most of the places were that they were singing about, I didn’t know what Huarache sandals were (I mean, we wore rubber kamaboko slippers) - although, I did want a bushy bushy blonde hairdo. They were also some of my youngest crushes - especially Dennis (natch), alongside Superman.

Beauty of Gray - Live - Another college anthem for me. I love the lyrics.

Emperor’s New Clothes - Sinead O’Connor - Just love the adamant way she sings this. I’m not sure I know where she’s at in this song. But basically, she’s going to be who she wants, the way she wants, and everyone else is a poser? Anyways, I have wonderful memories of this song. Jennifer and I singing it at the top of our lungs as we drove around Seattle, and Brian and I doing the same as we crossed over the Bay Bridge on Sinead’s birthday during the Big Road Trip of 1995.

I am a Rock - Simon & Garfunkel - same string as the song above. I am who I am and alone in my pursuits, strong and untouchable. Obviously another young adult anthem - used to get over boys and poor grades and times when I was really upset with my parents, etc.

Fallen For You - Sheila Nicholls - this was on the High Fidelity soundtrack - which is a play list in itself, really. Something about this song really captured me. Maybe it was her use of the word ‘periphery’ and I had just found out I had astigmatism? I love the piano in this - and spent hours one day in Greg’s studio trying to notate it because I couldn’t find the sheet music for it. Having not played a piano for years this was quite a task. And if you ask me now where those notations are, I have no idea. What a waste. Anyways. The first weekend after I moved from Berkeley to New York I went to the Guggenheim. She mentions it in the song, and I decided that I needed to be listening to it while “walking round the Guggenheim”. Silly, yes. By pure coincidence, this song was playing in the background at Revival when Josh and I got engaged. Nuts, right?

Call and Answer - Barenaked Ladies - first of all, I love the Barenaked Ladies - probably the most fun concert I’ve ever been to. Anyways. Love this song of devotion and then v. strange ending. We considered this for a wedding song, until we realized that the word “crucify” at an interfaith Jewish/Christian wedding would be wrong in so many ways.

Hit Me Baby One More Time - cover by Travis - not only is it kinda hilarious - its actually really good. I didn’t get to see them perform this live, but, once, at a Travis concert - Josh and I were having our first really huge fight, and although I was so mad that I refused to even speak to him (besides, they were at the Radio City Music Hall - which is the weirdest venue for this crowd), when they started apologizing for not playing their Britney Spears cover, I was so intrigued I had to break the silence and ask. Then we listened to it the next day after the fight was over.

Ok. That’s what I’ve got for now. There’s way more, I’m sure. But its late and I’m tired.

Tagged..with nothing else to do!

2008-11-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

There’s nothing like being tagged when you’ve been struck by a bit of writer’s block. Thanks to my cousin Dawn for the tag - no, really. Its helping me come up with other ideas….

Four Random Things I Like About My Husband:

1. He’s a much more enthusiastic chef than I am/will ever be.
2. He’s way messier than I am, so he makes me feel better about myself.
3. He is a great dad and provider.
4. He’s not anti-jewelry.

Four Jobs I've Had:

1. Do it all at Taba Brothers
2. Photo Editor
3. Senior Account Manager
4. Development Officer

Four Movies I've Watched More Than Once:

1. Funny Face
2. Bee Movie
3. Bring it On (oh, come on, like you haven’t)
4. Pride & Prejudice (any version, you name it)

Four TV Shows I Watch:

1. Amazing Race
2. Big Bang Theory (if you’re not, you should)
3. The Daily Show
4. The Upside Down Show (and everything else on Noggin/Sprout/Nick Jr. etc)

Four Places I've Been:

1. Tokyo
2. Rome
3. Copenhagen
4. London

Four of My Favorite Foods:

1. Cheese
2. Sushi
3. Carne Asada Burritos
4. Grandma’s Bento Box

Four Places I'd Like to Visit:

1. The Illyrian Coast (Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, etc)
2. Ireland
3. Amsterdam
4. China

Four Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year:

1. H & Josh starting Soccer (riots ahead)
2. H potty training (now or never kid! Well, not never. Just NOW!)
3. Harry Potter 6 in theatres
4. Watching a new administration in the White House.

Four People I Tag:

Aw, come on. I don’t even KNOW 4 people who read this thing. If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

And really, thanks for reading.

more craft disasters

2008-11-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

Well. We thought that selling our stuff at the Portland craft bazaar we went to this past weekend was going to fare better than the one up north. What we didn’t know was that this particular bazaar, held at a small private school (which shall remain nameless, mostly because I’ve already forgotten its name), was only in its second year, so not established. Which meant that for 2 days we sat there and stared at each other basically the whole time. The only people that bought anything were other vendors, and vice versa. And it wasn’t a “hand-made” bazaar, so - there were people there trying to sell you products to help you lose weight (ugh) or to learn how to prevent kitchen fires and then the jewelry version of Avon makeup representatives (or Tupperware or Amway, depending on your experience).

Which was v. lame and ironic all at the same time. Ironic because I got the opportunity to meet Daulina’s childhood friend Charlotte, who had just last month just set her own kitchen on fire. Perhaps if she had bought one of those fire safety videos last year…

And for my inquiring sister’s sake, here’s what we were selling: Daulina makes little girl tutus, hair bows, hair clips, knit caps with huge flowers, all outrageously adorable. Jennifer and Jodi made these cute cupcake pincushions and Christmas ornaments with colorful recycled wool sweaters, and I was selling my Bee Charmer charms - as seen in previous post. Or, maybe “trying to sell” would be more accurate.

Oh well. So much for trying to add to the family bank account this year!

Crafty Bazaars and Success at the Dentist

2008-11-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our friend Daulina who let us sell our wares in her booth at the Craft Bazaar up in Centralia last weekend! We all did pretty well, considering the inclement weather and economically slow times. We’ve got another fair this weekend in Portland somewhere, so hopefully we’ll do even better with a more urban and hip crowd. (Not that Centralia is not hip, but the country craft scene is not exactly my audience…)

Amongst all of the cute country booths with cute country art and Christmas items, was the effervescent PINK of Daulina’s Bebe a la Mode booth. She and her friend Season make little girl tutus, big flower hats and headbands, hair ribbons, and all kinds of girl accessories. All that pink attracted all of the mommies, grandmas, and female crowd under 12 like moths to a spotlight! Here are some shots of our booth.

Ooh! And Jennifer took me to a great shop in Centralia called Hub Bub - (http://www.hubbubshop.com/) - they carry all kinds of wonderful and creative artistic pieces - home accessories, jewelry, hats, and lots of recycled and vegetarian items. Speaking of which, if anyone asks, like Josh, I would LOVE to have the vegan ESPE laptop case - “Whirl” in black. Which they have at Hub Bub. (Pictured below is the tote, not the laptop case.)

And this Monday, we took H to his very first official dental appointment! (I say official because Uncle Sonny - my dad’s brother and recently retired dentist, has actually “seen” H’s teeth, but you know, that doesn’t count.) Anyways, H did so well! I was prepared for the ABSOLUTE WORST!!! I envisioned a lot of “NO’s!!” and rolling around and running away. But, he did as he was asked and handled the whole thing really well. The ones that failed were us, the parents. I guess letting H, the 2.5 y/o, brush his own teeth was not the wisest of ideas.

They must be more in tune with H than we could ever guess - as a prize he got two rubber duckies (which he loves), one as a cat-ducky (creepy) and the other as a (Of COURSE) PIRATE ducky!

Speaking of pirates and being in tune with H….Uncle Brian comes through as the coolest present buyer ever. Check out the coolest messenger bag ever. (http://www.eclectikid.com/)

Oh, why won't you sleep?

2008-11-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

I’m starting to worry that my days of enjoying my son’s 2-3 hour naps are over. From what I hear around the mommy watering holes, I’m actually quite lucky that H actually even still naps at all. He’s always been a good sleeper, even as a newborn. However lately…he is the KING of the stall!

Some of our favorite stall tactics are:

I want some water!

Please read me a book!

I want a lollipop! (Really? No ways, kid.)

I want to brush my teeth! (Wait, did we forget to do that?

Oops!)

I need a hug!

No, I need a hug from Daddy (if Mommy arrives).

No, I need a hug from Mommy (if Daddy arrives).

I need a kiss! (How can you turn that one down, really?)

My penguin needs water! (His humidifier, good gracious.)

And of course, the best one -

I made a doo doo! (Now that at least needs to be investigated.)

Eventually, we go in, do what is requested (not the lollipop bit), and then I suggest that he looks at a book while lying down. Sometimes this works, sometimes it just makes him stay up longer. He’ll just sit there, talking to himself, or he’ll get riled up and we start all over again. Or, if he’s being ridiculous - ignore him until he gives up and goes to sleep. And this is both for naps and night time. Don’t these kids realize that as soon as they start to appreciate naps and sleeping that they’ll no longer have the time to do it?

So even though a lot of people have started their kids on pre-school at this young age (pre-3), I’m thinking that we’ll at least wait until he’s no longer napping nicely. Supposedly they nap at school, but maybe for an hour. I don’t want to deal with a no-nap toddler, so I’m happy to send him to school then.

And seriously. Why oh WHY won’t the potty training fairy come to my house? I know, I know, he’ll do it when he’s ready. I hope its sometime before he goes to college. These diapers are a drag already. I never though I’d be jealous of a parent whose child is screaming “I have to go potty!! NOW!!” But there it is, the green - eyed monster wishing her kid would catch a clue. Oh well.

Changes - on their way!

2008-11-06T01:02:00.000-08:00

Both Josh and I were moved to tears listening to Barack Obama’s speech after the election last night. No matter where you lie politically, and what you hoped the outcome of the election would be, its hard to deny that the world saw history in the making yesterday. And now all we can do is hope for positive changes and support our new administration.

What struck us the most during Mr. Obama’s speech, sitting in our living room, while H drew pictures, was that our son has the opportunity to live in a country where racism will seem even more ridiculous than it already does. (Like how Josh and I are fortunate to have been born when all races and genders were already allowed to vote.) He will grow up seeing that anyone who is good and works hard can truly achieve the highest of goals, no matter where he was born, or what he looks like. And he will be proud to have been born in the same state as the man we voted to become president for the first election during his lifetime. (We Hawaii folk are a tad geocentric that way.)

Of course, like everyone else, with the exception of the news people, we are mostly relieved that all of the campaigning is over. And I can go back to strictly getting my news from Jon Stewart. I mean, holograms. Seriously? I don’t want Wolf Blizter beaming me anywhere. And, thank you John King, for explaining at the beginning of the night that “too close to call” means “too close to call”, and “too early to call” means “its too early to call”. Duh.

Well, at any rate, it should be interesting to see how the world reacts to America’s latest decision. And honestly, as I do with every new First Lady, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of china she chooses for the White House! And thankfully, H is not old enough to have caught Barack Obama’s promise to his girls to get them a puppy. He has been initiated into the “I want to play with that” camp - darn those toy commercials - guess that’s what will fill all the extra air time until the end of the year.

The People Have Spoken - Alan Alda is GOOD! (Or, Graffiti Speaks at the End of a Really Good Day)

2008-11-06T00:16:00.000-08:00

This is more catching up - but important catching up, because it is about hanging and eating with friends, shopping in stores none of us can afford, and late-afternoon pastries and coffee. A lot of these places around town have been around a while, so anyone who is a PDX fixture will ask “what is the big deal? I’ve been going to [fill in the blank] forever!” Or, “duh, where have you been?” Keep in mind, we are still rather new to the area, so we’re still discovering these amazing spots for ourselves. And besides, everyone could use a little reminder about what to do on a gloomy day.

So this particular day in question started out in the most fabulous way possible. Brunch, of course! We went to the Little Red Bike Café (www.littleredbikecafe.com) on Lombard/US30 in the St. John area. Their specialty is amazing breakfast sandwiches, along with pastries - baked based on whim and availability of ingredients, I believe. I highly recommend visiting this joint. And if you happen to be a bicycle type person, they have a bike up window, where you can pick up your goodies and pedal away. Anyways, check out their website, and definitely stop by to eat. This quickly made it to our regular rotation list, and is already a fast favorite.

super duper french toast

After Brunch, we headed out to the Alberta Street area to peruse the shops and digs. A couple of our favorite spots were the Office (which specializes in vintage and otherwise cool office accoutrements), Bolt (for fabrics), and right next door, Close Knit, for all your yarn, crochet and knitting needs.

Next to Mississippi Avenue - also full of shops and cafes, etc. It was pouring down rain and there was a small flooding issue on the main intersection, but we braved it anyways. I especially loved Black Wagon - children’s clothing, books, toys, décor - for the hip mamas and papas out there who can afford $40 t-shirts. I love my son, and I loved that Obama toddler t, but $40? I would if I could. And if you can, they have ü ber cool stuff for boys, which, if you’re a mom of a boy like me, is a problem. (http://www.blackwagon.com/)

Also, I honestly am ashamed to admit, but we went into a really great kooky shop that had all kinds of everything, from vintage style toys to refurbished furniture and clothes. What I really enjoyed was the gumball machine full of vintage buttons. Unfortunately, it stole my quarter, but the gal in the shop let me take a fistful from the top of the machine. I got crap buttons. Oh well. That’s what you can get for a quarter these days.

Off then to Williams Street - where we were hoping to get into Ink & Peat, which sells gardening and garden inspired décor (how else to describe?) - but, bummer, they were closed. One of the chances you take by going out on a Sunday. But, we did get to stop into Lark Press (www.larkpress.com). Girls like Jen and I can’t help but appreciate fantastic stationary and unique graphic design. All we could afford and easily walk out with were bookmarks, but, we enjoyed seeing their workshop and their fun products.

Lark Press is also right next door to the Williams Street location of Pix Patisserie, which is just too good to pass up. (www.pixpatisserie.com). I forget the name of the pastry I got, but who cares? It was super yum yum. And, as if that weren’t enough, we discovered that they serve a croque monsieur that is to die for. We ordered three. One at first to share, but then, hunger peaked, another one, and then, in true piggy style, yet another one. There was three of us there, so its not like we were totally out of line.

locked out.

pix patisserie yum yum

Ok, so I may not want to do all of that again on one day, but I want to do most of it again just about whenever.

Oh, also, late to the game as always, we finally discovered the whole toy horse thing. Its called ‘the horse project’ and was started in 2005 in the Pearl District by artist Scott Wayne Indiana. (www.horseproject.net) Portland has horse rings on many of its sidewalks and tiny toy horses can be found all around Portland tied to them. Here’s a few we’ve found so far:

And finally:

Monkeying Around

2008-11-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

Alas, another Halloween has come and gone. But, despite the predictions for heavy, continuous rainfall, the pacific northwest came through and gave us not only a clear night, but a rather relatively warm one as well! H and his buddy W had a blast! Josh was a good sport and wore his big yellow hat, but W’s father Alan takes the prize for wearing a whole batman costume, muscles and all!

I have been blessed with yet another cold, so I will leave you with just pictures. By the way, thanks to the family who passed out full sized candy bars! I enjoyed that immensely.

Mommy, my costume is shorter than I am...

Preparing for Halloween - and Reminiscing of Halloweens Past!

2008-10-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

I will admit that now we are parents, Halloween is a much different holiday than it used to be. Long gone (sadly) are the huge parties with strange people drinking and eating who knows what, dancing and lounging in the dark till the very early morning of the day after. I thought it was weird when I went from single person costumes to “couple costumes” - Oberon and Titania, Sushi Chefs, Doctors with personalized scrubs for the year we got married, and then after that we separated again. I didn’t want to dress with Josh when he did Dark Helmet (as hilarious as it was) from Spaceballs - can you blame me?

Nowadays, the question is, do we do “family costumes?” H’s first Halloween - he was Chewbacca - fantastic, yes, but, at the last minute I was sewing glittery yarn to floral foam and sticking them on a headband and produced Princess Leia (ironically more like the princess character from Spaceballs than ever). Pfft. Josh just bought a vest and wore jeans and white shirt. I had to hand sew a white dress with hood, thank you very much. Last year Josh didn’t bother at all - but since H was going to be a bat (v. cute & fuzzy bat, at that), I went as a goth-y momma, complete with permanently dyed pink slash in my hair. Yes, permanently - hey, I commit to a bit.

So, I am sitting on my orange couch, covered in tulle, pins, ribbon and yellow duct tape getting ready, last minute as always. H is going to be a monkey this year, although, we have prepared slightly for when he changes his mind on Friday afternoon to tell us he really wants to be a pirate. Barring any changes, however, Josh will be going as the ‘Man in the Big Yellow Hat’ (for those of you not in the know - that‘s from Curious George). He won’t wear a yellow shirt, yellow tie and yellow trousers, but, I made him the yellow hat (hence the duct tape).

I always have to go for some glamour on Halloween, so I made this fabulous hat made out a faux taro leaf, all velvety and covered in glitter. (Which I will freely admit was inspired by Camilla Parker Bowles Windsor’s hat at her wedding to Prince Charles (designed by Philip Treacy, London). I mean, say what you want about her or the scandals or whatever, but that hat was FABULOUS. If you’re a hat person like me, I guess.)

Along with the hat is a black and green tulle skirt - I was going to be the “cavity fairy”, but then I found the leaf, and I had already bought the tulle - so now, the costume is like ‘modern witch with fab hat’ (who wears weird skirt over black pants with black t-shirt in a half-arsed sort of way).

I’ve never been a huge fan of the scary side of Halloween - I’m not sure if that’s because of my upbringing or what, but I think, like most people, I just like the opportunity to dress as whatever I want with no one coming to the conclusion that I might be a couple sandwiches short of a picnic. But I find myself much more keenly aware of all of the scary decorations out there - worried that they’ll scare H and give him nightmares! The last thing I want is for him not to love Halloween - although, come on, after he gets all of the candy he can handle, he should forget about the scary stuff, right?

So even though Halloween has morphed for me in the last several years, at least now I get to go trick-or-treating; this joy was cut short by my parents who got sucked into the late 70’s early 80’s church propaganda that kids shouldn’t be allowed to trick or treat because it worships the devil - around the same time that we were told playing KISS albums backwards will reveal satanic messages (oh please, like they had the time and technology). Then we all started going to “Harvest Festivals” at church, which were fun, but dressing up as ‘Mary’, was never as fun as say, ‘Cinderella’. (I apologize to my folks if it sounds like I’m blaming them in any way for my bitterness… But seriously, I was only 5 or 6 when you cut us off. That’s really hard core.)

Ah well. Happy Candy Hunting!

Funny Halloween Stuff

2008-10-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd share a couple shots of this hilarious grumpy grapefruit that I carved at my in-laws after carving a so-so pumpkin. After a night with a candle and a couple of days in the dry tuscon air, this guy got even better. Bottom lip jutted out - I hear he still graces the kitchen window sill. Unless Dora (who faithfully cleans up after all of us) finally got rid of him. I swear, no one was going to eat that grapefruit anyways. And he was huge! He had a higher calling.

Family, Thy Name is Sick!

2008-10-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Aim. Shoot. Score! All of us are sick. What’s funny is we all seem to be a different brand of sick. H started with what looked like stomach flu but is now just coughing. I woke up last Saturday with my entire body aching and now am weak from having more stomach flu symptoms.
Then last night Josh started taking zicam because he thought he was getting a cold and is passed out on the couch with stuffed nose. I don’t know who passed us the germs, but they must have been messed up. Or, we need to hang out with less sick people all at once.

Despite the onset/active duty of illness, we ventured forth this past weekend to the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch, where my parents and H and I went last year. Along with us were my friends Sunday and Alan, with their son, H’s best bud, W. And big bro Casey, Uncle Brian and Aunty Jen. Sunday and I were both not feeling well, and it was chillingly cold, so it took a bit to get the troops rallied and pumpkin happy.

Alas, even with all rallying, Sunday and I were not well enough to go into the patch itself, which requires a short but bumpy hay ride to the fields, and she was feeling light headed and I really, sorry, to mention, needed to be close to the ladies’.

But, thanks to Aunty Jen, I got great pictures, and I did come home with 2 mud clad boys and 2 equally mud clad pumpkins.

And, I know it seems that there are a lot of excuses coming from my way - but I swear, one of these days, I will get back on board. And now, ok. Two things. Is anyone ready for this election crud to be over with already or what? And secondly, why is it that there’s always that one show that makes you think - I should be watching that, it’s totally my thing, etc. But then you feel that every time you catch it, its always that one episode you already saw that one time?

Ok. Sorry, writing skills and other skills at low levels. More, better blogging hopefully coming soon.

New Life and Cool Stuff (posted a bit late...)

2008-10-15T01:48:00.000-07:00

H and I are holed up in a fabulous guest house at a friends here in Tucson - now that my new nephew has arrived (after much anticipation!), h decided to catch his uncle’s cold and we quarantined ourselves away from new baby Ethan and his nervous first timer parents. Its actually been quite nice, getting away from all of the happenings up at my in-laws house. Although we do miss being with the baby and new mommy - and H severely misses Scout, my sister in law’s dog (I’m pretty sure Scout does not miss H).

Despite that, its been very good for both of us, but especially H, who was certainly feeling the tension and depression with everyone at my in-laws house. With all of the craziness of people visiting and large crowds during shiva, he was a little lost in the shuffle and definitely started to act out. My normally mellow (you readers may question this assessment - I write when he drives me insane, but otherwise he’s pretty darn good) child turned round the bend and destructive and very very loud.

Being here has calmed him down, and has helped him get the rest he needs to get over this cold. And its taken me out of the situation of having to watch my child suffer - emotionally and physically, and getting disciplined every 5 minutes - by result of both his cold and unnatural behavior.

We had a double feature in babies over the weekend - so now H has not one new cousin, but two! My husband’s cousin Michelle gave birth to Giovanni 23 hours after Allie, my sister in law, had Ethan. Both boys are healthy and adorable and the whole family is reveling in their presence. These two boys bring with them the brand of giddy joy and hope that could possibly lift the heavy hands of depression that all of us have felt on our shoulders.

Grandpa Phil with brand new Ethan

Aunt Jenny with brand new Giovanni

All of this mixed together with a little Trader Joe’s mac and cheese (h didn’t eat his share, don’t know what’s wrong with that kid sometimes) and sourdough bread makes for a lovely evening, even if the wifi down here is a little weak and netflix can’t play instant movies.
H calls this the cowboy house. The current décor is definitely cowboy themed! Bob and Bernadette, who are letting us stay (and are like the coolest extra set of parents ever) like redecorating, evidently (maybe that’s mostly Bernadette?), and their person style and awesome quirkiness come through in the fun pieces all over the guest house and their main house as well. I’m trying to get some good shots to show…

Dusk at the Cowboy House

Interiors

Awesome bathroom!

Cactus in Macro

Being here has also allowed me to get some creative outlet going - so I’ve been working on my latest projects - what I’m calling “Bee Charmers” - that I’m hoping to sell with Jen and Jodi up at a craft fair in November. They can be worn on a necklace, as a purse charm, glasses holders, “jean jewelry” and just about anything you want, I suppose.

Its basically just fun with some recycled beads, vintage beads and new stuff as well. (I’m using little bee charms on most of them, if you’re wondering - and hoping to give some of the proceeds to a local Chehalis farmer to set up a bee hive…gotta save the dwindling bee populations!) Last night I also made a pair of earrings, which were cute, I guess, but since my techniques are far from professional, its tough having to make sure everything comes out evenly on both earrings. Anyways, I’m hoping they’re cute enough to sell. Otherwise I’m stuck with a lot of these things. (Sorry the lighting on these are awful.)

blue willow

all greens and silver

mix of pressed glass and charms

all reds

all purples

and a pair of earrings

Coming up before we can leave Tucson - Yom Kippur, which means I need to somehow come up with another acceptable outfit, and Ethan’s Bris on Saturday, yet another outfit. How many mixes and matches can a girl come up with? With the 200+ people invited to this bris, Ethan should be good for college tuition. I couldn’t even get the required 10 Jews to go to H’s bris (Oh yes, there is a required 10 Jews. Fascinating, no?). Oh well. Location Location Location!!

Since I'm so behind, here are some shots of the bris

Baby Ethan being held after the deed by his godmother

Don't worry! That knife is cutting the challah bread - Ethan's two grandfathers

Ah, and our wedding anniversary on Sunday. Its looking like #6 may end up just being recognized by lunch together. Unless someone decides that the 2nd youngest grandson is still worthy playing with and we can get out for dinner or drinks with friends. (Youngest baby envy anyone? As the youngest in my family I worry for H, who could care less.)

Now, all that’s left to decide is this: paperback, jelly bellies, or bed? Who needs to decide? I can have it all!

L’Shanah Tovah - A new year full of hope and happiness.

2008-09-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Shivah has been cut short by the Jewish High Holidays - starting tonight with Rosh Hashanah. It is the New Year on the Hebrew calendar - a time for atonement, forgiveness, and new hope. What better way to look ahead from the loss of a dear one - along with the upcoming birth of my new baby nephew (hopefully he’s coming soon - I’m not sure my sister in law wants to be pregnant much longer!).

This has been (and no doubt will continue to be) a very difficult week. My mother in law only passed away 6 days ago, and yet with the way things work in the Jewish tradition, with the funeral over immediately, the hundreds of people coming in and out of the house to visit while the family sits shivah, and the inevitable visiting with loved ones that would not normally be around, if not for such a terrible thing - it seems much longer ago that she left us.

We can only look forward, enjoy the holidays, eat even more food, whisper into my sister in law’s belly and tell that kid to hurry up. Then things will calm down, which sounds lovely and frightening all at the same time. It will be quieter - as people stop coming to visit so much, and H’s schedule will go back to normal, people will start working again, meals will be set, instead of the constant graze of finger foods, and then our minds will start to remember, to let in some of the memories that will bring the hurt to our hearts again.

My mother in law was such a big part of our lives that it will take me a while to get used to the fact that she’s no longer here for us. There were two of her, at the end. The one that was very sick, and the one that was beautiful and vibrant and healthy, she was around only a few months ago. I have to remind myself that both of those women are gone, not just the sick one. I don’t know when that is going to finally sink in - it will surely happen when I’m not belaboring it any longer.

In my in-law’s house - its difficult not to think of her every single moment. Sure, my father in law is here - its his house, but just about everything - everything is something she had a part in. Where to place something, or that she picked out, or something one of the kids made for her, or something we bought for her - everything has her fingerprint on it. Her style, her love and pride are hanging on her walls - pictures of the family, especially her grandchildren, art from around the world, diplomas, commemorative posters, cherished memories. Even the sheets on the beds remind me of her.

But, now it is a new year, and a time to start over. She’ll always be with us, and we will always love her, and that love and wonderful memories will accompany us into the days coming. And now if only the baby would be born! Thanks to everyone for your kind words and condolences. (And the outrageously abundant amount of food in our kitchen!)

Sweet Memories

2008-09-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, with her children and husband by her side, my mother in law passed away. I wasn't sure if I should mention it in this forum, but it seemed strange not to, since she was such a huge part of our lives and one of my only fans. Things happen quickly in the Jewish traditions. Funerals are within 24 hours of death, and tonight the house was already full of family and the closest friends keeping us company. We will sit shiva until Monday (cut short by the Jewish High Holidays), and then we will eagerly await the arrival of my new baby nephew.

Until I'm ready to share with you all of the other good things going on, I leave you with what I've got so far for my eulogy for Elaine. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it through the entire thing, but I am looking forward to being one of the few gentiles ever to be a speaker in the synagogue.

Thanks to all of my friends and family for the prayers and positive thoughts.

I’m sure when Josh and I got together, many of you wondered how Elaine felt about her only son bringing home some goy he met in New York. I can tell you that when we first met, both Elaine and I thought we would need to work hard at our relationship. You all know how she was - she tried so hard to make sure that I felt comfortable and welcomed, and if you know me, I’m very relaxed and sort of whatever - and I was constantly trying to show her how comfortable I was with everyone and everything. There we were - always contradicting each other when we were just wanted to make each other happy.

We finally realized that we had so many things in common - amongst all of our differences, and especially of course, the most important was that we both loved Josh very much. And not only were we family, Elaine and I were very close friends. We were honest with each other, and we trusted each other.

I’m sure a lot of you are aware that the Tygiel’s are all addicted to their phones (well, maybe not Phil). When Josh and I were first together it used to mystify me how much he could be on the phone with the members of his family. My family is very close, but my parents would think something was wrong if I called every day. It used to drive me crazy watching him call Elaine after every little thing happened. I was worried I had met a real mama’s boy, you know?

But I got over it for the most part - and then when we had H, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Elaine had accomplished something that I’ve never known any mother to do. She’d found a way to have a daily relationship with her 3 children who have lived all over the world, with chats everyday, sometimes more than once or twice - and it didn’t drive them crazy when she called them all the time - they welcomed it! And they called her too - all the time. I don’t know how she did it. I only know that I hope I can crack the code with H - I would love for him to want to talk to me every day as he gets older.

This was only one of things about Elaine that she’s left with me. I will miss our conversations, our jokes, our deep inter-faith sessions - and of course the shopping and talking about jewelry. I’m very sentimental, like Elaine. She was always trying to start or continue family traditions, however big or small. I know that we’ll keep doing many things, even without her, because she decided it was a tradition, so that’s that.

Elaine encouraged all of us to do the things that we loved. She understood that living and not enjoying life was no way to do it. As well planned and controlled as she was, Elaine had a flair for spontaneity - although I guess when you’ve got kids like Allie and Josh you’d need to go with the flow as easily as possible. But if we ever were doing something she wanted to do with us, she’d fly out - no big deal. That was Elaine, loving life, and loving her family and friends, and making use of frequent flier miles like nobody’s business.

At any rate, I could have never asked for a more wonderful and crazy Jewish mother in law, and will always love her dearly. I want to thank her family and friends for sharing her life with me. Thank you for coming today to share in our love and memories of Elaine.

Pre-school Power Struggle and Food Crises

2008-09-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

I know, for those of you who actually DO read this, you may be wondering why I’m posting again so soon … and yes, think about it, so early in the morning.

I swear, I do not understand how you folks with kids do it when your kids wake up before 6:30 in the morning. Here I am, its 7:08 and H is fed and watching the Wiggles on Playhouse Disney (in actual time, which has never happened before) as though it was his normal fare.

I will admit, that like me, he does look a little bedraggled. We had a massive power struggle with him last night. He would absolutely not eat his dinner (of macaroni and cheese - that he asked for), which resulted in no TV and no after dinner cookie - which he had been looking forward to all evening. It also resulted in ‘straight to bed’, because he was being so naughty about the whole thing. We went back and forth with him (in hopes that he would eat anything - he’s in one of his “I don’t need food” stages again) and finally he was screaming and crying at his bedroom door until he passed out. Somehow AFTER his bedtime, when he was sent to his room about an hour and a half before. Then he woke up around one AM freaking out, but went back to bed. When he got up shortly after six, asking for a new diaper and food, I knew the gig was up.

And here we are.

I’m bleary eyed, only one nostril in working order, sitting next to many monstrous piles of laundry, and he’s lounging in his mini club chair with a quarter of a bagel in his hand, a few pieces of scrambled egg left on his plate, mesmerized by Captain Feathersword. And both of us know he’s not going back to sleep. But I can tell you one thing - there is NO way I’m watching Higgly Town Heroes. Those non-Russian nesting doll kids freak me out.
No matter what - young master H is always cute. Bah.

Become A Follower!!

2008-09-17T00:53:00.000-07:00

Of this blog, of course! Down there on the right hand side, there's a thing to sign up to be a follower - it would be fun to see who out there cares what comes down my way.

Or subscribe or whatever. Anyways. If no one wants to be a follower, then I seriously have to take that "gadget" off of the page. I don't want to look lamer than I already am. Hee.

Do not fret: no bunnies were hurt or damaged or embarrassed during this blog entry. See?

Awful Stuff

2008-09-14T22:07:00.000-07:00

So, like many people, I found out this morning that amazing, brilliant, astounding (the list goes on) writer David Foster Wallace has passed away.

I'm so sad that he ended his own life. (There are words I'm not using here because this is not what this blog is about.) But I'm disgusted by the early reports - they all sounded as though they had been written ten years ago and put in 'just wait, it will happen' files. Sure, now, that the word is spread, and all of the creative writers are awake, the beautiful memories flow from the AP of what an amazing, brilliant, astounding, profound, groundbreaking, important, etc. writer DFW was. And he was. I'm not going to write about all of that. The pros have done it for those of us who don't have the adjectives and the personal memories to put out there.

Anyways. I'm sorry he felt it needed to end. I'm sorry for his family, having to live through this, what must be the most angry grief. If you haven't read any of his stuff, my favorite comes in 'A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. Its human and snarky, and freaking hilarious. Especially the State Fair and the Carnival Cruise essays. Enjoy and remember.

Hope you found peace on the other side.

Are Canadian Children More Advanced on the Playground?

2008-09-14T01:37:00.000-07:00

So H, ahbee and I met my friend and her son, W, at this really cool park the other day. All of the equipment is very modern - only the swings and slide are really recognizable. Everything else works off of the kids' own kinetic energy - weird little seats on wavy poles that spin around and around using the kid's weight as the moving force, etc. Its all very freshman physics goes crazy. And its very cool.

W kindly bequeathed his no longer in use Schwinn trike to H, while he rode around on his own two-wheeler (plus training wheels). Is it just me? I didn't get my own two-wheeler (a magenta schwinn, thank you very much, with the basket) until I was 5. I can't imagine 2 and 3 year olds knowing how to ride two-wheelers. I guess kids these days are speeding right by us in more than just academics and physical maturity (not to mention the clothes young girls wear these days - don't even get me started!).

Anyways, the reason for this post. While the kids were playing around I noticed this little sign on the side of one of the piles of playground equipment. Evidently, not only are our kids excelling at

an alarming rate, leaving us in the dust, but Canadian toddlers are a few months ahead of the rest of the toddlers out there too. Must be all of that Celine Dion their mothers listened to while they were in the womb.

Byway Signs & a little language lesson

2008-09-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

Just a few of the signs we encountered on the trip out and around the Hell's Canyon Scenic Byway.

We loved this - country folk like us know about the FFA! And it was definitely Grass Seed territory. I have never seen more hay in my life. Imbler was such a tiny town that the fact that its the world capital of anything is amazing! Although it did bring up a discussion. Did they mean capitAl or capitOl? It turns out that the definitions of the two words are not as cut and dry as I always thought. According to Spark Notes Ultimate Style Writing Guide:

capital: a city of government
• As the bus approached the capital, the students cheered.

capitol: a building of government
• By the time they reached the capitol building, they were ready to go home.

After working on the Capital One campaign for many moons, I personally always have to respell 'capitol' after writing out 'Capital', if I thought I was in error, but now I'm not so sure. I guess I figured that capital had to do with fiduciary subjects, whereas capitol had to do with geographical subjects. Let's see what Dictionary.com has to say:

Capital
1. the city or town that is the official seat of government in a country, state, etc.: Tokyo is the capital of Japan.
2. a city regarded as being of special eminence in some field of activity: New York is the dance capital of the world.
3. CAPITAL LETTERS
4. the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business by an individual, firm, corporation, etc.
5. an accumulated stock of such wealth.

Capitol

1. the building in Washington, D.C., used by the Congress of the U.S. for its sessions.
2. (often lowercase) a building occupied by a state legislature.
3. the ancient temple of Jupiter at Rome, on the Capitoline.

Well. All this proves is that the sign makers of Imbler, Oregon, were correct in their usage of 'capital' on their sign. Next!

I think a couple of these weeds are great insults.. "You leafy spurge!" or, "She's such a tansy ragwort."

Couple of good old "Kitchens" and "Saloons"
Oh, and just in case you ever wondered - from the Online Etymology Dictionary:

saloon

1728, Anglicized form of salon (q.v.), and originally used interchangeable with it. Meaning large hall in a public place (esp. a passenger boat) is from c.1835, also used of railway cars furnished like drawing rooms. Sense of "public bar" developed by 1841, Amer.Eng.

Don't you just love etymology? No? Oh. Ok, well, I do.

best stop sign ever

I never got close enough to find out what this was - too lazy to walk all the way down the street. But maybe a diner? They sell lottery tickets so it could be just about anything, I guess. Cute sign tho. Sorry its not better. Like I said, too lazy. Oh come on! The whole town of Enterprise was shut down. Why should I be the only person moving around?

I almost missed this on the side of a building in Joseph, Oregon. Love the name and the ad. Wonder what kind of folks hang out at the Hydrant?

Or, if you like, "Welcome to our town!"

I love that the national parks have kept these old school signs. Plus I love the name Ollokot.

At first my father and I thought that there were asian characters in the corners of this sign, which confused us. What kind of Chinese Restaurant is called 'Pill Box'? Ah, but it was just fancy schmancy Rx symbols. Bah. Give us a break. He's no spring chicken, and I had just been driving for 6 hours.

While its pretty clear that they keep up the paint on this for the tourists - I love this old school type of Wall Advertising - also known as "Ghost Signs". There was a great one for syrup on the side of the building next to my apartment in Brooklyn. Part of me wishes they would re-paint these old ads every once in a while, just so we can enjoy them even longer. Or find some way to laquer over them to help them keep?

just a cute syrah sign at the maryhill vineyards

Catching up is hard to do

2008-09-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, somewhere in the deepest east end of Oregon, I stopped posting. Part of the reason is because while we had wi-fi in our tiny little motel in Joseph, OR, the connection speed was so slow that I gave up before I could even check my email. So, here’s the laundry list of what I want to post:

A. Labor Day is the wrong time of the year to visit the Historical Scenic By Way around Hell’s Canyon.

B. What we did get to see, do, etc.

C. Coming back and leaving again.

D. What’s a Goy to Do?

E. I can’t wait to find out what outfit on Project Runway makes Michael Kors say “she’s pooping fabric!” (Note to readers - I started writing this way before this episode aired. And in all fainess, I have DVR’d it and have not watched it yet.)
F. I honestly never thought I’d see Bill Gates shake his bum. But I loved it.
G. An Image I Owe You

(Warning - this is photo heavy. I had kazillions more but had to keep it down to a somewhat acceptable minimum.)

A. Just in case you ever decide to travel along the Hell’s Canyon Scenic Byway, remember not to do it over the Labor Day weekend. Mostly every one is closed, in all of the towns along the way around the loop - which can start and end in either Le Grande and Baker City or vice versa, however you decide to do it. I’ve come to the conclusion that all of the towns in Wallowa county decided to also take the Labor Day weekend as vacation and shut down every year to enjoy themselves. I can’t blame them. Surely they’re all dying to go elsewhere too.

(The beautiful scenery and not so happening towns between LaGrande and Joseph)

B. The exception being most of the strip through Joseph, which was practically bustling compared to even Baker City, which is the largest town on the Byway. Joseph is an artist’s community. I think their big thing is Bronze statues - which line the main drag through town. If you pass through Joseph you’ll head to the actual Wallowa Lake - which is quite beautiful, and its little town full of vacation cabins and camp-like opportunities - horseback riding, hiking, fishing, boating, etc. This area was actually quite crowded and we were glad we didn’t stay around there.

the gang in Joseph

cool deserted building off main road in Joseph

outside of Joseph - gorgeous mountains and farmlands

Lake Wallowa

red barn

m. night shyamalan-ready farm

Anyways. We took off on the last day to go to the actual Hell’s Canyon overlook. This drive was very slow - as there are cliffs, narrow roadways, and a few lost cows along the way. When we got to the overlook it was cold, windy, and I have to say, a little disappointing. I don’t know what I thought I was going to see, but I didn’t see it. It was beautiful. Quite the canyon. I didn’t see the Snake River at any time, even though I think I was supposed to. The drive along the way and afterwards was much more beautiful to the gang in our minivan. Maybe except for Hudson, who could have cared less as long as Papa and Grandma kept paying attention to him.

grandma and papa at the canyon overlook

running back to the warmth of the car

what my tax dollars pay for

So after taking 4 hours to drive 37 miles, or whatever it was, we decided to take the 84 back through Baker City, and then to the 14 so we’d have a slightly different drive home. I finally gave up the ghost and slept between some town or another and let my father drive. It felt like being a kid again and falling asleep in the “back-back” of the station wagon. Except that there was a lot less space or something.

famous geiser hotel in baker city

awesome architectural detail outside the historic hotel

civilization. yes!

C. This turned out to be a great route home - we went through a lot of cute little towns and also discovered how many vineyards were on the 14 side of the Columbia River. We ended up stopping at the Maryhill vineyards. We had heard about how great their summer concert series were - and yet didn’t go to any of them this summer. Would have liked to see Michael MacDonald myself. Maryhill has a large tasting room and shop - so its rather commercial, but not as commercial/touristy as King’s Estate in Oregon. They (Maryhill) have a gorgeous outdoor amphitheatre for their concerts, looking over the Columbia River and rows and rows of plantings. Leave it to my mother to meet the owner of Maryhill no less than 30 seconds after we got out of the car. Turns out she is also from Hawaii, and lived about a mile away from where we lived in Kailua. Love it.

papa taking one for the team - running h around the big ampitheatre

Back at home, we had one day to hang out and shop with my parents before they left again. I’m hoping they got as much tax free shopping as they could fit into their suitcases.

D. The next day, Josh, H and I got on our own plane and headed out to Tucson, Arizona, where Josh’s parents live. My sister-in-law’s 13 year old nephew was celebrating his bar mitzvah so the weekend promised to be full of silly events surrounding one very important one. For me it translates basically to this: I needed to get a bunch of event - appropriate outfits, including one for synagogue. The rules are very strict, depending on who is telling me via my husband what I’m supposed to wear. My elder sister in law has a very different viewpoint on what words like “Casual” and “Dressy” mean. (In other words, she's much more stylish than I am.) The outfit for Synagogue is the most difficult, because I don’t want to show up in the wrong thing the one time during the weekend when it really counts. It reminds me of being a young girl and our mom’s quest for us to dress modestly and respectfully for church. Same thing.

Except that at this Synagogue - you get the feeling that people really are watching what you wear. Especially when I show up - I’m obviously an outsider, so am under even more scrutiny. So I do it up as well as I can. Skirt, blouse, cardigan, heels and hat (as I am a married gal). Wearing a skirt drains my energy, but getting to wear a hat makes me high as a kite. I dusted off a gorgeous asymmetrically brimmed hat I bought at Laura Ashley in England years ago for the occasion. And then less than 20 minutes after we got there, H totally proved he could not sit still or be quiet, so we got in the car and drove around Tucson while he napped and my outfit became obsolete.

Anyways, I could go on and on about the bar mitzvah crazed weekend, but, most of it would be pissy grumbling (like - there is NO way I'm going to put up this kind of cash and effort when my kid turns 13, etc.) so I’ll just skip it. It was Tucson and it was hot. The best part was seeing everyone in the family and watching the kids all have a blast together in the pool with their grandpa. The kids adore each other and can’t wait for their Aunt Allie (my younger sister in law) to give birth to their new cousin - due in the next few weeks! (Which means, back to Tucson.)

E. Obviously, since I haven’t watched the latest episode of Project Runway, I can’t say anything about pooping fabric. Although I will say in response to the previous episode - I am going to miss Stella and all her ‘Leathah’.

F. And have you seen the commercial with Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates? Its very long, very odd, and we were wondering what it was even for until the very end. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. And although I’ve read that “critics boo” the ad, all that makes me wonder is - how do I get a job as a commercial critic? Here’s the link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/?CMXID=2120.393DE2A7-EF9C-4276-860A-8E1A22209323&WT.srch=1

G. And finally: I said that something from the closing ceremonies looked like ‘Michael’ in the death/dream/fantasy sequence in “Grease 2”? Here you go - best I could do:

Tripping out with my Parents!

2008-08-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

My parents are in town, visiting from Kauai. They’re mostly here to see their grandson, but I’m sure they’re glad to see us too. During this year’s visit, we’re heading East to the Hell’s Canyon Scenic Byway, which is in the northeast area of Oregon and into Idaho as well. I don’t know much about it, but we’re doing it anyways. Map from www.byways.org - thanks!

Today was day one on our 3 day trip out to Hell’s Canyon. We started our day in Portland at Kenny & Zukes, a Jewish deli restaurant with killer pastrami and challah French toast.

http://www.kennyandzukes.com/ We knew it would be right up my parents’ alley. But then, who doesn’t love a good breakfast joint? (I’ve heard they’re wonderful beyond brunch but we’ve only ever been in the morning hours). We first went during their opening week and now can’t help but go every once in a while, at least.

So we left, hamantaschen in hand - if you don’t know what hamantaschen is, you should look it up, but the chocolate hamantaschen was so amazing that you should just take my word for it and buy as many as they have. Its basically like a really well done sugar cookie (not too soft and not too sweet) folded inwards into a triangle and filled with all kinds of different stuff - usually jam, that I’ve seen, but this was like having a walnut brownie in the middle. Yum. Am I getting off subject?
(Check this person's website - the trials and tribulations of making home-made hamantaschen - with beautiful pictures to go with...get inspired! http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/03/hamantaschen/)

Back on track - on the 84 heading East. We usually love doing the historic drive past all of the waterfalls, starting in Troudale and getting out near Multnomah falls, but that takes too long and we were heading to our first stop - La Grande, Oregon. The drive along the Columbia River is really quite nice, although during the summer it’s a little reminiscent of California - brown hills, green trees. I loved seeing all of the windsurfers and kite surfers out in Hood River and into Arlington - where we stopped to fuel up and get chocolate milk!

Oh wait! I’m getting ahead of myself. In true form, Josh had us stop in Hood River to check out at least one winery - Cathedral Ridge. He came out with a Zin, and I came back with slightly tired photos of a couple horses and Mount Hood. Sorry I came out with almost no good photos of the trip thus far, but I am also the driver on this trip and no one else seems to be able to use my camera (especially out of the car and at 80 MPH).

When we got to La Grande, we checked into our motel and then decided to drive around the exciting historic downtown, check out Eastern Oregon University, which had quite a charming campus, we all thought. The historic downtown was less exciting than the brochures like to say, and as it was after 4 pm, most businesses seemed to be closed. I’m from a small town, I know how it is. We’re hoping that not everywhere we go over the weekend will be closed. And with a full day ahead of us, stopping at many locations for views and shops and coffee, I have every intention of providing much better shots for visual aids. In the mean time, enjoy this sad shot of a lovely sunset and one that displays the eternal shining light of American Civilization.

An Olympic Ending

2008-08-25T00:08:00.000-07:00

So, I missed some of the Closing Ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics, but I did get home in plenty of time to catch a few key things - and as for anything else I did miss, I have the re-play being recorded on DVR tonight.

They’re actually not completely over yet - glowing people are dangling from the stadium looking a little like “Michael” in the dream/fantasy sequence of “Grease 2” combined with "Tron" (maybe?) and a Chinese pop star is singing a very labororious song, or, sorry, maybe two or three pop stars? And can I say kudos again to the Chinese cheerleaders who are once again rounding the track of the bird’s nest and have been happily cheering and waving for hours? Talk about stamina.

Anyways. Um, let me preface this paragraph by saying that both my husband and I have lived in London, and I am a huge anglophile. We have many friends in the UK and would probably move there if we could. Ok, but man, the UK’s part of the closing ceremonies was really quite sad. And yes, I know that expectations may never be fulfilled after someone has seen the opening ceremonies there in Beijing, but even Josh, who missed 98% of the opening ceremonies also agrees that London’s portion tonight was sad.

The transformer double-decker bus, with performing artists doing some sort of wavy modern dance and Leona Lewis, who is quite lovely, but I don’t know, with a country full of SERIOUSLY famous performers they choose the newcomer? Maybe everyone else has been there done that? Ok. And she was being accompanied by Jimmy Paige, so that’s pretty cool. Then David Beckham makes his appearance, whatever. At least he had more than underwear on.

So they have until 2012 to get their act together. My advice to London is to forget trying to out - tech Beijing, because really, I honestly can’t imagine it. I understand its 4 years from now, and 2012 does sound a lot more ‘Jetsonesque’, but I think they should just forget the techie avenue. I suggest they do some sort of play on the British stereotypes we all have - you know, Victorian London, and Mary Poppins, and cobblestone and black cabs and black umbrellas, Big Ben and the Thames - that kind of thing. Beefeaters and Royal Guard and the changing of the guard and all of that wonderful pomp that we non-Brits love so much! Maybe they can have beautiful girls in Scottish Tartans doing a synchronized swimming show in a huge tea cup (presented by Twinings or something) and maybe break the Guinness world record for the largest gathering at afternoon tea?

OMG! Jackie Chan is singing with the pop stars!

Hey, he has a pretty decent voice! I love hearing him sing in Mandarin. Man these fireworks are insane. Ok, I guess I’m doing the “terrible commentating” thing again. Sorry. Hopefully I’m not as terrible as Cynthia Potter, now that I’ve kind of trashed her.

Anyways. I originally started this entry because I wanted to point out a couple funny things:

Did anyone notice, while all of the cute little children from around the globe were singing the Olympic Anthem the guy in the giant screen who had his jacket open, gut and hairy chest out for literally the whole world to see? No? Don’t worry, I have a pic:

Oh, you want to see it closer? (check the lady to his right, lol)

And then, right after that, the Mayor of London came to receive the flag from the Mayor of Beijing. He’s kinda a dead ringer for a slightly more put together Gary Busey - anyone? Oh no, wait. Now that I’ve looked at the picture again, its actually, Gary Busey

and William Zabka (Karate Kid)

have a baby:

Ah well. In four years we’ll get together and do this again. This was fun! Better than I thought it would be, for sure. By the way, if you’re wondering how I got these shots so quickly…man, the combination of DVR and HDTV is great! Not bad, right?

And now they’re playing the closing credits along with shots of amazing Olympic moments, and the tears come back. Crazy. Hope you all enjoyed them too.

Shout Out

2008-08-23T01:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my big bro! Hope you have a great one!